Catlea explores heartbreak, betrayal, and the process of rebuilding on their powerful debut album Language Barrier
Gradually releasing singles over the last year, exciting rising artist Catlea has been providing us with glimpses of their debut album Language Barrier, a release that has looked certain to propel the artist to new heights, packed full of immersive singles that come together with the album to a whole to chronicle the breakdown of a relationship and the communication failures that contributed to it.
The album opens with the aptly titled ‘Welcome to the Show’, a tone setter of a track that melds a theatrical sound with deeply poignant lyrics that have a tone of intensity and resentment that immediately grasps for your attention. The track waltzes through accusations and sour feelings that immediately establish the state of the aforementioned relationship, and it sets us up for what is yet to come from the album expertly.
‘Why Them?’ explores some of the existential questions that we often ask ourselves when in faltering relationships, like why am I putting all of this effort into other people and not myself? Why not put myself first? There is a slickness to the sound that gives it this smooth and intoxicating aesthetic throughout, compounded with an impossibly catchy chorus that made it an obvious choice as a single from the album.
More of the troubled and fractured nature of the relationship is exposed in ‘Selfish’, a track that sees the artist again delving into the toxic and problematic aspects of their partner and relationship through a sound that feels acerbic and cutting, immediately contrasted with what is possibly the emotional apex of the album in ‘Like Me’.
The track feels like the aftermath of the relationship’s end, with the artist expressing her feelings and regrets in a gorgeously nuanced and stripped-back arrangement that makes for truly compelling and resonating listening. Catlea’s emotional mastery of her sound and style and the compelling nature of her songwriting feels as pronounced as ever here, building up to a rousing crescendo that tugs at your heart-strings with devastating effect.
The artist looks to rebuild and turn the tables on ‘Lying’, reclaiming her power by imaging she had been cheating herself and not instead that person who was treated unfaithfully. The track offers a really swaggering and fun indie pop feel that contrasts a lot of the more somber and heartwrenching moments on the album, and its delectable rhythms and upbeat allure feels so easy to lose yourself within and get caught up in the artist’s daydreams.
This power from the previous track follows its way into ‘Dime’, a track that sees the artist taking a stand and drawing a line under the relationship, taking the Language Barrier concept to an even more literal place with a commanding, bilingual vocal display that is packed full of appeal and charm.
The artist’s rebirth following the fallout of the situation is explored further on ‘Crumbling’ a track that celebrates the ways that we so often pick ourselves back up and rise from the ashes regardless of what personal struggles and hardships we have been through. Hope and resilience have been themes that pop up throughout the album as a contrast to its darker moments, and this track packs a really inspiring punch.
The root causes of the break up and the situation surrounding it is explored and picked apart on ‘Bones’, another single released ahead of the album and one packed full of resonating, catchy appeal that is packed full of charming moments and the artist’s signature meld of heartfelt sounds and upbeat, danceable instrumentation.
The title track ‘Language Barrier’ closes out the album and feels like something of a full stop on the situation and relationship as a whole, providing it with a sense of finality and closure. Lines like “I thought that you’d stay it’s better this way, there’s nothing left to say” really sum up how done with the situation the artist is and how it has reached the point of no return. The track evolves into something of a medley featuring little moments and passages from different tracks on the album, in a similar way to ‘I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral’ from The Wonder Years’ critically acclaimed 2013 album The Greatest Generation, providing what almost feels like the fading memories of a relationship as it drifts away. The atmospheric and powerful feel throughout works excellently as a final hurrah for the album as a whole, and leaves a really powerful and empowering mark to close things out.
Language Barrier is an album that was clearly born out of a situation that Catlea found really difficult and challenging, and this emotion and the conflicted feelings pour through each of the tracks in their own ways, chronicling different stages of the grief and anger that come with the death of a relationship, and especially one wrought with betrayal and gaslighting along the way. In the end it makes for a really empowering and captivating piece of work, and an ode to the resilience and strength that we have to overcome the most heart-breaking of hurdles.
