Cullen Omori

Vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Cullen Omori offers an individual perspective on indie pop with his darkly tuneful and atmospheric songs. Omori was one of the founders of the Smith Westerns, who formed in 2007 and became an indie success story. However, after Soft Will (2013) received a cool reception, creative differences split the group. Omari took a day job in a hospital and began adding to a batch of songs he'd started writing before the band's collapse. Working with Adam Gil, Omori began laying down lo-fi demos of his new tunes, which were a calmer departure from the Smith Westerns' garage-glam fusion. He struck a deal with Sub Pop and recorded New Misery, released in 2016. ~ Mark Deming