Kate Vogel - 'Reasons To Stay' / 'The Grave'
Singer-songwriter Kate Vogel makes a heartfelt impression with encouraging debut single, ‘Reasons To Stay’ and aching follow-up single, ‘The Grave’.
From hopelessness to hope, Kate Vogel’s debut single, ‘Reasons To Stay’ is a stripped, ballad-esque confessional that exposes Vogel’s compelling vocal and gift for raw and affecting songwriting. This is a gentle and genuine comeback song, written in reflection of a failed suicide attempt that awakened new optimism and gratitude for life. Vogel instills confidence in her listener that things will get better in the beautiful hook, “beauty will outweigh the pain, we’ll all find a purpose one day, we all have a reason to stay”.
Follow up single, ’The Grave’ continues to show off Vogel’s flair for achingly honest and moving storytelling born from distressing life experiences. This one’s about the funeral of her best friend who died tragically in a car crash. Vogel navigates the intrinsic pain that accompanies tragic loss with her vocal as the focal point, but ‘The Grave’ introduces more organic instrumentation to increase the evocation. Lulling americana/ rootsy leaning instrumentation offers comfort and compliments the pure pop tone to her vocal wonderfully. ‘The Grave ‘ is a song awash with emotion and sorrow, casting light on Vogel’s expert ear for subtly dramatic dynamics as it ebbs and flows with emotion in a similar way to the unpredictable arrival and departure of grief.
Through her music Vogel is not only bravely making herself vulnerable, but she is lifting the taboo of the darker topics in life like death, depression and suicide that we often seem to shy away from speaking about. Vogel’s music is unravelling as relatable snapshots into struggles that are universally shared and a fundamental part of being human, candidly and from the heart. Sure it’s rough and heavy stuff, but that’s life. We’re all just trying to survive in our own way and Vogel is finding strength from speaking out about her pain and passing that strength and unity on to other people who hear her songs. Really beautiful stuff.
Words of Karla Harris