Today sees the release of Rachael Dadd’s new album Flux which we recently reviewed here. In his review, David Auckland concluded:
“With ‘Flux’, Rachel Dadd has created a work that reveals a structured simplicity woven from a cloth of rich and complex yarns. Her voice may appear soft and fragile, but the songs are fuelled with matriarchal purpose and a relentless desire for justice. ‘Flux’ takes tide and time as its theme, but uses it ferociously to highlight the inequality and selfishness that we have introduced into our world. This is surely her most potent work to date.”
To celebrate the release, you can listen in full to the album below and read Rachael’s own track-by-track guide. Prior to her 2020 January/February tour, Rachael will also be performing at a series of in-stores in November to support the album. Details below.
FLUX
Everything exists amidst many shifting tides bringing multiple states of flux to our existence, both collectively and individually. Flux is my response to these external and internal tides I’ve been experiencing over the past 5 years. It is a response to the flow of life up-rooted and my internal searching and longing; a protest against the flow of recent political history; a celebration of the flow of knowledge and wisdom; an alarm call in response to humans destructive tide; an ode to our natural movements of migration and exodus; a reflection on the flow of evolution; and a diary of the unstoppable flow of life-force that comes with raising two sons.
ARROWS is about longing and searching for a sense of belonging via a sense of adventure. It’s about dropping our fears and connecting with those who are different from us, to then realise all we share in common. It’s about cultivating friendship across boundaries and love across borders.
CUT MY ROOTS was inspired by my own personal experience of our country’s strict visa laws, and is a protest against certain political tides in recent history. I wanted to speak up for our collective liberties.
BEACON is about the tide of knowledge and truth that we can choose to be immersed in. It describes our collective responsibility to own our historical past and celebrates a growing collective wisdom and empathy.
TWO ISLANDS reflects upon how we’re shaped by our cultures and connected to our homelands. When we come from islands surrounded by sea, we’re so conscious of our borders and what’s within them. On the one hand we might want to be the change. On the other hand we are reluctant to change.
LANGUAGE OF WATER questions what will happen if we continue to be caught up in our day-to-day jobs and conversations, ignoring the dripping ticking clock of climate change. We’re becoming disconnected from our natural world but we still see it’s beauty. We could still re-kindle this vital connection if we’re brave enough to listen to nature’s tales of loss.
ANIMAL is a song of gratitude to the natural world that I wrote after having a cesarean. In the natural world I feel protected and connected and grounded when I’m lost. She’s my mother and I’m her animal child, growing in wisdom with the love she gives.
PALAEONTOLOGIST is based on a true anecdote about a man fulfilling his dream when he discovers a whole fossilised dinosaur. In relation to evolution, extinction, love and warfare, I wonder if the secrets to our survival lie buried with the fossils.
SUPER MOON MACHINE depicts our age of loneliness as we are becoming disconnected and divided. If we didn’t live in these separated cubes behind these brick walls we would collectively be in the super moon’s glow. The power of collective imagination could turn this tide.
KNOT was born when I became a parent and suddenly felt connected to all other parents through a common love we share for those we nurture. At the time I started hearing a lot of devastating stories of refugee mothers and fathers carrying their refugee children and babies, on harrowing journeys often ending in such hostility at our borders.
TWO COILED SPRINGS describes how being a parent is at once magnificent and enriching and simultaneously overwhelming and depleting. Catherine represents all other mothers and the companionship I feel for them through common experiences and empathy. I have a feeling we’re all improvising our way through, marvelling at the life-force and trying not to loose ourselves in its unstoppable flow.
CONNECTED TO THE ROCK describes the one constant in all these torrents and tides, and the one thing we all share. Ultimately we are each simply trying to live on this shared rock before we burn up in the wind.
Live Dates
In-stores in November:
Thurs 7 Nov 18:00 Bristol, Friendly Records
Friday 8 Nov 18:00 London, Rough Trade West
Sat 9 Nov 17:00 Marlborough, Sound Knowledge
Sun 10 Nov 17:00 Oxford, Truck
Tues 12 Nov 18:30 Brighton, Resident
Weds 13 Nov 19:00 Letchworth, Davids Music
Thurs 14 Nov 18:00 Southsea, Pie and Vinyl
Sat 16 Nov 17:00 Deal, Smugglers
Rachael will tour in 2020 with the musicians on the album, playing the following January and February UK dates:
28 Jan – Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club Tickets
29 Jan – Glasgow, The Glad Cafe
30 Jan – Newcastle, Cobalt Studios Tickets
31 Jan – Manchester, Gullivers Tickets
01 Feb – Nottingham, Malt Cross Free
07 Feb – Bristol, Jam Jar Tickets
08 Feb – Birmingham, Cuban Embassy Tickets
12 Feb – London, The Lexington Tickets
13 Feb – Ramsgate, Ramsgate Music Hall Tickets
14 Feb – Brighton, The Hope & Ruin Tickets
15 Feb – Winchester, The Railway Inn Tickets