Comeback Queen

Minneapolis’ own Pamela Valfer doesn’t make a lot of noise when she enters a room — but the moment she sings, everything shifts.

Last month, the lo-fi cult favorite cruised through Los Angeles for an intimate stop in Pomona, delivering a set that felt less like a concert and more like a shared secret. The crowd swayed, phones low, harmonies high. If you didn’t know the history, you’d think she never left.

Kitty Craft first emerged in the mid-’90s, debuting a self-titled cassette release “Toytown” in 1994 a soft, shimmering introduction to her bedroom-built universe. Her sound has always felt weightless but intentional: featherlight vocals layered over drum loops with a subtle hip-hop backbone, melodies that feel almost accidental until they lodge themselves in your head for days. It’s delicate without being fragile.

For years, she remained one of indie’s best-kept secrets — the kind of artist you discover through a friend who “doesn’t even really like indie.” Then, as tends to happen in this day in age, TikTok got ahold of her catalog. Quietly. Organically. Suddenly, a new generation was scoring their montages and film dumps to Kitty Craft’s gauzy vocals. No rebrand, no reinvention — just rediscovery.

After a 20-year hiatus, Valfer returned to touring last year, stepping back onto stages across the country. And not tentatively. Shows have been selling out, filled with longtime devotees and 20-somethings who found her through For You pages and nostalgia-core edits. It’s rare to watch an artist re-enter the spotlight without chasing it — but that’s exactly what makes this comeback feel different.

Two decades later, Kitty Craft doesn’t sound dated. If anything, she sounds current. And in Los Angeles, a city obsessed with what’s next, Pamela Valfer reminded everyone that sometimes what’s next is what’s been waiting patiently all along.