Stepping into Gibson’s studio the last vibe to hit me was one of humility.
The walls, adorned in stratocasters and memorabilia native to the dreams of many a music fan, seemed to promise housing only the most confident and haughty musicians. That intimidatory spell was progressively broken the moment I met Kacy. Approaching while meekly gripping a cup of tea, Kacy stood out against the wall of rockstars behind her.
Her voice and mannerisms were antithetical to what I expected from a young artist taken in by Kanye West. Humble, collected, and quietly in awe of her own situation, Kacy Hill’s presence gave off a weight of sincerity. While playing me her new EP with Def Jam Records known as Bloo, Kacy remained reserved and only began to open up as the third and final track, “Shades of Blue”, came to a close.
Sonically, the EP was beautiful. Kacy’s voice was interwoven so tightly with the production to the point where it blurred into a high synth. Her vocals waded across a line between organic and artificial, adding a level of attractive hesitation to the songs. My favorite track remains “Foreign Fields”, which I had heard previous to coming as it was already released. The track evokes, lyrically and musically, a relatable sense of fear that transmutes into excitement as one moves to a new phase in their life.
Kacy mentioned that the EP is about a difficulty in reaching a closeness with those around her, as well as questioning her own impact on society. It’s an incredibly relatable sentiment but that does not hinder the project from achieving uniqueness. Self described as “pop with a left field influence” I think Bloo speaks to the recent influx of experimentation within the pop genre.
While eager for the EP to do well commercially, Kacy does not pull back on any facet of her self expression in order to achieve that. This is possibly influenced by her being on Def Jam a label dominated by Hip Hop which is a genre she describes as having, “A distinct rawness and passion”. In our conversation what truly stood out was when Kacy said, “good pop music is something you can dance and cry to at the same time”, and if that is truly her definition of really good pop music then Bloo is certainly good pop music. I can easily see myself vibing to the EP both in bliss and in depression.
I genuinely believe you’d be amiss to not pick up this EP when it drops October 9th and also keep a look out for a new album further down the horizon.
You can pre-order the EP HERE
Art done by yours truly, Arthur Banach, you can see more at my instagram @wildhxir and contact me via email at wildhxir@gmail.com.