The name: Katharine Philippa
The deal: Portadown singer, pianist and guitarist Katharine Philippa has been performing since she was old enough to squawk out a tune, but the Queen’s University School Of Music student only got around to releasing her debut EP last year, at the ripe old age of 20. Operating within a genre she’s dubbed ‘Reflectivism’, Philippa makes sensitive piano numbers, intense, looped ballads and soulful electronica, all of which can be heard on the EP in question, Fallen.
The sound: Bright, dynamic, thoughtful alt. pop that’s both lush and minimal, depending on what the melody calls for. And the girl’s voice speaks for itself…
Meanwhile, this remix of ‘Whiter Than I’ by Cardiff drum and bass fiend Conek4 and this woozy number by producer and songwriter Martin Byrne show that Philippa’s extraordinary pipes can work in a beatier setting.
She says: “I have always had a passion for music. This love has fueled a passion to create songs that are deep, honest and pure.” – from her blog.
I say: Being completely prejudiced against fair maidens holding apples, I was never going to get excited about a record with this as its cover;
…but while Philippa may look like your typical chirping wallflower, there’s real power in them lungs… and on the record. When I stumbled upon Fallen, it felt like a reward for all the hopeful mouse-clicks that led to something predictable or mundane.
For lovers of: Fiona Apple, James Blake, Lisa Hannigan, Joanna Newsom
In a word: exciting.
What now? See Katharine support Decomposing In Paris in the Menagerie, Belfast on March 29 or at the Love & Death Inc. acoustic night on April 26.
Follow: kphilippa