Cate Kileva steps into the limelight with solo debut album, How You Love Is How You Die.

By Graeme Smith

Feature photo by Caitlin Worthington

Cate is an artist who is new to our blog thanks to her debut solo electronic album, How You Love Is How You Die. In her own words, the album is “a step into my own creative space” and is entirely self-produced by her, with mixing and mastering by Stuart Stuart at Analog Heart, and Simon Cohen and Ben Feggans at Studios 301.

It’s a bold prospect of an album, unconstrained by compromise. We get that sense straight away through atmospheric opener A Burning Flame. Cate’s vocal is understated in the verse, slowly growing with passion as the instrumental also builds. Soon we are lost in the emotion of it all.

There’s a moodiness about the album’s style. A Melancholy does exactly what its title suggests, pulling us down into a stupor which is punctuated by soaring notes. This mood is carried through to Bitten which proves an early highlight thanks to its percussive layers, cinematic strings, and memorable chorus.

From there we move into the sultry Breathe You Out, the haunting and ethereal Gave You My Heart and How You Love. The latter is a diversion into lo-fi hip-hop and proves another highlight.

The album becomes its most devastating during Say You Are and The Fool. Then, a defiance starts to set in as Cate throws off the melancholy. The World Without You closes things in a wistful, lingering way.

It’s the raw emotion and courage to try something different that really makes Cate’s debut special. Each note is sung with expression, while the compositions and production provide heaps of atmosphere.

How You Love Is How You Die is out now, available to buy as a digital album on Bandcamp. You can give it a listen below.