Kate Jackson - British Road Movies

A lot has happened for Kate Jackson since her widely adored band The Long Blondes called it a day back in 2008. Relocating to Rome to become a painter, her life as a musician took a significant break. ‘British Road Movies’, her first solo album, is a reinvention of astounding beauty.

The album is largely inspired by American cinema, and referred to as a fancy-sounding ‘multimedia project’, and the melting pot of influences that fill its every moment are immediately apparent. The album’s lynchpin, ‘Metropolis’, attacks on a grander scale than anything Jackson’s ever done, exploding into an enormous second half.

‘British Road Movies’ feels like it has no boundaries or restrictions, countless styles and big-wig influences flowing through the record, and a far greater pot of experiences for Jackson to draw from thanks to her near-decade away.

‘Lie To Me’ could soundtrack a breezy, windows-down drive across these isles on a sunny day, while ‘Last Of The Dreamers’ belongs on a cold night; impressively, they’re both delivered in the least cheesy way possible.

‘British Road Movies’ acts as a love letter to a country Jackson couldn’t quite leave behind, brought to life perfectly by the now-familiar grandeur of producer Bernard Butler.

Travelling from soaring guitar pop to downbeat, piano-led creeping, ‘British Road Movies’ feels like a trip in the truest sense, and representative of that which Jackson herself has gone on: from leader of one of Britain’s most sorely missed bands, via eight years out of the game, to returning as one of its most intriguing new solo artists.