“It turns out the second album really is difficult,” says Katherine Priddy of this follow-up to her justly praised 2021 debut, The Eternal Rocks Beneath. The struggles of the Birmingham-born singer-songwriter are, however, not much in evidence. Her voice is remarkable, the delivery of her songs more poised and their accompaniments richer – a blend of guitars (both picked and jangling), cello, violin, brass and synth overseen by producer Simon Weaver. That the record is less startling than its predecessor is down to a lack of the arresting imagery Priddy pulled out on early standouts such as Wolf and Icarus.
Instead, The Pendulum Swing is a more consistent and domestic creation, its title referencing the urge to leave and change, and the opposing pull to return to the familiar. As much applies to tracks such as First House on the Left, where Priddy looks back at a “boat made of old bricks and mortar”, and family tributes Father of Two and Walnut Shell. Themes of arrival and departure are also present in several love songs. Does She Hold You Like I Did could be the title of a bitter country song, but its anguish is gently and eloquently confessed, while Anyway, Always and Words of Mine are similarly nuanced. A rich, thoughtful creation.