Inverness songwriter Katie Gregson-Macleod launches new single - with local venue The Gellions Loft makings star appearance
Inverness landmarks such as Loch Ness, Leakey's Bookshop and the Ness Islands feature in a newly released single and video of a popular local songwriter.
Katie Gregson-Macleod (23), who rose to fame in 2022 after a TikTok video of her song complex went viral, is now back with a new original song - and a new label - whose video shows the young artist around Inverness.
The release of the track, called Teenage Love, was much anticipated online after a clip from a live show performance shared the bridge of the then-unpublished song - with a guest star appearance of the popular Inverness pub, The Gellions, in the lyrics.
The song, which stories the grief and resentments harboured while reflecting on an early and formative relationship marks her first release since signing to Matt Maltese’s label Last Recordings On Earth.
“Teenage Love honours the small but mighty part of me where anger resides,” Katie explained.
“I wrote the majority of the song over two years ago, making sense of some new resentment I was feeling on behalf of a younger me. As a teenage girl, there is a feeling that ‘angry’ is the ugliest thing you can be. Only in hindsight did I realise the power anger would have given me back then; a power that I thought I would land on in the pursuit of appearing ‘mature’ or ‘patient’. The song doesn’t regret, but it questions a lot. It sieves through some residue from past relationships; unanswered questions, resentments. It also laughs at it all the way we must to make sense of it”.
Starting out as a poem written on a trip to LA, the track was initially left unfinished during a time of big change for Katie.
After parting ways with her former major label home in Spring 2024, the summer that followed saw her focussing on writing and playing festivals, as well as preparing to leave London and move to Glasgow.
It was during this time she met with friend and previous co-writer (White Lies) Matt Maltese, who was keen to bring Gregson-MacLeod onboard to his newly formed label - Last Recordings On Earth.
After playing him a demo of the track, and a particularly warm reception on TikTok (a clip of Katie performing the song received comments of support from fellow musicians Noah Kahan and Gigi Perez, and a message from Phoebe Bridgers), Matt and Katie were in agreement that now was its time.
Speaking on her signing, Matt added: "Since writing with Katie years ago, I’ve always been a huge admirer of her ability to combine sadness, humour, anger and poise all at once in her work.
“She's undeniably a songwriter’s songwriter and I can’t wait to be a part of all the brilliant music to come.".
After what has been a “transformative” year for the Inverness artist, Teenage love marks a new chapter for her life as a musician.
“Like most songs, the lyrics were written within a very particular feeling, as short or as lingering as the feeling is,” she said.
“Sometimes I feel the task in writing is to excavate the microcosmic world of that feeling and blow up the picture to get a good look at every detail.
“This song is a compilation of these moments, that even though fleeting, I feel I need honour for a past version of me.”.
Inspired by classic singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Elliott Smith, Katie’s journey began busking in Inverness to playing local pub gigs in the city and self-releasing a low-fi EP ‘Games I Play’ aged 18.
