KatMariexx – “Fire”
“We wake up, in my smeared makeup, your hands all over me. You got me in a good mood. Tell me what you want you want to do. Give you what you need. This is what I came for. What our bodies made for. Baby what I need.” These words can leave no doubt about the incandescent fire of passion burning in the soul of the narrator. It’s absolutely beautiful, and the listener feels every complex emotion associated with love and lust through the beautiful, crisp, and elegant voice. The range over the vocals are impressive and all the different notes it can strike perfectly, is absolutely stunning. Everything that is a staple of modern pop and dance music is present in the production of this track, and the singer shows a remarkable ability to add her own retro uniqueness to the classic pop tropes. It takes a special kind of creative collectivity to achieve such sublime excellence.
The creatives in question here, is singer-songwriter KatMariexx aka Kathryn Marie, born in the Philippines and raised in San Diego Suburb, where she met music producer, and current collaborator, Joe Crotty. KatMariexx who has been singing since the age of 8, grew up admiring the likes of Gwen Stefani from No Doubt and Shirley Manson from Garbage.
In fact you can pick up exquisite nuances of the aforementioned in her performance. She wrote the lyrics and melody to song, “Fire”, after hearing a simple beat Joe Crotty sent over via email. They subsequently passed the track back and forth between Southern and Northern California, via email to completion.
To put a final interesting twist on matters, “Fire” was mixed and mastered in Russia. The song – about the desire and anticipation of rekindling again – is based on a real life encounter, and was written during a period of heartbreak for KatMariexx.
Writing the song was also an escape route from her struggle with depression, which she is open about. Interestingly enough, KatMariexx had the focused sensibility to strategically use no pronouns in the song lyrics, so it could be a universal expression for all relationship variations.
Having said that, even if you disregard all the humanistic and emotional finesse applied to “Fire”, the track, looking at it strictly from a technical perspective, is still absolutely amazing. The articulation and sophistication of KatMariexx’s voice, combined with the sounds of the electronic components, of the music that Joe Crotty brings to the table, makes something that is extremely reminiscent of the past, yet absolutely in the current moment.
There is a sheen of consummate professionalism running across the entire three minutes and thirty two seconds of this track. “Fire” sparkles and shimmers rather than bludgeons you through the speakers. In absolute terms, “Fire” certainly packs a unique punch in terms of songwriting, performance and production, showing off exactly what KatMariexx does best.
Perhaps most importantly of all, it feels so damn honest. This is one collaboration that has most definitely paid off, introducing KatMariexx and Joe Crotty as a power-packed Indie Pop and Dance combination. The good news is that the duo are planning to release an album of their songs, and are currently perfecting their second single “Bad Desire”.
In the song, KatMariexx sings: “I know we promised ourselves we’d only do this once before. But your love’s been so good to me. It makes me want you more and more.” That’s exactly how fans will feel about her, after listening to “Fire”.
