Rachel Zeffira.
Video–Rachel Zeffira, ‘Here On In’
Rachel Zeffira has already received tons of notice in the U.K. for her debut solo album The Deserters. Raised in the Kootenays in B.C., she now lives in Highgate, North London.
Zeffira might be better knownas one-half of Cat’s Eyes, a duo she formed with her beau, Faris Badwan of The Horrors.
Twelve years previous, the 29-year-old Zeffira was on her way to becoming an opera singer in London when she was accidentally deported. In her mid-twenties she took roles in operas in Verona, Italy. She also played cathedral organ and oboe and was invited to The Vatican to sing for Pope John Paul II.
After hooking up with Badwan, the two released the debut Cat’s Eyes album last year. The album blends 1960s girl-group songs with shoegaze rock. She used her Vatican contacts to arrange for Cat’s Eyes to play their first memorable concert at a Vatican mass.
Zeffira’s first solo recordings included a cover of My Bloody Valentine’s “To Here Knows When” and her own “Waiting For Sylvia”.
Zeffira, who is conversant in oboe, violin and piano, plays the majority of the classical instrumentation on the album, including English horn, cathedral organ, and much of the strings. The album is scheduled for North American release on Paper Bag Records March 12 2013.
Video–Rachel Zeffira, “Here On In”:
