On The Pendulum Swing, Katherine Priddy’s songwriting hits the heart and the mind with pinpoint accuracy…
Katherine Priddy’s music plays like a masterclass in understatement. Her sound and production could be held aloft as shining examples of how to leave space to let the music float and flow. Just listen to this and feel the light breaking through those gaps when the pallet is not overloaded with unnecessary clutter. I am not only referring to the haunting little voices that are half heard, ghostly presences that seem to whisper in our ears as we soak up the luscious compositions, but you also feel the very environment these songs are playing in and singing about. The creaks of an old building, the faintly blowing whoosh of the surroundings, the call and response of the natural world as it inhales and exhales in perpetuity. Of course, none of this would count for much if the songs themselves were not up to much; happily, though, the work collected here on Katherine’s eagerly anticipated second album, The Pendulum Swing, showcases an artist whose song craft is realising all the early potential that won her so many high profile plaudits and admirers.
The central theme of this extremely cohesive record is the notion of home. In Priddy’s case, as enjoyed in the earlier teaser track ‘First House On The Left,’ the place where her heart lies is the childhood home she once knew. It exists not simply as a memory, remaining as a family abode that endures as a sanctuary she often longs to return to whilst simultaneously feeling that restless sense of leaving to re-inhabit the new life now lived elsewhere. For those of us fortunate enough to still have access to our childhood residence, that sensation upon revisiting is all too tangibly expressed in this piece: the way those four walls can sometimes overwhelm us with the weight of memories they contain, the friendly ghosts that come alive while you breathe in the familiarity. The way the hit of nostalgia can be a comfort but also impose a vice-like grip of regret and loss, a sense of mourning for the real-life moments that cannot be relived. Bookending the record with two wordless, atmospheric pieces, entitled ‘Returning’ and ‘Leaving’ respectively, does erect a rather satisfying framework for these songs to play in; it is essentially a home-like construction itself within which the internal narratives at the core of Katherine’s songs can alight just as they would within the walls of any family home.
Priddy’s ever-maturing breadth and colour spring forth on the ornate ‘Selah’, the arrangement rising like the moon only to finally evaporate with the morning dew as Katherine sings to her nighttime lady apparition in the window as the day draws to a close; “the stars a sea of judging eyes, I thought I saw my lady cry”. ‘These Words Of Mine’ has a hint of the lilting country ballad in the Alison Krauss mould, it is a gorgeous piece sung with a heavy heart as the protagonist pours their heart out desperately hoping for some reassuring words in return that are left unspoken. There is a similar sense of absence and longing at the centre of ‘Does She Hold You Like I Did’ although this time, distant brass, electric guitars and percussion propel the mood of the song towards a more defiant idiom. ‘Northern Sunrise’ is a joyous shimmy of a song wherein love rises from a wonderous melange of the spiritual surroundings and everyday nuts and bolts with lines like “reeling from nettles and ale that you stole from the bar.”
‘A Boat On The River’ eases on a path that is happy to float at the pace of the current; all that matters is an escape from the dour, oppressive city life weighing heavy on our songbird. ‘Father Of Two,’ another sumptuous hymn-like tune, returns to the album’s central themes, namely family, memories, deep-rooted bonds, the passing of time and the security attached to those vital relationships that run the course of a lifetime. ‘Anyway, Always’ chimes like a gentle folk-rock jewel, this time finding the singer dreaming of a past, briefly held union that awakened feelings destined to linger long beyond the period of actual connection. ‘Walnut Shell’ has a glowing, hazy essence in thoughts of sibling affection separated as “two sides of the same coin on two sides of the globe.” It makes way for a final hurrah with the albums only co-write, sung as a duo, alongside George Boomsma on ‘Ready To Go,’ a song of departure that brings a shoulder to lean on and an appreciation of a love that has grown.
Even though all the vignettes of The Pendulum Swing paint a collage of many differing emotional circumstances, I feel sure that Katherine has poured a gallon full of herself into these compositions. This is songwriting that hits the heart and the mind with pinpoint accuracy because it feels so real; there is pain, longing and love coming from a true, pure source. For sure, Katherine Priddy’s pendulum is swinging with some undeniable force right now; do not miss out on this one.
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