Baby Alpaca is a psych-folk duo that consists of lead singer Chris Kittrell (who also designs a hand-painted knitwear line called Beautiful Dreamers x Baby Alpaca) and guitarist Zach McMillan. Their choice of band name makes them sound like a distant sonic cousin of Tame Impala, and there are some noteworthy similarities: dreamy lead male vocalist, pyschedelic instrumentation, visually stunning and (occasionally) cinematic music videos. Bianca SeidmanThe Deli's notes that Kittrell's "slow-burn ballads and simple pop songs have a romantic, airy feeling, but his bigger message is a striving adventure story... his gauzy alt-R&B is a mixture of vintage and bold modern with a gentle approach".
But Baby Alpaca's lyrics indicate that Kittrell's external appearance - Vogue's Jacob Brown notes that his "wide, curious eyes and blond curls vaguely recall the band’s ungulate namesake" - masks a decidedly unruly inner nature. On "Wild Child", Kitrell sings, with his soft, hypnotic baritone: 'I'm feelin' wild child/ Drivin' with a blind fold/ Don't need a hand to hold/ Don't need a hand to hold/ I've got a wild side'.
But its "Roller Coaster" that really pushes the envelope, with its unabashedly direct sexual lyricism:
'You make me have super-sexual feelings
Thinkin' I'm in love
My heart went up to the ceiling/ Like Cupid struck me at your touch
Inhibitions/ I wasn't born yesterday
It's so delicious/ The taste of innocence drifting away
Strip it away
Hands tied up in the air like a roller coaster
Kiss me don't care/ That we're getting closer
Love me with no limits
It's just a ride and we're in it'
OUT's Alex Panisch notes that the song, with its sexually-charged lyrics, "smooth, luscious beats and Kittrell’s velvety voice ...make for a track steeping in unbridled eroticism". As Kittrell to explained to Noisey, the track was directly inspired by an exceptional sexual experience:
“You know the feeling you get after amazing sex? All dizzy, weak in the knees, about to pass out. It reminds me of being at a theme park. Carnival games, swing chairs, wooden roller coasters. High on cotton candy and Icees. One turn behind getting onto the ride and screaming hands in the air until it's over."
But Baby Alpaca can also be contemplative, abstract and existentialist, which they demonstrate beautifully with "Sea of Dreams" (there's also an up-tempo remix by Turboito):
'Dawn's growing from the seaReflections lilac in the cloudsSea lion's black eyes awaken meTakes me to the sea of dreamsWe wade in a sea of dreamsSwimming free in the mountain breezeFar out where it's dark and deepDawn's horizon sets us freeOrange air balloons in my eyesDig deep, lift into the skyHe swam, dug them from the sandWe float with our dreams in handWe wade in a sea of dreamsSwimming free in the mountain breezeFar out where it's dark and deepDawn's horizon sets us free'
As Kittrell revealed to , the track was inspired by a picturesque sunrise swim on Whidbey Island: "The instrumentation has that flat calm of morning water ...I like how the guitar lightly chugs along like the ripples small waves make. And the vocals, being calm and easily sung, represent that feeling, the feeling of walking on the shore when the sun is rising".
Baby Alpaca have only released one EP and a collection of remixes (Strictly Sexual) so far - I've definitely waiting to see a full-length representation of their aesthetic vision in a future LP.
