Lomelda, Claire Morales, Garden Party

Lomelda is an art rock band from Waco, TX. Their sound features strong female vocals, loose spacey guitars, and complex emotional percussion. Lead by the songwriting of Hannah Read, the group creates music that is both accessible and exploratory. Textural tones from guitarist Andrew Hulett blend with Read's simple stylings to give width and depth to the music, while the dynamic drumming of Zach Daniel adds weight to the subtleties of the songs.

Their live show lifts and lowers and invites you to lean in close. Feel something. Be patient. Get together. Take a heavy breath. Remember when you found a photo of your grandpa, your dad's dad, the one you never met. He leans against the doorframe of the family cabin deep in the piney woods, a camera hanging around his neck, waiting to capture the kids' model rocket launch but instead being captured himself, all denim and swagger at age 36, a year before his death. It's gone — all of it. But you can still hold it in your hand. Or tear it up or burn it. Or frame it.

It's nostalgic, heavy, and personal.

It's pop-sensitive, soul drone, sentimental space rock.

Lomelda's first full length album — Forever — documents a collection of those rare moments that seem to hold it all. In hindsight, of course. As inspired by geography and potamology, the album moves you from place to place and flows from song to song. Forever is set to release Fall 2014 via Punctum Records.


"Dreamy, melodic, indie-folk rocker Claire Morales has delivered a mind-blowing album, Amaranthine, that will leave you wishing there were more than 10 tracks. The very title of the album gives the listener an idea of what they are in for, as the definition of amaranthine is everlasting, eternally beautiful and unfading. Morales’ vocals and lyrics evoke the kind of longing that leaves one remembering unrequited love and working through what it means to be human, to be an individual in a world filled with both beauty and pain.

"Morales’ songs each tell a story, and while that can be said of most music, what stands out about this album is her ability to draw the listener in with the lush vibrancy of her voice. There is an almost 60s-like feel to the way that Morales’ vocals and guitar work blend with Ryan Williams’ bass and Russ Connell’s drum work...There is a hazy element to the album reminiscent of being somewhere between dream land and being awake...in those first moments when one does not want to wake up just yet for fear of losing the beauty of the dream." - Ft. Worth TX Magazine


"Amaranthine sounds like Angel Olsen singing Jenny Lewis. She gets a sweet alt-country growl that warms up this Texas winter. “Waters Getting Low” rollicks in 3/4 time while Claire demonstrates her vocal control, breaking between falsetto and full voice showing worry and ache, longing and nostalgia. Dusty and new at the same time, her voice occupies an anxious in-between-ness of genres that glide from track to track; power pop, doo-wop, and country-gaze fill my L/R channels. Steady chord progressions show maturity from the band and their ability to develop an idea into sonic territory that occupies significant bandwith in an organic blissful state. I find sunlight easily when listening to Amaranthine. The album glows with positivity and forward thinking." - Pop Press International


"Resting somewhere near the hazy intersection of shoegaze, folk and rock, Denton-based singer-songwriter Claire Morales’ debut LP Amaranthine bewitches from its opening moments.

Joined by bassist Ryan Williams and drummer Russ Connell, Morales...utilizes a kind of wounded beauty inherent in her voice...to convey vulnerability even as she maintains a slight reserve. The cumulative effect over these 10, lushly realized tracks is a riveting push-pull: Morales sinks the hook deep, singing evocatively of 'voices that overlap and beg to be heard over the thunder,' even as she keeps listeners at a remove. Vivid and frequently gorgeous — lose yourself in the gently cascading guitar figure opening Caravan — Amaranthine adds another troubadour of note to the ever-growing North Texas ranks." - DFW.com


"…you'll be utterly entranced by acoustic clarity and mindful lyrics." - Dallas Observer


Theresa Sawi, Carla Selvin