A.A. Williams Announces “arco” – A Strings and Vocal Reimagining of Her Debut EP out 15th October via Bella Union + Shares video to “Control” and Announces UK live dates in September and October
Following the success of her recent Songs From Isolation album, A.A. Williams today announces arco, a strings and vocal reimagining of her debut EP, out 15th October via Bella Union and available to preorder here.
To mark the occasion Williams has shared a transfixing and unsettling b/w video for “Control”, the EP’s opening track, directed by Mogwai collaborator Craig Murray.
Utterly mesmerizing, this beautiful rendition offers this complex and harrowing journey. That beauty resonates through into the accompanying film. A brooding ensemble with this fierce intensity burning as the exploration flows, the strings meander through these big mammoth powerful peaks and join the insatiable vocal harmonies that ooze this sultry appeal and establish themselves with this distinct affection from the tones.
Making her stage debut in April 2019 and selling out her first headline show at London’s prestigious Southbank Centre less than a year later, A.A. Williams hit the ground running. Similarly, the acclaim for her performances and her music has been unanimous from the start. After one self-titled EP and a collaboration with Japanese post-rockers MONO, the London-based singer-songwriter signed to Bella Union and released her stunning debut album, Forever Blue, in July 2020.
That Southbank show would prove to be the last time she would take to the stage for a long while as the world struggled to cope with unforeseen and extreme challenges. Never a musician to sit still, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist focused her creativity on arranging – firstly, by stripping songs back to the most delicate bones on her Songs from Isolation covers record, and now with a complete reimagining of her own material as the four songs from her debut EP become arco.
Not many musicians have the ability – or indeed bravery – to rework a collection of their own full band ‘rock’ songs into a string-and-voice arrangement. A.A. Williams, however, is not like many musicians and the minimalism of Arvo Pärt and Gorecki has long since sat beside Vaughan Williams’ folk-inspired classical work as important influences on her music. Indeed, the intention with the EP was for Williams to challenge herself by not retaining guitars and drums, meaning arco had to be truly reimagined with a full string ensemble. As Williams describes it: “The main focus of the arrangements is trying to maintain the authenticity of the original songs that, whilst embodying some of the more familiar elements of the full-band settings, draws focus on the voice.”
Conducting the ensemble of string musicians in the studio, A.A. Williams has evolved her own compositions with new instrumentation and arrangements, encapsulating the singular vision of a unique artist.
A.A. Williams UK headline shows:
Thursday 2nd September – Nottingham – Bodega
Saturday 4th September – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
Sunday 5th September – Bristol – Fyfe Hall
Sunday 26th September – Ramsgate – Music Hall
Monday 27th September – Norwich – Waterfront Studio
Tuesday 28th September – Tunbridge Wells – Forum
Wednesday 29th September – Liverpool – Jimmy’s
Thursday 30th September – Manchester – Halle St. Peters
Friday 1st October – Brighton – Unitarian Church
Tuesday 2nd October – Coventry – Drapers’ Hall
Wednesday 3rd October – Milton Keynes – Craufurd Arms
1. Control
2. Cold
3. Terrible
4. Belong
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