In All Weather

With an elegant, nuanced and emotionally affecting singing style (Cerys Matthews described her as having a voice that can “trickle back over centuries”) Josienne Clarke has frequently been compared to the great Sandy Denny, but present too are elements of Nina Simone and Gillian Welch; all three are important influences on her work. In recent years, Josienne has supported the great Richard Thompson on a dream-come-true tour of the UK and opened for the legendary Robert Plant across Europe, as well as performing at some of the UK’s best-loved festivals, including Latitude, Larmer Tree and End Of The Road. She also found herself in demand as a writer and broadcaster, contributing to Standard Issue magazine and appearing on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb to discuss her pet subject melancholy, alongside poet Simon Armitage. Expanding beyond the folk music for which she was first known, Josienne has partnered with rising star jazz pianist Kit Downes to release the Such A Sky EP. And her friendship with London-based Scottish singer songwriter Samantha Whates bloomed into the group PicaPica, whose debut album was released by Rough Trade in 2019. Her latest solo album In All Weather is the result of an enormous upheaval in Josienne’s life. Putting an end to toxic personal and professional relationships, she moved to a Scottish island to write and record 13 songs that stand as a manifesto of how to leave and how to change. Music critic Tim Cumming described the new work as “not so much about heartbreak as about knowledge. There is no one to match her in that regard, perhaps in any genre.”

U.K. singer/songwriter Josienne Clarke worked for years as half of a folksy duo with Ben Walker before completing In All Weather, her first set of hushed, sparely arranged solo songs.

This is a break-up record, about moving on but not forgetting; of regaining self-worth and self-understanding and gathering lessons learnt.