There is no voice as distinctive in alt-dance-rock than Kate Pierson’s. Just ask Iggy Pop, Jack White, and R.E.M., all of whom enlisted her vocal contributions for such memorable tracks as “Candy,” “Venus,” and “Shiny Happy People,” respectively. Best-known as a founding member of the singular, trailblazing B-52s, Pierson is beloved for her soaring vocals and ear-catching keyboards, at the forefront of the group for nearly 50 years. And now, nine years after her solo debut, 2015’s Guitars and Microphones, Pierson has crafted a diverse collection of her most personal songs yet on the infectious, emotive Radios and Rainbows (SVR Music). “It’s an eclectic group of songs,” says Pierson, “anthems, dance things, a disco song… Overall, the album has an upbeat vibe because I wanted to put out something positive in these dark times. I wanted to make it fun!”
Songwriting is nothing new to Pierson. As far back as her teens, she “had a folk group in high school called the Sun Donuts,” she recalls. “We wrote our own folk protest songs. I was very influenced by the folk movement in the ‘60s – that’s how I became politicized – hearing songs by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Phil Ochs.” Fast forward to the madcap B-52s, formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976, which turned New Wave music on its head, eventually scoring multiplatinum success and gaining millions of fans.
Yet between B52s recording sessions, movie appearances, and lengthy tours, Pierson longed to cut her own songs she’d been writing. “When the Bs were touring all the time and doing so much work, it felt like such a family dynamic,” Pierson explains. “To me, it would’ve been a betrayal if I’d done something on my own outside the B-52s. It was a prison created by my own mind.” Finally, during the band’s brief hiatus in the late ‘90s, she wrote and recorded enough songs for a solo album. “But our manager put the kibosh on it,” she says, “because he worried that our label Warner Bros. would object.”
Some of the songs found their way onto her 2015 release, for which she first collaborated with songwriters and producers like her friend, avant-pop star Sia. The collaborative process energized Pierson. “Collaboration is an adventure,” she enthuses. “You’re seeing how creativity can connect you with someone – even if you’ve never met them before walking into that studio. If people would create together more, it could bring different types together. That spark that connects you to another creative force, that’s the spark of the universe, the spark of life. It was really great to find out that I could connect to almost anyone!”
To fulfill her musical vision across a dozen tracks on Radios and Rainbows, Pierson collaborated with a variety of songwriters and producers to bring her lyrics and sonic ideas to life. She and Sia, along with producer/bassist Samuel Dixon, cooked up the spooky, rockin’ “Every Day Is Halloween,” originally released as a single with a haunting video on Friday the 13th of October 2023. The catchy, singalong melody features a beautiful blend of the women’s voices, angular guitar, and a propulsive beat.
Another evocative video – think Lana Turner gone punk – captures the essence of the album’s second single, “Evil Love,” with a Song of the Summer vibe that makes it “a feel-good song about revenge,” says Pierson. “A film-noir style short story. It’s atmospheric – and it’s danceable!” Her partner-in-crime on the earworm of a track is singer-songwriter Bleu, who’s produced artists ranging from Big Freedia to Selena Gomez.
Just as danceable is the irresistible “Take Me Back to the Party,” a cowrite with Jimmy Harry, known for his work on Madonna’s “Masterpiece” and Pink’s “Sober,” among other hit tracks. “I wanted this song to connect with B-52s fans,” says Pierson, who likens its sound to “Planet Claire” and “Dance This Mess Around.” “It’s a disco song that conjures a younger Kate back in the day when I just couldn’t wait to get into clubs,” she says. “It takes me back to my Party Girl past! I just love a good dance song.” That same spirit radiates in the ‘80s-synth-style dance number, “Wings,” a cowrite with producer JD Walker (Cher, Kylie Minogue).
Longtime collaborator Chris Braide woodshedded with Pierson on four songs, including “the most personal song I’ve ever written,” she confides. “Chris did an instrumental track for ‘Beauty of It All,’ and the lyrics just poured out of me,” she says of the soaring ballad. “That song surprised me, how it came out. It is about my wife, Monica, and our relationship. When I met her, I was at a low point and in a bad relationship. Then getting together with Monica was so grounding and empowering – as the lyrics say, ‘walking on treetops, you’ll never fall.’” With Pierson’s layered, luminous vocals, the song conveys a rapturous joyfulness. “I love harmonizing with myself,” says Pierson, “and I love a shimmering, dog-whistle high harmony.” Similarly, the uplifting ballad, “Higher Place,” is “another of my most personal songs,” Pierson relates, “about when I ended that verbally and emotionally abusive relationship and got together with Monica. I knew there was a better place, but I was really shattered then. Monica helped me recover from that and feel strong again. There’s a line in the song – ‘the battle that incites a riot in us’– you have to find the power, the joy, to get yourself out of that internal anger.”
Another person dear to Pierson, the late artistic genius Jeremy Ayres, is the focus of a compelling cowrite with Chris Braid: the gorgeous, lush “Give Your Heart to Science.” “Jeremy was a spark of life,” she says. “I met him early on when I moved to Athens. He was inventive and curious and had been a Warhol superstar. He was very pivotal on the Bs and R.E.M. He always lived like everything was art.”
The album’s anthemic title track personifies Pierson’s social activism. “Chris and I jammed on that one, and those lyrics with a political bent came out. It’s an antiwar song, a song of peace.” The lyrics reference those of heroes like John Lennon and Yoko Ono and folk-era Dylan. She cowrote the call to disarmament, “Dream On,” with bassist Tracy Wormworth, guitarist/keyboardist Ken Maiuri, and drummer Sterling Campbell, who’ve accompanied the Bs on numerous tours. “I said to the band, ‘Let’s write a song together,’ and we came up with ‘Dream On.’ I was inspired by Patti Smith’s ‘People Have the Power,’ which I’ve always loved.”
Radio and Rainbows is rounded out by tracks populated by intriguing characters: the dub-tinged “Pillow Queen,” “a bouncy flirty summer song about someone who’s beautiful but doesn’t really respond,” says Pierson. “It’s a sex song – sexy and frothy.” “Always Till Now,” propelled by chiming guitars and a rocking rhythm section, details her decade-long coupling with a boho beau she fell for at a laundromat. The funky “Living in Monet” is the album’s sole cover. Penned by Pierson’s pal songwriter Cal Ellis, it spotlights 1970s Athens scenesters, and features bass and harmony vocals by Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie).
A portrait of the many sides of Kate Pierson, Radios and Rainbows has compelled the singer songwriter “to do more live shows,” she says. With stripped-down accompaniment, Pierson plans to perform at intimate venues and “let the emotions and the feelings of the songs come through, showcasing my vocals.”
“My creativity has been unlocked!” Pierson adds. “I still have a lot more songs in me, and I’m already looking forward to recording my next album!”
