Creative modern production continues to drive much of the indie realm of late. Long-time artist and songwriter Katherine Appello notes an impressively vast repertoire of music in keeping with that scene, but also offers a rather timeless and thoughtfully heartfelt twist on the rising format, seeking to inspire and comfort listeners, with a humble fusion of folk, pop, and country musicianship.
From a handful of brand new releases, Corri Lento Bambino is a brightly shining highlight, blending a classic four-chord pop-groove with soulful guitars, exotic vocals, and a brilliantly catchy original hook. It’s a hugely uplifting moment, the energy rising throughout, and the song is naturally a charming summertime earworm.
Then to underline a whole other side of the Katherine Appello approach, a fresh vocal and English lyrics follow a thoughtful piano progression, for the generated imagery and starkly haunting introspection of Seasons of Memory. This song is boldly unexpected on occasion, its simple pictures and ideas suddenly shifting into harsh fragments of reality and history.
Piano also leads us through the equally contemplative Whispers of Time, a new AI voice and lyrical journey blending imagery and reflections on the passing of days, weeks, years. These two songs have clear similarities, in both set-up and substance, only there’s more of a hopeful air of acceptance to this one.
Finally, but from an extensive and ever-expanding catalogue, Katherine Appello takes us back to a much simpler time, with the raw folk-country sound and capture of a much more genuine and catchy This Thing Called Love. Authenticity rings loud here, raw vocals and harmonies following the same imagery and metaphors of other, more recent tracks, but the style and performance adding something easy to appreciate, for their humility and humanity at large.
In every case, the songwriting is well-rounded, the choruses work their magic well, and the stories seek to connect and inspire in a lasting manner.
Find Katherine Appello on Instagram & Bandcamp.
