Kaki King Grows by Dreaming of Revenge
Creative dilemma: How do you expand your horizons after two years during which Rolling Stone magazine calls you a “guitar god,” you guest perform on albums by Tegan and Sara and the Foo Fighters, and you receive a Golden Globe Award nomination for music you contributed to Sean Penn’s film, Into the Wild?
If you are lesbian guitar virtuoso Kaki King, you could coast until the arrival of your 30th birthday in 2009. Perhaps you could also insist that the proper term for you is goddess, not god. Or, you could get revenge.
King, a 28-year-old native of Atlanta, plans to release her fourth album, Dreaming of Revenge, on March 11. According to her representatives, the new work will showcase her evolution from an acoustic instrumentalist to a full-fledged, multi-faceted songwriter.
As if King were not already complex enough. Her playing style incorporates fret-tapping, slap bass, loops, layering, and sometimes y. But seriously, this string dynamo, at five-foot-one inches tall, intends to get serious about using more vowels.
While King has moved from acoustic to electric sounds with guitar since her first album in 2003, she also has gradually attempted to focus more on singing, with meaningful lyrics. Listen to the result here, on “2 O’Clock,” a track from Dreaming of Revenge.
King might start slowly and sweetly on “2 O’Clock,” which she describes as a breakup song, but follow her to the middle, where she begins to brew an increasingly frantic guitar assault that climaxes into fiercer punishment than even Ani DiFranco can mete toward an ex-girlfriend, er, boyfriend.
Rest.
Then, visit King’s previously acclaimed album, … Until We Felt Red, to soak up some of her expert compositions, like “Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers.” True to its title, the song sounds like a conversation between more traditional guitar elements and modern electronic touches.
Speaking of hardware, New Yorkers and visitors to the Big Apple have an opportunity to see King perform this weekend. Catch her at the Apple Store in Soho at 103 Prince Street on Sunday, January 20, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Until she announces tour dates, this sneak peek is your best bet for Dreaming of Revenge.
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