SCANDINAVIAN INDIE-ROCKERS KITTY WU’S CLIMB FROM UNDER THE RADAR EXISTENCE TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM IS NOT A MYSTERY. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING THEY HAVE BEEN WINNING OVER CROWDS AND CRITICS ALIKE WITH THEIR DARK AND VIBRANT STYLE. THE DANISH/SWEDISH FOUR-PIECE HOOKED UP IN COPENHAGEN IN ’97, AND HAS MADE A MARK BEING WILLING TO GO DEEPER, WHETHER IT’S IN THE SONGWRITING, THE RECORDINGS OR THEIR DYNAMIC DO-OR-DIE PERFORMANCES.
SIMPLISTIC MELODIES, BRAVE ARRANGEMENTS AND TENSE ENERGIES WITH ALMOST MANIC HIGHS AND LOWS, ARE ALL PART OF THEIR MUSIC.THAT KITTY WU IS VERY MUCH TAPPING INTO THE SCANDINAVIAN VEIN OF MELANCHOLY WAS OBVIOUS ON THEIR DEBUT OFFERING “PRIVACY†(2001), WHICH WAS PRODUCED BY THE BAND AND FRIEND KASPER EISTRUP OF KASHMIR. THE VERY EMOTIONAL AND SONICALLY RICH ALBUM WAS RECORDED IN A COPENHAGEN STUDIO AT NIGHT IN BETWEEN SESSIONS, ON A VIRTUALLY NON-EXISTING BUDGET, AND EARNED THE BAND RAVE REVIEWS AS WELL AS A VERY HONORABLE DEBUT AT THE ROSKILDE FESTIVAL’S MAIN STAGE.
THE NEXT YEAR SAW THE BAND THROUGH A HECTIC TOURING SCHEDULE, AN EXPERIENCE THAT SHARPENED THEIR MUSICAL INSTINCTS AND STRIPPED AWAY THE UNNECESSARY LAYERS. THE RELENTLESS TOURING ULTIMATELY LED THEM TO THE RECORDING OF THEIR SOPHOMORE ALBUM “THE RULES OF TRANSPORTATION†(2003).
FOR THIS SECOND ALBUM KITTY WU TEAMED UP WITH PRODUCER ROB ELLIS, A COLLABORATION THAT WOULD PROVE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE BAND. ELLIS, BEST KNOWN FOR HIS MANY YEARS OF WORKING WITH PJ HARVEY, AS WELL AS MARIANNE FAITHFUL, SCOTT WALKER AND MORE, HAD BECOME AWARE OF THE BAND LISTENING TO “PRIVACYâ€. HAVING ARRANGED TO MEET UP AT A COPENHAGEN BAR, IT DIDN’T TAKE THEM LONG TO RECOGNIZE A SERIOUS MUSICAL KINSHIP, AND SOON AFTER THEY ISOLATED THEMSELVES IN A DESOLATE DANISH STUDIO (THE ONLY CITY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY BEING THE DANISH MURDER CAPITOL) AND BEGAN WORK.
IF â€PRIVACY†WAS THE SOUND OF A BAND SEEKING, “THE RULES OF TRANSPORTATION†WAS DEFINITELY THE SOUND OF A BAND FINDING. THE ALBUM WAS A COLLECTION OF SONGS DEALING WITH THE DISTANCE BETWEEN PEOPLE, AND THE OFTEN TROUBLED LINE FROM A TO B. THE BAND TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO BACK THESE SERIOUS SUBJECT MATTERS UP MUSICALLY, IN A VERY INTENSE AND ALMOST DOGMATIC WAY. THROUGHOUT THE SESSIONS BOTH THE PLAYING AND THE RECORDING WAS FOCUSED ON CAPTURING THE VERY INTIMATE SOUNDS OF A TRUE BAND. THE MANTRA WAS SIMPLICITY, BUT STILL MUCH WAS ACHIEVED ADDING ELEMENTS LIKE TREATED PIANO AND STRANGE VOCAL HARMONIES TO THE CORE SOUND. THE END RESULT, MIXED BY HEAD, ALSO A HARVEY COLLABORATOR AND ELLIS’ PARTNER-IN-CRIME, WAS A BEAUTIFULLY SAD ALBUM, ALMOST FRAIL LIKE A HOUSE OF CARDS IN PLACES, BUT ULTIMATELY VERY DRIVEN AND DETERMINED.
ALSO THIS TIME AROUND THE REVIEWS WERE IMPRESSIVE, AND KITTY WU WAS RECOGNIZED AS A SERIOUS CONTENDER ON THE ALTERNATIVE SCENE. GREAT PRAISE WAS GIVEN TO THE PURE AND CONVINCING PERFORMANCE AND SONGWRITING.
FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS KITTY WU WOULD SUBMERGE THEMSELVES INTO TOURING ONCE AGAIN, A MAD DASH THROUGH EUROPEAN CLUBS AND FESTIVALS THAT WOULD FINETUNE THEM EVEN MORE AS A LIVE BAND. THEIR FEARLESS DEDICATION WHEN PLAYING LIVE HAS EARNED THEM A GROWING FOLLOWING, AN ACHIEVEMENT THAT WAS ESPECIALLY OBVIOUS WHEN THEY RETURNED TO THE ROSKILDE FESTIVAL IN 2003 (THIS TIME JOINED ON STAGE BY ELLIS).WHEN IT CAME TIME TO RECORD THE VERY IMPORTANT THIRD ALBUM, IT CAME AS NO SURPRISE THAT THE BAND WAS REJOINED BY ELLIS, AS WELL AS GUY FIXSEN (LAIKA, MY BLOODY VALENTINE). THE SIX OF THEM RETRIEVED TO THE BLUE ROOM IN
NORTHERN SWEDEN, AND IN ONLY SEVENTEEN DAYS THEY WOULD RECORD THE THIRD, AND MOST DEFINING KITTY WU ALBUM “KNIVES AND DAGGERSâ€.SINCE THE LAST ALBUM SINGER ROBERT LUNDS SONGWRITING HAD BEEN FUELED BY THE LIFE OF THE CITY. EVERY WORD IN EVERY SONG QUIVERED WITH DISGUST AND DISAPPOINTMENT AND A DESPERATE ENERGY HE SHARED WITH THE REST OF THE BAND, A BAND THAT WAS LITERALLY READY TO BURST WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE STUDIO. IT WAS OBVIOUS TO BOTH ELLIS AND THE BAND, THAT THESE SONGS HAD BE DELIVERED QUICKLY, VERY DIRECTLY, AND NEEDED TO SOUND AS ELECTRIC AND INESCAPABLE AS…. WELL, THE CITY.AND “KNIVES AND DAGGERS†IS TRULY THE SOUND OF THE CITY, HEARD THROUGH THE EARS OF KITTY WU. THOUGH THE THINGS THAT ARE UNMISTAKABLY KITTY WU ECHOES THROUGHOUT THE ALBUM, THEY HAVE TAKEN THE CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR SOUND TO ANOTHER LEVEL. IT IS WIRERY AND GUITARDRIVEN, AN UNAPOLOGETIC OUTBURST. LED BY ANCHOR POINT “SPENDING BLACK TIME WITH YOUâ€, IT’S AN ANGRY AND HEARTBROKEN FLIRTATION WITH CYNICISM AND LOST WEEKENDS. ONLY THE QUIET TITLE SONG OFFERS A TIRED HINT OF RECONCILIATION.
KITTY WU HAVE DARED TO RECORD AN ALBUM, THAT ONE WOULD ONLY EXPECT FROM ARTISTS FURTHER INTO THEIR CAREERS, AND TELLS OF PEOPLE BEING LOST IN THEIR TIME, BUT A BAND BEING WHEY MUCH AT HOME IN THEIR MUSIC.Kitty Wu "Arms Raised"
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