Today, Miami/NYC-based musician, producer and multimedia artist Stranger Cat shares the synth-soaked "Hollow Heartbreak," an anthemic dance track, out now, that finds hope in heartbreak. The artist's resilient, self-produced sophomore album Slow Jam Love Letters To My Body In Pieces due out November 15 on North Street Records and is available for pre-order now. Later this month, Stranger Cat will perform live in NYC and Brooklyn on October 26 and 27 with Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds.
"Hollow Heartbreak" emerged in the aftermath of a devastating breakup as Stranger Cat learned to move through the heartache. “I wrote this song to deal with the breakup with someone who was deeply close to me. I processed my pain through recording and producing the track: I wanted the opening to sound like the angels weeping." Building layers of auto-tuned voices, Stranger Cat taps into her authentic soulful croon, speaking directly to the chaotic relationship, and concludes with the layered release, “I need you, I don’t need you anymore,” a cleansing, a realization, a joy and cry all at once. Ultimately, the creation of the track led her to the other side of the pain, prompting a significant, necessary self-reclamation. Finding relief and freedom, the artist adds, "By the end of building the track I’d reached a total 180, through creating an 808s and synths dance party, letting it all go.”
The resonant forthcoming album, produced from bed while recovering from a serious accident, allowed the artist to feel it all. Putting the pieces of her body back together, both physically and emotionally, produced a collection of work that required careful reflection and complete surrender. Delving into the challenging experience, Stranger Cat shares, "These songs were written during a three year period when I was forced to sort of drop out of life and recover, first dealing with difficult dance injury which required 1.5 years of rehab, followed by a serious accident which left me healing in a wheelchair for five months with both legs casted." As she grew accustomed to a new relationship to her body, she set out to put her pain on display, but make it sexy, through art.
Confined to a bed, the ten tracks that emerged was an accumulation of the pain, frustration and yearning for a brighter future. "I channeled the longing for connection into these songs of desire." The result is a cornucopia of orchestral synth pop with layered vocals, sparkly synths and 808 beat driven dance parties. "I wanted to give myself and the listener permission to feel everything–then dance and let it all go–the kind of dance you do alone when no one is looking."
The project's previously shared first single "Witness" is a raw, lush pop song that came together in a particularly painful period. Recorded at the historic Guillaume Tell studio where everyone from Radiohead to Serge Gainsbourg recorded, the final vocals were done on vintage mics, and the musician played all the additional instruments heard on the track including: B3 organ, electric and grand piano, the echo effects and more.
Stranger Cat is Brooklyn-born, Miami-based vocalist, producer, composer, light artist, video maker, DJ, dancer, and sound healer Cat Martino. She has collaborated with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Van Etten, Son Lux, Lucius, and The Shins and as well as supporting Empress Of, Marissa Nadler, and performing at iii Points Festival and Art Basel in Miami. In The Wilderness, the artist's soulful electronic art-pop debut album, arrived in 2015 and garnered support from Brooklyn Vegan, Stereogum, New Noise Magazine, and more, as well as high praise from NPR. Earlier this year, Stranger Cat collaborated bringing captivating vocals to author and musician's Scott Guild's debut album Plastic: The Album which now has over 250K streams across platforms. Despite such substantial setbacks in recent years, Stranger Cat is more than ready to bring her healing second album into the world, one that turns her isolation into hope and pain into power.
Stranger Cat dances through heartbreak with synthy anthem "Hollow Heartbreak" out now. The multimedia artist's self-produced, vulnerable second album, Slow Jam Love Letters To My Body In Pieces, is due out November 15 and is available for pre-order now via North Street Records. Keep up with Stranger Cat on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, and stay tuned for much more.
Watch "Witness" (Official Lyric Video) | Listen | 
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