Swimming Bell, the solo project of Brooklyn-based songwriter Katie Schottland, found its start in 2015, after Schottland broke her foot and used the downtime to learn guitar. Perhaps a consequence of her homespun background in recording and composition, Swimming Bell’s music is endowed with a rare authenticity, creating raw, unfettered folk songs from memories of people and places past. Her newest effort “1988” is the latest example of this craft, accompanied by a video that seeks to recreate the innocent wonder of childhood against lush acoustics and overdubbed vocals. And as the first single from her forthcoming LP, Wild Sight, it demonstrates a focused, fresh approach to folk ahead of the album’s release later this spring.
Schottland will return to New York on April 6th to perform a record release show at Trans-Pecos, supported by Monteagle, Pale Mara, and Andrew Victor. Until then, you can watch the video fro “1988” below. -Connor Beckett McInerney (@b_ck_tt)