Kindelan - After Before | Sun 13th July | 5:30pm

An artist with an innovative ear for guitar-driven arrangements, poignant lyricism and a deep understanding of jazz harmony, Kindelan returns with her second offering of 2025. Supported by Youth Music’s ‘Next Gen’ Fund, she’s proud to share her double single ‘After Before’ on Thursday 3rd July via Bridge The Gap. Releasing digitally and in a limited run of 7-inch records, the project sees Kindelan deepen her distinctive, alt-soul blend, charging it with a grittier, alternative attitude that sits somewhere between the intimacy of Lianne La  Havas and the thought-provoking songwriting of Madison Cunningham.

Based in Yorkshire and part of an ever-evolving musical community in Leeds that has given rise to the likes of B-ahwe and August Charles, Kindelan’s captivating 2023 EP, ‘you can reach me if you try’ found widespread praise for its boundary-pushing songwriting, lush instrumentation and wonderful vocal work. Supported by BBC Introducing on 6 Music and Radio 1, Atwood Magazine and DMY, she was also invited to perform on the BBC Introducing Stage at Latitude, and to record at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London across 2023-24.

'After Before' is a project that tells two sides of the same story in reverse. Acting as the ‘after’, ‘Cigarettes’ throws listeners into the disorienting chaos at the end of a love story, where everything has been destroyed, whilst 'Wish I Wrote A Love Song' cuts back to ‘before’ - when the same love was light and easy. Returning to work once again with serial collaborator and trusted producer Ed Allen, the music feels like a natural evolution from her earlier work, rooted around Kindelan’s signature finger-picked guitar tones and immersive vocal harmonisations, but with an added edge and agitation to boot. She shares:

“I’d been working on a handful of songs in the studio with Ed before he moved to London. Around this time, I was on the bus listening to all the songs I had and considering which to finish before he left, when I suddenly realised that ‘Cigarettes’ and ‘Wish I Wrote A Love Song’ tell two sides of the same story. It was then that I began dreaming up the world where these two songs live audibly, visually and physically on either side of each other.”

The visual elements of the project are essential parts of Kindelan’s storytelling vision, with an integrated approach across the artworks, vinyl design and music videos. Both tracks are accompanied by music videos directed by Whiting Visuals, with the narrative originally inspired by the line “playing house in the basement” from ‘Wish I Wrote a Love Song’. 

“I decided to embody this and physically build a ‘perfect home’, with everything in its perfect place, in the artwork and music video. This neat, tidy and cared for space is intended to directly reflect the love it houses. This same space is then weathered and destroyed, with candles burnt down, flowers dried, wine spilt, and books ripped, to directly reflect the neglect and disregard for this same love at the end of the story.” 

Picking up a guitar at age 8 and beginning to write and perform original music shortly after,

Kindelan moved to Leeds to study songwriting at Leeds Conservatoire. Still living in the city, she’s taken the time to explore her craft and sound while immersing herself in the

city’s thriving music scene. Her music draws diverse influences from the likes of songwriting giants like Jeff Buckley, whilst taking cues from the soulful approaches of Jordan Rakei, Olive Jones and Maro. 

‘After Before’ will release on Thursday 3rd July via Bridge The Gap.