Posts Tagged ‘PicaPica’

JOSIENNE CLARKE – ” In All Weather “

Posted: October 1, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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With an elegant, nuanced and emotionally affecting singing style (Cerys Matthews described her as having a voice that can “trickle back over centuries”) Josienne Clarke has frequently been compared to the great Sandy Denny, but present too are elements of Nina Simone and Gillian Welch; all three are important influences on her work.

In recent years, Josienne has supported the great Richard Thompson on a dream-come-true tour of the UK and opened for the legendary Robert Plant across Europe, as well as performing at some of the UK’s best-loved festivals, including Latitude, Larmer Tree and End Of The Road. She also found herself in demand as a writer and broadcaster, contributing to Standard Issue magazine and appearing on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb to discuss her pet subject melancholy, alongside poet Simon Armitage.

Expanding beyond the folk music for which she was first known, Josienne has partnered with rising star jazz pianist Kit Downes to release the Such A Sky EP. And her friendship with London-based Scottish singer songwriter Samantha Whates bloomed into the group PicaPica, whose debut album was released by Rough Trade in 2019.

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Her latest solo album In All Weather is the result of an enormous upheaval in Josienne’s life. Putting an end to toxic personal and professional relationships, she moved to a Scottish island to write and record 13 songs that stand as a manifesto of how to leave and how to change. Music critic Tim Cumming described the new work as “not so much about heartbreak as about knowledge. There is no one to match her in that regard, perhaps in any genre.”

releases November 8th, 2019

All songs written and composed by Josienne Clarke

PICA PICA – ” Small Time/Secret “

Posted: February 20, 2018 in MUSIC
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Picapica 1

One for sorrow and two for joy. PicaPica features the vocal interplay of Josienne Clarke and Samantha Whates, dual front women who create powerful harmonies atop layers of texture created by Adam Beattie & Sonny Johns, a tiding of magpies picking shiny moments of tone and timbre from 60s west coast, sunshine pop and indie folk.

Josienne and Samantha met on the London acoustic music scene several years ago and immediately shared a love of singing and writing. They have been unofficially collaborating for years, often singing backing vocals for each other’s projects or just singing harmonies together for the pure enjoyment of it. PicaPica represents a long-held ambition to write, record and perform new material together and to join with like-minded musicians to explore what it’s like to be in a band. When writing, Josienne and Samantha (AKA “Pica One” & Pica Two”) take two versions of the same idea and the songs are built around that concept in various ways, they sometimes even have two titles for each song, one by Josienne, one by Samantha. Good music loves a contrast. Spring and shade, harmony and melody, brightness and deadpan… So do PicaPica. As writers, they compose songs that hold the sadness closer, yet let the joy fly higher.

“Pica Three”, aka Adam Beattie, Scotland’s king of soft-spoken chanson, brings gently morphing textures and detailed guitar playing to every bar, while “Pica Four” is Sonny Johns – a Grammy, Mercury and MOBO-nominated producer/engineer. Sonny’s bass playing and production give PicaPica’s otherworldly compositions a seriously grounded sound.

Their first EP, “Spring & Shade” contains four songs freely- designed to bewitch the listener until its fifteen minutes are over. This is music for memories that creep in under the door. Songs that wear their cares lightly, shining in the dark. Simply, beautiful, beguiling, elegant sounds.

From PicaPica’s EP ‘Spring & Shade’: