Ziemba

Iconoclastic and bold, the folk-pop of Ziemba (a.k.a. LA-based René Kladzyk) dances through genres while plumbing the crystalline caverns of the soul. By day an investigative journalist covering immigration and the Pentagon, Kladzyk as a songwriter is similarly inquisitive and cutting, while revelling in emotional honesty and a tender humanism. Drawing comparisons to John Cale and The Roches, Ziemba’s artful and often baroque pop is buoyed by her command as a singer, with “a voice like a clear blue sky” according to The FADER. Ziemba’s breakout 2020 album on Sister Polygon Records, True Romantic, was an exhilarating collection of bombastic power ballads and glam-rock tinged sensuousness. She followed it up with Unsubtle Magic in December 2021, a reflection on grief during the holiday season. Coming up in Brooklyn’s DIY scene, Ziemba has performed and held artistic residencies in institutions like MoMA Ps1, Pioneer Works, and the French Institute in Fez, Morocco, while also finding safe haven in dive bars and house shows. Her work has been featured in TV and film, including Broad City, Betrayal Among Friends, Sky Line, Difficult People, and Shade: Queens of NYC. When she isn’t singing, Kladzyk works as a journalist for the D.C.-based government watchdog, The Project On Government Oversight