- Label: 'Meridian/ECR Music Group'
- Genre: 'Pop'
- Release Date: '17th April 2026'- Catalogue No: 'ECRMD26003'
Our Rating:
Wearing an embroidered top and white gloves, Kaye is pictured on the album sleeve in a ‘no publicity’ pose, covering her face while clutching a bouquet of flowers. The image is a still from the video to the opening song - Cordelia - in which the singer wears a range of elaborate costumes and masks while broken mirrors and semi derelict buildings suggest something of the King Lear character the song alludes to: the tragedy of a young woman of pure virtue crushed by a corrupt world. A copy of the Shakespearean text features prominently in the video to lend substance to this interpretation.
Above all, this theatrical opening sets the tone for the album as a whole. It has its roots in commercial pop yet doesn’t come with the usual hedonistic trappings. The songs are reflections on an imperfect world where dreams offer the most reliable potential for pleasure.
There’s a swooning quality to Kaye’s voice which her PR team are keen to exploit, advising that
A bold remake of Leonard Cohen’s There Is A War is an indication of the muses that she sources for this record. There is also direct personal experience to draw upon. She and her husband/creative partner Irakli Gabriel were born in Georgia, a former part of the Soviet Union, and the couple have witnessed first-hand the conflict, repression, and displacement of the war in Ukraine.
Add to this is the grief caused by the loss of their friend David Olney, whose final album, ‘Whispers and Sighs’ in 2021 was a collaborative effort with Kaye and a record that was intended to be the first of many. A fine Olney song Soldier of Misfortune is an indication of what was lost.
Now based in Nashville, Kaye has clearly absorbed some Americana influences but, overall, the genre here veers more towards ambient pop. The one exception comes with the reggae rhythms and slide guitar of Red Desert which seems to belong to an entirely different album.
Otherwise, dreamy, downbeat qualities are predominant albeit modified and enhanced by lush string arrangements and melodic choruses of backing vocals. This is exemplified in the closing track, Love Is, a tender ballad written by David Olney and Kim Richey in which love is likened to a mountain to climb and an ache to endure.
This ends a record of quiet strength that elegantly carries the weight of deep wounds.
