Catbells
Partly Cloudy
SQFT Records
Catbells is a dream pop enigma. She doesn’t share any personal information outside of her sweet, dreamy songs with sad-girl lyrics. When she performs, it’s from behind the safety of a cat mask. In some of her videos, she’s represented by an anime neko girl (part cat, part human). Her songs center on her gently strummed guitar, which producer Billy Mohler fleshes out with drums, electric guitar, and keyboards.
Catbells’ songs sound like a warm sweater and a cup of tea on a cold and rainy day. Her songs are mellow and comforting if you’re not paying attention to what she’s saying. When you peel back that comforting veneer, you’re confronted by sadness and longing. “It’s Not Hard” is about wanting to run away from past traumas. On “Trying Not To Feel,” Catbells is trying to hold things together long enough to make it through another night. I can relate to “Ask Me Tomorrow,” when Catbells sings, “Ask me tomorrow, how was yesterday. Because I don’t want to know what I’ll say when you go.”
Not since Nick Drake has an artist made despair sound so beautiful.
