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Jul 06, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Irida Mete

LA-based indie singer/songwriter Katelyn Tarver released her full-length debut album, Subject to Change, back in 2021. That record saw her playing with indie rock and folk influences, crafting a confessional set of tracks painted in a shimmering pop mold. Most recently, Tarver signed with Nettwerk and returned this year with a pair of new singles, “What Makes a Life Good?” and “Starting to Scare Me.” Today, she’s back with another new track, “Cinematic,” premiering early with Under the Radar.

Movies and music both share a special power in making the mundane beautiful, imbuing small moments with weight and meaning. It’s a connection Tarver knows well, having got her start in the world of TV before moving to music. “Cinematic” builds on that connection, tributing the bittersweet beauty of seeing the world through a rosy nostalgic lens. Reflective acoustic guitar and subdued percussion accompany Tarver’s vocals while she laces the track with warm, honeyed melodies, crafting an air of gentle yearning.

Similarly, Tarver’s lyrics turn shared drinks and an old closed-down diner into wistful tableaus of past joy, transforming them into vignettes in a cinematic drama. She confesses, “I get so sentimental over small things / Say I’m obsessed with nostalgia but I think / What’s the point of all this living if you can’t go back and grab it / Make it cinematic / Prove you really had it.”

Tarver says of the track, “‘Cinematic’ is a song about looking at life with a bittersweet lens. I wrote it with my friends Riley Biederer and Scott Effman. I had been listening to a lot of Allison Ponthier at the time, and I wanted to capture a similar feeling that you get while listening to her song ‘Hardcore.’ And then when I went into the studio to work on it with my producer Chad Copelin, I was randomly on a big Filter ‘Take a Picture’ kick, so we leaned in and infused it with that 90’s/nostalgic guitar feel. I love how you can hear both those influences when you listen to the song. I tend to write a lot about the complexity of life and grey areas, but sometimes that can make me focus too much on all the heaviness. This song is a celebration of being a sensitive, sentimental person. Someone that feels things deeply and wants to channel that into creating a life of beauty and appreciating the small things.”

Check out the song and accompanying visualizer early below and pre-save the track here, out everywhere tomorrow, July 7th via Nettwerk.