The Berlin based artist Kat Koan releases new EP, The Tides Will Turn, explaining she wanted to do something that has a sense of hope…  

For The Tides Will Turn, Koan has been working with 2 x Grammy Award Winning Producer Ainsley Adams whose credits include artists such as Train and Beverly Knight to name but two. Anyone familiar with Koan’s work, her previous EP or albums, LUSTPRINZIP (worked with the legendary Dean Hurley, David Lynch’s longtime sound supervisor) and Cocoon will be familiar that she doesn’t just make music — she paints with it.

She has always had a ‘cinematic sound’, something I imagine comes from her time spent as a TV producer, spending years shaping stories for the screen, the result in her music meaning songs are textured and drenched in detail, often with ethereal or otherworldly qualities, enhancing the emotions of the listener. Her videos are equally as stylish, many making the most of Berlin as a backdrop.

That said, the artist isn’t pinned to one genre. Her releases to date have prevented her being defined as one this or another, with tracks ranging from European electroclash to rock to pop— often on one release, a standout of the aforementioned Cocoon being the sultry rendition of the Kylie Minogue track Slow.

The Tides Will Turn EP is Koan’s second collection of the year, following on from The Night Circus which came out in May. Each of the six tracks are full of hope and soothing warm sounds, inspired by conversations between the artist and her two daughters. Joking the artist says that as a result the EP is, ‘a lot more wholesome than my usual stuff,’ explaining, ‘I wrote it because I felt that the world is so messed up at the moment and I wanted to write something that feels hopeful and a bit magic. My kids actually helped me to figure out what to write about. The opening track, Tall’ for example is about an insecurity phase that my teenage daughter went through and I just wanted her to feel that she is enough.’

11 year old Tilda also features on vocals with her Mum on How Much Longer, a track that was born from a road trip. ‘We had a 13 hour drive ahead of us and 20mins in she asked, ‘are we nearly there yet?’… I thought that impatience / lust for life is kind of cool and deserves a song! It was really cool to chat to them about these kinds of topics and turn them into songs inspired by kids but directed at adults.’ Another track inspired through these conversations is Where Does The Love Go, a question stemming from the innocent question ‘where does the love go when people break up?’… 

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