Listening To Careful Of Your Keepers, by This Is The Kit.

It is Thursday afternoon in my little corner of the universe. The weather has changed in the last few days. It feels quite autumnal as I gaze out of my kitchen window. There is still a lot of colour in my little garden. I am looking out at flowers called cosmos swaying in the breeze, and sweet peas which my niece Katherine gave me the seeds for. Katherine also kindly gifted me the music I am listening to at this very moment which is the most recent album by This Is The Kit called Careful Of Your Keepers. Kate Stables and Rozi Plain from the band also signed it for me which was nice of them. So, this is what I thought I’d tell you about today. The album was recorded in Bristol in December 2022 and produced by the Welsh musician Gruff Rhys who you may know from the band Super Furry Animals. I know him from his influence in awakening attention to the music of Wendy & Bonnie who I wrote about several years ago. As well as the band I saw in Frome last week consisting of Kate, Neil, Rozi and Jamie, there are also major contributions from Kate’s husband Jesse Vernon on various instruments and also horn arrangements. There is bassoon, flugelhorn, trombone, tenor sax, piano, and kora players on the album, and the Be OK choir on one track. If asked how I would describe the music of this album I think I would say something like folk-rock, with elements of jazz and psychedelia, but Kate Stables is a unique singer-songwriter poet who is hard to define.

Two people who know more about the band than me have said that this is their favourite Kit album, and I must say on first listen I found it immediately more accessible than Bashed Out which took several playing’s until it weaved its magic on me. Or that might be because I have got more attuned to their sound after seeing them live for the first time. That is especially true of the opening track Goodbye Bite which is the song I filmed in Frome and put on this blog page. I find Kate’s lyrics very poetic, but also enigmatic. This song mentions biting someone and the following song Inside Out mentions chewing, “I chew, chew, choose you”. It might be a metaphor for seeing how a relationship feels or tastes. The songs will mean different things to different people, as all art should. It has occurred to me that maybe Kate wrote these songs during lockdown which might have influenced, even subconsciously her mood and writing. I thought that because of some of the song titles such as, Stuck In A Room, Doomed Or More Doomed, Inside Out, I might be barking up the wrong tree there though. There is a lot of clever humour in her words, even if they are quite dark sometimes. In one song she says getting involved with someone is like playing ‘emotional Buckaroo’. You get the feeling that Kate thinks deeply about the meaning of life, and mulls it over in her songs, but she doesn’t necessarily have any answers, just questions. 

Sometimes the lyrics are sparse, as in Take You To Sleep which to me is about empathy for someone who is suffering, and all you can do is be there for them. It says, ‘give me your hand’, as does More Change which says, ‘If we’re holding hands, We’ll walk at the same speed’. (I urge you to watch the video of this song below because I think it is brilliant and funny. a work of art) The relentless rhythm of Jamie's drums and Neil's guitar are particularly excellent on This Is Where The Sky Gets Big. The title track Careful Of Your Keepers seems to me to be about the passing of time and the inevitability of old age, and how nature eventually reclaims everything. I think they performed Scabby Head And Legs in Frome, but I don’t know what it is about. Stuck In A Room might be one of my favourite tracks, short and sweet, with Kate’s spoken words and the excellent horn section accompaniment. Dibs brings the album to a glorious close. In Frome Kate used the audience to sing the refrain ‘Be OK’ which the choir sing on the album. The music descends into fuzzy psychedelia behind Kate’s voice before an abrupt ending that leaves you wanting more. I highly recommend this album, so thank you very much to Katherine for such a nice gift.

My Cosmos, Sweet Peas, & Other Plants.

 

This Is The Kit - More Change (Official Video)

Reet, Estonian Folksongs by Reet Hendrikson.

Estonia is a small country nestling on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It only has a population of about 1.3 million people, but those people seem to have music in their soul. You may recall I wrote a piece called Little Bells a couple of years ago which was about the Estonian composer Arvo Part who is arguably the greatest living composer in the world today. Well, today I thought I would tell you about another musician from Estonia who I recently discovered called Reet Hendrikson. However, unlike Arvo who is famous throughout the world, little is known about Reet, even in her native land. These days Estonia is a very prosperous country, but that hasn’t always been the case.

The country suffered terribly during long periods of the 20^th century, especially during WW2 when it was invaded firstly by the Soviets in 1940 and then by the Nazis. Estonia in that dark time lost 25% of its population. In 1944 faced with the twin evils of living under Stalin or Hitler tens of thousands of people fled westwards. This became known as ‘The Great Escape’. Many of the refugees perished in the icy waters of the Baltic, but many others reached Sweden and safety. From there a lot of people went to countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, and the UK and established an Estonian diaspora worldwide. One of the families that stayed in Sweden was that of Reet Hendrikson who was only a few months old when her parents made the decision to risk that perilous journey. So, Reet was brought up and educated in Sweden where there were many good schools for the ex-patriate community of her homeland. She must have been a bright kid because in the mid-1960s she was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship which allowed her to study in the USA.

When her college course ended in 1968 Reet arrived in Canada where she found a thriving Estonian community. At a summer seminar for ex-pats she was spotted singing by Andres Raudsepp of a tiny label called Reindeer Records who took her into the studio to record Reet, Estonian Folksongs. It was to be the only album she ever recorded. I doubt if more than a couple of hundred copies were ever sold. After Canada Reet lived in Boston for a while and mixed with other musicians on the local folk scene. In the 1980s she returned to live in Sweden and worked for the Swedish Radio archive. On visits to Estonia she helped other musicians as much as she could, providing them with sheet music and much needed repertoire. Finally in 1988/89 came what was known as the peaceful ‘Singing Revolution’ where Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania finally won back their independence from Russian domination. Reet sadly died in Stockholm in 2000 at the early age of 56 virtually unknown. In recent years however, thanks to the internet and places like youtube word began to spread, and people began to listen to her one and only album. In November 2023 an English label called Moved By Sound gave the album a limited re-release of 500 copies on vinyl and 1,000 copies on CD. Reet's mentor Andres Raudsepp also passed away in November 2023 at the age of 86 after writing the sleeve notes for the re-release, so I'm sure he was happy to know that his prodigy Reet was finally getting the attention she deserved.

Andres Raudsepp.

The CD popped through my letterbox last Saturday. The first track is called Meil Aiaaarne Tanavas which I think means We Have A Garden. When I heard the first few notes on her acoustic guitar, I was reminded of the melancholy sound of I Want To Be Alone by Jackson C. Frank, and when her crystal-clear voice began to sing, the haunting sound of The Garden Of Jane Delawney by The Trees came to mind. I have shared this song below which you might like to listen to, so you can decide for yourself what you think. I don’t think Reet wrote any of the songs, they are all traditional folk songs as far as I know. I don’t know what the songs are about either, although I did translate a couple of the song titles on a translation website. That doesn’t matter, because as the great Tony Benn once famously said on the Leftfield stage at Glastonbury, “Music is the international language, you don’t have to understand the words to appreciate the music”. 

I love her voice. Listening in my kitchen to my little CD player, her voice and simple but effective guitar playing sounds so intimate that you could almost think she was in the same room. I think the last time I thought that on first hearing a female singer was when I first played Colour Green by Sibylle Baier. I’m not saying Reet is the greatest singer ever, by any means, but I’m very glad somebody mentioned this album on a Facebook folk music page which led me to searching her out. I don’t think she is very well known, even in her own country, but I’m pleased she is finally getting some recognition for her small but significant contribution to the rich cultural heritage of Estonia.

Reet Hendrikson - Meil Aiaaarne Tanavas

This Is The Kit. The Cheese & Grain, Frome 17/08/2024.

When I wrote my Glastonbury review a few weeks ago I said that I didn’t think 2024 had been a vintage year musically. Well, I think I was being a bit unfair by saying that because I missed lots of great acts on the various stages because I didn’t make the effort, or was too tired to go and see them. People just don’t realise the long-distance walking that is involved going from stage to stage across the vast site. On the Park Stage alone for instance, I missed seeing Fontaines D.C, Dexys Midnight Runners, This Is the Kit, The Mary Wallopers, The Breeders, Lankum, Arooj Aftab, Johnny Flynn, London Grammar, and Baxter Dury. These are all acts I am sure I would have enjoyed. The Avalon Stage also had a great line-up, but I didn’t visit it at all. I especially wanted to see This Is The Kit because a friend had recommended them. Anyway, to cut to the chase, a few weeks ago I saw that they were playing at The Cheese & Grain in Frome, so I bought a ticket to partially make up for the Glasto disappointment.

I also thought I ought to get acquainted with their music and bought a CD called Bashed Out which was released in 2015. I chose that album because I read that it is regarded as their breakthrough album and had got rave reviews. It was produced by Aaron Dessner of The National who are another band I missed seeing at Glasto this year, although I have seen them before and thought they were great. The album certainly wasn’t just ‘bashed out’, it is excellently produced and grows on me with every listen. I also enjoyed watching on video a concert they played at the outdoor Minack Theatre in Cornwall which you can find on youtube. I should explain that This Is the Kit is the alias of singer-songwriter Kate Stables, as well as the band she fronts. Her family and friends call her Kit. The other members of her touring band are Rozi Plain (bass), Jamie Whitby-Coles (drums) and Neil Smith (guitar). Rozi also has her own band and a successful separate solo career.

The Cheese & Grain is my favourite local music venue. It has become quite famous in recent years with the likes of Paul McCartney and the Foo Fighters having played pre-Glasto warm up gigs there. In the last couple of years they have also added a very pleasant outdoor bar area which is where I met up with my niece Katherine and her friend Annie who is Kate Stables sister. There was a support performer playing called Izzie Yardley, but I was quite content sitting outside in the fresh air talking to Katherine, Annie, and other people. One fan of the band who I spoke to recommended a recent album called Careful of Your Keepers, so I resolved to buy that one at the merchandise table later if it was on sale.

At just before 9.00 we made our way indoors. It was a standing gig, and the hall was packed with people, it was hot and sweaty inside in contrast to the cool evening outside. Kate Stables jokingly described it as a ‘hammam’ gig. I was expecting some gentle folk rock but was surprised how loud the band were when they started playing. If you are expecting me to give you a setlist then you will be disappointed because I don’t have a clue what most of the songs were called. I loved the sound they make which has elements of what some people would call psych folk or freak folk, but I don’t know how Kate would describe their music. They slightly remind me of Devendra Banhart and at times the whimsical songs of Vashti Bunyan, also possibly an influence of Joni Mitchell. Rozi is a great bass player, and I love the guitar sound of Kate and Neil. 

Kate has a very likeable personality and seems totally devoid of rock musician ego. She told lots of amusing anecdotes in between the songs. Also, I’m not a great fan of banjo music, but when Kate played the banjo, she made it sound like nothing I have ever heard. They had played at the Green Man festival in Wales the day before and are playing at the Beautiful Days festival today. It must be really tiring with all the travel and performing, I don’t know how they do it, but last night in Frome they played a fabulous set of high energy music. I filmed one of the quieter songs Goodbye Bite which you can see below. I don’t think my filming really does them justice, but it might give you some small idea of the evening. I had to make a sharp exit at the end because my taxi had arrived, so I didn’t have time for the merch table, but when I got home Katherine messaged me to say she had bought me the CD I was after. I’ll tell you all about that when I have given it a few listens. Thank you very much to Kate Stables and This Is The Kit for a wonderful evening in Frome.