A beautiful, gossamer sound emanates from the speakers as a live performance by Ruby Throat plays from Youtube. It’s at Madam Jojo’s in the U.K., and KatieJane Gardside is standing barefoot on two chairs, in a seraphic sheath of an almost pink dress. The music that flows from her being cannot but that of a human, but it is, and it courses through the blood in a seismic way that makes one feel as if there must be an epicenter of the collective soul…it connects. The sound is something that can barely be grasped. When Ruby Throat booked this venue, fans believed that KatieJane Gardside and co-founder Chris Whittingham would be performing pieces from their 2007 release The Ventriloquist. But this show, was to be the debut release of of their new album Out of a Black Cloud Came a Bird .
Usually when Gardside performs it is with her London based Gothic rock band QueenAdreena. When listening to this recent Ruby Throat album, it seems unfitting that Courtney Love said that Gardside was the “first riot girl,” because she is absolutely ambient in her vocals, and the album is centered on these vocals of which Gardside has the utmost control of. Her voice is fragile yet strong, heartbreaking, and undeniably beautiful. Out of a Black Cloud came a Bird stirs up images of china plates, and china dolls and anything otherwise breakable. Every song comes at you from a distance, and then ends up in your face. The title of the album may have been inspired by a plane crash that Gardside saw while hiking in the Himalayas. When envisioned it does evoke a surreal image of the most beautiful disaster. The singer stated “Everything I’ve done since then has been infused with that experience. I’m trying to work with it, it’s given me a sense of urgency that I haven’t had for a long time.” Whittingham and Gardside, although lacking a little needed variety, have complete control of their collaborative sound. The inkling of variety that can be found in the album is with the track “barebaiting,” in which there seems to be an intonation or twanginess of bluegrass.
A limited edition of five hundred copies, containing art done by the singer herself was released November 12th 2009, and a standard issue is now available. If you are moved by an unearthly, irrefutable beauty this album is for you. Out of a Black Cloud Came a Bird boils down to a natural frequency that is also undeniable. Although sometimes a track seems redundant the tender instruments and slinky voice is guaranteed to strike a surreal and forgiving cord in the most critical of hearts. If you find yourself entranced by Ruby Throat, also give a listen to Death By Doll, and maybe Gardside’s brusque QueenAdreena.
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