For The Eye, emerging artists visit a simple and intimate studio environment to give raw, one-take performances that offer an unfiltered look at the artist and their songs. Now, on the latest installment in the series, Pennsylvania singer-songwriter Catie Turner busts out moving renditions of three of her finest tracks.
Fans of singing competition shows are likely already aware of Turner: She was a contestant on American Idol‘s sixteenth season, which aired in 2018 and marked the show’s comeback on ABC. Trivia fact: Turner was actually the first contestant to appear on the show that season. She didn’t just appear on the show, but actually did quite well, as she made it far and was one of the season’s final seven contestants. Turner ended up becoming one of the season’s favorites, so much so that she performed her original song “21st Century Machine,” with which she auditioned, on the season finale.
Since then, Turner has been working on getting her career off the ground and she’s doing a terrific job at it so far. She landed at Atlantic Records and currently has a couple of six-song EPs under her belt: 2019’s The Sad Vegan and this year’s Heartbroken And Milking It. She also collaborated with Uproxx on the Songs From The Bathroom Floor series a few months ago. Now, she finds herself on The Eye, for which she performed two songs from her newer EP, “Therapy” and “Love On The Moon,” and a cut from her first one, “Home.”
For “Therapy,” Turner is accompanied by just a guitarist as she sings about being on the receiving end of emotional dependence: “I can’t be your therapy / You depend on me, but it’s not healthy / I’m tryna make you see help ain’t the enemy / And all that I can give is love and empathy / So you need therapy.” This rendition strips some of the pop-leaning production elements of the original song, but it is still an effective tune in this pared-down form.
When it came to both “Love On The Moon” and “Home,” Turner decided to take total control over the performance, playing acoustic guitar and singing. That worked well for these tunes, as both originals have straightforward arrangements and simplifying those even further gives Turner’s vocals and lyrics even more of a chance to take center stage.
Watch Turner perform “Therapy,” “Love On The Moon,” and “Home” for The Eye above.
Catie Turner is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.