Catherine Landeta embarks on a journey of hardship and self-discovery in love and life on her new EP Desires
With the release of Desires, the artist’s first release as an independent artist, Catherine Landeta strives to make full use of her newfound autonomy as an artist, showcasing the depth of her creativity and guile at any given opportunity across the five tracks.
The EP opens with ‘Are You Playing?’, a track that sees the artist immediately in the thick of a relationship that is wrought full of distrust and suspicion, with the artist’s soulful vocals met with hard-hitting hip-hop beats to create a hard-edged and powerful sound that perfectly matches the stakes of the narrative. There are shades of nostalgic R&B here while the production and focus of the track feels very modern and forward-thinking, making for a really engrossing, multi-faceted approach that pays dividends throughout the EP as a whole.
The track is followed by ‘I Wanna Be’, a track that has a more laid-back and smooth feel to it while still met with this pounding percussion that gives it a real edge and sense of grit. Themes like longing and relationships are explored again on this track, with the artist striving for feelings of acceptance and validation in a way that many listeners will relate to and find solace in, making for another memorable track that is packed full of appeal.
Some of the artist’s more ambitious and creative tendencies show up on ‘Lo-fi Letter’, a track that melds these intricate and charming little sonic quirks with another assured and smooth vocal performance that is met with these gorgeous harmonies and playful moments. There is a dreaminess and a carefree allure to the sound and the lyrics that feels almost like a daydream at times, hypnotic in its appeal while being busy and cute enough to hold onto your attention.
There is more turbulence in romance on the fiery ‘Say What You Wanna Say’, a track that finds a confrontational Catherine looking for her partner to be straight-forward and be open about how they feel and what is going on. This sense of directness provides a really fun contrast to the dreaminess of the previous track, and the swirling instrumentation and atmospheric feel does a really great job of creating the kind of tension that it needs.
Following on from the range of emotions and experiences that the artist has been through on the EP, ‘On The Right Track’ feels like a moment of reflection and introspection to close things out, taking a look at the things that the artist has discovered about herself and the growth she has undertaken alongside a gorgeously nostalgic R&B soundscape that feels as timeless as it is classy. This provides a really upbeat and nice conclusion to the rollercoaster of emotions that has come before it, and it makes for a vibrant and danceable listening experience that may just saved the catchiest and most fun melodies for last.
