Stephanie Catlett creates a complex and subtle EP with Meet Me In The Dream, using imagery-laden lyrics to accompany the soft but sincere sound.
Meet Me In The Dream could be described as a country-tinged pop record, but it feels more than that. There’s a strong vibe of folk that runs throughout, accompanied by lyrics that delve deeper than your typical country song. Stephanie Catlett has set out to help people feel and be inspired by the record, and with the perfect mix of lyrics and atmosphere, it’s worked very well.
Ruined Houses brings in the opening settled guitars that perfectly set the tone for Catlett’s docile tones and calming vocals. It’s a very subtle sound that sets the tone for the record. The vocals have a country twinge, but the stories she develops through her lyrics have more depth – more akin to folk music. With just a few words she can paint a picture that can speak volumes in just a few words: “Walking away has never been my strength but, I’ll try today”.
With the laid-back atmosphere throughout the EP, you’re given a choice: sit back and enjoy, or delve deeper into the more complicated lyrics to help complete the experience. Forsythia is the perfect example of this, using a fiddle as the anchor for the track to gradually be built around as it saunters forward in its folky, Simon and Garfunkel-esque atmosphere. This is fine and enjoyable to listen to, but if you really hear the lyrics, you once again get a feel for the sincerity the artist brings it to life: “I have heard that if you wake up early you will know the secrets of the day, whispered by a flower that’s unfurling, sorry will not sit with you today.”
Catlett’s use of imagery throughout is impressive, not just in the overall messages, but little ideas or instances that seep into your mind. As the EP moves forward, the music also gets stronger for it. So, David manages to be an open book on the truthfulness of humans in general, wrapped in Catlett’s optimism that’s perfectly accompanied by floaty, sliding guitars and a steady drumbeat. Nothing But Fine harks back to that country sound tasted at the start of the EP to accompany the sorrowful and troubling lyrics in a powerful way. Am I Still is an interesting finish to the record, exploring, as much of the EP does, the quiet spaces between separate lives, once again managing to make the story come alive with the fiddle playing an important part in tying everything together.
Stephanie Catlett has created an impressively in-depth and thoughtful EP with Meet Me In The Dream. Many artists use an EP to try and discover a sound to be used as the basis for a full-length, but Catlett has already found that sound which develops nicely, song by song. If this record is anything to go by, there’s a lot more to be heard from this artist.
Score: 4/5
Wow I liked reading your take on Stephanie’s music. I really like just listening to it.