Bedroom pop newcomer, Kathleen Duffy firmly plants her feet as the next niche act with the release of debut project, Songs From Inside. The 6-track EP effortlessly blends delicate vocals, the soft strings of the acoustic guitar, and lo-fi production. The slim track selection is beautifully sequenced which helps the listener retain the project’s positive and warm energy. As gentle bird humming loops in the background, Duffy helps to remind the listener of life’s simple pleasures.
Songs like “Mouth’s Morning Fanfare (Every Mouth Is a Trumpet!!!)” and “Halloween Lullabye” are refreshingly catchy and will get stuck in your head for weeks. While intentionally light and positive, Duffy doesn’t shy away from sentimentality throughout her project, just look at the song, “Olive’s Song”. Written for her niece, the song serves as an intimate lullaby in which Duffy sings directly to her. This creates a sense of intimacy that pervades through the entirety of the album. In her words, “excessively sentimental songs written/ recorded while at home missing many.”
Her song “Poor Old Dog,” although chill and jazzy, tackles deep topics such as life’s meaning and finding appreciation in the small things. In the song, Duffy visualizes life through the eyes of a dog. As she sings, “stare out the window/ watching the grass grow/ waiting for you to walk by,” it’s difficult not to see the song as a metaphor for quarantine itself.
To contrast the album’s positive atmosphere, Duffy ushers in a sense of deep sadness at the end of the album, with her mournful whisper of “I miss you.” As Duffy dedicates this album to “all the magical people and places in [her] life for being so easy to fall in love with,” it’s impossible not to see—even through the pure positivity throughout—that she is hurting with us, and revealing a more vulnerable and deep side.
Watch the music video for “Poor Old Dog” below!
Songs From Inside closes just as it opens: with a hypnotizing trance. The project’s final song, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” reinforces the strength in positivity and prosperity throughout all circumstances, even quarantine as it is only temporary.
In its presentation, the album expresses much of the beauty of humanity, showing the sadness and sentimentality that we are all prone to in moments like this. Kathleen Duffy’s Songs From Inside is satisfyingly simple, a minimalist’s dream.
Stream Kathleen Duffy’s full album, Song’s From Inside, on Bandcamp below!
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