aaamusic | On 30, Jul 2011

Sarabeth Tucek releases her new single, ‘Smile For No One’, via Sonic Cathedral Recordings on September 12.

It is the second single to be taken from Sarabeth’s album ‘Get Well Soon’ which, upon its release in April, was acclaimed by everyone from The Times and Q magazine to the Daily Mirror and The Quietus. It was that rare thing, an album that appealed to people of all musical persuasions, its title track becoming something of a panacea for the general malaise of modern life.

However, the subject matter of ‘Get Well Soon’ was actually very personal to Sarabeth, the album being based around her reaction to the death of her father some years previously. ‘Smile For No One, with its countrified harmonies (courtesy of producer and multi-instrumentalist Luther Russell), represents one of the lighter moments on the album, at least musically.

“I wanted the feel of the music to belie the lyrical content,” says Sarabeth of the track, before going on to explain how the prominent piano was added as an “homage to Cat Stevens”. She was introduced to Stevens’ classic 1970 album ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ by her mother and it has been a long-time favourite.

The B-sides of the new digital-only single include a short and bittersweet new song called ‘Something/Anything’, which was apparently written and recorded without any prior knowledge of Todd Rundgren’s 1972 double album of the same name. The other track is the ‘In My Room Demo’ version of the title track of ‘Get Well Soon’, which adds a chiming guitar refrain that makes the song sound even more like some long-lost outtake from Big Star’s ‘Third/Sister Lovers’.

Sarabeth Tucek plays the following live dates in September:

September 1 – London – St Pancras Old Church
September 2 – Dorset – End Of The Road Festival (Local Stage)
September 3 – Liverpool – St Bride’s Church
September 4 – Newcastle – Cluny 2
September 5 – Glasgow – Captain’s Rest
September 6 – Leeds – Oporto
September 7 – Manchester – Castle Hotel
September 9 – Oxford – St Columba’s Church

Praise for ‘Get Well Soon’

“One of this year’s most striking albums”
The Guardian

“A starkly beautiful record that mines the sounds of the last four decades of Americana” 4/5
Q

“A dignified record bound together by grief” 4/5
The Times

“Yes, it’s another introspective, acoustic singer-songwriter album, but this one’s for real”
The Quietus

“A small-hours classic” 4/5
The Stool Pigeon

“Somewhere in the triangle created by Nico, Beth Gibbons and Joni Mitchell” 8/10
Loud And Quiet

“Brilliant”
Daily Mirror

“This magnificent record will live forever” 10/10
The Music Fix

“A timeless wonder”
BBC Music

“A set of songs that are as disquietingly spare as they are beautiful” 4/5
Uncut

“A very cathartic, human purge of emotions that very few artists manage to capture on record” 9/10
The 405

“If you’re not left in a mournful daze, tears blistering your eyes then surely you can’t be human”
The Line Of Best Fit

“Heartbreaking”
Mojo

“There’s something truly unique about Sarabeth Tucek that hits the heart”
Amelia’s Magazine

“One of the most candid songwriters of her generation” 8/10
Drowned In Sound

“A touching testament to the strength of the human spirit”
The Von Pip Musical Express

“Convalescent, and luminescent”
NME

“There is something extremely special about this record”
For Folk’s Sake

“A stunning, emotive album”
Music OMH

“From the same dark place as Big Star’s ‘Third’”
Music Week

“‘Get Well Soon’ is a remarkable album and you should own it” 9/10
Soundblab