A unique and sincere songwriter with an expert ability to meld inspirations, eras, and sounds, Kitt’s music glimmers with a sense of timelessness well-earned after over twenty years immersed in music. Set to land March 31st 2023 via RE:WARM, his ninth studio album ‘Idiot Check’ sees the artist tap into a diverse range of influences once more, emerging as an ambient and atmospheric record that puts an eclectic experimental spin on traditional folk music.
Produced and recorded by Kitt himself using his “Breaking Bad mobile studio set-up”, the album was written between 2016 and 2022 in Dublin, Paris, and eventually the remote town of Ballinskelligs in south-west Kerry, where the artist moved during the pandemic and has stayed ever since. As Kitt explains:
“The lack of environmental noise and distractions, and being 30 seconds from the Atlantic Ocean all created the perfect environment to get the job done. It still continues to be a source of great inspiration, succour and the principal driving force in what’s been a genuine purple patch for me.”
Blending acoustic and electronic elements with expert precision, the record showcases both the diverse circumstances of its inception and Kitt’s personal breadth as a songwriter and producer. Kitt adds:
“Many of the songs were started in a pre-Covid world, but when Covid happened it gave the half-finished songs a new hue as if they were from some former version of reality, and this led to all sorts of creative inspiration that was quite unexpected. The pandemic gave everything the quality of a remote dream that was somehow really healthy for my imagination and made finishing them much easier and more creative than expected.”
Exploring a range of themes from the breakdown of relationships to socio-political issues and the absence of religion, ‘Idiot Check’ feels like a record that is undeniably current yet glints with a permanence that ensures its tracks will stand the test of time.
“My partner had moved home to Australia and my intention had always been to follow her,” says Kitt, “but Covid completely changed the situation and unfortunately our relationship didn’t survive the pandemic. You can hear this in the lyrics I suppose, perhaps most obviously in “Wexford Strawberries”.”
“Not So Soon” was finished at the tail-end of Donald Trump’s presidency and in ways relates to recent trends of political and social polarisation. “Wishing Well” relates to the void left by the decline of religious institutions and what we turn to in the absence of faith and superstition. These are the themes that recur throughout the record on both micro, personal levels and macro, societal levels. The record also explores the defiant necessity of the creative act against the backdrop of its apparent folly.”
From the fuzzy, lo-fi “Wishing Well” fluttering with a gentle sense of magnetism, to the infectious and upbeat “Not So Soon”, and jovial, traditional folk cut “Balances”, “Idiot Check” is an evergreen album as experimental as it is ageless.
The record also sees Kitt joined by a number of special guests including Dylan Lynch of Dublin alt-pop band Soda Blonde on drums on “Wave of Peace” and regular collaborator Katie Kim providing backing vocals on several tracks including “Till the End”. In a real coup, he also managed to enlist the services of reclusive Canadian singer-songwriter Mary Margaret O’Hara on “Oh Folly”, with her vocals providing a spooky foil over the haunting track.
Today, Kitt shares ‘Wishing Well’, which appears as track 3 on the album.
Speaking of the song, Kitt says “Wishing Well is about being on the run from memories/your past and memories fading/morphing/appearing in dreams and asking yourself what are you running from exactly. Running from yourself or something other than yourself? Some ghostly spectre that you can’t really pinpoint. It’s also about the void left by the absence of religion/superstition and who we ‘blame’ or project things onto in that absence. The song explores where these two things overlap I guess.”
DAVID KITT UK AND IRELAND LIVE DATES 2023
FEBRUARY
27 LONDON Union Chapel
MARCH
01 CORK Opera House*
02 WEXFORD National Opera House*
04 DUBLIN National Concert Hall*
05 DUBLIN National Concert Hall*
07 LONDON Union Chapel*
31 CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
APRIL
01 BOURNEMOUTH Bad Hand Warehouse
02 BIRMINGHAM Hare & Hounds
03 MANCHESTER Yes
04 LEEDS Headrow House
05 NEWCASTLE Cluny 2
06 EDINBURGH Sneaky Petes
07 GLASGOW Nice N Sleazy
15 DUBLIN Whelans
20 GALWAY Roisin Dubh
21 CORK Coughlans
22 WATERFORD Electric Avenue
23 DUNDALK Spirit Store
29 BELFAST The Duncairn
30 DERRY Echo Echo Dance
MAY
05 LEAP Connollys
06 KILKENNY Cleeres
11 BRISTOL The Love Inn
12 BRIGHTON The Great Escape
13 BRIGHTON The Great Escape
14 SHEFFIELD The Yellow Arch
17 LONDON Jazz Cafe
27 BALLYCOTTON Sea Church
*supporting David Gray
