Astrid Williamson - Pour

Pour is the lead single of upcoming album Pulse by singer-songwriter Astrid Williamson. Released on 8^th August, it is the first slice of material to arrive since the big development in Astrid’s career, having witnessed guitarist/ambient man Leo Abrahams perform as part of Brian Eno's Pure Scenius project at 2010 Brighton Festival. Feeling inspired, she sent a dozen’s worth of demos to Abrahams, which fortunately was liked by the mogul, prompting him willing enough to have Astrid working in an unknown atmosphere: “Pretty much the condition under which I like to work with an artist.”

The result is Pour, a single which sees Williamson talk about every emotion with the heart, adding a sense of realism to the track. This is entwined in watery, mysterious piano which is both elegant and intriguing, but not as intriguing as the electronic and techno beats which lay the foundation of a very emotional set of three minutes. This unusual instrumentation looks to feature on the entire album, says Astrid of the sound of Pulse. “I wanted this time to make something different, an album where my voice was central to proceedings, in a lot of space – something more ambient. I also needed someone else to work with, to not be holding the reins for once. I wanted to be challenged again.”

The obvious ambiance from Abrahams dominates Pour, as it ultimately decides the tempo of the track while inputting Björk-esque techno sounds behind the initial watery piano and heart strung vocals. While it begins as a pleasant, easy-listening listen, it ends with a huge rush of energy which is driven by layers of techno beats and other instruments, bound together with the confidence within Astrid’s voice.

Pour is a great introduction into the new chapter of Astrid Williamson’s career; it bares a great combination of her old sound and sound post-Leo Abrahams’ collaboration. It creates a lovely alternative to what is otherwise a stale genre, as the techno influence adds extra fluidity to it, and it should do nothing but build anticipation for the release of Pulse on 22^nd August on FatCat Records.

6/10