KATIE GREGSON-MACLEOD RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE ‘JAMES’

Luminary singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-MacLeod returns with new track ‘James’, the second single taken from her upcoming EP Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early, set for release July 4th via Matt Maltese’s label Last Recordings On Earth. Beautifully heartfelt and emotive, the single is an arresting ode to the growth, safety and security we can find within relationships, once we shed the assumptions and scepticism that past experiences can bring. Lending his vocals to the single is fellow Scot, Joesef, who also co-wrote the song.

Speaking on the new track, Katie adds: “‘James’ is a song about trust. Feeling so at home with someone so early, but retaining the residual suspicion of former relationships. Joesef and I wrote this with Josh Scarbrow, who eventually would produce the project. The song was written very quickly, and for a while I thought I would change the central line ‘But how will I know if it’s the real thing?’. However, after living with it for a year before recording, I realised that that question was the song itself. It was the first time I’d thought about what I wanted in a relationship, instead of worrying only if I was what they wanted. The catharsis for me emotionally wasn’t reached until recording, where the amazing Laura Wilkie improvised an outro on the fiddle that brings the feeling home.”

The track follows the recent announcement of Katie joining the line up for Olivia Rodrigo’s slot at this summer’s BST Hyde Park on Friday 27th June.  She’ll also be performing the EP live on the road for the first time during her upcoming UK and EU tour, full itinerary below. Tickets are available HERE.

Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early is set for release July 4th via Matt Maltese’s label Last Recordings On Earth. The five-track collection of love songs describe the quiet moments of contentment Katie found herself in while falling in love during a period of personal chaos and upheaval. Amongst a whirlwind period of her life – signing to a major label, leaving her studies and barista job behind and moving to London – it was this relationship that slowed everything down and kept her grounded through the disorder. After parting ways with her previous label, it felt like a perfect opportunity to return home – escaping back to the Scottish Highlands to make a project that ‘felt like a return to the root of my music’ Katie adds. Stripping everything back, the EP was recorded at Edwyn Collins’ studio in Helmsdale and produced alongside Katie’s friend Josh Scarbrow. ‘It’s a project that celebrates smallness, as that was how I could best understand love and music at the time.’

‘James’ follows forerunning singles ‘Mosh Pit’ and ‘Teenage Love’ – the latter of which was Katie’s first release after signing to Matt Maltese’s label Last Recordings On Earth. The standalone single storied the grief and resentments harboured while reflecting on an early and formative relationship, with Katie describing ‘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’.’

Katie Gregson-MacLeod’s unique blend of deeply personal lyricism and folk-influenced sound have earned her a dedicated global audience. Growing up in the Scottish Highlands, the 23 year old was immersed in music from an early age, singing alongside her pianist mother and losing herself in musicals with her parents – a love of which is rooted in her fascination with storytelling. Her infatuation with language and creative writing was instilled as a child, observing her father writing novels everyday before and after work, and that same thread runs through the folk music she came to discover in her late teens, alongside influences of Motown and Soul that came from inheriting her late grandfather’s record collection. 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. Fast forward to 2022 and a viral breakout on TikTok with single “complex”, which led to international recognition, a major label deal, an Ivor Novello nomination and a whirlwind of festival performances and headline tours. After parting ways with her major label home in early 2024, Katie embraced a new chapter of creative independence, signing with Matt Maltese’s Last Recordings on Earth and crafting a raw, intimate EP that reflects the balance between love and artistic uncertainty. Firmly rooted in her lifelong passion for storytelling, Katie’s work continues to explore themes of nostalgia, power dynamics, and self-reflection, all underscored by her signature poeticism and vulnerability.

‘Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early’ – Tracklist

1. Love me too well, I’ll retire early 
2. James (with Joesef)
3. Chess
4. I just think of it all the time
5. Mosh Pit

 

‘Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early’ – Tour

26th September – Dublin, Ireland – The Green Room @ The Academy
28th September – Belfast, UK – Black Box
30th September – Aberdeen, UK – Tunnels
1st October – Dundee, UK – Church
2nd October – Stirling, UK – Tolbooth
4th October – Manchester, UK – Soup 
5th October – Leeds, UK – Headrow House
6th October – Birmingham, UK – The Sunflower Lounge
8th October – Bristol, UK – Louisiana
9th October – Brighton, UK – Alphabet
12th October – Edinburgh, UK – La Belle Angele
13th October – Glasgow, UK – Òran Mór
19th October – London, UK – Omeara
20th October – London, UK – Omeara
27th October – Berlin, Germany – Privatclub
28th October – Cologne, Germany – Jaki
30th October – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Bitterzoet