Following her critically praised song “Between The Lines,” electro-pop artist and harpist TATYANA unveils her first album, “Treat Me Right,” as well as an appealing tune and video, “Kiss Me Right Now.” The artist gushes over her new crush in this newest sugar-coated pop smash. The synthy, sweet, sparkly music grows like a crush, slowly at first, then all at once.
TATYANA (AKA Tatyana Phillips) has lived in Holland, Russia, Singapore, and Boston, where she received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, before returning to her homeland of London. Her itinerant childhood has undoubtedly influenced her musical career: from underground parties to popular YouTube covers to playing the harp on tour with Neneh Cherry, there appears to be no setting in which she does not flourish.
Speaking on the new single “I’m a bit addicted to crushing on people,” she admits, and indeed, the songs on the forthcoming album Treat Me Right ooze with the manic highs of infatuation. “You’re my natural high,” she declares to a lover on the title track. There’s a definite feeling of urgency here, with lively synthesisers, glittering harps, and tempting vocal hooks aplenty, complemented by pictures of lipstick, dancing, and champagne. Tatyana even pours herself a glass during the vocal interlude “Introduction.” She invites her subject to approach her, to read between the words — not only to kiss her but to kiss her right now.
In the accompanying amusing video for “Kiss Me Right Now,” TATYANA is joined by pals who each meet their crush for a kiss, suitably with lollipops hanging out of their lips, from the comfort of her own bed. Molly Daniel directed the film, which beautifully portrays the butterflies of a new crush–the anxiety, the cheek-to-cheek smiles, and the clumsily bumbling through a kiss–each seems palpable, with certain moments viewed through a blurry lens as memories creeps through.
“Treat Me Right” is the irresistible product of these experiences; a sparkling, catchy collection of ’80s synths and futuristic auto-tuned vocals that fuses her classical harp training with her keen sense for pop production and songwriting. Inspired by late-2000s indie pop and Swedish pop auteurs, the songs on Treat Me Right are a joyous celebration of touch, contact and intimacy – all things Tatyana had longed for in isolation.
It’s not all champagne fizz, of course, and while there’s plenty to enjoy on the surface of these songs, a closer look reveals a deeper meaning. “Maybe it’s the way I was raised, but I really have no time for men who don’t treat me right,” she says of the mantra that became the album’s title.
From the sophisticated arrangements that underpin her catchiest hooks to the clever use of double entendre that turns a classic crush song on its head, Tatyana’s music rests on the interplay between technical mastery and fun-loving charm. It’s an inimitable quality borne of eclectic experiences, like a childhood steeped in classical Russian piano and a clandestine ABBA obsession. And while “Treat Me Right” may be a study in infatuation and relationships, it’s Tatyana herself who emerges most clearly, peering through love as a lens into the universal.
Over ten tracks on Treat Me Right, TATYANA manages to achieve pop excellence, combined with the twinkling, unrivalled sounds of a harp and production by dream collaborator, Joseph Mount (Metronomy). Speaking about the album, TATYANA says “Treat Me Right, the title of the album, encapsulates so much about the themes on the record- it’s sweet-toothed, made with a wink, tongue in cheek, brimming with innuendoes. I wanted to examine romance at its critical early stage – the beginning – where it’s all escapism, projection and dreams. I lived this record, and I’m very happy to have captured the giddiness of new love and desire in one place. It’s a place I can always return to – and be reminded of the magic in those first encounters with matters of the heart.”
This album is really special — it’s not every day you see a harp being run through Ableton to make self-assured, dreamy poppy bops.