The Breakdown
Kat Greta has been blinding us here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia with her brand of luminescent pop that seems to emit rays of sunshine and joy with every note. Greta’s background in percussion permeates every note, adding a frisson to the sound and a beat that is irrepressible.
After releasing a series of single over the past year, Greta has released an EP aptly entitled ‘Rhythm & Reverie’ which gathers together the sparkles in one basket and adds one extra poignant track. The resultant package is augmented by its constituent parts.
Opening track ‘Shoot Me Lover’ is a prime example of Great’s unerring ear for pop masterpieces that glow with a nuclear power.
As usual Greta’s background as a drummer shows in the pattering percussion that underlies the track with Greta’s vocals cool and urgent delivering a rousing chorus filled with melody. The break is funky and expressive, the liquid ambient music flows like a bubbling stream – reminding me a little of Talking Heads in its animation.
The video and graphics with the day-glo pink and sixties shimmer sums up her radiance:
‘Set You Up’ more than ever showcases Greta’s percussion skills with a song driven by a primal, tribal beat. Pure sunshine pours out of the speakers with Greta’s pop-filled melodies floating across the bright blue horizons and the call and response singing adding a frisson of euphoric joy.
You would have to be dead inside not to feel your feet move to the rhythms. Greta says of the track:
‘Set You Up’ is about community, connection, and the energy that comes from people coming together. It’s built on rhythm—layered percussion, call-and-response moments, and a raw, unfiltered energy that makes you want to move.
It’s a perfect panacea to the relentless misery that fills our news these days. And if the heart couldn’t feel any fuller, the accompanying video exudes a nuclear-powered level of warmth (or more appropriate, a renewable energy level of wattage) with the simple innocent exuberance of her own family playing along to the song. Greta says of the video:
I wanted the video to reflect the spirit of the song—raw, real, and full of energy. Having my family involved made it even more meaningful, showing that music is something we share, no matter the distance.
Greta’s penchant for a strong melody comes to the fore in ‘Season to Believe’ – exhibiting a bubblegum pop sensibility that emits an incandescent glow. Greta says:
Releasing this song feels like another step in my musical journey, which keeps evolving. It is a different sound for me; I got to play around with pop production for the first time, which was both a huge learning experience and a heap of fun at the same time. It is about believing in myself, and finding my own voice in this musical space, both literally and stylistically. I never had the confidence to sing my own songs, so that is something that I had to overcome. It’s about learning to follow my intuition, and trusting my gut instinct.
The music has an electronic pulse beat throughout, with Greta’s voice a velvet touch, and a sky-high chorus that positively skips with an effervescent radiance. The track is imbued with a kind of brilliant positivity that almost requires sunglasses, a much needed panacea in dark times.
Final track ‘Are You Calling’ is a new one that coasts over rich rolling piano, an epic ballad, ethereal and haunted by an element of melancholia and poignancy with a theatrical drama. In a sense, this track represents the reverie of the EP title. Greta experienced personal tragedy just before the release of the EP and this track is an elegy, imperious and majestic, adding an element of veracity and deep emotion.
Greta says of the EP:
The title Rhythm & Reverie made sense because that’s been my life this year. The rhythm is the joy and the movement. The reverie is the reflection and the loss. Making this EP helped me hold both.
‘Rhythm & Reverie’ is an untrammelled joy throughout: rich and vivacious and filled with vibrant pop, filtered by a finale that is poignant and beautiful. It’s a perfect jolt of adrenalin as we head into the antipodean summer.
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