Crush Songs

What’s led Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O to release these lo-fi bedroom tunes from 2006-07 in 2014? Perhaps it’s the success of “The Moon Song,” her Oscar-nominated track from the Spike Jonze film Her, or maybe with enough time and distance she feels more confident letting the world hear her coo so nakedly. Tape hiss or a white noise generator appears to accompany her on the double-tracked “Comes the Night.” These sketches of intimacy (15 songs in 25 minutes) have a pleasurably unfinished feel. You’re forgiven if you find yourself wishing “NYC Baby” and “Other Side” went on longer, but it’s the entire point of this project. Karen O says she made it at age 27, when she was feeling like she’d never find true love, just an endless string of hard crushes.