Ultimately Fine: Katya Mansell Review

Central Belt Indie

Reviewing independent artists in the Central Belt Region of Scotland.

Ultimately Fine: Katya Mansell Review

Katya Mansell is an Indie Pop Singer-Songwriter and producer from Peebles who is now based in Glasgow’s South Side. In August she released ‘Ultimately Fine’, a stunning track which she co-wrote with American musician Pete Hatch who also produced it as well as ‘Promised You Love’ that was released two months earlier. Ultimately Fine embraces friendship and reminds us of the bittersweet feelings that come from parting ways with a loved one: leaving us reflecting upon the happy candid moments shared together but dreading their parting. I discuss the meaning and creation of the song with Katya.

Ultimately Fine was born as a virtual collaboration between Katya Mansell and American producer/ songwriter Peter Hatch. One of the (few) positive aspects of the days of lockdown was that it lead to a rise in online creations by forcing us to embrace the creative capabilities of a virtual space. The fact that Ultimately Fine was entirely written and produced by two musicians - who have never met in real life - via Zoom meetings really sets the bar high for music that can be created entirely in a virtual environment.

Katya and I have been doing some co-writing together recently and she is a pleasure to work with. Katya is the type of songwriter and musician who seems like she can musically narrate any idea you have and will make you feel excited about bringing it to life. At times she almost made me feel like she was reading my mind due to her deep level of both musical and personal understanding. As well as this, she is a vibrant and warm person, and it feels easy to communicate your thoughts and feelings with her.

About Katya Mansell:

Katya recently graduated from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) for an MA in Songwriting where she was awarded the Paolo Nutini Scholarship award for creative excellence throughout the programme. Katya is currently working on some exciting projects, so you better keep an eye on her social (scroll to bottom).
I am yet to see Katya perform live though I have witnessed her sheer level of talent as a song writer and musician so I guarantee her upcoming performances in Glasgow will both be crackers: 20^th October at Nice N Sleazy’s supporting Miki Berenyi Trio & 20^th November at St. Luke’s supporting Nessi Gnomes. I have again provided links to these at the bottom of this review so grab them while you can!

Review:

Upon first listening to ‘Ultimately Fine’, my impression was that it was an adorable and wholesome love song, that made me in some ways envy the love story that was being told. However, I then realised while talking to Katya that this was not the case (which you can read up on yourself if you scroll down to the interview section) and that it is instead a friendship love song, and in my opinion the most adorable love songs often are, because friends are the best.

I have been frequently listening to ‘Ultimately Fine’ while riding the train before a day of work, because it is a calming track that encourages me to delve into fantasy to escape the dread of the stress that lies in the day ahead. The track will remind you of the beauty that lies in human connection and of how your friends – like the track itself – can add a comfort to your life that you should never take for granted.

Peter Hatch and Katya Mansell really complement each other stylistically: Hatch’s use of natural sounds and ear candy in the mix such as the retro tone of the intro keys blends well with Katya’s voice that is like a breath of fresh air, with a subject matter that will make you appreciative and mindful of the important relationships in your life - those people who are ‘impossible to live without’. The catchy yet spacious melodies with insightful and narrative lyrics are the perfect balance between vulnerable yet relatable and will send you on a contemplative journey. The sense of tranquillity in Katya’s song writing is matched immensely by Hatch’s use of dreamy and grounding textures, such as the outro soundscape of friends laughing and conversing which is another reminder to embrace the simple things in life. I particularly like the way that Katya’s voice unexpectedly pokes through in the chorus as she sings the word fine, which is again matched by Hatch as he fades in the instrumentals during the chorus.

Ultimately Fine will make you smile with Katya’s sugary- sweet and clever song writing, and it will remind you to tell your friends you love them! I really hope to hear more from Mansell and Hatch as a creative duo as they bring out the best in each other as creatives, which has been evident in both Ultimately Fine and Promised You Love.

Katya Mansell Q) and A)

1) What was the inspiration behind Ultimately Fine?

I wrote it since one of my friends was leaving, she was moving back to Australia and our friend group went off to celebrate her one last weekend before she went away. I think it must have been a year later but the imagery is based on the moment when you realise ‘Oh my god this is the last time I’m going to see my friend’. This really sucks because you’re having this gorgeous time together and realising that it’s going to end because they’re not going to be there soon. You know how everyone has a word they say all the time? One of my friends would always say ‘Ultimately Fine’. She would say ‘Oh it’s fine … ultimately fine.’

2) Where is your friend now?

(Laughing). She left, and I think the plan was she was going to be in Australia for two years and then come back, but by the time I’ve released it she’s come home. I think it speaks to the wider concept that everyone has those people that you have this really beautiful shared time together and then they go.

3) What was it like working with Peter Hatch?

Earlier this year we put out ‘Promised You Love’. After working on that together, he produced it and I wrote it, and he was up for co-writing together. His artist project is called ‘Brother Boost’, and it’s really great. I think our styles came together on that one and that was the first collaboration where I was really feeling that this was the story I wanted to write about. He was listening and bringing his own feelings. I felt really heard when we wrote that together, I was speaking to him and he was coming up with really beautiful lines – especially online. He’s based in America. Online I would say one thing and it would kind of be chipping away and he would say something and I’d be like ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah that’s it’.

Pete got all of the vibes on it. With ‘Promised You Love’ I had created a demo and he kind of took it off that, but he put his sonic stamp on it which I really loved.

3) How did the virtual collaboration work?

The virtual collaboration kind of came from the Covid times, when I joined something called the Songwriting Academy, and they did short courses for a week and then they had the yearlong programme. I did the yearlong programme after doing the first two short ones and that’s where I met Pete and Charlie – Charlie Grant – was one of the mentors. He ended up co-writing with me and Pete on the last one I put out this year. I learned how to collaborate in an online space so for me it’s funny taking that to an in-person space. It takes longer to write a song together online, because normally I do around two hours sessions, just because you don’t want to be on zoom all day. It doesn’t feel very creative or productive if you’re on for too long but maybe you’d have a chat about what you want to write about, get some musical ideas down – even if just a chord sequence. Record that, park it and then maybe come back the same time the next week or something, maybe a couple weeks depending on schedules and time differences. It could span maybe 3 or 4 song writing sessions until it goes into more of the production. I can’t remember how long it took for ‘Ultimately Fine’ but it took a good few Song writing sessions. I came up with the chord sequence on guitar and then Pete had a piano thing that he did and he sent me the piano version before I did the guitar. I think he changed it up a bit. I had to go, and then he kept working on it and sent me another version, and it was beautiful. And we just kind of kept going.