Kitty of the Valley Embrace Chaos and Catharsis on Debut EP 'Second Nature'

Sydney/Eora-based band Kitty of the Valley prove themselves one of Australia’s most exciting rising acts with the release of their debut EP Second Nature. Across six tracks, the band unravels the complexities of memory, identity, and transformation, delivering a project that feels both urgent and timeless.

At its heart, Second Nature is about rediscovery. It explores the return to childhood selves, the protective habits that calcify over time, and the contradictions we learn to wear as we grow. The EP pulls at those threads with striking honesty, asking where our old selves go when they fade and how we reconcile the versions of identity we have shed. Rather than searching for neat resolutions, Kitty of the Valley revels in contradiction, finding beauty in the mess of it all.

Musically, the EP is as shape-shifting as its themes. The opening track, “Rumpus,” captures humid nostalgia, painting adolescent chaos in burnt orange hues before spilling into improvisation. The closing track, “Changes,” answers with dawn-light clarity, a cyclical resolution that embraces transformation without forcing closure. Together, they form a dialogue about memory’s shifting landscapes.

Elsewhere, the band channels punk fury and shoegaze heaviness. “Ask for It” is submerged and frustrated, a track that wrestles with masks, mistranslation, and misunderstood identity. Its counterpart, “Boys,” spits that frustration back with irony and brash noise, mocking reductive ideas of femininity with a sardonic bite. “Take the Time to Be” offers an atmospheric reflection on the themes of belonging and alienation, while “Rip Myself Apart” refracts empathy and anger into a powerful reconstruction of self, amplifying stories of sacrifice and erasure into cathartic defiance.

The band’s maximalist ethos, placing softness beside noise and playfulness beside fury, makes the record dynamic and unpredictable. No track sounds alike, yet together they form a cohesive journey through contradiction. Onstage, Kitty of the Valley is known for their cathartic energy, and Second Nature bottles that immediacy, allowing moments of improvisation and rawness to bleed through the structure.

“Second Nature is about wearing all your selves at once,” the band explains. That ethos echoes throughout the record, permitting listeners to see themselves in all their contradictions: messy, nostalgic, angry, playful, hopeful. With this debut, Kitty of the Valley deliver a project that does not just tell stories but invites you to step inside them.

Second Nature explores identity and rediscovery. Which song on the EP feels most personal to you, and why?

That’s a difficult one, because both Changes and Rumpus feel like different sides of the same coin for me. Rumpus is really personal because it’s voicing the uncertainty. Asking the messy questions about identity and how you fit into the world when things feel chaotic.

Then changes feel like the response, but not in a neat or resolved way; it’s more of an ambiguous answer. Perhaps a form of radical acceptance. The kind you have to sit with rather than something that ties everything up. Together they capture that push and pull I’ve felt within myself - the searching, the questioning, the small steps towards an understanding. 

- Allegra

The EP moves between improvisation and structured songwriting. How do you decide when to let a track sprawl versus when to tighten its form?

We usually start with the feeling we want the song to carry, and that sometimes dictates the approach. Lyrically, sometimes the emotion is clear straight away and the song writes itself - it makes sense to keep it loose and let it sprawl itself out, because the improvisation captures the rawness. But other times, the feeling we’re chasing might be more elusive, so we break it down and are more methodical and deliberate about the structure and composition. It’s less about a strict set of rules and more about listening to what the song is asking of us. 

“Ask for It” and “Boys” feel like companion pieces. What conversations were you hoping to start with those songs?

I definitely see Ask for it and Boys as companion pieces stylistically, but lyrically, I would argue there’s more of a conversation between Boys and Rip Myself Apart. Rip Myself Apart is more inward; it’s ironic and understated, almost deceptively so. If you’re not listening closely, it might come across as apologetic, but really it’s seething with anger, just buried under restraint.

Boys flip that energy outward. It’s brash, loud, and deliberately heavy-handed in the way it dismantles the construction of “woman” in relation to “man.” The violent, grotesque imagery is kind of a “stuff you” to the idea that I should be compliant and complacent. Together, they’re having a conversation, one is the quiet rage turned inward, the other is that rage breaking out and refusing to be polite anymore. - Allegra

You describe your sound as living between chaos and euphoria. How does that philosophy translate to your live shows?

For us as a band, that balance between chaos and euphoria is all about energy exchange. Live, we want to connect in a way that gives the audience something to hold onto and take home with them while also keeping them on edge. We don’t want them to know what’s coming next.

Instead of politely asking for attention, we demand it, but not in an alienating way; it’s about drawing people in, giving them permission to let loose, and hopefully making them feel comfortable enough to be fully themselves and in the moment. The chaos in unpredictability and the collective release is where the euphoria comes about. 

What do you hope fans carry with them after listening to Second Nature from beginning to end?

We hope people come away from Second Nature feeling like they’ve been on a journey that’s both disorienting and grounding…It gives them permission to sit with uncertainty but also to find joy in rediscovery.

Reconciling the versions of yourself can be so difficult and isolating. But, if there’s one thing we’d want fans to carry with them, it’s that identity isn’t fixed or neat; it’s messy, fluid, and constantly evolving. And this is something you should celebrate, not fear - give yourself some grace.