‘A Dark Carnival’ is Kate Green's second full-length release since her successful 2007 album, ‘An Unkindness Of Ravens’. The Scottish native, who now resides in South Yorkshire has been juggling a career in front-line health care with song-writing and playing gigs with her band across the U.K. Making time to get back into the studio resulted in this new collection of music and it's been well worth the wait.
On ‘A Dark Carnival’, Green mixes traditional folk with established standards and original material. The traditional ‘Lady Diamond’ opens the album with a magical percussive beat underpinning the tale of tragedy and love denied within the song. Similarly, a new arrangement of ‘Bows Of London’ weaves a haunting tale of violence and darkness against women. Memphis Minnie’s ‘When The Leeve Breaks’ gives Green a chance to showcase her natural talent as a blues singer on the classic made famous by Led Zeppelin in the 1970s.
Green’s own compositions range from the samba-infused tribute to Extinction Rebellion, ‘Renegades (Of Love And Rage)’, to the dreamy ‘Ferodo Bridges’. While the former focuses on the impact of politics on the natural environment, the latter is a dreamy nostalgic tale based on a childhood drive past an advertising sign on a bridge in Scotland.
On the folk-pop ‘Maddy’s Leaving’, Green writes about the empowerment of escaping a dysfunctional relationship. Delving into the history of her local surroundings on ‘Mi Amigo’, she has constructed a classic Americana ballad based on the heroic tale of self-sacrifice by the crew of the USAAF-B-17 Flying Fortress that crash-landed in Endcliffe Park in 1944.
Kate Green is a storyteller whose engrossing choice of songs, vocal style, and creative arrangements make ‘A Dark Carnival’ an enthralling listen that delights from start to finish. With winter just around the corner, this is an album to be enjoyed beside a warm fire with a glass of your favourite beverage in hand.
‘A Dark Carnival’ is available now via kategreenmusic.com.