Katie Gregson-MacLeod – Albatross
The ethereal debut album from Inverness singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-MacLeod lingers on messy emotions
Albatross begins in quiet defeat. Nothing Really Changes embraces how emotions and circumstances fluctuate: 'You get rich for a year / You fall in love / You leave him in March / Then the tax bill comes'. If Katie Gregson-MacLeod passively faces life’s jagged edges, earthy harmonies and gentle drums capture a persistent undercurrent of longing.
Gregson-MacLeod’s voice carries a melancholy enveloped in airy acoustic accompaniments. If the instrumentation at times feels subdued, it gives weight to her folk-infused vocals which convey a gradual undoing. On the misty Same Eyes, her entrancing, Joni Mitchell-style vibrato breathes alongside lyrical nostalgia. As memories are unearthed, old emotions struggle to fade. I Don’t Think of Kissing You is one of many ballads that sometimes blur, but are quietly reflective. Gregson-MacLeod confronts her contradictions, renouncing a past lover while agonising over what-ifs.
Alluding to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Albatross is restless despite its soothing melodies. Daughter echoes themes of powerlessness with visceral, piercing confessions: 'Arms out like the Redeemer / Wearing girlhood like a fever'. Although laced with doubt, the parting mantra 'I can do whatever I want to' reasserts control, in a haunting and hopeful plea.
Listen to: Same Eyes, The Big Lie