Artist: Katie Coyle
Title: Foundations Laid on Sand
Length: 25:03
Release Date: December 3rd 2011
Label: N/A
Personnel: Katie Coyle (Vocals, guitar, piano, production), Mandy Williams (Vocals)
Produced by: Katie Coyle
Recorded: October/November 2011, KC Studios, Austin, Texas.

Tracklisting

1. Take the Blame
2. Mrs Appleford's Snowdrops
3. Stand up
4. Printemps
5. Distance Doesn't Matter (feat. Mandy Williams)

Foundations Laid on Sand is the comeback EP by folk/acoustic pop starlet Katie Coyle, and the follow up to her massive number one debut album Raindrops, Caffeine and Other Liquid Stimulants.
With her personal problems now seemingly but a distant memory, the 19 year old Londoner has removed herself from her self imposed early retirement with a fresh and vivacious mindset, as she looks to prove that she has what it takes to back up her critically acclaimed debut, which produced such massive hits as Naked On Paper, the biggest selling digital single of all time.
Taking on a brand new attitude, and starting afresh, Katie is looking to put the misery and downtrodden nature of her previous release to rest, describing it as, "work I'm still proud of, but makes me sad at the same time, every time I hear it," and into a style which envelopes the nature of the happy youngster she now is.
With guitar, pianos and hauntingly beautiful vocals littering the comeback EP, Katie hopes to re-capture the imagination of the fans who brought her such unprecedented success in the early part of her career.
The EP will officially launch 2 weeks later than planned, on Saturday 17th December 2011

Here it is. What can I really say about this one? I've waited a long time to release this song. While I obviously don't mean I've waited a long time to release exactly this song, I do mean that it's been a long journey to get to here. Believe it or not, this is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to do from day one. From the very first day I ever picked up a guitar, this was the kind of song I wanted to be writing. I've always marketed myself as a folk artist, but I guess that definition became a bit clouded by what happened in the last year.

But no. No looking back from me anymore. This is about the here and now, and at last, I've got a real folk track out there. This is so folky because it's about a real life person, and not just about some silly feeling from inside myself, or some fictional character that I made up. I think that makes it feel a lot more…warm. The fact that I know the person I was singing about just adds something to the reality of it for me. I felt I was able to give it a little bit more in the studio with the feelings.

The song itself is about an old lady I used to know really well. Her name really is Mrs Appleford. I never knew her first name really, but she was, and is, such a lovely old lady. She was basically my babysitter when my family first moved away from the States. I was like three years old, and we moved to Derry to live with my uncle, because my dad got a job working at some place in the county, and he had lost his job back home in the USA.

Anyway, during the time we lived in Ireland, about three years all in, my parents both worked, and my uncle Donald was always away on tour with his punk band. That meant that his next door neighbour, old Mrs Appleford was always looking after, especially during the holidays at Christmas. One thing I always noticed at that time of year was that she used to plant these little white flowers around the start of November in her back yard. It always confused me, because her garden was always so lovely and vibrant, and then I December she planted these tiny little, bland flowers.

So one day I asked why, and she said: "Katie, these little flowers are called snowdrops, and they are the only flower which can still blossom in the cold winter." I was amazed that these tiny flowers were the only ones strong enough to grow through the cold, and I would often ask her about them. It was a long while later that she told me why she actually planted them. As it turned out, her husband had been killed in the second world war. Before he had left for the war, Mrs Appleford said that it had been the warmest and brightest summer she had ever seen, and that their garden, their first garden as a married couple, had looked brighter and more alive than anything she had ever seen.

When her husband went off to be enlisted in the navy, she told me that she promised to keep the garden beautiful until he returned. He never did, and this had led one dedicated old lady to ensure that year in year out, the only way she could keep the garden looking lovely all year, and make sure it always had a blossom, was to plant these lovely little flowers.

That story really touched me, and the more I heard it as I was growing up, the more it resonated with me. The idea that someone could have a love so strong that even like 55 years later she still kept her promise to keep the garden looking amazing was just mind blowing to me. I never thought I could love someone that much, and I admired her for that.

But now I know what that feeling of love is like, and so I felt like I could finally write about this with the real attitude that I knew what my old friend was thinking of back then. I know that if I ever made a promise to Andrea and I lost her, I'd keep that promise forever, so I know how Mrs Appleford feels.

I actually met her again recently. I went back to Derry to visit my Uncle Donald, but he wasn't around. I was standing in his garden, and all I heard was: "I'd recommend those curls anywhere, Katie Coyle come and give me a hug!" And we spoke for ages. She had so many newspaper cuttings about me, and she has followed my career so closely.

There was one thing I was surprised she didn't know though. I used to always tell her when I was a little girl that I'd love to find a beautiful husband like the one she had….but obviously things changed as I grew. So when she asked me: "Did you ever find yourself that handsome young man to sweep you off your feet then Katie?" she seemed a little shocked to hear the response: "Not exactly…I have a girlfriend actually." But she was so understanding. Many old people are really funny about that sort of thing, but she was so happy for me. It really made me smile.

Back to the song though…musically, I decided to strip it right down. For the majority of the track it's just me and the guitar, which lends itself to the soft, dulcet tones of the track. I love that way it came across. The only other instrument in there is the tin whistle, which we brought in for that little haunting bit at the end, because it gives the feeling of Ireland basically. I love it.

So yeah, as you can tell from this very extended "Katie's comments", this song means very very much to me, and I hope people enjoy it.

Track description

Of all the songs Katie has released so far in her short career, this one is without doubt the most stripped back, the most honest and the purest she has ever done. Armed with only a guitar and a story from her childhood of an old woman's undying love for her husband, killed over half a century before, Katie brings a new soft edge to her music, allowing people to see what she has wanted to be all along, a pure honest folk artist.

The track begins with a few gentle strums on the guitar, which are then overpowered by Katie's soft voice, quiet yet echoing across the first rendition of the chorus. The guitar resonates softly in the background, playing repeated and soft chords as Katie slowly lets the words of the opening verse slide effortlessly from her mouth, smooth and level throughout. It almost feels like there's no emotive drive to the opening chorus.

However, when the first verse kicks in, with one beat on the hollow body of her acoustic from Katie, the emotion can be heard without pause. The song feels like it has more drive without getting any faster, as Katie's guitar becomes louder, the same chords but only with a little more punch behind them. Her voice also sounds different. A little more upbeat to portray the emotion of someone who is so in love with their new husband. As the verse finishes, there is one louder strum on the guitar, and then four beats on the guitar body.

The pre-chorus (3 lines) then comes in, sung without any musical backing at all, almost isolated from the rest of it intentionally, to show an outer feeling, something quite external to the story of the song.

During the chorus, the guitar comes back in again, but much softer and quieter than in the verse. It's louder than in the intro chorus, but the voice is still overpowering it, intentionally.

Verse two, which tells of the death of the husband, is sung in a lot more of a strained voice, getting across the notion of loss and despair. Katie's voice sounds as if she can feel the pain of the subject of the song as she slowly meanders her way through the verse about the death of the husband.

The pre chorus and chorus then proceed as before, in the exact same manner, before a change just ahead of the final chorus. Whilst the instrumental from the start until now has been notably just Katie and a guitar, the white space after the chorus here is filled with a very soft, haunting, floating noise from a tin whistle. It sounds Irish, and feels almost like a ballad to a long lost land, a man lost far from home whilst fighting for what he believed in.

And then the last verse comes in, sounding more upbeat again, at the notion of the old woman battling on through life on her own, waiting for that glorious day when she will be reunited with her husband after so many years apart, both young and healthy once again.

The final chorus is sung as above, before the music dies, and Katie repeats the last line, almost in a whisper. The song fades out.

---

Lyrics

Mrs Appleford plants her snowdrops in December//
She says she wants to see a blossom on those cold, cold days//
Casting her mind back to the summer she remembers//
The love still so strong in her heart which she had torn away//
She said that she will never let the years force her to forget//
The man she once loved who taken so abruptly away//
Time can be a healer but it can also haze and it won't let//
Us remember those who we will all see again one day//

The sun shone down on the two so bright//
So full of desire and happiness they stood side by side//
A love so strong it made the heart ignite//
It shone from beaming smiles to make them warm inside//
He said "No matter if the rain falls, I'll always come for you//
And when the snow falls I'll plough right on through//
If it's raining in life, I'll be your shield, and I'll protect you//
And when the snow falls I'll plough right on through"//

He'd sail on home to her, even if it took a thousand years//
But he was never coming home and she still fought the tears//
He'd sail on home to her, even if it took a thousand years//

Mrs Appleford plants her snowdrops in December//
She says she wants to see a blossom on those cold, cold days//
Casting her mind back to the summer she remembers//
The love still so strong in her heart which she had torn away//

And now the autumn comes, their love had been dismembered//
He'd gone so far away to fight for what he so believed//
And Mrs Appleford knew he'd sail forever and she'd remember//
When he squeezed her hand, he promised, she'd felt relieved//
He wore a moustache and he was so handsome//
He stood so tall and proud in his uniform on that fateful day//
They weren't rich but their love counted for a king's ransom//
And when the telegram came she felt it being pulled away//

She'd walk a million miles because she knew that he was waiting//
And though time aged her, he'd still be young and proud//
But he told never to doubt because she knew that he was waiting//

Mrs Appleford plants her snowdrops in December//
She says she wants to see a blossom on those cold, cold days//
Casting her mind back to the summer she remembers//
The love still so strong in her heart which she had torn away//

So cold in winter time she stares down at her finger//
The gold band glistens just as it had done all that time before//
A perfect circle never ends and fond memories linger//
One day Mrs Appleford will once again wash up on his shore//
Don't go away she prays, just wait for me, I'll see you soon//
She spends her summers and her winters as she preens and crops//
Oh Mrs Appleford has a tear for every sweet snowdrop//

Mrs Appleford plants her snowdrops in December//
She says she wants to see a blossom on those cold, cold days//
Casting her mind back to the summer she remembers//
The love still so strong in her heart which she had torn away//
She said that she will never let the years force her to forget//
The man she once loved who taken so abruptly away//
Time can be a healer but it can also haze and it won't let//
Us remember those who we will all see again one day//

Mrs Appleford plants her snowdrops in December//


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