Premiere: Repenter, ‘Complicated’

Kevin Bronson on November 14th, 2019

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Repenter is a new Los Angeles duo trading in — as singer Holly Winter says — “the heavy feels.” Not only is Winter, with her gravitas-drenched vocals that shift from dusky to arching, up to the task, the duo’s muscular atmospheric rock opens an emotional vein or two as well.

Winter’s partner-in-tune is guitarist Thomas Scriven, and together they worked with producer Ross Robinson (known for his work with heavy hitters such as Korn, At the Drive-In, Glassjaw, Limp Bizkit and the Cure) on the debut Repenter EP, “Chapter 1.”

They introduced the project in August with the urgent single “So Sick,” a broadside directed at “today’s social media shitshow grab bag,” Winter says. The second single “Skeletons” is a head-banger for the thinking headbanger.

“Complicated” is the final track on the EP; it’s a sweetly melancholy confessional that recalls an ’80s power ballad (one sung by the inimitable Martha Davis, perhaps), only made during the grunge era. Winter likens it to “open-heart surgery,” and, indeed, it’s a powerful closing statement from a singer boldly sharing hers.

“Chapter 1” comes out Friday.

||| Stream: “Complicated”