Last year, NYC indie folk-pop artist Jessie Kilguss offered us one of the year’s most delightful Americana-indiepop surprises with her album ‘What Do Whales Dream About at Night?’ LP, which Kilguss and bandmembers co-produced with Adam Lasus (Yo La Tengo, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Helium), with Lasus also engineering and Charlie Nieland(Debbie Harry, Rufus Wainwright, Blondie, Scissor Sisters) having mixed and mastered the album.
Now she’s back with ‘Wuthering Heights’, paying tribute to heroine Kate Bush, along with a new fantasy-invoking picturesque video. What a great way to kick off the new year by channeling a great classic anew, albeit with an indie-folk twist.
“Alex Dar, a Russian artist, made the video. He’d never heard of Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ or the novel by Emily Brontë. I told him the story of the book and song and sent him some photos I’ve taken in Ireland over the years, many of the ruin of Clifden Castle. He came up with something unique. I like that he didn’t have Kate Bush’s brilliant videos for this song as a reference for what he created. I like that he didn’t know her incredible original version of the song either. It meant he had to create something from scratch from my version of the song and from the photos and storyline I told him,” says Jessie Kilguss.
Engineered, produced, mixed and mastered by at Saturation Point Studios in Brooklyn, this stripped down features only guitar, vocals, harmonium and glockenspiel. With Kilguss handling vocals and harmonium, she is accompanied by Charlie Nieland on glockenspiel with guitar by Andrea Longato, who has played with some of today’s finest artists, including Jeremy Jordan, Alphonso Ribeiro, Duncan Sheik, Tony Vincent (The Voice) and Justin Guarini (American Idol).
Jessie Kilguss explains, “I’ve been covering this song live for a couple of years. I’m a big fan of Kate Bush. I read ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë when I was a teenager and loved it. I wonder if that would be the case as an adult. The song ‘Wuthering Heights’ really captures the spirit of the book in its melodrama and angst. I find it really fun to sing because of that. One of the things I love about Kate Bush is that she deals in big emotions and is a master storyteller. I find this song so compelling. It’s extraordinary that she wrote it when she was a teenager.”
A former actress, whose acting highlights include ‘The Crucible’ (with Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Ryder) and the stage production ‘As You Like It’ (directed by Royal Shakespeare Company founder Sir Peter Hall), Kilguss made the switch to songwriting after working with two of her musical heroes – Marianne Faithfull and Mary Margaret O’Hara in the Tom Waits / William Burroughs musical ‘The Black Rider’.
In addition to writing and performing her own music, Kilguss also sings with Gramercy Arms, Jim Andralis and the Syntonics andBenjamin Cartel. She also performed at the Sundance Film Festival and with Freddie Stevenson, supporting The Waterboys for their European tour.
‘Wuthering Heights’ is out now, available from fine digital platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify andBandcamp, where Kilguss’ latest album ‘What Do Whales Dream About at Night?’ can also be found.
CREDITS
Recorded by Charlie Nieland at Saturation Point Studios (Brooklyn)
Jessie Kilguss – vocals and harmonium
Charlie Nieland – glockenspiel
Andrea Longato – guitar
Engineered, produced, mixed & mastered by Charlie Nieland
Cover artist photo by Shervin Lainez
Background photo by Jessie Kilguss
Cover designed by Scott MX Turner
ISRC code: US-L4Q-22-77764
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
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