Newcastle Art-Gaze trio Cat Ryan unveil new single “Blessed Through The TV”, on the theme of half-heartedness.
Cat Ryan have returned to bless us through our laptop speakers (NB I do recommend you listen on headphones to catch the best bits!) with their brand new followup to their previous single “Mannerism”, which was met by critical acclaim across the blogosphere. The band describe “Blessed Through The TV” as an art-gaze bop featuring exotic instrumentation, based around the theme of half-heartedness.
There is, however, nothing half-hearted about this single. From Cat Ryan’s unique lyrical take on the Pope’s televised mass blessing to the ‘world music’ instrumentation that mirrors frontwoman Mary-Anne Murphy’s vocals, every element of this song seems to have been painstakingly poured over by these three talented musicians. This band’s sound is purposeful, despite dealing with feelings of uncertainty within the subject matter that underpins “Blessed Through The TV”.
Murphy further cements the sentiment behind this single as “the limbo between abandonment and commitment”. The artwork features an angel figurine that she was sent by her aunt, which would later be the recipient of a televised blessing that didn’t quite make sense to Murphy; “it was almost a half-hearted blessing, and this sparked the ideas behind the song”. I suppose – in a roundabout way – that the Pope’s blessing to the band came in the form of this inspired new single. It’s this alternative outlook on life that sets Cat Ryan apart from their art-gaze peers, and will see them develop alongside contemporaries such as Youth Sector, Tranqua Lite, and CIEL.
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