Katy J Pearson

In the organizer's words:

May the wind be always at your back sings Katy J Pearson in the opening seconds of her third solo album. Though it's taken from the ancient Celtic blessing, it's also disjointed, glitchy; transformed into a gritty, modern good luck charm for an electronic Advent. It kicks off an album on which Pearson refuses to dig her heels in; running red lights, resisting backward steps and exercising her own autonomy - in life, in love and in the recording studio.

Following Return (2020) and Sound of the Morning (2022), Someday, Now sees Pearson's distinctive, acoustic-driven singer-songwriter fare transformed by electronic producer Nathan Jenkins aka Bullion (whose previous credits include Carly Rae Jepsen, Ben Howard, Nilüfer Yanya and Avalon Emerson). After a period of burnout, self-enforced exile from making music and traveling alone, Pearson returned to her practice with a clear mind and a clear vision.
"I knew exactly who I wanted to work with, I knew exactly who my session band would be, I knew where I wanted to record. It felt like I was finally in charge myself, and that was so encouraging," she says.
Having steered clear of pop music since the failure of an early relationship with a major label ("I was scared of pop"), Someday, Now showcases the songwriter's natural talent for a catchy tune - presenting ten sparkling tracks that are pop by nature rather than design or aspiration. "I've found my way back to myself," she sums up. It's a move that's both metaphorical and literal: Jenkins didn't push Pearson to fully exploit her impressive vocal range, and helped her shed an accidental American twang - instead, he gave her space to sing with her natural accent, informed by the sandy Gloucestershire limestone. "Even though Bullion was at the helm, I felt like I was with him, like we were producing together. I felt so involved in my own music that it's ridiculous to have to say - but unfortunately, as a woman, I think it takes a long time to be confident in what you're trying to do; to trust yourself sonically in a studio environment."

While previous Katy J Pearson records have been slower and piecemeal, Someday, Now was recorded in a matter of weeks at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire with a band made up of Heavenly labelmates Huw Evans (H. Hawkline, Aldous Harding, Cate Le Bon and Pearson's Sound of the Morning and The Wicker Man EP) and Davey Newington (Boy Azooga), as well as Broadside Hacks collaborator Joel Burton. It was produced by Joe Jones (Aldous Harding, Dry Cleaning, Jane Weaver).

The newfound discipline of the recording process can be heard in the music; Bullion's light but exacting touch refines and distills Pearson's songs until they shine with a brilliant clarity. "I feel like Bullion really captured the purity and the essence of how I record myself when I make demos," says Katy. Consequently, Someday, Now shows Katy J Pearson at her truest, most natural state, the songs are full of aesthetic and emotional honesty.

Designed by Katy J Pearson and photographed on wet plate collodion by Kasia Wozniak, the cover of Someday, Now shows the artist armed with a heavy sword: a fitting visual metaphor for a woman who "has always been shy to take up space" and has now found her power. Katy J Pearson's third album, she claims, "is my best work yet, and I'm not afraid to say that".

So if you don't know Katy J Pearson yet, it's high time you changed that. For example, when she performs at the beautiful Hebebühne on February 9, 2025. For die-hard fans like us, of course.

Price information:

The VVK starts on 8.11. at 11 am