linda thompson
linda thompson

tscd821 linda thompson Time Magazine has said "Linda Thompson may be rock's best woman singer", and anybody with an interest in contemporary music would expect that description to be expanded to include folk music. Although Linda hasn't made a recording for seventeen years, the pure, fragile beauty of her voice hasn't deserted her - indeed, time has only increased the emotional quality of her performance. This is a remarkable comeback, featuring nine songs either written or co-written by Linda. The tenth, Evona Darling, is from the pen and free spirit of Lal Waterson. 

"Album of the year" Financial Times
• "Top 50 best album of the year" Mojo
• "Top 10 best Folk album of the year" Mojo
• "Folk album of the year" Daily Telegraph
• "A long overdue gem from one of Rock & Roll’s finest voices. The real queen of Britain returns after a seventeen-year silence – with this record of magnificent anguish – the triumph is Linda’s alone" Rolling Stone
• "A superb collection rendered with consummate style and imagination - studded with brilliant individual performances. A marvelous return, impossible to recommend too highly" The Independent
• BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2003: Best Original Song ("No Telling")
• Nominated for BBC Radio 2 Folk Album of the Year 2003

more press reviews at the foot of the page

Among those collaborating on this outstanding recording are:

Teddy Thompson guitars & vocals
Richard Greene fiddle
Van Dyke Parks accordion & Hammond B-3 organ
Kate Rusby acoustic guitar & vocals
Kathryn Tickell Northumbrian pipes
Eliza Carthy fiddle & vocals
Chris Cutler drums
Rufus Wainwright vocals
Kamila Thompson vocals
Richard Thompson electric guitar and vocals
John Doyle acoustic guitar
Danny Thompson double bass
Martin Carthy acoustic guitar
Jerry Donohue electric guitar
Geraint Watkins Hammond B-3 organ
Dave Mattacks drums

LINDA THOMPSON FASHIONABLY LATE TSCD821 buy

1
Dear Mary
2
Miss Murray
3
All I Seelisten
4
Nine Stone Rig
5
No Tellinglisten
6
Evona Darling
7
The Banks Of The Clydelisten
8
Weary Life
9
Paint & Powder Beauty
10
Dear Old Man Of Mine
Edward Haber production
John Wood mix
Teddy Thompson production assistance

More Press Reviews

• "An album of artfully crafted songs, beautifully performed -such boldly coloured narratively compelling and lyrically assured songs are a rare pleasure - they get the performances they deserve too. - wry, sharp and beautifully turned." Songlines
• "This isn’t just an amazing comeback album: it’s surely a strong contender for Album of the Year!" Taplas
• "One of the year's essential albums" The Scotsman
• "The voice has never sounded more exquisite" redstarredstarredstarredstarQ magazine

• "..returns with a wonderful collection of folk-based storytelling songs full of stark and sombre beauty. A return that is as welcome as it is unexpected." The Times
• "Exquisite - now for the comeback concert. redstarredstarredstarredstar" The Guardian
• "It's one of the pleasures of the century to welcome the voice of Linda Thompson back after 17 years - in all its halting maturity - and to find it so sympathetically caressed by the guitars of ex-hubby Richard, son Teddy and all manner of other …folk. She writes, sings and emanates womanly compassion. Listen to 'No Telling' and weep." The Independent on Sunday
• "Fashionably Late is a gem that grows with each play. Linda's voice is as wondrous as we remember it…Linda's effortlessly supple vocals add colour and emotional depth to a sharply observed, highly melodic set of songs - highlights abound. A beautifully realised return to the musical spotlight" Get Rhythm

• "songs... unforgettable in their depth. This is one hell of a comeback. a graceful, authoritive, expressive voice, the backing of serenely gifted musicians, rich, yet uncluttered, arrangements and the telling of modern folk tales" Amazon.com
• "Her rich voice has all the power that grabbed listeners years ago - as the return of an important artist who has lost none of her touch it marks an especially welcome moment in contemporary English music." Dirty Linen
• "..the honesty, generosity and deep, deep emotion of her voice" London Evening Standard
• "Firmly grounded in folk idioms and traditional ballad forms, the songs feel as though they are bursting at the seams with intimate, personal experience." The Guardian

• "Thompson’s return to the studio after many years is an unqualified success. Her voice is an iron fist in a velvet glove, forceful in its conveyance of credible emotions on vastly intelligent and appealing songs …. she strips love songs of sentimentality with her uncannily exquisite sense of shading and understatement." Down Beat
"One of the top ten albums of 2002" HMV Choice
• "The best album of 2002 full stop! – a welling up in contemporary song of timeless themes" Pay the Reckoning magazine
• "An album of simple and breath-taking class" Irish Times
• "Folk music the way it’s supposed to be played: full of heartbreak, free of sanctimony" Fortune magazine