Rachael Dadd

“Late contender for the best of the year lists...brilliantly unusual, unexpected tracks, you never know what she`s going to do next” - Lauren Laverne “Bold art folk...accomplished fusion of words, acoustic strumming and wild percussive textures” - UNCUT An artist destined to define the genre” - The Line Of Best Fit RACHAEL DADD WE RESONATE TALITRES UK | 17 NOV 2014 TALITRES EU | 22 SEP 2014 SWEETDREAMS PRESS JAPAN | 15 SEP 2014 Make A Sentence / Strike Our Scythes / What Have You Made? / I Am Your Home / Our Arms / Animal Mineral / Bounce The Ball / Wake It / Three / Join In / Come Together / Let It Rise With a string of releases on Talitres (EU/UK), Broken Sound (UK), Sweetdreams Press and Angel’s Egg (Japan) and much support from DJs on Radio 1, Radio 2, Xfm, 6 Music, France Musique among many other stations worldwide, experimental folk multi-instrumentalist Rachael Dadd has just released her strongest and most impacting body of work into the public sphere. Two years in the making ‘We Resonate’ out on Talitres (UK/EU) and Sweetdreams Press (Japan), is an uplifting celebration of life and by far her most collaborative. It sees Rachael joined by Laura Marling’s sideman Marcus Hamblett, experimental Japanese multi-instrumentalist ICHI, Alessi Laurent-Marke of Alessi’s Ark, Rozi Plain, Emma Gatrill of Sons of Noel and Adrian, and Thomas Heather of Woodpecker Wooliams. Born from the richness of Rachael Dadd`s semi-nomadic lifestyle, partly recorded live in a studio followed by playful overdubbing in Rachael’s front room, ‘We Resonate’ carves out a niche of its own, crossing genres from folk, through pop and experimental. Pulsing with poly-rhythms on prepared-piano, homemade xylophone, voice, clarinets, typewriter, boxes of matches, steel drum, tap-dancing, clapping, and even the heartbeat of Rachael’s baby in the womb, it reveals that her love of African field-recordings www.rachaeldadd.com   R A C H A E L D A D D W E R E S O N AT E and the spirit embodied within them has seeped into the diverse mix of influences, along with Steve Reich, Tune Yards, and the Japanese underground/ improv scene. “Being a travelling musician is a furnace for making music. Witnessing how people build things together, watching the changing landscapes from city to wilderness and back to city, becoming connected to other people’s cultures, it all makes it easier to go against the grain of what you grew up with. I feel at home using the pentatonic scale. I veer towards leaving behind the wash of guitar mid-frequencies that I think dominate so much of modern western music.” Rachael’s songwriting hones in on themes of communication, collaboration, nurture and optimism, but the worth of living is emphasized in even greater magnitude within the album’s moments of desolation (unanswered walkie-talkies on a song about flood victims), in its moments of questioning ("I see you`re flexing the muscle of these modern machines but are you sure you’re fit to drive them?"), and in its moments of protest (an overblown clarinet and a salute to Ivor Cutler calling "all the women of the world take over!"). Overall though optimism spreads its warm sunbeam and sets with a golden light over the ebbing and swelling of "let it rise, let it fall..." “You’ve got to have light and dark to make something truthful, to make something resonate. I was living in Japan when the tsunami hit and the Fukushima nuclear plant blew up. Witnessing the Japanese people’s strength, positivity and collaboration in the face of threat influenced my songwriting. During this time I saw a photograph exhibition of Ama-san, the diving women who work in teams holding their breath for 2 minutes, to dive for sea creatures without scuba gear. The essence of those beautiful and powerful images stayed with me throughout the making of the album and are what the artwork by Betsy Dadd is based on.” Rachael has performed to audiences of up to 3000 and in recent times has taken to the stage at countless festivals including Glastonbury, End of The Road, Green Man, Wilderness, No Direction Home, Truck, Boomtown, Ouvre La Voix (France), Mandstock (Italy), and is gearing up to play Woodford (Australia) after a month tour of Japan. Outside of festivals, Rachael has played numerous headline tours in the UK, Europe, and Japan, and has also toured in the company of David Thomas Broughton, Alessi’s Ark, Francois & The Atlas Mountains, This Is The Kit, and Rozi Plain. She is an experienced collaborator and organiser: she co-curated The Local’s SHHH festival in Bristol, achieving her goal to be inclusive of many cultures and forms of expression; she programmed 'Rachael Dadd and Friends' at King’s Place - a fundraiser for Japan's Tsunami victims; and she’s curated a group exhibition 'DIY is all you need' with fellow musicians and artists. Having graduated from art school with first class honors, Rachael is also a practicing and exhibiting artist always putting emphasis on the record sleeve and often making handmade limited editions, thinking conceptually and regularly collaborating with RCA graduate animator and sister Betsy Dadd. She is the recipient of an Emerging Excellence Award with which she is working towards a new live show in collaboration with Betsy Dadd. www.rachaeldadd.com   “contender for the best of the year lists...brilliantly unusual, unexpected tracks, you never know what she`s going to do next” LAUREN LAVERNE