Witchy Coen: Kitty Chameleon
Kitty Coen is the real deal, and one of the most exciting voices around right now.
Kitty Coen has been building her coven for five years or so, starting with the EP Disco Lemonade in 2021. A couple of tracks from 2024's ☆ HELLCAT ☆ album have a million streams. But it's last fall's Conversations with the Moon that I think shows her coming of age. Perhaps the witch is just another era, but it feels like home.
Kitty found time after her hectic zigzag tour of Britain to answer our questions, and we instantly felt a kindred spirit. You can find our review of her sold-out Camden gig below. She will be back, so keep an eye out for her next visit. Just ahead of this tour, she threw in her day job and became a professional musician. So let's take a listen!
Paul Dettmann
This is haunted cinematic goth country music. It's giving Valley James' little sister. Kitty is a fully paid-up Gen Z artist so you can get to know her very well by watching her reels. Her photo shoots perfectly complement her electrified rock-country songs. Here she is shotgunning a beer making content for one of my favourites, illinois royalty. Was that what she expected?
grave dancin' is another special song, a dark and haunted honky tonk stomper that would be perfect for your next line dance. It's that smoky husky voice that suits the night so perfectly. This would not be out of place on the OST for Sinners or From Dusk Till Dawn. There's a surprising fiddle here, reassuring us that this is still Country, with or without the O. Influences include Avril Lavigne as well as Lana Del Rey but as you know, I try to avoid too many direct comparisons. Ultimately any artist pulls together such a tangled web of ideas and vibes; surely the attraction is in what is different.
Which way is up? I'm stuck in a rut
Got the record player scratching that wax
It's getting late, my mind's turnin' on
Makes me wanna go outside
Scream bloody murder on the lawn
I know some people favour virginia is for lovers. It is easy to see why. The storyline is intoxicating, forbidden. The video is... memorable. It's thrilling and yet we know it will end in disappointment.
You dated my drummer last summer
While the collеge boyfriend was abroad
The night that you pullеd me in
Oh god, I wanted it
I told you, "Babe, I better not"
Only one thing is guaranteed and it's that Kitty's not in Texas any more. Having arrived in Nashville via college in Austin, Kitty is stamping her cowboy-booted foot at the honky tonk. For now. But her music is so varied it is possible to see many different futures in her cards.
tonight is as close as we get to traditional country and steel acoustic. There's a quiet but wonderful call and response in the mid section. It's a heartache song; Kitty at her most open and vulnerable. She's laying her cards out. Will the other person listen?
Well i've said everything that there's left to say
All i've got to do is walk away
But it's a long way home and it's a damn cold night
Wondering if you're alone can I come inside?
Will you leave the light on and will you pour my drink strong?
One more time give me the reason why
You're not mine
The thing about Kitty is... there isn't one thing. She never looks the same in two photos. Her music is darker and more introspective than her appearance suggests. She's into astrology and tarot and the occult. But she's bubbly, fun and light too. She's wonderful. If there is one thing I can pinpoint about her it is that she is endlessly complex. You never quite know where you stand, or what to expect next, and that is such an engaging and endearing quality in an artist who is still at the start of her path.
Anyway, enough from me. Here is the first half of our Q&A with Kitty which she sent by pigeon from her candlelit cave somewhere in Ireland after her spring tour. I'm working on a full track-by-track review of Conversations with the Moon plus a commentary on her music videos. I mean, they're not only music videos they're sort of Russ Meyer exploitation-era B movies, but far better. strawberry just came on and it's... fabulous. Kitty wrote that one a long time ago and only just released it into the wild.
Strawberry
Won't you stay a while?
It's cold outside and you know we've been drinkin'
Strawberry
Please don't make me chase
Q&A pt. 1
Favourite thing about London/UK?
There’s something haunted about it in the best way. The history isn’t tucked away, it’s sitting there with you. I like places where the past feels unfinished, like a ghost story that never got resolved. Not to mention soooo much cinema is inspired by the UK and that’s where I pull most of my inspiration from.
I grew up near York - how did you find 45 Vinyl Cafe?
The great Madeline Christy!!! She helped us book the tour and I was so happy she included this venue in the line-up. And what an amazing place to be from. I really loved northern England.
When I was choosing photos, I felt like every shoot has a different look — do you find your image is like another instrument, another part of your act?
Oh yes 100% it’s not separate from the music at all. It’s the same story told in a different language. Some songs need lace and candlelight, some need dust and gasoline.
Where do you enjoy touring the most?
I have only ever toured in America so I would say would say Texas, Florida and Colorado. Anywhere that feels a little lawless. Places where people are actually listening, not just watching.
A message for your UK fans?
You get it in a way that makes me feel less alone in what I’m making. I’ll be back soon xx
Oh! I forgot to check if she is Aries. She gave very pronounced Aries vibes... there is much more to come next time.
You can start here to begin your Kitty Coen enchantment. Her Insta is here and the videos are here. Join her mailing list here.
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