EP Review: Kaeto – Intro

Kaeto’s music is the culmination of a period of sonic self-discovery for the Scottish-born, London-based artist. It was back in 2019 that Kaeto first entered the studio with outside producers and began building a sound that would be all her own, but the route she’s taken since is a mark of her maverick and inventive approach to music. Now it’s 2024, and her debut mixtape, ‘Intro’, is out for the world to hear. Written and produced by herself and Mathias Wang (aka Junkmail). Many of the songs were written while the pair were in Seville, which Kaeto describes as “such an inspiring place to work and one of my favourite places on earth.”

From the sublime keys on the opening of ‘U R Mine,’ Kaeto’s voice takes over, honey-sweet and captivating. The track picks up, and the electro creeps in as her vocals take flight, getting sweeter and higher, becoming almost hypnotic over the thump of a bass.

The seamless flow into ‘Kiss Me’ as the EP opens up and the full electro bloom of Kaeto’s inspired work comes out in full force. The track is pulsating and morphing, bringing the first track’s hypnotics over with a ghostly muffled sense that floats in and out of the track.

The highlight for me is the booming ‘Distance’. Deep and earthy Kaeto’s vocals are brooding on the repeating chorus but take on a seductive longing on the verses. Heavily percussive the addictive vocal phrasing, she comments, “I didn’t think I was very good at singing until I started singing my own songs,” which is valid on this track. Her vocals are commanding, dragging the listener in on a very personal level.

Bright and breezy ‘Alma’ hits like a soothing balm after the heavy ‘Distance’. Gone is the need for distance; now it’s all about love as she sings, “Your hidden names, I want to call, Into your arms, I want to fall” over a waterfall of guitars and sliding synths. Gorgeous warmth that is carried on to ‘Carry You’ another sweet ode to love that has a 90s club vibe slowly building in the background emerging on the chorus in a big way as it takes the track to a close.

The pop-tinged glistening synths on ‘Hero’ and ‘Yomm’ simply need the bass turned up to be floor fillers. ‘Intro’ is an EP that won’t leave you. One spin and the songs will live in your head. There’s something familiar and homely about Kateo’s work that creates instant likability in the listener—even one who tends not to visit this particular genre.

Kaeto becomes the front woman thats hidden in the previous tracks on ‘Pacifist’. Taking a starring role instead of sitting in the mix, her voice is strong and clear. On these tracks, her voice, weapon-like, veers from violent and caustic to raspy and old- school alluring. The Scottish, London-based artist admits. But what you hear is conviction in her own thoughts. “That conviction, I hope, is part of my music.”

Unlike other works within the electro pop genres, you can feel Kaeto’s soul in these tracks. They feel personal: “I’m so unashamed of myself,” Kaeto says now, “but music is where I go to explore those
things.” Call it a cliche, but it’s true: her music has become a therapy for her, “my subconscious vomited into the microphone.” The thing is, her music is in my subconscious now.

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Find out more via Kaeto’s Website