Filed under: feature, voice on the verge | Tags: alan pedder, interview, katy carr, music
voice on the verge #11: katy carr
With two critically lauded albums under her belt and occasional forays into writing for Wears The Trousers, to call Katy Carr a fresh discovery would be a big fib. So we won’t. But what we will say is that the depth of thought and attention to exquisite detail that has gone into the making of her upcoming concept album, set in war-torn Britain in the 1930s and ’40s, sets her even further apart from the crowd. Tapping into the inherent duality of her English-Polish heritage and the stories of her maternal grandmother, Katy embodies both the liberator and the liberated. Coquette is a fearlessly dramatic suite of songs with a very British feel that could only have come from such a unique individual. Get a taster for it tomorrow night when she appears at the Royal Opera House with her 12-piece band The Aviators as part of the annual Voices Across The World event. Here’s an entrée…
Filed under: news, trouser press | Tags: britney spears, cat power, exene cervenka, hannah montana, hayden panettiere, heroes, jenny lewis, joan osborne, julie doiron, miley cyrus, music, natalie cole, neko case, news, rilo kiley, she and him, zooey deschanel
- Jenny Lewis cuts loose her Acid Tongue in September
- Julie Doiron to release collaborative album with Phil Elvrum
- is Miley Cyrus a Britney in waiting?
- ‘Heroes’ actress to release an album
- Joan Osborne gets wild on new album
- Natalie Cole reveals she has Hepatitis C
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After a brief return to the Rilo Kiley fold for last year’s Under The Blacklight, Jenny Lewis releases her second solo album, Acid Tongue, in September through major label Warner Bros. In place of The Watson Twins, Lewis has recruited the likes of Elvis Costello (who duets on ‘Carpetbaggers’), Zooey Deschanel and M Ward (aka She & Him), Johnathan Rice and various members of The Black Crowes, Beachwood Sparks, A Perfect Circle and Elvis Costello’s Imposters, as well as her own sister and her dad. If the quality of songs is anything like fan favourite ‘Jack Killed Mom’, Acid Tongue looks likely to be an unanticipated addition to this year’s best.
Acid Tongue
01 Black Sand
02 Pretty Bird
03 The Next Messiah
04 Bad Man’s World
05 Acid Tongue
06 See Fernando
07 Godspeed
08 Carpetbaggers
09 Trying My Best To Love You
10 Jack Killed Mom
11 Sing A Song for Them
Filed under: feature, voice on the verge | Tags: alan pedder, interview, jo gabriel, music
voice on the verge #10: jo gabriel
It’s not often Wears The Trousers only discovers an artist when they’re seven albums into their career, but better late to the party than stuck in a perpetual ditch, eh? And what a party it is! Jo Gabriel’s latest opus may stick closer to the 1970s singer-songwriter tradition in its overall tone than the gothic-tinted esoterica of previous releases, but her wonderfully mercurial voice remains the focal point, at times rivalling even the Protean raptures of early Kate Bush. Fools & Orphans is as elegantly restrained as a masked ball set in a meadow under milkwood, at dusk, most likely on the vernal equinox. Not a shrieking mandrake or unexpected clatter in earshot, just the soft footfalls of kaleidoscopic maidens gracefully dancing to sad, diaphanous melodies. Flowery, then, but gorgeously poetic, bursting with imagination and, just like its creator, a fascinating find. As soon as my eMusic subscription renews I’m downloading some more of Jo’s back catalogue – I’ve got some serious catching up to do! Meanwhile, the lady herself can fill in some of the blanks…
