We are very pleased to provide an exclusive early listen to the new album ‘Wanderer’ from Queensland’s Darcy Kate. With a voice of smoky velvet and a slow burning sparkle to the sound, Kate is a prodigious talent: her songwriting is melodic and tinted with a touch of melancholia and her voice glides and floats with an ethereal timbre. While in terms of style you could slot Kate into an alt country americana genre, there is also a touch of indie grit and a commercial pop sensibility that makes the album diverse across the ten tracks, but with Kate’s voice is the consistent and tender thread running throughout.
Opening track ‘Blue Cascade’ smoulders with a sensual intensity – a torch song sung in a smoky whiskey dive filled with yearning and and suppressed desire: take me now, take my spirit to the sea where you are, wash me clean.
‘Dorothy’ is a prime example of Kate’s varied influences with its Bruce Springsteen instrumentation mixed with vocals that have a Dolly Parton intensity. Kate mixes a storytelling strength filled with a personal intimacy that creates a cinematic vision filled with characters and evocative images – songs like ‘Georgia Rose’ and “Last Train To Frankston’ are transportative and immersive.
‘Goodbye’ has an intrinsic bubble and pop that bounces and skips with a carefree air and wistful backing vocals. It is an anthemic, euphoric track that sparkles and shines.
“Run Away’ is a standout – a beautiful haunting track with its soaring chorus and gliding, soaring aura. Referencing Bruce Springsteen as a wry throw away line, it has jangling guitars and a driving thrum, a full blown pop sensibility that is infectious. The final title track is a slow moving burning track delivered over plucked guitars that shimmer and jangle under Kate’s yearning vocals.
‘Wanderer’ is an eloquent and literate collection of jewels delivered with the most velvet and evocative vocals. It is out of Friday, 24 June through the magnificent Bueno Bueno Sounds and available through all the usual outlets as well as Kate’s homepage here.
Kate will be launching the album on Saturday, 25 June 2022 at Peace Run Records and Agency in the Sunshine Coast – full details and tickets available here.
