The Breath mark 50th anniversary of classic Karen Dalton album with 'Something On Your Mind / Remembering Mountains'

This month, American folk icon Karen Dalton's classic album In My Own Time turns 50 – and to celebrate, The Breath have shared powerful new renditions of 'Something On Your Mind' and 'Remembering Mountains', via Peter Gabriel and WOMAD's Real World Records.

Dalton died in 1993, after failing to achieve mainstream success during her lifetime. However, her remarkable voice was immortalised on two studio albums – 1969's It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best and 1971's In My Own Time.

In more recent years, Dalton's discography has been rediscovered by a new generation – perhaps owing in part to Bob Dylan, who wrote in his 2004 memoir Chronicles: Volume One, that his "favourite singer…was Karen Dalton".

Acclaimed alt-folk duo The Breath, made up of Armagh-born vocalist Ríoghnach Connolly (the current BBC Folk Singer of The Year) and guitarist Stuart McCallum have released two tracks today to celebrate Dalton. The first is 'Something On Your Mind', originally written by Dino Valenti, which featured on In My Own Time.

“Karen’s voice is unearthly, it’s almost jarring and you can hear a harrowing pain in her vocal texture, the absolute sorrow is even in her phrasing” Ríoghnach says of the track. “The lyrics ‘You can’t make it without ever even trying’ is such a potent line for me – this song is about survival” she adds “for me, being able to channel that in the song was a gift in catharsis.”

The second track The Breath have released today is 'Remembering Mountains'. In 2012, a selection of Dalton's personal songs and poems were published. 'Remembering Mountains' is one of these treasures – with Dalton's words set to music by The Breath.

“Karen Dalton is a singer I will always go back to," Ríoghnach comments. "She’s a woman everyone should know.”

Take a look at the video for The Breath's version of 'Something On Your Mind' below: