Fans of Elvis and/or American industry may already know that Crown Electric is the name of the power company that employed the young Presley as a delivery truck driver until he got the call to record his first session at Sun Studios. Sixty years later, it’s also the title of the tenth album from Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams and fans of Ms.Williams will be able to see her perform at Leaf on March 19th.
It’s a suitably emphatic name for Williams’ most potent album yet, confirmation and summation of the songwriting skills she’s been honing since 1999’s Dog Leap Stairs. From the first song to the last, her lyrics have never been more astute, her melodies more memorable nor her arrangements more beautiful.
With the help of producer Neill MacColl, who previously worked with Kathryn on Two (2008) and The Quickening (2010), Crown Electric was narrowed down from a pool of 60 songs. Some grew out of solitude, others crackled into life during two collaborative songwriting retreats organised by Chris Difford. What unites them is confidence, precision, grace and an eye for the small details that illuminate large ideas. “It’s about having a complex idea and then working out how to explain that simply,” she says.
“Songwriting is an addiction in a way,” she continued. “When I sit down and write a song it just make sense. A lot of singer-songwriters use thousands of words and its all vanity. It doesn’t have the ring of truth. I don’t want to use clever words, I just want the listener to get an image. I want it to have physical impact. When I get a lovely image I get a warm feeling inside. That’s the magic. Where did that come from? How brilliant is that?”
Support on the night will be from Lizzie Nunnery and Matt Deighton.
Tickets for Kathryn Williams are priced at £12.50 and are available to purchase from http://www.seetickets.com/event/kathryn-williams/leaf/757331, http://www.seetickets.com/event/kathryn-williams/leaf/757331.