RACHEL SERMANNI
SHARES ‘WHAT CAN I DO’ VIDEO
TAKEN FROM THIRD LP, SO IT TURNS, OUT AUGUST 23rd
TOURING UK THIS AUTUMN, INCL. LDN’S ST PANCRAS CHURCH (OCT 10th)
Having recently announced her third full-length, So It Turns (due for release Aug 23rd), as well as a run of UK dates that will include a stop at London’s St Pancras Church on Oct 10th, Scottish singer-songwriter Rachel Sermanni is now sharing a brand-new video for the incoming albums lead-single ‘What Can I Do’. Pushing her spectral ‘folk noir’ into abrasive and gloomy waters, the single – for which Rachel will donate a % of proceeds to Extinction Rebellion – now comes with a video that’s just as cinematic and sinister. You can watch it here:
Dealing in a shadowy, gothic-tinged call-to-arms that falls somewhere between PJ Harvey and Cat Power, ‘What Can I Do’ offers an insight into the darker worlds that Rachel inhabits on the new record; her bittersweet mandolin matched with moody atmospherics and the drive of distorted heavy-blues guitars and primal percussion. Rachel says of the song’s origins: “I was lying on the floor just after Trump had been voted president, staring despairingly at the ceiling. There was also much on the news about refugees and the lack of an embrace we offer them. There was the looming Brexit vote too. In that moment I felt drawn to my mandolin to write, in a short sitting, What Can I Do.”
Talking about the video, Rachel says: “I met the director Max one time on a train to Dunbar; a student of film down in London, he came over to tell me he liked my music. Some year or so later, we met again in a deli. This year he contacted me to say he’s in his final year and wondered if he might offer his services for a music video. I’m so pleased with the result. The visual symbolism reflects much of the reasons behind the writing of the song.”
Where Rachel’s last album, 2015’s Tied To The Moon, saw her incorporate darker, grungier elements into her sound, So It Turns sees the Carrbridge-based artist go for something far more composed and polished, but not at the expense of those rockier moments – as ‘What Can I Do’ foreshadows. Instead, she tunes her craft to a more eclectic and left-field range of reference points. Thanks to the album’s live recording process, the artful production of Axel Reinemer at Berlin’s Jazzanova Studios and the mercurial, genre-shifting instrumentation of her band, the record leaves you uncovering new layers of sonic subtleties with each and every listen.
So It Turns is an album that takes you on a captivating and often-unpredictable journey through a spellbinding array of sounds, emotions and experiences – there’s plenty of the gorgeous, dreamy folk that we’ve come to know and love from Rachel, but there are also heavier, gothy moments exemplified on ‘What Can I Do’, as well as unexpected detours into joyous, sassy indie-rock and sporadic, jazz-influenced curveballs. This is Rachel Sermanni at her best, a game-changing landmark release from one of the most promising names in contemporary folk.
UPCOMING TOUR-DATES
10th August – Album Launch – Edinburgh, Summerhall
11th Sep – Aberdeen, The Blue Lamp
12th Sep – Inverness, Eden Court
13th Sep – Stirling, The Tollbooth
19th – 22nd Sep – Shetland (Songwriting Festival)
27th Sep – Galway, The Black Gate
28th Sep – Dublin, Lost Lane
2nd Oct – Album Launch – Glasgow, St Andrews in the Square
10th Oct – London, St Pancras Church
11th Oct – Husthwaite Village Hall
12th Oct – Bury, The Met
13th Oct – Kingskerswell Parish Church
19th Oct – Durham, The Old Launderette
‘SO IT TURNS’ TRACK-LIST
Put Me In The River
See You
If I
Wish I Showed My Love
What Can I Do
Typical Homegirl
Come To You
Namesake
Tiger
So It Turns
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