Wednesday, March 09, 2011

‘I Felt Like a Fight, Alright?’

As the powerful front-woman of renowned Kiwi act Minuit, and the unforgettable lyricist behind their tunes, Ruth Carr has always known the power of words – they are her currency.

Full of one-liners, poems, lyrics and short tales, Ruth Carr takes us deeper into her world with her debut book ‘I Felt Like a Fight Alright?’ due for release on 21 March 2011.

The result is a darkly humoured look at life, death and what it is that we do ‘while we’re here’.
While this sounds all very exciting for fans, Sonja de Friez, Nine to Noon reviewer on Radio NZ National, suggests it has a much wider appeal.

"Reminiscent of Cohen's mid-career poetry and writings, Minuit's songstress Ruth Carr has penned an elegant, acerbic and revealing collection which strikes the heart and soul of any reader."

De Friez follows up by saying, "it's so good, that before I'd even finished it, the 16-year-old had pinched it and was engrossed. I still haven't got it back."

Back in 2003, when the band released their gold-selling debut ‘The 88’, Russell Baillie predicted in The New Zealand Herald: “Minuit have something many electronic acts studiously avoid - a sense of personality.”

That personality blossomed into a world travelling act, and here Ruth Carr has captured the much quoted quirkiness of character in her new book, giving us a peek inside Ruth’s head – though just don’t make any sudden movements or stare directly at it for too long.

An unexpected and genuine piece of New Zealand writing from a woman who is never one to preach but often has the whole ‘congregation’ singing along, you can pick up ‘I Felt Like a Fight, Alright?’ from selected bookstores, online from the Minuit Bookstore (minuit.bigcartel.com) and – for those cyber-savvy readers – digitally from mebooks.co.nz.

As Rolling Stone magazine wrote about her band’s latest album ‘Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death dot com’ - “Despite an album title as black as midnight, Minuit’s music is often as joyful as a fat kid with cake.”

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