Listen: Kat Cunning's New Single "Wild Poppies"

As a rising voice in the NYC arts scene, singer, songwriter, and Broadway actress Kat Cunning reaches right to the heart with an exquisite blend of pop, soul, and Baroque arrangements mixed with sultry, mystical vocals.

For her ethereal, percussion-driven new single, released last week, Cunning found inspiration in one of her favorite movies. "Wild Poppies is inspired by my long standing love for The Wizard of Oz, and a celebration of the way the story resonates with the queer community," she said. "In the film, the Wicked Witch of the West casts a spell, and snow falls down onto Dorothy and her friends putting them to sleep in a field of wild poppies. I was drawn to Dorothy as she fell 'over the ledge' and under the witch's opiates. To me, wild poppies are a symbol of pleasure, acceptance, and escape. She submits to their power with her emerald destination gleaming in the background, as if to allow for one more taste of the beautiful world she has found. In light of this, I always found her eventual return home to be strange. Although she is invalidated for all she has seen, she exclaims that she'll never leave home again. I wrote Wild Poppies to explore a version of Dorothy that does not come home. It is a song for those who choose the technicolor dream."

"Wild Poppies" follows the release of Cunning's debut single "Baby" earlier this year and comes in anticipation of her debut EP, which is scheduled for release in 2018.