Prolific composer, orchestral arranger and instrumentalist, Fiona Brice, has just debuted her hypnotic, new single, ‘Nocturnal,’ ahead of her upcoming album ‘And you Know I Care’, out on 21st October via Bella Union.
Echoes of Brice’s rich body of work can be found across the music industry in the most exciting places. She has collaborated with the likes of John Grant, Anna Calvi, Midlake, Placebo, Vashti Bunyan and Jarvis Cocker, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Katherine Jenkins, Gorillaz and Robbie Williams, BBC Concert and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and brings all this experience to her forthcoming album. She toured with Placebo for ten years and more recently Elbow so to say that Brice in in demand is an understatement. Now, there’s a new name to add to this incredible list; Brice herself, with her breath-taking upcoming album, ‘And you Know I Care.’‘ Speaking of the record, Brice said,
“I wanted to make a record that was meditative, compassionate, calm and reflective, as a reaction to the increasingly noisy, opinionated, aggressive and polemic tone of our daily environment.”
She has drawn on her talents to forge an exceptional record that creates this sonic sanctuary. Brice’s second solo album for Bella Union, ‘And You Know I Care,’ is a deep listening experience that raises the post-classical bar, elevating the genre’s default melancholia for wider and richer dimensions of uplifting and bliss.
‘Nocturnal’ is one of the highlights of the record. This haunting, hypnotic multi-layered track is about the process of recovery from pain, the slow process of healing, and daring to trust again. As Brice says, ‘Nocturnal’ acknowledges emotional pain, “and how long it can take to heal,” Listen to this stunning track here:
This album follows her 2016 debut album ‘Postcards From‘ reflecting a more minimalist, filmic set of instrumentals. After two purer classical projects, the forthcoming ‘And You Know I Care‘ is a more wide-ranging, ruminating work, and showcases Brice’s liquid gold voice, mantric lyrics and choral arrangements as well as her expertise on the violin and piano.
To help her create a sonic refuge from modern life, Brice called on her friends Vicky Matthews (cello), Benjamin Till (vocal on ‘Whose God Are You’) and co-producers Julian Simmons and Dimitri Tikovoï. She said, “Every collaborator on this album is someone I’ve had a long-standing friendship and professional relationship with – including Simon Raymonde and Bella Union,” she says. “This is important to me because it gives the record a personal ‘retrospective’ quality.”
Renowned photographer Rankin is another friend (Brice initially featured in his famous Raw Nudes exhibition) Brice asked him to direct a video for the lead single – and title track after seeing his powerful portrait series Flora, juxtaposing flowers with flame. Watch here:
Brice also chose one of Rankin’s Flora images for the album cover. On the rear, she wears a formal black classical concert dress, lying in the yogic position known as ‘constructive rest’ Brice a trained Yoga teachers says, “It promotes calming, tension release and relaxing the sympathetic nervous system….I hope the imagery shows the seriousness of the statement I’m making on this record.”
Throughout the album, all the lyrics are written as mantras. As Brice explains, “A lot of songs out there have an enormous number of words – just like people are talking all the time on social media. So, I wanted to break things down to the emotional core. Historically too, mantras in the yogi tradition of repetition soothe the mind and body.”
With questing spirit, rich composition and a commanding vision, Brice has created her own sonic world and a place for everyone to find a shelter from the storm.
‘And you Know I Care’ out on 21st October via Bella Union.
Pre Order Here: Fiona Brice – And You Know I Care. Bella Union. (ochre.store)
For more information Fiona Brice – Orchestral Composer, Arranger & Violinist
Fiona Brice Tour:
November 2022
4th Gateshead – Sage
18th -Edinburgh -Assembly Rooms
December
2nd London – Kings Place
