When Violent Hot Pitch Words Hurt Polly Paulusma

• 1Back of Your Hand (Demo Version)03:55
• 2Brambles and Briars (Demo Version)03:41
• 3Luminary (Acoustic Version)02:23
• 4Any Other Way (Demo Version)03:18
• 5The Big Sky (Live Version)04:23
• 6Snakeskin (Demo Version)02:26
• 7Sullen Volcano (Poem)02:15
• 8Bracklesham Bay (Demo Version)03:49
• 9Tired Old Eyes (Piano Version)06:09
• 10Dirty Circus (Live at The Cambridge Folk Club)03:07
• 11Robin (Live at The Cambridge Folk Club)04:18
• Total Runtime39:44

Info for When Violent Hot Pitch Words Hurt

'When Violent Hot Pitch Words Hurt' is Polly Paulusma's latest sister-album, the title an anagram of 'The Pivot On Which The World Turns', which was released in September via One Little Independent folk subsidiary Wild Sound. It is possibly her most vulnerable accompanying piece yet, revealing early demos, lyric changes, musical alterations, draftings, and even spoken-word origin poems that proceeded the songs.

What is a sister-album? In 2004, Paulusma released 'Scissors In My Pocket' to international critical acclaim. Like many first albums, it was the product of many years of writing and recording, produced largely in her garden shed, and there was a plethora of overflow material, and a clamouring of fan interest for more.

In 2005 Paulusma released a sister-album for 'Scissors', an album of alternative versions of the songs. She took a live recording made at one of her shows supporting Jamie Cullum and nested it between four songs recorded acapella with a string quartet, to create 'Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites'. The unusual title was forged from a nearly-anagram of 'Scissors' to demonstrate the relationship between them - and a tradition was born.

Because 'Pivot' contains song material spanning a decade, there was a lot of work from behind the scenes. In fact, there were more than 50 songs written to go on the album, and many remaining unreleased. This alterno-album doesn't include them, but explores the songs that did make it in more detail. It provides Paulusma a unique space to reveal the different imaginings of the material as it travelled with her through time, moving across instruments and presentations. Process is on show here for all students of song, and an invitation to enter the world of this "master songsmith" (Folk Radio).

'When Violent Hot Pitch Words Hurt' joins 'Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites', 'Fights and Numbers' (sister-album to 'Fingers and Thumbs'), and 'The Small Feat Of My Reverie' (to 'Leaves from the Family Tree') to shine a light on the journey these songs make to the final product.

Shire Folk called 'The Pivot On Which The World Turns' "quite possibly her best album".

Paulusma has toured the world supporting Bob Dylan, Jamie Cullum, The Divine Comedy and Marianne Faithfull, and played Glastonbury, T in the Park, V Festival and Cambridge Folk Festival among many others, touring the USA and Italy. She signed to Sony/ATV in LA and opened for Coldplay at their secret show at The Troubadour in West Hollywood.

Polly Paulusma

Polly Paulusma
Back in 2003, tucked away in her garden shed, the 28-year-old Polly Paulusma was putting the finishing touches to her self-recorded debut album ‘Scissors In My Pocket’ when indie record label One Little Indian signed her up.

‘Scissors In My Pocket’, a work of aching acoustic tenderness, received immediate widespread critical acclaim upon its international release in 2004.

She was catapulted around the world supporting Bob Dylan, Jamie Cullum, Coldplay, The Divine Comedy, Marianne Faithfull, Joseph Arthur and Gary Jules, and played Glastonbury, T in the Park, V Festival and Cambridge Folk Festival among many others, touring the USA and Italy twice. She released its sister-album, ‘Cosmic Rosy Spine Kites’, in 2005.

In 2007, she released the darker, more electric ‘Fingers & Thumbs’, produced by Ken Nelson (Coldplay, Gomez, Badly Drawn Boy, Kings of Convenience) and recorded in Liverpool’s Parr Street studios. She toured the UK extensively for this album and made the cult Youtube Guitar Shop Tour videos along the way. Its sister-album ‘Fights & Numbers’, was released shortly afterwards.

In 2011 she founded the record label Wild Sound on which in 2012 she released ‘Leaves from the Family Tree’ and its sibling album ‘The Small Feat of My Reverie’. In the same year she played Cambridge Folk Festival, and toured the UK in her caravan Ella. This album featured collaborations with US singer-songwriter Erin McKeown, acclaimed violinist Anna Phoebe and the film and tv music composer Michael Price (Sherlock). She also scored and released a film soundtrack for the Canadian indie movie starrring Roddy Piper, ‘Clear Lake’.

Paulusma’s Wild Sound label subsequently released not just her own albums but those of notable acoustic folk artists including Maz O’Connor, Dan Wilde, Mortal Tides, Harry Harris, Stylusboy, Matthew The Oxx and others. The label became a folk imprint at newly named One Little Independent in 2017.

In 2021 Paulusma releases an album of traditional folk songs and spoken word readings, ‘Invisible Music: folk songs that influenced Angela Carter’, which was the product of her recently completed PhD research into Angela Carter’s influence from folk singing in the 1960s.

In 2022, Paulusma is slated to release her eagerly-anticipated ninth album, an album of her own songs penned since 2012, which will include songwriting collaborations with Kathryn Williams, David Ford, Danny Wilson (Grand Drive, Danny & The Champions of the World), Astrid Williamson and the novelist Laura Barnett.

This album contains no booklet.