Kat Cunning Releases Single “Make U Say”

New York actress and dancer turned musician, Kat Cunning, continues her move into the indie pop scene with recently released single “Make U Say.” Cunning has roots in the arts, but she comes from dance and theater. A Broadway alum and classically trained dancer, singing is something that came to her (relatively) later in life. Music, however, was part of what helped her find a home in the creative world—older jazz students at SUNY that let her dance to their music helped her find her “place in the arts.”

Since Cunning released her first tracks in 2017, she’s established herself as someone to watch. Her singles “Wild Poppies” and “Baby” brought Cunning some attention, leading her to perform in Refinery29’s 29Rooms and for NYLON and Paste Magazine. With this new single, Cunning continues to construct songs that meld Baroque, pop, and jazz to showcase her impressive vocals, building from soft and sweet to haunting and ethereal. Cunning’s music thrums with emotional intensity and weight. But she also professes a life-long love of pop music. As a child she wrote a letter to the Backstreet Boys pleading that they make room for her in the band. Her music is pop with a heavier and edgier overtone that is particularly present in “Make U Say.”

“Make U Say” is a playful and sultry song with a darker atmosphere that makes it particularly fierce. Queer and sex-positive artist Cunning is powerful in taking ownership of her own sexuality in the song that she describes as an “erotic poem” about the “complexities of power in sex and life.” It’s inspired, she says, by how love looks in the modern world. In the video released for the song, Cunning performs live at Norwood in New York City, swaying in front of a microphone in layers of tulle bathed in rose gold light, looking positively otherworldly.

Kat Cunning’s EP is slated for release sometime in 2018, and we are looking forward to hearing more from her in the coming months.