Track Listing

1. We Dug A Hole
2. Soul To Feet
3. Stood
4. Jasmine Hoop
5. Fell Down Fast
6. Flicker
7. Intermission
8. Tell The Truth As If It Were Lies
9. Morning Song
10. Toocan
11. Each Star We See
12. We Came Down From The Trees

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14436 in Music
• Released on: 2001-09-03
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Often mentioned in the same breath as Nick Drake, Liverpudlian folksmith Kathryn William's debut album comes hushed in the same otherworldly mystique as Drake's Bryter Later or Pink Moon, a world away from the kooky clichés of the lucrative singer-songwriter market. Williams is a fiercely independent artist; it's entirely possible that Little Black Numbers would exist, were it not for the unsolicited enthusiasm of the press and the strident patronage of a small, but perfectly formed cult-following. It's easy to see why Williams inspires such adulation, though--Little Black Numbers is warm, unforced, and straight from the heart: "I used to follow you around in a casual way/ Miss good shows on the radio/ Just to see your face", sings Williams, breathlessly infatuated, on "Stood". Tender, never sparse--Williams employs a mini-orchestra of double-bass, cello, saxophone, and a myriad of more exotic percussive instruments--Little Black Numbers is the soundtrack of love lost and love found. Hold it close. -- Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

An intimate, gem of an album. More to come I hope...
To be honest, I am surprised that not more people have sung the praises of this album on this website. With songs so beautifully put together and affecting as "Soul To Feet", "Fell Down Fast" and "Tell The Truth..."(my personal favourites), this album is more than worthy of it's nomination at last year's Mercury Music Prize.

If you are after intelligent and heartfelt lyrics, with warm melodies and singing (Kathryn's voice is so gentle yet incisive) to match them, then I can only highly recommend this album. Which I do anyway :o)

Evocative, beautifully understated
By the end of the first track, 'We dug a hole', you'll be hooked; 40 minutes later, as the album ends, you'll be in love, 'Little Black Numbers' has that effect on you. Beautifully simple songs performed effortlessly by a group of talented musicians, provide the backdrop for Kathryn Williams mesmerising laments of love lost. Laura Reid's Cello deserves a special mention, as it provides a warm, almost heartbreaking, accompaniment to Williams' hushed vocals and melodic guitar playing.

The likes of 'Soul to feet' ("Is your life so exciting?/You have to tell everyone you meet"), and 'Tell the truth as if it were lies' ("Well here is a secret just for you/I'm more now I'm not with you") highlights Kathryn Williams' gift of writing biting lyrics about heartbreak without ever becoming threatening, whilst 'Intermission' perfectly highlights her ear for a strong melody.

Comparisons to Nick Drake aren't too far wide of the mark. The personal lyrics ("Changing my life to fit myself in it/A passion in life is all I want in it/Please let me wake up one day/And find myself found"), strong acoustic guitar and lush string arrangements are as equally powerful through their understated manner as any Nick Drake song. 'Little Black Numbers' proves that a whisper can as powerful as a scream.

Heart felt songs from the Bedroom!!
Kathryn Willams was a name I had never heard of until her "Mercury Prize" nomination, that alone made what to find out more about this young lady. But when I heard her sing what an angel!, clear sweet vocals with excellent songs written in the most part by herself. Then I read somewhere that she painfully shy and spent alot of the time recording this album in her bed!
Anyway enough of the background stuff, and to the album itself the first track on this self financed album (she is "CAW RECORDS)is a work out for the bass response on your speakers as she has used a CELLO and DOUBLE BASS together and the bass sound is just fantastic!
What an opener to a truly wonderful set of songs, that are both intelligent and entertainig both at the same time something of a rareity in the world of "POP".
So go on treat yourself buy this today and you will not be sorry!...