Most will look back on Sheffield’s The Long Blondes with a fair degree of fondness: It’s be easy to trot out the “female fronted Pulp” cliché but they were so much more than that, and promised great things until their untimely split in 2008 following guitarist Dorian Cox’s illness. Front woman Kate Jackson has been on something of a hiatus since then, dabbling in the visual arts, amongst other things, however, she makes a welcome return with her new album British Road Movies, written in conjunction with Bernard Butler, and backed by her new band The Wrong Moves.
“British Road Movies was written by Jackson alongside guitarist and producer Bernard Butler at West Heath Studios in London. These ten songs were conceived as cinematic starting points, movie titles with lyrical story-boards. With ‘British Road Movies’ Jackson paints scenes and tells stories, paying homage to the colour, weather and architecture seen from every car windscreen.
The album takes in eclectic musical styles, from synth driven glam rock to Blade Runner electronica, faded piano allure to sweeping strings alt-country. All these recordings have two things in common, Jackson’s unique vocal top line and Butler’s instantly recognisable guitar. These are big, melodic alternative pop songs, with the guitarist’s naturally cinematic production perfectly complementing the narrative of the record.”
You can catch Kate on the following tour dates:
2nd September – The Cookie Jar, Leicester
3rd September – Think Tank, Newcastle
4th September – Factory, Manchester
24th September – Open, Norwich
25th September – Brudnell Social, Leeds
1st October – The Hunter Club, Bury St Edmunds
7th October – Hope & Ruin, Brighton
8th October – The Rainbow, Birmingham
British Road Movies is out now on Hoo Ha Records via all the regular outlets.
