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Since the release of her debut single in 2019, Glaswegian artist Neev has built a
reputation for discovering beauty in the small details. Her talent for storytelling and worldbuilding has earned her early support from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Sian Eleri and BBC Radio 6 Music’s Tom Robinson, as well as a sync on BBC drama Waterloo Road & Love Island.
On April 28th, the now London-based musician is set to release her debut album, Katherine, a collection of intricate indie-folk songs that pack a lyrical punch. Buoyed by the experience of engineering, mixing and producing her 2021 EP Currants almost entirely alone whilst the country was in lockdown, much of Katherine was recorded at Neev’s home studio and the homes of a host of talented musician friends. “It was really important to me that the album wasn’t only a group of songs but that it would also be a learning curve for me, and it was! I learnt so much about arrangement, frequency, the range of my voice and the way I like to construct songs and write,” she says.
Katherine carries all of the trademark sounds of Neev’s previous releases. Acoustic guitars, soaring string arrangements and layered backing vocals can be found throughout, but this time they’re bigger. Standout single ‘Green’, a song about envy, calls to mind artists like Marika Hackman and Fenne Lily. The track was born out of the relief Neev felt being reunited with her band post-lockdown. “It just fell out of me,” she says. “I think my brain just wanted to write a big, fun track for us to play together,” she says. Every song on Katherine is tied to the idea of identity.
“Each song explores the different facets of an individual,” explains Neev. “Them as someone’s child, someone’s sibling, someone’s partner. Someone as the gender (in my case, female) they identify as, someone as the job they do,” she continues. “In certain scenarios we play a role, at work we’re professional, at our family home we play out our function. Each track adopts a different role. For example, ‘The House’ is told from the point of view of a classic 60s housewife, the song paints them as unsatisfied, frustrated and pessimistic. However, that’s probably not how they feel all the time but it is when they’re playing their role”.
‘Fast Patterns’ is a real highlight. Written from the point of view of an imperfect friend, the song is about not knowing how to be there for someone in their darkest moments. It asks how far you should go for a friend in need and at what point you need to take a step back. Similarly, ‘Built Your Body’ is an open-hearted ode to finding resilience, the lyrics trace the different ways in which people get through the day. Neev’s passion for theatre and film has been integral to her development as a songwriter. Coming from a long line of actors and directors, she’s been an avid theatre goer from a young age, with one-person plays being her favourite.
“I always find stirring solo shows inspiring as I love monologues and communication centred stories. They give me a huge amount of energy and ideas for lyrics,” she says. In fact, ‘Seawall’, a song about being stretched too thin, was actually inspired by a one-man play of the same name, written for and starring Andrew Scott. The song, like the play, features the recurring motif of a hole in the middle of the stomach.
The album’s title encapsulates the record’s essence. “Katherine is a common name in my family and it’s also my middle name,” says Neev. “So whilst it has a personal meaning, it also exists in a few different ways. I named the album ‘Katherine’ because it touches on the themes of family, identity and the different identities one person can hold within themselves.”
Tracklist
1 Seawall
2 Green
3 Without Warmth
4 You Shouldn't Hate Your Teeth
5 Built Your Body
6 I Can Be Sorry
7 The House
8 Fast Patterns
9 Will I Change You
10 Hard Lines
11 Out Of The Blue