Alt-rock, alt-pop Americana singer-songwriter Alpha Cat, aka Elizabeth McCullough, unveils the music video, “Wichita,” a track lifted from her recently released EP, Venus Smile….Retrograde.
Talking about the EP, Alpha Cat shares, “This record addresses the divisions in society and asks for them to be healed by addressing our commonalities. It’s a hopeful resolution and reconnection to a world that has become too divided, too extreme.”
She goes on, “It’s really all about how a broken heart can show you what you are made of.”
Featuring an all-star cast of musicians, Venus Smile….Retrograde boasts performances by guitarist Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, John Mayer,) bassist Reggie McBride (Stevie Wonder, Parliament Funkadelic, Elton John), and cellist Jane Scarpantoni (REM, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), along with Alpha Cat’s acoustic guitar.
Since the release of her debut EP, Real Boy, Alpha Cat has collected vast praise from elite media outlets. Real Boy beat out Beck and Metallica for two weeks in a row on the CMJ National Add Charts. Her LP, Pearl Harbor, landed on several best-of-year lists, while its follow-up, Thatched Roof Glass House, received major global airplay, charting number one on the NACC Add Chart.
Alpha Cat’s sound fluctuates from song to song, including savors of pop, folk, and post-punk.
“Wichita” opens on gleaming, almost jangly guitars flowing into folk-rock leitmotifs atop a measured rhythm riding Jason Harrison Smith’s drumming. Although the harmonics shimmer, there’s a stripped-down feel to the tune, infusing it with dreamy, lingering surfaces.
Alpha Cat’s voice, at once wistful and haunting, imbues the lyrics with imminent musing coloration.
The video, animated by Michael Shapiro, whose animation has appeared on Netflix, Discovery, and PBS, is simultaneously evocative and austere, reflecting the mood of the song.
Dripping with pensive textures, “Wichita” evokes the sensation of the past drawing alongside, revealing dormant emotions.
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