Katharine Timoney: Life Came into Colour

Young women musicians such as Katharine Timoney are a rarity. That’s because young musicians are not usually comfortable indulging in intense emotions; it’s not that they don’t feel  them; it’s just that they don’t like confronting them and when they do, more often than not they seem almost cast adrift  in the expression of the emotion in all its intensity. This is certainly true if at all they write songs like Miss Timoney – which is an even rarer matter of fact.

But, as Horace once wrote – and I translate – “poets are born and not made”. And Katharine Timoney was born to be a poet; she’s put this artistry – in all its intensity – one might add – on display once again on her May 2022 extended play release Life Came into Colour. It’s an altogether remarkable follow-up to her single “Don’t Fret”, which was released in September of 2021.

Miss Timoney is a serious musician and she takes her musicianship to the next level here with five compositions that show that she is a fearless expressionist. Of course when one is unafraid to dig deep, one invariably touches the raw nerve of emotion. Miss Timoney does that in every instance, on the repertoire of this album. Her songs echo with real feelings and emotions all of which eschew gratuitous sentimentality.

As with lyricism, so also with musicality; Miss Timoney shows that  she is not shy of a new – and gospel-infused musical hunch and has taken each in her stride with remarkable results. Song-titles may belie the real depth of the work and “Nobody Loves Me like You Do” is one such song which invokes the near-spiritual intensity of gospel music to tell what transpires in a love song.

Likewise elsewhere [on “Lovers’ Dream” and “Life Came into Colour”] even in the simplicity of impending narrative line a deeper feeling is felt – and not simply felt, but expressed with uncommon eloquence and heartfelt emotion.

All of this makes the music fly off the page, first with Miss Timoney’s lustrous and long-limbed, gospel-inflected voice, with fine performances by the musicians [see list below] who are fully attuned to her vision and artistry. All of this bodes well for Miss Timoney’s debut album, for which one can hardly wait…        

Tracks – 1: Slowly; 2: Don’t Fret; 3: Lovers’ Dream; 4: Nobody Loves Me like You Do; 5: Life Came into Colour

Musicians – Katharine Timoney: vocals: Ben Castle: saxophones and clarinets, production and arrangements; Greame Flowers: trumpet and flugelhorn; Mark Edwards: piano and Fender Rhodes [4, 5]; Arnie Somogyi: contrabass and electric bass ; Darren Beckett: drums

Released – 2022
Label – Independent
Runtime – 19:49

^{YouTube Audio – Katharine Timoney: Life Came into Colour}