When Katrina Burgoyne returned to her century-old family home at Gunnedah after a stint in Brisbane she found an extra resident: a ghost. Instead of haunting her, Ghost became the entrée song for her debut disc produced by guitarist fiancé Michael Muchow. Burgoyne, aided by a $12,000 APRA development grant, had spent a month in Nashville where she swung from the writing ropes. So it’s no surprise she wrote all 11 songs – with a little help from Ghost co-writer Bill Chambers who added mandolin and lap steel. Chambers also plays dobro on I Wasn’t Gonna Cry, a song that Burgoyne began at school and finished with Nashville singer/songwriter Matt Scullion.
At just 22, Katrina is a ten-year veteran of Tamworth pilgrimages but a novice at ruptured romance. She explores faded love from recent back pages in the title-track, penned with Lianna Rose, You Messed Up with Natalie Howard and in the finale Just A Boy.
But there’s more to this disc than just journeys along jagged edges of teen torment: at 17 Burgoyne wrote Too Late For Sorry about a family member toying with suicide because of depression – a song that t first surfaced on the debut disc by Chasing Bailey featuring co-writer Crystal Bailey.
In Perfect, Katrina also explores the art of overcoming self-doubt, something she herself struggled with in primary school, but overcome late in secondary school. Similar demons are slain in Bones Jessica, a tribute to the young friend who stood by Katrina during her first break-up at 16, tempered by Chambers’ dobro and Luke Moller on mandolin. Meanwhile, I Don’t Know is a paean to true love.
Musically, Burgoyne avoids the pitfalls of peer country-pop pressure and delivers a more organic capsule where the vocals – not guitars and drums – reign in a sea of acoustic bliss.
The only pop deviation is her collaboration with Phil Barton on Wrecking Ball – a song that shares its title with so many.
