CatCall
It's been a big few years for Sydney's Catcall. Since DIY punk group Kiosk eased writing and performing in 2007, Catherine Kelleher has gone from bedroom demos and a self-released EP to creating one of the most anticipated albums of 2012, her debut The Warmest Place.
Catcall has already garnered huge amounts of critical acclaim. Premier online pop culture hub Gawker described first single 'Satellites' as “sublimely catchy”, and influential US indie music blog Gorilla vs Bear placed the track in its top 100 songs of 2011. The yearning and soulful 'Swimming Pool' topped Hype Machine upon release, received high praise from sites like Rose Quartz, Fader and Electrorash, and was voted the best local track of 2010 by Mess+Noise who described it as “…the most resonant pop song to unexpectedly emerge in 2010… This is a rare species of pop music that doesn’t press itself upon you. It bleeds and smears and evolves and gradually becomes alive”
In 2008, Catcall was nominated as a finalist in the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards with local legends Cloud Control and My Disco, signing to Ivy League in 2009. In 2011 she was awarded an APRA Professional Development award in the Popular Contemporary category. Live, she has notched up support slots with La Roux, Phoenix, CSS, The Gossip, Architecture in Helsinki, and Yacht and performed knockout sets at Homebake, Parklife, Falls Festival and Big Day Out.
A lesser artist would buckle under the pressure of expectation, with four years passing since her first EP, the bratty, hip hop-charged Anniversary. Catcall has instead used the time to focus and develop her sound into a lush, moody and evocative dance pop; sophisticated, but still true to her lo-fi roots.
This album is full of life; sex, death, happiness, love, heartbreak. It is a dedication to Catcall's deep love of '80s pop, but there is nothing disposable here. The Warmest Place is a musical Trojan horse; a bold and empowered voice contained within a killer pop record.
The album's vision is pure Catcall, from the raw, funereal chant of first track 'The Warmest Place' (originally performed with Kiosk following her father's sudden death in 2006), to the grounded, sneering swagger of 'Art Star'. The stirring, heady carnality of 'Swimming Pool', the visceral longing in her cover of 'German Film Star' by UK band The Passions, and the dreamy exultance of 'Satellites' showcase the inherent sexuality in Catcall's music, while the shimmering 'I Believed', the ethereal-electro track 'Paralysed' and the defiance of 'On My Own' and 'Shoulda Been' hint at a converse vulnerability to her fierce strength. 'World is Ours' and 'That Girl' are perfect '90s party jams, while 'August', the aching central track from Anniversary, is here given extra treatment by British producer and mixer Lee Groves
Written and recorded in Sydney from 2009 to 2011, The Warmest Place features the co-writing, mixing and production work of collaborators from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane; Bryon Jones. Diamond Cut, Toni Toni Lee, Youth, GLOVES, Julian Mendelsohn, Van She's Michael Di Francesco and Nicholas Routledge and Ash Maklad.
Catcall brings her record to life with a talented live band featuring Andrew Elston (aka Toni Toni Lee), Al Grigg (Red Riders / Palms), Bec Allen (The Fabergettes) and Simon Parker (Lost Valentinos), They will be embarking on their first ever national headline tour in May 2012.
The wait is finally over. Welcome to The Warmest Place.
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