Astrid Williamson announces forthcoming single
aaamusic | On 29, Jul 2011
Astrid Williamson
New Single ‘Pour’
One Little Indian, 8th August
Pour, released as forthcoming album Pulse’s lead single on 8th August, marks an arresting new development in Astrid Williamson’s career, the seeds of which were sown when she witnessed guitarist/ambient man Leo Abrahams perform as part of Brian Eno’s Pure Scenius project at 2010 Brighton Festival. Inspired, Williamson sent him a dozen demos she had been working on: They struck a chord in Abrahams and he responded immediately, detecting that Astrid was ready to explore somewhere she hadn’t been before – “Pretty much the condition under which I like to work with an artist.”
Like the rest of the album, Pour’s lyrically deals with affairs of the heart; musically a watery, spine-tingling piano motif weaves elegantly amongst techno beats and electronica. On the flip are extraordinary remixes from of-the-moment remixers/ producers Raffertie and PhOtomachine are to be found.
If Joni Mitchell had looked into the future when she was about to record Blue and absorbed the influence of Talk Talk, it might well have come out sounding like Pulse, its pared-back currents creating a haunting intensity with uplifting light and space.
Says Astrid of the sound of Pulse. “I wanted this time to make something different, an album where my voice was central to proceedings, in a lot of space – something more ambient. I also needed someone else to work with, to not be holding the reins for once. I wanted to be challenged again.”
