Music Monday 07: Katie Herzig - The Waking Sleep

It has been a long long time since I’ve done a Music Monday post. In all honesty, I haven’t purchased a ton of music in the past couple months (except the new NEEDTOBREATHE record). However, last weekend I was out on the road and decided to pick up something new to listen to on my 8 hour van rides.

Katie Herzig is a Nashville artist who is part of the Ten out of Tenn crowd. I’ve heard a few of her songs over the last few years, but didn’t really look into her too much. As the new TOT tour was gearing up, and Katie was set to release The Waking Sleep, I downloaded a couple songs off of it from various Noisetrade samplers. I also listened all the way through it on Spotify after its release, but it was always on in the background while I was doing other things.

When it was time to buy new music for my trip last weekend, I decided on The Waking Sleep, and I am so happy I did! This album is amazing. Herzig is a fantastic writer and musician. Her songs are incredibly catchy and lyrically well written.

The thing that makes this album for me though is Cason Cooley’s production. Katie is a singer/songwriter, a genre consumed by simple tracks with acoustic guitar. Herzig and Cooley have managed to blend the organic elements of the singer/songwriter genre with the electronic elements of modern pop music in an amazing way. As someone who lives in both of those worlds separately a lot of the time, finding a record that puts them together as well as this one does is such a treat.

The video above is the album’s first track, Free My Mind. It has a current pop flair to it with the melody and sampled drums, while not getting too clubby.

The Waking Sleep’s standout tracks to me are Free My Mind, Make A Noise, and Lost and Found. However, all the songs are great. Expect to see this album again on my best albums of 2011 list I’ll put up here in December.