#Trina Kae

[thepermanentrainpress]

UNDER THE RADAR: FEBRUARY 2023

1) Francis Arevalo - “I Can’t Wait”

A searing passion and power defines Arevalo’s new single. Reworked and refined, it was written about “facing one’s own mortality after a difficult mental health struggle,” and circles around notions of commitment, purpose and community. His cultural, lived experiences and advocacy for mental health and BIPOC artists are reflected in his work; he has agency over decisions made in the present, and chooses to forge ahead while being a rally cry for those around him. It’s a groovy hip hop track with cascading live instruments (drums, guitar, bass, keys, turntables) and fervent delivery—I’m not surprised to read that he has a slam poetry background.   

I am not a big rap/hip hop listener, but I was drawn towards the uplifting wordplay (“we could be brave with the hurt / you’re here / there is reason for birth”) that is not just about oneself, but both blood and chosen family. Manifesting dreams requires clarity, visualization, gratitude and mindfulness, traits that aren’t lacking in this artist. Expect his debut album 0427 Act I: HEATCHECK! this April. 

Written by: Chloe Hoy

2) Ayla Tesler-Mabé - “Give Me A Sign?”

This track has a very funky and upbeat sound. It's a powerful mix of R&B, rock, and even jazz, creating a soulful style. There's a lot of pep and energy in both the music and vocals here. Ayla expresses herself with a tone of voice and emotion mature beyond her years. The lyrics tell a tale of a relationship that isn't all it should be - the singer really wants things to be all they could be, if the other party could just "give me a sign." This is a song with a timeless vibe finely engineered for a very enjoyable listen. 

This is her debut single as a solo artist and it shows a lot of spirit and promise. It's a great introduction that will leave one hooked. If this is just a first taste of her upcoming EP, I'm very excited to see what else is to come.

Written by: Cazzy Lewchuk

3) Stay Lunar - “i like it when you’re around”

I just love Stay Lunar—they create all-around winners. A song celebrating friendship and the comfort and love received during times of need, it still has a bright glow. Heavier on the guitars and drums, it comes off as more of a peppier indie rock cut as opposed to their pop-centered, synth-laden past. It can be hard to express our feelings to those around us, much less be honest with ourselves; the ebb and flow is heard in the tone, narrating long-term adversity (“i know it's over but we're living in it / some things they take a while to leave”) and the striking contrast between solitude and company.

It’s so easy to be enveloped in their music. The Bristol band is set to release an EP later this year.

Written by: Chloe Hoy

4) Trina Kae - "Paris in the Fall”

Enamored in a new place of possibility at every corner, the Okanagan’s Trina Kae has fond memories of backpacking around the world post-college. Set in Paris, the song captures wonder and discovery in beauty only found through travel—and maybe some accompanying spirits ("Remember when you were dreaming beside the Seine / Lost again in a cabernet lens”). Her breathy voice cuts deep as it’s almost woeful in tone, nostalgic in the “glow of being immersed in the moment.” I like the alt pop layering; not flashy but achieves the airy and wistful mood it intends with sharp beats entering midway through.

In addition, the use of lyrics in French strengthens the story and reflection. “Paris in the Fall” is appropriately dramatic, but with the magic and intoxicating feeling of an unfamiliar and culturally rich city. Kae’s debut album Narrative is out now.

Written by: Chloe Hoy

5) Flint - “Days & Nights”

Embodying a carefree spirit and a license to party, Tony Rosenberg and Peter Jenner encourage you to leave your troubles at the door. The Brisbane rockers have a controlled punch to their rock n’ roll. It’s anthemic while giving off an air of intrigue, a fast bass line and lyrics that are sang as self-assured statements. The pair has a fun musical style – a matured tone but a refusal to settle (“rearranged my focus and handed in my notice”). “Days & Nights” is a reminder that older and wiser are not always synonymous in life, and good times will triumph if we prioritize them.

Days & Nights by Flint.

Written by: Chloe Hoy

6) Glow Motive - “Show Me You're Here” 

This song does the not-easy task of being soft with a low tempo, but also groovy and complexly crafted. The complicated arrangement is appropriate for the subject matter - a meditation on grief and trying to find their presence in dealing with the loss of a family member. It is layered and clearly recorded with love and sincerity. One can really hear the difficult, sometimes contradictory feelings in the singers’ vocals as they strive to communicate with the departed. Not a second is wasted as the pitch and harmonies evolve, the music bridges, and the time signature switches. It's a wave of emotion that will move the listener, creating a pleasant yet poignant sound.

This is the first single released by Glow Motive, a collaboration between emerging artists Anjalica Solomon and Oceaan Pendharkar. This collective has highlighted and enhanced their identities within the brown, queer local musician community. I'm sure this is just the beginning of beautiful art as represented by them, with a bright future ahead.

Show Me You're Here by Glow Motive

Written by: Cazzy Lewchuk

[theblueskyphoenix]

Grid Ghost Chapter 9: Coming Together

Obake's personal home lab was just like how he remembered it. Not a single thing out of place.

An assortment of tools, homemade tech, three main work tables, perfect lighting and all the thinking room he could ask for.

His sanctuary.

Sure, it wasn't large like some of the labs SFIT had, but it was just big enough for him and it had all he needed.

Including good company.

"Alright, testing range of motion. Ready, Trina?"

Trina nodded, holding up a hand.

"Ready, Dad."

Obake closed his eyes, the left side of his face glowing a faint purple, his ears tuning into the electromagnetic sounds that resided in the robotic skeletal framework that stood before him.

I need this to be just right. No rush jobs this time.

Walk to Trina and shake hands with her.

The framework shook a bit before it stood up straight, leaving its stand, walking right over to Trina, offering a hand to her. Trina giggled, grasping its hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Nice to meet you, O-bot-kae."

"Ha ha, very funny." Obake chuckled. "I'm not calling him that though."

"Awww why not?"

"How many crooks are going to take the name O-bot-kae seriously?"

"... Okay, but I'm still gonna call him that in private."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Now, return to your stand.

The framework moved back to it stand, going slack as Obake disconnected from it. The glow from Obake's face faded, the man rubbing his left temple a little.

"Well… the framework is stable and my technokinesis still works. Only downside is a mild headache. Probably need to calibrate it better so it doesn't require as much focus. Once I have the old bot that'll be easy to do."

Trina frowned at this, going over to Obake, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe you should take a break though. We've been at this for awhile and… Dad, you're still wheelchair bound. In fact, last I checked, Mom insisted you stay in bed."

"I would, but I wouldn't be able to sleep." Obake had a serious look in his eyes. "We need to solve this Dragoness issue now before it gets worse and I can't do that if I'm stuck in bed just lying there. I'm not going to let that woman ruin Tadashi's life. He's already been through enough and the least I can do is make the effort to help him so he doesn't wind up somewhere worse."

Trina squeezed his shoulder.

"You're not gonna be much help to him if you're plastered to the floor."

Obake sighed, looking up at Trina, concern written in her features.

"... Alright. 15 minutes then we're getting right back to work."

"Good enough."

Trina wheeled him out of the lab to the patio they had in the backyard of their house. Trina sat down on the ground next to his wheelchair, stretching a bit.

"Nothing like fresh air to help clear out of the head."

He smirked.

"I could think of a few-"

"Nope. You used up your puns involving tumors in the hospital."

"... Darnit." He ruffled her hair, his gaze softening. "I'm glad to be home. I missed you."

"Missed you too." She reached a hand up, taking his into hers. "Your head isn't bothering you too much, right?"

"Not as much as it was back in San Fransokyo." Obake squeezed her hand. "I'd go days without resting because it hurt so much. But during that time I didn't really think of it as pain. I thought of it as motivation to keep working."

Trina frowned, squeezing back, concern in her eyes.

"Dad, that's awful."

"I know… and that was my problem. I didn't know anymore what was right or wrong - even when it came to resting."

"Well, that's not flying here. You're resting whenever we tell ya to. Got it?"

Obake chuckled, giving her a gentle look.

"I promise I'll be more careful now. Besides… I can actually sleep now."

"And I'll make sure you'll get as much as you need."

Obake ruffled her hair again.

"Thank you, Little Star."

"Nawww, how touching."

Both jumped, looking behind them to see Eboni and Tadashi present, leaning against the doorways of the sliding glass door, both wearing gentle smiles on their faces.

"You're adorable, ya know?" Eboni chuckled.

"Not exactly something I hear often." Obake chuckled, facing them fully as Trina turned him around. "Did you find the robot?"

"Sure did. We already moved it to your lab and it's ready to be worked on… Though, one small request."

"Hm?"

Eboni narrowed her eyes.

"PLEASE let me oversee the reworking of this robot. What I found is just a disgrace to robot craftsmanship."

"... Honestly, I can't even deny it. I'm well aware he was basically trash. Hiro and his companion thrashed him particularly well." Obake shrugged. "I created him in a manic state. There was no real testing process involved."

"Well, no excuse." Eboni smirked. "You're an SFIT genius, right? Show me what you REALLY can do."

He grinned.

"Gladly. Trina to-"

"After you're done resting!"

"Help me."

Tadashi turned to go inside.

"How about lunch THEN we can get to work, hm? I'll make Arroz con Gandules."

Obake's stomach growled… as did Trina's.

"... That sounds wonderful actually."

Trina jumped up.

"Can I help?"

"More the merrier."

"Sweet!"

"Come on then. We got work to do."

ooooo

It was late when Kim got home. Not out of the ordinary for her. Just the life of being a doctor or any medical profession for that matter. Work long shifts, come home tired. Though honestly her mind was still processing what was now "normal" to come home to.

As she entered the house, she could hear activity in Obake's personal lab. She smiled. She had missed that. She always loved coming home to hear Obake and Trina cheering over an experiment gone well or them laughing over something that might've gone horribly wrong. Regardless, they were sounds she welcomed back.

Though Bob better have been resting like I asked. He shouldn't be up and about too much. He just got back from the hospital two days ago and those incisions haven't completely healed yet.

She poked her head in the lab, seeing what was going on.

Obake and Eboni were working on the head of a robot, while Trina and Tadashi were working on the limbs of said robot, all chatting about progress of their respective jobs.

It's like he never left. He just has more assistants now.

Obake looked up, taking note of Kim.

"Ah, Darling. Welcome home."

Everyone looked up, waving at Kim.

"Hey Dr. A/Kim/Mom!"

Kim smiled, leaning against the doorway.

"I see you four have been busy. Care to share?"

Trina looked to Obake.

"Think you can do that technokinesis trick again?"

"I think so." Obake looked to Eboni. "The brain of the robot should be fully functional, yes?"

"Yeah and the face isn't ugly looking anymore so you won't scare the daylights out of your wife."

Obake shook his head.

"Well, let's get it attached and then everyone backs away so I can show our progress."

Everyone nodded, Eboni and Obake reattaching the head while Trina and Tadashi rolled away from the work table. Once Eboni was done helping reattach the head, she backed away as well.

Obake took a deep breath, the left side of his face glowing purple as he connected with the robot's brain.

Let's say hello to Kim. Just sit up and talk for me.

It was a moment before the robot shook to life, sitting up slowly, waving to Kim.

"Hello, Darling."

Kim stumbled back a bit at the robot bearing a perfect resemble to her husband.

"G-Goodness I was not expecting that!"

"Woops, guess you still scared the daylights out of her anyway." Eboni shrugged, a smug grin on her face. "Then again, it's a robotic twin. Guess anyone would be surprised."

The robot gave a sheepish look.

"Sorry, Darling. Hope it wasn't a bad surprise."

Kim took a deep breath, composing herself, before going closer, examining the bot with her eyes.

"... It's incredible. You're experiencing every bit of feedback the robot gets?"

"As much as I can handle. As well as simply moving on its own."

Kim narrowed her eyes, turning to Obake, raising an eyebrow.

"You better not have gotten out of that chair, bub."

Both he and the robot held up their hands in an "I surrender." pose.

"No, no, no need to worry about that, Darling! I didn't get up except maybe twice, I swear."

Kim sighed in relief before a sneaky grin came to her face.

"Then… can I do a test of my own?"

"Hm? If you wish."

She cupped the robot's face in her hands before kissing it's forehead quickly, her eyes locked on her husband.

Obake's cheeks immediately turned red at this.

"You just kissed metal without hesitation."

"Now, now, no need to get jealous of yourself."

Tadashi, Eboni and Trina all broke down laughing.

"Careful, it might snatch her up in the night!" Trina banged her hand on a table. "And take her for a joy ride!"

"O-Or out for a romantic bar run for oil!" Eboni laughed, leaning on Tadashi a little.

"Oh, ha ha!" Obake rolled his eyes. "Verrry funny."

Kim giggled before going to his side, kissing his cheek.

"I like your warmth better anyways."

He grinned, kissing hers.

"Oh, you."

Eboni had to cover her mouth.

"Hey, Bob, might wanna disconnect from the bot. It tried to kiss thin air."

Obake straightened up at this.

"One second."

The glow from his face faded as the bot lied back down, its eyes closing.

"There we are. Was a little too in sync."

"Ya sure about that?" Eboni snickered.

"You want to try a throw?" He grinned.

Trina leaned over.

"He knows how to do it. Don't tempt."

"Oh, I ain't risking that. Nope."

Obake shook his head.

"Regardless, we're almost finished with refurbishing. Just need a few finishing touches and then…" He eyed Tadashi. "Bait."

"... I hate whenever you say that and look at me like that."

Kim gave a flat look, giving Obake a pinch on the shoulder, causing him to flinch.

"Call him bait again and no shoulder rubs for a month."

"B-But, Darling! I'm still healing!" He protested.

"My dearest… the patient card stopped soon as we brought you home." She smiled… a very chilling smile that made him wince.

"Y-Yes, Darling…"

"Good. Now, that aside." Kim's look turned serious. "How are you going to lure her out? I doubt she's going to come waltzing out without a tip of where Tadashi is."

"That's where I come in." Obake looked to the robot. "My robotic twin will be on the lookout for her. She's bound to come out of her little hiding hole at some point. He'll be staging a capture. We figure she's possibly tracking Tadashi by heat signature since he does run on a higher temperature than the average human being. Can't confirm but it's the most likely possibility. Either way, she'll come, I'll bargain with her, then she'll lead us right back to her base."

"Then we get the jump on her." Trina grinned, pounding a fist into her hand. "And wreck everything in sight."

"Not everything. Gotta keep some things intact for evidence and for possible info we might need." Eboni folded her arms. "Then again, I'll be handling all that with my little bot, Anubis. Plus, she might have some tools that could be useful."

"And that's basically the plan." Obake leaned back in his chair. "It's going to be long and elaborate but anything to put a dent in Liv's research is worth it enough for me." Obake eyed Tadashi. "And anything to help the brother of Hiro Hamada."

Tadashi lowered his gaze a little.

"Anything to help me get home sooner… Might not be a speedy way but we're getting her off the streets. That's the important part."

"And getting her off the streets means less people watching you for Liv." Obake gave him a gentle look. "I promise, you won't be in danger."

"Right." He took a deep breath. "This is still gonna suck though, isn't it?"

"Oh, I'm not even going to hide the fact it might."

"But, you have a few days to prepare since we're not going in guns blazing." Eboni patted his shoulder. "Gotta get this bot finished then set up our little heist."

"Wait." Kim gave a confused look. "But won't Dragoness still be looking for him anyway? If she is tracking by heat signature then she has to be on the prowl."

"We thought of that." Eboni grinned. "And we have a solution." She brought her hand to a necklace that was around Tadashi's neck. It was a simple black cord necklace with a charm that was shaped like a flame. "Bob and I built Tadashi here a scanner disrupter that fits into this tiny little necklace. It'll keep Dragoness from reading his heat signature. He'll just read as a normal person."

"Ah, I see. Thought of everything, huh?"

"We've had to." Obake rested his chin on his hands. "You have to with these kinds of things. I especially did when I was still running around as a crime lord."

Trina gave Obake a weirded out look.

"Do we want to know?"

"You don't." Obake closed his eyes. "That aside, we begin our mission in a few days. The bot should be ready and then we take the Dragoness off the street."

"And after that?" Kim asked.

Obake opened his eyes.

"We move forward onto the next threat."

Till we finally get to Liv.