BRUISE are Isobel Morris (vocals and guitar), Jim Kimberley (drums, vocals & samples)

Self taught and self educated, Isobel’s songs are in the maverick tradition and her band is unlike any other. Songs with great spirit and intuitive feel propelled by a driving groove of Jim Kimberley. It's both compelling and emotional. There is something insidiously persuasive about them, like magicians - while you're trying to work out how they do it they steal your heart.  A little bit Patti Smith, a little Nico, but then again something all together other.

Isobel Morris does not compare.  Her songs reflect a life of diverse experience. She has crossed continents several times.  From her native Yorkshire, Isobel has travelled via the pork fields of Iowa to the ice fields of the Alaskan wilderness. It was in Anchorage that Isobel stumbled across her own glorious broken-stringed, open-tuned style.

Moving to London, she built herself a reputation as a singer, performer and writer of rare distinction. Accused of singing "morbid songs about sex and death" at the 12 Bar and the Kashmir Klub (in London) and at the Edinburgh Festival, she decided it was time to take the next step.Isobel experimented with musicians in various combinations and situations but nothing really clicked until she was introduced to session drummer Jim Kimberley. He'd been living in E14 for a few years, recording and touring with the likes of Squeeze, Nick Harper and Nick Heyward.  

Jim had access to the most basic of home demo gear and a years experience of getting the best out of it in the classic DIY ethic. The musical understanding between the two was immediate and inspiring.  In the surroundings of Jim’s east end council flat, using the lounge as a live room, dangling mics from light fittings, removing and laying carpets to get the right sound from the room - they have managed to create a striking, fresh and origional sound.

Bruise play to audiences from York to Guernsey & Belgium to the USA and have shared the bill with Feeder, Reef and Terrovision and supported Hawkwind. In 2005 and 2007 they played The Glastonbury Festival on the right thinking Green Futures Stage. See them live and know the glorious gritty pioneering pop that is BRUISE.


All photos by Brian Wood