Cindy Lee - Act Of Tenderness

Originally self-released in a tiny 2015 edition of just 300 copies, Act of Tenderness marks Cindy Lee’s full arrival as one of the most distinctive and emotionally charged voices in underground music. The diva alter-ego of Patrick Flegel—formerly of Canadian experimental pop band Women—Cindy Lee transforms heartbreak, nostalgia, and distortion into something both fragile and transcendent.

On Act of Tenderness, Flegel balances aching pop romanticism with haunted lo-fi experimentation, weaving together the sweetness of vintage girl-group melodies and the raw abrasion of noise and feedback. Songs like “Power and Possession” channel a ghostly, Spector-esque wall of sound, while “Bonsai Garden” delves into industrial tension and surreal atmosphere, evoking a cinematic world closer to Eraserhead than to any conventional pop record.

Now given a proper wide release through Superior Viaduct’s W.25TH imprint, Act of Tenderness stands as a turning point in Cindy Lee’s evolution—a record of extremes: static and grace, distortion and sweetness, beauty and ache.

Recommended for fans of Deerhunter, This Mortal Coil, and Epic Soundtracks.