New Music: Leilani Patao – kiddy scissors

To tie in with the release of the deluxe edition of their 2025 daisy EP, Leilani Patao has dropped a beautiful video for new single, kiddy scissors.

The maturity and individuality of kiddy scissors is staggering, but then that shouldn’t be a surprise, as Patao has made a conscious and principled decision to step back from streaming services and the mainstream media grindstone as they achieved success over the last few years – even making a positive impression on Jimmy Fallon!

Patao follows through on that maturity and individuality in the lyrics too, unveiling fragments of memories, time spent cutting hair and finding an identity, as in the present a relationship collapses in on itself. Maybe the cutting has a symbolic as well as literal presence in the past and present, but for me, the listener needs to find their own answer there.

Sensitively drawn indie with a lo-fi and folkish ambience, kiddy scissors has a pleasant and pointed 70s aspect to it; a quiet number marking a big statement, it is an intimate picture of queer and trans love, inspired by years spent cutting their girlfriend’s hair in dorm rooms and shared apartments. celebrating transformation as intimacy rather than spectacle.

daisy deluxe features new songs, as well as remixes from tom the destroyer (Frog), Jeni Magaña (Mitski), Benjamin Shaw, and others. “daisy was new for me,” Patao reveals. “A new sound surrounding stories I wasn’t even totally sure I wanted to share. But these three songs were made to be a part of the daisy songs, and I’m ready now.” The newly added tracks deepen the emotional and political core of the project, exploring heartbreak, trans identity, family history, and collective responsibility.

And as to how they are navigating a new path in finding music for themselves? “I learned that asking my friends what music they like and going to shows as much as I can is the best way to find new music,” says Patao. “I love paying artists for their music. I love going to the merch booth after the show, talking with whoever is there, and going home with a CD, or a shirt, or anything.”

daisy deluxe is out on the 24th of July via Audio Antihero. Head to Bandcamp to pre-order the album in digital and CD format. Leilani Patao is set to embark on a series of live dates in the US later this year – check out their Instagram for confirmed dates in Los Angeles and Philadelphia this month.

Header image by Shannon McMahon