Kinny’s captivating power and range of vocal expression, her diverse cultural heritage (a mix of Jamaican, Native Canadian and Swedish), and the twists and turns her life has taken all feed into the music; and her richly emotive sound never shies away from a dancefloor-filling groove or a stream-of-consciousness lyrical flow. The warm, immersive and soulful soundscape created by Norwegian producer/musician duo Souldrop (who also produced two tracks on her first album) provides the perfect cocoon for Kinny’s crystal-edged voice, the eclectic sonic palette ranging organically from big bassy beats and keys to acoustic instrumentation and percussion.
Kinny - aka Canadian born, Norway based Caitlin Simpson - is one of a handful of standout female singers to have been nurtured and developed in the Tru Thoughts stable, alongside the likes of soul queen Alice Russell and Belleruche siren Kathrin deBoer. Her 2010 solo debut Idle Forest Of Chit Chat - on which production was split between collaborators including label-mates Quantic, Nostalgia 77 and Hint – gained rave reviews and support from Laurent Garnier, Craig Charles (BBC 6Music), Mark Lamarr (BBC Radio 2) and Daddy G (Massive Attack), and sparked more than the occasional comparison to luminaries including Erykah Badu.
This time, on Can't Kill A Dame With Soul she worked exclusively with Souldrop, fellow residents of the vibrant musical town of Bergen, Norway. Creating music in one room with her production team, rather than across several international borders, made for a totally different recording experience. “It can be exciting, making tracks with people on the other side of the World and hearing the results. But for me – and I think you can hear this on the record - this way was much better for the album making process. We felt more like a unit creating something and fed off of each other’s energies...”
Lyrically, the issues Kinny battles on this album stem from her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a lifelong condition that has come to overwhelm her: “Every song on this album is in some way about my mental illness which affects my everyday life. All the tracks stem around my fear, pain and frustrations and how having OCD has changed me.” A long hospital stay, following a traumatic car accident in 2010, caused her underlying fears of contamination to escalate. Even while knowing it is irrational, she is unable to control it. With singing as her only respite, the visceral sense of a spiritual release – of music that just had to be made - permeates Can’t Kill A Dame With Soul. Many specific lyrics, including Let me out of this jar and It wants more in “Shrinking Violet” and I got this disease in “Mmm of my Hums”, directly relate her frustrations. The album’s title, on the other hand, references the strength and character within – the sense of Kinny – which keeps her keeping on. ~ tru-thoughts.co.uk
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