poolblood, the musical nom-de-plume of Toronto’s Maryam Said, is an ethereal spirit of punk rock, swirling and dancing in the air with a collection of gorgeously orchestrated bedroom pop music. Raised in a religious household at arm’s length from popular music, they nonetheless found themselves drawn in by the music of Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), who left an indelible imprint on their relationship to music and songwriting. The results of their upbringing–time spent practicing chords in guitar class, learning about hardcore from friends after school and honing their songwriting as an early teen–is a winding path of melody, making stops along the way to dabble in everything from noise rock to lush and gorgeous pop hooks. poolblood is a pastiche of genres and styles working in blended harmony. poolblood understands the tender urgency in crafting stories around deep and abiding intimacies, romantic and platonic, that run so far below the surface they become the root of everything that grows on the surface. These stories have come together to create the ethereal bedroom pop songs on their debut LP "mole" out January 13th, 2023, on Next Door Records. It is fitting that on an album so much centered around the connectivity of deep and abiding friendships that "mole" is awash with collaborators, each bringing their own unique talent and skill into the mix. Louie Short and Shamir Bailey worked with Maryam as producers on the project, and played on a number of tracks in addition to a cadre of musicians filtering in and out of each song. Not afraid of letting their sly sense of humor bleed through the layers, poolblood's "mole" is rife with humor and wonder, dancing playfully along.