Face To Face

How the Album Came To Be

The duo first became friends after meeting in 2010 at “Elvis Forever,” a tribute concert in London’s Hyde Park organized by BBC Radio 2 to celebrate what would have been Elvis’s 75th birthday. Both artists performed at the show. Suzi performed “All Shook Up” and “Johnny B Goode” with the TCB band, and KT sang “A Little Less Conversation” with the BBC orchestra and Capital Voices.

Some eight years later, the pair reconnected and began writing songs together.

Becoming Freinds

Suzi first realized that KT was a Quatro fan when she spotted KT in some rough cuts of Suzi’s documentary film “Suzi Q.” A mutual friend arranged a meeting. Suzi was invited to London, where KT was busy recording. The two became fast friends, and KT asked Suzi to write with her.

“Working with Suzi has been such a beautiful flow state of friendship and creation. We work in her home, sitting on the floor, bare feet, and talk WAY more than we write!! And then the songs just arrive so fast, like gifts from the Universe.”

– KT Tunstall

After composing their first songs together remotely over the internet, Suzi became so excited by the chemistry they’d discovered that she wanted to do more. The pair reconvened at Suzi’s home, where they talked, sang, and wrote together over several days and nights.

As the two singers got to know each other, they began sharing their life experiences, inspiring the duo to write songs reflecting their life journeys.

In an interview with Bass Musician Magazine, Suzi described the experience: “We would sit on the carpet in my front room barefoot with all our stuff spread around us, and we’d start to talk. It was like an express train of creation”.

Creating the Album

Five Years In The Making

The first pair planned to release an EP together in 2018, but both were busy with their own careers at the time. KT’s sixth album, Wax, came out that year while Suzi was busy preparing her No Control album for an early 2019 release. Touring and promotional activities kept both women busy through 2019.

Finally, we were able to see the rock icons join forces. Face to Face was primarily written at Suzi’s home and recorded in England. This marks the third time Suzi’s son Richard has produced his mother, and the two make a formidable creative team.

Suzi reflects that: “Nothing happens by accident, and I think we were supposed to meet because she was a fan for a long time, which I did not know,”

“We’re cut from the same cloth. She edges towards folk. I’m rock’n’roll, but there’s something similar about us, and everybody has commented on the blend of our voices.”

Suzi was inspired during the writing process that whenever she wrote a line to a song, KT would immediately come back with another line or creative suggestion. Suzi commented, “Oh, what a relief – usually, when I write with somebody else, I have to wait for them to catch up.”

Purchase Face To Face at https://sunrecords.lnk.to/FaceToFace