Katy Kirby Shares Final Single Ahead of Cool Dry Place

Texas-based artist Katy Kirby has released “Portals,” the final single ahead of her debut album Cool Dry Place. The album arrives on Feb. 19 via Keeled Scales, and was featured as one of Paste’s most anticipated albums of 2021.

“Portals” follows previous singles “Juniper,” “Cool Dry Place” and “Traffic!” On the mellow, new track, Kirby opens with the evocative “I’m an alternate universe / in Target lingerie.” The light piano and minimal production keep Kirby’s heartfelt vocals front and center as she explores how different relationships can change people.

Kirby says of the single:

I’ve always been uneasy with the idea of alternate universes, or realities. Even choose-your-own-adventure books used to stress me out. I wondered if it might be equally interesting and more helpful to consider “alternate universes” something as simple as other people. Around the time I wrote this song, I had been considering what I’d retain from a relationship if or when it ended—what I might be left with in the long run, after it didn’t hurt anymore. I realized that it’d be an alternate version of myself. Hell, how many parts of whatever I call a self aren’t even accessible without a particular interaction? “Portals” is me thinking about the alternate, purely interior worlds that slide open with each person/universe we intersect with, and if what we think of as “closeness” to that person has anything to do with what gets opened.

Watch the lyric video for “Portals” below, and pre-order Cool Dry Place here.