Album from a 'special place' in Sydney

Described as ‘Beth Orton meets Portishead’, Catherine Traico’s new album is out now – and fans are lucky it is.

“The album was in the works for over three years and very nearly didn’t get made,” Catherine said.

“I didn’t have the energy for it because you have to drive it and it is work and truthfully this was the toughest of all my albums in that regard.

“I don’t feel I relaxed much during the recording process except for the times I was playing and singing.:

At the start of 2017, Catherine returned to the studio with a full band after a hiatus of four years from band work and one year from her solo work. 

Catherine, along with Darren Nutall, Gareth Skinner and Paul McKercher - her collaborators from her work with The Starry Night – were joined by Sam Worrad (The Holy Soul, Loene Cameron) on bass and Cec Condon (The Mess Hall, Roadhouses & Grinding Eyes) on drums.

The hand-picked team created Luminaire at Jim Moginie’s Oceanic Studios on Sydney’s northern beaches.  The result is a melding of some intuitive and inimitable musical sensibilities that allow the singer/songwriter to spread her wings a little wider.

Catherine’s earlier work has been described by Rolling Stone as “…an impressive meeting of the earthy song-writing of Beth Orton with the grim undercurrents of, say, Portishead” and by The Age as “redolent in parts of the ragged, eerie estrogen blues of PJ Harvey or the gaunt bluegrass sonnets of Gillian Welch”.

Catherine admits some of her new songs took “years to ripen”.

“There is always the worry that with a body of work over such a long period of time that the pieces might lack cohesion when they are brought together,” she said.

“But when you record as a band in a special place like Oceanic, things take on their own character and recreate themselves.

“I worked with some amazingly talented and creative people on this project and am so happy about that.”

Catherine Traicos plays Petersham Bowls Club with The Gloomchasers on Friday 17 November.