Thea Gilmores last album, the dizzyingly literate Rules for Jokers, introducedAmerica to one of the UKs hottest young prospects: a sharp-tongued, melodicallygripping songwriter with ability and attitude in equal measure. In the traditionof stormy wordsmiths like Dylan, Costello, and Westerberg, Gilmore weds herobservations to a raging hybrid of folk immediacy, pop polish, and a gracefullilt that is entirely her own. Avalanche builds on the lyrical ambitions ofRules for Jokers, seamlessly integrating the personal and political into stark,disarming vignettes. While her wordly focus and intensity have grownever-sharper, Avalanche is equally notable for the expansion of Gilmoresmusical palette the album is deeper, more textured and spacious than anythingshe has put onto tape previously. Over a rich bed of acoustic guitars, filteredand layered percussion, and himing electronics, Gilmores voice shines as itnever as before.
“Her confident wordplay puts her in a league with Dylan and Costello whenthey were her age
Pulse
“Arriving on the scene like a female descendant of punk’s initial angry youngman phase (namely Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and Joe Jackson), she draws herweapons from a fully loaded arsenal of sarcastic vitriol in order to ruthlesslystab her points home
” Paste Music
“A lushness of poetic vision that’s leavened by spiky-punky confidence likeif Joni Mitchell had grown up listening to Patti Smith and paid her dues byperforming Ani DiFranco covers
” Seattle Weekly
Selections:
1. Rags and Bones
2. Have You Heard
3. Juliet (Keep That in Mind)
4. Avalanche
5. Mainstream
6. Pirate Moon
7. Apparition 13
8. Razor Valentine
9. God Knows
10. Heads Will Roll
11. Eight Months
12. The Cracks
