Portland – When Best New Bands spoke with Kat Dahlia last month, she was very eager to share her debut album with the world. Though it has been a while since her first single off the record, “Gangsta,” was released in 2013, My Garden (out this week on Epic subsidiary Vested In Culture) is well worth the wait. With a powerful and unique voice, honest lyrics, and exemplary production, the Miami-based singer-songwriter’s debut sounds like the work of a seasoned pop veteran.
The most immediately striking aspect of My Garden is the singer’s voice. Fitting comfortably somewhere between Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday, the lack of effects and modulation on her vocals makes Dahlia stand out from her peers from the opening moments of the first track. Her raspy, impassioned delivery helps emphasize her honesty from start to finish.
Kat’s vocal delivery mirrors her lyrics, which deserve to be read while listening to My Garden. Authenticity and openness are continually stressed throughout the album, and she clearly has no time for anyone who doesn’t value these traits just as much as she does.
This is most clearly demonstrated on “Gangsta,” where she calls out all the dishonesty of the fakers she sees around her (“You say you a gangsta/That don’t impress me none/You say you a gangsta/Ain’t seen a thing you done”). Kat also uses the same song to turn the trope of never trusting women that is all-too prevalent in hip-hop and R&B back around on itself, displaying a penchant for sharp-wittedness and criticism that fills My Garden.
It may surprise some that Kat Dahlia sounds so confident on tracks such as “Gangsta” and “Clocks,” when self-doubt and pain are recurring themes through much of the album. However, on careful examination, she is exorcising her demons through music, using the pain of a past abusive relationship, homesickness, and even a run-in with a music industry head that advised her to make her music with a stronger Latin influence (resulting in the defiant “Tumbao”) as inspiration for finding strength in the face of adversity.
Whatever doubts Kat might have, she confronts them with honesty, and encourages others to do the same. As she sings on “Mirror”: “I don’t know the monsters you knew/But I’m trying to forget the ones I met too/Baby you could help me/Baby I can help you.”
The production on My Garden compliments Dahlia’s vocals and lyrical voice perfectly. Alternating between slow and brooding to bouncy and triumphant, the instrumentals are exciting and powerful enough to hold even the most casual listener’s attention. The transition from one track to the next is smooth, including the sparse closer, “Just Another Dude,” featuring only Kat’s voice and an acoustic guitar, which doesn’t feel out of place amongst the drums, synthesizers, and piano present on the rest of the album.
At just eleven songs, only a handful of which make it past the four-minute mark, My Garden is as precise as it is poignant and starkly forward. This strong of a debut album can only be a sign of great things to come from this immensely talented performer.
You can connect with Kat Dahlia through her website, Facebook, and Twitter, and purchase My Garden here.
Jack Butcher
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