KT TUNSTALL
“Drastic Fantastic”
Virgin Records
September 18, 2007
VIDEO: “Hold On”
Grammy® nominee KT TUNSTALL became one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters in the world in one giant step, with the amazing two-year global journey of her multi-million selling debut album, Eye To the Telescope. On September 18, 2007, Virgin Records will release Tunstall’s second album, ‘DRASTIC FANTASTIC’.
For ‘DRASTIC FANTASTIC’ KT again tapped Telescope producer Steve Osbourne (U2, New Order, Happy Mondays). The album was mixed by Michael H. Brauer (Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, My Morning Jacket). Tunstall recently told a British interviewer that her acquisition of two “very sexy” guitars had inspired her to crank them for the new album, providing a clue to the sound of her new work.
The album’s September release will follow a busy summer of high-profile live appearances for KT, including the worldwide seven-concert Live Earth event July 7th, where Tunstall will perform alongside The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Kanye West, Dave Matthews Band and many others at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey stage. KT is also scheduled for a July 13th spot on the popular summer live music series performed outdoors in New York’s Rockefeller Center, and telecast on NBC’s Today morning show. Nearly a year and half after Telescope’s U.S. release, the album’s third single “Other Side of the World” continues to climb the Hot AC radio airplay chart and both “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See” are still among the top 15 most-played songs on AC radio.
The release of ‘DRASTIC FANTASTIC’ follows one of the truly extraordinary artist development stories of recent years. In a classic showbiz story, she subbed for an absent rapper on Jools Holland’s television show in her native U.K., and her entirely self-accompanied performance of “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” - which she had chosen simply because it was her most recently-written tune — created fierce anticipation around the album, which eventually became a quintuple platinum smash in the British market. Tunstall won the 2006 Brit award for Best British Female Solo Artist, and “Suddenly I See” won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, while “Black Horse” was honored as Q Magazine’s best track of the year.
Both the U.S. music media and the enthused fans that packed out her first North American appearances were immediately impressed with Tunstall’s unique delivery, as well as the substance and originality of her musical fusion. Early in the U.S. tour that preceded the album’s 2006 U.S release, The New York Times noted KT’s “strong voice, that in the same chorus can rasp like a blues mama and giggle like a giddy kid.”
Over the course of selling more than a million copies in the U.S., Eye To the Telescope became one of the most durable albums on radio in 2006 and 2007, maintaining top 5 adult-format radio play into its eighth month of release. It was also one of the most visible of albums, with high-impact uses of several album tracks on television (American Idol, Grey’s Anatomy, Will and Grace, Ugly Betty) and film (The Devil Wears Prada), while Tunstall made live appearances of The Tonight Show, Austin City Limits, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, Live with Regis and Kelly, Last Call With Carson Daly, and Late Show with David Letterman. “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” was nominated for the 2006 Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy®.
Joining the Live Earth event to educate a generation on the climate crisis is just the latest evidence of Tunstall’s consistent commitment to making and publicizing eco-friendly choices in her life and career. Tunstall has performed in such recent events as Elle Magazine’s Green Issue party and e! Entertainment Television’s post-Golden Globes “Golden Green”-themed after-party, which was affiliated with Global Cool, the campaign that creates environmental consciousness through entertainment and educational events. Tunstall was among the central founding figures in the launch of Global Cool, whose first act was to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and lobby him and a group of fifty major business leaders on environmental issues at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence.
In the victory lap that was her post-platinum U.S. headline tour, Tunstall traveled in an environmentally friendly biodiesel bus. Tunstall is also affiliated with The CarbonNeutral Company, a consulting project that analyzes and facilitates voluntary action on climate change for businesses, governments and individuals. To offset the carbon footprint of her own album, Tunstall partnered with CarbonNeutral in a dedicate-a-tree plan in her native Scotland’s Carrifran Wildwood, which, thanks to the enthusiastic response of her fans, now totals more than 5,000 trees. In keeping with its own environmental initiatives, Virgin will be assisting KT’s efforts in “greening” the launch of ‘Drastic Fantastic’.
Tunstall partnered in 2006 with Origins Natural Resources and Virgin Records for cross-promotion of her music and Origins’ line of wellness-based skin care, bath and beauty products, through personal appearances, in-store music programming and charitable endeavors. Among those charities is Project Sunshine, a nonprofit organization run by volunteers that provides free social, educational and recreational programs to children and families affected by serious medical challenges.
