By Josh Hughes
“I write catchy, sad songs,” says Alexandra Niedzialkowski of indie rock outfit Cumulus, who have garnered some acclaim through both fans and critics in the first half of the 2010s. She’s not exactly wrong; the opening line to “Hey Love,” off her 2013 album It Never Meant To Be Like This, goes like this: “Said you were so lonely, I’ll make you less lonely, come and get un-lonely with me.” Even her love tunes come off as a little melancholic, but what would the intrigue be in a love song without some tension?
Cumulus will be playing with John Van Deusen (formerly of The Lonely Forest) this coming week at the UGCH for the newest installment of their weekly concert series. They’ll mark one of the bigger names that the series has been able to pull in this school year; they rack up 355 monthly followers on Spotify even after not having released a record in four years, though Niedzialkowski promises that another record is on the way.
Hailing from Seattle, Cumulus also have some ties to infamous Western boy band Odesza (I mean, “electronic duo,” my apologies), and were featured on their 2012 record Summer’s Gone. Stylistically, however, Cumulus falls much more on the early 2000’s indie rock spectrum. There are touches of Nada Surf, Rilo Kiley, Dum Dum Girls, and Best Coast scattered throughout her music, and her songwriting shows off a rare blend of delicate, subdued songwriting with big hooks and giant choruses.
“Wanderlust,” the centerpiece of It Never Meant To Be Like This, combines droning synth pads with an intense vocal performance that contemporary artists like Maggie Rogers and Mothers have been drawing from in their recent output. Other songs, like the sparse ukulele closer “Night Swimming” bring to mind dozens of Youtube videos of “acoustic indie covers,” but in a universe where all of the parts that make up those videos somehow add up to something beautiful and harrowing. Niedzialkowski’s voice is certainly the most noticeable part of Cumulus, but with more digging, her indie band has plenty of layers to unpack, both musically and lyrically.
Opening for Cumulus is John Van Deusen, former frontman of The Lonely Forest, a notable band from Anacortes, WA, that broke out beyond the PNW scene in their heyday. While Van Deusen has not yet released any solo music, he plans to do so in the coming year, and his live set may include old Lonely Forest songs as well as newer, original songs.
Looking like a wickedly young Jake Gyllenhaal, Van Deusen’s voice sits alongside Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull as a quivering force amidst shaking guitars and intricate math rock. The Lonely Forest’s most well known song, “Turn Off This Song and Go Outside” showcases Van Deusen’s capabilities as both a singer and a songwriter, so seeing a stripped down live set will give his voice even more room to take shape as a central component.
The show will start at 7 p.m. in the Underground Coffeehouse, so bring your body (and most importantly your ears) for a mellow night of good tunes.
ABOVE: The outdoor entrance to the Underground Coffeehouse. Photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review
