Consequences, the fifth studio album from acclaimed Edinburgh songwriter and pianist Kim Edgar, considers the personal, social and environmental impact of human behaviour. It features collaborations written and recorded each month from October 2021 - September 2022 with songwriters Kim admires: Ron Sexsmith and Sandra Le Couteur (Canada), Horse McDonald, Boo Hewerdine, Goodnight Louisa, James Grant, Rachel Sermanni and Louis Abbott (Scotland), Dan Bettridge (Wales), J-P Piirainen (Finland), Stone from the band Mayday (Taiwan) and William Crighton (Australia).

Emotion and connection are at the heart of Kim’s work: through observed and lived experiences, she ponders what it is to be human, creating stories told with honesty and empathy that open hearts, minds and discussions: 

“Heart stopping...our very own Tori Amos” (Sunday Herald)
 “Intense and thought provoking” (The List) 
“Very moving, literate, allusive and expressively sung” * * * * * (Scotland On Sunday) 

With four critically acclaimed solo albums under her belt, Kim has been described as “an example of everything that’s great about contemporary music” and “probably one of the best songwriters in Britain today.” * * * * * (Spiral Earth). 

The songs explore the need for kindness, the lasting impact of childhood trauma and what planet earth might say to humanity right now. They also consider the impact of war on the most vulnerable, and what it means to witness injustice (such as the invasion of Ukraine) without raising your voice or taking action. 

The album launches at Celtic Connections on Thursday 2nd February 2023 with a full band and many of the songwriting collaborators.

CONSEQUENCES

VENT FOU
MUSIC BY KIM EDGAR | WORDS BY SANDRA LE COUTEUR

Quand le brasier se lève
Qu’il boit le nectar, la sève 
Quand l’arbre se dessèche
Il hurle au ciel sa détresse 
Quand la mer vidée s’écroule 
Que les déchets noircis la soûle 
Le vent murmure sa peine
La colore d’un noir ébène

Souffle souffle, vent de folie 
Souffle souffle, sur ma terre 
Souffle souffle, sur ma mer 
Souffle, sur nos vies

Je veux revoir mon ciel
Le prendre dans mes bras 
M’enivrer de son miel
Son nom comme un mantra 
Tu es belle ma terre
Tu es tendre ma mer
Je te veux comme amant 
Comme tu étais avant

When the inferno rises
Let him drink the nectar, the sap
When the tree withers
He howls to the sky his distress
When the empty sea collapses
That the blackened waste makes her drunk 
The wind whispers its pain
The color of an ebony black

Blow blow, wind of madness 
Breath breath, on my land 
Breath, blow on my sea 
Breath, on our lives

I want to see my sky again 
Take him in my arms
Get drunk on his honey 
His name like a mantra 
You are beautiful my land 
You are tender my sea
I want you as a lover 
Like you were before

Kim Edgar: piano, vocals
Mattie Foulds: drums, percussion
Kevin McGuire: bass
Mikey Owers: brass
Sandra Le Couteur: vocals

Produced, recorded and mixed by Mattie Foulds @ Caribou Recording. 
Mastered by Mattie Foulds. Cover design by Gillian Gamble.

7 Vent Fou (written by Sandra Le Couteur & Kim Edgar)

FIFTY TO ONE
MUSIC & WORDS BY LOUISE MCCRAW & KIM EDGAR

Oh the people would gamble 
Their own wife and children 
Oh the people, indiscreet
Vivid dreams of velvet riches 
Cloaking all that’s incomplete

Penny arcade 
A fantasy that keeps on fading

Fifty to one, look at them all lined up 
The girls in fur coats, 
Stuck in Travolta Falls and 
Always leave them wanting more

Vacant eyes in empty faces 
Tired fingers feed machines

Kim Edgar: piano, synth, vocals
Mattie Foulds: drums, percussion
Kevin McGuire: bass
Mikey Owers: brass, guitars, synths, vocals
Goodnight Louisa: vocals

Produced, recorded and mixed by Mattie Foulds @ Caribou Recording. 
Mastered by Mattie Foulds. Cover design by Gillian Gamble.

5 Fifty To One (written by Goodnight Louisa & Kim Edgar)

THE ROLLING SEA
MUSIC & WORDS BY DAN BETTRIDGE & KIM EDGAR

You stifle, I cannot breathe easy
You use me, I can find no rest
You want to walk this line beside me? 
Tread lightly, tread lightly...

I am the rolling sea, you are the heavy stone 
This is the highest tide that I have ever known

I wish you’d treasure what we have here 
There’s only so much I can take
I love you, still I need to warn you
Tread lightly, tread lightly...

Kim Edgar: piano, vocals
Mattie Foulds: drums, percussion
Kevin McGuire: bass
Mikey Owers: brass, guitars, synths, vocals
Dan Bettridge: vocals, electric guitar

Produced, recorded and mixed by Mattie Foulds @ Caribou Recording. 
Mastered by Mattie Foulds. Cover design by Gillian Gamble.

4 The Rolling Sea (written by Dan Bettridge & Kim Edgar)

THE EDGE OF SHAME
MUSIC & WORDS BY BOO HEWERDINE & KIM EDGAR

A corridor of tiny rooms 
Vespers floating up the stairs 
Hearts that beat within a womb 
Loneliness has its own prayers

We are on the edge of shame
We are told what’s right and wrong 
When we let conscience decide
In the end, the shame is gone

A lock of hair kept in a box
Time didn’t mend - time has been cruel 
Her voice still wavers when she talks
It wasn’t her who made the rules

Nothing hurts my heart as much
As when you cannot meet my eye
It’s all of us who have done you wrong 
Looking back, we question why

Kim Edgar: synth, vocals
Mattie Foulds: synth, drums, percussion

Produced, recorded and mixed by Mattie Foulds @ Caribou Recording. 
Mastered by Mattie Foulds. Cover design by Gillian Gamble.

3 The Edge Of Shame (written by Boo Hewerdine & Kim Edgar)

SAVE MYSELF (RUN AWAY)
MUSIC & WORDS BY HORSE MCDONALD & KIM EDGAR

Silent, still, to survive
Words in my mouth I cannot speak 
I ache to go, I yearn to thrive 
Through these tired eyes,
The path looks steep
But I’m still alive

No one here but me 
I’ll do this on my own 
Maybe fly away
I save myself

What came before I cannot say 
I carry with me loss and lack
A life that’s left in disarray
A journey on an endless track 
Trudge it every day...

Can I sit and hold my past a while? 
Can I feel and not succumb?
Can I look into this open wound
Or just keep existing, tethered, numb 
Can I process pain, begin to trust
In the person I’ve become?

Kim Edgar: piano, vocals
Mattie Foulds: drums, percussion
Kevin McGuire: bass
Mikey Owers: brass, guitars, synths, vocals
Horse McDonald: vocals, programming

Produced, recorded and mixed by Mattie Foulds @ Caribou Recording. 
Mastered by Mattie Foulds. Cover design by Gillian Gamble.

2 Save Myself (Run Away)(written by Horse McDonald & Kim Edgar)

MUSIC BY KIM EDGAR
WORDS BY RON SEXSMITH (except “starlight, starbright,” a late 19th century nursery rhyme)

I wish for the world its wounds to heal 
That soon we feel as one
I wish for the world, for eyes to meet 
Our hearts to beat as one
Build a life worth living
Where forgiveness is for giving 
And banishment forbidden
For kindness is our mission
I wish for the world

It’s so easy to get downhearted
Trouble everywhere you look
But we have to finish what we started 
Write a different ending to the book
It‘s so easy to feel defeated
When the day ain‘t even started yet 
Many dreams still need to be completed 
Many promises we can‘t forget

You may not have gone the farthest 
But far enough to see the light
You may not have caused the darkness 
But it‘s up to you to make it bright

Any wishing star that comes to light 
Wish for things to turn out right
That everyone has what they need
So when they try their dreams succeed 
For sun to shine and rain to fall
May thoughts be kind, wish love for all

You may not have gone the farthest 
But far enough to see the light
You may not have caused the darkness 
But it‘s up to you to make it bright

Be the wishing star that comes to light 
Work for things to turn out right
So everyone has what they need
And when they try their dreams succeed 
For sun to shine and rain to fall
Let thoughts be kind, show love for all

Starlight, star bright
First star I see tonight
Wish I may, wish I might 
Have the wish I wish tonight

Kim Edgar: piano, vocals
Mattie Foulds: drums, percussion
Kevin McGuire: bass
Mikey Owers: brass, guitars, synths, vocals

Produced, recorded and mixed by Mattie Foulds @ Caribou Recording. 
Mastered by Mattie Foulds. Cover design by Gillian Gamble.

1 Any Wishing Star (written by Ron Sexsmith & Kim Edgar)

“Heart stopping…our very own Tori Amos” (Sunday Herald)
“Probably one of the best songwriters in Britain today.” *****(Spiral Earth)
Contact: kim@kimedgar.com