LEEK: Foxlowe Arts Centre

Wednesday 25th October, 2023

7:30pm

Event information

Over the last three decades, Kristin Hersh’s prolific career has seen her heralded queen of the alternative release.

“One of indie rock’s most fascinating figures” (The Guardian) Hersh has released over 20 records solo, with Throwing Muses and 50FOOTWAVE to date. The author of an acclaimed memoir — based on her teenage diary — about a particularly eventful year, titled “Rat Girl” (“Paradoxical Undressing” in the UK). It saw Rolling Stone name it one of their “25 Greatest Rock Memoirs Of All Time”. A publishing first, she later released her ‘Crooked’ (2010) as a ground-breaking book that included the album, artwork, lyrics and an exclusive essay, something that was further explored with Throwing Muses album ‘Purgatory/Paradise’(2013). Her latest book “Don’t Suck, Don’t Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt” chronicles the pairs deep friendship and their time touring together.

In 2018 Hersh announced a new partnership with Fire Records that made possible the release of her tenth studio album, ‘Possible Dust Clouds’.

“I’m thrilled to find some like-minded teammates in the shifting paradigm of the recording industry. Together, we can do a lot more damage than we could ever pull off alone, and damage is what’s called for when an old guard is falling. This is gonna be a swell party.” Kristin Hersh

‘Possible Dust Clouds’ is a highly personalised gem delivered as a futuristic rewriting of how music works, a melodious breeze with a tail wind of venomous din. Enveloping the juxtaposition of the concept of ‘dark sunshine’, a brooding solo record created with friends to expand her off-kilter sonic vision; a squally, squeaky mix of discordant beauty. Feedback and phasing gyrate from simply strummed normality, imagine Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine cranking up a Dylan couplet.

“Sometimes the most subversive thing I can do musically is adhere to standard song structure, sometimes the creepiest chords are the ones we’ve heard before, twisted into different shapes, and sometimes a story is lived a thousand times before we can ride it like a roller coaster. Nothing wholly unfamiliar is gonna make you look twice. When you can describe a record as being “deceptively” anything, you are hinting at the sociopathic nature of music. Something I love.

Imagine truly buying your own sunshine and charm, but also your darkness and violence; the two sides of your psychology showing each other off in relief. Songs can do that…we can’t, really. Darkness we’ve seen. Dark sunshine? Still cool. I usually play all the instruments on my solo records – essentially the sound of having no friends – but sociopaths can’t realise their potential without people to work out their grievances on and this record is a freakin’ sociopath.” Kristin Hersh, July 2018

Seated show

doors 7.30pm £25