Earlier this year, UFC fighter and sometimes movie star Ronda Rousey, described by Sports Illustrated magazine as ‘the world’s most dominant athlete’, stood alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in a stadium holding nearly 77,000 people and said, ‘Any ring I step into is mine’. And this is what I thought of after a few listens to the recent album by Kathryn Joseph.
Let me finish.
Kathryn Joseph’s voice is such a force that the songs she sings on her latest album may as well be performed a cappella. It sometimes takes a while to notice there is any other instrumental backing, such is the spell her singing casts. Ronda Rousey has built a reputation on flooring opponents in a matter in under 30 seconds. To the uninitiated, Joseph may take less time than that.
The album ‘Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled’ was the surprise winner of the ‘Scottish Album of the Year Award’, ahead of such acts as Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai and the Twilight Sad. Joseph’s bewitching voice has drawn comparisons to Joanna Newsom and PJ Harvey, among others. Some of her phrasing makes me think of Alex Harvey, another wildly expressive Scottish maverick. In fact, Joseph can express more with the breath at the end of a sentence or a twisted vowel than most artists can in their life.
Taking advantage of the attention she has received due to her SAY win, new track ‘The Worm’ will be released as a limited edition vinyl as well as digitally on July 27th. New tour dates have also been announced for the remainder of the summer/autumn. Also check out this great recent feature in The Scotman. Get yourself acquainted with this extraordinary artist.
| Fri 24 Jul | The Wickerman Festival | DUNDRENNAN, UK | |
| Sat 01 Aug | The Hug and Pint | GLASGOW, UK | |
| Fri 07 Aug | Belladrum Festival | INVERNESS, UK | |
| Wed 12 Aug | Summerhall | EDINBURGH, UK | |
| Wed 26 Aug | EIBF Jura Unbound | EDINBURGH, UK | |
| Thu 27 Aug 2015 | Wauchope Hall (YETHOLM) | Nr Kelso, UK | |
| Wed 16 Sep | South Street Arts Centre | READING, UK | |
| Thu 17 Sep | The Basement | BRIGHTON, UK | |
| Fri 18 Sep | Kings Place | LONDON, UK | |
| Sun 20 Sep | Incubate Festival | TILBURG, NL | |
| Thu 24 Sep | The Trades Club | HEBDEN BRIDGE, UK | |
| Sat 26 Sep | Eden Court Theatre | INVERNESS, UK | |
| Sun 27 Sep | TrueNorth Festival | ABERDEEN, UK | |
| Thu 15 Oct | The Spree Festival | PAISLEY, UK |
‘Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled’ is out now on Hits The Fan Records
‘The Worm/The Bird’ AA-side single is out July 27th
http://www.kathrynjoseph.co.uk/
http://www.hitsthefanrecords.co.uk/