The music of Ireland’s Katie Kim has long been rooted in mood and atmosphere, and forthcoming album Hour Of The Ox, out next month on her own I Actually Like Music label, is no exception. Kim describes the record as “a collection of quiet moments that began alone, in flow, that were then generously reconstructed and reinforced with TMT steel.” Songs doom-laden and majestic, emerging from a moment of dark uncertainty where the present was near unbearable but the future clouded from view. “A sort of time capsule,” as Kim puts it, “recorded over a period of time that was unforgiving and vengeful.”
With its insect drone and foreboding depth, lead single ‘Mona’ introduced the mood of the record, a sound where even the slow quiet holds some latent energy or dread. New track ‘Eraser’ pushes further into this veiled atmosphere, the song coming to Kim in the early hours after watching All The President’s Men. “I’m pretty sure it’s not a song directly about Watergate,” she says, “but the tune and melody began tapping away at me during a scene where Robert Redford, Woodword, meets Deep Throat for the first time in a parking garage.”
What results is an underhanded track, always looking over its shoulder, holding the secret at its heart with almost reverent solemnity. Drummer Eleanor Myler adds a new depth to this mood via the percussion, a steady march with skittering tangents, purpose coloured by anxiety. “She added an extra sneakiness and playfulness to it,” as Kim puts it, “which in turn adds to the feeling of covert operations in the night.”
