Black Dresses | |
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| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1] |
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Black Dresses was a Canadiannoise pop duo consisting of Ada Rook and Devi McCallion, formed in 2017.[2][3] Their debut album,Wasteisolation, was released independently in 2018. The duo released three additional albums,Thank You (2019),Love and Affection for Stupid Little Bitches (2019), andPeaceful as Hell (2020), before breaking up in 2020 in response to harassment received by McCallion. Despite maintaining their declaration of disbandment in 2020, Black Dresses released three additional albums,Forever in Your Heart (2021),Forget Your Own Face (2022), andLaughingfish (2024). Upon releasingLaughingfish, the band announced that it would be their final album.[4][5][6]
Black Dresses was formed in 2017 by self-taught musicians Ada Rook and Devi McCallion after Rook sent McCallion a beat onTwitter.[7] They released their first single, a cover ofM.I.A.'s "Paper Planes", in December 2017.[8]
The duo released their debut album,Wasteisolation, in April 2018.[9] The album was created entirely through online collaboration, with McCallion based inToronto and Rook inVancouver.[10]Wasteisolation received positive coverage byNoisey,[11]Stereogum[12] andThe Fader who called it "a raw, abrasive, and deliriously catchy album about surviving astrans women in an antagonistic world."[10] This was followed shortly by the EPHELL IS REAL, released in October of the same year.[13] The EP featured inStereogum's Best EPs of 2018 list,[14] with the duo also featuring in the publication's list of best new artists.[15]
In February 2019, Black Dresses released their second studio album,Thank You.[16] In May, they releasedDreams Come True 2019, aremix EP consisting of new versions of severalWasteisolation tracks.[17] The band released their third studio album,Love and Affection for Stupid Little Bitches in August 2019.[18] The album was reviewed positively, withPitchfork's Colin Joyce awarding an album a rating of 7.7,[3] andNoisey including the record on its "22 Best Albums You May Have Missed in 2019" list.[19]
In March 2020, a full-length animated video for theWasteisolation track "Nausea" was released. On 13 April 2020, the second anniversary ofWasteisolation's release, Black Dresses released their fourth LP,Peaceful as Hell.[20] The album received a rating of 7.6 fromPitchfork, with Leah Mandel stating, "Especially with the world's hellishness currently blaring at us, every social disparity spotlighted and exacerbated, loneliness and doubt deepened to an extreme degree,Peaceful as Hell is perfect medicine".[2]
The duo announced via Twitter on May 26, 2020, that Black Dresses would be disbanding, citing the harassment received by McCallion as the reason.[21] The band's music was also temporarily taken off streaming services.[22] in July 2020, after the duo disbanded, a remix of100 gecs song, "745 Sticky", was released on the remix album1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues. On December 20, 2020, a new single titled "World Peace" featuring ESPer99 was announced on Twitter,[23] which was recorded in 2019. The single was released the next day on December 21, 2020.[24][25] McCallion and Rook also continued to release solo music, with McCallion using the alias Girls Rituals and Rook using her real name.[10]
On February 14, 2021, the duo released their fifth studio album,Forever in Your Heart, announcing it 30 minutes prior to its release. Despite the release, the group stated "We're no longer a band unfortunately. Regardless, we've decided to keep putting out music."[26] Ten days later,Backxwash announced the tracklist for her albumI Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses, which was to feature Rook and McCallion on separate tracks,[27] although after tracklist changes McCallion did not appear on the album.
In August 2021, Black Dresses' music returned to streaming services.[28] In December 2021, Black Dresses appeared on the holiday compilation albumChristmasasaurus X2 with their version of the song "We Are Children of the Light" by Eugene O'Reilley.[29][30]
On February 14, 2022, the duo released their sixth studio album,Forget Your Own Face, exactly one year after their previous album released, to overall positive reception.[31] Hannah Jocelyn on Pitchfork stated: "For a band that often writes about internalized shame and self-loathing, the resentment at the heart of this record feels more outwardly pointed."[32] On September 30, 2022, the duo released a cover of theScene Queen track "Pink Panther".[33] An announcement was posted on their Twitter for their cover of "Kill All Your Friends",[34] which was released the same day on October 17, 2022.[35]
On May 3, 2023, Black Dresses posted an announcement for a new single titled "Gutz" featuring Rirugiliyangugili.[36] The music video for the song was released the next day on May 4, 2023.[37] That August, they collaborated with Canadian Electro-pop bandPurity Ring for their single "Shines".[38] They released a remix of "Got Damn Star" bySo Drove on September 29, 2023, which featuresKevin Jz Prodigy,Kornbread Jeté, and Yung Onyx.[39]
The duo released their seventh studio album,Laughingfish, on May 20, 2024. Upon release, they announced that it would be their final album.[4][5][6]
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Rook-who previously went by rooksfeather onSoundcloud andBandcamp[40]-releases music currently under her own name.[41] She has made 13 solo albums to date.[42] Her earlier albums, up until her 2018 album shed blood are ambient, after shed blood she shifted into her iconic industrial sounding music.[43] in 2022, she released an album titledUgly Death No Redemption Angel Curse I Love You, featuring ESPer99.[44] The album includes samples of the 2007 animeIce.[45] In 2025, she released the solo albumUnkillable Angel.[46]
Rook has an alternate solo project called Crisis Sigil.[47]
She is also a member of the pop duo Rook & Nomie.[48]
Rook and Ash Nerve created a duo group, Angel Electronics in 2022, releasing a nine song EP,Ultra Paradise, in 2023.[49]
She also creates video games, most notably releasingFallow in 2021.[50] She worked on Sticky Zeitgeist, along with Porpentine Charity Heartscape, Devi McCallion, and others.[51][52]
She acted in the movie Castration Movie by Louise Weard.[53] She will also be featuring in the sequel: Castration Movie Anthology ii. Best of Both Worlds[54]
Her music is featured in the 2022 horror filmRed Rooms.[55]
McCallion has released music online since at least 2006, under her own name as well as several different aliases. She released her first album1998 under the alias Eat Babies in 2006, and releasedMeow in 2011.[56][57][58][59]
As Mom, she has released five studio albums, four of which are numbered self-titled releases.[60]
As Girls Rituals, she has released six projects:Reddishness (2015),New Nowhere (2016),Emergency! (2017),I'm Desperate (2018),Crap Shit (2020),[61] andCow (2021).[62] Under Girls Rituals, she also released a single entitled "Black Cloud" in 2017, for which she later released a compilation project featuring seven remixes of the song by various other artists titledBlack Cloud 2021 (2021). McCallion also has two albums under the alias Cats Millionaire:Fun Fun Fun (2013), andI'm So Sorry (2012). She also created two collaboration albums withKatie Dey:Some New Form of Life (2018), andMagic Fire Brain (2020).
She has been a member of several side projects over the years, including the Various Endeavors?[63] She co-produced most of the band's music from 2007 to 2010. She is also a member of Anarchy 99[64] with So Drove. Anarchy 99 has released one studio album,Rockstar Super Heat (2021).
