Gwyneth Herbert is an artist who continues to redefine (and defy) our expectations. A singer-songwriter with one foot in the jazz world and one somewhere in the future, with pierrot-dotted eyes, polka-spotted shoes and swanny whistle in hand she may appear as whimsical as a Bonzo Dog, but writes beautiful melodies and has a poet’s grasp of the world around her.
Since turning her back on a major label calling as a jazz crossover pin-up for a more fulfilling career in idiosyncratic popular song, Gwyneth Herbert’s writing abilities have since been compared to Lennon and McCartney, Ray Davies and Janis Ian, while musically her influences range from the junk yard clunk of Tom Waits, the Brechtian punk of the Dresden Dolls and the minimalism of Steve Reich to the banging drum ‘n’ bass of Hackney’s pirate stations.
Gwyneth’s new single ‘Perfect Fit’ is the jovial quintessence of her diverse artistic grasp, the perfect sonic cure for that festive flu bug we’ve all suffered and the ideal soundtrack with which to see in springtime.
Perfect Fit sits at the driver’s seat of Clangers & Mash, a mini-album of rare cuts and far-reaching remixes (from the likes of Polar Bear and The Voluntary Butler Scheme) from co-inhabitants of Herbert’s artsy world that, typical of Gwyneth, put her a few feet in front of our preconceptions.
For a taster of the remixes, The Voluntary Butler Scheme is available to download from the link below. ‘Perfect Fit’ will be released on March 7th by Naim Edge.
www.myspace.com/gwynethherbert
www.gwynethherbert.com