Catty Pearson - Time Tells Me

by Malcolm Carter

published: 22 / 2 / 2019

Label: Catty Pearson
Format: CDS

Debut EP from London-based singer-songwriter Catty Pearson, which produced by Chris Kimsey, proves to be a little gem and her a strong and promising talent to watch out for

Review

The debut EP from London-based Catty Pearson features five self-penned songs and runs for around twenty minutes; for those who appreciate the female singer-songwriter genre listening to this EP is going to feel like the shortest twenty minutes of your life and will leave you wishing that a whole album featuring this artist was available. The facts; the songs aren’t stripped back-affairs featuring an acoustic and a pleasant voice. The songs feature Ollie Clarke on guitar, Lukas Drinkwater on bass and double bass, Flora Curzon on violin, Evan Jenkins on the drum stool while Nichol Thompson provides trombone and Jansen Santana adds the percussion. So, a full band sound then not just strummed acoustics. Chris Kimsey who has worked with a list of artists so long it would fill this page produced the songs. But we’ll mention Peter Frampton, Ten Years After and Wendy James to show his diversity (and the Wendy James set ‘Now Ain’t the Time for Your Tears’ is due for reappraisal). Oh, and he’s also worked with the Rolling Stones as well. Not a shabby CV. Makes you wonder why Kimsey would be interested in a relatively unknown artist but only until the very first track on this EP begins to play. Catty Pearson is no run-of-the mill singer-songwriter. Catty is blessed with a pure, crystal clear voice; not uncommon in the singer-songwriter genre but there’s warmth, that extra special something that few possess which draw the listener into the songs. Shorn of any vocal acrobatics it’s a voice that you just lose yourself in. It surrounds and becomes part of you while the songs play out. Then there’s the diversity of the music that Catty presents on this EP. It’s far from what we think of as the accepted singer-songwriter sound; the band obviously contribute massively to this. The violin that weaves in and out of ‘Smothered Love’ takes this late-night, smoky club jazz-infused track to unexpected places. ‘Northern Sky’ does follow the accepted singer-songwriter pattern being acoustic-based but again the contribution from the band lifts the song into unexpected territory. And that voice; admittedly there are many female vocalists just now that are exceptional but Catty is up there with the best of them. Our research reveals that Catty describes the songs on the EP as "her enquiry into materialism and the invasion of technology into all our lives." Maybe what sets this particular artist apart from the others and what comes through in her emotive singing is that Catty has actually spent some time to do her bit to make this crazy world a little better and more understanding. Walking across Northern India with 1,000 nuns to help raise awareness and educate people about the effects of plastic and pollution on this planet, working on a farm for two years to learn about sustainable living and swimming from Albania to Corfu to raise funds for an orphanage is not something that many of us can claim to have done. Catty Pearson is no ordinary singer-songwriter and it shows in her music, but those striking, pure vocals and gorgeous melodies will touch you before the lyrical content makes its mark. While all five songs are worthy of your attention and time and cover so many bases - her music takes in folk, blues, jazz and a smattering of country - the title song is the one to go for as a sample. ‘Time Tells Me’ is simply striking; Catty’s vocals on this track show why she’s been compared to Norah Jones and the melody is gorgeous and contagious. Although released as 2018 came to a close ‘Time Tells Me’ didn’t reach these parts until the first month of 2019. We can only hope that this year sees more releases of this caliber from this talented artist; Catty Pearson is definitely a name to watch out for.