Why Does She Sing So Loud?: Cat Burns, Cats, and the Value of Boundaries

With millions of streams and an increasingly public career, being seen is an unavoidable part of Cat Burns’ life.

But in conversation with New Wave, it is not her success that we explore most often, but rather the importance of privacy and the comfort of existing without an audience.

Credit: Sheba UK

Burns is currently partnering with Sheba for its “Ignored to Adored” campaign, but our conversation, ostensibly about the cats she shares with her partner, quickly moves elsewhere. Instead, we find ourselves discussing boundaries, neurodivergence and maintaining a sense of self whilst in the public eye.

“[I like that] there is no observation,” Burns says, describing why she loves coming home after a performance. Alone, she can finally remove what she jokingly calls the “Cat Burns mask”, a version of herself required to navigate public life.

As a neurodivergent person, Burns speaks candidly about the exhaustion of constantly being perceived, describing solitude as the place where she can exist without judgement or expectation.

It is also why she sees parallels between herself and cats.

Comparing feline behaviour and neurodivergence, Burns notes that cats are often described as aloof or difficult to read. Neurodivergent people are frequently misunderstood in similar ways.

Credit: Sheba UK

“We both convey, to the naked eye, quite aloof. It takes a lot of time to earn our affection.”

For Burns, trust develops slowly, whether with animals or people. Her partner’s cats, who feature prominently in the campaign, were never going to become instant companions. Instead, she gave them space, allowing the relationship to unfold on their terms.

That same respect for boundaries extends to her relationship with listeners.

“What I love about music is that people can listen to it and nine times out of ten it’s about who that song represents for that person,” she explains.

While her music is always deeply personal, she chooses to remain intentional about what she reveals.

“We don’t have to tell everybody everything.”

This may be an integral part of what makes her music resonate. Rather than sharing a complete map of her inner life, she leaves listeners with enough room that they can find themselves within the songs.

At the end of our conversation, I ask Burns what a song written from her cats’ perspective might sound like.

She laughs.

“The opening line would probably be: ‘Why does she sing so loud?’”

For all the visibility that comes with a success career doing what she loves, Burns seems most interested in protecting the parts of her life that remain unseen. It’s beautiful.