Hometown Sounds

Cellist Janel Leppin, always at the forefront of experimental mind-blowing music in DC, has been struggling to release her debut solo record as Mellow Diamond for years. Despite being recorded, mixed and mastered, no label she met with was willing to put it out the way Leppin intended, so she has gone the route of many in the DIY scene and started her own label, Wedderburn Records. Last year we featured Mellow Diamond’s first ambient, dreamy video “Namesake”, and earlier this week she dropped the second video, “No Treaty”. It’s a surprising turn to moody pop music with lyrics, strummed electric guitar and a steady 4/4 beat with handclaps, while the video keeps things trippy as video artist Michael Hindert manipulates travel footage shot by Leppin. Mellow Diamond’s album finally emerges later this week after a celebratory show Thursday night at Songbyrd featuring a finely curated lineup of fellow female-fronted experimental pop bands, Roz and the Rice Cakes and Pree.