Kate Daisy Grant's third album 'Portrait' is indeed a surprising album. It starts with the quirky but very catchy 'Six feet under', a dark tale of lost hope and the end of a relationship all to a cheery backbeat. This is followed by 'Doubt' and 'Little Bird' which tap into post relationship insecurities of doubting yourself and the fears of making the same mistakes again.

'Resurrection' seems like the tipping point of the album and a very 'singular friendly' song. Sometimes this album feels like a soundtrack to a film or musical, if it was, then this would definitely be the start of act two. Resurrection is a 'bouncing back from rock bottom' kind of track that starts to creep in some 'optimism and rebuilding' into the later songs.

Next up we have 'Fight the Night' and 'Boy Who Cries For The World' and 'Stillpoint' which all have a thoughtful but introverted feel. Pondering on the world and our place in it, fighting our battles, despair at the world we live in and recognition of where we get our strength from.

'Rise' brings you into the final stage of the album, an uplifting comeback type of song and a sort of 'you're not getting any younger, better get on with it' with a big chorus. Leading nicely into 'Nothing to Fear' which has an almost pray like quality. The song begins slowly and as the line 'nothing to fear' repeats over and over the song builds with more confidence and belief to a strong climax.

The closing track 'Silent Night' (no not the Christmas song) is a gentle lullaby that would not sound out of place on any Christmas album.

Overall this is a beautifully engineered album which puts you in a nice place emotionally. It takes you on a journey from dark to light and leaves you with a calming optimistic feeling that stays with you.

Jonski Mason

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