Alpha Cat’s “Venus Smile ….retrograde” is the album that should have come out earlier this year, but because of singer and songwriter Elizabeth McCullough’s close friend and musical partner’s untimely passing, “Venus Smile” was rushed and really not ready. This record adds in all kinds of backing vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion that was

Alpha Cat’s “Venus Smile ….retrograde” is the album that should have come out earlier this year, but because of singer and songwriter Elizabeth McCullough’s close friend and musical partner’s untimely passing, “Venus Smile” was rushed and really not ready. This record adds in all kinds of backing vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion that was originally meant to be on the first release.

The overwhelming theme of “Venus Smile ….retrograde” is about how it is a broken heart that shows you what you’re made of. It is also a reflection of McCullough’s observation that the world has become too divided, too extreme, and also an overwhelming exhaustion that seeks, particularly in the song “Orbit (Rx)” a hopeful resolution and reconnection of these separations, and ultimately, hopefully, redemption.

The first single “All In Your Head” is an attempt to look at how to deal with all the muck our minds can carry, as well as acknowledgement of the power of the mind to either help us or sabotage us; depending on whether one is looking toward the future or the past rather than living in the present.

This record’s musicians include: Elizabeth McCullough, singer, songwriter and acoustic guitar, geniuses guitarist Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, John Mayer) and bassist Reggie McBride (From Stevie Wonder and Parliament Funkadelic, to Elton John,) the brilliant drummer Jason Harrison Smith, Manuel Quintana on percussion, Jane Scarpantoni on cello (REM, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc.) and Murphy Bug on backing vocals and additional guitar and bass.

Alpha Cat has been a critic’s darling from the beginning with the first record topping the add charts on CMJ and charting nationally. 2019’s “Thatched Roof Glass House” received major global airplay and charting, including #1 on the NACC add chart, direct licenses from Spotify, Tidal, and Rhapsody, among others, and scores of amazing reviews. 2021’s remaster/rerelease of 2001’s Pearl Harbor as “pearl harbor 2020” with two additional tracks, was also extremely well reviewed, including on Spin.com.