Apr 2008

'Dreams of Breathing Underwater' is Eliza Carthy's latest album and her second which is self-penned (bar one track,'Hug You Like A Mountain' by Rory McLeod). Due for release via her long standing (and truly independent ) label, Topic Records, it has been co-produced by Ben Ivitsky in Edinburgh.

The 12 tracks not only showcase an inventive, innovative singer and fiddle-player, but also reveal Eliza as a gifted musical conceptualist. Powerful, vital and exuberant rhythms, absorbed from her travels around the globe, characterise 'Dreams of Breathing Underwater', a highly original album. Percussion, bass, brass and a chamber orchestra weave a rich tapestry against which to display her incomparable voice. A range of accomplished performers and fellow musicians, including Eddi Reader and Toby Shippey (Salsa Celtica), provide excellent support.

Describing herself simply as a 'modern British musician', she has become one of the most dazzling musicians of a generation. She has more than most, revitalised folk music and captured the most hardened of dissenters with intelligent, charismatic and boundary-crossing performance. Fearless, colourful and maverick in the best tradition of English songwriters, 'Dreams of Breathing Underwater' presses Carthy's many and varied skills into action.

• Q (Magazine) (p.132) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "'Lavender' sees singer and string section morphing into one luminous sound painting of sunshine on water. Bewitching and original."

Eighth solo album from one of the UK's most talented and respected folk artists, but only the second - following her sole major label outing, 2000's 'Angels & Cigarettes' - to wholly feature self-penned material. Like that album, this sees Carthy stepping outside her comfort zone to write in a much more pop-influenced style, experimenting with electrification, mariachi stylings and other world music influences absorbed on her travels around the globe.

Personnel: Eliza Carthy (vocals, ukulele).

In the early 1990s, Eliza Carthy, daughter of Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, brought a much needed creative shot in the arm to English folk music. She updated traditional tunes with contemporary beats and was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, for 1998's RED RICE. Five years later she was nominated again, for the aptly titled ANGLICANA, which took a more traditional approach, preferring to focus attention on songs and quality of musicianship rather than contemporary arrangements.