89. Single Review of Sending For by Katrina Tia Charles
Originally Published February 7th, 2025
About the Artist
I was having a conversation with my wife two nights ago. During the conversation, we discussed this renaissance period music has been having in my life. Why now is different from before. From 16 years of age to my late 20’s, music was a priority to me. I didn’t just want to perform, I wanted to make it in the music business.
Looking back, I can see this visible timeline where I can watch myself descend from a place of certainty to an unfortunate lack of confidence. I was a member of a few different bands that showed great promise but garnered only moderate succcess. Then, after I was no longer in the band scene, I devoted time to recording two EP’s but no time for promotion, marketing, or even playing a show to showcase the music. Of course by then, I was telling myself that it was too late and I just wanted to have a public record of my music to say that I did it. Of course, secretly, I hoped for more. I just didn’t want to be regarded as “that loser in his thirties who is still trying.”
Having released two records that weren’t even played enough to be referred to as flops, a major shift in my personal life, my relationship with music had been damaged. It wasn’t until I found it again, several years later, that I discovered the mistakes I had been making. I was playing for everybody else but myself.
Before anything else, music should be about the musician. Music is personal; it is intimate even. Listeners can tell when somebody is being disingenuous. Not that my songwriting was necessarily disingenuous, but I was. The reasons I played music were. That bleeds through. I hear when we are really getting the musician’s authentic self, as does every listener.
Listening to Katrina Tia Charles feels like listening to a person who would be just as happy to never release a song. She would still play anyway. I get the impression that the people who know her most in this world are the people who listen to her music. It is as if sincerity is an instrument she plays on her records. It’s layered in every song she plays.
From Barnsley, England, Charles shares with us her interpretations of life through love, loss, and lessons learned along the way as she “looks at the world through a kaleidoscope.” She began sharing
her music less than a year ago with the release of her debut single, War. I can’t think of a more profound start to a musician’s career as a recording artist than opening a debut song with the line, “Everyone’s an artist until the rent is due.”
One month later, she would follow War with the single Light it Up. With this single, Charles would begin to establish herself with a sound that is fitting for a softer alternative rock. The rapid vibrato of her vocal performance is similar to Florence + The Machine but she has a softer, lighter, and higher tone.
She would later showcase her diversity with with songs like Cigarette, Strawberry Moon, and Play With Me. These songs would respectively experiment with sounds more relative to blues, roots, and harder genres of rock. Most recently, Charles released the ballad Regent, a sweet song that pulls influence from older classic rock songs like Unchained Melody before moving into a more driving, progressive performance. In this song, her vocal performance has a resemblance to that of the late Dolores O'Riordan, who was most famously the lead singer of the Irish rock band, The Cranberries.
Katrina Tia Charles released 7 singles in 2024 and has already released one in 2025. In the short span of her recording career, she has gained a following of hundreds of listeners who frequent her profile, earning tens of thousands of streams. This is great momentum for a new artist, heading into a new year. I look forward to watching her grow and evolve.
About the Song
Sending For is an alternative rock song by Katrina Tia Charles. It features an electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and Charles on vocals. At Four minutes and Fifteen seconds, it released on November 29th, 2024. Sending For was produced by Katrina Tia Charles.
About the Music
Sending for opens with an arpreggiated electric guitar part, which introduces the drums, bass, and vocals for the first verse. As the song transitions into the first chorus, the guitar switches from picking to strumming.
The drummer keeps the tempo and volume locked in. There’s not a dramatic lift in volume transitioning from verse to chorus. They do incorporate some simple fills, opens the hat and jumps over to the ride, but stays disciplined to the atmosphere of the song.
The bassist gives a very silky, buttery performance. Melodically, they stay home throughout the song, however they introduce a dynamic change in their performance from verse to chorus by jumping from half notes to 1/8th, quarter, and dotted quarter notes.
The guitar player does offer a steady solo after each of the chorus performances. They are different performances each time, adding a little more to each solo than the last one had.
Vocally, Charles maintains her very soft, flowy tone with her quick vibrato. Her performance is done in a range that is right between alto and soprano. She has such a confident tone, it wouldn’t surprise me if she were either an alto or a soprano, honestly.
The production value of the song is wonderful. I really love the choice to layer the vocal performance in the chorus. I love how clean the drums sound. The pan on every single part of the kit has been done incredibly well. The percussion feels so open and crisp. Same for the bass. The producer got such a clean, fresh sound out of the bass. There was the perfect amount of reverb on the guitars and they also layered the guitar wonderfully I love how the two layered guitar parts were also panned opposite of one another.
About the Lyrics
As I alluded earlier in the song, Katrina Tia Charles gives a very honest impression with her lyrics. There is something about them that say she is unapologetic, she can be unfiltered if she feels the need to be, and she isn’t afraid to start a conversation.
“From the moment that I open my eyes I know. Drinking coffee while we catch a sunrise and I know. You look into my eyes. It’s like you’re studying the skies and I, I.”
This is a very sweet love song. Here the subject is referring to waking beside their lover, beginning the day with one another, and both are in this place where they are wanting to learn everything about each other.
“I know what I’ve been writing for. I know why I would win the war. When I was lost before it’s you who I was sending for. I’ll win your, I’ll win your war. I’ll go wherever you forever choose to go.”
To further add to the alluded devotion of the verse, the chorus talks about a resolve the subject has found in their partner, confirming that this is their person. That they know everything theyve experienced in love has brought them to this and, now that they have it, they’re committed to it.
In the context of what this song is, I think the lyrics are very sweet, very endearing, and they make their point. This isn’t one of Charles’ more lyrically complex songs like War or Cigarette, they are eloquent, and perfect for the subject.
Final Thoughts
Katrina Tia Charles has only been a recording artist for one year. In that span of time, she has proven herself to be an accomplished singer and songwriter. She has established a sound that’s rooted in alternative rock but not afraid to push the boundaries of that genre into categories such as blues, roots, folk, and other rock genres as well.
She is vocally precise, offering a pretty tone to the grungier instrumental accompaniment that is generally performed, and they lyrical quality of her music is passionate, compassionate, and honest. In the time I’ve listened to her songs, I’ve felt a growing sense of trust around what this artist is saying musically. She’s unafraid to spin an analogy and she will also be very direct what she means.
I hope she continues to grow. I would like to see what she could do with releasing a body of work, like an EP or album, which we will be able to find out in March when she releases a full length album entitled “Regent.” Katrina Tia Charles has shown all the potential to grow into a spectacular artist. But what’s truly great about her is, I think she could care less about what I think or what anybody else thinks. I hear a person who is performing for themselves. I hear a performer who isn’t concerned with being trendy, being flashy, or being extreme. She is simply trying to have a conversation with her listener. It is within that sincerity that she receives my undivided attention.
It doesn’t appear she has a YouTube presence herself, but I did discover a live performance that was posted, as well as this one, which were submitted by this profile. She does, however have a TikTok profile. Interestingly enough, from her TikTok profile, it looks like there is a physical copy of a full LP by her, based off of this video. Then, looking at this video, we can confirm the release of said album to be March 21st, 2025!
Once again, Sending For is out on Spotify as of November 29th. You can hear her latest single, Regent, which released January 31st, ahead of her debut album of the same name.
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