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KATY LIED ANNOUNCE THE FORTHCOMING RELEASE OF THEIR THIRD STUDIO ALBUM ‘WINTER LIGHTNING’
In the marketing led, X Factor driven musical climate of the early 21st Century there is more and more reason to cherish embrace any album which places classic songwriting values and sharp, restrained musicianship over MTV friendliness, sonic airbrushing and tabloid titilation potential.
Emerging roots-rockers Katy Lied have completed their third such album, and the news that ‘WINTER LIGHTNING’ is set for release early in 2011 will be cause for celebration for many, not least the bands growing army of admirers.
The album marks the close of a fiercely prolific two year spell since Katy Lied first entered the public consciousness with the radio hit ‘Late Arrival’ in the late summer of 2008. With the line up now settled and featuring guitarist/songwriter in chief Duncan Hamilton, lead singer Katie Harnett, drummer Paul Burgess and resident bassist Jo Wadeson (ex Waterboys/Beth Orton), Katy Lied have been gigging solidly for the last twelve months as their fan base broadens. And ‘Winter Lightning’ affirms this has been time well spent, boasting as it does a tougher, often stripped down and more unified sound.
Explains Hamilton “With Katy Lied the songs came first. In fact at the start everything was very studio based, we'd write, we'd record, and we'd draft in different musicians to flesh out the songs accordingly. But what could at one time have been referred to as a 'project' is now more than ever a band. There's a solid bond and an empathy between the four of us, after all the gigs and festivals of the last twelve months we're a unit. And you can hear that throughout ‘Winter Lightning’ “.
2009 saw the release of the bands second album ‘Echo Games’ to critical acclaim, and both singles lifted from the album received Radio 2 airplay. They also appeared live in session on the Bob Harris show performing and chatting about the album.
Not content to stand still and take stock, however, as the Katy Lied's profile has continued to grow the songs have kept coming.
Indeed the material on ‘Winter Lightning’ just kept appearing even through the busiest times, and stories abound.
Before one particular show Hamilton and Burgess were jamming onstage whilst waiting for a sound engineer to arrive, and the tempo and chords they casually fell into quickly became the insiduous, snaky groove that is ‘Best Mistake’, one of the album's most instant songs.
On a road journey westward to meet up with longstanding friend Dai Smith (late of the Storys) Hamilton forgot his i-pod and had to listen to the only album in his car - which happened to be by Sonic Youth - on repeat. On arrival, inspired by the legendary alt-rockers, he and Smith found themselves writing the angry rocker ‘Never Gonna Run’ in a matter of minutes.
Then when studio sessions began for the album, things started coming together so quickly that there was more studio time available than finished songs, so Duncan and regular producer/collaborator Nigel Stonier invited the rest of the band to take an early lunch, and quickly adjourned to the lounge where half an hour later they had come up with the cheeky and irresistibly catchy country rocker ‘Go Too Far’.
Perhaps the song with the most unlikely gestation of all is the beautifully airy album closer ‘Holding Pattern’ which Hamilton began at home in North Yorkshire. then sent over to Nashville for famed Little River Band songwriter Beeb Birtles to contribute extra lyrics to. . . Having received Beeb's contribution, Duncan still felt the song to be one line short, but finally came up with the closing couplet - in a Lincolnshire fish and chip shop the night before the final recording sessions.
Notwithstanding the happenstance and unlikely geography around the material's origins, ‘Winter Lightning’ sees Katy Lied continue to set the bar ever higher.
The mood and tones of the album are testimony to the bands ability, both as writers and players, to take in a vast range of styles and influences. The opening ‘Drivin The Miles’, a sort of 21st century distant cousin to Creedence Clearwater revival's ‘Travelin Band’, rocks solidly with Harnett's stunning vocals leading from the front. But in no time at all Katie is practically down to a whisper, delivering the understated passion and take-no-prisoners romantic stance of ‘One Sweet Kiss’ in a manner that will melt your heart, while behind her strings swoop and slide guitar weeps.
‘Winter Lightning’ is the latest chapter in the Katy Lied story, a tale which gathers momentum by the moment and promises to run and run, whilst always promising an unlikely twist here and there.
‘Winter Lightning’ is set for release early in 2011.
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