Kmoto has released “Save Your Slouch”, a new single that takes a direct indie rock route and gives her voice space to cut through. There is a rough edge to the track from the start, but it never sounds messy. The guitars are a big part of why this works. They bring a heavy and haunting atmosphere, while the drums keep the song moving with a steady push. The production gives both parts space, then lets the noise build when the track needs more pressure. It is a simple setup, but Kmoto gets a lot from it.
Her singing is full of charachter. She makes the words easy to catch and there is real emotion behind them without turning the song into something overdone. The lyrics look at frustration, excuses and the problem of telling others to act while sometimes doing the same thing ourselves. Later, the song opens into something wider, touching on the anger and helplessness that can come from seeing painful events in the world. That gives the track more weight without making it complicated.
There is also something honest about how this release has grown from a more stripped-back song into this louder version. Kmoto wanted the music to carry more pressure and the guitars do that job well. It also shows an artist willing to push her sound forward without losing the personal side of the writing.
This is a strong introduction to Kmoto for anyone who likes indie rock with darker edges. We liked the vocals, the guitars and that heavy atmosphere and the song stayed with us after it ended. There is passion here and we love it.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Australian born, SE London based artist Kmoto is the project of songwriter Cassandra Rutledge.She works to make a living and is making music to get through. Not of the youth, but too oldnot to get it done.
After spending her childhood in Sydney, Cassandra’s family moved to rural Queensland whenshe was twelve. Having left behind the school band, choir and music lessons that had fuelledher imagination, she began writing songs to navigate the isolation and keep music in her life.She began writing songs on a guitar that couldn’t stay in tune and was missing a string. Shecompiled homemade mixtapes from late-night radio and ABC Rage, building a musicaleducation of her own. Later, discovering Björk’sDebutand Portishead’sDummyopened up aworld where melody, atmosphere and experimentation could happily coexist.
Returning to Brisbane in her early twenties, Cassandra began playing bass in an informal houseband while recording her own songs on a four-track recorder. After travelling she then settled inLondon at the turn of the millennium, those home recordings gradually evolved into Kmoto. Aband formed around the songs, leading to the DIY releaseDeserts, Horses and Oceansand gigsacross London’s indie circuit before work, life and changing priorities brought the project to aclose in the mid-2000s.
In 2009, feeling increasingly disconnected from corporate life and aware of her creative selfslipping away, Cassandra left her job without a clear plan for what came next. She and herpartner travelled through India and Nepal for six months, using the distance to reset. Onreturning to London, she retrained as a recording engineer at SAE, drawn back to sound in amore practical way. Kmoto briefly resurfaced through experimental home recordings andoccasional live solo shows, before work in film and tv sound, alongside starting a family, onceagain took priority.
2020 brought another reset, and with it the space to return to music as an essential element ofbalance in life. Through a chance work connection, Kmoto began collaborating with multi-instrumentalist and producer Louis Takooree (Bleach Lab), finally realising a project that hadbeen waiting for years. The result was the alt-country-leaning EP Here and Now, released onvinyl in 2023, drawing influence from records like Beck’s Sea Change.
Since then, a series of singles has shaped a second EP, moving further into experimental andtextured indie rock territory, includingA Short Film About Love,Brave War (you will believe)andThe Soft Bulletin Report. The latest releaseSave Your Slouchleans into a more direct,refined sound, with mixing and mastering by Brett Shaw.
Work has also begun on a third EP, continuing to evolve the balance between atmosphere,melody and experimentation that defines Kmoto. With no-one else to impress and nothing tolose, it moves entirely on its own terms.
