This weekend, the Elton John championed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist and producer The Anchoress (aka Catherine Anne Davies) performed two tracks with her childhood heroes Manic Street Preachers at Glastonbury 2023.
To celebrate this moment, the recently relaunched Drowned in Sound label is today releasing her version of ‘This Is Yesterday’, taken from The Anchoress’ forthcoming album of reworkings, Versions. The track originally appeared on the Manics 1994 album ‘The Holy Bible’.
Her guest appearance was part of a big weekend for The Anchoress, who also appeared alongside Emily Eavis on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour (available here on BBC Sounds) discussing the lack of female festival headliners before going viral when calling out the misogyny Billy Nomates faced online following her performance at the festival.
‘This Is Yesterday’ was produced, mixed and engineered by The Anchoress. Catherine plays the Fairlight, Mellotron, Piano and Solina alongside Charlie Cawood of Medieval Baebes on Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Bass Guitar, Glockenspiel, and Harp.
On singing the lead vocal on this track at Glastonbury, Catherine says: “It was an honour to be entrusted by the band with a song that means so much to so many people (myself included).”
On choosing the track to cover she adds: “It was a pretty tall order to choose a Manics song to reimagine but I settled on the majestic “This Is Yesterday” from The Holy Bible, reworked here in collaboration with the talented Charlie Cawood and my now overflowing collection of vintage synths. Of course you can’t improve upon the original, but I hope this version captures some of my own bittersweet nostalgia for the purity of childhood that the song effortlessly evokes.”
‘This Is Yesterday’ is out now worldwide. The track follows on from the news of a brand new London date on 6th October 2023 at the Union Chapel to coincide with her forthcoming covers album entitled Versions, compiling re-imaginings of songs by the likes of Nirvana, Nico and Halsey.
This newly announced show follows on from her critically celebrated headline tour with a full band (★★★★★ Mail on Sunday, “The set has a melancholic splendour running through its veins.” Yorkshire Post) culminating in her largest headline show to date at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in May.
Following several years of isolating due to being clinically vulnerable, The Anchoress’ first live show of 2023 back in January at the Rockaway Beach festival in January was hailed as “the most compelling artist of the weekend” by Under the Radar Magazine.
A new album of reworkings of tunes by the likes of New Order (watch the video), All About Eve, The Cure, Halsey and more entitled Versions will be released this autumn on vinyl, as well as a full digital release. It follows on the heels of the acclaimed top 40 album The Art of Losing, hailed by Caitlin Moran as “the inadvertent, beautiful, and truthful soundtrack to this moment” and The Sunday Times named as one of their 7 “must-hear” Albums of the year. Elton John also praised it as “one of my favourite records of the year”; PROG magazine named it their album of the year too.
2023 Tour
02 Sept BLANDFORD, End Of The Road Festival
21 Sept LIVERPOOL, Leaf
22 Sept EDINBURGH, Summerhall
23 Sept HULL, Central Library
24 Sept LEEDS, Brudenell Social Club
30 Sept CARDIFF, Acapella - SOLD OUT
04 Oct CAMBRIDGE, Junction
06 Oct LONDON, UNION CHAPEL
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