A taster of upcoming Arts Council-funded debut EP 'Fly' out later this year and currently being recorded at Airtight Studios, Manchester, this song was written for and about my Dad. The vocals and guitar were recorded one night while travelling for work, far away from home while thinking about family, the past, and how for some people just getting up in the morning is an act of daily heroism. While a new version is being developed for the EP, this one features the original vocal and guitar from the day the song was written, and represents the first tentative steps of an anxious singer towards letting a vocal stand alone without hiding behind too much production and harmony. The track is available on Soundcloud and at https://testcardgirl.bandcamp.com/ or a little lo-fi version live from Britain's most depressing work hotel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0HsrW5n950

This track will be released on all platforms on 25th June 2021

Voices from the past beat down the waving blades of grass and end our summer time,
Smashing plates and glass and questions trapped inside unasked invade your other time.

A loss of home and warmth, loss of centre and form turn over tables
So every step you took was ever harder than it looked but still you're able
To give and not to count the cost, to overcome the human loss, don't let the win die down in your sails
To give and not to count the cost, to overcome the human loss, don't let the wind die down in your sails
And remember - we'll always be there.

Words said by those who didn't think have sometimes bought you to the brink and swirled around just out of sight
Left alone and lost in thought a ghost hung up upon the door waits in your childhood night
A loss of home and warmth, loss of centre and form turn over tables
So every step you took was ever harder than it looked but still you're able
To give and not to count the cost, to overcome the human loss, don't let the wind die down in your sails
To give and not to count the cost, to overcome the human loss, don't let the win die down in your sails
And remember - we'll always be there.

Out across the dark blue sea, a beam of light revolves
It always comes back round again, watch for it and resolve
Out across the dark blue sea, a beam of light revolves
It always comes back round again, watch for it and resolve

To give and not to count the cost, to overcome the human loss, don't let the wind die down in your sails
And remember - we'll always be there.

We'll Always Be There (Acoustic)

Life-affirming Mancunian electro-pop"
-  Tom Robinson BBC 6Music
​
"That has Manchester's musical heritage running right through it like the writing in rock"
-  Guy Garvey (Elbow)  BBC 6Music

"Lush"
-  John Kennedy  Radio X

Test Card Girl is a solo project by new Manchester indie singer-songwriter Catherine Burgis. Having grown increasingly frustrated with an admin-based existence, and wishing to conquer a life-long fear of singing in public, Catherine embarked on a country-wide tour as a musical comedian in 2018 complete with novelty miniature keyboard. Winning awards (North West Comedian of the Year, Frog and Bucket 2018, Funny Women Semi-Finalist 2019, Beat the Gong Winner, The Arc, Stockton 2019) and growing in confidence as a singer, she performed her first (and last) gig as solo synth-folk artist Test Card Girl in February 2020, with all subsequent gigs immediately being cancelled due to the dawning of a global pandemic.
 
With live performance not possible, Catherine turned her attention to recording and released her first single 'Holds Me Down' in 2020. The single was picked up by BBC 6Music, Radio X, Absolute Radio and XS Manchester and she was named Steve Lamacq's BBC 6 Music 'One to Watch' in January 2021. Catherine was awarded an Arts Council grant to make a further 3 singles in 2021 and is currently working on her debut EP 'Fly' with producer Seadna McPhail at Airtight Studios, Manchester.  The EP is due for release in Spring 2022 and will feature guest performances from drummer Andy Hargreaves (I Am Kloot) and bass player Nathan Sudders (Miles Kane, Guy Garvey, Nadine Shah). Test Card Girl's music ranges from lo-fi bedroom pop to simple indiefolk songs, influenced in equal parts by the standard-issue musical taste of a 90's Manchester teenager; an obsession with the MIDI sounds of childhood keyboards past and finger-picking folk songs of old. In January 2022 Catherine was announced as one of 10 Manchester International Festival MIF Sounds artists​ and will be performing live throughout 2022 (dates TBC).