Katie Gregson-MacLeod Talks Documenting the Life Cycle of a Relationship on ‘Big Red’ EP and ‘Coming Back Down’ After ‘Complex’ Went Viral
variety.comEllise Shafer It’s been a year since Katie Gregson-MacLeod went viral on TikTok with “Complex,” a devastating piano ballad about unrequited love that poised the 22-year-old for singer-songwriter stardom — and she’s still processing it all. “When your life changes that drastically, that quickly, I don’t think there’s ever any way of processing it,” MacLeod tells Variety over coffee and croissants at a North London café. “I think a lot of this year has just been trying to recenter on the music, trying to recenter on life.
It was amazing, so exciting and thrilling and busy — but then you need to come back down. And it can be really scary coming back down.” Originally hailing from the Scottish Highlands, MacLeod moved to London in January after signing with Columbia Records late last year and releasing the stripped-back EP “Songs Written for Piano.” Her latest effort, the five-track “Big Red” — which released Friday — sees MacLeod branching out more with genre and production while doubling down on her confessional, diaristic lyricism.
The EP documents the life cycle of a four-month relationship, from first butterflies to the breakup phone call, and MacLeod doesn’t hold back.
In fact, she got the title “Big Red” from the Holloway pub where the couple had their first date, and all the EP’s visuals were also filmed inside its storied walls. “It’s so anecdotal, so specific,” MacLeod says of the project. “And when it comes to promoting this EP, I’m literally just wincing all the time because I know that he watches my stuff.
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