Pass Through Here (Vinyl) (Reissue)
‘Pass Through Here’ is a new album from Connecticut folk icon Kath Bloom, her first for five years!
Beginning to perform in the late 70s, Kath is renowned for her 80s private-press recordings with avant-garde guitarist Loren Connors, as well as signature tune Come Here from the soundtrack to Richard Linklater film Before Sunrise. Over the last 35 years, she has come to be revered around the world for her devastatingly emotional songwriting. Devendra Banhart has called her “one of the most beautiful singers ever,” while Pitchfork says “she can snap a heart like a twig.”
Chapter brought Kath’s music to a renewed audience with solo compilation ‘Finally’ in 2005 and new album ‘Terror’ in 2008, as well as reissues of four of the six Kath/Loren albums as double CD sets. Then in 2009, Chapter released celebrated tribute album ‘Loving Takes This Course,’ featuring covers by the likes of Bill Callahan, Devendra Banhart, Josephine Foster and Mark Kozelek.
Since then, Kath has recorded for Mark Kozelek’s Caldo Verde label, including Thin Thin Line (2010) and 2012 EP ‘Here I Am.’ For ‘Pass Through Here,’ Kath travelled far from her Connecticut home to record in California with a coterie of freewheeling West Coast folk rock types, including engineer Jeff Hassay and fellow performer Levi Strom. It’s a distinctive new sound for Kath, uplifted by floating synthesizers and disembodied choruses, while retaining the direct simplicity and power for which she is loved.
Kath faces turbulence head-on in “Criminal Side,” while “Let the Music Come” condenses her 60-something years of music-making into two incredibly affecting minutes. “Bubble Bath” is Kath at her most idiosyncratic and touching, while “Shirt Off Song” is an anthem to the wayard men in her life. Songs are recorded in just a few takes, vocals are captured raw and honest, but the overall impression is as masterful as it is ramshackle. For Kath Bloom, music has never been about finesse but always about feeling, ‘Pass Through Here’ is emotional, uplifting, haunting and heartwarming songwriting from a master of her craft.
