Kaia Kater - Nine Pin (2016)

Fueled by rich low tenor vocals, jazz-influenced instrumentation, and beautifully understated banjo, 'Nine Pin' is Kaia's sophomore album and has as much in common with Kendrick Lamar right now as they do with Pete Seeger. Recorded in just one day in Toronto, 'Nine Pin' was produced by both Kater and acclaimed Canadian artist Chris Bartos (The Barr Brothers, Jonathan Byrd), who also produced her last album, Sorrow Bound (Kingswood Records). Few artists could pull off such a polished, cohesive album in one day, but Kater felt that this actually lent focus to the project. "This album was written to be something to listen to from start to finish" Kater explains. As a concept album,'Nine Pin' weaves between hard-hitting songs that touch on modern issues like the Black Lives Matter movement ("Rising Down", "Paradise Fell") and more personal narratives speaking to life and love in the digital age ("Saint Elizabeth"). And while these larger stories are deftly crafted, this is really an album of moments. Kater's a cappella voice speaking to the loneliness of a city in "Harlem's Little Blackbird" while solo dance steps echo in the background, the muted hesitancy of Caleb Hamilton's trumpet breaking the trance of "Little Pink," the smoke of electric guitar that cuts through "Saint Elizabeth," the wave-like ebb and flow of piano behind the plaintive love poem "Viper's Nest…" All of these moments point to an artist wise beyond her years.