Review of Cat Ryan as they deliver a sparkling origin story with ‘Free From This’
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
If you’re going to release a song you wrote as a teenager, it had better be good. Cat Ryan’s is very good indeed…
PRESS PHOTOS BY ELLEN DIXON | COVER PHOTO BY MARY-ANNE MURPHY
‘Free From This’ is technically the Newcastle four-piece’s debut single, but it is also something more interesting than that — it is the song that made Mary-Anne Murphy realise what kind of artist they wanted to be. Written back in 2018 and played live for years before anyone thought to properly record it, it has finally been mixed and mastered by Tilly
Louise and sent out into the world, and honestly, what took so long?
The track is a bright, bouncy surge of surf-pop with just enough angular indie edge to keep it from feeling too breezy. Think Vampire Weekend with a Newcastle postcode, or Hippo Campus after a very good rehearsal. The guitars are punchy and alive, the rhythm section drives everything forward with real purpose, and the whole thing is over before you’ve had a chance to catch your breath - which is exactly how a song like this should feel.
There is a looseness to the performance that speaks to years of playing it live, and the production is smart enough to preserve that energy rather than sand it down. It sounds like a band who know this song inside out, because they do.
Cat Ryan already have BBC Radio 1, 6 Music and Radio X support to their name, plus festival appearances and a Spotify New Music Friday placement. ‘Free From This’ is the foundation stone that makes all of that make sense. A proper debut for a band who have been ready for this moment for a while.
Catch them at Truck Festival this summer on the Nest stage for Dork Magazine’s showcase.
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