In winter

Description

Three years ago, Katie Melua released the album “Ketevan”. This sixth and final album marked the end of her collaboration with Mike Batt and Dramatico. It is impossible to deny the immense success Katie and Mike achieved over more than ten years of a highly productive partnership, but the October release of “In Winter”, Katie’s first album as a truly independent artist, opens an important new chapter in her creative evolution. Unlike her previous productions, “In Winter” sees Katie take the reins of the artistic creation, but she also becomes the main songwriter and producer. She even oversees the recording to create an album that fully reflects who she is. This record focuses on the different themes linked to winter, whether festive or personal. Many find this season bittersweet, full of feelings of family, love, giving, magic, but also warmth and celebration. Others also see in it melancholy, regrets, dashed hopes, a need to stay at home and, of course, cold. The album features 10 original songs, new arrangements of traditional Christmas carols, and a few carefully chosen covers. Likewise, the making of In Winter allowed Katie Melua to explore two very different cultures that are close to her heart: the West and the former Soviet Union. Not only does she record this album in Gori, Georgia (her native country), but she also draws inspiration from the rich Christmas traditions and folklore of this region. Katie has spent the last 18 months traveling between her home in London and the city of Gori, where she worked with a group of 23 phenomenal female singers, the Gori Women’s Choir. She has wanted to work with this choir for several years, and this record gave her the perfect opportunity. She also enlisted the immense talent of Bob Chilcott, from Oxford, a world reference in choral arranging. If the quality of the music is of paramount importance, the aesthetic aspect of the presentation is just as important. This task falls to Niroot Puttapipat, a renowned illustrator from Thailand who lives in London. Niroot has an incredible talent for bringing words to life through his drawings. He works exclusively by hand and has illustrated famous books such as "The Nutcracker", the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and "Emma" by Jane Austen.