Cathy Davey “Tales of Silversleeve” review
Usually, I don’t post album reviews here because they are, after all, published in The Ticket every Friday and that’s just a click away. But last week’s rock/pop reviews didn’t make the jump from the paper to the website so I thought I’d post the Cathy Davey album review here instead.
Having seen her show in Whelan’s last night, I’m even more convinced that we’re in the presence of something very special indeed. Even the old songs sounded good last night - after all, the problems there were to do with the production rather than the songs. Davey has a rocking band with her at the moment (Bell X1’s Paul Noonan is on drums and ex-Immediate dude Conor O’Brien is on guitar) and her own growing stage confidence is also striking. An artist with an album as sussed and sassy as this doesn’t come along all too often. Review in full after the jump (by the way, it’s a long one because it was due to be CD of the Week until Thom Yorke got it into his little head to unleash the Radiohead album in the same week).
CATHY DAVEY
Tales of Silversleeve
EMI
*****
Where the hell did this came from? Is this the same Cathy Davey whose debut album, 2004’s uneven and dull “Something Ilk”, received plenty of accolades, but by no means warranted a ticker-tape parade? Is this the same girl with a guitar who always seemed to fit into niches, but never seemed capable of carving out one of her own? Did I put the right CD in the player?
Yes, yes and, well, yes. “Tales of Silversleeve” is the album of the season which will leave you breathless and not just at the panache and dash employed to merrily pack those preconceptions off to Coventry.
Here’s a bright, bold and breezy rush of imagination, creativity and sheer glorious sounds, an album of sequins, sparkles and swagger. There are 11 songs here which are utterly – utterly – in love with the possibilities which occur in that atomic pop moment when everything is destined to go boom, if you know the right buttons to push.
And Davey has that knowledge. Sure, her accomplice, onetime Sneaker Pimp Liam Howe, helps clear the lines, but there’s no over-priced journeyman producer here trying to turn the Dubliner into his latest puppet on a string. Every note you can hear sounds as it’s coming from the heart – and there are even a few which sound like they’re coming from the soul too.
Just listen to the nagging groove propelling “Moving”, for instance. The pitch is so simple, so obvious, so daftly perfect, that you wonder just why no-one thought of it before. The track is no fluke either because it is preceded by three others and followed by another one which all bear the hallmarks of greatness. That’s five killer songs in a row, including the showstealing “Reuben” and the slinky “Mr Kill” (both of which Robyn and Kylie would happily kill for), before Davey pauses for a cup of tea and a biscuit.
The most charming pop album you’ll hear in Zero Seven. It’s time for that ticker-tape parade.
Download tracks: “Sing For Your Supper”, “Reuben”, “The Collector”, “Moving”, “Mr Kill”
I was there last night as well and I couldn’t fathom why she kept apologising because I thought she and the whole band were wonderful. Impeccably constructed songs and Conor O’Brien is quite the secret weapon, I thought he was doing loads of subtle but amazing things in the background. Actually, why am I writing all this in your comments section when I should be finishing up the blog post about it I started during lunch.
Comment by Ian | October 16, 2007 at 4:16 pmi couldnt understand that either. I think she was nervous because it was only the keyboard player’s second show with the band. I reckon she must have been apologising like a mad one in belfast the night before then.
You’re on the money about the “subtle but amazing” stuff - all the band were at it (humming, backing vocals lifted from Flaming Lips, weird percussion stuff etc). It was fabulous!
Comment by Jim Carroll | October 16, 2007 at 4:25 pmI love her, and haven’t had the opportunity to see her yet…but soon.
But i have to say i think Something Ilk is a great album, and one that i keep returning to and happily listening to again and again. I don’t do that with new-ish albums often.
Comment by cait | October 16, 2007 at 5:29 pmSince Mr Yorke decided t only release his band’s album in some sort of magical digital form, this could still have beent he CD of the week.
My old-fashioned technicality aside, I’m delighted this album is finally out and it’s great that she seems to be finally getting some of the recognition she deserves. Now all I have to do is make it down to one of the remaining Whelan’s shows.
Comment by kDamo | October 17, 2007 at 12:37 amkD.
Spot on about the ‘coming out of nowhere’ bit.. It’s a great, great album, I loved it from the first listen.
Comment by Lauren | October 17, 2007 at 11:13 amcait - i’ve went back to the first album again and, while the songs are sound, i still dont like the production. by contrast, nearly every single thing she tries on the new album comes off. it makes you realise just how rare fully realised debut albums are.
kDamo - i wish i had thought of that last week!
lauren - that’s the thing, the album is so flaming instant, no messing about, you get it right from the get-go.
Comment by Jim Carroll | October 17, 2007 at 11:48 amI’m with Cait on this one. One feature of the current bout of Cathy-mania seems to be a complete and total dismissal of her debut. I love her debut album, and quite often on a Saturday morning it can be heard blazing out of the speakers chez-Brautigan as the beloved & I decimate the contents of assorted frying pans and grill trays.
As far as the bells and whhistles of the album go, I’m a big Elbow fan, so anything connected to that magnificent band gets my vote too.
Comment by Brautigan | October 18, 2007 at 11:03 amCrikey, I got so caught up with the old I forgot to mention the new. “Tales of Silversleeve” is awesome. And I have to tip my hat at her Watercress approach to gigs, what with four night stands and all that.
Comment by Brautigan | October 18, 2007 at 11:06 amI agree with Cait, love the first album, Something Ilk. Maybe its a bit raw, but I think its texture and artistry benefit from that. Perhaps it depends on whether you prefer raw or polished music.
I think there is a magic in debut albums that is rarely captured in subsequent releases.
However I am delighted for Cathy that she now has an artistic raw album and a more polished immediate one. Look forward to debates on which one people prefer.
Comment by Finola | October 18, 2007 at 12:37 pmPicked up the record today, only played it once but provided that it’s not one that gets old I have to say that it’s astonishingly good. Gushing review on thrillpier in the works.
Comment by Ian | October 18, 2007 at 3:55 pmMade it to the Whelans show this week which was pretty great. Really enjoyed the set, though throught the running order wasn’t the best.
The more I listen to the album, the more I think that some of these songs are just asking for some quality remix action. I’d love to see Jape get his hands on Moving.
Comment by kDamo | October 25, 2007 at 11:16 ami missed out on seeing her again. This always happens. Heard her on Ian Dempsey this morning, and Reuben sounded AMAZING.
I was thinking of Something Ilk as well, and i think Finola’s def onto something about the raw ness.
Out of the many cds in our house, of 4 girls, (not sure if that’s relevant at all) Something Ilk is pretty much on a constant rotation.
Comment by cait | October 30, 2007 at 3:01 pmi also agree with Cait about Something Ilk, cold man’s nightmare, clean & neat, go make it are terrific pop songs and i think the new album could do with a couple of quirky little gems like old man rain. it’s still great though, hope it makes an impact overseas for her.
Comment by Ciaran | November 7, 2007 at 2:09 amEvery so often I hear one song that immediately makes me want to pick up the album, Silversleeve is one such album. Reuben has been playing quite a bit on TodayFM over the past week and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
So on Saturday morning, a drive to a local record to pick it up, and it went straight into the car’s CD player the moment I got back to the car, and I have to say, whilst I think Reuben is a great track, the first track “Sing for your supper” immediately levelled me. It’s a stunningly good track, and I can’t help but flick back to it constantly.
It’s such a good track, I’m struggling to familiarise myself with the rest of the album, but that’ll happen.
An excellent album, not even heard about this artist until last week - will almost certainly be checking out her gig when she comes to Galway next month, and her debut album may get added to my Christmas amazon wishlist.
Comment by David Cochrane | November 12, 2007 at 12:58 pm