KELSEY MICHAEL - Lethowsow - LP - Vinyl [SEP 13]

LP - Black Vinyl.  

Kelsey Michael has lived past lives as a theatre performer and movie soundtrack singer; you’ll find her singing on Jocelyn Pook’s score for Stanley Kubrick’s final film, ‘Eyes Wide Shut’. In the world of pop music, she is a collaborator with Anglo/Irish avant-pop band The High Llamas and their main man Sean O’Hagan, having featured on five albums that include his 2019 solo release ‘Radum Calls Radum Calls’. Michael also released two EPs with her London-based band Minnow, the second of which was released by Stereolab on their Duophonic label to rave reviews. Her first job was as a backing singer with The The on a European tour.

Kelsey Michael’s album of self-penned piano songs Lethowsow opens with optimistic flurries of vocal harmony which could have blown in on a gust from The Wizard Of Oz. This is fitting, as the songs which follow celebrate song and the voice whilst transporting us to the magical wild West Cornwall landscape, Kelsey’s home, anchor and inspiration. The sonic vision for her music laces Kelsey’s love for 60s and 70s classic singer-song writing - artists such as Laura Nyro and Carole King - with a contemporary art-pop edge.
This mix has already caught the ear of Gilles Peterson who played second Lethowsow single Mounts Bay Morning on both his BBC 6 music and Worldwide FM shows in spring 2024. The phrase ‘Nyro-esque rapture’ was coined by in Uncut Rob Hughes, who reviewed Lethowsow in the same magazine as a ‘beguiling’ debut ‘infused with natural wonder,’ referring to ‘gorgeous meditations.’

Music Of The Waves, the first track is a Jobim/Morricone influenced cinematic breath of air, offering images of hedgerow, shore and moors thrown up to catch the light and a tumble of beautiful Cornish place names. Guest vocalists MAY (Kelsey’s daughter) and Maria Heseltine, along with Ben Kypreos’ acoustic bass and Greg Dyer’s percussion, contribute to the fresh new sound artist-producer Kelsey has created. The song is accompanied by a video shot by Kelsey during her cliff ramblings. Joyous Mounts Bay Morning has Angeline Morrison, creator of the award winning 2022 album The Sorrow Songs: Folk songs of black British Experience (Topic) guesting on vocals alongside Maria Heseltine. Mounts Bay Morning’s classic songwriting style insists that the moment is now, urging the listener to act, grab a coat, a soul mate, get out the door and go live! Wham’s Wake Me Up Before You Go Go haunted Kelsey’s dreams during the writing.

Lethowsow (pronounced Laith-oh-so), means ‘the milky ones’ in old ‘Kernewek’ language. It was used as a name for the treacherous Seven Stones reef on the way to Lands End, a large stretch of vertical rocks like sharks’ teeth which are always covered with white water. Kelsey loved the soft sound of this word, as well as the fact that it describes the rocks in a magical way, as if they were characters. For her Lethowsow represents the awesome and humbling power of nature. The sea is a major character in this release. Swimming takes us wading into waves, ‘cooling off the heat deep inside’, with watery glissando from stunning harpist Benjin Musiq. Gry Maritha has the name of the Isles of Scilly freight ship, serenading this hardy blue boat in rhapsodic style - think Gerry and The Pacemaker’s Ferry across the Mersey in session with The Carpenters. Gry Maritha tells multiple stories, touching on the folklore of the waters of the Scilly crossing whilst simultaneously uncovering hidden moments of a mother and child whose daily rhythms overlap with the ship’s departure and return. Tide Comes In gets real about the rural poverty Penzance endures, still finding cause to celebrate the resilience, creativity and community support networks so often invisible to visitors. The inevitable ebb and flow of the tides gives certainty in troubled times when it can feel there is little to rely on.

This immersive music experience comes home to the wonder of small domestic moments in Washing Line, featuring exquisitely phrased guest vocals from Angeline Morrison. By hanging the stuff of our lives on the washing line, we get perspective, let go of habitual obstacles and move on. Once more within this final song we are given musical headspace and a moment to pour some balm on modern life.

8/10 review in Uncut Magazine (August 2024)

For fans of: Laura Nyro and Judee Sill

Tracklist: 

1. Gry Maritha [05:07]
2. Music Of The Waves [04:38]
3. Mounts Bay Morning [04:40]
4. Tide Comes In/The Crossing [04:15]
5. Swimming [03:42]
6. Washing Line [04:17]