Track Of The Day 8/11 – Carmel Smickersgill | News

Track Of The Day 8/11 - Carmel Smickersgill | News

Carmel Smickersgill isn’t an easy name to forget.

The Leeds born polymath has steadily found a path through the past few years, whether that’s studying at the Royal Northern College of Music or linking with New Order for an ambitious MIF commissioned composition.

Perhaps the closest creative relationship Carmel enjoys right now is with Anna Meredith, the Scottish composer whose work feels truly boundary-less.

The SAY Award winner is a kind of mentor to Carmel Smickersgill, who in turn has found the confidence to truly let her often daring ideas flourish.

“Anna’s been brilliant at being an outside ear for both this and my classical pieces, sometimes being a voice of encouragement, sometimes calling out writing habits which I think I’m subconsciously aware of but ignoring” she says. “For someone who’s still in the first few years of their professional life, it’s amazing to have someone like her that I can chat stuff through with”.

Working with producer Marco Woolf, Carmel’s debut EP will land next year through PRAH Recordings, with the multi-instrumentalist sharing wonderful new single ‘Greeting’.

Fully intended as a starter’s point, ‘Greeting’ eases Carmel Smickersgill into a bold new era, marked by promise and exhilarating pathways.

The dubby atmosphere lingers on a very modern utopia, the heavily distorted cellos transformed into something mechanic and imposing.

Carmel places her own voice to the fore, with snippets of melody interwoven around shards of blackened audio.

She comments: “‘Greeting’ is an introduction to a new way of working for myself as an artist. It features my own voice, something I’ve previously avoided using in my work. I love bold sounds that don’t shrink away and lay down a statement of intent to the listener rather than beautiful subtle noises. Greeting definitely plays up to this preference.”

Tune in now.

Anna Meredith is on tour this week, with Carmel Smickersgill supporting on the following dates:

November
9 Leeds Brudenell Social Club
11 Manchester Blues Kitchen
12 Gateshead Sage

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Photo Credit: Elspeth Moore

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