Mcgee, Kirsty -& The Hobopop Collective-
The Deafening Sound Of Stars
Drawing on old vinyl blues, gospel, '30s jazz, Brechtian ballads and Brill Building sensibilities, Kirsty eschews the lures of genre stereotyping. Constantly striving for new and inspirational backdrops for her soundscapes, The Deafening Sound Of Stars sees the release of 14 new songs as well as a limited edition 'sister' record of field recordings made in Italy last summer. Kirsty began writing the album in a caravan in the Mojave desert in the autumn of 2015, planning to make a series of field recordings inspired by jazz standards. A first attempt to record the songs was made in Arctic Norway in January 2018 and this was followed up by a second pass in Italy later that year. 'We recorded live and without air conditioning in the swamp heat of a humid August. Two days in a wooden cellar by a church whose bells chimed twice on the hour and once at half past, later in a fifteenth century church in the Italian mountains where I kept cool by placing my feet on freezer blocks and sang whilst being feasted on by mosquitoes in 40 degree heat.' Recorded in Leeds UK, the final incarnation of the album features Kirsty's full band that includes players from Beats & Pieces Big Band, Richard Hawley's band and arrangements inspired by Mulatu Astatke and Tom Waits. The bigger arrangements create an album that's cinematic in its musical scope and that delights in exploring musical colour, shape and form.