"Pure" and "Carnage" by Katherine Abbott
Review
There was I gearing myself up to review Katherine Abbott's new single "Pinch of Salt" on 1st July when out of the blue she drops two extra tracks today: "Pure" and "Carnage".
This could constitute playfulness on her part (well it must do to some extent I think) but the explanation she gives is that these are somewhat older tracks and "….if I don't release them now they'll just stay hidden away in my Google drive forever so today I'm setting them free" which is kind to them & kind to us.
Engineered by Olly Green (who also provides "his psychedelic electric guitar & other instrumentation") and mastered by Joshua Woolf, just looking at the titles, I can conceive of a Katherine Abbott song called "Pure" but one called "Carnage" certainly raised my eyebrow. I suppose there may in some people have been a temptation to couple them into a ‘Pure Carnage' EP but that would devalue the virtues of each by suggesting connections which probably don't exist and Katherine is an artist above such things.
And so I played them: as I hope you will too. I'll go further & state to have withheld these from us might have constituted an act of cruel cultural punishment.
"Pure" is definitely a live set highlight and letting us have our own copies at home is not just generous but fulfilling a basic need for her fans. Those people who cite it as their favourite of her songs and those who feel it's the best they've heard from her so far are not going to lack respect from me. I might even share their views. Many songs are well rounded & full of quality but it's a rare one which seems artistically complete as this one: it says precisely what needs saying and no more, music and words complement each other fully and I'd also suggest that it's her most accessible song. It deserves a wide audience and I just hope it doesn't get placed in the shade by the upcoming scheduled release.
"Carnage" is also an essential possession as it demonstrates a very different side to Katherine: the style being as close as I've heard her get to a dance track yet thankfully none of the unKatherine images I had in my head initially apply: this isn't a tale of a single literal bloodbath but it's nonetheless an arresting title which pulls one in.
Typically it's the writer ruminating and singing some philosophy. This is one thoughtful writer and on this occasion she muses about time & culture and the latter changing in response to the former. Ideas fly thick and fast: does humanity ever learn or just repeat its mistakes? Just how bright are we as a species? How do personal politics mirror international ones? There is her usual preference for expressing sorrow over pity but beneath the beguiling delivery and the gentle grooving beat, you can't really doubt that she's not impressed by what she sees.
And we still have "Pinch of Salt" to come next week… it's got a high bar to surpass with this pair.
