Katy B is a pop star. The world just doesn’t know it yet.
I first came across the singer while I was surfing YouTube for UK songstresses. I had already been successful with finding singers like Amy Winehouse, Adele, Jessie J, and Emeli Sande among others so it had become a sort of weekly routine to browse the suggestions that were made for me. That’s when I came across the audio for a song called 5AM. It was a great dance track that immediately made me want to hit a dance floor, throw my arms up in the air and seek out “loving like valium” to bring me back down to earth. A little bit of research and I found out this track was the lead single to the forthcoming album, Little Red, from this fiery red-head with the voice reminiscent of a 90’s club diva, Katy B, a then 22-year-old.
A few months later the album would drop and I would discover her second single, Crying For No Reason, a sentimental break step ballad about breaking down and crying for no apparent reason. I don’t recall a song that made me want to cry, dance and scream all at once before. The track earned Katy B her highest charting position at #5 on the UK singles chart.
I would next see Katy B. appear on another dance floor banger called A Lover Like You featured on Gorgon City’s 2014 release, Sirens. I have been ready for more Katy B ever since and on April 22nd of this year my waiting ended as she dropped her latest record, Honey.
Honey has more of a straight-forward dance vibe than both her previous efforts and showcases not only her phenomenal voice but her songwriting skills as well.
My excitement could hardly be contained at getting my hands on a new Katy B album, and played it LOUD as soon as I could and although I was initially taken aback with the funky downtempo sound of the title track and album opener, I was soon grooving along to the song. Every track from there forward took me on a slightly different journey. From the pain of a dying love on her Craig David duet and lead single, Who Am I? (with production credits by Major Lazer), to losing my head on the dance floor with The HeavyTrackerz and D Double E on Lose Your Head. One of my favorite tracks in the collection , Calm Down, a housey acid groove overlaid with strings and Katy B’s sultry voice pouring over the whole thing.
And that really is the point here. The title of the record is Honey and I can’t help but think of the sweet stuff throughout listening to the record because her voice is layered on this album like a thick, even layer of pure honey. That’s evident on every track but especially the title track and on Water Rising as she tries to hold back her tears and sings “Feel the water rising/I close my eyes/Hold it back, better hold it down/Or the damn’s gonna hit the ground.”
Honey is a solid pop-dance record coming from an artist that continues to grow and evolve but who is remaining true to the roots of what she started doing. She’s a dance floor princess eyeing a crown that is very much within her reach.
KATY B – HONEY
