Ears Wide Open: McCall

Ilana Tel-Oren on July 18th, 2022

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McCall Kimball — just McCall when she’s releasing music — is an Atlanta-bred singer-songwriter and USC dropout who’s been making inroads for the past three years with her edgy alt-pop. After releasing EPs in 2019 and 2020, on Friday she released her debut album, “… To Be a Dream …”

Not only has McCall’s music been distinctive for the eclectic production of her collaborator, Minneapolis-based Bobby Rethwish, it’s notable for its bluntly confessional subject matter. On her new eight-song release, McCall — a maker of “accusatory pop bangers and pathetically sad indie ballads,” as she once told an interviewer — turned to “themes of strained relationships between friends, family and partners,” she says.

“I realized that my self-hatred (as detailed on the 2020 EP, ‘On Self Loathing’) did not exist in a vacuum. Because I’m exceptionally hard on myself, it felt natural to set rigorous standards for the people in my life as well. I was quick to hurt someone’s feelings under the guise of ‘tough love.’”

In the album’s closing track, “Easy,” the message of the song is not what the title suggests. McCall finds herself struggling with the pressure of success with lyrics like “Felt like if I didn’t suffer, I was worth nothing / I’d pay for it / One way or another / Addicted to the sadness / So desperate, so tragic.” Of the song, McCall says, “There’s always been a romanticization of the struggling artist, but sometimes the struggle is what’s holding you back …” It’s a relatable sentiment for any artist who moves to L.A. to pursue a dream.

In the self-directed video for “Easy,” McCall roams the streets of L.A., suitcase in tow, literally carrying around her baggage. As she meanders, the baggage begins to unpack and nostalgic images of her younger self, friends and family are added to the mix. The track is pop-forward and incredibly catchy with a crackling warm bass that ebbs and flows as she dances in the street with the sun sets, and finally landing on moment of peace in the final scene of McCall in a bedroom, strumming her guitar.

“Perfect Timing” is an uplifting take on a natural ending to a relationship. The video setting has a vintage feel with the Zenith television and ’70s-inspired living room décor, and shows McCall viewing home videos and dancing in the street. Despite its subject matter, the song is dance-ready, with McCall singing in a funk style repeating the lyrics, “Bathe me in light / Leave me in the morning / I’ll be fine / Promised I would never waste my time / Tryna get it right / I know there’s never perfect timing.”

||| Watch: The videos for “Easy” and “Perfect Timing”