Greta Simone Kline (born March 21, 1994), formerly known by the stage name Frankie Cosmos, is an American musician and singer-songwriter. She is known for her independent releases, inspired by Frank O'Hara's poetry, DIY ethics of K Records and the early 2000s New York City's anti-folk scene.[1][2] She is the daughter of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates. Her former stage name "Frankie Cosmos" is now the name of her band.
Kline was introduced to music by her family. She settled on guitar as her primary instrument of choice at seventh grade, after playing the piano and briefly the drums.[1] Home-schooled for most of high school, she spent time by attending underground rock shows in New York and getting involved in the Westchester music scene.[1][7] Kline attended New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study for two years, and studied English and/or poetry.[8] Kline found the school to be unaccommodating of her touring schedule, and dropped out.[9]
Kline started performing and recording independently under the alias Ingrid Superstar. She released a number of lo-fi recordings mainly under her Bandcamp account. In early 2010s, she was also introduced to the music community of Purchase College, which introduced her to independentDouble Double Whammy record label.[1][2] In late 2011, she started to perform under the alias Frankie Cosmos, a name coined by her now ex-boyfriend Aaron Maine of the band Porches.[1][7] Maine played drums for Frankie Cosmos and Kline played bass for Porches at one point in time.[10]
In 2014, Kline released her debut studio album as Frankie Cosmos, Zentropy, with her backing band.[11]
Kline released the EP Fit Me In on November 13, 2015, on Bayonet Records.
Kline released her second studio album, Next Thing, on April 1, 2016, on Bayonet Records.[12]
On April 12, 2017, Frankie Cosmos announced a slew of tour dates and that they recently had signed to Sub Pop records.[13] They stated around this time that they are working on a new album. On June 9, 2017, Kline opened for IAN SWEET and Girlpool at Warsaw in Brooklyn as part of her new project Lexie. Joined by Warehouse members Alex Bailey and Doug Bleichner, their first release is on Bandcamp and it is called "Record Time!".
In January 2018, Kline released the lead single "Jesse" from the album Vessel. The album was released on March 30, 2018, through Sub Pop records. On March 13, 2019, Kline released "Haunted Items", featuring just herself on vocals and piano. The band Frankie Cosmos released their fourth studio album, Close It Quietly on September 6, 2019.[14]
Two of Kline's songs, "Fool" and "The End", were both showcased during two episodes on the Netflix series Hilda, the series finale of which she also made the original song "Uncrossed Path" for. Her song "Sappho" was also featured in Heartstopper for its queer nature.[15]
Throughout the first few months of quarantine (during the COVID-19 pandemic), Kline did weekly Instagram livestream performances.
On August 2, 2022 the band announced their new album, Inner World Peace via Subpop.[16]
On February 22, 2024, she released the single Guess What to Do / Calling It a Night in collaboration with Cody Fitzgerald of Stolen Jars as haha same.[17]
Backing bands
"Frankie Cosmos"
Luke Pyenson – drums, vocals
Alex Bailey – bass guitar, keyboards
Lauren Martin – keyboards, synthesizers, harmonies[18]
^Cohen, Matthew Isaac (2009). "British performances of Java, 1811–1822". South East Asia Research. IP Publishing Ltd. 17 (1): 87–109. doi:10.5367/000000009787586389. S2CID147291754.
^Simon, Scott (March 31, 2018). "Frankie Cosmos Examines Fear, Fame And Womanhood". NPR. Retrieved May 16, 2021. Kline writes all of Frankie Cosmos' lyrics and most of its music, though the name belongs to the group: She tours with and records with bassist Alex Bailey, keyboardist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson.
