Leave to Remain

Kathryn Williams

Kathryn Williams is a Mercury Prize-nominated chanteuse from the UK, and it’s easy to see why on Leave to Remain, her second full-length disc.  Williams’s smooth, pure soprano is rightly showcased here, fronting mostly minimalist instrumentation (sparse guitars largely characterize these songs) that occasionally (and pleasantly) feels its dramatic oats. 

Leave to Remain is worth a listen just to hear Williams sing; her voice is undeniably beautiful, and she knows how to flex it to its limit without sounding like she’s trying too hard.  My issue with this album is the lyrics, as in some places, they are not strong enough to be featured so prominently. Williams’s errors here are at times vacillating between being precious (“The sky, open and blue, / Like the letters that came from Africa”) or instructive (also most egregiously in “Let it Happen”), and these foibles detract from the atmospheric qualities of the album.

Download these: “When,” “Sustain Pedal”