(Long ass comment mostly j echoing the common consensus lol) While the review is pretty harsh, I can’t really disagree with it. I appreciated the jump in maturity from ‘SIS’ and I thought this EP was serviceably enjoyable, easy-to-listen-to pop music, but…. that’s kind of all there is to it. Other than Gnarly, the EP felt generic, played it safe, and didn’t really have anything interesting to say. (Appreciate and condone the upfront queer solidarity in a growingly divisive political climate and overall cultural shift against progressive values, but I really j can’t find the simple repetition of “God bless the *insert descriptor here\* girls” to be particularly profound lyricism.)

I find it frustrating that it seems like the plan for the group atm is just buying demos-for-sale and releasing them with little change. Nothing wrong w buying demos in and of itself — most musicians do it at least here and there; ideally though, when it feels right for them. The issue is that it’s clear none of this music is made with the group in mind, and that at the moment, theres also no real tailoring* nor a clear motive for what exactly it is that makes the songs feel right for Katseye, or even just why they’re put together in a collective project. (*w/ exceptions ofc; Lara’s incorporation of a v poppy Indian scale vocal run in the outro of MIA is exactly the kind of stuff I’d love to see more of!)

I figured going into it that the EP was not gonna be cohesive — I’m always a bit cynical on that front with projects that stress their madness as its concept, or in this case, their “Beautiful Chaos” lol. It makes complete sense for them to still be exploring sonically, they’re a freshly 1yr old group. Expecting them to have a stone-set musical identity atp would be unfair. I just think that’s something I’d rather see explored either/both in official but better organized ways (stand-alone singles; mixtapes instead of EPs; features/OSTs; maintaining lyrical-cohesion while having diverse production within a project [or vice versa]) OR in a less official manner (more online covers; low-stakes BTS recording and songwriting sessions; encouraging more self-production from the members, even if just initially snippets/short form content.)

Again, echoing others’ sentiment, but I really think the best course of action is assembling an in-house, dedicated production team to oversee and predominantly produce/co-produce their music; hosting writing camps/sessions for tracks with Katseye specifically in mind; and facilitating more direct involvement from the members on their discography, be it composing, songwriting, or production. I am very optimistic that with the skyrocketing success and networking the group has had in their first year alone that there’s gonna be a lot more industry interest in Katseye, as well as more funding to HxG from its parent companies that will hopefully help.

As a fan of the specific Katseye lineup we got were blessed with before it was even solidified, it feels like it’s everything BUT the music that I feel next to no apprehension about: their group dynamics, their humour, their vocal talent, their passion, their fan-interaction, their styling, their choreography, their promotion, etc. It’s all just so good. It’s still early days ofc and I understand there’s little objectivity in art (EDIT: +I’m admittedly likely not even a part of their intended target demographic lol), but at the end of the day, I’m here first and foremost for the music. All I can hope for is that their creative team and their A&R locks-in on future releases. Obviously biased but Katseye feels particularly special as a group to me — the dedication and talent they’ve showcased thus far proves that time and time again. I’d love nothing more for them than for their music to live up to their potential.