"The
Quickening"- the most accomplished
album of Kathryn's career to date, is due
for release in the uk on 22nd february 2010.
The album will be kathryn's first release
on One Little Indian Records.
The new record was recorded at Bryn Derwen
studio in North Wales ‘in four days,
all live, three takes maximum’ Kathryn
explained to Mojo magazine earlier this year,
and contains some of her sharpest, most mesmerising
song writing to date, including a couple of
co-writes with longstanding collaborator,
guitarist David Scott. ‘It has a mood’
she suggests, ‘a slightly sinister palette
with lyrics that are raw. I see myself in
these songs a lot, whereas before I invented
characters.’ It is produced by Kathryn
and Kate St. John and mixed by Kathryn and
David Wrench.
The recording set-up of ‘The Quickening’
lends the record an urgency and immediacy
borne directly out of the musicians playing
off each other – none of whom had heard
the songs prior to the recording. Says Kathryn
‘When I listen to the songs now, I can
see that room in Wales, remember what each
take felt like, with my heart in my mouth,
wanting to get to the end without a fuck up!’
Of the songs Kathryn says ‘I always
wonder if people get the same pictures in
their head as me from the lyrics and music.
I see the songs as shapes when I sing them,
as journeys through pictures or film’.
Album opener ‘50 White Lines’ is
a great example, Kathryn re-imagining the
long journeys on tour as a Bonnie & Clyde
style escapade; in the background a male voice
‘counts’ the road markings or lights
as they flash by in the protagonist’s
flight from city to city, town to town.
‘It’s a little world of rules I
couldn’t write down but I work to them
and around them, and I know my way around
that world,’ says Kathryn of her song
writing itself, ‘I’m forever scared
that the way of making the songs will leave
me. But in the end, that is part of what drives
me.’
For sometime Mercury nominee Kathryn, ‘The
Quickening’ marks the beginning of a
new relationship with One Little Indian records
in a deal that will also see the release of
archive material, a children’s record
made with Anna Critchley, and the debut by
Kathryn’s other sideline The Ish Inventors
– a work in progress that is being made
with Nev Clay, a songwriter and poet Kathryn
has worked with as an artist in residence.
October
shows
kathryn is playing a short run of shows in
late october 2009- masham, bury, london, bracknell,
exeter and lincoln. she'll be doing them with
the amazing bass player simon edwards, who
appears on the new album- out early next year!
for more details on the shows, go to the tourdates
page...
Billy
Bragg shows
k & n will be supporting billy bragg in
paris, antwerp, frakfurt and cologne from
25th to 29th september. more
details here
"two"
out march 3rd 2008
the new album- "Two"
by Kathryn Williams and Neill MacColl is due
for release on March 3rd. more information
about this record at WilliamsMacColl.com.
kathryn and neill wrote, recorded and mixed
this record over just three weeks in 2007.
there's a quicktime video telling the story
of the record here
or below is the youtube vesion...
single-
come with me... out now
the frist single from "Two" will
be "Come With Me". it's available
on itunes
and is paired with "Ghost" (exclusive
track). there are a couple of great reviews
at WilliamsMacColl.com/press.
See kathryn and neill perform Come With Me
live at WilliamsMacColl.com/videos.html
or on the youtube video above.
words
from the garden kathryn has been involved
in a writers in residence project at the alnwick
garden in northumberland. the results
of the project are being released on a very
limited edition CD by caw in collaboration
with new
writing north. 4 poets were involved with
the project, and the whole thing has been
put together in a soundscape with music by
kathryn w and nev clay. the CD artwork is
by kathryn w. you can buy the CD from the
caw
records online shop.
new
dates- pigalle club and greenbelt... kathryn is playing at
the pigalle club, piccadilly on monday 10th
september. looks like a great venue. take
a look at their site... full
details on the tourdates page. other
new dates include the greenbelt festival on
24th august. kathryn is only doing a few one-offs
at the moment, as she's spending a lot of
time writing (see next story)...
Kathryn
writing with neill maccoll... kathryn's been writing
a lot of new material with guitarist neill
maccoll. the audience at the tricycle theatre
show were treated to previews of a couple
of their songs. kathryn says that she's really
happy with this new material and that she's
really excited about the coming album. check
out the tricycle
theatre thread on the forum for reactions
to kathryn and neill's new songs.
new
shots uploaded to flickr we've just uploaded a
load of new photos to kathryn's flickr
page. new photos include shots from the
daughters of albion show at the barbican and
cork opera house, sage gateshead photos, and
some from the recent shows in london and gloucestershire.
other people have been busy uploading more
tricycle theatre shots, celtic connections
photos and yet more end of the road pictures.
if you have any shots from gigs or whatever,
you can upload them to our group and tghey'll
become part of the gallery on this site. click
here to see the photos as a slide show.
New
forum online. we've finally got a forum
back online since losing the old one to hacker-madness.
so sign up and talk to us! the forum is at
www.kw-forum.co.uk
Colours
are Brighter kathryn has contributed
a song to the "colours are brighter"
save the children album, which is out on
16th October. the album was put together
by belle and sebastian and features songs
for children by fourtet, franz ferdinand,
the kooks, the divine comedy and loads of
other brilliant people. it's a really great
record, everyone's really gone for it and
decided to forget being cool! the full tarcklisting
is:
1. Four Tet featuring Princess Watermelon
- Go Go Ninja Dinosaur
2. Rasputina - A Skeleton Bang
3. Franz Ferdinand - Jackie Jackson
4. Snow Patrol - I am an Astronaut
5. The Divine Comedy - Three Cheers
For Pooh, Cottleston Pie, Piglet Ho
6. The Kooks - The King & I
7. Half Man Half Biscuit - David Wainwright's
Feet
8. The Barcelona Pavilion - Tidy Up
Tidy Up
9. Jonathan Richman - Our Dog is Getting
Older Now
10. Belle and Sebastian - The Monkeys
are Breaking Out the Zoo
11. Ivor Cutler Trio - Mud
12. The Flaming Lips - The Big Ol' Bug
Is The New Baby Now
13. Kathryn Williams - Night Baking
more details and samples at http://www.coloursarebrighter.com
