Track of the Day: katie phelan - 'guessed it was about me'

Meath native katie phelan returns with more delicate vocals, gorgeous melodies and beautifully crafted songwriting on new single ‘guessed it was about me’.

The track (following her debut 'Duvet Day' and 'For Good') is packed with simplistic storytelling, dreamy soundscapes and cosy guitar tones, which have become sonic signifiers of phelan’s musical landscape.

Opening with the distant sound of conversations and laughter before gentle guitar strumming enters the fray, katie's light, angelic vocals begin: "I remember when you weren't mine/and we talked all night on the phone all the time/in December, I walked you home/and we hugged like forever when you had to go/I remember when you asked me what's going on/and I didn't have the answer/I remember when you showed me one of your songs and I guessed it was about me."

It's a youthful, love-fuelled track about the beginning stages of a relationship, with uncertainty, overflowing feelings and waiting for the other person to confirm their romantic emotions for them.

Discussing her new single, katie said: “‘guessed it was about me’ is a shy narration of two people who have caught feelings for each other and all the little mundane moments they share that feel so big”.

‘guessed it was about me’ evokes a similar sound to the likes of Billie Marten and Julia Jacklin, with some hints of Adam Melchor.

Amassing over quarter of a million streams off the back of her two debut singles and being championed heavily by Spotify, BBC R1 DJ Gemma Bradley, Hot Press Magazine and more, phelan offers further insight into her gorgeous narrative-driven songwriting.

Featured as the face of Spotify’s ‘Fresh Finds: UK and Ireland’ playlist and included in Spotify’s ‘Our Generation’, ‘Lyric Therapy’, ‘Equal: UK and Ireland’ and more, the newcomer is one of the most exciting prospects on the indie folk-pop scene right now.

"I hadn’t actually started my journey as an artist before Covid," katie told Hot Press in February this year. "I had always been planning on releasing, but never felt ready. I’ve always been super-cautious about not rushing anything, and letting myself wait until things feel right. I was lucky that nothing really changed for me there. If anything, lockdown actually gave me time to write, record and work on finding my sound."

Revisit Hot Press' On Our Radar Q&A with katie phelan here.

Listen to 'guessed it was about me' below.