Q&A: Folk Artist Lucy Kitchen Shares About Newest Album ‘In The Low Light’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY HAZEL RAIN ☆
Photo by Alec Bowman Clarke
CAPTURING BEAUTY THROUGH GRIEF—folk artist Lucy Kitchen creates a story of loss, hope and transformation in her newest album In the Low Light, out today.
In the Low Light was written after the passing of her husband in 2022. Through the album, she explores honoring love, reclaiming what brings her joy, grief, and friendship; as well as strong imagery of nature and the changing seasons. She uses her music—delicate vocals and slow, grounded tracks—as a way to heal and move forward while accepting the way grief ebbs and flows. The album features contributions from Tali Trow, Jon Thorne, Pat Kenneally, Michael Davies, Peter Mojzeš and Sam Ehret-Pickett.
Kitchen is based in Romsey, Hampshire. She has released two prior albums, Waking (2014) and Sun to My Moon (2017,) as well as the EP The Stabal Sessions (2023.) She will be touring the UK and Europe through March and April.
Read below for more about Lucy Kitchen and how In the Low Light came to be.
Photo by Alec Bowman Clarke
LUNA: Congratulations on the release of In the Low Light! It is a beautiful album. How are you feeling about it being out in the world soon?
KITCHEN: Thank you! I can't wait to be honest! It has been a while since we finished it, so to finally have it out for everyone to hear will be amazing!
LUNA: Do you have a favorite song on the album?
KITCHEN: This is a tricky one as it changes all the time. I'd probably say at the moment I have three favourites: “Winter King,” “In My Corner” and “The Boatman.”
LUNA: Would you like to talk a bit about the process of making In the Low Light?
KITCHEN: I'd written a bunch of songs and had released my live EP The Stabal Sessions in December 2023. Tali Trow really nudged me towards booking the studio and thinking about making an album in early 2024. Once I had that idea set, I started recording demos of all the songs and thinking about instrumentation. We then went into the studio and recorded most of the album in the summer. Tali and I then worked on extra parts from home (flute, extra guitars, keys, vocals) and then we got the brass for Blue Light and the strings done last, just before we did the final mix and master at Tilehouse Studios.
LUNA: Can you share a bit about how you combined grief and hope as main themes of this album?
KITCHEN: I didn't really think about having themes for the album. It happened quite naturally and I think is just a reflection of both where I was in my life when I wrote a lot of the songs, but also how I am. I remain full of hope and dreams and, even amongst the worst days, I still always had hope for my life and what is still to come. So I think that kind of came out in the songwriting.
LUNA: How did the creation process for In the Low Light compare to past albums?
KITCHEN: I wanted to do the recording in a more condensed way with this one. We did most of the recording in the studio over a couple of weeks to get the bones of all the songs recorded with the band. I think that gives more immediacy to the feel of the songs, and then Tali and I both did some recording at home of extra parts.
LUNA: What is your typical routine for songwriting and recording?
KITCHEN: I don't have a set routine for my writing. It can work in a number of different ways. I write a lot of lyrics on the fly; I have endless snippets on my phone. Then I'll sit and work through some. Sometimes I just write a whole song in one go and sometimes I to-and-fro a bit working everything out. I am quite lyric and melody driven as a writer so that can often come first. I do a lot of thinking and singing ideas out in the car. For recording, it depends on whether I'm recording solo or with a band. If it's just me, I tend to record live with vocals and guitar together so you get the flow of a performance but with a band we'll layer things more.
LUNA: How long has music been central to your life?
KITCHEN: I've pretty much always known that I wanted to do something with music. I started playing the flute when I was eight and my goal then was to be a professional flautist. When I was sixteen I'd started writing some lyrics and my parents bought me a guitar and I fell in love with writing songs.
LUNA: Can you share a bit about the collaborative aspects of this album and the musicians you worked with?
KITCHEN: I think key was working with Tali Trow again, who I'd worked with on my last album Sun to My Moon. He always gets all my references and understands where my ideas are going and he has great ideas for what to add to songs.
Jon Thorne came in on double bass and that really shaped some of the arrangements as his playing is so distinct. Pat Kenneally is on drums and he just had a good groove but is also a great ideas guy in the studio, he also plays the hammond on “The Boatman.” Mike Davies on pedal steel is someone I've played with live a lot and I always knew I wanted some steel on some songs so it was natural to ask him. Peter Mojzeš arranged and recorded the strings in Prague. I sent him some reference tracks and he completely nailed it.
LUNA: What most inspires your writing?
KITCHEN: I tend to write quite personally but within that I am also inspired by the seasons, nature, poetry, folklore and other songwriters.
LUNA: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
KITCHEN: I'm just excited for everyone to hear the record and then to see what happens next.
