Standing out proud on the current #TEAMw21 "New Country" playlist is the debut single from Cat Stone - "Take It In" which for a first release is quite stunning. There's a degree of talent in the quality of the lyrics and the thought behind the composition that mark it out as being extra special.
From the opening verse there is something almost cinematic in Cat's writing as we are immediately immersed into a dramatic situation and then suddenly thrown into flashback.
"It's been three years and "Qh my God!" I can't believe I'm seeing you
Never thought that we'd be in the same room
And my heart is running like the first time I saw you -
It was Autumn you had Summer on your skin
Those few simple lines set out the premise of the song, the immediate frisson of meeting someone for whom she once obviously held feelings, and that wonderful seasonal description, saying so much with so few words. yet Cat avoids taking us down many of the routes more frequently travelled by established songwriters.
"Take it in while you can
It's a string of little moments and they're gone before you know it
and it's out of your hands, life just keeps on rolling
You can't control or try to hold on to the world it might have been"
The central tenet of "living for the moment" may be a common theme in songs but it is the observations that Cat draws from this latter day meeting that make the song so compelling.
Separated when he "moved West", Cat had accepted that it was the end, the parting was on good terms, however the song then increases the tension even more, for this new meeting has a sting on the tail
"I can see she's wearing your ring - yeah it's on the hand it's meant to be
As if to say she'll never be the same"
There is a maturity in Cat's response to the events unfolding and the realisation that is summed up perfectly by
"I don't regret where my path's taken me"
Musically it's a gem, starting as an acoustic and pedal steel guitar, with Cat's voice elongating some words while at the same time running some lines into one another creating one long stream of consciousness. The way she lingers on the word "sweet" when she says "My memories are nothing but sweet" conveys so much that no further words are necessary. The instrumentation builds up as the song develops and Cat is equally able to rise to the occasion.
All in all it makes for a great way to introduce yourself to the world and we can't wait to hear more from Cat for this Stone is undoubtedly a diamond