26 Nov Katie Melua releases ‘Acoustic Album No. 8’
Georgian-British singer-songwriter and musician Katie Melua releases ‘Acoustic Album No. 8’, a collection of acoustic reworkings of her acclaimed 2020 release ‘Album No.8’. Produced by Zurab Melua, these stripped back performances present the songs and Katie’s singular voice at their most pure.
The album follows a busy chapter for Katie, who since last month has been recording and releasing her podcast series ‘The Detail’, with co-host and fellow songwriter Polly Scattergood. The podcast follows two recording artists from different corners of the music industry, as they speak with other musicians, composers, and music industry professionals exploring the detail behind the art of songwriting and making records.
The second single from the album, ‘Heading Home’, will also see its release shortly. The track’s nostalgic lyrics reveal Katie’s conflicted feelings of heartache and joy at returning to her birth country, “Heading Home is a song about a certain feeling every year when my family and I would fly back to Georgia to see my grandparents. We were lucky to be able to go back for holidays. It was always bittersweet, moving to the West meant so much for my family but missing home was just part of the deal. I wanted to see if I could capture in a song both that melancholy and excitement to see the homeland again.”
Other activity around ‘Acoustic Album No. 8′ includes; being recognised by BBC Radio 2 as one of their ’30 Biggest Selling Female Artists’, for her album ‘Call Off The Search’, and being a featured interview for BBC Radio 2’s ‘How To Write The Perfect…’ series (airing Sunday Nov 27th, 9:00pm).
Album No. 8 saw Katie expose herself with her most personal record to date, as she sought to take control of her music and public narrative. The tracks were not just an exploration into her personal and emotional state, but also challenged the creative depths of an artist who has seen a huge amount of commercial and critical success throughout her career. With high expectations, the album was widely recognized upon its release whilst also scoring Katie’s 8th consecutive UK top 10 studio album.
Released during the pandemic, when she was unable to tour, Katie would often share acoustic performances of the songs online, usually joined by her brother Zurab. “I’m proud of these songs and missed being able to tour around the release of the album last year. Performing them in this distilled way has given them a new lease of life. Zurab has a brilliant mind and we were able to do everything, apart from mastering, at home which is in a beautiful part of London. I think the tranquility and the green park around the area is part of the atmosphere on the record.”
“The aim was to have a recording that sounded like a live intimate concert” explains Zurab who takes the producer role for the first time. “So we simply played through the entire album a couple of times and Katie asked her long-time collaborator Mark Edwards to add some parts, and then we had Simon Goff play violin on two of the tracks – as Katie says, their musical instincts are just perfect. Some of the changes from the original songs are quite subtle, some like ‘A Love Like That’ are more drastic. I’m pleased with how it came out.”
The first single ‘Remind Me To Forget’, which features the double Grammy award-winning, renowned violinist Simon Goff, is an enticing introduction to these songs with Katie’s voice and guitar work seductive and elegiac. Complemented by the violin’s warmth, the track takes a life of its own, distinct from the poignant original. Katie had contacted Simon with the intention of collaborating a while ago, as she explains, “I’m such a fan of Simon Goff’s music so I got in touch with him to see if he wanted to work on a few projects together. It’s been an absolute honor, he put down the most cinematic, wind-like and earthy violin on ‘Remind Me To Forget’ and it makes me immeasurably proud.”
