New record pressing – Selken – The Winds.

SELKEN is the bummer pop/indie rock project of Chicago songwriter Heather Styka. Styka writes lyrics-forward songs that “make you feel as if you are peeking into her diary” (No Depression) with a “talent for telling stories and connecting emotionally” (Glide Magazine). While the melodies of SELKEN draw from vintage pop and alt-country, the instrumentation layers indie rock with a shimmer of ambient synths.

After over a decade of touring nationally as a solo folk artist, Styka was grounded like the rest of world in 2020, which allowed her to realize she desired a change — to stay rooted in Chicago, collaborate with a band, and find new sonic textures. Styka teamed up with producer/multi-instrumentalist JG Shadid to create SELKEN’s debut album, The Winds. Shadid’s wide-ranging expertise as an Emmy-nominated composer, educator on YouTube’s Reverb channel, and co-founder/curator of The Red Room paired well with Styka’s introspective approach to song craft. 

Having spent her artistic career chasing the stripped-down honesty of folk, Styka wanted to create a sound with more — pairing siren-song vocals with a dash of playful glamour and the fun of a good groove. The result is a sparkling, cathartic exploration of personal and societal sea change, of burying old dreams to make room for new ones. 

(Gotta Groove Records offers vinyl record pressing and EcoRecord manufacturing for independent labels, musicians, and artists – this post features one of the many records pressed at Gotta Groove in the past month).