Albums of the Year # 15 Katy J Pearson - Sound of the Morning

 

 

Heavenly recording artist Katy J. Pearson has a winning way of twisting the familiar into oddly unfamiliar shapes. Music that on the surface appears to be fairly conventional Folk Rock is transformed into something fresh and to my ears truly alluring on her second album Sound of the Morning.

So songs that might on the surface to be fairly straightforward, tracks that could be Judy Collins or Beth Orton ones, instead operate in the realm of the strange. There are immediate indication of the uncanny in the presentation of the record sleeve. The way she applies her make up and flashes her nail varnish at us. It's all rather early Seventies. The Virgin Suicides, The Brady Bunch.

Then there's Pearson's voice which is closer to Kate Bush or Karen Dalton than to the run of the mill Laurel Canyon wastrels you might expect. The other singer she's probably immediately reminiscent of is Stevie Nicks. Here though on Sound of the Morning, her vocal delivery is anchored by the weird rather than being employed in run of the mill shots at the chart.

Looking at the artists and songs Pearson chooses on her playlists on Spotify, this all makes sense. She goes for Karen and Judee and Kate. That's her tribe. She's also captured her what makes all of these artists so special. Sound of the Morning is a very good record, but I think she'll make even better ones in years to come. 

Altogether a delightfully oddball album particularly as these freaky Pop Songs could easily come across as slightly mundane, but Pearson's apparent innate, unorthodox instincts keep things engaging throughout. A wonderful record which I'm immediately eager to return to.