KT Tunstall Revisited
Many fans might remember KT Tunstall only for her two biggest hits.
That’s not a total surprise. Around about 2005/2006, “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See” were fairly ubiquitous. They helped KT Tunstall reach platinum status with her debut album, released in the U.S. well after it started its successful UK run. Each subsequent release seems to have winnowed Tunstall’s American audience further. Adult Pop and Adult Alternative radio formats continued to show her some appreciation. But there’s a lot more to KT Tunstall and her catalogue than those two hits.
Eye to the Telescope (2004 (UK); 2006 (U.S.))
With “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” as a calling card, KT Tunstall became the woman of the moment in the Adult Pop world . It’s not hard to understand. With Tunstall’s syncopated guitar work and the distinctive “woo hoo” background chants, “Black Horse” sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time. And it was only the tip of what Eye to the Telescope had to offer. “Suddenly I See” worked up a lot of energy with it’s almost dissonant contrast between a warm melody and a pinging beat. In addition to conquering radio, the song seemed to turn up everywhere in the worlds of TV and movies. But the best song on Telescope may have been its opener. “Other Side of the World” is a good representation of Tunstall’s debut. It’s built around a solid acoustic guitar line, backed by a solid rhythm section and layered background vocals. Tunstall turned in one of her best vocal performances, mining the pathos from the breakdown of a distant relationship. The rest of the album tended to work variations on the “Other Side” template, to good effect. “Another Place To Fall” was possibly the most energetic cut. “Miniature Disasters” spotlighted a confident vocal. And “Universe & U” was a solid mid-tempo entry that found some exposure on American TV. Telescope did a lot to add texture with changes in tempo and the play of dynamics, which would prove to be one of Tunstall’s most enduring musical traits. If a couple of the cuts felt like filler, overall Telescope was a strong introduction of KT Tunstall to an international audience and became a well-deserved global hit.
Drastic Fantastic (2007)
For American audiences, the sophomore album from KT Tunstall might have seemed to come fairly quickly after the U.S. release of her debut. But for Tunstall, Drastic Fantastic came almost three years after she’d initially delivered Eye to the Telescope to the UK market. If Telescope often fell into the folk/pop vein, on Drastic Fantastic, Tunstall embraced her rock side. Electric guitar replaced acoustic on a lot of cuts and the album gained momentum from a more prominent rhythm approach. Those changes were apparent on lead single “Hold On,” which employed a prominent electric guitar punch and a skittering beat that propelled the song to a strong finish. Little wonder that it topped the Triple A chart in the U.S. Follow-up “Saving My Face” was an insistent, fast moving number with lyrics that took aim at the modern culture of refusing to age gracefully. But KT Tunstall wasn’t working in only one mode on Drastic. “If Only” had plenty of energy, as it found a way to modernize a ‘60s girl group aesthetic. “I Don’t Want You Now” drove hard and wouldn’t have felt out of place on a Pretenders album. There were gentler sides, too. “Beauty of Uncertainty” was a minor key excursion that effectively used echo effects to assay its spacey sound. “Hopeless” brought back the acoustic guitar for a setting that flirted with country. “Someday Soon” used little more than a spare electric guitar line to frame a gentle song about hope. And the gorgeous finale “Paper Aeroplane” was built around a mournful organ line that framed lyrics that traced the struggle with a punishing relationship. It was beautiful in the best, gloomiest way and was one of Tunstall’s best songs. The artistic growth and embrace of sonic diversity that KT Tunstall showed on her second album marked her as an artist to watch, even if her artistic restlessness largely meant leaving mainstream pop radio behind her.
Have Yourself A Very KT Christmas (2007)
KT Tunstall dropped this brief collection (only six songs) shortly after releasing her sophomore album. Have Yourself A Very KT Christmas showed the singer’s excellent taste and allowed her to have a bit of fun, too. Most of the cuts here took a rock approach, built on electric guitars and Tunstall’s energetic vocals. It was certainly an approach that made sense on The Pretenders classic “2000 Miles” or The Pogues’ roguish “Fairytale of New York” (with Ed Harcourt on the male vocal part). But it provided a definite contrast to previous versions of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and especially “Sleigh Ride.” The latter cut worked in a bit of whimsy with glockenspiel and a toy piano as sonic touches. Tunstall also had some fun with “Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas In Hawaii),” using a xylophone to whip up an appealing bit of lounge kitsch. She embraced the melancholy of the season on the finale, a winsome cover of Elvis Presley’s “Lonely This Christmas” built on a gently strummed electric guitar line. This may not be the most necessary entry in the KT Tunstall discography, but for fans it’s worth seeking out.
Tiger Suit (2010)
KT Tunstall took a diverse sonic approach to her third proper album, making it one of her best. On the American side, she led the singles charge with “Fade Like A Shadow,” an energetic mid-tempo cut that found favor at Triple A radio. For the Brits, Tunstall opened with “(Still A) Weirdo,” an offbeat, rhythmic ballad with a very precise vocal delivery. Two very different approaches, both excellent and both warmly received. KT Tunstall covered a lot of ground on Tiger Suit and yet it all held together quite well. Opener “Ummannaq Song” generated a lot of warmth and energy, highlighted by the tribal backing chorus. “Golden Frames” worked a slinky, almost sinister, minor key vibe to create atmosphere. That led into the insistent stomp of “Come On, Get In.” “Push That Knot Away” worked up a decent amount of energy with its mid-tempo approach. And “The Entertainer” closed out the set with a shimmering, world weary meditation on fame. For all the diverse sonic terrain that KT Tunstall covered, it all held together really well and formed a first rate listening experience. If her sales continued to dwindle in the U.S., it had nothing to do with the quality of her output, which continued to get stronger as she went.
Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon (2013)
By the time KT Tunstall released her fourth album, she was a long way from “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” But in many ways, Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon had more in common with her debut album than anything that came between. The dual nature of the title represented Tunstall feeling torn between recording a gentle folk album and something more orchestrated. She split the difference, going half and half, though once again, the finished result still felt unified. The Invisible Empire half of the album was fairly spare, usually built only a simple acoustic guitar or piano line, with barely any other embellishments beyond Tunstall’s gentle vocals. Instead, Tunstall used different tempos to create interest among the cuts on the first half and prevent them from sounding too alike. The opening title cut was a sweet, strummed ballad that landed gently. Tunstall used a somewhat more aggressive tempo on “Made of Glass” to convey the lyrical message. She dipped into a minor key and the lower part of her register to give “How You Kill Me” an edge. “Yellow Flower” swapped in piano for guitar and brought the first half to a lovely close. It wasn’t as though the second half erupted into death metal, of course. The Crescent Moon songs shared the gentler DNA of the first half, but Tunstall employed fuller orchestrations, using electric guitars, synthesizers and a more prominent rhythm section. And really, for as lovely as the first half was, the performances on the second half stood out more. Single “Feel It All” was a natural standout, using electric guitar and a subtle beat to come up with something sophisticated and compelling. “Honeydew” felt almost light and sweet after several darker, more introspective cuts. But the best song was closer “No Better Shoulder.” The lyrics were simple (one line repeated numerous times), but Tunstall worked with dynamics and contrasts quite effectively, building from a simple guitar line and layering on additional sounds (electric guitar, spacey synths, soaring backing vocals) as the song built to an anthemic release. It was absolutely fantastic. It’s too bad that this album flew under the radar, but with KT Tunstall having relocated to Los Angeles to pursue film scoring work alongside her recording career, maybe some of these songs will find audiences via TV or film placements. They certainly deserve it.
Originally published at thunderalleybcpcom.ipage.com on December 19, 2014.
