Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid

[fumi]

 

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith follows up a collaborative album with electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani and her breakthrough long player EARS with her latest journey, The Kid. A double album in length that portrays the earliest steps of life's journey through a majestic sense of awe, mysticism and wonder.

 

True to its childhood theme the album is split across four emotionally-inspired segments that take in the various stages of life's first moments through to the realisations of growing up and apart. The first quarter draws its focus on the newly found feeling of confused astonishment - everything is brand new and glistening in the morning sun. This traverses through an emotional focus that takes hold, Kaitlyn's lyrical content perfectly conveying these feelings of confirmation that turn into a sense of pure being, fittingly building further on the electronic experiments of her breakthrough EARS.

 

The second section starts up with an explorative feeling of reaching out and grasping the immediacy of the world around us, captured through a series of sonic experiments that reach deep into the soul and emerge armed with a range of sounds that stem from a Bollywood-esque low-end pulse melodies that call to mind the sound of Julia Holter's wonderful experiments within her Ekstasis.

 

The second half begins by confronting the ideas of giving back to the formative forces of one's upbringing, this is investigated with the range of influences that Kaitlyn's music draws from as an entity, from cosmic electronica to the most out there pop sounds, this cross-genre feeling is both vast within its otherworldly approach, yet retains a familiarity that will dazzle all that get swept up in its EMS Synthi 100 led tropical ambient sound.

 

Drawing The Kid to its final notes, the fourth segment gives itself into Kaitlyn's verdant orchestral moments that were all written and arranged for the EU-based Stargaze quartet. While the album reaches its final conclusion, the focus is drawn towards "a return to pure being, the kind of wisdom and peace that eludes most of us until the autumn of life". A bittersweet refrain holds us tight with the album's most striking line “one day I’ll wake up and you won’t be there” showing the way forward on a road that lies split between the closing moments of the record while shedding any melancholy resentment against loss that you may feel, overpowering these feelings with a grateful acknowledgement of life. These two roads crossing paths within the near perfect waves of sound, floating out of the speakers with an elegant flow while the music slowly unwinds to its end.

 

The Kid is another brilliant album from this unique talent, ripe with the imagined wonder and innocence of youth.

 

https://bleep.com/release/86790-kaitlyn-aurelia-smith-the-kid

[Lada Laika]

So flipping stoked. Wish I could preorder direct from Western Vinyl instead of Bleep, but their website doesn't seem to have updated yet. Always have trouble with Bleep on mobile.

 

EDIT: WV site's updated with three different price points for the US colored vinyl? Are there bonus goodies or is this a donation situation?

[fumi]

[joshuatxuk]

Only been familiar with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith in the last year but I am glad she's getting a lot of attention. Interesting track: I like it when talented producers take a dip into singing and end up being excellent vocalists.

[fumi]

Only been familiar with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith in the last year but I am glad she's getting a lot of attention. Interesting track: I like it when talented producers take a dip into singing and end up being excellent vocalists.

 

I get some Elizabeth Frasier vibes from that track.

[Braintree]

I went to school with her and have collaborated on stuff in the past. It's really weird seeing her get a bunch of attention, but glad it's happening.

[canzoniere vaticano]

last year album was superb

 

Inviato dal mio ONEPLUS A5000 utilizzando Tapatalk

[fumi]

[patternoverlap]

Lots of vocalists now seem influenced heavily by Fever Ray

[joshuatxuk]

Lots of vocalists now seem influenced heavily by Fever Ray

 

like who?

 

not asking facetiously, I hear that on occasion myself randomly on the radio or listening to mixes but can't name anyone off-hand - never got into Fever Ray / The Knife that much but her vocal phrasing/timbre is distinct

[patternoverlap]

 

Lots of vocalists now seem influenced heavily by Fever Ray

 

like who?

 

not asking facetiously, I hear that on occasion myself randomly on the radio or listening to mixes but can't name anyone off-hand - never got into Fever Ray / The Knife that much but her vocal phrasing/timbre is distinct

 

 

In retrospect it was a superficial observation. Mainly I meant that sort of weird octave layering that FR does.

 

Some examples:

 

 

Another artist using a similar thing on her vocals:

 

https://evabowan.bandcamp.com/track/regression-to-the-mean

 

Not saying it's bad at all. I quite like the effect.

[patternoverlap]

 

 

Lots of vocalists now seem influenced heavily by Fever Ray

 

like who?

 

not asking facetiously, I hear that on occasion myself randomly on the radio or listening to mixes but can't name anyone off-hand - never got into Fever Ray / The Knife that much but her vocal phrasing/timbre is distinct

 

 

In retrospect it was a superficial observation. Mainly I meant that sort of weird octave layering that FR does.

 

Some examples:

 

 

Another artist using a similar thing on her vocals:

 

https://evabowan.bandcamp.com/track/regression-to-the-mean

 

Not saying it's bad at all. I quite like the effect.

 

[Lada Laika]

welp this might end up in my top 10 of the year too, it's just fucking lovely

[DavieAddison]

 

 

Lots of vocalists now seem influenced heavily by Fever Ray

like who?

 

not asking facetiously, I hear that on occasion myself randomly on the radio or listening to mixes but can't name anyone off-hand - never got into Fever Ray / The Knife that much but her vocal phrasing/timbre is distinct

In retrospect it was a superficial observation. Mainly I meant that sort of weird octave layering that FR does.

 

Some examples:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-CpE73o2M

 

Another artist using a similar thing on her vocals:

 

https://evabowan.bandcamp.com/track/regression-to-the-mean

 

Not saying it's bad at all. I quite like the effect.

Thought you meant Sugar Ray until I saw that video. I was very confused. I definitely thought she was the girl from The Knife on a couple tracks off of EARS though.

[fumi]

This is out now. Sounds great.

[Lada Laika]

Just got my vinyl in the mail yesterday! Gorgeous album.

[Lada Laika]

bumpin' for a Four Tet remix, also this album is still great

 

[Leon Sumbitches]

I'm late to the party here but this is a gorgeous album, one of my top 5 this year for sure. Such an ear for natural and organic sounds and catchy as fuck songwriting. It's actually got me really into trying to produce modular-esque stuff with my Volca Keys, which I haven't played with for a while (I'm never going down the modular rabbit hole, I won't come back).