Born Katie Victoria Tunstall,
the Scottish singer is better
known as KT Tunstall, the
voice behind the songs
“Suddenly I See,” and “Black
Horse and the Cherry Tree.”
Adopted as a baby, the singer
was raised in St. Andrews,
Scotland.
Since the performance of her
song “Black Horse and the
Cherry Tree” on “Later.with
Jools Holland” launched her
into the public spotlight,
Tunstall’s catchy melodies and
well-thought out lyrics have
earned her one Brit award and
a Grammy award nomination.
Her album “Eye on the
Telescope,” a love letter to a
science teacher she had a crush
on, placed no. 20 on the U.S.
Billboard Charts. “Drastic
Fantastic,” her second album,
charted at no. 9 in the U.S.
Billboard Album charts. Now,
it is time for round three.
“Tiger Suit” was released on
Oct. 5 and has not disappointed.
Tunstall has returned to the
music scene with her energetic
folk-pop sound and intelligent
lyrics.
The album opens with
“Uumanaqq Song,” an energetic
song that talks about
leaving a town. As with most
pieces of art, thousands of
interpretations could be deciphered
from the lyrics, but one
line that repeats itself is “that
feeling you get when you don’t
want to leave,” that gutwrenching
feeling that most
people can relate to. Therefore
it could be about a relationship,
or it could be taken literally as
her packing her bags and leaving
for somewhere new. That is
the beauty with Tunstall’s
music; everything is open to
interpretation.
“Glamour Puss,” the second
song on the album has a sound
reminiscent to “Suddenly I
See” except with a rockier
sound.
The album takes a turn at the
song “Difficulty,” which is a
heartfelt ballad. She sings,
“difficulty is coming my way,”
referring to a relationship. To
express how tired she is of the
person “changing everyday,”
she uses harmonies to strengthen
the sound.
And then, the moment the
song “Come On, Get In” plays,
Tunstall’s unique sound, which
listeners fell in love with upon
the release of her first album in
2006, belts through the speakers.
It is one of those songs that
has the listener immediately
tapping their foot or swaying
their hips.
Upon reading the title of
Tunstall’s UK hit, “Still a
Weirdo,” I thought the song
would be as upbeat as “Come
On, Get in” and “Glamour
Puss” but was pleasantly surprised.
She sings “you’re still a
weirdo after all these years.”
When I first listened to it, I
thought she was talking about
dating somebody who she had
realized hadn’t changed since
the end of the relationship.
Instead, after re-listening, I
realized she is singing to herself.
In the line “Keep it eloquent,
optimistic but not quite
elegant,” she is talking about
herself.
Maybe that is what makes
this song powerful. She is stating
that even after all her fame
she has not changed, she is still
weird.
The album closes with the
song, “The Entertainer,” which
has a simpler sound. In this
context, I use the word ‘simple’
as a compliment. For the
majority of the song, the primary
two sounds are the guitar
and her voice. Her raspy voice
belts out every line with
expression, making the listener
feel everything she felt when
she wrote the song.
From uplifting songs that
remind us of the reason we fell
in love with her in the first
place, to deep and well-thought
out songs, Tunstall has
matured in her tone. Her experiences
with her fame and success
are apparent throughout
the album, characterized as her
relationships and break-ups.
“Tiger Suit” is a deeply personal
album, and while listening
to it one may feel as though
they are sifting through pages
in her journal.