Janelle Kroll

Janelle Kroll is a New York–based singer-songwriter who shapes her individually crafted songs with powerful emotions and real-life sentiments.

She lays it all out on her newest EP, Barricade, set for a fall 2017 release through the independent label Lokal Legend. On Barricade, Kroll explores the themes surrounding her personal life—emotional authenticity, impermanence, and independence—to produce her self-created notion of “dependent music,” a connection with listeners bridged solely by the raw emotions and emotional dependencies we all share. It is an appropriate continuation to her previous EP, Outsider, on which she explores dream pop and alternative pop.

Kroll developed her talent through various creative partnerships, including singing lead vocals while on tour with indietronica outfit Big Data and cowriting with Estelle for the latter’s single, “Time Share (Suite 509).” Kroll’s hit “Sunny Days” was featured on Spotify’s influential New Music Playlist in 2015. The track later ranked in the top 10 on the streaming platform’s Viral 50 USA and Viral 50 Global charts.

Backed by ongoing support from tastemaker media outlets such as Harper's Bazaar, Billboard, and Pigeons & Planes, Kroll secured a coveted performance slot in Lollapalooza in her native Chicago, Illinois, in 2015. Kroll has worked as a featured vocalist on a handful of tracks from buzzing electronic dance music acts, including Moon Boots (“Utopia”) and Autograf (“Metaphysical”), as well as house music veteran Dennis Ferrer on “Mind Ur Step,” which dominated radio stations across Europe.

Watch Kroll perform in the music video “Barricade”: