New wave rise and shine

REVIEW: Katy J Pearson | Sound of The Morning

Katy J Pearson drops her new album during a heatwave.

All 11 tracks on ‘Sound of The Morning’ send temperatures soaring.

The 26-year-old’s second studio record is a stunning departure from 2020’s epic debut ‘Return’.

There’s Pearson’s trademark delicious vocals, catchy hooks and magnificent melodies throughout. But the 26-year-old has taken her songwriting to new levels.

One great song is followed by another great song and that’s followed by another great song…

Katy shares her name with one of the B-52s and there’s a sense of new wave Americana on some tracks.

‘Howl’ and ‘Confession’ remind me of The B-52s in their late 80s ‘Cosmic Thing’ pomp.

The outstanding ‘Alligator’ even has a ‘Rock Lobster’ vibe about it.

It is the most fun track on the album with a thumbing bass line breaking up a soaring chorus.

‘Riverbed’ could be Pearson’s most powerful song to date. The lyrics see Katy offering support to someone who has fallen out of favour with the world.

‘What will you say? what will you do? Now the world has turned on you?’

‘Riverbed’ ‘Talk Over Town’ ‘Game of Gods’ glide effortlessly then find another gear in their last moments leaving listener in awe.

There’s traditional English strings at the climax to ‘Float’ giving it an ‘Eleanor Rigby’ feel.

There could be several singles from this album such is its catchy nature.

The record closes with a rendition of ‘Willow’s Song’ from the 1973 horror movie ‘Wicker Man’.

Pearson even manages to make her version more haunting and hypnotic than the original.

‘Sound of the Morning’ cements Katy J Pearson as one of the country’s greatest new songwriters.

Dickie Felton