KNOWN for her deeply intimate reflections and refreshingly candid songwriting, singer-songwriter Katie Lynch has used the moniker Theo Bleak to make sense of her world, dig into the deeper recesses of her mind and reflect on her life with more forgiving eyes.
With a striking ability to channel the most complex of human emotions, her music is as warm and comforting as it is brutally honest and poignant. And her latest EP ‘Pain’ encapsulates this perfectly.
Written from a place of love, but also pain and heartache, she explores her mental health, complex relationships and everyday worries in some of her most affecting songs to date. And drenched in a distinctive gorgeous hazy fuzz, her vocals soar over distorted guitars and nineties-imbued soundscapes that feel bigger and bolder than before – indicating a more diverse array of influences such as The Sundays. Cocteau Twins, Jeff Buckly and Britpop.
Highlights include previous singles like ‘It’s Not Doing Me Any Good’ and ‘I Look Like A Fool To You’, the former punctuated by lines like “you steal all my ideas as yours, I see it now, underscored” and surging, overdriven choruses.
Perhaps though, the most impactful is ‘Raining All The Time’ – its gentle verses juxtaposed by bursting choruses to reflect her emotional turmoil. And while she tells us ‘it’s raining all the time’, there’s still a sign of sun through the clouds as the track sees itself out with twinkling keys and bird song.
‘Pain’ may come from a place of darkness and deep self-reflection but there’s plenty of solace to be found in its beautifully crafted soundscapes and lyrical vulnerability.
Check it out below.
