Hailed by the Guardian for her “thunderous bass-guitar hooks”, Ruth Goller is a bassist, vocalist, composer, environmentalist and now solo artist.
Goller helped lay the foundation for the UK’s jazz renaissance, from her years on stage with Acoustic Ladyland and Melt Yourself Down, to more recently Let Spin and Vula Viel, whilst performing and recording with the likes of Shabaka Hutchings, Mercury-Award nominee Kit Downes, Sam Amidon, Bojan Z, Marc Ribot, Rokia Traoré, and Paul McCartney.
On ‘Skylla’, Goller in some ways returns to the pure untaught instincts that drove her as a teen punk musician. Working with different tunings for each song, Goller composes instinctively based on what she hears in every moment. As Goller puts it, “at that point muscle memory doesn’t work anymore so I have to trust my ear completely”. While predominantly a solo work, Goller is aided on ‘Skylla’ by accomplished and celebrated vocalists Lauren Kinsella and Alice Grant. The final contribution is from Kit Downes with the post-production and mixing of the record.
Intimate voice and bass guitar entwine in improvised tandem on Goller’s debut album exhibiting a confidence that reflects her experience at the vanguard of the European jazz scene. A work of uncanny and original beauty on which Goller has reached deep within to find pure honesty and musical originality. As ECM Reviews put it, Goller “unravel(s) an intimacy so deep it (feels) almost blasphemous to be privy to its wonders.”
