The music that songwriter Greta Kline creates inhabits the small moments of life in an abundant way. For years, she has been recording her own brand of bedroom pop under numerous monikers and uploading them online at the same pace that many of us exercise. These days, the creating process has slowed down only a little as she has settled into her most notable persona Frankie Cosmos releasing her second studio album for Sub Pop earlier this month, Close it Quietly.

The album recorded with her longtime band mates, Lauren Martin (synth), Luke Pyenson (drums), and Alex Bailey (bass) finds Kline delivering one of her most focused and immediate selections of songs to date. And as with her past output, this is saying something, as the 21 songs that are included on Close it Quietly hover just around two minutes on average with some clocking in around thirty-to-forty seconds. When she reaches two and a half minutes on the albums closer, This Swirling, it feels like she is reaching prog territory in comparison. The record feels like the work of an artist who has spent years consistently putting in the work. A culmination of constant sharing and experimentation with song craft.

Greta Kline with her band, Frankie Cosmos. Photo: Jackie Lee Young

But with the bands ever-busy touring schedule, Klines output has slowed down to only one or two releases per year as opposed to, say, five with an emphasis on creating the right representation of her creative mind-set at that point in time.

Before we were a real band I was just putting out music every month, says Kline of the process of releasing music at this point in her life. Every time I made a demo I was putting it out. Now it seems like so much less to me. In the past it seemed like I was putting out everything I thought of. Now its like, Ill write ten songs and one of them will make it onto an album.

With someone as prolific as Kline is, the emphasis on chiseling time out to record amidst the recording and touring cycle has put things into perspective. I think my time at home has a different meaning to me now, she explains. Because we tour so much of most years. When Im at home, I really want to be working on something. For us, this past Winter was that. Just being able to record feels different than when youre touring. It just feels like precious time.

With so many ideas being brought to the table, she has found a real partnership with her band, whose contributions to the new album provide the right amounts of impact and pathos when required.

I feel like weve, over the years, developed a really good style of communication with each other. We have more of a streamlined way of communicating. Its always hard because its four people talking about what we should do with a song, Kline explains. Something that I really appreciate about my bandis they know when a song doesnt need to be added to. There are a couple of solo songs on the album where they were like, Yeah, I dont think we can add anything to this. Then when they do have something to add, theyre like, Yeah, maybe we could add this there. That makes me trust them. Theyre not greedy players (laughs).

In a way, being a fan of Klines music brings a sort of reliable constant to your life. As every five or six months or so, you are bound to hear a continuation of her story through a collection of short songs that will catch you up on how she is feeling at that given time. Its like a conversation is resuming after being interrupted. I ask Kline if she views each song cycle in this way.

I dont even think about the collections of songs as theyre going to be an album, Kline says. I think it does function in the way that youre saying where you get all of these snapshots and of course you have more of an understanding on a bigger thing because its a bunch of short things. But I think it could be any bunch of short songs, its just whatever I have. I think theyre connected because theyre from a similar time in my life. I write about the same stuff over and over, so that will also make them a little more similar or connected in some way. I dont necessarily think about the way the songs are working together to represent something, its more that each one is a small moment and if you want to you can piece them together in some deeper understanding of life, or my life, or whatever.

Make sure to catch Frankie Cosmos on tour this Fall.

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Greta Kline of Frankie Cosmos on slowing down (to a certain point) - Metro US