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May 25, 2022 By Joey Arnone

Katy J Pearson has shared a video for her new song “Alligator.” The video features a cameo from Paul McGann, who played the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 Doctor Who film. He appears in an homage to the café scene from the 1987 film Withnail & I, which he starred in. It also features an appearance from Tom Gould of the band Pottery. “Alligator” is the latest release from Pearson’s forthcoming album, Sound of the Morning, which will be out on July 8 via Heavenly. View the Edie Lawrence-directed video below.

In a press release, Pearson states: “I wrote this track with Dan Carey at his Streatham studio. The day we did so I was having the worst morning ever; I was really stressed as I had a £500 electric bill that I had to pay. I burst into tears at the studio and from that feeling, the song just surfaced from all my anxieties. The lyrics are quite literal and were born from the idea of dissociation when experiencing anxiety.

“The chorus note ‘it felt just like a dream, and it keeps on happening’ refers to when you are really stressed, things just don’t seem real. There is this juxtaposition between the lyrics and the soaring chorus which is quite euphoric—it’s quite tongue in cheek and I like that about it. Dan played the bass on this track and Yuri from the band Honeyglaze played drums which really gives the track some gusto!”

Video director Lawrence adds: “‘Alligator’ came about once we spoke about the track’s theme of paranoia, anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Panic attacks tend to mess with your perspective amongst other things, which is where the idea of placing Katy in a shrinking café of hysterical bean shoveling, age switching, glass eating customers came to me. Everything in the café was made to look as if Katy was sat in one of my miniature sets—so all food was made from latex, clay and gelatine and the counter, fridge, doors and frames were all made from cardboard. Katy was a dream to work with and completely trusted my vision throughout. I’m really excited about working with her again on future projects.”

Upon announcement of the new album in March, Pearson shared the song “Talk Over Town,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. She later shared the album track “Game of Cards,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week.

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