When I found out This Is The Kit were performing in Philly this week I moved around my entire schedule so that I could make it to the show. I first heard This is The Kit my sophomore year and immediately knew I had happened on something special. The subdued melancholy on her 2015 album title track “Bashed Out” felt introspective, but not stale or trite. I was completely struck by the strange, lovely juxtaposition of the song’s weighty lyrics and the lilting gentleness of the vocals. For a long time after, my Spotify habits have been dominated by This Is the Kit’s discography, each song holding something of the specialness I felt when I initially heard her voice.
This Is The Kit is the stage name for British singer–songwriter Kate Stables, who first received recognition for her talent upon her inclusion in record label Sunday Best’s 2006 compilation album Folk Off, which featured more established artists such as Sufjan Stevens and Animal Collective alongside the newer sounds of Stables. After her first full–length album, This Is The Kit began working with The National’s frontman Aaron Dessner, who produced Stables’ next work Bashed Out.
In her newest album Moonshine Freeze, Stables melodies feel more urgent, as opposed to the even–keeled and pulsating rhythm found through the extent of the earlier Bashed Out. The result is nothing short of wonderful. In “Riddled with Ticks” and “Show Me So” there’s a striking clarity of feeling with every lyric. The upbeat “Hotter Colder” with its sudden bursts of a brass section give texture to the album’s track listing and the moments of silence in “Solid Grease” between the song’s driving full band builds allow for Stable’s voice to shine in all its twists and turns.
Don’t miss This Is The Kit at Johnny Brenda’s this Thursday 10/26. Tickets are $15.
