Description
Katankin – Said the Starling
CD review by Tony Smith
TN2593-63 – $35
TN180 Sep 26
For this CD, Melbourne Indie-folk musician and singer songwriter, Helen Catanchin, aka Katankin, gathered a band of supporting musicians.
Between the release of her solo EP, ‘The Quiet Shimmer of the World’, and the issue of ‘Said the Starling’, Catanchin lost her dear mother, which must have affected her music.
However, there is every sign that her voice has become stronger and her songwriting has matured.
Folk Alliance Australia made this album a finalist in the ‘Contemporary’ category for 2025.
The tracks on this album include ‘The Fall’, ‘Bonfire’, ‘In a New Way’, ‘Little Ember’, ‘Shona’s Song’, ‘On Your Knees’, ‘Another Day’, ‘Stand Up Child’ and ‘Lose It All’.
The title ‘Said the Starling’ is a phrase from an early English novel, ‘Sentimental Journey’, by Laurence Sterne.
The starling beats its wings against its cage and cries that it cannot get out.
Katankin seems to feel like the starling struggling against psychological constraints and expresses the frustrations in her songs.
The sleeve has a picture of Katankin before a stark cliff stretching back and looking to the sky, reminiscent of a chained god like Prometheus.
Katankin sings, provides backing vocals and plays guitar and whistles.
Philip Rex, who mixed and mastered the tracks, plays double bass.
Felix Bloxsom plays drums and percussion.
Esther Henderson supplies violin and viola.
Declan Jones plays trumpet.
Katankin wrote the songs and lyrics and arranged and produced the album.
It was recorded at Soundpark Studios, Paper Mache Studios and Pughouse Studios.
The album artwork design and layout was by Katankin with photography by Steph Tout.
Katankin thanks Andrei Catanchin and Peter Haasz and their families for their support.
Percussion is a feature of ‘The Fall’, which is a very attractive opening track, and of ‘Bonfire’.
Katankin’s voice here is very clear and faultlessly in tune.
Interestingly, ‘In a New Way’ opens with brass and strings, and Katankin’s voice at times gives an impression of a funky trumpet.
‘Little Ember’ is a more wistful track, both in style and lyrics and makes good use of pauses.
The harmony here is very well constructed.
‘Shona’s Song’ shows Katankin’s confidence in the lower register and makes a mellifluous contrast to the earlier tracks.
If I had to pick a favourite track, this would be it.
Some fine guitar picking introduces ‘On Your Knees’.
Ironically perhaps, this track has an appealing slow dance feeling.
‘Lose It All’ has especially nice strings, sometimes arpeggio, sometimes bowed and damped guitar.
This is another fine arrangement.
‘Another Day’ slaps along to a quicker beat.
Katankin dedicates ‘Stand Up Child’ to the memory of her mother: ‘a chain gang trudgin’ on/ singin’ an old song/ waiting for a pardon/ … train whistle blowin’/ feel the track thrummin’/ callin’ you to board … stand up child/ lay your heavy load down/ for a while/ you could be a part of this …’.
This track references some ‘plantation blues’ with enslaved blacks singing of the freedom train and the Midnight Special.
Katankin’s songs express a great yearning for freedom.
The choice of the image of a caged bird is ideal for the feeling of frustration that her lyrics describe.
These songs are not so much complaints about the human condition as they are a means of liberating the spirit.
This applies especially to the beauty of Katankin’s voice which is always uplifting.
“Said the starling” is the much-anticipated debut album from Melbourne’s Katankin, a singer-songwriter who has steadily been making her presence known in the indie music scene. Since the release of her self-produced debut EP “The quiet shimmer of the world” , she received a 2023 Music Victoria nomination for Best Folk Work, and appeared at several major music festival including the St Kilda Festival, and Maldon Folk Festival.
Work on a full album began early 2024, with Katankin again arranging and producing the work herself, but this time accompanied by a full band, including occasional strings and horns. The result is a powerful, eclectic and extremely well-crafted offering, marked by Katankin’s signature poeticism, razor-sharp lyrics and uniquely expressive vocal delivery. The songs by turns uplift and shatter; Katankin’s angelic voice tenderly caresses you one moment, before scathingly, blisteringly, slamming you down the next, in an impressive showcase of her range as both singer and songwriter.
The album title is taken from Laurence Sterne’s 18th century novel “A sentimental journey”, in which a starling beats its wings against the sides of its cage, struggling to be freed, crying “I can’t get out”. This scene has become an important literary motif for enslavement, and in Katankin’s case represents a long-overdue liberty and freedom from constraints on her creative and musical expression and output, whether self-imposed or external. The songs deal with highly personal and emotive subjects, with recurrent themes of fire, courage and renewal throughout.(
