Scenes, as a concept we collectively came to understand in the past century, are no more in 2020, and never has this been so obvious as it is when watching a video like that of “A Little Bit of Love” from Kate Tucker, currently out everywhere quality independent music is sold and streamed. In “A Little Bit of Love,” Tucker crosses cultures and aesthetical boundaries to produce something wholeheartedly melodic and transcendently hook-oriented, and from where I sit it’s one of the more buoyant songs of its kind to debut out of the underground in the last couple of months. 

Website: https://www.katetucker.net/

There’s a lot of irony to this release, starting with the construction of the track itself. The layers of instrumentation that comprise the backdrop feel more like an act of personal rebellion on Tucker’s part than they do a step into the retro pop stylings of a throwback single, and when coupled with the positive statement of solidarity within the lyrics here – a far cry from some of the darker quarantine pop I’ve had the chance to review lately – one is inclined to think more of vintage alternative music than the conventions of a contemporary sound (in a good way, mind you). 

The percussion in this single has a terrific flow that seems intentionally robotic, as if to lead us directly into the churn of the rhythm with the goal of getting the audience hypnotized right out of the box. It’s not quite as ambient as it would need to be to get the listener lost in the haze of the melody, but considering the other elements of catharsis that make the music so hard to resist once you’ve heard it for the first time, I’d still call Tucker’s latest release a work of cerebral songcraft – albeit a rather conservative one. 

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/singles-club-ep/1534788546?i=1534788550&ign-gact=3&ls=1

Kate Tucker drops an alternative fire-starter of a song in “A Little Bit of Love” that is definitely worth your time this fall, and I have a feeling that other critics around the North American underground are going to echo much of this sentiment in the weeks and months to come. In 2020, there’s nothing quite normal about the way the music industry – and those who have always appreciated its stable output – has been left to operate, but that isn’t preventing incredibly talented indie players like this one from sparking up a little underground fun you won’t soon forget. 

Zachary Rush