ELIZABETH FRASER:
NME have (reportedly) announced that the debut solo album from Elizabeth Fraser is to be released in the Spring of next year. Apparently the album will feature eight new tracks and one cover version. No titles have been given yet. There has been no confirmation of these details from Ms. Fraser or any of her representatives.
FRASER SONNETS: They are regarded by their fans as modern poets but artists from the Cocteau Twins to Antony and the Johnsons will soon set their music to the words of the greatest bard of them all. Antony Hegarty, lead singer from the Mercury Prize-winning Californian band, Antony and the Johnsons; Liz Fraser, a member of the 1980s post-punk cult act, Cocteau Twins and Natalie Merchant, from 10000 Maniacs, will feature among more-classical music acts which have been selected to compose contemporary sounds to run alongside a Shakespearean sonnet. The artists are picking their favourite sonnets to set against the music of a chamber orchestra, the soprano, Anna-Maria Friedmann, and the tenor, John Potter. But Shakespearean purists should be braced for innovative "re-workings"of the poems, according to the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Opera North, which commissioned the work. Liz Fraser, who is known as much for her shyness as her ethereal compositions, has remained elusive about her offering. Organisers say that she may well "turn up with her sonnet on the day".
