This Is The Kit

Alternative folk project This Is the Kit gradually built its profile over many years. Essentially the performing identity of British artist Kate Stables, the group has fashioned a distinctive literate and rhythmic indie-folk sound since the mid-2000s with a mix of steady and changing collaborators. While the earliest releases attracted only modest attention, the 2015 album Bashed Out brought the first substantial breakthrough after earning strong critical praise. Exposure on BBC 6 Music and support tours alongside the National and Iron & Wine expanded the audience that later followed subsequent records Moonshine Freeze (2017), Off Off On (2020), and Careful of Your Keepers (2023).

Stables grew up in Winchester, where she took up both trumpet and guitar as a child. There she formed a lasting connection with Rozi Plain, who later pursued her own solo work while remaining a core member of This Is the Kit alongside Jesse D. Vernon. After relocating to Bristol in 2003, Stables devoted increasing time to music rather than ordinary employment, encountered many future collaborators, and recorded her debut album Krulle Bol with John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse) in 2008. She later settled in Paris, abandoning other work to concentrate fully on her career.

Initial wider notice arrived when Rob da Bank's Sunday Best Recordings included the track "Wooden Spoons" on the Folk Off compilation, prompting the label to issue the song as a 7" single. The follow-up album Wriggle Out the Restless appeared in 2010; despite positive notices and the well-received single "Spinney," it failed to raise the group's standing. Five years passed before momentum shifted, with 2015 marking a decisive turning point. Recording sessions for the third album had begun the previous year under the guidance of the National's Aaron Dessner, who assembled additional players including his brother Bryce, Matt Barrick (the Walkmen), Benjamin Lanz (Beirut, Sufjan Stevens), and Thomas Bartlett (Doveman, the Gloaming). Released on Dessner's Brassland Records label, Bashed Out earned widespread acclaim.

During that period, BBC 6 Music presenters, among them Elbow's Guy Garvey, who dedicated an episode of Music Box to the band, offered further support. Extensive touring included regular slots opening for the National, Iron & Wine, and Sharon Van Etten. Reuniting with Parish in Paris, Stables delivered the fourth album Moonshine Freeze on Rough Trade in 2017, again to strong reviews. For Off Off On, produced by Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman), much of the writing occurred while touring with the National, with Stables contemplating travel and self-reflection. On the sixth album, Careful of Your Keepers, Stables, bassist Rozi Plain, guitarist Neil Smith, and drummer Jamie Whitby-Coles worked with Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys; the record, which explores the passage of time and existential unease, surfaced in 2023.