New York-based Texan songwriter Katy Rea is releasing her debut album The Urge That Saves You next month, and following on from lead single “We Come Back” (which came with an Adam Curtis-inspired music video) she today shares “Lord Try”.
With her new single Rea lets us into her deepest musings on love, acceptance, innocence and lots more of the Big Questions, but does so with a gusto that reveals a true songwriting bravery. There’s something of a doo-wop feel to “Lord Try”, with guitar from Andrew Forman (Onyx Collective) and trumpets played by Lessie Vonner (Beyonce, Jon Batiste) swinging beneath her piercing challenges: “Are the better parts of you on the horizon / Can you accept touch without direction”. Masterfully, Rea then guides the song into its chorus – but rather than go bigger, she goes smaller and quieter to deliver the killer lines; “Lord, try me again / All my innocence / Lord try me again / All mine,” she sings openly into the void. The song then builds up into a torrent once more as Rea once more harnesses the power of her convictions and continues to quiz her existence in a truly spellbinding manner.
On the video for “Lord Try”, which was directed by Kaitlin Scott and shot by Rachael Batashvili on 16mm Rea says:
“Kaitlin and I were aiming to capture subtle moments of temptation that often creep up in the still, quiet moments of life. Growing up I spent a lot of time alone, daydreaming, fantasizing the mundane away. And as a girl who grew up in the church everything became sweet or evil, right or wrong. Natural desires felt like something bad within me, but eventually I started to become friendly with close calls and cheap thrills. I put myself in dangerous places and learned my strength through escaping them. Eating a flower with thorns, swimming in murky waters, wearing little clothing knowing maybe the neighbor would see, was just the start of some of this flirtation with “darkness” I knew as a girl. The grassy landscape reminded me of Texas, the church down the road, and the neighbors shaking their heads through their windows.”
Watch the video for “Lord Try” below or find the song on streamers.
Katy Rea’s debut album The Urge That Saves You is out on November 11. You can find her on Instagram and Bandcamp.
