And so, after three months of touring Europe and the UK with Simple Minds, I’m finally home! Everything has an end and what a ride it’s been since leaving my house to start rehearsals in early December 2014. I’ve had a blast on tour and met so many great people along the way…

If you missed out on the merch stall during the tour, there’s now a small number of signed 12" vinyl of the One For Sorrow EP for sale in my Bandcamp store (signed by me and co-producer Paul Draper, while stocks last). Please send a note with your order if you’d like yours personalised:

https://iamtheanchoress.bandcamp.com/album/one-for-sorrow-ep

And so to the album…This time last year the first single ‘What Goes Around’ was being released as a limited 7". It’s been a tough year since then. So many obstacles have been thrown in the path of completing the record and there’s been times where it has seemed like the only sane option would be to walk away and give up. But, as I’ve finally been putting the finishing touches to the album on my rare days off on tour over the past few months I think about how I would have loved my Dad to have seen it released, how thankful I am for all the incredible people who have contributed along the way, and wonder if I’d have known how tough it would be, would I have been put off this path? And then I think of Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better…” In short, release news coming very soon!

For now I’m off to unpack my suitcase as I’m back home for just a week before we fly off to Las Vegas to perform at the Billboard Music Awards. So many exciting things are happening at the moment, so just time to say thank you all for supporting me in some way or other, by coming to see a show or downloading a track.

Catherine xox

Live Photos by Vince Barker.

Once Upon A Lie has been playlisted by BBC Introducing and will be played every day next week!

You can download the track for free here: http://bit.ly/19hf3OX

Photo by Alan Wild.

Did an interview with the Guardian about my multi-tasking life…

http://gu.com/p/45m5d/stw

Review of the One For Sorrow EP in this month’s edition of Loaded.

“From sleazy stomping blues to pulsating piano pop, welcome to the oddly unsettling world of Welsh multi-instrumentalist Catherine Anne Davies. It’s epic, constantly evolving dark pop with acid spiked lyrics and a truly effecting voice.” - Mikey Jonns, Loaded.

Wow! What a start to the year! The mighty American institution that is NPR includes me in their 2015 picks. “As sharp as a bloody blade…” and the video has had over 10k plays in the first 24 hours!

I’ve been such a huge admirer of Ann Powers writing for a long time so it’s a honour to be included in her list for 2015.

Read the full article here.

Fred Perry Ones To Watch 2015

Thanks to Fred Perry for including me in their Ones To Watch for 2015!

“A self-described ‘revenge-pop’ artist, Catherine Anne Davies, AKA The Anchoress, makes animated pop music with a sinister, obsessive edge. Heading on a major EU tour with Simple Minds, she will be dropping her debut album in June 2015.”

Magical few days in the studio with Bernard Butler. Album 2 may be ready before Album 1 at this rate…!

Les Inrocks

Great review of Long Year from the amazing Les Inrocks. How’s your French…? ; )

“Behind this barbaric sound sensual and group name trompe-l'oeil hides one Catherine Anne Davies. One imagines indeed Welsh savage, dark thoughts and nervous gestures, suspicious and tense like a young PJ Harvey when she greeted the press with a fork in her hand in the Dorset countryside. But the miracle here is the mixture of bitterness and luxuriance - rubber boots and satin shoes - which made the unprecedented magnitude of these songs as comfortable at CBGB’s as in Broadway theatres. Gothic and flamboyant then.”

http://www.lesinrocks.com/2014/12/18/musique/anchoress-long-year-11540907/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

‘One For Sorrow’ is today’s featured video over on RORMIX…

http://blog.rormix.com/category/featured-artist/

Drowned In Sound Best of November Playlist

Our friends over at Drowned in Sound have included the Philip Reach mix of One For Sorrow in their November playlist, along with some other rather good tunes!! You can listen to the best of November playlist is over here: http://bit.ly/DiSnov14

Clash Magazine Track by Track

Read a track by track guide to the One For Sorrow EP on Clash now and get your ears around Philip Reach’s reworking of ‘One For Sorrow’ (which features some rather prominent use of producer Paul Draper’s glorious falsetto backing vocals…)

http://www.clashmusic.com/news/premiere-the-anchoress-one-for-sorrow-ep

Q Magazine Feature

I wrote a little piece for Q Magazine about my favourite wedding dress videos, including some style tips from pop’s finest…

Probably the only place on the internet where you’ll find Katy Perry and Blood Red Shoes sharing pixels…

Read it in full here:

http://www.qthemusic.com/6505/artist-playist-the-anchoress-five-best-music-videos-featuring-wedding-dresses/

BBC Introducing Mixtape

The Philip Reach version of ‘One For Sorrow’ features on this week’s 6Music BBC Introducing mixtape from Tom Robinson. Thanks to Tom for his continued support!

Listen to the mixtape and download in full here:

http://freshonthenet.co.uk/mixtape20141208

The One For Sorrow EP is out November 3rd on 12" vinyl, limited CD and digital EP.

VINYL

The beautiful 12" vinyl EP designed by Michael Speed.

Available from all good record stores, including the following online stores:

• PICCADILLY RECORDS, MANCHESTER
• RESIDENT RECORDS, BRIGHTON
• ROUGH TRADE
• AMAZON
• JUNO
• ACTION RECORDS

CD

This special collector’s edition ribbon-wrapped bundle includes a limited 4-track CD of the One For Sorrow EP, alongside a personalized hand stamped library card from The Anchoress, and a hand-picked vintage romance novel (as used in the “book-bath” which featured in the EP artwork and promo photo shoot).

Buy the ltd edition signed CD here.

DIGITAL

The EP is also available from iTunes, Amazon, and all other digital stores, including an iTunes bonus track remix by Ghosting Season.

The One For Sorrow EP by The Anchoress is out November 3rd 2014

The Video…

So here it is. The video for ‘One For Sorrow’.
It’s made up of archive footage that I compiled from the Prelinger archive of instructional films from the 1950s on marriage, human reproduction and domesticity… The finished video is a Homeland-inspired collaboration with the amazing guys at Beatcast. It sees my original film collage projected onto a series of “brides through the ages”, also featuring my not-at-all-Miss-Havisham-esque extensive vintage wedding dress collection….

In the NME…

I wrote a piece for the NME today about the music of Twin Peaks & what the overused term “Lynchian” really means…

Read it in full here: http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-music-of-twin-peaks-dissected-what-does-lynchian-actually-mean

One For Sorrow on the BBC 6Music Playlist

We only went and bloody won the Rebel Playlist! Thank you to everyone who voted. YOU did this! Listen up to BBC 6Music to hear ‘One For Sorrow’ being played all week.

This week has been a surreal one…

On Monday, Simple Minds revealed a secret that I’ve been keeping very close to my chest for a few months now…I’ll be joining them on tour throughout 2015! How this all came about is something of a distant echo of the duet I co-wrote for The Dark Flowers album a few year’s back which also featured Jim Kerr… You never know where things might lead! I’m looking forward to seeing some bookshops and art galleries around Europe. Pitstop suggestions welcome…

Yesterday I also found out that “One For Sorrow” (from the forthcoming EP) is up for the BBC 6Music Rebel Playlist. This is voted for by YOU, the music-loving public. If you could spare a moment between now and midnight this Sunday evening (and maybe ask your friends, ex-lovers and your sister’s dogs to vote too…) if we win the vote it means that the song gets played on all the 6Music daytime shows for a whole week! It takes five seconds to vote here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0072lb2

I’d be very grateful indeed if you did : )

If you haven’t already pre-ordered the EP, all the details are here: www.iamtheanchoress.com/music. There’s still a few limited editions remaining.

Catherine xox

p.s. Here’s the new Simple Minds video:

In The Quietus…

“I call him the lizard man…” The Quietus have just published the essay I penned about working with Paul Draper and how the album came together…

http://thequietus.com/articles/16327-the-anchoress-long-year-catherine-ad-paul-draper-essay

“Davies is making music like nobody else at the moment…” - NME

“The Anchoress spins complex, emotionally gripping sagas” - Clash

“As unique and insidious a pop song as I’ve heard in eons!” - Adam Walton, BBC Wales

“ A slow-burning, slinky, sophisticated helping of brooding pop noir, highlighting a fabulously narcotic vocal which prowls and curls itself around a song that is sinister, seductive and hypnotic.” - Von Pip