“I’m in it for the devastation. That’s always been my thing with music.”

And really, is there anything else you need to know?

Love Lies tells stories of separation, departure and disappointment. Here are stories that could only have been written by someone with an unflinching heart; songs that work their magic in the casual brutal piquancy of lines like “the parting was almost sweet, you almost kissed me”. Love Lies doesn’t sound like anyone’s first record – but that’s what it is.  The smoky blue heart-break of these songs suggests a lot of hard living packed into relatively few years, but there’s a self-assuredness, a lack of histrionics and a dry wit at work – and an unexpected voice: woody, resonant, rich and shiver-inducing.

Kami Thompson is the youngest daughter of Richard and Linda Thompson, and sister of Teddy Thompson, making her British musical royalty; or to put it another way, you could say she has form. Was she aware of her parents’ rich legacy as a child? “No - Mum wasn’t involved in music when I was growing up so I didn’t really know her in that way. With Dad, I’d go to Cropredy every year and see him play, I’d sit backstage or help sell merch.” She didn’t start really listening to her parents’ records until her late teens. “When I was growing up it was like, Folk music? Ugh!,” she laughs. “But then, I started listening to them and loved them.”  Her favourites? “Hokey Pokey - ‘The Sun Never Shines On The Poor’ - love that. And ‘God Loves A Drunk’ from Rumor And Sigh. There is a lot of excellent misery there.”

Kami remains “fiercely close with family.” Not only does her debut feature her father on guitar and her brother with voice and guitar but also contributions from her friends: Sean Lennon, Matt Johnson, Lucy Wainwright, Martha Wainwright (particularly great in the rapturous backing vocals of ‘4000 Miles’). “I’m Martha’s biggest fan,” says Kami, “It’s so visceral with her.”  Martha’s husband Brad Albetta produced alongside Ed Haber.  “When I was a teenager, my brother was living in LA, so I’ve known all that lot since then,” she says of the gang of rock scions. “We’re thick as thieves.  It’s like having extended siblings – they get the whole mad, weird parents thing. And they can always trump you, which is great – it makes you feel normal.”

Was it intimidating trying to find her own voice in such company? “It wasn’t until I started trying to make a record,” she recalls. “I thought, Ohhhh, I don’t know if I want you all to hear this. It was scary. My Dad and brother were really helpful – particularly my brother, he’d help me call people in for sessions and give me his opinions on the first mixes.”

There’s a palpable world-weariness on Love Lies that doesn’t make it obviously a young person’s record. “It was so exciting making the album – I’d quit my job and moved to New York. But I’d had 5 years of being really, really fucked around personally. And I was feeling – yes, world-weary. That’s definitely where the songs come from.”

Where else do those songs come from? Love Lies features a gorgeously torchy cover of George Harrison’s ‘Don’t Bother Me’ – the Beatles being long-time favourites, along with the Kinks, and Nilsson. PJ Harvey she is “still mad about,” and also Jeff Buckley – “which was why I was so thrilled to have Matt play on the record.” During the writing of Love Lies, in the mid-noughties, she toured with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy in the Antipodes as a backing-singer, “But every song ended up being like a duet. He’s a capricious interesting lovely creature. I adore him.”

If all that sounds very serious and ‘wise beyond her years,’– she will happily admit that “I think I’ve got less mature since I made that record. I Love Lies is all self-indulgent break-up music. Stick with what you know! When I was writing those songs I had a naivety about relationships, and there’s still a shred of that there, I hope.”

Naivety seems a bit harsh. A song like album closer ‘Blood Wedding’ rings with earned wisdom and cautious but indefatigable hope. Is that ring on her finger a wedding ring? “God no!” she says with mock horror and a big smile.  “I’m married to myself.”
- David Peschek, 2011