Naomi Alligator, the project of Los Angeles-based songwriter and multi-media artist Corrinne James, announces her new album, Double Knot, with a self-directed video featuring original animations for lead single and album opener “Seasick.”

On “Seasick” Naomi Alligator is already in the midst of a sort of awakening. Right off the bat, she sings, “I don’t know what’s happened to me / It’s like I turned 16 / It’s like I grew to be 6-feet tall.” This is the announcement of a wide-eyed artist coming out of hibernation and into their own. Still, Naomi’s vocals ache with guilt and longing, belying the track’s playful catchiness. Longing for what? Maybe attention from a crush, but mostly a sunnier place to call home.

“‘Seasick’ is a song about loving someone or something so much that it makes you sick,” says James. “I have this vivid memory of being a kid and looking up at a canopy of trees while I was swimming. The sky was really pink and it was kind of scary, but I felt really happy. I think that is my favorite moment of my whole life, haha. I think that being in love takes me back to that memory–where everything is safe and magical.”

Naomi Alligator’s home-spun recordings serve as a platform for James’ lyrical narratives. Both mournful and aspirant, this collection of songs wrestles with monolithic themes such as loneliness and yearning with an uncommon earnestness.

Double Knot is out July 1st on Carpark Records.

Photo Courtesy: Matthew James-Wilson