Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Thea Gilmore today releases her brand new single, the commanding Nice Normal Woman. Taken from her highly-anticipated forthcoming album, Thea Gilmore, the track is accompanied by the inspired stop-motion video created by Thea herself. Watch the video and listen to the track here.
Thea has said of Nice Normal Woman, “The song was inspired by a quote from Bette Davis in All About Eve (‘write me one about a nice normal woman who just shoots her husband’ ) and I wanted to make the video as real and crunchy as possible to reflect the idea in the track that the glorious, sometimes dark, often hilarious everyday gets missed so often in our eternal drive for the insta-perfection. So I sat on the end of my bed and took almost 800 still images of me in various states of genuine dishevelment and cut them all together to make the video.”
Thea is gearing up to release her self-titled album on 6th October. 20 albums and 25 years into her recording career and only now does Thea Gilmore feel enough of herself to make the self-titled album that renews her vows to music – her first love. The album was entirely written, played and produced by Thea. Thea Gilmore is absolutely the record she wanted to make. In many ways the record she had to make. Sustained by the very public dissection of her personal life laid bare on her last full-length release, the stunningly intimate Afterlight, Thea‘s hard-earned reputation as one of the most distinctive, strident and bold singer songwriters of her generation propels her to reach for new ground and this new release feels like a great leap forward into tomorrow.
“That’s why this is my first self-titled album,” she explains. “On my last album I changed my name to Afterlight and drew a line under everything I’d done up to that point. Not to invalidate it, but to put an end to the ‘before’. It was a very inward-looking record that was rooted in the darkness of everything that happened to me up to 2019, whereas this album has its head up and is eyeing the world as a challenge. It’s a logical forward motion – the emergence from the shadows of Afterlight into the relative lightness of Thea Gilmore – in a renewal of my vows to music; my first love. In a weird way it feels like a debut of sorts so it made sense to make it eponymous.”
Across 12 tracks Thea delves into the cracks between the paving slabs of life’s big themes. She’s exploring the understanding that comes with experience, choosing her battles and finding out who she is now. The stunning She Speak In Colours is a song for love and loss written as part of BBC Radio 2’s critically lauded 21st Century Folk project, an initiative that sees 5 singer-songwriters pair up with 5 BBC Radio 2 listeners who have faced or are facing adversity, and write a song about each of their lives. Watch Thea perform her incredibly moving track about a young girl called Ellen who sadly passed away at the age of 16 in front of Ellen’s family for the very first time here. The Next Time You Win with its simple piano figures and its collage of spoken and sung lines seems to both accept the way the world works while reaffirming the pledge to stand on the frontline of change. Thea Gilmore will be available on all digital platforms as well as CD and Vinyl. Exclusive bundles are also available on the official store here.
Thea is also excited to bring the album to the stage, after getting a taste for it as main support for Frank Turner at Towersey Festival at the weekend. She will play London’s Union Chapel on 12th October and then an 11-date tour around the UK in early 2024. Full dates below. Tickets can be purchased here.
Thea Gilmore has made 20 albums since the release of her first, Burning Dorothy, in 1998. The veteran of hundreds of festivals, she has sold out shows across the globe. Her music features in Olivia Coleman’s film Joyride (2022), as well as Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead (2021), Blithe Spirit (2020) starring Judi Dench, and the BAFTA award winning Bait (2019).
Thea has worked with and won the admiration of cultural icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Martha Wainwright, John Cooper Clarke, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle and Beth Orton. Neil Gaiman (writer/showrunner of Netflix #1 show, The Sandman) is also a long-standing fan, describing her last album Afterlight (2021) as an “emotional rollercoaster in a musical wrapper… a postmortem with better lyrics, executed by someone who can sing her heart out even as she slices into yours.”
UK Tour Dates
12th October 2023 – Union Chapel, London
31st January 2024 — St. George’s, Bristol
1st February 2024 — SJE Arts, Oxford
2nd February 2024 — Huntingdon Hall, Worcester
3rd February 2024 — Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham
4th February 2024 — The Haymarket, Basingstoke
5th February 2024 — The Apex, Bury St. Edmunds
6th February 2024 — The Glee Club, Birmingham
7th February 2024 — Stoller Hall, Manchester
8th February 2024 — The Stables, Milton Keynes
9th February 2024 — Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
10th February 2024 — Sage 2, Gateshead
No Comment