The new album from Kathryn Williams is something of a
disappointment. After the gloriously melancholic Old Low Light,
Relations – an album of covers – falls a little flat.
Williams describes the project as helping her fall in love with
music again and whilst such an aim is admirable, little of this
passion is communicated. Williams’ voice is as beautiful as ever – fragile
and ethereal. The album boasts an eclectic choice of songs, from
Nirvana’s ‘All Apologies’ to Leonard Cohen’s
‘Hallelujah’ which is mightily impressive. Unfortunately, the album lacks any coherent structure or form.
Listening to it is a little disquieting – the majority of
songs come close to being interesting, but stop just short of the
mark. This said, some of the songs, notably the opening ‘In A
Broken Dream’ and ‘Candy says’ benefit from
imaginative use of strings. ‘Candy says’ ingeniously
incorporates a toy piano which provides a telling counterpoint to
the self revelatory nature of the lyrics. Relations is inoffensive enough and provides lots of restful
listening for Sunday mornings or the occasional dinner party, but
lacks any real innovation. If Williams, is to maintain
credibility as a singer/songwriter, she needs to maintain
previous levels of creativity. Relations would work better as a collection of B-sides, with a
sticker firmly attached saying ‘for fans only’.
Hopefully with her next set Williams will try a little harder.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004
Kathryn Williams: Relations
