Cut of the Day: "Inevitable," Natasha Kmeto

TV On the Radio's Dave Sitek will release the Portland singer-producer's upcoming album on his new label.

By MITCH LILLIE

For Natasha Kmeto, everything seems inevitable. It's inevitable that she'd record a new single giving her fiery soprano full space to stretch. It's inevitable that her skills would eventually raise her national profile, leading her to sign with  Federal Prism, a new, hotly-tipped imprint run by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, who's called Kmeto "hands down my favorite producer out there." And it's inevitable that, through her unique rise as a modern-day Martha Wash, she'd keep her cool through it all. 


"Inevitable," the appropriately named title track off her upcoming second album, opens with Kmeto crooning, “When you comin’ back baby?/I will love you down baby/When you’re comin’ back.” The mood lies between AlunaGeorge and later Whitney Houston, the harsh world made beautiful by jade-tinted glasses. Slowly, dark synths swirl around Kmeto’s layered harmonies, and “Inevitable” doesn’t drop so much as soar to staccato snares. The melodies wrap around each other, and Kmeto suddenly disappears over the horizon. 

If “Inevitable” is a hint as to what to expect from the Inevitable LP, due out later this year, Kmeto may quickly find herself in the bright future she’s promised.

WWeek 2015

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