“In Our Element,” fittingly, finds Kate Teague inhabiting her twang-tinged indie-rock sweet spot, her rhythm guitar subdued and built upon by slow-burning, oft-bent lead notes. “It’s in my head, I’ll push it away / I’m glad to have you here anyway,” she sings. Teague explains that she “wrote this song in response to completely misinterpreting someone’s body language at a series of parties. I began falling in love with the idea that someone was falling in love with me, but I ultimately realized it was all in my head.” “In Our Element” is the latest in Teague’s aforementioned string of killer singles, following “Gilly,” “Good to You” and “Low Life,” all three of which were released in 2018. As for her debut album, all we know for now is that it’s coming sometime in early 2019.
Kate Teague’s songs are dreamy and narrative, threading interpersonal connections throughout the cosmos. The Oxford, Mississippi musician has a classic folky voice, but that voice is surprisingly malleable. On her debut EP, she adapts to a disco shimmer on “Good To You” and bristles up on “Sweetheart,” where Teague insists, “I can frown if I want to/ Don’t call me a sweetheart.” She’s most in her element when she’s languishing in rootsy malaise, when her voice is able to spread out and take hold through dusty, mournful coos. melodic electric guitar soft rock, with a slight county pop twang, to be expected from a Mississippi gal recording in Memphis. For lovers of Christine McVie & Stevie Nicks in Fleetwood Mac, Pernice Brothers, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, even The Sundays. And that’s damn good company.
“In Our Element” is out now on Muscle Beach Records.
