The Anchoress - Popular

1.    Who is this lass?

The Anchoress is Catherine Anne Davies an indie pop singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer who fights out of Buckinghamshire, England, by way of Glynneath, Wales. Popular (Oct’15) bounces off The Anchoress's debut album Confessions Of A Romance Novelist (Jan’16).


2. What’s spinning?

Popular is bouncy, piano assisted, pure pop. Both languid and spritely and with a smidgeon of lyrical depth.


3. Who does The Anchoress sound like?

MisterWives and Gwen Stefani. The Guardian compared Popular to Marina and The Diamonds.


4. What have the press said about Popular?

“It’s unconventional” – The Line Of Best Fit.

“Pleasant pop” – The Guardian.

“Cerebral” – Clash Music.

 

5. Which bands have put the pop in The Anchoress’s music?

Catherine Anne Davies major influences are PJ Harvey, David Bowie, Prince, Kate Bush and The Carpenters.

 
6. Why should I give Popular a play?

Popular is pop done well and evokes playground politics.


7. Does The Anchoress have any more bubbly ones?

Popular finds her at the peak of her powers.


8. More words?

Confessions Of A Romance Novelist was recorded with Paul Draper from Mansun.

In 2015 Catherine Anne Davies played in the Simple Minds live band.

 

 

“And I like to read about the girls that lost their heads and their minds”

 

 

It would be rude to go past Simple Minds for dessert. Simple Minds are a post-punk band from Glascow, Scotland. Formed in 1977 they have over eighteen albums and are still going strong. Alive and Kicking was a US number one and came from the band's most successful album Once Upon A Time (1985) and was called by Spin, “an ornate epic.”

 

“What you gonna do when things go wrong?”

 

 

The Best Indie Tunes of 2014 - Strand of Oaks

Strand of Oaks Goshen’97 (Apr’14) is insistent, raw and emotive. Wailing guitars provide the intro and then it's more guitar galore, more rock than indie and more story-telling than big chorus indie pop. Think The Hold Steady, The Gaslight Anthem or The Airborne Toxic Event and The Boss most obviously.

Music for the top six inches not the six between your legs.

 

 

Strand of Oaks are singer/songwriter Timothy Showalter’s project. He plays out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  and has four albums under his belt. 

This missive is from the fourth album HEAL (June’14).

Showalter declares himself “so into U2” and but there are a lot of folk influences in there too.

Other tunes worth a crack are Shut In and Same Emotions.

 

 

 

 

 

The Airborne Toxic Event are an indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. They started in 2006. Their main influences are Bruce Springsteen, U2 and The National. They have been compared to Arcade Fire and The National. Numb (2011) is from their second album All At Once (2011) and is a song Spin called "a gorgeously wailing new wave soundtrack."