The Temperances super trio unveils new music, featuring their 'angelic emo' sound
After releasing a single in January, The Temperances debuted a new song at The Stray in Grand Rapids last month and have plans for more releases in the near future.
It seemed unlikely, considering how dissimilar their individual voices come across during performances, but The Temperances’ first rehearsals together quickly altered that perception.
Indeed, just like the “a-ha” moment which immediately cemented the distinctive harmonies of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash in the late 1969s, the trio of Olivia Vargas, Marley Kaye and Audrey Pearson knew they had hit on something special when the West Michigan trio first joined forces in 2024.
“If you listen to our voices individually, we have completely different voices and completely different writing styles,” said keyboardist Vargas, who also fronts the soulful indie-pop band August.
“I think similarly to Crosby, Sills and Nash, we probably wouldn't have suspected that they would go well together, but the moment that we sang together, we were like, ‘Oh, this makes a lot of sense.’ And we found out we have such similar interests in music and inspiration. So it was actually a really natural combination.”
Describing their music as “angelic emo,” that natural combination of voices that brings together Vargas, Kaye from the band marsfade and Pearson from her solo work has turned heads since its first performances, with 2026 shaping up as a milestone year for the West Michigan super-trio.
After releasing a single in January, The Temperances debuted a new song at The Stray in Grand Rapids last month and have plans for more releases in the near future.
For The Temperances, the trio project means a lot of juggling of dates due to their other band and solo ventures.
Please consider becoming a monthly donor!
“August, my band has a lot of fun things coming up this summer as well as some other bands that I perform in like Adrian Wright & The Great Let Gos and the Austin Benzing Band,” said Vargas. “So we're just trying to juggle everything.”
Pearson is working her solo material, with plans for releasing an EP or album in late 2026 or early 2027. Kaye’s marsfade band just completed an EP with plans for releasing that project in late summer or early fall.
Nevertheless, The Temperances are “looking to just continue playing out as much as possible. We have a bunch of shows lined up for the summer and we have this idea of playing a living-room tour and playing songs that we wrote in our living room for other people in their living room,” Vargas said.
— Find more Michigan music news and concert listings at LocalSpins.com. Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
