Cat & Calmell

Cat & Calmell's sturdy indie pop songcraft is matched by a strong Gen Z aesthetic, embracing turn-of-millennium fashions and music video lighting that wouldn't be out of place in an episode of Euphoria. Catherine Stratton and Calmell Teagle met as students in an afterschool music program in Sydney, Australia, becoming fast friends and crafting honest, lo-fi songs together. The duo first gained notice during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 -- a time appropriately punctuated by feelings of anxiety and arrested development, reflected in catchy debut singles "dumbshit" (about youthful abandon) and "dramatic" (a thinly veiled broadside about Earth's climate crisis). Both tracks were featured on the 2021 EP Life of Mine, which they promoted by opening for Dua Lipa's Australian tour. Cat & Calmell leveled up on their next EP, 2023's How Do You Feel?, adopting a more guitar-forward, alt-rock posture to suit their pop hooks on tracks like "Feel Alive" and "Overstimulated." The duo shifted directions once again on third EP Live Laugh Cool Star (2025), featuring breakneck dance tempos and hyperpop aesthetics; the duo served as an opening act when American singer-actress Renee Rapp toured down under. ~ Mike Duquette