Album Review: Katherine Priddy - These Frightening Machines

 

Vibes freely flow. Words intuitively swirl. Sounds sweetly melt. Katherine Priddy leans on all the assets at her disposal to conjure a record of serious magnitude. Tossing a poetic instinct into an esteemed pot of musicians brews a stunning concoction of songs steering through personal change and insightful musings. Across ten tracks folk sensibilities court contemporary trappings dealing a sound purring with creative delight. THESE FRIGHTENED MACHINES buries itself into your psyche, inviting you to wallow in warm lyrical waters and bask in the sensuous mesmeric sounds. A single play piques the interest; multiple plays smooth the way for a keeper to bed in.

Momentum for Birmingham-based Priddy has been building over the last couple of years. Gentle evolution across subsequent albums accrued growth on numerous platforms with this latest effort accelerating the pace of progression. Released on Cooking Vinyl Records puts Priddy in fine company and affords opportunity to explore past a personal hinterland. However in the midst of finely inserted strings, blasts of mariachi and snippets of electronica, a beautiful voice accompanied by simple acoustic guitar still calls the ultimate shots.

The three singles sent a strong message that something special was in the can. ‘Matches’ lit the fuse with its powerful and subtle sentiment tackling gender issues armed with the stellar line: 

Remember when you tell the tale of how we climbed those pyres 

They weren’t burning witches, it was women on those fires.

‘Frightening Machines’ came next unveiling  an exposure to life’s vulnerabilities. The final single sounded the most profound siren as the distinctly unique ‘Hurricane’ showed the depth of sonic orientation. A track remaining the standout as the rest of the content surfaced. 

Those aware of Katherine Priddy outside the studio will know the liaison with George Boomsma who often joins her on stage. The pair teamed up on 'I’m Always Willing', the only co-write on the album. Boomsma also played guitar and mandolin on the album recording. This is one of two duets to feature with Richard Walters appearing on vocals. Torres being the other guest vocalist chipping in on ‘Madeleine’, one of the gentler tracks in the collection with cello coming to the fore. 

Greek mythology is one of Priddy's passions and its theme has featured on previous albums. The pattern continues in two tracks, 'Atlas' and 'Sirius'. The former contains some inspired writing with Don’t be afraid to say that your back is breaking equating the strains of modern life with a historical relevance. 

'Table 4’ sits comfortably in a parade of deep meaning songs ushering in a longing for personal comforts. The preceding track in the running order, ’A Matter of Time’, epitomises the album's quintessence. 

The crowning moment is the lyrical parting gift:

I have seen how hearts can splinter 

Love can’t always last the Winter 

If only we were evergreen 

Instead of August’s fever dream

This enables ‘Could This Be Enough’ to bring the curtain down on a record wonderfully expressive in the optimum coalescence of beautiful vocals, innovative soundscape and applied verse.

Under the stewardship of Rob Ellis and a structure to prosper, THESE FRIGHTENING MACHINES sees Katherine Priddy scale the third album landmark to announce her talent to a wider audience. It is an album for the times protracting a sound to turn heads.