On her debut LP, Katie Burden goes magic
Strange Moon is Katie Burden’s debut, but she pours a lifetime of emotion into every word she sings. “I have a frenetic energy and fearlessness that comes out when I perform,” she says. “I didn’t play an instrument until recently, so I always liked collaborating. When I met (producer/drummer) Norm Block (jennylee, Brian Jonestown Massacre), I told him I wanted to make a record, and he recommended bringing in guitarist Jen Turner (Here We Go Magic, Exclamation Pony) to help out. During the process of making this album, we became fast friends.”
The dark, multilayered, larger-than-life ambience of Strange Moon complements Burden’s powerful, uncontained vocal style. She’s comfortable with smoldering torch songs (“Cut The Wire”), powerful rockers (“My Kind”) and cryptic ballads, like the title track.
“We tried to make a record that would leave you feeling haunted,” says Burden. “‘Strange Moon’ is a story about turning into a werewolf. It’s steeped in the language of dreams and mysticism, but it’s not necessarily a literal transformation. It could be about a sudden mood swing or an obsession that takes over your mind and nervous system.”
Burden, Block and Turner put in months of intense studio work to polish the album’s sweeping, psychedelic tone. “We brought in a few friends to add some of the cinematic touches,” says Burden. “We wanted it to feel big and orchestrated, with tons of textures to grab onto, something you’d have to listen to a few times to catch all the nuances. The guts of the songs were written quickly, but I kept putting off recording the final vocals. I learned it’s helpful to have the lyrics first, and work the melody around them, so it can be part of the song-making process, as opposed to writing them after the song is basically done.”
—j. poet
