Musicians Laura and Kenny Cash Talk Love, Loss, Kids, and Creating Neon Sines’ ‘Adeline’
At the heart of Neon Sines’ infectious synth-pop song “Adeline,” featuring British singer-songwriter Ollie Wride, is the love story of married musicians Kenny and Laura Cash. The duo, who perform as Che-Val, prioritize creativity over pretty much anything else.
“Sometimes, we forgo vacations and other activities in favor of bonding through creativity,” says Kenny, who created Neon Sines with writer/keyboardist Evan Murphy, and co-owns Factory Underground studio in Norwalk, Connecticut. “One year, for our anniversary, we went to Telefunken’s studio to record a song.”
This proved helpful last year when Kenny found himself in a creative rut. While several of his songs with Evan (as Neon Sines) and Laura (as Che-Val) earned coveted airplay on shows like Netflix’s Temptation Island, the loss of both parents, his grandmother, and a couple of aunts in a short timeframe left Kenny feeling grief-stricken and drained. Between parenting two young children with Laura and working busy days as a producer and sound engineer, half-finished songs remained untouched on his computer.
But in late 2025, a series of events that transpired changed his trajectory.
One night, when she was rummaging through sound files at their home, Laura came across an intriguing instrumental track that Kenny and Evan had created.
“When I heard the original instrumental track that Kenny and Evan of Neon Sines started, I got so swept up in the song’s 80s nostalgia that I wanted to write it about a woman like so many great ’80s songs — like Rosanna, Jenny, Billie Jean, Oh Sherry, or C’mon Eileen,” says Laura, who teaches AP chemistry at a high school. “My son happened to have a little preschool friend named Adeline, and I thought the name fit perfectly into what I wanted to craft. The instrumental had this pleading vibe, so I thought to myself, ‘What did I want from her? The chorus was born.”
Soon after, Kenny felt the spark he needed to move forward. Acting on instinct, Kenny reached out to a prominent synth-wave artist he’d long admired (Wride), to explore a potential collaboration. Wride responded quickly, opening the door to a renewed creative chapter. From there, Kenny began immersing himself in an ’80s-inspired sonic world, leaning fully into synth-pop and nostalgia-driven storytelling.
“I let Ollie know, ‘choose whichever one you feel, but just a heads up — my wife really wants to hear you sing the chorus to the one labeled ‘Adeline,’” Kenny recalls.
Many twists and turns later, the final track, released this month, is a nostalgic electro-pop escape that evokes memories of my Gen X childhood, with a chorus that’s impossible to get out of one’s head.
We sat down with Kenny and Laura to hear the full story and talk about what’s next.
Rockmommy: Hi Kenny and Laura! First things first, can you give us a bit of history about Neon Sines, your synth-pop project that creates immersive collaborative indie-pop songs that have been picked up by TV and other outlets?
Kenny Cash: Neon Sines began as a collaboration between me and writer/keyboardist Evan Murphy. We had previously worked together on a different project, Similar Kind, at my studio, The Factory Underground. While Neon Sines is more driven by collaborations with various vocalists, Che-Val serves as more of an outlet for Laura’s voice. Neon Sines has had songs such as “Found You,” “Xscape,” and “Guilty Pleasure” featured in various episodes of Netflix’s Temptation Island. Che-Val, on the other hand, has had their songs “The Lead” featured in Holiday Houselift with Jeff Lewis, “Whiskey Talk” in The CW’s The Wranglers, and “Beg” in the most recent 2026 season of Temptation Island.
Laura Cash: The boys — Kenny and Evan — have Neon Sines covered! But I love being called upon to do a few backup vocals or a reference vocal here and there and cheer them on as needed. My work with Kenny is typically released as Che-Val.
Rockmommy: You are both busy parents, too, with your hands full. How did your musical songwriting duo Che-Val form?
Laura Cash: Our releases usually begin with me rummaging through Kenny’s latest instrumentals when he’s not home and starting to write to them. That’s one of my favorite perks of being a producer’s wife, for better or for worse! I felt like the songs were just as much his as they were mine and thus wanted us to release them together as a duo. We picked the name Che-Val since a cheval mirror was the first purchase for our home together. I love that we get to be partners in life and in music! Now, when my daughter Gia hears a track that I wrote that she likes, she’s the one to try to convince Kenny to finish it and release it — I love that I have a built-in hype-man!
Kenny Cash: Che-Val’s first release was in 2016, so we’ve been making music together for quite some time. Sometimes, we forgo vacations and other activities in favor of bonding through creativity. One year, for our anniversary, we went to Telefunken’s studio to record a song. We even considered getting each other a C-12 microphone as a gift, but at $10,000, we decided to save that for our diamond anniversary.
Rockmommy: You Let’s talk about your latest single/collaboration, ‘Adeline.’ You have a star lineup on this one, including vocalist Ollie Wride. Can you tell us about how that came together?
Kenny Cash: There were a couple of years in a row when I experienced a series of family losses. It began with my father, followed by my mother, my grandmother, and a couple of aunts. During that time, I felt somewhat lost, especially creatively. I wanted to return to my artistic roots and focus as fully as possible on a single piece of work.
Because I spend so much time and energy developing talent at The Factory Underground, I knew that to do this, I needed to collaborate with an artist who already had an established career. The first person I reached out to was Ollie—and the rest is history.
Laura Cash: When we started collaborating with Ollie, being the scientist that I am (I’m also an AP Chemistry teacher), I analyzed Ollie’s voice across different releases, tabulated his range in a spreadsheet, and made myself a detailed diagram charting where a perfect chorus melody should sit for him. Then, I rummaged through the Neon Sines’ working instrumentals to find a track that spoke to me and wrote the chorus for “Adeline”. Kenny and Evan (of Neon Sines), and Ollie bounced around a lot of other ideas, but I kept coming back to this chorus that I wrote for Ollie, continually nudging Kenny, “I really think he would sound great singing this.” It wasn’t just a calculation; it was a gut feeling. And I think I was right – once everyone finished collaborating and adding their own twist, the song came out amazing.
Rockmommy: What was the emotional inspiration — the idea that sparked this song?
Laura Cash: When I heard the original instrumental track that Kenny and Evan of Neon Sines started, I got so swept up in the song’s 80s nostalgia that I wanted to write it about a woman like so many great ’80s songs – like “Rosanna,” “Jenny,” “Billie Jean,” “Oh Sherry,” or “C’mon Eileen.” My son happened to have a little preschool friend named Adeline, and I thought the name fit perfectly into what I wanted to craft. The instrumental had this pleading vibe, so I thought to myself, “What did I want from her?” The chorus was born.
Kenny Cash: When Ollie agreed to the collaboration, Evan sent me a couple of demos. I was experimenting with his ideas when my wife discovered one of them, as she often does when she gets on the computer in our home studio. She added a hook, and we sent it off to Ollie alongside a couple of other ideas. I let Ollie know, “Choose whichever one you feel, but just a heads up—my wife really wants to hear you sing the chorus to the one labeled ‘Adeline.’” The song went through many twists and turns before arriving at its final version.
Rockmommy: How has the type of music you’re drawn to evolved as times have changed? Are you more nostalgic, perhaps? Or always searching for fresh inspiration?
Kenny Cash: I’m always listening to both new and old music. A couple of weeks ago, I found myself listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash, and then shifting to newer artists like Haute, FRED, and Franc Moody. I have a bit of musical ADD, so if it were up to me, I’d be collaborating with a multitude of artists across different genres just to satisfy my urge to explore them all.
Laura Cash: I have a habit of getting drawn down a rabbit hole, and I do that with my music as well. Country, pop, electronic, etc., I love to delve into different genres and immerse myself in it. I also love picking a song, past or present, and testing myself, ‘If I had to write something like this, how would I put my own twist on it?’ I like to channel my favorite creative reality shows like Ink Master and Top Chef and give myself my own musical challenge.
Rockmommy: Where do you hope Adeline lands? (or where can we potentially experience it)?
Kenny Cash: The release is set for Tuesday, April 14th, 2026, and it will be available on all streaming platforms. If you have the right headphones, you’ll be able to experience it in Atmos on Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon as well. A music video is also scheduled for release on April 29th.
Laura Cash: Right now, I just hope the listeners who crave these types of songs find it. Like those who listen to some of their favorite ‘80s or ‘80s-inspired songs and think, “I wish there were more new songs like these being made.”
Rockmommy: With your kids so young, how do you find time to work on music?
Laura Cash: Honestly, a lot of the time it’s with their little faces right next to me! Kenny gets to escape into his studio, but as most moms know: they always find mom! But I wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s nothing better than sharing your passion with the ones you love. Plus, it’s better than when they follow me into the bathroom!
Kenny Cash: Laura and the kids go to Grandma’s house on the weekend. So those are my days to have late nights at the studio. I’ll usually work with my late-night clients on those days and when they wrap I’ll use the extra time to work on Neon Sines or Che-Val stuff.
Rockmommy: What have you learned in the last 10 years about being a working musician — producers, songwriters, etc. — that you hope to pass on to the next generation?
Laura Cash: This question really hits hard, because now that my 9-year-old daughter, Giabella, is starting to love singing, I am always asking myself what I want to pass on to her! I think the main thing is to keep making music that you love, even if someone else doesn’t.
Gia and I created her first song together at the end of last year named “Freddy” after her love for the movie/game Five Nights at Freddy’s and released it under the name Giabella Cash. When we released the content on YouTube and TikTok, we looked through the comments together and she exclaimed, “Why are some of the comments so mean? I’m only eight!” It was definitely a teachable moment for both of us to sift through comments on an eight-year-old’s song and see that most of them were negative. But we turned it into a fun experience teaching resilience as we thought about how to respond to each. For example, someone wrote, “What in the corniness is this song,” and we wrote back, “Well, I like it! It’s okay if you don’t, but I’ll still be vibing :).” Or Gia would tell me to write “Dude, I’m only eight!” We learned not to let the hate bring us down.
Kenny Cash: I think music is a great skill and hobby to have. It never leaves you, and you’ll always have a built-in way to express yourself. But if you decide to pursue any art as a career, you have to go all in and understand the business side — what I like to call the “work” part of it.
Rockmommy: Is there a dream show you’d love to land on? What would be the coolest thing to happen with your sync-pop projects and collaborations?
Kenny Cash: Right now, Laura and my favorite show is Shrinking so that would be a good one. But I’d love to have a feature in a show by Judd Apatow.
Laura Cash: Oh, if a song of ours ever ended up on a Real Housewives show, my bestie and I would lose our minds! However, if it ended up on a Stranger Things spinoff, my daughter would lose hers! So either!
