Thea Gilmore will play Worthing St. Paul’s on Tuesday 28th May after just releasing Small World Turning – her first new collection of songs since 2017’s The Counterweight which was her 3rd successive top 40 album. She shares the stage on her UK tour with her band and with Matt Owens (Noah And The Whale).
An artist of enduring international acclaim (Bruce Springsteen regularly names her as a favourite) and a justly revered lyricist, Gilmore’s musical settings have taken many ingenious detours in recent years. A gifted and exceptional artist at the peak of her powers, Thea Gilmore has delivered a vibrant and deeply resonant album, rooted in folk music but completely transcending any genre related limitations.
Small World Turning nails it’s colours to a very different wall from the get-go. Acoustic guitars are back to the fore, and a quintessentially rootsy array of instruments frame them – fiddles, whistles, mandolins, tenor banjos are all in abundance. Given the reverence in which Gilmore is held among contemporaries it will be no surprise that UK folk royalty including Cara Dillon, Seth Lakeman, Sam Lakeman, Katriona Gilmore, Jamie Roberts and BBC Radio 2’s Young Folk Award winner 2013 Ciaran Algar all step up to contribute.
Moreover the engine room of the record – which contains no traditional kit drums – is a stellar and diverse Transatlantic rhythm section of Matt Owens (Noah And The Whale – pictured) and Michael Blair (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello).
But Small World Turning is no hollow parade of the famous. As is ever the case with Thea Gilmore, it’s the songs that define and dazzle, and the 11 new compositions on display are a blend of melodic lilt and dark brooding choruses, with lyrics that repeatedly hold up a magnifying glass to 2019 England and impale greed, bigotry, class divide and hoarded wealth.
Tickets for the Worthing St Paul’s show, at 7.30pm on Tuesday 28th May, are available from box office on 0871 220 0260 or online at www.seetickets.com/event/thea-gilmore/st-pauls-worthing/1310137