Whimsical NYC guitar band Like a Doll shares debut self-titled album
'LULLABY ROCK' PROJECT LIKE A DOLL
RELEASE SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM - LISTEN
PLAYING ALBUM RELEASE SHOW AT BROOKLYN’S ALPHAVILLE TONIGHT
FIRST COLLECTION OF SONGS APPROACHES TRAUMA
WITH A SENSE OF WHIMSY
Like a Doll, the project of spirited New York musician Emma Stacher, are excited to share their debut album today, Like a Doll. A record filled with textured string arrangements, springing cowbells, running water and bittersweet lullabies, Like a Doll was recorded at Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s Studio G in December 2020. Birthed in NYC’s ever-evolving guitar music scene, the playful six-piece band brings listeners into their figurative dollhouse and dissects past trauma through what they’ve termed “whimsical dissociation.”
“I really wanted to dive into play and wonder and explore all sorts of feelings in a childlike way through making music,” Emma Stacher says about the creative process behind Like a Doll. “I knew with making this album I wanted to turn my anxiety of feeling ‘like a doll’ into something whimsical and exciting and create a world with my music for people and me to feel safe, reflective, and be whoever and whatever they need to be. Just like a doll.”
STREAM/PURCHASE LIKE A DOLL
LISTEN TO “DON’T THROW YOUR WORDS”
After sitting with the album for the past three years and playing shows within NYC’s music scene that is shaping the sound of modern guitar music, today’s release provides a sense of catharsis for the band as they look to the future. The group – comprised almost entirely of childhood friends – promises listeners that they have already written 'a couple albums' worth’ of new material, so more music is sure to be on the way soon.
A whimsical lullaby rock project fronted and arranged by Emma Stacher, New York City-based Like a Doll takes you on a magical dreamlike journey with the sounds of bells, questions, water, and more and more and more and more…
Emma began forming a live band for the project in 2022 and it evolved into a group almost completely composed of all childhood friends; Isabella Dafonseca and Gabriel Paiano on drums, Daniel Barbrack on bass/synth and Adrian Dilulio on guitar along with Leah Beck on synth, who Emma met at a party in early 2020. Growing up in the East Village, as kids the friends played everything from Ozzy Osborne to Guns and Roses together before parting ways to study music at schools like Berklee College, The New School and Purchase College. The formation of Like a Doll marks a new beginning, but also acts as a reunion of old friends who have been playing on and off together for over a decade.
Like a Doll’s debut single “like a doll” was released 3 years ago through Danger Collective Records’ Forge Rolling Paper. Since their debut, a steady flow of singles has given the world a taste of what’s to come from their forthcoming debut record, aptly named Like a Doll. A collage of found sounds, poignant string arrangements, and reflections on life thus far, Like a Doll was recorded in December 2020 at Greenpoint’s infamous Studio G and engineered, produced, and mixed by Hayden Ticehurst. Tracks like “In the Water Was a Sea, “BE A STAR,” “Where? Here? There!” and “Who’s telling their father” bring listeners into the band’s dollhouse, an immersive world of dissociation.
“The name “Like a Doll” comes from the anxiety of feeling like a doll. I wanted to turn this sensation which comes from a traumatic childhood into something positive,” says Emma. “I call it whimsical dissociation. I felt the need to reclaim my inner child and lean into being childlike in a way that I wasn't able to. I push into that lyrically through nursery rhyme-like phrases, chords that evoke the sound of a question, and sounds that pull you out of the present into a journey. I want my music to bring you to a place where you can be contemplative, meditative and safe.”
