Katie Gregson-MacLeod Releases EP
SHARES SONGS WRITTEN FOR PIANO EP
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR
NEW SINGLE ‘WHITE LIES’ NOW
SOLD-OUT EP LAUNCH SHOW
IN EDINBURGH TONIGHT 
Download hi-res assets here (credit: Megan Henderson)
Praise for Katie Gregson-MacLeod
“‘complex’ has allowed Katie Gregson-MacLeod to take her place in an impressive lineage of female singer-songwriters”– The New York Times
“A plaintive, heart-tugging ballad about unrequited love, ‘complex’ showcases Gregson-MacLeod’s innate musicality, the descending piano chords underpinning vocals rich with vibrato and longing” – The Sunday Times
“Katie Gregson-MacLeod’s songwriting is as dynamic as it is honest
as it meditates on the pitfalls of complicated love” – NYLON
“Katie’s songwriting and vocal abilities have kicked up a bit of a fuss” – Dork, Hype List 2023
“there’s a quiet confidence to Katie’s work that eases gently into a realm of its own” – CLASH
“‘complex’ is in and of itself a stunning piece of songwriting, but perhaps most important is that the song’s success came on the heels of years of hard work from Gregson-MacLeod” – The Line of Best Fit
“Katie Gregson-MacLeod has already captured listeners’ hearts with
her vulnerable lyricism and stunning vocal ability” – Notion
“this is perfect, I have not heard many songs capture the transition between youth
and adulthood…the lyrics are just incredible” – Jack Saunders, Radio 1
Today, breakthrough Scottish singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-MacLeod shares her second EP songs written for piano via Columbia Records. The EP features her breakout track ‘complex’ as well as three new songs, including the new single ‘white lies’, which was co-written with Matt Maltese and arrives today with an official video. It follows the news of Katie being nominated for MTV PUSH UK&IE 2023 earlier this week.
LISTEN TO SONGS WRITTEN FOR PIANO EP
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ‘WHITE LIES’
songs written for piano builds on the stripped back production and vulnerable songwriting that captured listener’s attention on ‘complex (demo)’ while telling a chronological story of love and heartbreak. ‘i’m worried it will always be you’ was written when Katie was 18 years old in the midst of her first breakup, while on ‘to be eighteen’ she wistfully yearns to have the same outlook on love as she did as a teenager. The EP also features ‘complex (live with strings)’, a live version of the song recorded with a 12-piece live strings ensemble and arranger Simon Hale.
On the story behind the EP, Katie shares: “I had the idea for this body of work really early on into the process of ‘complex’ being released and all the craziness around it. I’ve always wanted to release a stripped back acoustic EP and when ‘complex’ – a song released in demo form first with just piano and vocal – resonated with so many people I felt it was a perfect opportunity to release a body of work that fell within that world sonically and thematically.”
New single ‘white lies’ tells the story of growing apart from someone you once loved, detailing all the little things we tell ourselves and our partners to brush those feelings under the rug. The video finds Katie watching an archetypal romantic older couple who are deeply in love from the sidelines, eventually not being able to help herself from getting drawn into the old-fashioned romance.
Katie says of ‘white lies’: “I wanted to talk about the feeling of growing apart from someone you’d not long ago yearned for. This is the most recent song on the EP and at the time of writing, I’d been experiencing so many changes to my own life and was the busiest I’d ever been. In that process I guess I was feeling detached from my feelings for this person. So when I went in to write with Matt Maltese, the main question that arose was around whether that feeling was a natural result of slowly growing apart or if I had just been really successful at distracting myself.”
“I was really chuffed to be writing with Matt, someone I’d looked up to as a writer for a long time, to the point where I didn’t even realise how special the song was until Matt sent over the first demo. We’d just met that day but it was such an honest writing process and the song was finished really quickly. It’s definitely one of my favourite songs I’ve written.”
songs written for piano EP
1. i’m worried it will always be you
2. to be eighteen
3. complex
4. white lies
5. complex (live with strings)
Tonight, Katie will be playing tracks from the EP and more live to a sold-out crowd at The Pleasance Theatre in Edinburgh. The headline show follows support slots for the likes of fellow fast-rising British talent Dylan in Glasgow and Norwegian pop powerhouse Sigrid at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, as well as a surprise appearance on-stage to duet with acclaimed US singer-songwriter Samia at her debut London headline show.
Hailing from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands and until recently working in a coffee shop, Katie’s candid songwriting and stunning vocal abilities have quickly captured a global audience. The songs written for pianoEP follows the independently released single ‘Second Single Bed’ and Katie’s 2021 debut 5-track EP Games I Play, which received support from BBC Radio 1, BBC Music Introducing and BBC Scotland, with Vic Galloway naming her one of BBC Scotland’s 25 Artists to Watch in 2022.
Prior to the release of ‘complex (demo)’ in August, the song quickly became a viral TikTok phenomenon, inspiring cover versions from the likes of Camila Cabello, King Princess, Madison Beer, Tom Walker and more, with The New York Times stating that “in just a couple days, ‘complex’ became a trigger for what felt like a global group hug”. It was named Tune of the Week by Jack Saunders on his BBC Radio 1 Future Artists show, and the Greg Kurstin-produced follow-up named BBC Introducing Track of the Week.
Connect with Katie Gregson-MacLeod