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Kaki King’s distinct musical style — which blends alternative rock, jazz and whatever else she’s feeling — has been heard on a number of albums. She has also played in the off-Broadway house band The Blue Man Group, has been a musical guest on the late-night talk show circuit and she contributed music to Sean Penn’s adventure film, Into the Wild (2007).¹

Enigmatic guitarist/singer Kaki King recently left her cushy major label to release her newest record, Dreaming of Revenge, on Velour Music, the indie label that released her first record. A pre-release leak added buzz to the album, and it has been steadily getting noticed for its balance of virtuosic instrumental tracks and evocative songs splashed with King’s angelic voice.²

Not only is Kaki King a guitar goddess (just ask Rollingstone who named “Guitar God” in 2006 by Rollingstone), her new album proves her introspective yet coy song-writing skills. Though all of “Dreaming of Revenge” has a sleepy, lullaby quality, “2 O’Clock” seems perfectly crafted for the picture above.³

“Dreaming of Revenge” has all of Kaki King’s greatness with a little more vocalization than previous albums. Producer Malcolm Burn had visions to make the album catchy, and did it in a way that doesn’t take away from Kaki King’s genius guitar playing.⁴

Burn’s and King’s stated goal for the album is to record more “pop” songs, but construct them in a way that still sounds like Kaki King music. And there are some overtly poppy tunes on Revenge, which may not please some of her older fans.⁵