CD Odyssey Disc 1958: Katy Kirby

Blue Raspberry is one of my favourite “drink” flavours but I always feel that raspberry gets short-changed on the use of red, which is reserved for strawberry (light red) and cherry (dark red). This record has very little to do with drink flavours, but I just had to get that off my chest.

Disc 1958 is…Blue Raspberry

Artist: Katy Kirby

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? Katy (assuming the brunette is Katy) and another person engage in some sort of embrace. Maybe they’re wrestling, maybe Katy is rescuing them from drowning or maybe it is a more amorous adventure. Whether it is sport, a rescue or sex, based on the sun-dappled water it looks like the weather is cooperating. Way easier to do all those things when the waves aren’t too big.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan of Kirby having encountered her through her 2021 debut, “Cool Dry Place” (reviewed back at Disc 1726). When I saw she had a new album out a couple of years ago I checked it out and liked what I heard.

How It Stacks Up: Kirby only has two full length records, and if you’re following along you’ll know that I have both of them. Of the two I enjoyed “Blue Raspberry” slightly more, so it is…#1.

Ratings: 4 stars

Katy Kirby has a languid style to her brand of indie pop that leaves you feeling relaxed and ready to see the world in a fresh and unhurried way. This is a record to both relax you musically, while throwing in just enough unexpected imagery that your mind is active and searching for the next line. Also, it’s very sexy.

Kirby’s high sweet vocals shows a lot of range in songs that are all sweet and introspective, but surprisingly variable in how they approach a melody. This record keeps your groove engaged throughout,

The opening track, “Redemption Arc” is even a bit off-brand, sung in her lower register, with a lurching minor key lilt that had me favourably comparing the approach to “Bachelor No. 2” era Aimee Mann. Unlike early Mann, Kirby is a bit more romantic than fatalist, and “Redemption Arc” is an apology song that is more focused on the comfort of making up than the apology itself. You get the sense that all is forgiven without any words spoken, but the words are welcomed all the same.

The record launches into Kirby’s more familiar high head voice on “Cubic Zirconia” which also oozes with a relaxed romanticism that permeates the record. Not content to rely on the record’s catchiest melody and a delightful birdsong phrasing, Kirby throws in some top-tier imagery. Best stanza:

“Face framed by hoodie like an oyster in a shell
And your eyes are rolling at me as a pair of angry pearls
You're the prettiest mermaid in the souvenir shop
But if you're coming home this late
You know you'd better be drunk”

Not something typically wished for, but there is a strong current of sexy that flows through this record that makes even a drunken homecoming feel like a fairy tale. Readers please note: this outcome is rarely the case and only works for the absolutely prettiest mermaids. If you're a merman, just forget about it entirely. Take off your shoes quietly in the hall and sleep on the couch.

But I digress.

“Wait Listen” has a song construction that is reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, both in terms of how the song builds the story as well as the mix of the tender and the bawdy poetry of a memorable hook up.

That ribbon of lyrical sexuality twists like a ribbon through the entirety of “Blue Raspberry” taking a record that could fall into its own introspection and instead making each song a sensual confession.

Kirby re-examines imagery used in earlier songs throughout the record, trying concepts out from different angles like the facets of the fake diamonds she references early on. She will return to the image of the cubic zirconia on “Salt Crystal” along with pearls (now in the mouth not the eyes), and the erotic nature of a well-placed bite (earlier featured in the amorous adventures of “Wait Listen”). Then, as your mind skips along with the sweetness of the melody, Kirby pulls it all together in a golden hour moment with:

“The rhinestones on your baseball cap reminding me of when
The salt left crystal on the sunset of your sunburned skin”

The best part of it all is that with its slow and relaxed style, this clever construction of image upon image slips into your mind slowly, like a cool summer breeze through an open window – invisible but alive on your skin.

Some albums hit you hard and early, but “Blue Raspberry” is a slow build that steals inside of you with a quiet beauty. It might take a few listens to catch everything that’s going on, but it’s worth the effort.

Best tracks: Redemption Arc, Cubic Zirconia, Wait Listen, Salt Crystal

CD Odyssey Disc 1726: Katy Kirby

It was a long hard day at the office, and I followed it up with some volunteer work for good measure. The combination has left me a bit knackered. Fortunately, one of the best pick-me-ups from a knackering is new music. I’ve been using this method now for fifteen years (yes, I’ve been doing this that long) and it hasn’t failed me yet.

Disc 1726 is…Cool Dry Place

Artist: Katy Kirby

Year of Release: 2021

What’s up with the Cover?  What is worse here, the outfit or the posture? Both suggest a lot of laziness, but only one of them is going to give Kirby back trouble later in life.

In addition to bad outfit and posture choices, Katy has decided to stand in a field of cacti. While this is demonstrably a “cool, dry place” it is also a prickly one.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review of this album and it sounded sufficiently intriguing for me to check out. I liked what I heard and so…here we are.

How It Stacks Up: Katy Kirby is a relatively new artist, and only has two albums so far. I have them both and put “Cool Dry Place” at #2.

Rating: 3 stars

A number of years ago I had a cat who was a bit of a yowler. He voiced how he felt about whatever was going on with him, or whatever was going on near him, and he did it with little grace. He was black, but I trow he had a fair bit of Siamese in him. When he was particularly off his rocker, I’d give him a snuggle and whisper “true beauty enters only the quietest of souls”. This usually did not work.

Listening to Katy Kirby reminds me of that whisper. She sings in a light, atmospheric kind of way that leaves your heart rested and full. It isn’t the best for driving, working out or generally anything that doesn’t provide close and quiet attention, but it is lovely.

Kirby’s music is an indie folk/pop crossover. She’s similar to Samia and any number of other artists in this style that evidently appeals to me, because I keep buying them. Early on in my journey through this record I was regretting this decision. I was in the car, and then working out, and just not feeling it (see above as to why). However, over time I reminded myself to quieten my soul and listen and sure enough, it revealed its beauty to me.

When “Cool Dry Place” is working, it envelopes you in its whimsy like a wispy summer cloud. One of those high up cirrus numbers. The music has upbeat melodies, saturated with arrangements that are layered and relaxed. Imagine all the album sounds are that part of an outdoor festival a bit back from the stage but still within earshot; still lots of stuff going on, but room in between to sway a bit and catch some sun.

“Traffic!” is a good example. This song bounces along with an easy joy. This ain’t Jimi Hendrix-style urgent traffic, this is the kind of traffic for when you’ve got the top down, and you’re in no particular hurry to be anywhere, perfectly happy to wave at pedestrians, let two or three cars merge in front of you and enjoy the stereo a bit.

The title track is also a standout, featuring the top end of Kirby’s sweet and breathy vocals. This song has the gentle sway you’d want from a tune that is, at its heart, a tremulous expression of love. It is a song that invites the question “do you like me, and if you do, what will happen next?” It reflects a fair bit of uncertainty but it does it from a place of curiosity that makes it hard to be afraid of what’s next. More nervously excited.

When the album isn’t going well, it can fall into the saccharine. Songs like “Fireman” are a bit too twee, even for Kirby’s perfectly-suited vocals to pull off. “Secret Language” riffs off of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” but that promising start is not realized. Instead, it loses focus, and gets drowned in production choices that are a bit too dreamy to hold your attention.

While the record is uneven, it never offends, and shows Kirby’s promise and talent throughout. It is hard to listen to this record and not feel a bit more chilled out when you’re done and sometimes that’s just what you need. I give it three stars, hold the yowls.

Best tracks: Traffic!, Portals, Cool Dry Place