Brilliant season draws to a close

The seeds for the collaboration were sown in 2013 when David was asked - via mutual friend and collaborator James Yorkston - to rearrange ‘Yolk Yellow Legged’, a co-write with Yorkston taken from Marry and brother Oliver Knight’s 2011 debut ‘The Days That Shaped Me’. David had been struck by the character and warmth of Marry’s singing when he saw her performing in 2009. “It was earthy, dreamlike, warm, powerful and jagged. It had the capacity to be both melancholic and joyful and it could tell a story.”

When Oliver took a break from music last year, Marry, who doesn’t play an instrument, found herself without a musical foil. So she was intrigued when David renewed contact to see if she would be interested in working with him. Hearing David’s music was revelatory. “I felt like I had entered through a door hanging askew on one twisted hinge into a surreal world of cobwebs, all layered guitars and synths,” Marry said. “Sometimes it’s scary in there, but mostly it’s beguiling.”

All the more so as Marry discovered that: “I could sing anything into David’s tunes, the words just wrapped themselves easily around the melodies, though I had to be quite inventive sometimes to accommodate certain structures - and that gave me a different voice.”

Starting with what became ‘Sing Me Into Your Tune’, completed in a matter of hours, Marry and David entered into an eager musical correspondence.

David said: “What was coming back from Marry convinced me that we were on the right path. It was fascinating and exciting sending ideas and waiting to hear what came back. I could still experiment and be playful but always had an ear on keeping to a more traditional structure. Marry was interpreting the pieces beautifully. The lyrics were complete. I felt we were working almost telepathically at times. Modern technology made it all possible.”

Match made, Marry went about assembling a team of musicians around her to best service the material, enlisting the help of Neill MacColl, Kate St John, Kami Thompson, Michael Tanner, Alison Cotton, Simon Edwards and Emma Black.

Marry Waterson and David A Jaycock will be at the Doghouse, Arden Road Social Club on Thursday, December 3, doors 8pm, with strong support from Becky Taylor, Andy Greaves and Les Gillon. Advance tickets from Revo Records and also on the door. www.doghouseuk.com