Kira Skov: May Your Mind Explode A Blossom Tree

Indie Pop / Avant Pop / Muzyka alternatywna
premiera polska: 2016-02-03,
Wydawnicto Audiofilskie
kontynent: Europa
kraj: Dania
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena: * * * * *
Na płycie poświęconej Bilie Holiday zachwyciła emocjonalnymi i melancholijnymi interpretacjami piosenek Lady Day. Jeśliby tylko chciała, kolejne jazzowe płyty, z powodzeniem mogłyby wydawać Blue Note czy Verve. Dwa lata temu wydała jednak "When We Were Gentle" i zamieniła pozycję jazzowej divy na ulubienicę publiczności muzyki alternatywnej. Walnie przyczynił się do tej stylistycznej przemiany John Parish, znany głównie ze współpracy z P.J.Harvey, ale także Tracy Chapman i Rokią Traore. Występuje on na jej płytach jako producent i instrumentalista.

Nowa płyta to kontynuacja wybranej na “When We Were Gentle” drogi - ponownie mamy do czynienia z ujmującą mieszanką łagodnej psychodelii, najlepszej tradycji inteligentnej piosenki i kreatywnego jazzu.

Klasa Kiry i przyjaciół polega na tym, że potrafią oni zaaplikować słuchaczom emocje niejako "między dźwiękami", a narrację płyty budują na muzycznych niedopowiedzeniach. Kira jest mistrzynią formy, nie ma przy tym jednak cienia pretensji, co i rusz pojawia się tutaj jakiś niuans, drobny aranżacyjny patent, który dobitnie uświadamia zjawiskową wręcz wrażliwość twórców (przesterowane gitary w "Down in the Valley", wibrafon w "The Sun a Lonely Host", czy saksofony, trąbka i tuba w "May Your Mind Explode a Blossom Tree"). Jest na tej płycie jakaś świeżość, urzeka i przeraża, nie pozwalając oderwać się od odtwarzacza.

To najciekawsza obok "Divers" Joanny Newsom kobieca songwriterska płyta 2015 roku!
autor: Krzysztof Szamot

"May Your Mind Explode A Blossom Tree" jest dostępna na dwóch nośnikach:
CD w cenie 56,99 zł
Vinyl 1LP w cenie 99,99 zł

Editor's Info:
Danish vocalist, musician and composer Kira Skov’s new album was recorded in Wales and Copenhagen with her regular band and producer, guitarist and drummer John Parish. Following her extremely successful album When We Were Gentle, her new release continues her quest to discover new directions on her remarkable and extensive musical voyage.
Kira exploded on the Danish music scene in 2002 with Kira and The Kindred Spirits. She has since established her reputation as an artist of diverse facets. Lately she has reaped acclaim for her successful Billie Holiday tribute, Memories Gone By, and Persona, her collaboration with Danish punk legend Peter Peter. Most recently critics raved about The Cabin Project, a collaboration with Marie Fisker. When We Were Gentle earned her a handful of important Danish awards: two Steppeulve (Vocalist and Album) and a Carl Award (awarded by the Danish Music Publishers Society) for her lyrics. She also received the Danish Art Council’s prestigious tri-annual grant.

Kira: “It’s all about taking chances and risking losing it all each time. Risking my audience and the box I have been placed in. For me to function I have to remain true to myself, it has to feel relevant. To retain the necessary excitement in the work process I need an element of unpredictability.”

Over time her collaboration with British producer John Parish has developed into a close sparring relationship. They spent nine months exchanging musical ideas in preparation for the album. In order to concentrate optimally on each tune, they chose to divide the recording process in two phases, one week in spring at the Rockfield Studio in Wales and a couple of weeks during late summer at STC Studio in Copenhagen.

Kira: “I contacted John through MySpace back in 2008, because I found his work with PJ Harvey particularly fascinating. Since then we have worked closely together, and our common musical taste brings the best out of me and my songs.”

May Your Mind Explode A Blossom Tree contains songs revolving around themes such as war, love and loss. The lyrics seem to draw us into many layers of consciousness, and Kira’s enthusiasm for great poets like Walt Whitman, Charles Bukowski and Dylan Thomas is evident. The music is performed by Kira’s powerful band: her husband, bassist Nicolai Munch-Hansen, and the two musical wizards Oliver Hoiness on guitar and Simon Toldam on keyboards – both of whom reveal an almost limitless arsenal of musical ideas– and on drums producer John Parish.

muzycy:
Kira Skov: vocals, acoustic guitar
Nicolai Munch-Hansen: electric & upright bass, cello, piano, guitar, vocal
Oliver Hoiness: electric & acoustic guitars, keyboards
Simon Toldam: piano, keyboards
John Parish: drums, variophone, vocal

utwory:
1. Now I Know [Kira Skov/Nicolai Munch-Hansen] 3:54
2. I Celebrate My Life [Kira Skov] 3:41
3. A Smile to Remember [Kira Skov/Nicolai Munch-Hansen] 4:45
4. I Would Give It Away [Kira Skov/Nicolai Munch-Hansen] 3:47
5. Coincidence Is All That Counts [Kira Skov] 4:17
6. May Your Mind Explode a Blossom Tree [Kira Skov] 2:12
7. Down in the Valley [Kira Skov/Nicolai Munch-Hansen] 4:35
8. Alone with Everybody [Kira Skov] 4:18
9. The Sun a Lonely Host [Kira Skov] 4:16
10. Never Young [Kira Skov] 4:52

total time - 40:44
wydano: 2015-11
more info: www.sundance.dk
more info2: www.kiramusic.com