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One to watch: Frankie Archer
The folk singer reimagines traditional ballads with an electronic twist, layering atmosphere into her arrangements with synths and distortion
Performing simply and plainly in her Northumbrian accent, she uses synthesisers and electronics to layer atmosphere into her arrangements, even submitting her violin to an array of distorting effects pedals (on recent single Lovely Joan, it sounds like a sinister electric guitar). Her first EP, Never So Red, produced and mixed by renowned folk musician Jim Moray, came out last autumn, featuring centuries-old ballads such as Oxford City, about a jealous lover who poisons his fiancee, and Lucy Wan, about a brother who kills the sister he’s made pregnant. Reimaginings of ballads including Elsie Marley and Barbara Allen tell stories of pressures “to be chatty but not too opinionated, to be sexy but not a slut” as glitched vocals and electronic manipulation ramp up the tension.
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