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Fawn / Brute

by Katie Gately

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Tjarko Busink
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Tjarko Busink What a breathtakingly brilliant album! It's a wonderful journey full of surprises. The sounds, the melodies, the arrangements: it's all delightfully unusual and beautiful. I just can't stop playing it. It was an absolute rollercoaster the first time I heard it. It almost makes me sad that it will never be like that again, but the melodies and arrangements are now a part of me (which is just as nice). This is one of the best and most intriguing albums I've listened to in years. 
New Music Jason
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New Music Jason This album is my Feature Pick for this week (03/25-31) on my New Music page:

newmusicjason.wordpress.com/2023/03/31/the-new-music-im-listening-to-31/ Favorite track: Meat.
Cristofero Fungipirato
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Cristofero Fungipirato Katie

How could I pick a favorite. I'll listen to this a dozen times on repeat before I begin to arrive at that. Tour please bring the little one(theTubes brought the kids).. Gotta hear this live!
you ecstatic baphomet you. thanks for including the lyrics!
Michael Cook
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Michael Cook Incredible album full of joy and darkness. Although they're a small part of the sonic palette as a whole, I absolutely love the way the horns/ brass instruments are used. They're wounded and wild in a way that I've only heard matched by David Bowie on Blackstar. Favorite track: Cleave.
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    ==============================
    Bandcamp - Album of the day 29/03/23
    The Quietus - Album of the Week
    Stereogum - Album of the Week
    The Guardian - 3/5
    All Music - 4/5

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1.
Seed 02:48
Whether you be, smaller than me I heard your call, I heard your call You combed me outta the sea (a strong wind, is calling) You combed me outta the sea (a strong wind, is calling) Whether you be, smaller than me I heard your call, I heard your call Combed me outta the sea, you Combed me outta the sea Gather the seed Gather, gather the seed How do you mold when it’s a fraught man’s world? Out of the soil, out of the soil How do you mold when it’s a fraught man’s world? How do you mold when it’s a fraught man’s world? Gather the seed Gather, gather the seed
2.
Howl 03:39 video
Forest, walker Homesick, homesick Forest (away from a little room) Walker (not far but it will be soon) Homesick, homesick Homesick, homesick What will you do? One becomes two Forest (and I will have fought) Walker (with the mitt you bought) How do you choose? Roof becomes muse Out of new views Clock chases fuse So much for you to confuse Life cues the pursuit of the goose No matter which path you choose Your ruse will lose, got to pay your dues Forgive, heroes Heroes sting Hero, all show Howl at the moon, now!
3.
Fawn 04:19
We prepared a beast and it’s all a daze We prepared a beast and it’s all a haze We pretended, it was all right (all haze, always) We pretended, it was all good (all haze, all of our days) We pretended, a splinter was a threat We pretended, all was splendid We pretended, it was all right We pretended our tenor wasn’t red We pretended, it was all good We pretended, all was splendid We prepared a beast and it’s all a haze We prepared a beast and it’s all a haze We prepared a beast and she’s all but a maze We prepared a beast and she’s stuck with us always I rubbed my eyes and I scratched my head and laughed aloud because I wasn’t dead! I hushed my prize and snatched her up a shred of calf cow silky braided bread! I rushed her side and attached a lock of roses across her shirt and shoulders! I gushed - her size - how I hatched a complicated graph of gorgeous features! Fate how it pawed and clawed to make a ditch a dent in the mud! Fate how it huffed and puffed to take a scent of the road that was cuffed! Fate how it pawed and clawed to bait the fright of a fall through a fog! Fate how it roughed and toughed to take a bite of the bone that was caught! Cheeks that break the law Cheeks that break the law I’m gonna pretend I am what I intend
4.
Cleave 04:25
I am never gonna hold you up on a big, tall shelf again Yes, I’m clever and can always sense when a hand is worth holding You, you, you have gotten cold I thought I’d sample you and hold Until the memory stored got sold For currents with a useful mold Us together was a long frail hollow strangled blunt spasm ‘Fine whatever’ is what he will say to she, to they, to them You, you, you have gotten cold I thought I would sample you and hold Until the memory stored got sold For currents with a useful mold I, I, I don’t even have a shred Of a sore throat or a throbbing head But I am taking the day off From work and play just to sit and scoff And here might be a good place to stop My head will not shut the fuck up My heart beats boldly and it’s hot Inside my chest I’m bursting wide Rib cage expanding into the knife! I won’t be the holder for the start of your spark My heart is bark, stiff and stark, cinched up frock of hawk I won’t be the holder for the start of your spark My heart is bark, stiff and stark, cinched up frock of hawk I won’t wait for you, I won’t stay stooped I won’t wait for you, I won’t stay stooped
5.
Peeve 04:27
A sinking cellar A wicked fella A storyteller Ooh ooh ooh A wing propeller A bad best seller A country dweller Ooh ooh ooh We ran amok We ran amok We ran amok Ya da da Daddy’s home but you want mommy I grinned a groan, gripped up a growl Daddy’s home but you want mommy I nipped a no, whipped up a bottle How small, our goal House call, I’m old! Who you gonna call now? Who you gonna reach for? Who you gonna call out? How you gonna be pure? And the routine sets to hire out a clone And a road over-travelled dries out to a bone And the record sets a fire through a phone And the roof just wants the ridge to find a home Jump, sit, set and forget it Bump, hit, bet and regret it Who you gonna, who you gonna, who you gonna blame? All the causes of our flaws sit seasons out the same Who you gonna, who you gonna, who you gonna bring? Deck the halls as frolic flows a frost across a flame Grudge and ill will - they set fire to your ire! Grudge and ill will - they set fire to your ire! Don’t you dare mess with me Don’t you dare mess with me Don’t you dare mess with mommy Don’t you dare mess with me Forget it, pet it, send it on the way Can’t get caught with what you fought with yesterday Dead set on the bet of being right Best threat roll the rock into the clay I don’t see the wreck in the debt, I just see its draw I don’t see the red in the thread, I just see a shawl I don’t hear the dread in the prayer, I just hear it soft I don’t hear the fret in the bet, I just heed its, I just heed its call When you play God, you’re gonna cry, cry, cry about a lot When you play God, you’re gonna cry, cry, cry about a lot Forget it, pet it, send it on the way Can’t get caught with what you fought with yesterday Dead set on the bet of being right Best threat roll the rock into the clay
6.
Scale 04:44
Scale the wall It’s only six foot tall You’ll always find a weight You’ll always find a war Scale the wall The haul is worth the fall You’ll always have to wait If praises are your bait I want it so low My heart will start a bradycardia I will stall Squeamish said the olive oil to the oven’s lure, to the oven’s purr Squeamish said the butter’s boil to the cupboard’s churr, to the cutter’s stir Squeamish said the office girl to the nurse’s herd, a squawk of censure Squeamish said the officer to the hearse’s gird, the doctor’s insured Have a seat and wait Have a seat and wait Barricade, fire Barricade, fire Millimeters of mercury above Millimeters of mercury above Get away from the sun so hot it must be burned! Get away from the sun, your past, a vast omen! Wake up to the sun - don’t harm her Wake up to the sun - don’t starve her Wake up to the sun - don’t alarm her Wake up to the sun - just calm down Wake up to the sun Wake up to the sun And where will you run from the wall’s inward turn? And where will you run from a stall’s wayward spurn? And where will you run when the sun is bucklin’ down? And where will you run when the soot is clutchin’ your gown? Barricade, fire Barricade, fire
7.
Meat 05:06
Fate assault, a forward fold Fate how it pawed a ditch, a dent in the road In a way I have always known a secret sworn is a soldier born In a state of alone - no one - a wrecked and crimped moan unsung her only song Cuckoo went the mind through the whips Her hips gil-slit forfeited wrecked by a referee Cuckoo went the mind through the wrecks and checks of a filtered off-kiltered reality Fate it paused to take a scent of the road Fate how it hawed a wrinkled wreck of a code Cuckoo went the mind through the whips Her hips gil-slit forfeited wrecked by a referee Cuckoo went the mind through the wrecks and checks of a filtered off-kiltered reality Cuckoo went the hullabaloo A senseless cause, a wicked clause Cuckoo went the hullabaloo A sickened corpse, a coarse remorse This winter wept and wallowed, a splinter became a cane This winter wept and wallowed, a center became a cave This winter wept and wallowed, a sinner’s cantor caved I screamed a certain sorrow, I screamed a certain name I dreamed a horror hollow, I dreamed an illness tamed Have a seat and wait Have a seat and wait Fate, it called Fate, it called To take a center’s plate at the table’s sprawl To take a scent of the road that came to call Cuckoo went the mind Cuckoo went the mind
8.
Brute 04:10
I’m gonna rub the salt into a wound today Rip it apart, the heart was meant to play I’m gonna rub the salt into a wound today Something about the halt of a holy freight Dream through a wall again Dream through it all Scream through the parlor’s den Scream through the wall No one’s gonna find my heart this way No one’s gonna break my heart Speak up when you’re feeling bad, Your heart’s in a hovel, heaving up a cloud Speak up when you’re feeling bad, Your heart’s in a pickle, prickled by a prowl I sold my soul to you, my soul to you I sold my soul to you, my soul to you I soiled my soul for you, my soul for you I soiled my soul for you, my soul for you Holler and holler and holler we’re had Bit by a substance that drove us quite mad Farther and farther and farther we fled Flung from the wings of a wicked white bread Rip it up, kick it up give us the score Can’t trust a carrot to lead you to shore Ripples of pitbulls will bat on your door Can’t trust a pusher to a portion your pour River, river solid as soil Halted, shouted, bolted and broiled River, river solid but soiled Splintered, spattered, unspoken and spoiled Out of sound, a silence swells Howls a hound of haunting bells Ribbons roped their bones to wells Held a cell for the spottiest spells Sun, sun where does she roam? Shifting and sifting about like a gnome River, river she wanted a home Held her own hand to not feel so alone
9.
Chaw 04:56
Falling asleep I remember your body is the size of my heart expanding falling of a cliff the size of a yacht - oh yes - an expensive one I contract then cuddle into all sorts of cotton My feet are frozen, when I wake up there are awful smells My body, nubs of meat and fat on bones which move slowly as they decay outside of my door Cake cake cake cake, cake cake cake cake! Later, I sit still in the basement talking to the string that hangs from the lightbulb in the corner I walk outside and I don’t smoke a cigarette, don’t inhale and I Scream into a city, scream into a city Scream into a city, scream into a city Maybe they think this is how I cry? It could be I bend my laughter so it will be somewhat like crying Have you noticed the crack in the ceiling which is still boring? And I feel it move and begin to laugh very loudly and hope people are confused Maybe they think this is how I cry? Maybe they think this is how I cry? Jump to my feet, undo my belt, push my hands out like two flat signs I’m above you looking down, I’m above you looking down Jump to my feet, undo my belt, push my hands out like two flat signs I’m above you looking down, I’m above you looking down I’m above you looking down I’m above you looking down I’m above you - There is a rising falling action that comes and goes in time There is a rising falling action that comes and goes in time When I think of your death which swoops in smoothly I drop something fragile that belongs to you and me When I think of your death which swoops in smoothly I drop something valuable that belongs to me
10.
Tame 05:07
Lay down, sit tight They all go gaga, they Lay down, don’t fight They all win top spot How to say no to the water? How to say no to the water? Lay down, sit tight They all go gaga, they Lay down, don’t fight They all win top spot How to say no to the water? How to say no to the water? Rotted water, rotted water For what pawn, will you fawn? He’s seated You’re kneeling He reaches You kiss hand Stick up for the grit that you got man Unknot camouflage of the lawman Steel up for the wit of the charmer Unlock con and dodge a sweet talker Stare down the wait! Scare off the bait! Scatter, scheme and feign! Run fast from the elite! He sought the actor She sought the flatterer He bought the chatter She brought palaver He sought the actor She sought the flatterer Greed for the backer Weed for detractors Do as one says, do master’s bidding Hold fast, accept what’s fenced forbidden Do as one says, do master’s bidding Hold fast, backseat your true temperament Don’t think harder, just drink the water Don’t think harder, just drink the water But I don’t want to! I don’t want to! Where are you running? Steel up for the wit of the charmer Unlock con and dodge a sweet talker Stick up for the grit that you got man Unknot camouflage of the law man When you have spun tales of gossamer Will you become, crown of kingdom? When you have won, will you be done From the greed run, heeding no one? Do as one says, do master’s bidding Hold fast, accept what’s fenced forbidden Do as one says, do master’s bidding Hold fast backseat your true temperament
11.
Melt 05:02
I was walking, I was free I was stroking an image of me How’s my soul ? How’s my meat ? House my soul in Halls of glee He sees me, he heeds me, he heats me A cold came right after a sneeze He reads me, he needs me, he feeds me A scold came right after a squeeze Oh hold me down, spread my knees Hold me down, sense my needs I sweated like a fountain I sweated like a sea I sweated as I mounted I sweated as a plea Take my clothes Rip my tongue Sip my prose Whip my lungs Hold me down, spread my knees Hold me down, sense my needs I don’t know what I want but I know I want it now Down and down, down there, descend Don’t ask ‘why’? Ask ‘why not’! Don’t ask ‘why’? Ask ‘why not’! Jump jump jump jump, I would Jump jump jump jump, I would- I’ll say it, if you’ll say it I’ll say it, if you’ll say it I’ll say “I love” if you say “you” I’ll say “I love” if you say “you” Mischief!

about

American experimental musician and producer Katie Gately is up to mischief on her new album Fawn/Brute, 11 songs of innocence and experience exploring the light and dark of childhood energy following the birth of her first daughter. It is an album of two halves, that moves from the effervescence of early years to the defiance and turbulence of teenage angst.

Events in recent years gave her the space to acknowledge what she had been putting off: "For me, that was having a baby," she says. "I turned to my husband and said 'I think we should have a kid'. When I got pregnant I started to get creative again. I had a lot of energy at first, but later on, my pregnancy was stressful and worrying, so the music got darker and darker: I was making angry music while I was supposed to be feeling maternal." The album is dedicated to her young daughter Quinn, born in 2021 – the track 'Fawn' is a love letter to her.

Quinn is referenced in the artwork's harlequin, with two readings of the harlequin's mischief captured in the two sides of the record, being both cheeky and transgressive with disruptive intent. "I wanted the album to feel like something my daughter could enjoy as she grew up," she explains, "so the first tracks are childlike and upbeat, but as we get older we start to experience a volcano of emotion, angst, and conflict." The first half channels inspirations from the busy and unsubtle dynamics of kids TV music and stomp and clatter of early Animal Collective albums, as in the brittle joys of "Howl". For the second half she was thinking about the brutalist sonic experiments of the British post-punk she obsessed over as a teenager, from PiL and Gang Of Four to This Heat, as in the industrial throb of 'Chaw' or the raw low end grafted onto sparse vocal lines in 'Brute', its massive basslines constructed from the manipulated rattling of cardboard shoeboxes.

In typical maverick style, Gately plundered cartoon sound libraries magpie-like to build signature nests of sounds, integrating her own idiosyncratic sound recording strategies and sampling techniques, from shoeboxes to theremin and with a boisterous recurring saxophone. The album opens with 'Seed', a track that contemplates the possibilities of new life, in forward marching step. 'Howl' was originally released as a single for AdultSwim, capturing the explosive energies of a sugar rush in a dense traffic jam of samples from dogs and animals to human screams. 'Cleave' is Gately's distinctive take on the archetypal teenage heartbreak pop song; 'Peeve' plays with theremin samples to channel lyrical frustrations about minor irritations. 'Scale' and 'Meat' dig into anxieties driven by medical concerns towards the end of her pregnancy. Whirring motifs of 'Tame' are claustrophobic and maximalist, a final burst of accumulated voice and electronics before 'Melt' returns to the start in a love song, Gately style, that bends and whorls with brass samples and the whispered mantra: "mischief, mischief, mischief".

The album is her second for Houndstooth, following critically acclaimed 2020's Loom, made in the wake of her mother's death. But where that album explored grief and long goodbyes, this album is one of play, embracing unstable mood shifts from joy to fury, embracing the energies of childhood and intensity of new life. Previous to Loom and Color, Katie has also released 12”s and a cassette on a number of notable underground labels – Public Information and Blue Tapes, as well as the critically acclaimed FatCat Split Series and Tri Angle Records.

Katie is also a producer, who worked on Serpentwithfeet’s Soil (2018), and she has produced and remixed for both Björk and Zola Jesus, with Björk saying in an interview that she was struck by how Gately’s productions seemed to be “from a microphone point of view”. She was also part of Mary Anne Hobbs' curated ‘Queens of the Underground’ Festival in Manchester (2019) alongside Houndstooth musician Aisha Devi and is currently living in Pasadena and teaching at Calarts and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

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released March 31, 2023

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Katie Gately Pasadena, California

Musician, producer & sound designer based in Pasadena, CA

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