Katherine Priddy – Wolf
Self Released – 1 September 2018
I guarantee that, like myself, within 30 seconds of the opening of Wolf, the debut E.P. From Katherine Priddy, you will realise that you have stumbled onto something extraordinary indeed.
I love her patience. She takes the time to set the mood. In the title track of Wolf‘s 10 bar introduction I can hear influences ranging from Christy Moore, Nick Drake, Kate Rusby and Fairport Convention, but when Katherine’s vocals enter the scene, there is only she. Katherine Priddy has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. Her tone, phrasing, pitch and sentiment..it’s flawless.
Oh, and the songs are class too. The melodies, the lyrics, the concepts… all so incredibly engaging.
“My love is made of rocks and now I need him to be stable
His arms they may be cold and hard but they hold me like a cradle
Know that if I go with him, the salt will surely take
Beast he is an ocean and I know I am the rocks on which he’ll break
And he breaks,
And I break.”
A fleeting thought makes me wonder if Wolf may have been inspired by an 80’s film I used to love called Ladyhawke. Then again, I’d say that’s me showing my age, and there’s a good chance that it’s before Katherine’s time.
How many times does an E.P. start so very strongly, only to fall at the second hurdle? Not here, like the opening number, Ring O’ Roses shows the maturity far beyond her years. It conjures, in the imagination, an era that would cost the BBC seven figures in one of their period dramas.
The third song in and Fragile not only keeps the pace but unravels even more layers to Priddy’s songwriting talents. With prose that many of the classic poets would be proud of, she wastes not one word. Instead, every syllable paints us into her landscape. Insight, sound and smell.
“We would laugh as we hide
Chased home by clouds when the Weatherman lied
You’re sitting beside me, but you might need to remind me
Cause there’s a million miles of distance when I look into your eyes.”
The Old Tree sadly brings us to the end of this collection of songs far too soon. It’s another beautiful song and one that excites me for what is yet to come in the next few years.
If this collection of songs were ones that Katherine sought out and made her own, I would be so very impressed. She has such a wonderful voice and a tender presence that I hope she never grows out of. But this is not a collection of songs that she has sought out, nor even co-written with someone of experience. These are her own songs, and that for me places her on a level that very few reach. And the fact that she is still in her early twenties, I am frankly astounded.
Katherine Priddy is at the beginning of the long and often hard road that is a music career, but she carries such an abundance of talent that it will no doubt rise to meet her.
Order Wolf here https://katherinepriddy.bigcartel.com/product/wolf-pre-order
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Photo Credit: Jolyon Holroyd (Courtesy of the Artist)