Katie Belle – Symptoms (2023)
With a reputation for energetic, engaging and enthusiastic performances, singer-songwriter Katie Belle is a firecracker on the stage, but she’s not only winning hearts with live audiences. For just under a decade, Belle has shared her sound with the masses and hitting cyberspace has her turning heads on an international scale. With coverage from notable blogs, playlists, radio stations and even winning the Music Video of the Year award at the 2022 Josie Music Awards, the US-based artist proves her musical prowess. The latest addition to her discography is the single ‘Symptoms’.
Following her well-received single ‘The Best You’ll Ever Have’, Belle licks various flavours of pop in ‘Symptoms’. Slivers of indie-pop weave through a bold electropop melody tinged by a dream-pop haziness and slight rock edge. Opening with a pulsating acoustic guitar, Belle quickly sets the stage in what we would assume is a different tone as compared to previous releases. In fact, the guitar hooks rhythmically add a harder-hitting tone leaning toward an pop-rock sound; however, her signature contemporary pop breaks through as the song progresses.
Just as we feel the groove of a guitar with steady basslines, a break into high-energy electropop beats tips us over into a kaleidoscopic swirl of sound. Emphasising the toe-tapping electronic sensibility, forceful beats puncture a hazy synth-driven ambience. Produced with long-time collaborator Fabio Campedelli, ‘Symptoms’ is a highly sophisticated composition but with a raw edginess courtesy of Belle’s raspy vocals.
As with ‘The Best You’ll Ever Have’, ‘Symptoms takes us on a journey through intricate relationships exploring how the desired person is “in her system”. Each swoosh of dreamy synths, brash guitars and bold beats act as an independent symptom but come together in a heady rush of music (also known as the debilitating condition called love). Complementing the poetic lyrics with a mellifluous but rollercoaster ride of emotions, ‘Symptoms’ floods your body, rattles through your brain and leaves you gasping for breath.
In addition to the single, Katie Belle released an official music video for ‘Symptoms’. This video can be viewed below and on her YouTube channel.
For more from Katie Belle, check out her official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
