Kaki King – Dreaming Of Revenge

• 30th Jul 2008

Since the release of her debut instrumentalist album ‘Everybody Loves You’5 years ago, Kaki King has been working hard at making a name for herself. ‘Dreaming of Revenge’ is her third album and sees her delve into the art of vocals.

King teamed up with the genius at creating atmosphere, Malcolm Burn (Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Peter Gabriel) with the aim of producing an album that was more accessible and pop orientated, whilst still retaining King’s distinctive sound.

The result is an easy listening indie album, which threatens to fade into the background. ‘Pull Me Out Alive’ is a wistful and sweet but doesn’t have enough of a sound that you’d expect from King. However, she is clearly a marvel on the guitar. There are examples of some heavy down tuning, lots of pedal, some fret tapping and times of genuinely beautiful shogazing moments, particularly on ‘Open Mouth’.

What she’s tried to achieve is brave if not slightly contrived. I’m not doubting her ability but perhaps there needs to be another half to Kaki King. Someone who can allow her to flourish on the instruments, whilst they take the lead on the vocals because I’m not convinced that she can do both at the same time. Otherwise this talented musician is in danger of becoming ‘coffee table music’ and can you think of anything worse?