Commiserations to Clare Maguire and Jessie J, but it seems that Katy B is the pop hope we have been waiting for. Her debut On A Mission is a catchy, skillfully conceived dancefloor gem.
I’ve been slow to catch up with recent dubstep phenomenon Katy B. But, as it happen, she is all over the place and is steadily building up something of a loyal fanbase. I decided to let myself of with a warning and got with it. Katy B – born Kathleen Brien – was born in 1989, reminding me the fact that I’m getting old, and graduated from the infamous Brit School for Performing Arts, which spawned established names like Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash and Adele (for the sake of argument we’ll just leave Leona Lewis out of the equation). With Katy B another exponent of the highly anticipated 2011 dubstep generation emerges - if nothing else, bloggers and hipsters serve the purpose of telling us which artists we should like and which genre will set the standards (without them we would for sure still be listening to our 1970's 8-track cassette tapes of the Beatles, while hunting for food with a sharpened stick). And after the dark, melancholic post-dubstep (already post, really?) of guys like Nicolas Jaar and James Blake, it was high time for something we can all just dance to.
First single 'Katy On a Mission', a riveting dubstep gem, heated up many a dancefloor late last year. About halfway through the dozy, mezmerizing 'Disappear' makes for a well-placed break. On some tracks B goes for more of a dancepop sound. Like 'Witches Brew' for instance, a songs which vaguely reminded me of some of the better moments on Estonian singer Kerli's 2008 debut. And raise your hand if you didn't have even the slightest let's-go-Lasgo-moment while listening to the fantastic current single 'Broken Record'. There is also one noted feature on the album, by none other than garage-original Ms. Dynamite. The 2002 Mercury Prize Winner (for her album A Little Deeper, which spawned the fantastic single 'It Takes More') is a perfect add-on on house-inspired club track 'Lights On'.
With 'Go Away', B slips a ballad, polished to perfection, into the mix, in which she displays her vocal range complete with the kind of vocal cascading I assume is a crucial element in the curriculum of the Brit School. All in good taste though, which goes to show that it's perfectly doable. Ultimately it's not so much the song format that's rotten, but rather the melodramatic production and soulless, hollow and impersonal performance that have defined so many ballads over time. And with 'Hard To Get' Katy B shuts down the party with the perfect cool-down track, as trumpets accompany her while she goes through her thank you notes. It's not quite done after that, for those who are patient there is one hidden bonus track left ('Water'), which is once again highly danceable and has a bit of an otherwordly feel to it, like a dream almost, fluttering in
With 'Go Away', B slips a ballad, polished to perfection, into the mix, in which she displays her vocal range complete with the kind of vocal cascading I assume is a crucial element in the curriculum of the Brit School. All in good taste though, which goes to show that it's perfectly doable. Ultimately it's not so much the song format that's rotten, but rather the melodramatic production and soulless, hollow and impersonal performance that have defined so many ballads over time. And with 'Hard To Get' Katy B shuts down the party with the perfect cool-down track, as trumpets accompany her while she goes through her thank you notes. It's not quite done after that, for those who are patient there is one hidden bonus track left ('Water'), which is once again highly danceable and has a bit of an otherwordly feel to it, like a dream almost, fluttering in
Katy B is on a mission and after listening to her album over and over it's clear that that is more than just a sales pitch. The beats are fresh, vocally B knows what she's doing and the song lyrics surpass the kind of generic randomness many pop artists aiming for mainstream succes can rarely seem to outgrow. Don't get me wrong, pop music shouldn't intend to incorporate life's questions, indulge in personal pain and suffering (one Linkin Park is more than sufficient, thank you) or aim for completely avant-garde abstractions. But it's pleasing to here a female pop singer making something of a personal statement and - God forbid - have a story, without the whole seemingly inevitable - and equally unnecessary - 'fighting adversity with a somewhat annoying kind of faux-girl power thoughess'-attitude. Katy B genuinely seems to be doing her own (new) thing, without looking at others too much, but while still thinking outside the box. And for me personally she is the first new electronic pop princess who has succeeded in making me forget about the strong 2009 generation and for that alone she deserves my appraisal. My first guilty pleasure of the year is a fact!
Tracklist
1. Power On Me
2. Katy On a Mission
3. Why You Always Here
4. Witches Brew
5. Movement
6. Go Away
7. Disappear
8. Broken Record
9. Lights On (ft. Ms. Dynamite)
10. Easy Please Me
11. Perfect Stranger
12. Hard To Get
13. Water (Bonus Track)
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