AloneKitty announce ‘wide awake’ album, share single ‘I’m Wide Awake’
Toronto shoegaze project AloneKitty announces the album “wide awake,” due November 6, 2026, and shares the advance single “I’m Wide Awake.”
Toronto-based shoegaze project AloneKitty announced the new album “wide awake,” due November 6, 2026 on CD and digital formats, and shared the advance single “I’m Wide Awake.” The record follows AloneKitty’s self-titled 2024 debut and 2025’s “sad not sad,” both released through Mint 400 Records.
“wide awake” was not written as a grief record, but became one. Michelle K’s father died while she was writing the album, and her mother died a few months later. “No one is there to save me anymore,” she says of the realization that stayed with her through the process. “As adults we still, in some quiet way, think of our parents as the people behind us if everything falls apart. Suddenly that backstop was gone.”
The band – Michelle K on guitar and vocals, Michael Small on bass and Stefan Loebus on drums – tracked most of the album live over two days at Union Sound in Toronto with engineer Darren McGill, finishing most songs in one or two takes. “That level of trust and shared investment made this the most collaborative record I’ve ever made,” Michelle K says.
More than half the songs were written using alternate guitar tunings, an approach Michelle K traced to Thurston Moore’s album “The Last Day.” “I’m Wide Awake” and “She Thinks It’s Alright” came together once she began exploring those tunings. The album was mixed by Luke Schindler, who has worked with Broken Social Scene and Alexisonfire, and mastered by Simon Scott of Slowdive, who also mastered “sad not sad.” Scott picked “I’m Wide Awake” as the lead single: “It’s a banger,” he told Michelle K.
One song, “Disappointed (For the Last Time),” was recorded separately at Harlow Sound Studios with engineer Justin McWilliams, with Michelle K playing every instrument herself. The track is aimed at the memory of a father who could not, or would not, accept who she was, and was mastered separately by Noah Mintz.
“wide awake” runs eleven tracks: “Someone,” “I’m Wide Awake,” “Nothing I Can Tell You,” “Radio Signal Fading,” “Save Me,” “Still Inside My Head,” “She Thinks It’s Alright,” “You Can’t Even Tell,” “Your Self Pity,” “Tell Me That You’ve Lost Your Mind” and “Disappointed (For the Last Time).” “I don’t write pop songs,” Michelle K says. “I write through a wall of sound and sadness and try to find beauty in it.”
AloneKitty tour dates
- October 25, 2026 – Supermarket, Toronto, ON, with Be Stil and Scummm, presented by Major Tom Records
- November 18, 2026 – Houndstooth, Toronto, ON – “wide awake” Toronto release show, lineup TBA
- January 30 – Oshawa, ON, venue TBA
About AloneKitty
AloneKitty is a Toronto-based shoegaze and alternative rock project led by Michelle Kojder, known as Michelle K, who writes and arranges all of the band’s songs. The project began as a solitary recording outlet before growing into a full band, with Michael Small on bass and Stefan Loebus on drums joining alongside Michelle K’s guitar and vocals.
AloneKitty released its self-titled debut album on November 22, 2024, followed by “sad not sad” on October 24, 2025, both through Mint 400 Records. Both albums charted on the NACC 200 college radio chart in North America.
The new album “wide awake” was tracked largely live over two days at Union Sound in Toronto, mixed by Luke Schindler and mastered by Simon Scott of Slowdive, and is set for release on November 6, 2026, preceded by the single “I’m Wide Awake.”
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