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Kelsy Karter – Missing Person

Florian Buechting Media Review No Comments

Kelsy Karter - Missing Person

Kelsy Karter - Missing Person
4.4

Rating

 4.4/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very versatile songs, a lot of surprising elements
  • A lot of power
  • Great voice

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Vocal potential not present in all tracks

If one of your songs is streamed more than three million times on Spotify (even though driven by an excellent marketing campaign), you at least got some name int he music business already. Indie-Rock / Alternative Rock lady Kelsy Karter did so – the more I was curious about her debut album, Missing Person, which has been released on 2nd October 2020.

Kelsy Karter – About The Artist

Despite Kelsy Karter was born on 1st August 1993 in Auckland, New Zealand, she is an Australian artists. Nowadays, she is based in Los Angeles, as she flew from home in teenage years. The biggest publicity was undoubtedly when Karter published pictures with a (not too beautiful) fake tattoo of Harry Styles on her cheek. The song Harry has been streamed on Spotify only 3.6 million times, which is more than six times more than her second most popular song there, Liquor Store on Mars. The latter has been part of her 2020 EP Love Me or Hate Me and is also part of the tracks of Missing People, which is Karter’s debut album.

 

Kelsy Karter – Missing Person – Track by Track

The twelve track album lasts 36 minutes.

1. You Only Die Once

The first tracks starts as if it was a intimate ballad – but after some 40 seconds, rough, distorted electric guitars take control of You Only Die Once – a back and forth which is kept during the whole song. No matter if you like it or not – this song indeed pushes all your focus towards the album – so it is somehow brilliant, ain’t it?

2. Goodness Gracious

At Goodness Gracious, there is no slow starter any more. The guitars still give a rough and powerful drive from the very beginning of this song.

Goodness gracious, you’re the one
That makes me come back down to Earth when
My mind goes on the run
And all I wanna do is misbehave
I’m floating far away from sanity when you’re gone
Goodness gracious, are you what I need?
Maybe

Cool. Really enjoy what Karter is doing here.

3. Stick to Your Guns

Most reviews of Stick to Your Guns, which has been a single release to Kelsea Karter already, have been very positive. Compared to the two songs before, the track is rather soft. It feels a bit like a 1980’s rock track. Maybe not her strongest vocal statement on the album, but the track is very melodic and thus a very catchy one.

4. I’m So Mad At Him

Wow – I’m So Mad At Him again comes with a great chorus. This time, I love to listen to the verses as well definitely. The style feels to be a bit in line with Stick To You, but this one speads more emotions. Even though the story itself has some anger in it, I also feel some quite positive vibes here.

5. Devil On My Shoulder

I swore I’d never dance with you again
Keep safe from the devil on my shoulder
But you know me so well
And you drag me to Hell
I can’t keep safe from the devil on my
Keep safe from the devil on my

Kelsy Karter is just playing with massive contrasts again. While the chorus, with which the track is even starting, is more like a powerful alternative rock track with a very modern touch, other parts of the songs are spoken words or very melodic and have a soft atmopshere around it. Kelsy Karter takes a high risk here – the sudden differences may confuse the listener – but I feel she does just right. Very courageus.

6. Villain

I’ll be the villain if you want me to – the track is definitely on the very soft side of the album (“soft” still means that the chorus is quite significantly boosted by guitars…). I love the presence of her voice in this track. One of the best ones regarding her vocal presence.

7. Love Me or Hate Me

Love Me or Hate Me is another one of Kelsy Karter’s singles, which have already been released from this album. This track reminds me quite strongly of Avril Lavigne. Finally, Karter got me with the album – hard to imagine that she is losing me in the following tracks.

8. God Knows I’ve Tried

Baby, I’ve been bad
But God knows I’ve tried to be good
God knows I’ve tried

After all the powerful alternative and indie rock songs (or at least: songs with harder episodes), it is hard to imagine that Karter is really doing a ballad from the very beginning to the very end. Even though the middle part is very angry and has a lot of power, this is a nice one for the romantic moments in live.

9. Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can is very quick and also very accentuated in the verses, while the chorus is again quite melodic. Though I enjoy the chorus, overall, the song is not on my favorite list of the album.

10. Int – Coffee Shop – Next Morning

The intermission is a spoken introduction to the next song. Quite atmospheric, but I won’t rate that one.

11. Liquor Store on Mars (feat. Adam Slack)

This song is recorded with Adam Slack, the guitar player of The Struts (who will release an album two weeks after Missing Person, by the way). A very nice ballad with some guitar boost. Not bad at all, feels like Hard Rock.

12. New Recording 254 (Outro)

This two minute outro seems to be a recording from right from the studio. Could even be a country song the way Karter performs You Only Die Once with an acoustic guitar only. I would rather see it as a good or a bonus track, but it is a nice musical snippet.

 

Kelsy Karter – Missing Person – Spotify

Here is the Spotify link to Missing Person:

 

Kelsy Karter – Missing Person – My View

Really cool tunes by the exile Aussie. You need to be ready for a (musical) surprise each and every second of the album – but overall, the album has quite a lot of power and is a lot of fun. Really enjoyable, fresh, cheeky sounds of the alternative world of rock. If you like these kinds of tunes, you will definitely fall in love with Kelsy Karter.

 

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