Telling two sides to the same story, in reverse, After Before is the new two-track release from Yorkshire’s Kindelan.
By Graeme Smith
Feature photo by Monika Levčenkovaitė
Cigarettes gives us the brighter side of the record, rich with longing, soulfulness and looping strings. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from Kindelan, but with an added polish that shows her improvement from release to release. The imagery in its lyrics will stick with you.
Wish I Wrote A Love Song is altogether moodier, with a smoky jazziness and a standout chorus. Flashes of keys prove a particular highlight.
“I’d been working on a handful of songs in the studio with Ed [Allen, producer] before he moved to London,” Kindelan says. “Around this time, I was on the bus listening to all the songs I had and considering which to finish before he left, when I suddenly realised that Cigarettes and Wish I Wrote A Love Song tell two sides of the same story. It was then that I began dreaming up the world where these two songs live audibly, visually and physically on either side of each other.”
Each track comes with visual elements to enhance their narrative.
“I decided to embody this and physically build a ‘perfect home’, with everything in its perfect place, in the artwork and music video,” says Kindelan. “This neat, tidy and cared for space is intended to directly reflect the love it houses. This same space is then weathered and destroyed, with candles burnt down, flowers dried, wine spilt, and books ripped, to directly reflect the neglect and disregard for this same love at the end of the story.”
To celebrate the release, Kindelan is headed on a mini-tour with dates at The Artful Dodger, York (w/ Marnie Glum & Eve Buckley) on 11 July 2025 and the Vinyl Whistle, Leeds on 13 July. You can find tickets for all dates here.
After Before is out now via Bridge The Gap, available to buy as a digital album or on vinyl on Bandcamp. You can give it a listen below.