KATMORE FINDS THE LIGHT IN HER DEBUT SINGLE 'DANCING IN THE DARK'

WORDS RACHEL EDWARDS - PHOTOGRAPHY HASHIM MUSA JR

Last Saturday marked the summer solstice, and if there's one thing people cannot get enough of, it's a reason to manifest. "The universe is not on a budget!" my friend shouts at me over a glass of wine, eyeing my two measly resolutions scribbled on the back of a receipt. It's one thing to make the vision board, quite another to follow through. But for singer-songwriter KATMORE, transformation wasn’t just a whim; it was an act of survival. Now, the Danish artist is back and ready to speak about her journey through her debut solo single Dancing in the Dark.

Tired of the unrealistic expectations of the industry, she abandoned her project Off Bloom (signed to Polydor) to...well... bloom. This was a time of deep reflection as she navigated motherhood and slowed down for long enough that she was able to reimagine what creative life could look like on her own terms. What followed was total transformation and the re-emergence of her true self as KATMORE, a play on her birth name of Mette Kathrine Mortensen.

With lyrics like "There are diamonds in the dark, I feel them glow" Dancing in the Dark is about trusting what you can't see, having blind faith in yourself and listening to your intuition. Even before its release, the demo sparked a wave of attention thanks to its feature on Netflix’s Baby Fever, racking up 5,000+ Shazams and causing a stir on Reddit. Produced by MCDC and Vera, the track channels the emotional depth of Mitski and Lorde.

To date, KATMORE has amassed tens of millions of streams, toured across Europe, the US, and Scandinavia, and earned co-signs from the likes of Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and Tove Lo. Nowadays, however, Katmore isn't trying to prove anything to anyone, and is more focused on holding space as an artist and a mother in her own right. She's leading the fight for a future where artists don't have to burn out in order to be heard. Maybe there is something to be said for manifestation after all. KATMORE is proof that reinvention is real, you just have to be brave enough to embrace the parts of yourself you've kept in the dark.