On the 18th of August 2023, Jazzcat made their debut to the world with the release of their beautiful debut single ‘Robyn’. Finally, after what seems like forever, we are hearing new sounds from Jazzcat. 'Tea & Coffee' was released on the 12th of January, and much like their debut single: it did not disappoint. Following the release of their newest single, Jazzcat’s lead guitarist, Ed, has spoken to us on the triumphs and turmoil's of beginning to release music and finding a place in Birmingham’s alternative scene.
Initially, Ed gave us a brief insight into the variety of influences that Jazzcat have been drawn to upon crafting their sound- ‘we have a real mix of influences: from people like Phil Collins to Oscar Jerome, and hers and title fight... it’s a real mix of jazz, rnb and alternative indie/emo/shoegaze music’. Jazzcat showcases a unique and distinctive sound merging ethereal synths with gritty guitars: both confident and considered. However, Ed speaks modestly and honestly about having not found a level of comfortability with their sound yet- and perhaps that’s a good thing, keeping them both refreshing and exciting. ‘I wouldn’t say we’ve quite found our sound yet...our first EP which we are going to be releasing in February, has a real mix of sound on there. There are songs with quite a bit of distortion or drive, and then others which are just pure clean tone’.
Speaking of pure clean tones, Jazzcat’s debut single ‘Robyn’ takes on an ambient and atmospheric sound morphing beautiful synths with clean sounding guitars. Having released the track mid-last year, Jazzcat received incredible response from fans and critics alike. ‘To finally get Robyn out was one of the biggest reliefs we’ve ever felt. We’d been together as a band for almost over 2 years, so we’d been writing this song for months and months and months. To finally get it out and have a good reaction from it as well, it felt rewarding’. In his description of the meaning behind the track, Ed remains vague and yet tells us about his personal feelings on ‘Robyn’- ‘the meaning of it is us for interpretation...but I think what I take from it is that is about unequal friendships, and not feeling equal in relationships whether that be a friendship or a loving relationship’. Ed talks fondly on the recording of ‘Robyn’ and relives how the entire track almost fell effortlessly into place when Jamie brought the lead riff in, and all parts seemed to cosmically fall into place- ‘this song, out of all our songs is the song where we have all put the same amount of effort in’.
Moving onto their second release ‘Tea & Coffee’, Ed speaks to us about being ‘more aggressive’ with the track. ‘We actually wrote it [Tea & Coffee] before Robyn and I think that’s just when we were still trying to find our sound- and we still are- but it was a lot less refined at this point. When I made the riff I had a lot of influence from Title Fight, whearas Robyn is very ‘Hers-ey'... Tea & Coffee is very aggressive and Robyn is meant to be atmospheric and very laid back’. Although Ed speaks adoringly of the track, he reflects on the turbulence of trying to get the track recorded: ‘it has taken forever to come out, and his been an absolute pain to get recorded. We first recorded it back in 2021 and we went in with the intention of it being a demo but then we started to like how it was sounding in the studio. But then we get to the mixing stage and we just really wasn’t happy with it...we wanted to release Tea & Coffee and be happy with it since it’s our baby and the first song we’ve ever wrote. And now finally Tea & Coffee is out and we are dead happy with it.’
Fans of ‘Tea & Coffee’ will be happy to hear that ‘Tea & Coffee relates more to the stuff we are writing now’. Even better ‘the next step for Jazzcat is an EP release which we are aiming to get out for February- it should be 4 tracks, 2 new tracks and then Tea & Coffee and Robyn on there as well... Just expect more, more music’.
You can now listen to 'Robyn' and 'Tea & Coffee' on all major streaming platforms.
Photos- Zig Takes Pix
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