Exclusive track premiere of ‘Colina’ by Saint Christopher, taken from his debut album (out today), ‘Pop Shit.’

The project of Los Angeles musician Christopher Kalil (formerly of Arms Akimbo) — shares his debut LP, ‘Pop Shit.’ Described as an honest portrayal of the ups and downs of functioning within the music industry and creating while popular culture is constantly changing, ‘Pop Shit’ aims to be a genuinely great un-ironic pop record, and that aim is fully achieved.

Speaking about his new record’s focus track and final single, ‘Colina,’ Chris wrote: “Every pop album needs a sappy love ballad, I don’t make the rules. One of those songs where you stop playing it cool and just dive head-first into the corny, by-the-numbers, Hallmark version of love. Sometimes there’s still some truth in the platitudes. The message of Colina is simple: life sucks but love is beautiful. When the bad times come it’s better to go through them together.”

On his new LP and the idea behind it, he continued: “The music industry that I grew up believing in is completely and totally dead. The path we were told to follow has been razed completely and all of the money is long gone. The best advice from industry professionals has devolved into hustle culture nonsense where they swap the word “entrepreneur” with “artist.”

Since when do all these musicians make sketch comedy videos? What the hell is going on? Where is the music??? Last year, my frustration boiled over. I had quit the band I had been a part of for seven years and pretty much tore my life down to the ground floor.

It felt like I was finally seeing things clearly for the first time. The ambitious side of the music business IS NOT where the art lives. This industry used to be about bringing attention to important art. Now it’s about calling art that gets attention “important.” And for artists, it’s success by any means necessary.

This is not what I signed up for.

Music isn’t supposed to be a tool for personal gain. It’s a tool for sharing experience and reinforcing humanity by showing that the things we go through and feel are not unique to us – that needs to be defended.

I decided I would fight back in my own way by opening myself up and speaking as much truth as I can. I made my life as small as possible and committed to putting every last resource I had into creating something totally authentic to who I am. I wanted to use the form of expansive, high production value musicality and pop sensibility to tell small and specific stories of vulnerability and genuine attempts at living honestly.

This process culminated in ‘Pop Shit,’ an 11-song record written and recorded by myself and my producer, Martin Cooke.

The message of ‘Pop Shit’ is not that I have the solution or that I am the solution. Far from it. (Seriously, I am NOT the guy!) It’s simply that we as an art community (creators and consumers) have a problem and it needs to be pointed out, talked about, and sorted through. This album is just me articulating what I think the issues are based on my own experiences in a way that is hopefully entertaining and encouraging. At the end of the day, the thing I care about most is making my silly little songs with integrity. If anything I’m saying feels right to you, then hopefully you can give some of these songs a chance and see how they make you feel. If my music rings true, then maybe we’re onto something here and we can start talking about what to do next. If not, then maybe I’m just part of the problem.”

Headline photo: Chris Braun

Saint Christopher Instagram / YouTube