Saskatoon, Saskatchewan’s Katie Tupper is a young up-and-coming artist that blends a warm blanket of indie folk, RnB, and neo-soul with a sound that immediately sounds familiar next to H.E.R. or even Toronto’s, Charlotte Day Wilson.
On her debut EP, Towards The End, Tupper’s songs reference “fields of butter” and prairie skies as well as individuality and young love. You could say she has a sound too big for her humble city of Saskatoon, a place in the heart of the Canadian grasslands that is too easily forgotten.
The production Towards The End is smooth and doesn’t rely on vocal tricks, only Tupper’s pure voice, and harmonies on a track like “Live Inside,” a downtempo soul throwback. The instrumentation also has a psychedelic edge with a minor keyboard, delayed guitar, and driving bass. Tupper’s lyrics are peaceful and memorable. I guarantee you will have the “now that I,” harmony in your head hours after listening to “Live Inside.”
“Danny” is a gentle RnB head-bobbing tune that will get the fingers snapping, but the soft violin and light nylon guitar in “How Can I Get Your Love,” as well as the orchestral strings in “Cost of Loving You,” are the reasons to stay. Yes, Katie Tupper, if she surrounds herself with the right musicians/producers, could easily be a household name in a few years.