Nancy Elizabeth
Key tracks:
- Feet Of Courage
- Winter, Baby
- I'm Like The Paper
- How Can I Stop?
Label: The Leaf Label
Read Description:
Enchanting story telling with a beautiful folk soundtrack, fortified with a love of antique instruments
"Wrought Iron" is a step away from the work on Nancy Elizabeth's spellbinding debut "Battle and Victory", a shift in focus from her synonymous use of the harp played alongside traditional folk stylings and instead moving back to her first love, the piano. The new album is not a complete step away however as she still manages to include her trademark love of antique instruments, (how many records have you heard with a Dulcitone lately?) with her enchanting brand of story-telling. This is natural, organic folk music. Written in the remotest parts of rural Spain and the Lake District she crafts an album of solitude encompassing the raw emotion of Leonard Cohen and PJ Harvey, with the abstract minimalism of Steve Reich and the haunting vocals of Beth Gibbons (Portishead). Her unique magical craft has found the Wigan born musician getting signed up to our fav’s The Leaf Label as well as a host of collaborations including James Yorkston's acclaimed recent album and a rather exciting pairing with Japanese composer Susumu Yokota.
Taken from the new album, “Feet of Courage” pairs stripped down percussion and her warm unaffected voice to create an environment akin to the Cumbrian landscape in which it was crafted, magical, gentle, and ghostly like a still water at dawn. “Winter Baby” is a striking minimal composition that manages to create an overwhelming sense of stillness, a lone vibraphone is played with childlike simplicity underneath a dreamy vocal taking you away from your surroundings and into a world steeped in mythology.
Things to watch:
Releases we represent:
- Battle And Victory | Album | The Leaf Label | 2007
- Wrought Iron | Album | The Leaf Label | 2009
Quotes:
Quotes for Wrought Iron:
"Beautifully, brilliantly bare...a lesson in how economy and atmospherics create true emotion... You'll find it hard to drag yourself away" Mojo
"This is a sincere and genuine album of songs devoid of contrivance. An artist who should be seen as a beacon for future folkies" BBC Music
"A sweet, involving, minimal masterpiece" Kruger
Quotes for Battle & Victory:
“Unmissable debut… Battle and Victory comes fully formed” The Word
“Her matter-of-factness and the subtle momentum of the arrangements lend it a gentle, guileful enchantment” Uncut
“Nancy Elizabeth makes the most extraordinary minimal folk. It seems to come out of nowhere, like ghosts from the battle of Hastings playing samurai harps made from widow’s hair. And it’s awesome...” Fact
“One of the most astonishing releases full stop” Kruger
Tracks included on the following samplers:
- Songs about Cafes, Food and Drink Download sampler here
- Quiet Songs for Fractious Souls Download sampler here
- The Leaf Label Sampler Download sampler here
- New Music Vol. 7 Download sampler here
- Fireside Folk for Dark Nights At Home Download sampler here
- Quieter Songs For New Year Download sampler here
- Soundtrack to a snowy landscape... Download sampler here
- Woodworks Best Of 2009 for the USA Download sampler here
- Voice As Instrument Download sampler here
- Christmas not Christmas Download sampler here
- Christmas not Christmas USA Download sampler here
- Quiet Songs for Fractious Souls Volume 2 Download sampler here
- Quiet Songs for Fractious Souls Volume 2 USA Download sampler here
- Easy Like A Sunday Morning USA Download sampler here
- Old New Borrowed Blue Download sampler here
