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British alternative rock band From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Smoke Fairies (Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies) are a British band hailing from Chichester.[1]
Smoke Fairies | |
|---|---|
Jessica Davies (left) Katherine Blamire (right) at Rough Trade East, December 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Chichester, England |
| Genres | Alternative, indie rock, folk rock |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano, organ, keyboards, percussion |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Full Time Hobby, V2, Third Man, Year Seven, Music For Heroes |
| Members | Katherine Blamire Jessica Davies |
| Website | smokefairies.com |
Blamire and Davies met at school in Sussex during the late 1990s. They spent 2002 in New Orleans, where they absorbed American blues music.[2] When they returned to England they discovered British folk music at the Sidmouth Folk Week Festival while working as car park attendants.[3] They later settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for a year before returning to London to start performing.[4]
In 2007, Smoke Fairies toured the UK in support of Bryan Ferry and the following year they released their debut single, "Living with Ghosts", on Music for Heroes.[5] Richard Hawley was an early supporter of the act, saying they were "frankly the best thing I have heard in years".[6] They supported Hawley on his Truelove's Gutter Tour of the UK in October 2009.[7]
In December 2009, Smoke Fairies became the first UK act to release a single on Jack White's label Third Man Records.[8] The double A-side single, "Gastown" / "River Song", was produced by Jack White who also played guitar and drums. Smoke Fairies performed at the 2010 South by South West (SXSW) festival in Texas[9] and supported Laura Marling on a month-long tour of the United States.[10]
They signed to V2 Records/Cooperative Music and released their debut album Through Low Light and Trees in September 2010,[11] latterly self-released in the United States in June 2011 via Year Seven Records.[12] The album was produced by long-term PJ Harvey collaborator Head and recorded at Sawmills Studio in Cornwall, United Kingdom.[12]
To promote the album the band was invited to record a live session for Marc Riley on BBC Radio 6,[13] and was invited back for another session a few months later.[14] The duo also recorded a live session with their band for John Kennedy's "X-Posure" on XFM.[15] In November 2010, Smoke Fairies' recording of Neil Young's "Alabama" appeared on a special Mojo album to mark the approaching fortieth anniversary of Young's Harvest LP.[16]
The band embarked on its first headline tour of the UK – a sell-out – in January–February 2011[17] and performed at several festivals that summer, including Primavera Sound in Barcelona.[18] Before heading to the United States in June 2011 to perform at North by Northeast Festival and their own headline shows, returning again in August 2011 Jessica & Katherine toured the U.S. with Rasputina.[19] Smoke Fairies again returned to the US in October to play support for Blitzen Trapper and Dawes making their second coast-to-coast tour of the year.[20]
Smoke Fairies' follow-up album, Blood Speaks, was released on 21 May 2012,[21] again with a delayed release in the US of 23 April 2013.[22] Again produced by Head Blood Speaks was this time recorded in West London's Eastcote Studio and is inspired by London and by travelling.[23] Pitchfork rated the album 7.2 remarking that Jessica and Katherine "don't trade vocal duties so much as appear to sing from the same body".[24]
Smoke Fairies signed with Full Time Hobby records in 2013 and released their self-titled album "Smoke Fairies" on 14 April 2014.[25] The album spawned singles Eclipse Them All, We've Seen Birds and Shadow Inversions. It was produced by Kristofer Harris at Squarehead Studios in Kent.[26] Well received, The Quietus called the record "brilliantly immersive" and suggested the band were "starting to approach the very English singularity of Her Holiness Kate Bush".[27] On the same theme Mojo magazine chose the album track "Your Own Silent Movie" to feature on their compilation The Dreamers – 15 Tracks of Kate Bush-Inspired Dream Pop.[28]
An ‘Instrumentals’ CD, originally released as a bonus disc to the Smoke Fairies 2014 LP, was provided as part of a Rough Trade exclusive bundle. It featured five tracks from the album, recorded as instrumentals. The CD was then sold separately on their UK tour as a tour special in 2014.[29]
Later that year the band recorded the Christmas record Wild Winter, which was released only in Rough Trade shops for Christmas 2014. The Christmas after the album saw a full worldwide release and received praise from the New York Times[30] and The Guardian.[31] "Wild Winter" was again produced by Kristofer Harris.[32] The album inspired a beer brewed under the same name by the London brewery Signature Brew.[33]
Jessica and Katherine also contributed vocals to the track "Valentina", a tribute to Valentina Tereshkova—the first woman in space—on The Race For Space, the second album by Public Service Broadcasting. Smoke Fairies toured the UK supporting and performing with Public Service Broadcasting in 2015. It was preceded by the self-released Live in St Pancras Old Church.[34]
In August 2019, the band announced their return with a video for the track "Out of the Woods", produced by Phil Ek. Louder Than War described the track as "dark, stark, skeletal blues".[35] On 25 September 2019, the band announced the album, Darkness Brings the Wonders Home, also produced by Ek, which was released on 31 January 2020.[36] During the promotion for the new record Davies and Blamire launched the podcast Smoke Signals about the music industry. The podcast's second series was launched a year later, and ranked highly with Apple Podcasts having a 4.9 out of 5 rating.[37]
Released on the band's own label Year Seven Records, Darkness Brings the Wonders Home charted the band #1 in the UK Indie Breakers Chart,[38] a #1 in the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart[39] and a Top 10 UK Independent Album. The band toured the UK with the album in January and February 2020 with John J. Presley and Sean Fallowfield.[40]
The single "Elevator" taken from the album was released on limited edition 7-inch picture-disc during the UK's coronavirus lock-down in April 2020 gaining them more number one chart placings. A #1 in the UK Physical Singles Chart[41] and a #1 in the UK Vinyl Singles Chart.[42] During the pandemic Davies and Blamire live-streamed three performances via their facebook page raising over £2000 for chosen charities The Red Cross, RSPCA and Emmaus UK.[43]
On 4 November 2022, the band released a compilation album Singles,[44] reaching #2 in the Official Independent Album Breakers Chart.[45] The collection of 18 official singles was released on Year Seven Records and available as a double-LP and CD, with signed, limited edition variants. The release was followed by a one-night-only performance of the entire album at Omeara, London, on 7 November 2022.[46]
The band's sixth studio album, Carried In Sound,[47] was released on 17 November 2023 and reached #3 in the Official Independent Album Breakers Chart.[48] The record was self-recorded and self-released on the band's Year Seven label, available in blue or orange vinyl and CD versions. In the run-up to the release, the band shared several stripped-back performances and works in progress, and discussed their inspirations on social media and their Patreon site.[49] A music video to accompany the first single, "Vanishing Line"[50] was announced in September 2023, filmed in the Essex countryside.
To promote Carried In Sound, the band, together with multi-instrumentalists Neil Walsh (Viola) and Rob Wilks (Drums), embarked on a five-date sell-out tour[51] across the UK. In addition, the band performed several in-store record signing gigs.[52]
On 13 December 2024, to mark the 10th anniversary of their album Wild Winter, the band re-released the record with revised artwork, together with a re-brewing of its Wild Winter beer, available on a two-night tour in Hastings and London. [53]
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