“Western witch rock” artist Kitty Coen is unleashed on her bold, dynamic debut album ‘HELLCAT,’ an unfiltered and unapologetic assertion of female empowerment, self-determination, reclamation, and inner reckoning.

for fans of Kacey Musgraves, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Stevie Nicks

“i’m afraid all boys are the same” – Kitty Coen

This album shows the progression of a woman harnessing her anger and frustrations with the world and utilizing them to create magic, love, and light.

**Kitty Coen is singlehandedly redefining “cat scratch fever” – and this time, there is no cure.**

The singer/songwriter’s debut album is a radiant, resounding assertion of female empowerment and unapologetic self-expression; a beautifully bold statement of identity and intent, reckoning and reclamation. It’s Coen’s own cathartic and aching coming-of-age, arriving four years into a career that’s seen the self-proclaimed “disco cowgirl” sharing her unfiltered and unabridged self every step of the way.

But this record is bigger than Kitty Coen alone; it’s for every woman who was ever told she was “too feminine” or “too butch,” “too pretty” or “not pretty enough”; for every artist who was told they were “too pop” or “not pop enough”; for every person who was ever criticized for just being true to themselves. Coen is unleashed for herself and others on the impassioned and unrelenting HELLCAT, a “Western witch rock” fever dream that hits hard and leaves a lasting mark.

HELLCAT - Kitty Coen — HELLCAT – Kitty Coen

Ready set, don’t go
Say you’ll stay
I know you won’t
Chase you?
Got my own show so hit the road jack
For better or for worse
As long as i get there first
Sun is setting, Better go
Lets burn one for the road

And i will follow you to the center of the sun
They told me run baby run
You won’t make it that far
This dream will tear you apart…
So why even start?

– “center of the sun,” Kitty Coen

Independently released April 30, 2024, HELLCAT is a soundtrack to letting your inner light shine. Intimate, intense, and all-consuming Kitty Coen’s sonically and emotionally charged debut album arrives three years after her debut EP Disco Cowgirl first introduced audiences to her dusty, gritty alternative pop-rock sound. Inspired by spaghetti Westerns (Quentin Tarantino is a personal hero) and guided by her own inner compass, Coen is that special kind of singular artist who lives uncompromisingly by her own code, and no one else’s. Born in Missouri and raised in Texas, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter erupts with fire and fury throughout HELLCAT‘s eleven in-your-face tracks, bending genres ’til they break while embracing the qualities that make her such a force of reckoning.

“I read a lot, and in the past year I have had a hyper fixation on the history of witches and witch hunts,” Coen tells Atwood Magazine. “At one time the word ‘witch’ was not negative, but was applied to women who worked in holistic medicine to heal people of illness. Through time, the church detested these women because it argued with divine greatness and ultimately went against the church. They began hunting and killing any woman that fit this ‘description,’ consisting of any woman who appeared educated, attractive, tempting, or dominant in any way. We’ve been fighting this stigma since.”

The album’s name is pulled directly from this idea; a “hellcat” is:

a bad-tempered, spiteful, woman; a witch
a woman with magic powers derived from evil sources

“Through my journey with music, I have been called all the things that define what a ‘hellcat’ is, but I don’t believe that this should be negative any longer,” Coen affirms. “I want to reclaim what it means to be a ‘witch’ or a ‘bitch’ if you will, and I believe that this album shows the progression of a woman harnessing her anger and frustrations with the world and utilizing them to create magic, love, and light.”

Coen candidly calls her album “Western witch rock,” a description that hits at both her sound as well as her songwriting.

From end to end, HELLCAT is as irresistible as it is exhilarating: The intimate, self-empowered “center of the sun” sees Coen come out of the gates swinging – with driving beats, sweaty guitars, and a determination to “keep on looking up” setting the tone for what’s to come throughout the ensuing 34-minute journey.

Further highlights include the white-hot, feverish “bad bad liar,” the ‘dark pop fairy core’ anthem “i’m afraid all boys are the same,” the gently glistening reverie “el paso,” and the invigorating, soaring indie pop jam “rotten tomatoes” – a spirited, infectious anthem that sees Coen finally getting her long-awaited sweet release. “Don’t wait for love or it’ll pass by you,” she tells herself and everyone who needs to hear it. “Don’t wait to do the right thing its always the right time.”

Meanwhile, Coen says her favorite song is the two-minute long “watermoon 222 (interlude),” a track she made with her whole heart:

I sacrifice myself and drink your holy blood
I’ll take the ending and crumple it right up
I’ll force a future with a shitty hand
As long as i don’t have to see the end
They say grin and bear it but i’ve done all that before
i’m tired of smoking so much weed I feel like dying on the floor
and it’s no excuse, it’s all my fault but it the best that i can give
I’ve been running since I can remember

I found freedom in the back of a jack up cadillac
You didn’t wanna hear it so I kept singing that
I’ll talk my smack, I’ll smoke my hash
I’ll get my fix, I’ll spin it
Just know in the morning, I always regret it…
Just know in the mourning…
Just know in the morning, I always regret it…

Coen hopes her album can be a ray of light, love, and empowerment in listeners’ lives.

“I believe we are seeing a paradigm shift in women’s place in the world and how society views strong, opinionated, and self-sufficient women,” she smiles. Without a doubt, this is Coen’s moment, and she’s letting her inner light shine.

There’s a new cat scratch fever in town, and it’s here to set the record straight for women everywhere. Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Kitty Coen’s HELLCAT with Atwood Magazine as she goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her debut album!

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:: stream/purchase HELLCAT here ::

:: connect with Kitty Coen here ::

Stream: ‘HELLCAT’ – Kitty Coen

:: Inside ✩HELLCAT✩ ::

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CENTER OF THE SUN

This is one of my oldest songs to date and the first song I ever performed live. This track is about following your dreams and intuition no matter what others tell you, even if it means flying a little too close to the sun. Inspired by the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

BAD BAD LIAR

Bad bad liar is about a relationship I had with an older man at the start of my career. He would promise things like money and connections to make me feel like he was going to help me further my career. Come to find out it was all a lie, and he was nothing more than an energy vampire and sees women as less than once they reach the age of 25. Inspired by alt-J’s song “Fitzpleasure.”

UNFOLLOW ME

This track was written one day when I was feeling particularly angry about how likes and follows are directly equated to success in today’s industry and how if you don’t follow trends or remain digestible to the masses, you are not accepted. This was inspired by constant being told through the years my music was not pop enough, not rock enough or not country enough to be considered in any of those categories.

BLACK NAILS

“Black Nails” was originally written by my longtime friend Quentin Arispe from the past lives. They showed me it back in 2021 and it was originally going to be on the past lives album but ended up not fitting so they let me put it on my record. I have always wanted a song with the past lives so what better way than to have them on an original PL track? It is a bad bitch anthem and the most dance driven track on the record. Inspired by being a cuntry queen!

I’M AFRAID ALL BOYS ARE THE SAME

“IAABATS” is a dark pop fairy core anthem about being tired of f*** boys. I originally wrote this as a country song on acoustic guitar but over time it developed into this badass bass song that the bi-sexual goth gals went crazy over. The visuals for it are inspired by vintage romance novels and the fungi outfit by Willow Pill from Ru Paul’s Drag Race.

WATER MOON 222 (INTERLUDE)

I somewhat study astrology and as an Aries woman with a Cancer moon, I am often torn between standing my ground/being headstrong and being very sensitive, emotional, and never forgetting or getting over things that most people move on from in a couple weeks. This interlude shows the transition I had when writing this album. I saw myself go from this angsty bad girl who had split personalities to a young woman leaning into her softness and divine feminine energy. Ultimately realizing you do not have to be one or the other, but you can be everything, all at once.

EL PASO

A western influenced folk/alt-country song that recalls being in love with someone that battled addiction. This song took so long for me to write because every word written is true to an experience I went through. A true “don’t fall in love with cowboys” anthem. Inspired by Kacey Musgraves, Noah Cyrus, and all the emo country queens.
Lyrics: cadillac / el paso

CADILLAC

This song is a story of how a young lost girl had a dance with the devil one fateful night and somehow made it out alive. He doubted her experience, but little did he know she had already been to hell in the back of a jacked-up Cadillac. Inspired by movies from the director Quentin Tarantino (Quentin, if you see this, please place one of my songs to your films that’s literally what I imagine them in when I am recording)!

EVERYTHING’S A MESS

“Everything’s a Mess” is a sad ‘90s grunge song that ends up being a power ballad by the end of it. Quite literally having the sound waves match what it feels like to pull yourself out of depression. As someone who has delt with mental illness and suicide closely, this song is the most important to me on the album because it was my medicine at a very dark time in my life. Inspired by Nirvana and one of my biggest heroes, Kurt Cobain.

ROTTEN TOMATOES

This is in a way the resolution of this project. Through all of the anger, mourning, love, and loss, we find a way to preserve and carry on to see another day. An indie rock/pop song that serves as a reminder to myself and anyone listening that it is never the “right time” you must love when you have the chance and to be the love you want to see in the world. Inspired by my favorite band, The Cure.

YELLOW LIGHT

Although I initially planned to end the album with rotten tomatoes, I felt that yellow light belonged on HELLCAT because through all of these emotions and themes this song is one I kept and wrote in secret. it is a relocation of my first queer relationship and the ultimate discovery of my sexuality. The glittery and soft energy of this song lends itself to my next record that I will be recording in fall of 2024.

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