In 2022, emerging singer-songwriter Cat Burns’s song Go went viral on TikTok. This raw yet soft guitar track would go double platinum, with the south Londoner subsequently gaining three Brit award nominations. Now, 24-year-old Burns’s debut album, Early Twenties, lives up to the hype.
Imbued with moving gospel richness and an indie sensibility, it’s an introspective but anthemic, English-accented pop collection about growing pains. With chatty, self-effacing candour, Burns ruminates on loneliness, connection, insecurity and self-actualisation. Occasionally, she falls into cliches about kindness or quasi-musical theatre lines (“this is what happens when you’re anxious, so damn anxious, I’m so anxious all the time!”). But the spelled-out frankness is part of her charm, not least for a generation who have found solace in relatable vulnerability. Hence, Burns leans into it on tracks such as Low Self Esteem, People Pleaser and a tender ode to her girlfriend, Jodie.
On the album’s warm, mellifluous final track, Healing, featuring neo-soul star India Arie, Burns seems to find peace. Coming of age remains a much-explored theme for a reason: on Early Twenties, we hear a young artist openly reflecting on the bumpy ride of getting older, but emerging bright, determined and triumphant.
