Delay by Julia Kent

Julia Kent left Rasputina in 1999, after releasing two albums on Columbia, and shortly thereafter became a member of Antony & The Johnsons. She played on and contributed string arrangements to the group's Mercury Prize-winning record I Am a Bird Now; has toured Europe, North America, and Australia; played at Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall; and appeared on numerous television shows, including the Late Show with David Letterman, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, and the BBC's Newsnight. In addition to her ongoing participation in Antony & The Johnsons, she has also performed and/or recorded with Angels of Light, Burnt Sugar, Larsen, Angela McCluskey, Leona Naess, Teddy Thompson, Devendra Banhart, Mi and L'au, and Rufus Wainwright. Julia Kent's debut solo effort, Delay, is a CD of multi-tracked cello and found sounds. It was inspired by the transitory nature of airports, and by the private emotional worlds that we create amid the disorientations and disjunctions of travel. Delay was recorded over the course of a year (or so) in between touring. After so many years of playing with other people, Kent felt that it was time to do something entirely on her own. As a result, she is the sole composer/performer on all tracks. The title refers to the effect, to traveling, and to the fact that the album took so long to record. It also pays homage to Arthur Russell's World of Echo, a masterpiece of externalizing the intimate.