To celebrate Valentine’s Day, maverick Black Country singer, songwriter and guitarist Kerry Worton has just shared her second single ‘Break Up Song’,’ which she says “Is cheeky and empowering. Not your typical break-up song,-crying into a pillow shite. You get over it and conquer the world.”
With hazy indie staccato riffs, she leans into the minor key in ‘Break up Song, ‘ poetically reflecting the minutiae of a sliding relationship. Her soulful emotive vocals describe “watching you breathe -we’re out of synch.” Oscillating electro riffs and buoyant bass weave through mellifluous vocals before the soundscape bursts open and swells as she sings,” “I’ll get over you in the back bar in the bathroom in somebody’ else’s bed.” It’s such an earworm that it could easily be the new “I Will Survive” anthem for the indie world. With glistening strings, it has a 360 degree cinematic soundscape, shimmering with harmonies, slicing staccato riffs and fierce soul-spanning primal vibrato. The song is accompanied by a stylish video which Kerry produced and edited making “an iconic cheeky reference to Robert Palmer’s ’Addicted to Love’.
Kerry describes her music as ‘Black Country acoustic-rock’ echoing “the sounds of bands that wail and hail from her birthplace in the West Midlands” She has worked as a session musician and has recorded backing vocals for various artists. She is now taking centre stage, performing her original songs with the ‘Kerry Worton Trio.’
Break Up Song follows Kerry Worton’s debut single ‘Mother U’ which was released in December 2024 and was dedicated to fostering families, a subject matter that rarely, if ever gets mentioned in songs.
Kerry enjoyed recording the backing vocals to the recent Spoon Speaker Man album The Age Of No Opinion’ featuring key members of Power of Dreams and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. She describes how “This catapulted me back into the studio after finally kicking long covid in the bollocks. Whilst attending a rehabilitation hospital and walking without the use of a wheelchair, I eventually swapped my crutches for the guitar again and started to write my own songs to help me to improve my speech (which had also been affected) and my coordination. Music certainly healed me! I have now started a music charity ‘ Wolves Music United’ in my hometown of Wolverhampton to support those affected my mental health or financial hardship to access music!”
The Kerry Worton Trio performed ‘Break Up Song’ live on the online channel ‘The Narrowboat Sessions’ in September 2024, which received 250, 000 plays in six weeks. It was this that encouraged multi-instrumentalist, Kerry, to record her album, joined by Ben Bagle (cajon) and Darren Burrell (bass). Recently she showcased her songs in New York, USA and performed live with her trio on UK Radio. Compared to the likes of Janis Joplin and Sinead O’Connor, her voice can be haunting and inviting then in a split second it grabs you unexpectedly with an emotional rawness, power and beauty. Her acoustic guitar playing draws you in with the energic prowess of punk/rock with hypnotic undertones of the blues.
‘Break Up Song’ was recorded by Joe Bickley at the Cellar Rooms, Wolverhampton. Mixed at Perry Vale Studios, London by Jessica Corcoran and mastered by Stu Evans Mixed at Perry Vale Studios, London by Jessica Corcoran and mastered by Stu Evans .
Follow The Kerry Worton Trio here.
