Domino Kirke’s music sounds a lot like reuniting with your oldest and most important friend—yourself. In many ways, listening to her music resembles the internal conversation you needed to have in order to keep growing. The UK-born and New York-based singer, songwriter, producer, doula, and mother encodes feelings of nostalgia, longing, regret, anxiety, acceptance, and love within the threads of a tender sonic pastiche colored by soft piano, lilting orchestration, electronic warmth, and intimate vocal delivery.

Now, she explores life’s most important turning points on her second full-length LP, Most Familiar Star.

“This whole album is about coming back to yourself and meeting you where you are,” she notes. “Pretty much every song addresses loss of self and later renewal. The core themes are grieving who you used to be pre-family, pre-marriage, and pre-parenthood and then reuniting with parts of yourself that you’d perhaps lost while trying to understand how the landscape of your life looks post-change.” 

Domino Kirke’s music sounds a lot like reuniting with your oldest and most important friend—yourself. In many ways, listening to her music resembles the internal conversation you needed to have in order to keep growing. The UK-born and New York-based singer, songwriter, producer, doula, and mother encodes feelings of nostalgia, longing, regret, anxiety, acceptance, and love within the threads of a tender sonic pastiche colored by soft piano, lilting orchestration, electronic warmth, and intimate vocal delivery.

She goes on, “We’re all deeply creative, but we’re also really invested in being attentive parents. We wonder, ‘Can we do it all?’ A lot of the songs are about this central question. Most people attempt to become parents in silos and corners of themselves without art, creativity, or community. That’s impossible. I believe parents need to be witnessed by each other, communities, and themselves.”

The single “Not There” [feat. Angel Olsen] revolves around a ghostly Sharon Van Etten sample. The loop echoes alongside Domino’s vulnerable intonation, and Angel counters with a striking vocal of her own. Ethereal guitar twists around a steady beat as saxophone wails in the background. Locking into a hypnotic cadence on the chorus, Domino repeats, “It’s not there.”

“It references family, conception, and questioning the person you chose,” she reveals. “You can be with someone for a life and do insane things with them like having kids but still feel unsure. I was speaking to the father of my firstborn.”

A light acoustic guitar arpeggio tiptoes between piano and hazy electronics on “Teething” co-written by Timo Ellis. Strings underline a promise, “I’m not leaving.”

“‘Teething’ is about hanging in there and waiting for someone to bloom, blossom, or grow up,” she goes on. “For me, ‘Teething’ was really about watching myself become an adult. I’m coming-of-age.”

Stark piano sets the tone for the opener “City” with a bright melody punctuated jazz-y horns. She exhales a luminous hook through her high register. “The lyrics dive into an old vision of New York and what the city means to me,” she says. “It's also about my relationship with my now-husband. I was raised in New York, so I’m thinking, ‘Maybe this guy won’t be able to take care of me in a city where I’ve taken care of myself for so long.’” 

Dreamy strings belie the brokenhearted catharsis of “Secret Growing.” She sighs, “I had childhood sexual abuse, and I talk about that. I’m essentially speaking to young Domino. The last section goes into this idea of parenting differently than I was parented, and meeting people in life that force you to look at who you are more closely.” 

Then, there’s “Most Familiar Star”—another Ellis co-write. Her vocals practically melt into an ethereal soundscape anchored by luminous keys, wistful harmonies, and dynamic guitars. As the bridge builds, her voice booms, “We’re on our way.”

 “It’s about coming back,” she declares. “It goes back to a relationship that didn’t pan out. I’m reuniting with someone from my past who showed me where I am in my present. I didn’t need him to see where I am now; I needed to see it. It felt important for this to be the title.”

Ultimately, Domino might just make you love yourself a little more.

“When people listen to this, I really want them to listen to the words carefully,” she leaves off. “Fans will often tell me, ‘Wow, I didn’t know I needed to hear you say that.’ I hope these songs are a balm for your soul, but also force you to maybe go to therapy,” she laughs.