CALISTA GARCIA - ANIMAL MAGNIFIQUE!

What does it mean to embrace our animal nature in an era ruled by algorithms, climate anxiety, and curated selfhood? On her explosive new album Animal Magnifique!, genre-defying singer-songwriter Calista Garcia doesn’t just ask the question — she sets it on fire.

Releasing June 6th, Animal Magnifique! is a kaleidoscopic, theatrical concept album that fuses glam rock, chamber pop, and confessional songwriting into something both feral and finely orchestrated. “It’s about humanity,” Calista says. “Our raw desire, fear, anger, and love. In these uncertain times, why hold back?”

Across 10 tracks co-produced with musical and romantic partner Henry Ryeder, Calista transforms her lived experience — of love, illness, revelation, and resilience — into a sonically rich and emotionally fearless statement. The album began as a basic studio session but came to life in DIY fashion, as Calista and Ryeder layered and sculpted the sound primarily in his Brooklyn bedroom—transforming it into a lush, orchestral masterwork. Violinist Charles Stacy brings soaring string arrangements that elevate the record’s art-rock flair to chamber-pop grandeur.

From the rage-fueled catharsis of “Carnival” to the disco-inflected confrontation of “Big Mouth,” the album paints a lush, volatile world where sequins and scars coexist. “I wrote ‘Carnival’ when I was so angry I couldn’t bury it,” Calista explains. “But I wondered — could I make the feeling satisfying? Even fun?” Meanwhile, “Big Mouth” critiques internalized self-hate with glittering audacity: “That voice whispering you’re too much or not enough? That’s not your voice — that’s the Big Mouth. And it’s time we stop listening.”

Critics are already responding. Old Grey Cat calls the album “a masterwork that merges the raw honesty of 21st-century confessionals with the grandeur of '70s rock theater,” praising Calista’s “emotional bravado” and her ability to “go from delicate to devastating without blinking.” Prism Reviews adds to the acclaim, writing: “Listening to her, for me, is like discovering a Sheryl Crow or a Joni Mitchell, with her signature voice and super compelling songwriting, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she breaks onto the scene as a national treasure, someday soon.”

Themes of transformation and truth-telling dominate the record. “I realized that inauthenticity is expensive — and I can’t afford it anymore,” Calista says of the turning points that inspired the album: a move to Brooklyn, falling in love, navigating chronic illness, and facing the moral failings of society. “This is the first release I’ve made where every line and note feels truly representative of who I am, artistically and personally.”

The result is a record meant not just to be heard, but felt — in the gut, the heart, and the hips. “I want listeners to feel free and released after listening to this album. I want them to feel strong enough to speak up about what’s wrong, and to lean into what’s right,” Calista affirms.

With Animal Magnifique!, she invites listeners into a new chapter: lush, defiant, and vividly imagined.