…begin again, CAT and the QUEEN Leave Here Tonight
Cat and the Queen Leave Here Tonight is available on Bandcamp, Tidal, Apple Music…
by Walter Price
The recent single “Leave Here Tonight” by Toronto indie-pop artisan Cat and the Machine (Cat Montgomery + keyboard) has a familiar lineage to the sounds of Aldous Harding, Queen, and Florence Welch, albeit, in an all-her-own human and dramatic way.
The track starts off heart-wrenchingly somber as the tale of grief and subsequent pain pulls you into the storyteller’s real-life experienced turmoil. But, then, seemingly out of nowhere, the vibe shifts into a high-octane disco vibe that celebrates overcoming the lurking demons. Whether temporary or not, the feeling of freeing exuberance is on full display. An undeniable twistiness that’ll move you.
Context is everything, in a lengthy back story for “Leave Here Tonight”, Montgomery shares, “In October 2020, I returned to Toronto after being out of the city for a few months, when I was confronted, as if for the first time, with reality. Mentally, I got myself into a bad spot; in the throes of pretty severe alcohol abuse, I couldn’t seem to get ‘it’ together. One afternoon I was in my bathtub, soaking silently, overcome with the fantasy of ending it all.
“Then something sparked in me—an urge, a need—and I was called to go to my piano. Still wet from the bath, sitting there, I wrote down the lyrics. Only a handful of my songs have flowed out with such ease and urgency. As for the second half of the song, those words took another year or so to make their way out.
“What I love about “Leave Here Tonight” is that it witnesses a journey from grief and darkness to release and freedom. I broke out of the paralysis and moved into a place of high-energy prayer and life summoning.
“When we touch our pain, then it has the chance to change.”
It’ll be a challenge to find a more stunning pop song with all its layers and tactile emotions laid as bare as “Leave Here Tonight”. It’s simply one of the most intriguing releases, so far, this year. And you stream it as well as see its homegrown music video, now at the GTC.
CAT and the QUEEN Leave Here Tonight
Artist photo by Calm Elliott-Armstrong // Quotes via YouTube and Auteur Research PR
written. performed. produced. by CATQ / Cat Montgomery
mixed. recorded. produced .by Radio Logic Records
music video made by CATQ and JAMtheDesigner
“When Cat isn’t hustling gigs, as the indie artist she is, she works in film, cleans houses, takes naps, and waters plants in her sweetheart Parkdale apartment.” – bio