THE LIGHTHOUSE WITH STRINGS UK TOUR
15 Sept – Liverpool, Music Room – Tickets
16 Sept – London, St Pancras Old Church – Tickets
17 Sept – Birmingham, Kitchen Garden Cafe – Tickets
Visionary Dutch-British singer songwriter and composer Tessa Rose Jackson announces new tour and live EP – The Lighthouse With Strings (Live at Metropolis) out September 4th.
Tessa Rose Jackson is returning to the road this autumn and taking her most acclaimed record apart to build it back up again. The Lighthouse With Strings (Live at Metropolis) reimagines seven songs from her third studio album, The Lighthouse, recorded live in a single day with a string quartet, guitar and Wurlitzer at Metropolis Studios. Stripped of studio polish and captured in one take, the strings don’t just accompany these songs they elevate them, clearing space for Tessa’s voice to shine and letting each song’s meaning cut even deeper.
Tessa Rose Jackson: “The sound of a string quartet is one of the most emotionally charged sounds to me. So when the idea arose of arranging a chunk of songs from my album ‘The Lighthouse’ for string ensemble, guitar and Wurlitzer, I was immediately buzzing with excitement.”
“In this age of perfection and polish, I wanted to make the recordings as truthful as possible. With that in mind, we recorded it live, all together, at Metropolis studios in London during the course of one magical day. We will be touring in exactly this set up this autumn and winter, and so this feels like a perfect little human time capsule.”
Recast for strings, the songs pull the album’s emotional core even closer to the surface. The title track arrives with a new sense of gravity; “Gently Now” sits with the slow work of growing older and more comfortable with grief. “Built To Collide” is a reminder that life deserves to be taken seriously, and so does knowing when not to and “By Morning” aches with the particular sting of losing an argument. “The Man That Wasn’t There” is a dark folk piece in the vein of Sharon Van Etten, pastoral but unearthly and “When Your Time Comes” turns the lens outward, asking the listener how they picture their own final moments, before “Wild Geese” closes the EP on a stately, Gallic-flecked high.
The Lighthouse itself marked a turning point for Jackson: after years releasing under the pseudonym Someone, she returned to her own name to make her most personal record yet, distilling that project’s spirit of invention into something rawer and more direct. Released to widespread critical acclaim earlier this year it made The Guardian’s Folk Album of the Month, with further praise from the likes of The Wire, Clash, Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit and more. Rich with ghostly folklore, spectral folk, and cinematic alt-pop textures, the record explores themes of mortality, memory, and gratitude, ultimately shining a light on life’s most fragile and beautiful details. “It’s an album that talks about death, but not in a purely dark sense,” Jackson says. “For me, it’s also about the celebration of life, embracing fears, identity, and the stories we inherit.”
Since the album’s release, Tessa has taken the songs across the festival circuit, with recent appearances at Latitude and Deershed. The Lighthouse With Strings (Live at Metropolis) is the first taste of what’s next: this autumn and winter, Tessa takes the string quartet setup on the road, performing these songs exactly as they were recorded; live, together, strings and all.
THE LIGHTHOUSE WITH STRINGS TOUR Tessa Rose Jackson, performing live with string quartet:
15 Sept – Liverpool, Music Room – Tickets
16 Sept – London, St Pancras Old Church – Tickets
17 Sept – Birmingham, Kitchen Garden Cafe – Tickets
6 Dec – Utrecht, Stadsklooster Utrecht – Tickets
8 Dec – Arnhem, Luxor Live – Tickets
9 Dec – Den Haag, GR8 – Tickets
10 Dec – Breda, Waalse Kerk Breda – Tickets
EP Tracklist:
1 The Lighthouse (Live at Metropolis)
2 Gently Now (Live at Metropolis)
3 Built To Collide (Live at Metropolis)
4 By Morning (Live at Metropolis)
5 The Man Who Wasn’t There (Live at Metropolis)
6 When Your Time Comes (Live at Metropolis)
7 Wild Geese (Live at Metropolis)
https://www.tessarosejackson.com
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