The Secret Boy's Club ep

Kat Flint

Kat's MySpace page stresses her on-a-shoestring approach to her recordings, fortunately it doesn't sound like it, her debut ep has captured her lightness of touch that lull's you into a song and then shakes you with it's lyrical punch. The punch however comes mostly from her great voice, at the end of the day lyrics can be about anything or nothing (Bjork or Sigur Ros...), it's the emotion and personality the singer invests in their material that gets them noticed.

She lists an eclectic bunch of influences, from Jack Johnson to the White Stripes (via Hayseed Dixie), perhaps it's that range that makes this sound so much more than an ep. It has a cohesive feel and ambience so often missing from a debut.

The standout tracks for me are Headrush and Anticlimax, deep of content and gloriously witty; K T Tunstall meets Tori Amos. The swelling, lush arrangements don't mask her great vocals. The mark of a great vocalist must surely be their ability to go from a whisper to a scream without actually whispering or screaming, it's in the way the sentiment is conveyed. On some tracks she literally climbs out of the speakers and demands your attention. Reviewers love to dismiss someone a 'sounds like...', this can't be done with Kat, she already has a reputation for intimate performance and recently supported Cara Dillon.

When I read the press release and her comments on MySpace I was expecting something totally different, less ambitious perhaps. All the songs are acoustic, but you get the feeling she could be equally as good with a harder edged sound. The last track The Blinking is an introspective note to leave it on, but it leaves you wanting more...

Iain Hazlewood