KITTI – SOMETHIN’ IN THE WATER

Description

Celebrated Glasgow-based singer and songwriter kitti has today released her euphoric, soul-stirring new single Maybe, the first track to be taken from her highly-anticipated debut album Somethin’ In The Water which is set for release on 15 November on Rebecca’s Records.

Driven by the gorgeous, uplifting sound of a full band complete with horns and strings, Maybe puts kitti’s extraordinary vocals front and centre. She delivers a soaring jazz-blues meditation on unrequited love, in a similar vein to the empowering feminist stylings of Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse or Chaka Khan.

Maybe was co-written back in 2018 by kitti and Matthew Hickman. The song, like many others from the forthcoming album, explores “the thoughts that run through your head when you’re in a situationship and nothing feels even”. Expressing and owning these doubts and reservations is a common theme of kitti’s songwriting, resulting in music that is full of emotion, honesty, and ultimately liberation and self-love.

Somethin’ In The Water is the culmination of kitti’s musical journey to date and reflects her reputation as one of Scotland’s most exciting jazz performers, with her accolades including Best Vocalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards in 2022 and 2020, and Best Breakthrough at Scottish Music Awards 2020.

The majority of the album was recorded live over a period of four days at Beetroot Studios in Airdrie in January 2022. Accordingly, these 12 tracks capture the immediacy and vibrancy of kitti’s singular vocal ability.

The beautiful horn and string arrangements by Harry Weir & Seonaid Aitken, which again were mostly recorded live, further complement the rich spectrum of the album’s myriad jazz, soul and blues moods.

Somethin’ In The Water features songs written over a number of years, with new compositions alongside tracks written many years prior.

As kitti explains: “this album has been in the making for nearly a decade. Some of the songs had been sitting on the back burner waiting to be recorded for almost 9 years. This is my life’s work so far as an artist and I’m more than excited to be finally unleashing it to the world!”

The album opens with the overture-style intro ‘Come On Through’, a lovely heartfelt piano ballad that sets the tone for the themes of lost love, frustration and self realisation that characterise the record.

After the unapologetically rousing track Maybe, comes the interlude Dreamland and its ethereal, gentle affirmations, before the woozy, honey-tinged Everything You Wanted provides another of the album’s standout moments.

One of kitti’s oldest compositions – it was written when she was just 14 years old, on the upright piano gifted from her nonna and papa – Everything You Wanted glides on a cloud of dreamy strings, heavenly backing vocals and sublime keys, as kitti’s captivating vocal improvisations take centre stage.

Across the album, kitti’s natural ability to showcase a range of styles and emotions shines through. There’s the funk-inflected groove of Must Be Somethin’ and the arresting solo piano vocal song Wings, through to the raw and triumphant Wonderland (inspired by kitti’s personal experience of living with Borderline Personality Disorder) to the yearning Me Myself & I, where jazz guitar and lovelorn lyrics evoke a feeling of classic old-Hollywood cinematic glamour. Fine Ass presents another personality-filled interlude, before Make-Up / Break-Up returns to the theme of situationships and love lost, with kitti’s world-wise, candid vocal and playful horns casting a ray of sunshine over the ache of a missed love connection.

Gone matches kitti’s vocals with a full band sound complete with choir, horns and strings, before I Walk Away, a powerful break up song, takes full flight. On the soul-tinged track kitti’s show-stopping vocals take full flight, with this unforgettable closing track marking a definitive, triumphant end to an album that sets a new benchmark for contemporary jazz-blues.