Kat Hasty released on May 16th her awaited album, “The Time of your Life“, four years after her first record, “Drowning in Dreams“. If her debut was stripped-down and acoustic, the new LP is a full band work with great instrumentation and continual energy.
What doesn’t change, though, is the quality of the songwriting and the authenticity of the songs. Kat Hasty writes and sings with spontaneity, freshnesss, freedom and honesty, and that’s why her album is so appealing and her songs highly relatable.
If the acoustic guitar was the trademark of “Drowning in Dreams“, fiddle is definitely the common denominator of all the songs that are part of Kat Hasty’s new album. Most of them are up-tempo, others are slower, but all of them include wonderful fiddle, in the best tradition of Texas music.
Traditional country music is wonderfully represented by “Breaking up the Band” and “Midland“. With high quality of songwriting, excellent instrumentation and great production, these two songs are the quintessence of country music.
The title track, particularly catchy and excellently written, is a country song with rock and even pop vibes, but before anything else, it’s an awesome Texan song, wonderfully performed, that will be undoubtedly on repeat, for a lot of us, all along the summer. We also find rock and pop vibes while listening to the excellent “Kalispell“, one of the catchiest songs of the album.
We can appreciate Kat Hasty’s talent for songwriting with the amazing “The Family Business“, that tells a lot about her authenticity and about the way she’s writing and building her career, far from Nashville’s siren songs. Her talent for songwriting and storytelling also stands out with “The Best We Can“, a great autobiographical song, and “You Get Half“, both with wonderful instrumentation.
Most songs on the album are up-tempo and full of energy, but some of them are slower ones, like the excellent “Chance to Be Alive” and the beautiful “Idaho” and “The West Ain’t Wild Anymore“.
The release of “The Time of your Life” is a pivotal moment for Kat Hasty’s career. This brilliant album, that she entirely wrote, has a very special and unmatched appeal. The way she sings, the production and the songwriting tell a lot about her authenticity. Kat Hasty needs to go on with such quality and honest music. We’re more than ever on board.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 