The Breath pay tribute to American cult folk icon Karen Dalton with new single

To mark the occasion, leading alt-folk duo, The Breath — guitarist Stuart McCallum and vocalist Ríoghnach Connolly — release two stirring tracks in remembrance of one of America’s greatest voices and a lost folk icon.

‘Something On Your Mind’, sung by Dalton on In My Own Time, is the first of two tracks. In 2019 Ríoghnach suffered her own her personal trauma and grief. Tasked with recording ‘a cover’, Ríoghnach  and Stuart turned to this song first. “Karen’s voice is unearthly, it’s almost jarring and you can hear a harrowing pain in her vocal texture, the absolute sorrow is even in her phrasing” says Ríoghnach, “The lyrics ‘You can’t make it without ever even trying’ is such a potent line for me — this song is about survival” she adds “for me, being able to channel that in the song was a gift in catharsis.”

As to be expected from The Breath, the song is raw and powerful. Ríoghnach’s bleeding lament soars to epic proportions over Stuart’s soft, understated groove.

In 2012 came the surprise publication of Dalton’s own personal songs and poems, written in secret.  ‘Remembering Mountains’ is one of those treasures, words as written by Karen, set to music by The Breath. A posthumous collaboration, of sorts. The gentle, longing track evokes memories of dusty orange sunsets across stark mountain gorges with Ríoghnach’s voice tender, lonely as she imagines Dalton gazing from her window, yearning to be back in a better place, in a different time.

The Guardian once said that “Dalton’s great gift was to sing lines other people had written as if she’d hacked them from her own soul with a chisel”. Ríoghnach Connolly is renowned for her extraordinary impassioned voice, here she climbs into Dalton’s soul and with empathy, compassion and from the heart, channels her solitude, sorrow and suffering.

“Karen Dalton is a singer I will always go back to. She’s a woman everyone should know”

Something On Your Mind / Remembering Mountains is out now on all digital platforms. The Breath will be on tour throughout the summer and autumn.

THU 02 Jun, Storyhouse Theatre, CHESTER
FRI 02 Jul, Folk at the Froize, WOODBRIDGE
SAT 03 Jul, The Silk Mill, FROME
SUN 04 Jul, Pound Arts Centre, CORSHAM
THU 08 Jul, Kings Place, LONDON
SAT 14 Aug, Knutsford Music Festival, KNUTSFORD
SAT 21 Aug, Purbeck Valley Folk Festival, WAREHAM
SUN 05 Sept, Gate to Southwell Festival, SOUTHWELL
FRI 10 Sept, Bromyard Folk Festival, BROMYARD
THU 07 Oct, Focus Wales, WREXHAM
FRI 22 Oct, Manchester Folk Festival, MANCHESTER
SUN 14 Nov, The Live Room, SALTAIRE
Sun 21 Nov, St Marys Hall, WHITSTABLE