Michellar Goes Psychedelic With Can’t Get You Out of My Mind

You know those thoughts that keep coming back no matter what? We call them obsessions. Funny how they work. An obsession is like an uninvited guest. It eats everything in the fridge and then keeps you awake while replaying the same thought for the hundredth time. Some obsessions push us forward, while others send us wandering barefoot through the emotional wilderness. Michellar knows both varieties very well, and on Can’t Get You Out of My Mind, she eventually gives one of them a microphone.

Released on July 24, this single turns thoughts she once kept inside into a sensual piece of psychedelic escapism. Curiosity started the trouble, as it often does. Michellar puts it rather brilliantly: “Curiosity kills the cat. I think we both killed it on this song.”

From a 40-year pause to 22 singles

Michelle Bond began writing songs at 15, then stepped away from songwriting for four decades. A place in the de Young Museum‘s 2023 Open Call Exhibition gave Michellar the push she needed. The confidence from her visual art spilled back into songwriting after a 40-year break. That confidence boost opened that door again, and Michellar soon released 22 singles across nine months.

Believe me, coming back after after all this time isn’t easy. I really respect that. After 40 years, many people would still be wondering where the pool is. Michellar had already jumped in wearing all her clothes.

Her teenage soundtrack also returned with her. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Doors kept those artistic instincts alive, along with her love for music that feels mysterious, sensual and sometimes dangerous around the edges.

Psychedelia across two cities

For Can’t Get You Out of My Mind, Michellar teamed up with Nashville producer Michael Beckheart, whom she met through another songwriter. Michelle wrote the lyrics and melody, then recorded her demos and vocals in San Francisco. Beckheart locked the instrumental production in Nashville, where they later completed the mix and master together.

The arrangement went through several edits as they searched for the right psychedelic character. However, the beat and melody already pointed them in that direction. They kept tweaking things until both looked at each other and went, “Yep, that’s it.“

The result feels like a natural extension of Michellar‘s visual art. She paints her own album covers too, so everything belongs to the same creative world, where desire, secret thoughts and emotional curiosity walk hand in hand.  More importantly, the single introduces her next chapter: a full psychedelic album planned for spring 2027.

Follow Michellar here and keep an eye on where her curiosity takes her next. The cat may already feel slightly nervous.

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