It’s been a while since I reviewed a release from Cat Una, too long really. Her music has so much to love – great singing, a wonderful approach to songwriting and composition, and great instrumentation. She’s one of Leeds’s great singer/songwriters.
So to my first listen – I mean serious listen rather than a skim listen – and I’m hooked on this song. The music comes at you in small waves of gorgeous sound. Managing to be both rich and full of space. This is a song you could live in. This is joyous.
But the highlight is her voice; a voice that somehow manages to sound both small and powerful. She’s singing great words but that voice is part of the music, an instrument in its own right. And this is gorgeous.
Cat explains “‘Temporary Blues’ speaks to the journey of learning to navigate the sludgy states we get ourselves into by trying to control everything and the importance of being malleable and trusting the process. There’s a line in it which feels like an ode to witnessing
the seasons changing in slow motion for what seemed like the first time in my life. It’s the first song written, recorded and mixed in our little studio-come-home office-come-living room, and taking breaks in nature played a huge part in providing some much needed respite during the process of bringing this song to fruition”.
It sounds a little bit folky, a little bit soft-rock, hints of Country, even a big ballad. There are bits that have hints of Kate Bush, there are bits that remind me of Judie Tzuke (specifically ‘Stay With Me To Dawn’) and there’s something of a Cowboy Junkies feel at times. I could go on but it seems wrong to compare it to other artists when it’s very much a thing of itself.
There is, to me anyway, something that is decidedly not of this time about this song; it could be something from the 80s, it could be something of now, or even of the future. I’m saying It’s timeless here if you hadn’t already got that.
This is beautiful. It wraps around you and holds gently you in it’s mesmerising beauty.
The info
Cat says ‘I’ve been focused on creating from an unfiltered place and have had an extremely fruitful year of songwriting because of it. Mine and Mac’s biggest rule when collaborating is to express ourselves without worrying about anything external to our D.I.Y living room studio. Experimenting while remaining true to each song feels the most natural way to create and has brought about wonderful sonic surprises. Welcoming to the line up our cherished friend and top class drummer, Jack Clayton, has provided a strong back bone to the recordings, brought vitality to the live set up, and enhanced the transmission of the songs’.
