Late last month, Indie Pop singer/songwriter Shannon Garcia released her compelling recording debut, fnExists. The four-song release is credited to Shannon Garcia and the Taken and she performs with a full band live, but, on the EP, she plays most of the instruments herself.
Garcia moved to Cincinnati from Raleigh, North Carolina and in 2016 began pursuing her musical interests as a way to deal with the emotional fallout from the end of a relationship. She met a few musical-minded residents of the Queen City — including WHY? drummer Josiah Wolf (who produced fnExists), WHY? guitarist Matt Meldon and singer/pianist Jess Lamb — and took lessons from them to learn how to play their respective primary instruments and expand her instrumental arsenal.
Garcia’s creative journey resulted in some captivating songs. A sense of heartbreak and vulnerability imbues fnExists with a melancholic aura throughout, even when the tempo runs upbeat and the melodies are lilting and catchy, as on the Chamber Pop leadoff track “Question.” Garcia’s enchanting voice has an irresistibly haunted quality that adds a cinematic dimension to tracks like “Seventeen” and “Reminders,” both of which sway like ethereal ’50s girl-group ballads as heard on a dusty old jukebox in a decimated ancient diner that’s been rediscovered after the apocalypse. Reflective and ultimately hopeful and reassuring in its catharsis, fnExists is described as a “passion project,” something that shines through with every note.
Garcia is doing a string of tour dates to promote fnExists, including a pair of Cincinnati shows. On Saturday, June 22, she’ll play The Listing Loon (4124 Hamilton Ave., Northside). Music begins at 8 p.m .with Andy Holmes. She’s also performing at The Comet (4579 Hamilton Ave., Northside, cometbar.com) on Sunday, June 23 at 11 p.m. Both shows are free.
Visit shannongarciaandthetaken.com for more info.
