Customer Reviews
kathryn williams - By: Mrs. Yvonne J. Overell, 27 Mar 2010 
some excellent tracks like White Lines & a few more mediocre ones but worth buying....a good listen
"Dreams are where inventions sleep" - By: cathy earnshaw, 28 Feb 2010 
"The Quickening" presumably refers to the increased speed & spontaneity with which Kathryn Williams recorded the songs for her eighth album -in four days, live, with a maximum of three takes & without the musicians having heard the melodies before. It's also a match for her contemplative lyrics.
I know people get annoyed if you pay too much attention to the lyrics, but hers are always reliably interesting; unlike so many female singer-songwriters or performers dominating the airwaves these days (who seem to overcompensate for a lack of authentic individuality with forced eccentricity), KW's feel natural & unpretentious. There are some great one-liners: "Watch youin my lunchtime / like a silent matinee show" or "The nerves down my arms hit like sparks". She loves similes!
The first track - 50 White Lines - is fantastic, with its jaunty rhythm & mechanical counting of the recorded voice. Winter is Sharp is also more quickly paced than the others (I never understood why Guardian journalists complain about her music being too one-paced & maudlin - it's not!). Kate St John, who was musical director for the phenomenal Nick Drake tribute concertsin January this year, produced the album with KW & plays accordion & hurdy gurdy. Neill MacColl, who was a session musician at the same shows & collaborated with KW on the last album, contributes banjo (which sounds great!), mandolin, & guitar playing.
The doll's house on the cover & the miniature figures which inhabit the pictures inside reflect a love of the small world, of detail & domesticity that you can hearin her music, too. The album hasn't quite managed to replace Little Black Numbers, Over Fly Over or Old Low Lightin my affections yet, & there are two tracks which I couldn't warm to as much as the others (Little Lesson, Up North).
She's playing London's Purcell Room on 6 March & before that Manchester, Glasgow, & Newcastle.
Standouts (IMHO): 50 White Lines, Wanting & Waiting, Noble Guesses, Just Leave
Her best yet - and the others were good too! - By: Simon Higgens, 22 Feb 2010 
One of Britain's finest singer/songwriters, Kathryn Williams wholly deserves the airtime that this album has enjoyed on national radioin the weeks leading up to its official launch. If you are new to her music, please ignore the Folk-Rock tag that the official review classes her as; that is a misnoma & her music is much more than that. She writes wonderfully crafted songs about contemporary issues & sings them beautifully. If you are not new to her music, you will not be disappointed with this album. In my humble opinion, I regard her music as highly as Richard Hawley.
