If It's Too Loud...

No one is making folk music quite like Kaia Kater is. For her latest single, the artist teams up with Aoife O'Donovan for "The Witch." The song is based in traditional folk, but it stretches into folk-pop and progressive folk territories as well. Those are three subgenres that don't typically play nicely together, but under Kater and O'Donovan's direction, "The Witch" melds all three expertly. It's a gorgeous and haunting song about how men have labelled women throughout the centuries. This is also the type of song you could listen to in the background for the vibe, but you will get a lot more out of the closer you pay attention. Kaia Kater says of her latest single: "I specifically wanted to write about the way men historically have branded women as temptresses, harlots, sirens and shrews, and then sought to reflect this visually – the letter A for adulteress, the burning of flesh to symbolize evil.  The first woman labeled a witch in Salem...

Photo by Janice Reid Kaia Kater's latest single is a collaboration with fellow Grenadian-Canadian (and Montreal resident) Allison Russell and is meant as a love letter to the banjo. "In Montreal" has all of the elements of traditional folk without sounding traditional at all. It's a captivating and endlessly compelling song that sucks the listener in almost by accident. You'll catch yourself listening closely while trying to figure out exactly what is happening, and next thing you know you're fully mesmerized by the arrangement and creativity involved. "In Montreal" is one of the more interesting folk releases of the year, and we're left curious what Kater will be doing next. Kaia Kater says of her latest single:  “Simply, this is a reflection on the gravitational pull of my hometown, Montreal.  I’ve left and returned so many times that it now feels like ghosts of my former selves haunt the city. During the deep winter of 2021 with its short days...