Taleen Kali Unleashes Her Dark Side With “Black Rose”
If you love your alternative rock with a little darkness, distortion, and rebellious feminine energy, Taleen Kali might be your next musical obsession. The Los Angeles-based band is stepping into an exciting new chapter with the release of “Black Rose,” a haunting new single that offers another glimpse into their upcoming album, Aepex.
Blending dark psychedelia with riot grrrl influences, “Black Rose” finds the band embracing a moodier, more experimental sound. The track also features an unexpected addition: AFI’s Hunter Burgan on saxophone, bringing another dimension to the band’s already genre-bending approach.
The release follows their lead single, “Viper,” which received attention from outlets including CLASH, Punknews, Grimy Goods, and Loud Women.
But “Black Rose” is only the beginning of what’s shaping up to be an intriguing new era. With Aepex, Taleen Kali is moving deeper into the darker corners of alternative music, drawing inspiration from artists like The Horrors, Sextile, L.A. Witch, Tamaryn, Curve, and Chapterhouse.
Expect heavy breakbeat drums, unexpected tempo changes, Middle Eastern-inspired melodies, and layers of fuzzy guitars, all paired with vocals that move effortlessly between commanding intensity and delicate sweetness. The result is a sound that feels both haunting and hypnotic, blending the band’s post-punk, L.A. punk, and shoegaze roots with something more mysterious.
Comprised of Taleen Kali on vocals and guitar, Genevieve Quiquivix on guitar, Miles Marsico on bass, and Ciara DeAlba on drums, the group continues to explore the boundaries of its musical identity.
For the upcoming album, the band returned to The Cave Studios to work with engineer and producer Josiah Mazzaschi, who also handled mixing and mastering. The project marks Kali’s first time serving as a co-producer on a full-length album alongside Marsico and Mazzaschi.
The creative process also brought several collaborators into the mix, including Chris King, who contributed additional mixing, and Burgan, who also plays bass on the album track “Eternal Eye.”
From its experimental production to its darker aesthetic, Aepex represents a new chapter for Taleen Kali, one that trades sun-soaked California energy for something more atmospheric and otherworldly. And if “Black Rose” is any indication, this next era is going to be beautifully unsettling.
FEATURE INTERVIEW:
“Black Rose” blends dark psychedelia with riot-grrrl energy. What inspired the song, and how did you arrive at its distinctive sound?
I always wanted to write a fireball set opener that you could hear from the outside of a venue and be beckoned inside. “Black Rose” has these relentless avalanching drums that make it feel like the song could collapse in on itself at any second, and then it totally does! The waves crash and then sax and vocals and guitar intertwine to wind down the tide.
AFI’s Hunter Burgan contributes saxophone to the track. How did his involvement come about, and what did the saxophone bring to the song that you hadn’t initially envisioned?
Hunter and I met through my beautiful friend Julia when we all went to see Chelsea Wolfe play at The Regent back in 2019. It turned out he was working with a lot of my friends’ bands! He has this amazing collaborative spirit that I really connect with, so when it came time to add sax to the song I knew I wanted to hit him up and the rest is history…
Aepex marks a darker sonic direction for Taleen Kali, moving from beachy post-punk into more mystical, desert-like territory. What inspired this shift, and how did it shape the album?
We’re in the darkest times. It kept bleeding into the music and my lyrics got more fragmented and spiritual at the same time. The melodies are more harrowing and the band is louder than ever before.
This is the first album on which you’ve served as co-producer alongside Miles Marsico and Josiah Mazzaschi. How did taking on that role influence the recording process and the final sound of Aepex?
I set out to make a drum record and I don’t even play drums! Miles and Josiah are the best. I knew I wanted them to be my co-producers from the start. They’re 2 of the best drummers I know, so I really trusted them with my desire to blend a lot of raw drums with heavy drum programming. As for my producer role, I knew exactly what I wanted this record to be. Experimental and collaborative and oblique and raw as all hell.
I’ve been in bands with Miles since 2014, he’s my musical soulmate. Miles has a level of taste that’s just unparalleled–he always knows where to nudge a song when it’s not working, and he has this great sense of time and structure that I trust with my life, so we did all the pre-production together using 8 tracks and Ableton before bringing it into the studio.
We recorded the last album with Josiah at his studio The Cave, and it was such a great experience that I knew I wanted to make the 2nd album there too. Josiah has so many amazing guitar pedals we got to experiment with and the most gorgeous ideas for layering and drum programming that really brought these songs the depth that they deserve.
With influences ranging from shoegaze and darkwave to Middle Eastern melodies and L.A. punk, how do you balance these different sounds while maintaining Taleen Kali’s identity as a band?
Taleen Kali’s identity as a band is ever-changing, and I want our sound to always remain free to do so as well. I decided a long time ago to make sounds I would want to hear instead of commiting to a niche that’s marketable or accessible. Not because of a rebellious streak or punk credo or anything, but because I want to make music that feels interesting to me. I think it’s powerful to make music that you yourself want to hear more of in the world.
“Black Rose” is out now, and Aepex is scheduled for release February 26, 2027, via Dum Dum Records.
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