Little Kid

Over their opening ten years Toronto's Little Kid operated largely unnoticed, gradually cultivating a loyal audience through an earthy folk sound laced with Christian mysticism and lo-fi experimental rock. Under singer-songwriter Kenny Boothby the group maintained a strict D.I.Y. approach, issuing a succession of limited cassettes, EPs, singles and five well-received albums before aligning with Brooklyn's Solitaire Recordings for the 2020 release Transfiguration Highway.

The project originated at the close of the 2000s from Boothby's bedroom tapes and initially incorporated an assortment of occasional contributors. Although Boothby has never regarded Little Kid as a conventional Christian outfit, biblical imagery has threaded through his lyrics from the outset, appearing across the early records Logic Songs in 2011 and River of Blood in 2013. Unconventional studio methods likewise became a hallmark, coloring the group's fusion of folk, country and saturated indie rock. Midway through the decade a steady rhythm section coalesced around Broderick Germain on drums and Paul Vroom on bass, both of whom performed on the 2016 album Flowers.

Sun Milk arrived the next year and marked the first recorded appearance of eventual member Megan Lunn. Still operating as a cult act, the band had nevertheless assembled a sizable following and appeared alongside touring outfits such as Car Seat Headrest and Half Waif. Further evolution occurred on the 2018 pastoral album Might As Well with My Soul, which incorporated touches of alt-country, indie pop and expansive Dylan-inspired songwriting. Boothby simultaneously pursued his interest in singular home recordings, inaugurating the limited cassette series Botched Restorations in 2019 whereby fans could request ten catalog songs that he would then capture live onto a sixty-minute bedroom tape.

Following a decade of steady output and development, Little Kid secured its first label affiliation with Solitaire Recordings in 2020. The Brooklyn indie issued the ambitious Transfiguration Highway as the band's inaugural release, then reissued the 2017 album Sun Milk the subsequent year.