Independent (label)
07 January 2022 (released)
07 January 2022
It’s a rare delight to hear a voice as cultured and as flexible as Kate Green singing songs of rebellion and importance.
She can turn her hand (mouth?) to folk, jazz, Celtic and even Pop. Earnest and pure toned, she really is a delight on the ear.
This is the first new album from Ms Green since 2007 and comprises a dozen songs – some self-written, some from the likes of Memphis Minnie and Lal Waterson and a few traditional – in different styles but all with her trademark clear contralto. She touches on global warming, sings in support of Extinction Rebellion and takes on very modern ‘women’s matters’.
The songs range widely in style from pure folk like the opener Lady Diamond or the chilling and haunting Bows Of London (also known as The Cruel Sister and The Two Sisters), to Mi Amigo which has a slightly Country feel to the song (about a US Air Force Flying Fortress which crashed in Sheffield in 1944 killing all its crew but managing to avoid schoolchildren playing nearby) but a very British sound to her vocals. Her version of ‘When The Levee Breaks’ is compellingly relevant today in these days of climate disasters and then there is ‘Renegades (Of Love And Rage)' – a Samba in praise of the ideals of Extinction Rebellion and the anti-globalist movement.
The musicianship on the album is exceptional featuring the likes of Jed Grimes on guitars (including Weissenborn), Liam Fender on Hammond, Ellie Long on harmony vocals, Mick Doonan on the Irish Pipes and Patrick Walker on guitars and fiddle. Grimes also produced the album and his very closed-in production makes for a very intimate and warm experience.
The album is a joy and very well worth investigating.
