Kami (Kamila) Thompson is the third and youngest child of Richard and Linda Thompson.
Until her teens, she rebelled against folk music but then came to realise that there was, after all, much to admire in her parents' songs; "there is a lot of excellent misery there" she now concedes.
After making a few appearances with her family, her big break, and pretty cool apprenticeship, came when, in 2006, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy invited her to tour with him. Since then, she hasn't looked back and, for her debut album, embraces a folk-pop-rock sound with supreme confidence.
Richard Thompson's distinctive guitar playing is the first thing we hear on the opening track, Little Boy Blue. The bitter-sweet lyrics ("the parting was almost sweet / you almost kissed me") set the tone for an album's worth of forlorn songs about failed relationships; the result, she says, of "five years of being really, really fucked around personally".
Her dad plays guitar on two other tracks and mandolin on Blood Wedding; brother Teddy plays acoustic guitar on one track and backing vocals on a couple. Kami was also in the fortunate position of being able to call upon the services of Jeff Buckley's long-term drummer, Matt Johnson, along with Sean Lennon and Martha Wainwright (who can both be heard on the track 4,000 Miles).
Kami's songs come from some dark places but are never bitter or jaded. They are, however, the work of a young woman who is constantly looking over her shoulder for the black dog of depression.
The only let up to all this intensity comes on the final track, a cover of George Harrison's Don't Bother Me which has a more open, sound due to the more pop-friendly backing band of Brett Shearer on bass and Felix Penny on synthesizer. This track also stands apart from the other songs because it uses a different production team, namely Andy Strange and Alexis Smith.
The rest of the album, recorded in Brooklyn and Manhattan, was produced by Brad Albetta (Martha Wainwright's husband) and Ed Haber.
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The song, Nice Cars, is a highlight as it draws on some wry humour by using an extended metaphor equating car trouble with stuck or malfunctioning relationships. It is a tune which also featured on Linda Thompson's 2007 album Versatile Heart and, in this scenario, neither husbands not mechanics are able to repair the damage. Kami issues the sound advice that "old ladies shouldn't drive nice cars, they're only going to break our heart".
Stormy relationships and rocky marriages are the subject of the other songs. "We had everything till you left me" she sings to the metronomic beat of Tick Tock and in the video to this song she looks defiantly and unsmilingly at the camera.
Kami may be the wronged woman but she is also a tough cookie who is not looking for some lovey-dovey, hand-holding romance; "You're a fine distraction but I need darker stuff" she sings on Gotta Hold On.
One of her major weaknesses is that she seems fatally attracted to men who are emotionally unavailable. The most blatant evidence of this comes in Want You Back which is a painfully frank check list of all the shit she went through with one guy. Despite being cheated on, reduced to tears and put down constantly, she still holds a candle for him and admits she "can't let go".
The one silver lining to her troubled love life is that it should ensure she has more than enough material for follow-up albums.
If they are all as excellent as this one, I look forward to the next chapter.
Kami Thompson's Website
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