Press Pieces
Cage Riot
Explosive, magnetic, and vocally masterful—Catherine Landeta is a revelation on “Desires”
Discovering Catherine Landeta for the first time was both exciting and surprising; we couldn’t believe we hadn’t heard of her sooner. Her ability to command a track vocally, write with such lyrical prowess, and execute with precision makes her a standout. She’s not just a great singer or a solid songwriter, she’s a full-package artist with vision, drive, and something to say. And when challenges inevitably arise, we’re confident she’ll bulldoze through them with focus and fire.
Catherine Landeta is the kind of artist you root for, and we absolutely are.
Illustrate Magazine
1. Your roots can often shape your journey. Can you share a story or moment from your early life that had a significant impact on your path into music?
Catherine Landeta: At my local bowling alley, there was one day a week that was Cosmic Bowling. For those who don’t know, that basically meant they turned the lights down low, threw on some lasers, and played music videos on the projector screens. I have a distinct memory of Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” coming on and feeling entranced as I rolled the bowling ball down the aisle. I was obsessed. I’ve heard the song before, but it profoundly hit me at this precise moment. Even my mom was like “what song is this?!”. I was too embarrassed, by the way, to say the word “baby” so I omitted that when I told her. Feel-good pop music like this continued to be an obsession and still is to this day.
Each Measure
Catherine Landeta’s latest EP, “Desires,” is a sparkly 5-track package of nostalgic beats, minimalist production, and pop at its finest. As a multi-talented artist from New York City, this latest release comes after five years of hard work and a range of experiences as an artist. It is her first solo music project and proudly dives into her individuality as a medium to revisit her background in musical theatre, test and stretch her experience in production, and showcase her overall growth and individuality as an artist.
From the track list alone, listeners can get an idea of what kind of sassy is in store with this EP. The opener “Are You Playing?” doesn’t disappoint with its finger-snapping frustration that anyone who’s been left on read can relate to. Landeta’s voice is the first thing we hear, easing in and building melodic, ethereal layers of sound. Coming from a strong performance background, she holds back from swinging big; instead, her verses ring with a minor edge. She weaves a story with her smooth voice but gives those oh-so-relatable exclamations on repeat, “You must be tripping, boy! Be tripping, boy!” She delivers those satisfying choruses, building layers of vocals to a mounting climax of drama. Here her experience hits big with an elastic voice soaring above and beyond for a grand effect! This was one of my favorite songs on the EP and sets the stage beautifully, promising to revive some of our deep-seated thirst for the 90s and Y2K pop heaven we miss so dearly.
Mesmerized
Pandemic lockdown shuffled and reset a lot of people’s careers and life paths. Something about crisis and change makes people braver, it seems. For New York City-based songstress Catherine Landeta, that meant embarking on a personal journey into music making, penning original material that’s now been collected in a stunning EP, ‘Desires’. Originally an actress, the American creative then got fed up with the field and looked for a more authentic, accessible form of expression.
Lock Mag
Ever since she first emerged, New York’s Catherine Landeta has always looked to pursue a more emotive presence than many of her peers. Taking her cues from the classic soul and R&B sound, and rebranding it for a modern ear, her output to date has been a truly explorative one as she looks to carve out a distinctive niche she can call her own. And after plenty of praise for her run of releases in years gone by, she now returns with her eagerly-awaited debut EP ‘Desires’, a collection that heightens her wondrous aesthetic to date.
Marked as a release five years in the making, ‘Desires’ is clearly a labour of love for the artist at the helm. Taking influence from the shimmering appeal of late 80s and early 90s R&B-pop and injecting her soaring vocals across all five tracks, her newest offering finds her in a wonderfully expressive spirit at every turn. Whether she is luring us in with a tender texture or looking to get us up and out of our seats, Landeta always manages to deliver something new and interesting to add to her emotive repertoire of late.
