Catherine Graindorge - Eldorado [CD]

Cat. no: GBCD113
Format: CD
Barcode: 4030433611326
Release Date: 01 Oct 2021
Genre: Jazz

Catherine Graindorge is a Belgian violinist, violist and composer. Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Rokia Traor ) Eldorado is her second solo album and her first for Glitterbeat’s tak:til imprint.

Gorgeous and haunting, Graindorge uses strings, harmonium and electronic treatments to explore intimate corners and widescreen vistas.

Although she’s best-known for her collaborations - with a range of artists from Nick Cave to Mark Lanegan, as well as her work as part of Nile on waX, and for the music she’s written for film and theatre - Graindorge had been intending a second solo release for years. But Eldorado had a much longer gestation period than she expected.

That period paid dividends. The music, she says, became “like a diary,” and each page brings new reflections and resonances. She worked with producer John Parish (PJ Harvey, Rokia Traor ), who played various instruments on the album, including the guitar on the homage “Eno.” Graindorge had sent him her first album, and they built a friendship that led to her recording most of this disc at his studio. Artistically, it was a perfect match.

“I loved working with him,” she explains. “Not only is he an excellent musician but I love his relationship with sound and music: he is curious, always looking for sounds, there is a rough and direct side to his approach to music that I liked. I wanted this new album to be more radical, a hybrid and raw like our thoughts and emotions, perhaps less ‘smooth’ than the first one so it corresponded more to what I feel today.”

PRINT/ONLINE:
Reviews in The Wire, Record Collector, Monolith Cocktail, The Arts Desk, hiapop.com, and many more

RADIO
Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC Radio 6 Music, Georgia Ruth on BBC Radio Cymru, Max Reinhardt’s Late Lunch on Soho Radio, The Hello Goodbye Show on Resonance FM, Crispin Dior on Totally Wired Radio, Out Of This World podcast on Podbean

Tracks: Rosalie / Lockdown / Eldorado / Ghost Train / Sailing In The Air / Butterfly In A Frame / Before The Flood / Kangaroos In Fire / Eno