Photos by Riley Natalova / Words by Willa Rudolph
On Friday, October 25th, NYC based band Whisper Doll released their debut album, Perfume Garden. Echoing the likes of The Sundays, Katie Jane Garside, and Mazzy Star and touching on themes of spirituality within nature and music, connection and relationships, coming of age and living under the patriarchy, Perfume Garden is a collection of 11 songs full of magical images, precious moments, drifting dreams, and watery, flowing words.
Whisper Doll’s live lineup is: Fiona Tagami (vocals, guitar), Kara Lu (bass, backing vocals), Shawn Majeed (drums), and Maya Lagman(lead guitar). However, alongside Fiona on guitars and vocals, Perfume Garden was recorded by producer Van Markiton (including mix/mastering engineering) with a shifting array of musicians including James Kopp and Tim Delaney (bass), Koan Roy-Meighoo and Jorge Gonzalez (guitar), Charles Eastman and Thomas Avery (keys), Anthony Smith (drums), and Marla Feeney (violin) in Atlanta—which is where Fiona’s from and where her studio is located.
More music is planned from Whisper Doll’s current NYC lineup. But for now check out the Atlanta-made and NYC–replanted Perfume Garden below—the band have shows on Halloween in Queens (DM for address) and 11/7 at Heaven Can Wait in Manhattan’s East Village—and you’ll be glad you did!
The Deli spoke with Fiona Tagami about the brand new album:
WR: How long have y’all (NYC lineup) been playing together?
Fiona: This band has been around for about 6 months! Kara (bassist) and I were in a band before this called Heavenside. I was writing Perfume Garden throughout that time and that band inspired some of the elements on the song “Doe Eyes.” The people who recorded the album with me in Atlanta have been some of my closest friends since high school. We have been in various bands together through the years and we were in a band up until I left for New York.
WR: What’s your current favorite song off the album?
Fiona: My favorite song right now is the first song on the record, “Divine Child.” That song is the most exciting for me to listen to right now since we finished it a bit more recently than the others.
It’s a strophic song, meant to lure someone into the “Perfume Garden.” I love the way the bridge explodes into this orchestra of vocals, piano, violin, and guitar. I had a clear idea of the violin melody I wanted for the bridge.
When we recorded the track, I hummed the melody, the violinist played it back to me, and it fit exactly like I wanted it to. That blew my mind. I’m very lucky to know so many talented people in Atlanta who are down to record with me. I play guitar but I’m not a trained musician by any means, so it’s so important and helpful to surround myself with people who are, and who can listen to me hum out different instrumentals or say some dumb shit like “play the drums like a thunderstorm” and completely deliver.
My friend Van Markiton produces all of my music. We were also in a couple of bands throughout high school. He’s so talented and I couldn’t have made this record without him. Throughout this process, he was patient and kind with me and powered through so many 12 hr recording days, all while finishing college. Every songwriter needs someone like him. One of my favorite contributions of his is the soundscape he made at the end of “i will always cling to her.” I wanted a sort of haunted-sounding crescendo, and that’s exactly what he made. He brought out this cool vocal effects processing pedal called Korg Kaoss Pad. We messed around with it after a session one night and it added so much. I am so proud that Perfume Garden gets to be the first album he’s produced.
WR: What’s your favorite lyric from Perfume Garden, and why?
Fiona: My favorite lyric is from the title track “Perfume Garden”: “The words on your grave are the words I live by.”
That track is about having a sort of existential and religious relationship with nature and music. I grew up in the South, but my family isn’t religious in the slightest, which was a bit alienating for me because I was surrounded by all sorts of churches and visited them frequently for music events and choir performances. I found what I assumed was religion among music and nature. I listened to a lot of Nick Drake in high school, and he remains one of my favorite artists. I was intrigued by the fact that there are no known video recordings of him, since he died before his music became big. I was pretty angsty in high school–especially over COVID, and I felt a kinship for him through his music and longed for a time when everything wasn’t so easy to document. On Nick Drake’s grave is a lyric from his song “From the Morning”- “Now we rise and we are everywhere.”
The lyric in “Perfume Garden,” “The words on your grave are the words I live by,” references this. I connect a lot with that Nick Drake song, and listening to it makes me feel closer to how I felt in my overgrown backyard, writing and listening to music. I felt connected to the world and took a lot of comfort in knowing that when I die, I will return to the earth. That’s the most spiritual I have ever felt and it’s what I assume people feel when they connect to a god.
WR: Why name it Perfume Garden?
Fiona: It’s what I imagine the church to be in this religion I’ve made up in my head. The place where all of these spiritual experiences happen for me.
WR: Dream blunt rotation?
Fiona: Would love to get high with the 2 Maries from the movie Daisies. We would have so much fun.
Dive into the ethereal woodland that Whisper Doll lives inside, dreaming under the branches of a fruit tree, singing her mystical and poignant songs. Keep up with them here!
Shows coming up on Halloween in Queens and 11/7 in Manhattan (fliers below)
