Laura Kidd is a music producer, songwriter and digital polymath based in Bristol, UK. Starting her music career as a bassist and vocalist for hire, she toured the world and achieved her childhood dream of appearing on Top Of The Pops (three times!) with Tricky, A-Ha, Viv Albertine (The Slits), Lil' Chris, Alex Parks and Duncan James (Blue), as well as singing on screen with David Bowie in the Ricky Gervais TV series, "Extras".
The debut Penfriend record, Exotic Monsters, builds on Kidd's accomplished ear for melody and ambitious production style, marrying disparate influences from Tanya Donelly, Juliana Hatfield and Nevermind-era Nirvana to the gritty tension of Nine Inch Nails and Puscifer and synth soundscapes of Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears and Sylvan Esso. Written and recorded in solitary confinement during the drawn-out, tumultuous Brexit nightmare and well on into the Covid-19 pandemic, Exotic Monsters mirrors our dystopian world, posing questions and offering comfort, hope and a friendly shoulder to lean on. Drawing more from her wide-ranging reading list than her favourite bands, Laura deals with the gruelling emotional matters of 21st-century life with honesty, grace and warmth, using fragments of prose from Ursula Le Guin, Barbara Kingsolver, Kurt Vonnegut, Margaret Atwood and Mark Westmoquette as jumping-off points. Inviting her loyal audience to be a meaningful part of proceedings from Penfriend's inception was central to Laura's refocused musical mission, so she created The Correspondent's Club. This friendly community is a natural evolution of a decade of wildly successful crowdfunding and a way to celebrate and appreciate the individuals who really keep the wheels turning - music fans
Released: May 2021
Cat: MBS2102
Label: My Big Sister Recordings
