Laura Kidd

Laura Kidd is a record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist releasing music and podcast episodes as Penfriend, and formerly known as She Makes War. After releasing four full length albums between 2010 and 2018, She Makes War was formally disbanded in December 2019. Kidd cited a desire to “keep putting out the most honest, thoughtful and brave music I have inside me long into the future” [1] and launched new music project Penfriend in May 2020, with accompanying weekly podcast series Attention Engineer. Her collaboration project with Rat (Ned's Atomic Dustbin), "Obey Robots", launched in December 2020.

Laura Kidd
Birth nameLaura Kidd
Also known asPenfriend (formerly She Makes War)
OriginLondon, England
GenresAlternative rock
Years active2009–present
LabelsMy Big Sister Recordings
Associated acts The Penelopes, Viv Albertine, The Young Punx, Alex Parks, Tricky, Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Websitepenfriend.rocks

Penfriend

Multi-disciplinary solo project Penfriend launched on 1 May 2020 with an invitation to join The Correspondent's Club, Kidd's handmade member's club set up to provide a friendly online space for music fans, powering the making of new music and podcast episodes in return for member perks.

Attention Engineer podcast

Kidd's weekly podcast series on creativity, grit and determination launched on 3 June 2020, featuring conversations with other artists, musical and otherwise. Described as "a lovely listen...As a musician herself, Kidd...talks with insight and warmth...but these are not the back-slapping all-slebs-together podcasts that we’ve become used to" (The Observer).[2]

Guests include Tanya Donelly (Belly / The Breeders) and Mark Chadwick (Levellers), who appeared as guest vocalists on Kidd's third She Makes War album, "Direction Of Travel", plus Ayse Hassan (Savages), Frank Turner, Charlotte Hatherley, Bernard Butler, Corin Tucker, Robin Ince and more.

She Makes War

Launched in 2009 with the release of EP "Three...Two...One", She Makes War was Kidd's first solo project. Her fourth album, Brace For Impact, was released in October 2018 and secured a no. 15 UK Independent Albums Chart placement on 12 October 2018.[3] She has released three previous albums Disarm (2010), Little Battles (2012) and Direction Of Travel (2016). The project finished with the release of And Peace in 2019, intimate re-recordings of eight tracks spanning all four albums.

She Makes War's indie rock sound combined grungey riffs with orchestral soundscapes. Kidd has been described as "a modern musical Boudica",[4] and as possessing "The emotional resonance of Elliott Smith colliding with the barbed vigour of Sleater-Kinney" (Gigwise).[5]

She Makes War's output was critically acclaimed by BBC6 Music's Steve Lamacq, Marc Riley, Chris Hawkins, Lauren Laverne and Tom Robinson, Radio X's John Kennedy and Kerrang!'s Alex Baker plus The Independent, The Sun, The Line of Best Fit, Gigwise, and Songwriting Magazine among others.

In 2016, She Makes War's third album Direction of Travel[6] featured guest appearances from Tanya Donelly and Mark Chadwick. Kidd played most of the instruments herself, with guests including Clive Deamer and Andy Sutor on drums, The McCarricks and Nicole Robson on strings, and Cajita on piano. The album was produced by Kidd and mixed by Dan Austin (Doves/Pixies). Tanya Donelly's (Breeders, Throwing Muses, Belly), guest appearance on the song 'Paper Thin' was described as "the perfect augmentation to Laura’s beautiful lyrics".[7] Tanya Donelly also features in the music video for the song.

In 2015, She Makes War released Disarm: 15 an EP of "tender reworking of songs" from the first album. She Makes War's first two albums Disarm (2010) and Little Battles (2012), share stories from the personal to the political, dealing with matters of love, loss, birth, therapy, murder, abandonment, and hope.[8]

Touring

As She Makes War, Kidd toured extensively in the UK and Europe both as a solo act and with a full band. She also supported Suede, The Levellers, British Sea Power, Ginger Wildheart, tUnE-yArDs, Gruff Rhys, The Magic Numbers, Duke Special, Shlomo, Midge Ure, New Model Army, Glen Matlock and Earl Slick, Nadine Shah, Erica Nockalls and Miles Hunt, Chris Helme, Drugstore and The Posies.

Kidd has also toured, providing bass and vocals, for artists including Tricky, Viv Albertine, Lil' Chris, The Penelopes, The Young Punx and Alex Parks.

Other projects

Breakfast with Apollo

In 2012 Kidd launched her regular Breakfast with Apollo music nights in London, seeking to improve the gigging experience for bands and audiences by creating a coherent and cohesive format, encouraging collaborations between bands, educating both parties on sensible gig pricing and the consequences of this and promoting the shows with endless enthusiasm and attention to detail. The events were well-received, continuing around the UK in subsequent years.

Stand Up

In 2015, Kidd wrote and performed one-woman show Shit Girlfriend at Edinburgh Fringe, a blend of humorous spoken word and melancholy music performance, sharing tales of real life on the road and Kidd's ill-fated attempts at finding love along the way. Her show was described as 'a charming hour of biographical storytelling and music…perfectly executed acoustic gems' -The List.[9]

Discography

Albums
  • Disarm, 2010
  • Little Battles, 2012
  • Direction of Travel, 2016
  • Brace for Impact, 2018
  • And Peace, 2019

EPs
  • Three...Two...One.., 2009
  • Disarm: The Live EP, 2010
  • The Butterflies Audiovisual EP, 2013
  • Disarm: 15 EP, 2015

Singles

She Makes War

  • "Let This Be", 2010
  • "I Am", 2010
  • "In This Boat", 2012
  • "Minefields", 2012
  • "Never Was", 2013
  • "Drown Me Out", 2016
  • "Paper Thin", 2016
  • "Cold Shoulder", 2016
  • "Stargazing", 2016
  • "I Want My Country Back", 2017
  • "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", 2018
  • "Devastate Me", 2018
  • "Undone \ London Bites", 2018

Penfriend

  • "Everything Looks Normal In The Sunshine", 2020
  • ”The Only Way Out Is Through”, 2020

Obey Robots

  • "Let It Snow", 2020

References
  1. "WAR IS OVER". Shemakeswar.com. 1 October 2019.
  2. "The week in audio: Times Radio; Newsbeat: 100 Days of Lockdown – review". 4 July 2020.
  3. "Brace For Impact". Shemakeswar.com. 19 July 2018.
  4. "She Makes War : live review". Louderthanwar.com. 13 October 2011.
  5. "Premiere: The distorted diatribe of She Makes War and 'I Am'". Gigwise.comaccessdate=2020-06-04.
  7. "BBC Radio 6 Music - Lauren Laverne - MPFree - March 2016". BBC. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  8. "She Makes War Website". Archived from the original on 18 February 2016.
  9. "Shit Girlfriend". Edinburghfestival.list.co.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
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