Hayley Thompson-King: She Contains Multitudes
Hayley Thompson-King
Image courtesy of the artist
She Contains Multitudes is a rebellious cabaret performance from vocalist Hayley Thompson-King, whose work has been described as an “explosive display of vocal prowess” (PopMatters) and as “a voice that could do anything, doing just what it wants” (Americana UK). Known for moving between operatic lyricism and punk-inflected screams, Thompson-King brings that full range to repertoire known not only for its musical brilliance, but for the women who originally brought it to life. Centering works made iconic by Lotte Lenya, Ethel Waters, and Cathy Berberian, Thompson-King and her collaborators re-inhabit these works with their own improvisational instinct.
Thompson-King's original work occupies a similar experimental space. Her most recent album, Sororicide, produced by Sean Slade, blends garage rock, Americana, and classical influences into something visceral and unpredictable. Across both contexts, her work edges between composed and improvised, intimate and theatrical, grit alongside precision.
Immediate, volatile, and deeply human, She Contains Multitudes builds on the work of women who expanded the expressive possibilities of the human voice. These are works that challenge vocal convention, blur boundaries between classical and popular idioms, and tell deeply moving stories.