MishCatt, Synesthesia, and The Real Pavo
By Maria Kornacki
MishCatt is the alter ego of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Michelle González. Hailing from Costa Rica, she grew up singing and playing guitar and piano. Three years following her previous EP, her latest release, The Real Pavo, lets listeners into her trippy world. MishCatt doesn’t settle, but rather spins and hovers into sonic explorations.
On her last EP, Highlighter, she worked with Pontus Winnberg of genre-bending indie pop group, Miike Snow, to launch her rise as the most-streamed artist in Costa Rica. Her sophomore EP, The Real Pavo, rides the wave of the success she has gained since then (including the acclaim she received following her performance at the Avicii Tribute Concert for Mental Health Awareness at Friends Arena in Avicii’s hometown of Stockholm).
Part of her success, aside from this performance and her work with Winnberg, comes from her utilization of her synesthesia—a perceptual condition of mixed senses. MishCatt credits her condition with providing her with her unique take on music; this condition allows her to see colors and shapes in each track she writes. In “Blue Blood” for example, she said, “I see a lot of pastel colors...Imagine the world of Disney's ‘Alice in Wonderland.’” The single showcases the vibrant flavors González seasons throughout her sultry EP. Accompanied by a psychedelic video produced by Winnberg, the song combines yearning lyrics with electro-pop flares and a gradually energized mellow rhythm.
Next, “Midnight Sun” creates a climax in its position among the other songs on the EP; it starts off with mesmerizing, layered vocals that grip the listener with emotional anticipation while the lyrics drip with uncertainty.
With “Pavo,” Mish Catt proves her versatility by inserting dance-pop into her own relaxed groove. The high energy song contains a spiral of sounds, including infectious drum rolls, cheering, and a video game-like rhythm, reflecting her unpredictability.
“Your Eyes” joins its polar opposite, “Pavo,” as a personal favorite. Perhaps because the song is more stripped down than the rest, “Your Eyes” gives listeners a chance to hear MishCatt on a more transparent level with the same entrancing, airy vocals that guide us through all of her musical experiments.
With The Real Pavo, MishCatt continues to prove herself as a leading voice, not only in Costa Rica, but throughout the world. 2020 hasn’t seen the last of her yet.
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