LOS ANGELES, Calif. – “Clearly ready for her shot in the spotlight (American Songwriter),” songstress Katie Toupin releases her debut solo album Magnetic Moves today across all music platforms via Symphonic Distribution. Magnetic Moves, Toupin’s first full-length project since leaving acclaimed band Houndmouth in 2016, takes its title from the spellbinding opening track “where a stinging guitar lick punctuates verses carried along by floating keyboards (Paste Magazine).” The L.A. based singer-songwriter also stars in the “Magnetic Moves” music video released last month.
As Toupin explains, her self-produced album’s imaginative sonic palette has much to do with the unprecedented freedom she felt her entire time in the studio. “Making this record with people I didn’t already know was an incredibly liberating factor. When people have preconceived notions of who you are and what you do, it can really hold you back. But with this album I was able step way outside my comfort zone—I felt confident to do things I would’ve normally been afraid of. The whole album came from a place of wanting to be completely direct, in a way I never felt I could before. I think it’s important to let yourself show your heart like that,” expressed Toupin.
In the spirit of self-reliance, Toupin took the reins in producing Magnetic Moves, letting her intuition guide her to everything from the harmony-heavy gospel of “Lost Sometimes” to the Beatles-esque psych-pop of “In Your Dreams” (with both tracks featuring the show stopping vocals of Austin-based soul singers Lauren Marie and Angela Miller). Mixed by GRAMMY® Award-Winner Steve Christensen (Steve Earle), Magnetic Moves came to life in two marathon sessions at The Finishing School in Austin. With multi-instrumentalist Scott Davis and percussionist Josh Blue accompanying Toupin, the album unfolds in a dreamy pastiche of soul and pop and brightly jangly ’70s rock, a sound that’s lavishly detailed but fantastically fluid. And in her unfussy yet radiant vocal performance, Toupin channels both self-possession and raw vulnerability, fully inhabiting each state of being.
Throughout Magnetic Moves, Toupin speaks to the power in embracing messy feelings like regret and obsession and, in the case of the wildly anthemic “Run to You,” falling for someone who’s all wrong for your heart. On “Real Love,” the sigh of Davis’s slide guitar amps up the torchy intensity of Toupin’s vocals, its lyrics capturing the hurt that sometimes follows loving without reserve. And on “The Hills Are Calling,” Magnetic Moves slips into delicate psychedelia as Toupin contemplates a rarely examined aspect of romantic infidelity. As Magnetic Moves endlessly warps genres and shifts tones, Toupin taps into the soulful musicality she first discovered as a teenager in Southern Indiana. At age 18, Toupin felt suddenly compelled to make music—a prospect wholly encouraged by her father, an accomplished blues guitarist. Along with taking opera-singing lessons, Toupin learned to play guitar from her father and immersed herself in a self-directed study of songcraft, naming Bob Dylan, Patsy Cline, Gillian Welch, and The Rolling Stones among her early inspirations.
MAGNETIC MOVES TRACK LISTING:
1. Magnetic Moves
2. Someone To You
3. Run To You
4. Real Love
5. In Your Dreams
6. As Good As It Gets
7. The Hills Are Calling
8. I Need You
9. Lost Sometimes
10. Back In Time
KATIE TOUPIN 2019 TOUR DATES:
June 16 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, Ore.
June 18 – Swedish American Hall – San Francisco, Calif.
June 20 – Soda Bar – San Diego, Calif.
June 22 – Bootleg Theater – Los Angeles, Calif.
June 28 – The Kessler Theater – Dallas, Texas
June 29 – The Basement East – Nashville, Tenn.
Follow Katie Toupin on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and visit KatieToupinMusic.com for more info.
