''Letters I Haven't Written'', the seventh album by British singer-songwriter

Gwyneth Herbert Gwyneth Herbert (born 26 August 1981) is a British singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Initially known for her interpretation of jazz and swing standards, she is now established as a writer of original compo ...

, was released on 12 October 2018. It was produced at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

and, like Herbert's previous album '' The Sea Cabinet'', was

crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial ...

. The songs on the album, all written by Herbert, have been described as "exquisitely crafted". On the subjects of "love, gratitude and protest", they are about the lost art of letterwriting. Reviewing the album for ''

Jazzwise ''Jazzwise'' is a British monthly magazine focused on jazz, launched in 1997. The magazine covers a range of jazz sub-genres and provides news coverage, a national gig guide, a jazz-on-film page, feature articles, and a review section that evalua ...

'' magazine, Peter Quinn said that "Letters I Haven't Written is by turns moving, thrilling and entrancing". Music from the album was previewed in a touring show which Herbert and her band performed at UK venues in 2017.

Production

The album cover features artwork by Julia Andrews-Clifford and a photograph of Herbert by Ian Wallman.

Track listing

# "Fishing for Squirrels" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "More of Everything" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "Reading My Breath Away" (Gwyneth Herbert/ Krystle Warren) # "From Here to Over There" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "Frosting on Your Windows" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "You're Welcome" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "Until the Dust Settles" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "Tick Tock TICK" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "Don't Call Me That" (Gwyneth Herbert) # "And You Are..." (Gwyneth Herbert) # "Not the Kind of Girl" (Gwyneth Herbert)

Songs

Herbert wrote "Not the Kind of Girl" for a screening, in 2010, of

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies left the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

’ 1928 silent comedy classic '' The Patsy'', at

BFI Southbank BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the United Kingdom, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Inst ...

's Birds Eye View Film Festival. Ian Shaw covered the song on his 2017 album ''Shine Sister Shine''. "You're Welcome" was inspired by the journey of the

Windrush generation British African-Caribbean people or British Afro-Caribbean people are an ethnic group in the United Kingdom. They are British citizens or residents of recent Caribbean heritage who further trace much of their ancestry to West and Central Africa. ...

, the early migrants from the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

who settled in the UK. It was released as a single in September 2018.

Personnel

* Gwyneth Herbert – vocals, backing vocals, piano,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

* Sam Burgess – electric and acoustic bass, backing vocals * Al Cherry – guitars, backing vocals *

Corrie Dick Corrie Dick is a Scottish musician (drums, percussion, vocals) and composer based in London. Early life Born in Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Str ...

– percussion, drums, backing vocals * Ned Cartwright – piano, keyboards, backing vocals * Krystle Warren – vocals on "Fishing for Squirrels" and "From Here to Over There" * Alice Zawadzki – strings

References

External links

Gwyneth Herbert: official websiteOfficial trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letters I Haven't Written 2018 albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios Crowdfunded albums Gwyneth Herbert albums Letters (message)