visit our website www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/whatson COG-E01-S2 What’s On Wednesday March 24, 2010 51
Music
MarthaWainwrightat Eden
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT willbe joining Paolo Nutini for thefifth Eden Session on July 13.The Canadian-Americansinger-songwriter releasedher acclaimed self-titled debutalbum in 2005, and also hadpositive reviews for her 2008record I Know You’re MarriedBut I’ve Got Feelings Too.Last year saw the release ofSans Fusils, Ni Souliers, AParis: Martha Wainwright’sPiaf Record, in which thesinger stamped her ownidentity on the songs of EdithPiaf.In the UK, Martha may be bestknown for her duet withprevious Sessions artistsSnow Patrol on the Top 20song Set the Fire to the ThirdBar.Martha comes from alegendary music family. Herfather is American folk singerand actor Loudon WainwrightIII and her mother the lateCanadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle.Her older brother Rufus is nostranger to the Eden Project,receiving critical acclaim forhis headlining Sessionsappearance in 2007.Tjarko Wieringa, EdenSessions Creative Director,said: “Martha Wainwright’sstrong acoustic style willcomplement Paolo Nutiniperfectly. After Rufus’sbrilliant show in 2007, we’rereally excited that Martha hasdecided to play here too.”Tickets for the Paolo NutiniSession are priced at £35plus booking fee. To buytickets visitwww.edensessions.com orcall the Eden box office on01726 811972.
Jane Siberryplays rare gig
CANADIAN singer/songwriter Jane Siberry willbe playing an intimate salonperformance in Totnes onSunday.Jane has released numerousalbums in her 20-plus-yearcareer and collaborated withsuch well respected artists askd lang and Brian Eno,forging a unique sound whichdraws on folk, jazz, gospel andambient music and is mostoften compared to Kate Bushand Joni Mitchell.She plays St John’s Church,Bridgetown, Totnes, Devon,from 7.30pm. Tickets at £10from [email protected]
Track-by-trackguide to CrystalSounds album
THAT the title track of the newThirteen Senses’ album CrystalSounds starts with the words “alittle wiser now” sums up theirgrowth.Having been dumped by theirrecord company after their initialsuccess must have been soul-destroying, but they’ve regroupedto produce a cohesive 45-minutestormer in their own time with nomusic industry intervention.Crystal Sounds starts with amorass of handclaps more akin toa Steve Reich work than aCornish indie band; then thosefamiliar chiming guitars areushered in but this time thesound is larger with a Sigur Ros-like grandeur.With Will’s trademark falsettoand a memorable orchestralswell, this is a powerful call toarms and as effective as anythingin their canon.The Loneliest Star is morestraight-ahead radio-friendlyrock than their previous efforts –think Aha meets Snow Patrol butwith a more celestial feel a laMew.Home is quintessential ThirteenSenses harking back to the dayswhen they were compared toColdplay and, as such, is the leastadventurous song on the album.Imagine Life is a four to the floorstomper with a wonderfulwordless vocal hook; as stadium-sized as Doves’ Pounding.It wouldn’t be a Thirteen Sensesalbum without a couple of epics –the seven-minute Animals is pureFloyd in its “set the traps” mid-section (perhaps there’s a clue inits title) while the Life On Mars-like finale proves they’re not yourrun-of-the-mill indie fops.After The Retreat shows they’renot afraid to rock but withoutlosing the wide-eyed innocence oftheir sound. A U2 it’s okay to likein other words.They come on all space age andsymphonic like Muse’s lessbombastic little brothers on I SawStars Disappear while, if youignore the Road To Nowherebassline, Answer is pure ThirteenSenses bliss pop.It ends with the elegant, string-laden Out There, which builds to aproggy mid-section before soaringto an imposing, death marchfinale as if The Arcade Fire hadgone to war, before evaporatinginto Gorecki-like stillness. Veryimpressive.Head to www.thirteensenses.comto hear the album now.
Return of Cornwall’s most successful band
Come to your Senses
By Lee [email protected] would be forgiven for
thinking that ThirteenSenses – the most successful
band to ever come out of Cornwall– had split when they were droppedby their record label in 200.
But following stints playing withthe likes of Gabriella Cilmi andhaving babies, the boys are backwith their best album yet.
The nine-track Crystal Sounds isnow streaming atwww.thirteensenses.com with a fullrelease date to follow soon.
The London-based Penzanceband – Will South (vocals, key-boards, guitar) Tom Welham (gui-tar, keyboards), Adam Wilson(bass) and Brendon James (drums)– have announced a comeback gigat London’s Dingwalls on June 8with plans for a Cornish gig in thesame month.
The album – self-produced andrecorded independently at Will andTom’s studio – is a return to theband’s dramatic and expansivesound but with added balls; ima-gine Sigur Ros fighting The Killerson a snow-capped mountain whileangelic choirboys are thrown totheir deaths and you’re almost, pre-tentiously, there.
I caught up with an excited Will:“I’m as surprised as you are thatwe’re back! We started writing thealbum as soon as we got dropped byMercury in 2007 but it got heldback for various reasons – we ranout of money for one, Adam gotmarried and had a baby...
“But we got together in the last
few months and finished it. Nowour manager is leading the chargein the industry.”
The fact that their manager isPhil Chadwick, who has steered El-bow to monumental success overthe last couple of years, can onlybode well for Thirteen Senses’ re-turn.
After forming in Penwith in 2001and changing their name from SoulMagician (if they hadn’t I doubt I’dbe writing this...), they signed toVertigo/Mercury records.
Early success from the release ofsingles Do No Wrong, Into The Fireand Thru The Glass (numbers 38,35 and 18 respectively) in 2004/05led to 12 months of touring both athome and abroad, finally culmin-ating in a gold record on theirwalls for their debut album, TheInvitation, which reached Number14 in the UK album chart.
The second album, 2007’s Contact,although containing arguably theirbest song in the title track, was amore rocky affair but the verything that had made ThirteenSenses the band they were – thesensitivity and quiet grandeur –had been lost.
Will says now: “We were rushedinto making that album by Mer-cury, who kept pushing for us tomake hit singles, so we went intothe studio with that in mind and itwasn’t successful as a result.
“The break has done us good –the new album is much more en-ergised and we’ve had time to con-centrate on the songwriting. Tomand I have been writing for otherartists, including Gabriella Cilmi,who Tom has been playing guitarfor. That makes you look at yourinner pop writer!”
In some respects it’s like they’venever been away. Turn on anynature documentary or heart-wrenching reality show andchances are it’s being soundtrackedby a Thirteen Senses’ oldie.
“We’ve finally recouped our pub-lishing deal with Universal, so inthe last year the royalty chequeshave started coming through to us,which is very handy when youhaven’t got a record deal,” addedWill.
That’s about £200 for every 30seconds a song is used on TV – nicework if you can get it.
The fans are still out there aswell. The singer said: “It’s amazingreally as we never really touredoutside the UK, but we get onlinecomments all the time from fans inSouth America or France, andwe’ve just been invited to play afestival in China in July.
“The last gig we ever played twoyears ago was a party in Chicagofor a wealthy fan who flew usover!”
On the strength of CrystalSounds, Thirteen Senses will soonhave a record deal and plenty moreinternational dates under theirbelts.
Thirteen Senses – from left: Tom Welham, Will South, Adam Wilson and Brendon James.
Thirteen Senses way back in September2003 at Bunters, Truro.
Red Stripe awards heat at the Blue BarTHE second Cornish heat of theRed Stripe Music Award 2010comes to the Blue Bar,Porthtowan, on Friday.Last year, local lad Ben Howardperformed at the same venue andwon the final at the HMV Forumin May. He has since played atvarious festivals and supportedacts in USA and around Europe.
Those playing from 7pm are:Gregor and the Martians –could be Cornwall’s great whitehopes with their shiny indieweirdness.Ethatone – pictured left, have justreleased their debut album with alaunch gig at The Acorn Theatre,Penzance.All The Fires – are a six-piece
band from the Falmouth area,whose original songs combine amodern folk sentiment with a loveof popular song.Hang on Look John – an Exeteracoustic duo who have nowbranched out to include bass anddrums.The Iconyx – were formed atSouth Devon College.
