Catherine Graindorge is a Belgian violinist, violist and composer. Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Rokia Traoré), Eldorado is her second solo album and her first for Glitterbeat’s tak:til imprint. Gorgeous and haunting, Graindorge uses strings, harmonium and electronic treatments to explore intimate corners and widescreen vistas.
Eldorado. People believed it was the city of gold. A fable, a legend that pushed the conquistadors further and further across a continent in search of riches. A myth. A grail. Eldorado was all of those things and more. Over the centuries it’s become a word weighted down by so many meanings, layer upon layer of possibility and expectation. But it can also be a place to find hope and solace and discover dreams. That’s the music of this Eldorado, the second solo album from Belgian violinist and composer Catherine Graindorge.
Although she’s best-known for her collaborations – with a range of artists from Nick Cave to Mark Lanegan, as well as her work as part of Nile on waX, and for the music she’s written for film and theatre – Graindorge had been intending a second solo release for years. But Eldorado had a much longer gestation period than she expected.
“After my first album, The Secret of Us All, in 2012, I had been planning to release another. But when my father passed away in April 2015, I decided to create and write a show about him that would combine text, images and music. The creation and performances took three years. I also released a pair of albums with my trio and another with Hugo Race. It was only in 2019 that I found time to imagine this new album.”
That period paid dividends. The music, she says, became “like a diary,” and each page brings new reflections and resonances. She worked with producer John Parish (PJ Harvey, Rokia Traoré), who played various instruments on the album, including the guitar on the ho....... więcej