Ramone, Cassie - Sweetheart [LP]

Cassie Ramone, known for her influential work with Vivian Girls and The Babies, is back with Sweetheart, her third solo album. Sweetheart is significantly more pop-oriented than her previous releases and is her first solo album to be heavily instrumented by someone other than herself. The album was recorded and produced by Dylan White in Richmond, Virginia, in a Valley Structures barn shed in the Winter of 2023-2024. All of the production and instrumentation was executed by the duo, with the exception of Track 9; "The Only Way I Know How" was originally engineered by Mac DeMarco at Jizz Jazz studios in Los Angeles in November 2022. The song features DeMarco on guitars and percussion and was completed in Richmond. "Cassie has long been one of my favorite artists. I've been a fan just as much as a friend and collaborator, and I stand in awe of her unique and singular take on songwriting as she approaches the craft from an angle that no other modern songwriter does. Cassie feels music in corners of her soul that most of us can't access, and here is not only her most focused vision in years, but it's also a cross-pollination of everything she's capable of. Some of these songs cast a sonic constellation of stars, while some conjure the ghosts of doo-wops past coming out of the backroom of a VFW hall, while others could hold their own in the rock canon next to The Wipers or Roy Orbison. See for yourself one of my favorite things Cassie has ever done. See for yourself on SWEETHEART."- Kevin Morby