Catgod is the musical project of Oxford-based sibling duo Robin Christensen-Marriott and Catherine Marriott, Catgod release their debut album, Feel It Go Round, this September, today we debut the entire album below. Feel It Go Round features previous Catgod singles Forget To Fall (Feb 2019) and Heartbeat In My Hand (April 2018), and follows the EPs Heartbeat In My Hand (June 2018) and Someone Love (July 2017).
Catgod carve hazy hushed melodies amidst subtle folky pastoral textures inspired by and recalling luminaries such as Phoebe Bridges and Lamb, and the sun kissed psychedelia calls to mind legends such as Fairport Convention by way of the eccentric vocal melodies of Kate Bush.
“Opener New Cross is a reflection on time spent by Robin as he commuted between East London and Oxford, and the blissed-out guitar style and spaciousness brings to mind John Martyn. Sleep In continues the dreamy atmosphere with a flowing chorus and a flute line that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Joni Mitchell record. Cold, Numb and Empty takes the music in a darker, more glacial direction, with suitably arresting lyrics exploring the anxiety of confronting difficulty in a relationship. Heartbeat In My Hand is a meditation on the threat of mortality, particularly to those that one holds dearest, and Cat’s sonorous vocal delivery here has been favourably compared to Sandy Denny. What They Think is an exploration of personal identity and the erosion of privacy in the age of social media, with a dystopian atmosphere inspired in no small part by Portishead. Feel It Go Round comes as a light relief after the darker section of the album, with its plaintive vocals, lilting rhythms and lyrics of peace and acceptance. Blood is a swirling, atmospheric piece that takes blood donation as a metaphor for the inevitable emotional investment into a relationship. The whole album shows a mastery and sophistication that belies the youth of the members, with album closer Why Go? taking a mature perspective on the passage of time from youth to adulthood, via an exposition written by Robin, dissecting his nostalgia for his coming of age in Oxford.”
Catgod have charmed crowds at Truck Festival, Ronnie Scott’s, Cornbury Festival, O2 Academy Oxford and Sofar Sound. Catgod are planning a UK tour for September 2019. The Feel It Go Round album was recorded in Oxford with a range of musical collaborators from the ever buzzing Oxford music scene, most notably bass player Casper Miles and guitarist Chris Barker who play for the ever more acclaimed Oxfordian troubadour Willie J Healey.
