Katie Malco releases new single ‘Babette’ featuring SOAK
Katie Malco releases new single ‘Babette’, featuring singer-songwriter SOAK
UK and US tours on sale now
"Deeply impressive - a work of real tenderness and stark honesty that finds Katie Malco in full command of her artistry."
CLASH
"A soaring string of marvellous, ever-grander choruses."
NPR
“Katie Malco captures the zeitgeist of a generation lost” 4*
DIY
"Phoebe Bridgers if she was from Peckham… [Katie can] capture fleeting beauty and resilient war with brilliant flair"
Dork
"Potently beautiful vocal and sincere, brutally honest lyrics… bittersweet splendor informed by honesty and emotional intelligence"
Under the Radar Magazine
"She’s poised to gain even more traction come this June when she releases her debut album"
Consequence of Sound
"Soon enough, up-and-coming U.K. singer-songwriter Katie Malco won’t be so up-and- coming anymore."
Paste Magazine
"If you’re into stuff like, say, the new Ratboys and Soccer Mommy albums, you’ll probably wanna hear this too."
Brooklyn Vegan
"Trembling and raw"
Stereogum
"Katie Malco has one of those voices that always transfixes."
GoldFlakePaint
Katie Malco has released a brand-new track featuring guest vocals from touring companion SOAK (Rough Trade) today, alongside news of a headline UK tour this December. The new single, ‘Babette’, comes as a series of new tracks, all of which feature guest female and non-binary artists. Malco is currently touring in the US with Julien Baker (boygenius) and has also announced further US dates with Advance Base beginning on 10th October, including a headline show in Chicago.
Following critical acclaim for Katie Malco’s debut album ‘Failures’, alongside numerous tours in the UK, US and Europe, Malco begun releasing new music in July this year, with her first single in 4 years, ‘Fatal Attraction’ featuring US singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson. The track was featured on The Line of Best Fit, CLASH, Dork, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan and more.
‘Babette,' the second single in the series, starts with a phone call that acts as a catalyst for an exploration of complex emotions. However, the song is as much about what isn’t being said as what is. Throughout, there's a clear sense of speaking through gritted teeth, as the drums and guitars drive along with restraint, building towards an explosion of pent-up tension.
Talking about the song, Malco said: “I wrote Babette after a phone call with someone, where I felt I didn’t say any of the right things, they couldn’t hear me (literally and metaphorically), and ultimately, when I hung up, I felt that I didn’t fit into their life.”
She continues; “I think the phone call is an analogy for not always knowing how to fit into social situations. I’m either too quiet and reserved or too loud and boisterous, but I can’t help it. I guess my personality can be a little too extreme in one direction or the other, and when I wrote Babette, I felt helpless to change it.”
Malco recorded Babette in between tours in the UK, US and Europe with Alvvays, Fenne Lily, Hurray for the Riff Raff, SOAK, Laura Stevenson, Peter Buck (REM), and Bob Mould (Husker Du). She also opened for The Lumineers at their sold-out Crystal Palace Park show in summer 2023. Mixed by Calvin Lauber (boygenius, Julien Baker) and mastered by TW Walsh (Sufjan Stevens, The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion), SOAK contributed their vocals to the track following a full US tour with Malco in 2023.
Bridie (SOAK) said, “Myself and Katie navigated our way through North America with little more than our drivers’ licences and delusion a year or so back. Night after night when Katie began ‘Babette’ the relief was immediate. Not only had we successfully located the venue and survived that day’s gas station ‘lunch’ but we were really doing the thing! We were playing music in towns with names we couldn’t pronounce to handfuls of welcoming strangers. What more could we have asked for?”
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