Karen Lee Andrews releases new album Survival
Karen Lee Andrews has today released her breathtaking new album Survival.
Australia has always been adept at taking the best bits from around the world and creating art of extraordinary beauty. When it comes to music, the tyranny of distance meant that artists had to be extremely self-sufficient and forge their own path to success. Australia may not have a music industry mecca like Nashville, Atlanta, or LA, but Karen Lee Andrews has shown that exceptional talent can emerge from anywhere. With her outstanding new album Survival, she has earned her place on the main stage, captivating audiences with her remarkable artistry.
After 20 years in the music industry, Survival feels like it could have been crafted in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, with soul, blues, and country woven deeply throughout. It journeys from the heart-rending laments of the genre’s pioneers – those fabled to have gained their skills at the crossroads- to toe-tapping rides reminiscent of iconic backing bands like Booker T & the M.G’s or the musicians who build the sound behind Tina Turner.
Combined with Karen’s background in gospel music and her Polynesian culture, the guitar licks, harmonies, sparse use of Rhodes and Hammond all hark of a time when the bones of a song were left in place to let its character soar. Growing up as ‘the brown kid’ in the Anglo-Saxon suburbs of Australia’s industrial heartland, taught Karen a toughness and resilience that is heard in the very essence of her vocals and the raw emotions are there for all to hear.
From the opening track Dark and Heavy, the listener is taken on an 8-track journey that is simply astounding. It takes them to a place where the heavy humidity of Tennessee lingers on the cypress trees or where the roadhouse juke joints jump to the boogie woogie rhythms of an artist at the top of her game. With the lead single I’m Yours already proving that she is capable of kicking it with the best of them, this album is another step along the highway for the immensely talented artist.
She is not just surviving; Karen Lee Andrews is conquering all that lays before her. Discover the glorious textures of Survival and understand that you do not have to be born to the Southern USA to be able to paint a story.
Karen will be launching her new album at The Factory Theatre in Marrickville on Fri 7th Feb, Music in the Gardens in Albury on Sun 16th March, The Avoca Beach Theatre in Avoca on Sat 26th April, The Gumball in the Hunter Valley on Sun 27th April and Blues on the Mountain in Mangrove Mountain on Sat 3rd May.