Katherine Priddy’s 2018 EP ‘Wolf‘ was selected by Richard Thompson as his ‘Best Thing I’ve Heard All Year’ in MOJO Magazine in 2018 and our own Matt McGinn was equally blown away – in his review of the EP he opens:
“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.” Matt, being a musician and song writer himself has a keen ear so when he says that her tone, phrasing, pitch and sentiment are flawless then you know this is an extraordinary debut.
He concludes the review: “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.”
Two and a bit years on she is announcing her highly anticipated debut album which is to be released on Navigator Records. The Eternal Rocks Beneath is due on June 25, the album is available for pre-order now: https://smarturl.it/katherinepriddy.
The album was recorded over a 2-year period at Rebellious Jukebox studios, a little basement studio hidden beneath inner-city Birmingham and presided over by masterful producer Simon Weaver. The ensemble cast of musicians, including a sweeping string section, occasionally cut through by raw electric guitar and drums, as well as Richard March (Pop Will Eat Itself) on double bass and Mikey Kenny on fiddle, enhance Priddy’s command of melody and lyricism and provide the perfect backdrop for the feelings of nostalgia and timelessness that underpin the record.
Many of the songs were written during Priddy’s teenage years and early twenties and reference themes of childhood and distant memories. The charming bird song that begins the first track “Indigo” and closes the final track “The Summer Has Flown” harks back to the soundtrack of her own childhood, when days began and ended with the sound of a blackbird in the tree outside her window. In the same way, it now bookends this chapter of Priddy’s life and music career. The title The Eternal Rocks Beneath reflects this is Priddy’s first album; the culmination of her earlier life experiences and the bedrock for whatever follows next.
Listen to Indigo which is also our Song of the Day, an outstanding opener that already hints at being in the best of 2021 End of Year Lists:
The Eternal Rocks Beneath is released on Navigator Records on 25 June – pre-order now: https://smarturl.it/katherinepriddy