Caught in the Carousel

Astrid Williamson

Here Come the Vikings
One Little Indian

Astrid Williamson

"...Wisdom is like a buried treasure...Honey there is no map," sings Astrid Williamson on Here Come The Vikings. She may be right, but you'd be hard pressed to find a lovelier companion to search with. On her fourth album the Scottish singer/songwriter is not only in fine voice, she's augmented her moody, melancholic attack with an altogether infectious pop touch. Produced by Williamson herself, the layered grooves of "Store" and "Sing The Body Electric" are buoyant and catchy; "Falling Down" is irresistibly punchy and "Shut Your Mouth" percolates with steady aplomb before whirling into a techno new wave blast. The mid-tempo ballads ("Now You Take My Breath Away" and "Crashing Minis") are familiar terrain for Williamson and she knows these paths so well she has no trouble at all finding the emotional center of each number and making them ache expertly away. Elsewhere, the lilting "Eve" is wondrous and affecting and the album closer "The Stars Are Beautiful" is just exquisite. "Did I say too much?" Williamson wonders at one point in a teasing afterthought. Who's she kidding? With a voice like this and songs like these, it's never enough.

—Alex Green

Astrid Williamson talks to CITC about Here Come The Vikings:

Caught In The Carousel: How do you like producing your own albums?

Astrid Williamson: I had produced The Day Of The Lone Wolf myself and I sort of just got on with it. It would be nice to work with a producer again. I worked with John Cale and Malcolm Burn before and both those experiences were really fruitful. Even though collaborations can feel uncomfortable at times, it's often good to be pushed outside your comfort zone. On Here Come The Vikings I didn't have a producer but there are always challenges!

CITC: Like acting in a film you're directing, did you find it easy or hard to direct yourself?

AW: I demo the songs a bit before making an album so I get a pretty clear idea of how things will turn out. The hardest part of directing myself is I'm more lazy if I don't have a 'witness' so to speak. Even with one other person in the room with you, you tend to perform more and try harder! But the upside of performing and engineering yourself is that, for instance, in the dead of night you may be trying for a take and the intimacy and quiet of the night can get great results.

CITC: There's a lot of upbeat work here as well as some gorgeous ballads. From a sonic perspective, what's changed?

AW: The addition of Steven Parker on lead guitar is the greatest evolution in sound. He just rocks!

CITC: What themes do you find yourself returning to in your songs?

AW: There is a lot of loss in my songs. Sadly...but sometimes it gets a little philosophical. Mostly I tend to ask questions that have no answers, apparently. I like poetry quite a lot so I spend a lot of time just feeling the way the words sound together. "Sing The Body Electric" is from a poem by Walt Whitman and this is an example of simply loving the way the words sound together. The poem itself is about celebrating being alive so that's kind of hopeful, isn't it?

CITC: What was your favorite moment while making this album?

AW: I found recording "Slake" really exciting because it went down totally live, which gets to be rare in the studio when you can overdub so much. It just felt totally vibey and great! Being with my band is always great. They are super supportive of me and I just feel immensely cared for by them even when things get tough! Sometimes it feels like being on a fun holiday making music than other times when I feel like I'm stuck mentally inside my own brain trying to get the sounds out!