Thelma and Louise and Georgia Ruth
A quick listen to the new single from one of Wales' finest songwriters.
If you haven’t come across it yet, here’s the first single from the up-coming fourth studio album from Georgia Ruth, one-time harpist darling of the Welsh folk scene, but for some time now one of Wales’ most interesting and distinctive writers of reflective, playful pop songs (if that’s not selling her a little short). Georgia Ruth’s vocal style and propensity for ear-catching melodic twists marks her out as an artist always worth watching out for. I’ve been writing about her since her debut album, Week of Pines, came out in 2013, and I look forward to writing about Cool Head, her latest album from which this new single is taken, when it comes out in June.
The one thing I always enjoy about Georgia Ruth’s music is the subtle richness of it, and anyone who is familiar with her Radio Cymru music show will be aware of her encyclopaedic range of musical influences. Her band is always tight and in the groove, but inside the relaxed sound are tingles lit by the wealth of music she has in her head. It was only on the third or fourth listen to Driving Dreams, for instance, that I realised this was Georgia Ruth by way of Histoire de Melody Nelson, from Stephen Black’s clipping bass to the punchy echoes of the biting strings.
And that’s good enough for me. Bring on the album in June.