Monday 5 January 2009

Teitur Crisped

Hello and welcome back to Lost In Showbiz. This year we will bring even more head-banging PR tom-tittery than last year managed. And last year was, oh yes, a doozy. So. let's begin with this, sent in from a senior LiS operative out there fighting the good fight on, literally, the front line.

Hello LiS. Happy New Year. The following press release is like some kind of disgusting grammar disembowelment, some intestine-flinging type deal (and yes I know that sentence isn't really a proper sentence either, but dammit it's all about knowing when to break the rules, right?). I feel sorry for Teitur who seems the kind of interesting 'rare and faintly obscure' (what? what does that even mean?) chap who actually might deserve better than this. Then again...

I think my favourite bit might be this, a masterclass in how to mangle the simplest and most mundane bit of info: "He has also co-wrote with Corinne Bailey Rae early on in her career; one of the songs they wrote together 'Choux Pastry Heart' which appears on her multi-platinum debut album..." etcetcetc. For chrissakes, isn't being able to string a sentence together the very least we can expect of PRs?

A sober pause while I consider how many perfectly worthy and capable artists may have lost out on the attention and consideration they richly deserve due to the woeful press releases that are supposed to be bigging them up. Not good, not good at all...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Grace Wood [grace@nile-on.com]
Date: 2008/12/15
Subject: ** Introducing Teitur - someone very special to watch out for in 2009**

Allow me to introduce you to Teitur – a rare and faintly obscure singer songwriter from the Faroe Islands.

Teitur was born on the Faroe Islands YES, WE KNOW THAT NOW, and his last album Kata Hornid was recorded in his native language and perhaps that explains where some of the mystery, searching and soul within his music stems. NO IT DOESN'T. "There is no getting away from the fact that the Faroe Islands have influenced me," he says. "The place is very dramatic, the weather conditions are averse, there is a lot of silence, it's a part of me, it's in my dreams, it is hard for me not to put some of that atmosphere into my music as I feel so attached to it."

The Singer is the first of Teitur's albums to be released in the UK. Recorded last October, at a deserted 19th century hotel on the remote, windswept island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden, a place more renowned as the setting where Ingmar Bergman shot all his films, including his iconic picture the 'Seventh Seal'. GOTLAND ISN'T REMOTE. AND "THE SEVENTH SEAL" - NOT "SEVENTH SEAL" WAS FILMED IN TOREKOV IN BASTADA. Teitur SHE MEANS "TEITUR'S" captivating melodies and finely observed lyrics, WHY THE COMMA? have earned him fans across the globe such as KT Tunstall, Rufus Wainwright, Aimee Mann and John Mayer. *FALLS ASLEEP* He has also co-wrote with Corinne Bailey Rae early on in her career; one of the songs they wrote together 'Choux Pastry Heart' which appears on her multi-platinum debut album. :(

The album titled 'The Singer' is the first of four albums shortly to be released courtesy of A&G Records, who have licensed the record directly from Teitur and his manager's own label, Arlo and Betty Recordings, which they set up in 2006. GREAT INFO, THANKS. This will be quickly followed by an introductory compilation album of his previous albums, providing a beautiful inception EH? for those not familiar with Teiturs' SHE MEANS TEITUR'S past efforts, prior to the rest of his back catalogue unfurling UNFURLING? OH PLEASE! here in the UK for the first time.

The Singer was recorded in an abandoned hotel on the beautiful scenic Scandinavian island of Gotland. YOU'VE DONE THIS BIT "I wanted to go somewhere remote, somewhere exotic where people were out of their ordinary environment so we could go on a journey together while making the record," he explains his choice of location.

The songs took seven years to write and they've been well worth the wait. The title track is Teitur's statement of intent although it is not without humour. "I always had the voice and now I am a singer," he sings. "The audience grows silent when I open up my mouth. I sing the words I've written every night before a crowd. As if I were a poet or some legendary mind." OR JUST ANOTHER BED-WETTING INDIE TWONK AMID ALL THE OTHER BED-WETTING INDIE TWONKS.

Elsewhere there is 'Your Great Book', an angry retort at his sister, 'Legendary Afterparty', a tribute to blues singer and friend Chris Whitley who sadly died of cancer and 'Catherine The Waitress', a quirky, endearing tale of love at first sight.

Check out the glorious Catherine and The Waitress I THOUGHT IT WAS CALLED 'CATHERINE THE WAITRESS'? which will appear on Teitur's album 'The Singer' which makes it's UK debut in 2009 NO FULL STOP, NICE! AND YOU'VE DONE THIS BIT ABOUT EIGHT TIMES NOW.

FULL PR AND PRESS SHOT ATTACHED – FOR FURTHER IMAGES TO BOOK LIMITED PROMO TIME [yeah, right] PLEASE CONTACT ME ON THE USUAL DETAILS BELOW

Account Director
A: 42 A Charlotte Street, London, W1T 2NP

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yeah Yeah just give me my Lis award already or is it 3 strikes before you're eligible for nomination?

You'll be glad to know I'm leaving Nile-On before I cause anymore harm

I'm off to get some training on how to stop being lazy and actually write my own press releases instead of pinching from our press teams

have a good 09

lots of love from Grace Grammar Graveyard xx