Joana Serrat to perform at The Cluny

 Joana Serrat

The Cluny 2, Newcastle

Wednesday 4 May 2022

#Ad Tickets: https://ticketmaster-uk.tm7560.net/a1z90Y 

In celebration of her latest album ‘Hardcore From The Heart’ (out now) Joana Serrat will be playing a run of UK & Irish live shows this May. 

The Catalan singer-songwriter has previously performed on the biggest festival stages across Europe and the USa, including Black Deer Festival, Celtic Connections and The Long Road in the UK, SXSW and Americana Fest in the USA, and Benicassim and Primavera Sound at home in Spain. Having supported artists including The Jayhawks, Neko Case, Courtney Marie Andrews, The Handsome Family and Israel Nash, Joana is now bringing her painfully honest and deeply moving songwriting to UK audiences once more.

With stops in Brighton, Glasgow and Newcastle, the run of dates comes on the back of the release of ‘Hardcore From The Heart’ last year. Full dates and details below. 

 

Serrat’s fifth album, ‘Hardcore From The Heart’ is the follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed ‘Dripping Springs’ (“…sounds like an alliance of Mazzy Star and Slowdive – now imagine that, and it gets better.” Americana UK). For the recording, Serrat travelled from her home in Vic, a small city near Barcelona, to Redwood Studio in Denton, Texas, where she teamed up with engineer and producer Ted Young (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Lee Ranaldo).

‘Hardcore From The Heart’ starts with loss and ends with acceptance of the impossibility of achieving an ideal life, examining the imbalance that exists between the life lived and the ideal sought. Its title is borrowed from the book by sexologist and essayist Annie Sprinkles to reflect the nuanced, emotional and introspective journey that Serrat pursues in her lyrics and music.

Lead single ‘Pictures’ illustrates the album’s rich textures and immersive atmospherics. “Pictures talks about disillusion and the failure of communication,” comments Serrat. “It's also a reminder of the amount of time we stupidly waste on trivial details. That idea of 'perfection never comes' is that you are better off just living your life because things can always go wrong. Tables turn in the blink of an eye. So putting off things while waiting for the right time to do them kills me.

 

“The song takes place in Montréal and it's about a broken promise. It was inspired by the fact I didn't let myself be angry with that disappointment. I built a wall and let my frustration and sadness grow in this space but never expressed it. That took a toll on me and by the time I realized it, it was too late.”

 

On ‘Hardcore From The Heart, Joana is joined by some of the musicians she worked with on ‘Dripping Springs’ – including guitarist Joey McClellan (Midlake, BNQT, John Grant) and bassist Aaron McClellan (Josh T. Pearson, BNQT) - who are joined by drummer McKenzie Smith (St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, First Aid Kit) and keyboard-player Jesse Chandler (Mercury Rev).

 

The work is rounded off by contributions of both pedal steel guitarist Eric Swanson (Nathaniel Rateliff, Israel Nash) and her brother Toni Serrat on drums. The magical varnish of mastering this flammable and fragile material is down to sound engineer Heba Kadry (Slowdive, Beach House, Future Islands).

 

The end result is a painfully honest and moving album, which grows on you with each hearing as new and rich complexities are discovered. ‘Hardcore From The Heart’ showcases Serrat's best vocal performance to date and marks a literary peak in her songwriting career.

Praise for Joana Serrat: 

"Like Mazzy Star guesting on an early Neil Young demo” - MOJO

“..the spectre of Joanna Newsom hangs heavy on her breathy vocal – evokes the sweeping 

alt-country of Lambchop. Gorgeous.”- NME

“An amazing artist, I’m a huge fan – an astonishing voice & I love her songwriting” - LAUREN LAVERNE, BBC 6 MUSIC

“Her soft and genuine voice opens you up to a new world, a world of dreams and smooth and silken atmospheres” - ROLLING STONE

“I swooned on first listen and I’m swooning still… She sounds like an alliance of Mazzy Star and Slowdive – now imagine that, and it gets better.” - AMERICANA UK

On The Web:

www.facebook.com/JoanaSerrat

www.twitter.com/joanaserrat

https://www.instagram.com/joanaserrat/