PicaPica
PicaPica features the vocal interplay of Josienne Clarke (of Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker) and Samantha Whates, dual front women who create powerful harmonies atop layers of texture created by Adam Beattie & Sonny Johns, a tiding of magpies picking shiny moments of tone and timbre from 60s west coast, sunshine pop and indie folk. Josienne and Samantha met on the London acoustic music scene several years ago and immediately shared a love of singing and writing. They have been unofficially collaborating for years, often singing backing vocals for each other’s projects or just singing harmonies together for the pure enjoyment of it.
PicaPica represents a long-held ambition to write, record and perform new material together and to join with like-minded musicians to explore what it’s like to be in a band. When writing, Josienne and Samantha take two versions of the same idea and the songs are built around that concept in various ways, they sometimes even have two titles for each song, one by Josienne, one by Samantha. Good music loves a contrast. Spring and shade, harmony and melody, brightness and deadpan... So do PicaPica. As writers, they compose songs that hold the sadness closer, yet let the joy fly higher.
Adam Beattie, Scotland's king of soft-spoken chanson, brings gently morphing textures and detailed guitar playing to every bar, while Sonny Johns, a Grammy, Mercury and MOBO-nominated producer/engineer played bass and also produced the EP. Sonny’s work gives PicaPica's otherworldly compositions a seriously grounded sound.
Spring & Shade contains five songs freely-designed to bewitch the listener until its fifteen minutes are over. This is music for memories that creep in under the door. Songs that wear their cares lightly, shining in the dark. Simply, beautiful, beguiling, elegant sounds.
PicaPica represents a long-held ambition to write, record and perform new material together and to join with like-minded musicians to explore what it’s like to be in a band. When writing, Josienne and Samantha take two versions of the same idea and the songs are built around that concept in various ways, they sometimes even have two titles for each song, one by Josienne, one by Samantha. Good music loves a contrast. Spring and shade, harmony and melody, brightness and deadpan... So do PicaPica. As writers, they compose songs that hold the sadness closer, yet let the joy fly higher.
Adam Beattie, Scotland's king of soft-spoken chanson, brings gently morphing textures and detailed guitar playing to every bar, while Sonny Johns, a Grammy, Mercury and MOBO-nominated producer/engineer played bass and also produced the EP. Sonny’s work gives PicaPica's otherworldly compositions a seriously grounded sound.
Spring & Shade contains five songs freely-designed to bewitch the listener until its fifteen minutes are over. This is music for memories that creep in under the door. Songs that wear their cares lightly, shining in the dark. Simply, beautiful, beguiling, elegant sounds.
