The release of Sadie Jemmett’s third studio album, Phoenix, signals a return to touring for ‘one of the most magical and original singer-songwriters to excite our ears in many years’ (music critic Nigel Williamson), having taken time out from the road to concentrate on writing and recording.
Phoenix was released in summer 2019 on TwoUpTwoDown Records/Absolute Universal to critical acclaim and was recorded over two weeks at Baker Studios on Vancouver Island, BC, by Cowboy Junkies and Waylin’ Jennys’ producer, Joby Baker.
Joby and Sadie were also childhood friends, having played together in their early teens, so the process of recording and working together again after so many years was especially magical and unique, and the results on the album speak for themselves.
After a series of select shows in 2019 to promote the album’s release, Sadie will be touring extensively throughout 2020 with a three-piece backing band, with dates lined-up in the UK, Europe and Canada.
“Last year [2018] was an epic year for me, beginning with the sad death of firstly my mother, and then a close friend, and ending with a brand new album, and music video,” say’s Sadie.
“When I look back over that time it is hard to separate these two deaths from the writing and making of this album, as these two massive events happened within weeks of recording the album in Canada … they are now intrinsically woven into the very fabric of this record and, I think, they have added something very human and vulnerable to the end result.”
The album also includes the single ‘Don’t Silence Me’, written for her friend, and actress, Mhairi Morrison, who was sexually assaulted at the beginning of her career in Paris, by an extremely influential film director.
Following a successful fundraising campaign, Sadie and Mhairi, together with filmmaker Jenn Page, produced a video for the song, which premiered in Los Angeles and featured appearances from survivors of sexual assault by Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, including Lili Bernard, Louise Godbold, Chantal Cousineau, Sarah Anne Masse and Tasha Dixon.
The song was also picked up by CBS News and BBC News as well as national print and radio media in the UK and US.
As a writer Sadie is now very much in demand and has written a soundtrack for a Hollywood film slated for production next year and tackles some of the themes raised by the #MeToo movement.
“The power of art to make a change in society is incredible and Sadie exemplifies that in her work. Her music has been a platform to ignite discussion, encouraging others to speak out against what’s been left hidden too long within the entertainment industry.
“I was extremely humbled and touched that she had heard my pain and wrote me a song to help me find my voice and to be able to stand back up again.”
Mhairi Morrison, actor
Working from her studio in East Sussex, Sadie has also been writing music for a play and music for a TV series.
A child of actor parents and having trained as an actor herself at the famous drama school Jacques Lecoq in Paris, writing music for theatre is a skill that you could say comes naturally to Sadie, and she has been much in demand over the past decade working on large-scale productions in Europe and the US with acclaimed director Irina Brook.
“Sadie Jemmett is one of the most talented people I have met in my 25 years of directing theatre and operas. I have been lucky enough to be able to use her musical compositions for several of my shows, Resonance, Romeo and Juliet, The Good person of Sezchuan, Peter Pan, la Vie Materielle…
“Each time, on every production, she has brought such a vital element of emotion, life, beauty and deep soulfulness through her songs and instrumental arrangements. Sadie is a true artist, through and through, she lives and breathes poetry and music, and she deserves great recognition for her amazing creativity.”
Irina Brook (award-winning Director)
Sadie’s debut album ‘The Blacksmiths Girl’ was produced in LA by Grammy nominated David Bianco (Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers) and released in 2011 on folk legend Judy Collins’ label Wildflower Records.
The album received some wonderful reviews notably from the respected music critic Nigel Williamson who is a fan, and also extensive national and regional radio play. Sadie supported Judy Collins on her successful UK Tour and also toured with UK singer Aled Jones. She was also invited to perform as an up-and-coming artist at the US Music industry Conference NARM held in Los Angeles.
Sadie recorded part of her second album, London Love Songs, at the legendary Abbey Road Studio 2, it was released, again, to critical acclaim, in 2015 through a successful Pledge campaign, and she toured for most of that year throughout the UK and Europe.
Sadie also contributed to a worldwide release, Music Is Love; (a singer-songwriter’s tribute to the music of Crosby Stills Nash and Young) alongside artists such as Judy Collins and Irish singer Liam O Maonlai from The Hot House Flowers.
Her cover of Graham Nash’s Teach Your Children, which appears on the album, received excellent press and radio play both in the UK, Europe and America.
In 2018 Sadie released a live album, These Days; Live at The Green Note, a collection of songs from Sadie’s first two albums which she performed to a packed house at the well-loved Camden venue in London, and which earned a glowing 4-star review in Maverick Magazine.
From a wildly bohemian childhood through being a teenage runaway, a backing singer in a reggae band and a touring actress, to a respected singer-songwriter in her own right, Sadie has gained some seriously heavyweight fans, amongst them, Yoko Ono, who included Sadie’s song ‘I’m Glad You’re Back’ on her BBC 6 Music show 6 Mix. And the late, legendary, Lou Reed, who after seeing Sadie perform at the La Mama Theatre in the East Village, NYC, asked to meet her and congratulated her on her songs and performance.
Whether writing for theatre, film, TV or for her own compositions, each one of these kaleidoscopic experiences have helped to shape her into a potent songwriter who stands in the great lineage of the art from classic era Joni Mitchell and Neil Young to the likes of PJ Harvey, and Nick Cave today, and yet who shines out as a profoundly unique voice.
January 2020
https://americana-uk.com/video-premiere-sadie-jemmett-at-my-window-townes-van-zandt-cover
An Interview With British Activist, Multi-Instrumentalist, & Protest Songwriter Sadie Jemmett
Maverick: (The Killing of George Floyd)
Sadie Jemmett shares powerful new song ‘The Killing of George Floyd’
Maverick: (Premiere)
Music News:
http://www.music-news.com/news/Underground/118882/Sadie-Jemmett-to-release-Don-t-Silence-Me
Neon: (review)
https://neonmusic.co.uk/sadie-jemmett-live-album-preview-at-lescargot
Daily Express:
Camden New Journal:
http://camdennewjournal.com/article/womens-day-mad-for-it
The List:
https://www.list.co.uk/article/107349-sadie-jemmett-made-massive-impact-with-dont-silence-me/
MSN:
Contact Music:
http://www.contactmusic.net/news/sadie-jemmett-made-massive-impact-with-don-t-silence-me_6270930
Female First:
https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/musicnews/sadie-jemmett-made-massive-impact-silence-1187750.html
Entertainment Toggle:
Zap Gossip:
http://www.zapgossip.com/sadie-jemmett-made-massive-impact-with-dont-silence-me/
Hollywood Treatment:
https://www.hollywood-treatment.com/31787/sadie-jemmett-made-massive-impact-with-dont-silence-me/
VTVews:
https://www.vtvews.com/sadie-jemmett-sadie-jemmett-made-massive-impact-with-dont-silence-me/
Madeleine Black Blog:
Nick Alive:
http://nickalive1.rssing.com/chan-12111484/latest.php
Daily Star:
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/767654/mhairi-morrison-actress-sexual-abuse-me-too-movement
Daily Mail:
The Sun:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8712786/casualty-actress-mhairi-morrison-drugged-sexually-abused/
The Daily Record: