Last year, Katy Rose Bennett (fomerly known as KTB) showcased a collection of songs from her 20 years of writing and performing which highlighted her unique song-writing style and her many and varied influences. Titled Where Does It Hurt? An Introduction to Katy Rose Bennett, David Pratt reviewed the album for Folk Radio here…He concludes:
“Superbly mastered by Tony Poole, Where Does It Hurt? An introduction to Katy Rose Bennett does exactly what it says on the tin, with a collection of songs showcasing the prodigious and varied talents of a singer-songwriter who deserves a much wider audience and recognition. The quality of the title track suggests that such a development might well be on the horizon. Here’s looking to even more wide-open skies.”
The first of those wide-open skies comes in the form of Sleep, the first single from Katy Rose Bennett’s 7th album Alone On A Hill (coming September 2021). The song was created, recorded and produced by Bennett in her home ‘studio’ (the hallway between her kitchen and lounge) on the rural outskirts of Birmingham, in Spring 2021. It is an ode to insomnia and the longing for sleep, a song of two halves: striking a cappella chords, repeating lyrics and manipulated vocal percussion (representing insomnia’s distortion of time) followed by sweet, yearning, dream-like harmonies that drift off into the ether.
Katy received a grant from Arts Council England in December 2020 which gave her space, time and resources to experiment and explore the process of creating music with just her voice (and a bit of body percussion). She didn’t intend to create an album out of the process – it was all about playing and experimenting – which paradoxically meant she had the freedom to make this album.
While her previous album showcased her many talents and influences, “Sleep’ is evidence that Katy’s creative spirit is thriving and in top form.
Album Launch Shows
22/09/21 – Green Note, London
26/09/21 – Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
29/09/21 – Live To Your Living Room, Online/Oxford
All details at www.katyrosebennett.com
Bandcamp: https://katyrosebennettmusic.bandcamp.com/
Photo Credit: Natalie Wootton