No one can claim Kate Lynne Logan is a slacker. She’s released eight collections of varying length since her 2011 debut and her songwriting has exponentially grown over the near decade. The ten tracks included on her album Sleeping Giants touch on the same themes present in Logan’s earlier work, but her artistic perspective widens with each new effort. This album is, unquestionably, well within the singer/songwriter genre but doesn’t succumb to any of the cliches frequently weighing down such releases.
BANDCAMP: https://katelynnelogan.bandcamp.com/album/sleeping-giants
The Waterville, Washington native opens Sleeping Giants with “Something Good”. It has a swirling piano introduction before the full band comes in. Logan sustains the piano’s hypnotic lyricism throughout the song’s entirety and understated guitar matches its eloquence. Her voice forms a delicately wrought trio with the aforementioned piano and guitar and the brushing percussion nicely punctuates the performance.
Newcomers will gravitate to her voice. Drawing comparisons with a bevy of other female singers is possible but not particularly useful because, in the end, Logan stands out in ways others cannot duplicate. Close listening reveals a singer moving in her own universe; take note of her phrasing and how she never enunciates any line the same way. The second track “You’re the One” offers much of the same.
She’s operating there, however, from a much more genre-oriented space. “You’re the One” owes significant debts to Americana, but Logan is far from a purist. There’s no pedal steel, harmonica, or mandolin tossed into the arrangement for good measure, and she emphasizes the song’s pop strengths as much as she does its traditional inclinations. Her vision of pop, however, isn’t facile lyrics and a verse-chorus-verse template. “You’re the One” has a light melodic touch but it’s thoroughly grown-up fare.
“Stranger” affords Logan an opportunity to showcase the atmospheric strengths of her voice. Music devotees will appreciate her restraint and artistry though as Logan understands achieving meaningful atmospherics comes when you listen to the music and tailor your work accordingly rather than imposing her voice over the arrangement. “Ghost in the Dark” is especially haunting. The harmonies are noteworthy for their excellence, of course, but the contrasting qualities of the voices involved enhance the song’s pensive mood. Piano remains an album mainstay but has a more orchestral slant than elsewhere.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/sleeping-giants/1397137342
“Giving Up on You” broods over love’s disappointments without wallowing in them. One of the chief qualities preventing her material from sinking into despair is the redemptive spirit of her voice. Even the darkest lines or moments in an individual song cling onto threads of hope hinging on the crystalline beauty of her vocals. “Burn It Down” shares the same characteristics but expands on them. Logan and her collaborators do a superb job of layering the arrangement while keeping it accessible for listeners. It’s a more stylized performance than its simpler counterparts but places a premium on the same overall values. “What It Means” closes the album with a finale built around her voice and tasty guitar. Anyone expecting a major production number to end things hasn’t paid much attention but there is definitely a finality to this track. It concludes Kate Lynne Logan’s Sleeping Giants with graceful style.
Photo Credit: Jason Tang
Chadwick Easton