Description
Label Review.
2019 album. Americana-tinged folk.
Our Overview.
Birmingham-based songwriter Katy Rose Bennett (formerly known as KTB) continues to craft her idiosyncratic, Americana-tinged folk with the release of her fifth album, ‘The Meantime’ - an intimate collection of songs on the themes of parenthood, separation and self-acceptance. Kathy writes elegant songs about love, hope and the darker side of life, described as: “A sophisticated mix of folk, jazz pop and rustica” – The Independent
The 9 songs were all written by Bennett when her life was in a state of flux and the title reflects the idea of that time between two points - the time between what was and what will be. The album was recorded and mixed over the course of about 36 hours with Bristol-based composer and sound designer Jim Cornick as engineer. The recordings are mostly first takes in order to capture that feeling of a live performance: one voice and either guitar or piano with no overdubs.
Songs range from the simple, elegiac ‘Did you see?’ - a piano-led song of farewell; to the gently lilting ‘Shoulders & Boots’ - a song exploring the anxieties of being a gay parent; from the upbeat, light-hearted old-time country jaunt of ‘Hey Diddle-I-Doe’ to the lop-sided, semi-improvised ‘Round the Bend’.
The themes of her songwriting have developed over the course of her five solo albums: explorations of all kinds of love, obsession and depression; songs telling stories of people – both imagined and real; songs about the challenges and delights of being a parent and songs about the struggles of life with a mind and body which don’t always do what you want them to do. She writes at the piano and guitar, drawing inspiration from nature, from the people and places around her and from her lived experience in the world.
Part folk, part Americana, part pop, part jazz, all gorgeous, Bennett takes what in lesser hands would be the mere mundanity of everyday life and makes it joyous and uplifting.” (Americana UK).
“Tender and accomplished songwriting… deep, meaningful, rooted work.”(Karine Polwart).
“Strikingly original” – UNCUT
“Stunning…songs that encapsulate everything that is good about modern songwriters and modern song writing…heart-wrenchingly gorgeous” Northern Sky