Skydale’s Cats Have Recorded Every Vincent Song. Every Word Is “Meow.”
Thirty-one tracks, sixty-one minutes, one word. “Meow Meow” is out on 20 November, on both sides of the screen.
· 2 min read
For weeks the cats of Skydale had been unusually quiet. Now we know why. They were in the studio.
“Meow Meow” is thirty-one of Vincent’s songs, sixty-one minutes in all, performed entirely by cats. The sleeve says “All lyrics written by Vincent.” They have been translated, in full, into “meow.” The titles have been translated too, roughly: “Here Comes the Troll” is now “Heer cums teh catz,” “Drama Queen” is “Drama Kween,” “Take Me With You” is “Pls taek me wif u,” and “Knight From Another Galaxy” has become a lullaby called “Sir Kitteh teh Brave.”
Critics who have heard it early agree on two things. First, there is not one word in it except “meow.” Second, you can still tell exactly which song is which. “Drama Kween” is a disco record. “Heer cums teh catz” is still reggae. “Kitteh in spaec” sounds like a cat stranded near a moon, which several listeners say is a better version of the original story than the original.
The cat on the cover is grey, long-haired and visibly unimpressed, and is lying on a bed of daisies. Nobody in Skydale recognises her, which has led to speculation that she is from the Other Side.
On the Set, Vincent has been seen selling the album on USB sticks for ten dollars, “fifty per cent off,” with a note in small print admitting that it was never twenty. It is fully refundable: if you don’t like it, you bring the stick back and he gives you your ten dollars, no questions asked. Our business desk has called this “either the worst or the best sales strategy we have ever seen.”
Mrs. Odile at the library has filed it under “Current Affairs,” next to the rest of his work, and has ordered three copies. The cat at the bakery on Ferrule Street, who is believed to sing on “Teh rivr iz jus flowin,” declined to comment and then knocked a loaf off the counter.
“Meow Meow” is out on 20 November. Over here, the cats are already performing it nightly, starting at about four in the morning.
Listen first: Meow Meow, the whole album · The “I love Vincent” T-shirt
Correction, 31 October: An earlier version of this article said the bakery cat knocked a loaf off the counter. It was two loaves.
4 Comments
Our cat sings on track three. She has asked for royalties in fish. We have agreed to two loaves and a sardine.
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Thirty-one tracks and I can name every one of them by the second meow. This is what a body of work sounds like.
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“Drama Kween” made me cry before breakfast, which saved me a lot of time.
▲ Recommend · 260ReplyShare
Three copies ordered. Please do not play them in the reading room. One of you did. I know who.
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