Sixteen year-old Minnesota native, Karah, began writing songs even before hitting her teens, and was accepted into a two year artist development deal that paired her with various music professionals hailing from Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Nashville. Her well-crafted indie-pop sound has been described as ‘a progressive take on current pop trends led by Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and others’. Karah recently released her “Ready To Fall” debut album containing fourteen tracks. With this album, Karah puts her heart on her sleeve, and stands there candidly presenting herself without holding back, and without affectation. She shamelessly presents her pain and anger, without judgment, or her love and joy, without superficial indulgence.
She is able to talk about her own mistakes and observant enough to notice those in others. Karah’s lyrics are more literal and direct than most artists twice her age, in my opinion. I don’t hear any forced symbolism – the songs mean what they mean. But that won’t keep your imagination from getting involved.
On the contrary, Karah weaves a beautiful, aching, emotional tapestry of loves had, loves lost, requital and plenty of introspection. This collection of songs will make you feel alive inside, knowing that someone else shares your same tribulations of the heart…and maybe just a little sad sometimes, though still in a good way.
Karah is still young, and she has a very long career ahead of her. But this debut album already establishes her as a force to be reckoned with. And you can gauge that much from when the opening track, “I Am” kicks in. Her slight country lilt and strong pop edge comes shining through, in a track that is finger-snappingly crisp and melodically smooth on the ears.
You can often really feel her passion and enthusiasm through her singing in this collection, such as in the standout, coming-of-age, urban-pop number “Ready To Fall”, and the mid-tempo, acoustic-driven ballad “What Do They Know”.
Karah more often than not shows her serious side where she navigates the practical realities and difficulties of life and love as a young growing woman. She is particularly impressive on the haunting, back-to back tracks “Home” and “Shadow”.
Though my absolute favorite track has to be “Ether” – a very beautiful song about her intense feelings for someone that she has connected to on a deep level, but has lost along the way. This is without a doubt, for me, the most poignant and emotional song on the entire album – where Karah’s ethereal and resonating voice is equally matched by an understated and smoldering soundscape.
The album “Ready To Fall” plays almost like a hits disk with no filler at all, and if you have a penchant for upbeat EDM influenced numbers, you will adore the electronic drive of “Haunted” or “You Don’t Know”. Throughout the album Karah tackles a lot of personal experiences and feelings – a sort of initiation into adulthood.
And sometimes it’s probably hard to go through for her, but they can often be revelatory. As on “Can’t Go On”, where through the song’s narrative she shows she can be much more powerful and stronger than what she appears to be on the surface.
Especially when she needs to come to terms with being misused in any way. “Ready To Fall” is a beautiful, well-written album by an artist who sounds mature beyond her years, and which I have been listening to on repeat for days…and am still in love with!
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