Catherine Anne Davies (aka The Anchoress ) is a voracious devourer of words and music. In fact, Bloomsbury published her PhD in English Literature just before she released her debut album as The Anchoress, Confessions of a Romance Novelist. The concept of the debut married this love of literature with a dark sense of humour, with The Observer calling it "a compelling & blackly witty break up album", while PROG magazine applauded the record as "Kate Bush Hounds Of Love updated for the 21st century" and MOJO described Davies as being in possession of "a devastatingly powerful voice". Confessions of a Romance Novelist was named amongst the Guardian critics’ Albums of the Year, won HMV’s Welsh Album of the Year, Best Newcomer at the PROG awards, and a nomination for the Welsh Music Prize. It also caught the ear of Robert Smith of The Cure (who personally invited her to play at his Meltdown Festival) and her childhood heroes, the Manic Street Preachers, with whom she duets on new fan favourite Dylan & Caitlin (feat. The Anchoress). Davies has spent much of the last four years developing her writing and engineering skills to become one of the most interesting up-and-coming songwriters and producers in the UK (winning the PRS Writer/Producer award in 2019). She also brought a new generation of ears to legendary Scottish rock band Simple Minds. She joined the line-up in 2014, appearing on the Big Music (Deluxe Edition), Big Music Tour 2015 and Walk Between Worlds (2019) albums.