Thea Gilmore comes to Telford’s Warehouse in Chester

Dec 17 2009 by Paul Mannion, Flintshire Chronicle

A highly acclaimed singer-songwriter is ending her UK tour by performing her latest release Strange Communion at Telford’s Warehouse this month.

Talented Thea Gilmore, who has been described as ‘the best wordsmith of her generation’ and ‘the best British singer-songwriter of the last 10 years’, brings her Strange Communion tour to the popular Chester venue on Monday. The album, which was released last month, is described as a Christmas album which references the poetry of T S Eliot and Louis MacNiece, and includes cover versions of songs by Elvis Costello and Yoko Ono and a single That’ll Be Christmas was released on December 7.

Oxford-born Gilmore, who released her first record at just 18 years old, ends the winter tour in Chester after visiting prestigious music venues like The Sage, Gateshead and King Tuts, Glasgow.

Strange Communion has been called a stirring, emotive journey, joyful, celebratory and sceptical as it delves into the heart of the festive season and reflects on its institutions and contradictions.

Gilmore finds lyrical inspiration in ancient folklore as much as she does in popular culture.

While the opening track Sol Invictus, is an invocation to a pagan sun god, and a collaboration with the award-winning Sense Of Sound Choir, The St Stephen’s Day Murders is a cover of an Elvis Costello track, and surely the most unlikely duet of the year with Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe.

Another remarkable cover is Listen, the Snow is Falling, originally a Yoko Ono song which first appeared as a B-Side on a John Lennon single.

Tickets cost £13.50 and are available from Telford’s Warehouse, Tower Wharf. For more information, ring 01244 390090 or visitwww.telfordswarehouse.com.