“The earth has a cold, and we get to take a very long sick day,” Kat Cunning elegantly explained as they reflect on our current situation. And, what’s better for a cold than some r & r, homemade chicken noodle, and a playlist that’s meant to be on repeat all day? Although Kat’s tour with Allie X was postponed and they did indeed catch covid-19 (with a full recovery thank goodness), they are not letting the unfortunate uncertainty around them infect their everyday energy. The everyday agenda for the singer/songwriter/actor/dancer/model includes, “FaceTimes with family, learning to cook, exploring new kinds of orgasms and organizing the garbage my survivalist heart has hoarded over the years,” they admit. And, as Kat maintains more upbeat plans, they refuse to surrender to stressful TV or songs that soundtrack a sob. Rather, they curated a playlist to highlight all their highs that includes some not-so subtle satire to keep the smiles contagious.
Kat’s playlist hits every corner of the musical genre arena, featuring classics from Janet Jackson, some country from queen Kacey Musgraves and even a wildcard sprinkle of Yo Gotti. The through line was intended to be the quarantine theme, as Kat admitted that titles like, “No Air” and “Love Lockdown” are admittedly their form of a dad-joke. That said, it is undeniable that another throughline is present as soon as we click play. As we sit in our self isolation, Kat’s playlist opens up some self reflection as they have blessed us with a mixtape mashup of our collective nostalgia. To put it perfectly, Kat left us with this: “Music can wrap around us. It can slap us in the face like a dominatrix, or coddle is like a mother. It can send a quiver from our lips to our navel like a first love. It can be a green screen backdrop to the narratives we write for ourselves. Mostly though, music is a human’s honest effort to express the passing of time. We can cling, dance or drown inside of time with music. I hope this playlist is good company for you and that it breaks up the time on this very long sick day.”
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photos / courtesy of artist
story / Paulette Ely