FEATURE: (There Is) No Greater Love: Remembering the Great Amy Winehouse

FEATURE:

 

 

(There Is) No Greater Love

IN THIS PHOTO: Amy Winehouse in 2006/PHOTO CREDIT: Dean Chalkley

Remembering the Great Amy Winehouse

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ON 23rd July…

IN THIS PHOTO: Amy Winehouse in 2003/PHOTO CREDIT: Phil Knott

it will be fourteen years since we lost Amy Winehouse. One of the most extraordinary talents of her generation, she died at the age of twenty-seven. There are questions around how far she could have gone and what her third studio album would have sounded like. Two studio albums, 2003’s Frank and 2006’s Back to Black, are a glimpse into her exceptional gift. One of the most moving and powerful voices! Much imitated but never bettered, 23rd July will see fans share their memories of Winehouse. I wanted to include a couple of interviews with her. I have included a playlist at the end of this feature. However, people do not really highlight the interviews. An insight into her career and life at the time. I am going to start out with an interview that was originally published in Hot Press in 2006. There is a bit of a full circle moments. Amy Winehouse mentions in the interview how it would a dream to sing with Tony Bennett. They did eventually record together. Their duet, Body and Soul, was released on Bennett’s Duets II of 2011:

“Excellent. Does she remember her first kiss?

“Ever? I was about 11 or 12 and it was with a Greek boy called Chris *¡+&*£&^%©¡ who’s gay now – I’m not sure if his mum knows, so only use his Christian name! My best friend Juliette thought I was making it up, so when my Mum picked us up from his house and we got in the car, she said, ‘Let me smell your breath.’ I went ‘haaaaah’ and she goes, ‘Oh my God, boy breath, I believe you!’

“My first kiss with Alex was lovely as well. I was in my pub playing pool and noticed him from the off when he walked in. I made him go and buy me a shot ‘cause the bar staff, who are my friends, were refusing to serve me on account of the golf ball-sized lump I had on my head from the previous night’s bad behaviour! I said to him, ‘I know you don’t know me, but will you take this two quid and get me a tequila,’ and he goes, ‘No, save your money.’ A few drinks later I was sitting on his lap and went, ‘Come outside, I want to tell you something.’ He was totally clueless as to what I had in mind, but eventually I got him outside and that’s where it happened.”

Barbara Cartland – if you weren’t dead – eat your heart out! What would Amy Winehouse’s perfect romantic day comprise of?

“The boy doesn’t get up ‘til late, so I’d start by going to the gym early on my own and raising my energy levels for what’s to come later.

“What do I work out to? The Rocky theme. No, sometimes when I’m on the treadmill I think of that music in my head, but what I actually listen to is hip-hop like Missy, Nas and Mos Def. Adrenalin pumping, it’s back to the house where I cook him breakfast, we eat and read the newspapers in bed and then have a nice, soapy bath together. Next we’d go for a walk in London, pick somewhere nice in Soho for dinner and, not too drunk, head home for some lovin’. You’re making me all tingly!”

Which is a sentence I shall cherish for the rest of my life. And would the soundtrack to all that lovin’ include one of her own songs?

“Eeeeeurrrrgh, that’s wrong on so many different levels,” she grimaces. “?uestlove did a compilation called Babies Making Babies, which is the ultimate Sunday afternoon sex album. Well, anytime sex album!”

For those who aren’t in the hip-hop know – e.g. me – ?uestlove is the nom de studio of The Roots’ Afro-sporting drummer Ahmir Khalib Thompson. He’s produced two volumes of Babies Making Babies, both of which are guaranteed to have you banging like a rattlesnake. Talking of rap royalty, what’s this I hear about Amy hobnobbing in New York with Jay-Z?

“I did two shows in New York recently – Mos Def who’s one of my all-time heroes was at the first and Jay-Z was at the second. It’s always nice to be supported by people you admire. I don’t know if it’s because of the version of ‘You Know I’m No Good’ that’s come out with Ghostface Killah on it, but a lot of the hip-hop community in America seem to know who I am.”

Although Winehouse has yet to meet Ghostface – “We were on opposite sides of the Atlantic when it was being put together” – it’s made her eager to do other collaborations.

“My ultimate would be to sing with Tony Bennett. When I was making my first record, I went to his studio ‘cause the guy I was doing some of it with, Commissioner Gordon, knew his son. He wasn’t there, but just being in his gaff made me cry – it was so embarrassing!”.

The second and final interview I want to come to is from The Telegraph. Neil Mccormick recalled an interview with Amy Winehouse that turned out to be the last. These are only a couple of examples of Winehouse being interviewed. There are a lot that revolve around her struggles with alcohol and tabloid harassment. There are early interviews like this one from DAZED in 2003 that gives us insight into Amy Winehouse around the time of Frank being released. I do hope that there are lost or hidden interviews that come to light. Knowing more about this incredible person. Someone who was subjected to constant press harassment and pressure. I think back to Winehouse in 2003 and starting out. This optimism and excitement. Fame and its pressures combined. Heartbreaking to think of how different things could have been if she was left alone and give more space and support. Take time out from music. There is no use speculating and blaming. It is clear that this once-in-a-generation supernova burned bright in her short life:

“In March this year, I did what turned out to be the last interview with Amy Winehouse. We didn’t talk about drugs, or rehab, or her unhappy love life, or cancelled tours and interrupted recording sessions. It wasn’t about her well-publicised troubles at all. It was about music, about jazz and singing, the things that really motivated her, the things that made her great.

I was privileged to watch her record a duet with legendary crooner Tony Bennett in Abbey Road studios. It was a magical experience, watching these two great talents sing together, voices wrapping around each other, rising and falling, scatting and blending in jazzy cadences, as they worked up a version of the classic ’Body And Soul’, each take getting better than the last.

Winehouse was obviously nervous, exhibiting the slightly insecure demeanour of a brattish teenager, alternately blasé and sulky. She had run a gauntlet of paparazzi on arrival, and her entourage of stylists, management and record company representatives were worried about the response of their notoriously mercurial charge. Winehouse, however, dismissed concerns with a shrug and “Whatever!”

In mini-dress and patterned cardigan, she looked good, healthier than I had seen her in years, tanned and fuller-figured, big hair sculpted around her striking face. The year before, a producer I know described Winehouse as a write-off, creatively stuck and unable to function for ten minutes without resorting to drugs. The comment had offended her father, Mitch. “She’s not a write off,” he insisted. “She’s a recovering addict.”

The Amy I saw seemed well on the way back to her best, which makes our brief encounter all the more poignant.

I was there for a feature on the 85-year-old Bennett, who is recording an album of duets. The invitation to join one of her heroes in the studio was something Winehouse could not refuse. “We love you so much,” she told the white-haired, dapper Bennett.

“I’m not going to cry,” she said, when he took her hands. “I’m not going to cry.”

She apologised for being nervous, saying it was her first time in a recording studio in a while. I asked if it was good to be back. “It’s good to be in the studio with Tony,” she replied. “That’s the only reason I’m here.”

She talked about how her father raised her on Bennett and Sinatra. “I grew up listening to your records,” she told Tony. “You taught me how to sing.”

They sang together, on two adjacent microphones (not a given in this digital era, when vocals are often separately compiled from assemblages of multiple takes, then autotuned to fake perfection). They sang take after take, in search of something mysterious and almost undefinable.

“You’re just feeling it,” she told me. “You don’t think about it. If you thought about it, you wouldn’t be able to sing it at all.”

Bennett, the old pro, looked relaxed and barely seemed to consider his own performance, focusing on encouraging Winehouse, watching her closely all the time. She was fidgety and uncomfortable, chewing her sleeve, looking at her feet, the walls, the ceiling, everything but her musical partner, yet singing up a storm in her rich, ancient voice, channelling Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday. She became increasingly bold, her voice taking off in daring flights, but would suddenly call a halt, muttering “Can we sing it again? I’m terrible. I don’t want to waste your time.” No two takes were the same. “It’s getting there, innit?” she cheerfully snorted after one particularly amazing display of vocal prowess.

“I’m my own worst critic,” she told me afterwards, “and if I don’t pull off what I think I wanted to do in my head, then I won’t be a happy girl.” Her sulky demeanour she put down to nerves. “I’ve got Tony’s voice right in my ear and that’s so much for me that I can’t look up and see Tony the person as well. I sound so stupid but it’s hard.”

Winehouse’s surprising self-criticism, and her unease in the situation, was revealing. “I’m not a natural born performer. I’m a natural singer, but I’m quite shy, really.” She said she always fought nerves before a performance.

“You know what it’s like? I don’t mean to be sentimental or soppy but its a little bit like being in love, when you can’t eat, you’re restless, it’s like that. But then the minute you go on stage, everything’s OK. The minute you start singing.”

Her technique was a wonder to observe, the way she moved on and off the microphone, the way her mouth worked, all lips and tongue, shaping the sound. Bennett was clearly enjoying himself, taking a relaxed, almost conversational tone, while she added layers of depth, daring and drama.

During a break, he offered her a throat lozenge: “Have you ever tried Strepsils?”. Such an innocent question for a woman the UN described as a poster girl for drug abuse. “I like the honey ones best,” she responded sweetly.

It’s hard to believe that encounter took place in spring. Maybe Winehouse wasn’t really ready to venture back into the spotlight. She certainly wasn’t ready to return to the stage, her disastrous performance in Belgrade in June leading to the cancellation of a short European tour.

I first met her in 2003, when she was just a delight, such a precocious talent, so fully in love with music, but even then I found her frustratingly erratic live. In a review of a performance at The Jazz Cafe in 2004, I called her “the girl with everything — except stage presence.” I noted the way she seemed to want to hide behind her guitar. Maybe, after all, the stage wasn’t the place for her particular sensitivities.

At Abbey Road studios, Winehouse spoke to me about her love of jazz, how she modelled her vocal style on the instrumental playing of Thelonious Monk and Charlie Mingus, namechecking her three favourite vocalists as Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington and Minnie Ripperton. She thought she might record a “more purist” jazz album some day, citing contemporary British jazz talents Soweto Kinch, Jazz Jamaica and Tomorrow’s Warriors as people she would like to work with.

She also opened up the possibility of studying music. “I would love to study guitar or trumpet. I can play a lot of different instruments adequately but nothing really well. If you play an instrument, it makes you a better singer. The more you play, the better you sing, the more you sing, the better you play.”

This was all in the future. She may have had a hedonistic and self-destructive streak, and she was an addict battling deep problems, but at 27, I think Amy really believed in her own future. She told Bennett that, after the session, she wanted to go home and put on one of his records. “I’d rather hear you sing than listen to my own voice.”

She was relaxed and laughing by the end, a warm, loud, dirty laugh, full of pleasure. “I’m so happy to be here,” she told Bennett. “It's a story to tell my grandchildren, to tell their grandchildren, to make sure they tell their grandchildren”.

On 23rd July, we remember Amy Winehouse fourteen years after her death. Influencing artists of today – everyone from RAYE to Greentea Peng have been compared to her -, her music will amaze and captivate people for decades to come. Twenty-two years after her debut album came out, I don’t think we will ever see anyone like her again. It is clear she was a true pioneer and pure talent. Even though she is gone, her immense legacy…

WILL live forever.

FEATURE: The Great American Songbook: R.E.M.

FEATURE:

 

 

The Great American Songbook

R.E.M.

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THIS is a series…

where I focus on terrific American artists. The Great American Songbook has a different meaning and does refer to a particular style of music. However, stretching it out, I wanted to apply it to wonderful American artists who have made a significant contribution to the industry. Their music has been transformative and revelatory. R.E.M. hail from Athens, Georgia. Formed in 1980, R.E.M. were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Fronted by Michael Stipe, they released classic albums such as Document (1987), Automatic for the People (1992) and Monster (1994). The band’s final album, 2011’s Collapse into Now, was a sad farewell to music royalty. I am going to come to a twenty-song mix from R.E.M. A career-spanning representation of their brilliance, they have inspired musicians as wide-ranging as Nirvana, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Collective Soul, and Liz Phair. If you are not a huge fan of R.E.M., I do hope that the playlist provides some proof that R.E.M. are one of the most important bands ever. I have loved them since childhood and their absence is notable. I wish they were still recording together. However, rather than wish for the impossible, let’s take a look inside the catalogue of…

THE sensational R.E.M.

FEATURE: One for the Record Collection! Essential August Releases

FEATURE:

 

 

One for the Record Collection!

IN THIS PHOT: CMAT/PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Doyle

Essential August Releases

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I know we are still in July…

IN THIS PHOTO: Jehnny Beth/PHOTO CREDIT: Johnny Hostile

but I am excited by the albums due out next month. I want to recommend the best of them here. Thanks to Metacritic for providing release dates and albums. You can see ones I have omitted for a fuller look at what August has to offer. I am going to start out with one album from 1st August. That is Reneé Rapp’s Bite Me. You can pre-order your copy here. I am very excited to see what comes from the album. I am a recent convert to the brilliance of Reneé Rapp. She is one of the most promising artists coming through. There is not a lot of information out there about Bite Me. Instead, I wanted to bring in part of a fascinating interview from Cosmopolitan from last month. The actor and artist was speaking with Cosmopolitan around the release of her recent single, Leave Me Alone:

“Do you identify as a sensitive person?

In the last 8 to 10 months of my life, I’ve been like, Oh, wait, I don’t have to do everything and I don’t have to be around people that make me feel like shit. I thought it made me tough, that it made me come across as hard, that I could handle anything. But now I think the tougher thing is to tell someone to get the fuck away from you. So sort of a roundabout answer, but I love being sensitive. It’s my superpower.

You have a lot of songs about overthinking in past relationships. Do you still experience that now?

Those times I was overthinking in relationships were because I was with people I didn’t like, but I was trying to make it work because I liked to keep myself miserable. There’s such a big difference when you are with someone who gives you basic human decency. And also, my girlfriend is just really hot. I don’t need to overthink it. She’s gorgeous. You know how you know you’re with the wrong person? When you’re two inches away from their face, and you’re looking at them and you’re really scared and grossed out. I thought that was just me with everyone. No, it turns out that I just didn’t like those people! When you’re with someone who is not making you miserable, what a difference it makes!

I know you’re great friends with Cara Delevingne. In her 2021 Cosmo cover interview, she said, “I don’t feel like I’ve ever left a relationship so fucked up that it’s been like, ‘I never want to speak to that person again.’ I just love all the people I was ever with and want the best for them.” Do you still speak to your exes?

I don’t block anybody or delete anybody. But I have a couple of exes that I just pity. I’m like, “No, I don’t want to be your friend. I don’t really think you’re a good person.” Cara is really good at seeing the best in people, where I’m very good at seeing the truth in someone’s deepest nature.

Would you ever open up your current relationship?

Fuck no. Hell no. Y’all do what you want to do. Not with mine. I’ve done it before. That shit is not for me because now I’m with the person I love and I want to marry9—stay the fuck away!

PHOTO CREDIT: Rona Liana Ahdout

Did you try polyamory in previous relationships because you thought it would bring you closer together?

In one case, I was with a boy and I kept telling him that I was a lesbian. And I was like, “But don’t leave me,” because I wanted to be the center of attention. So we did that. And then the next one, I made some really poor decisions. And I was like, “Wait, you have to go kiss somebody else because I can’t stand this anymore.” Now that’s not to invalidate polyamory because some people are genuinely polyamorous. I was not. I just didn’t like those people, and I was like, Wait, let me try this

We’re in a really scary time for queer people. What advice would you give to young queer readers?

Find your community. Whether that community is online and thousands of miles away from you or two towns over or in someone who really lifts you up beyond a way you could do for yourself. Your community will do the best it can to keep you safe. This extends so much further past gay and trans people.

Really rely on people around you who are maybe more comfortable or less at risk than you are. We kind of have a pact among certain friends of mine that’s like, “I can take a way bigger blow than you can. Let me do that shit.” I’m not going to let my friend who exists in a trans body go out and put themselves at risk because they immediately have a way bigger target on their back. There is such a dire need for protection, and the government is not going to give that to you. No one here is going to give that to you but the people you can trust”.

There are a few albums from 8th August that I want to spotlight. The first is Ethel Cain’s Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. You can pre-order the album here. Again, not a lot of information about the album – I wish there were websites that had a bit more to say about new releases –, but I will include what I can get from Rough Trade. Ethel Cain is an amazing artist and I would recommend everyone check out her new album. She is one of the most extraordinary musical voices in the world. Someone who is unique and utterly entrancing:

“Florida-born multimedia artist Ethel Cain returns with her sophomore album Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You. A prequel to the critically acclaimed Preacher's Daughter, the new album recounts the story of Ethel's first love, Willoughby Tucker, and their humid, laden romance. Hayden Anhedonia, the creative force behind the entire Ethel Cain project, has spent the past several years assembling the album in her home studios from Coraopolis, PA to Tallahassee, FL, all the while selling out tours and playing festivals worldwide, cementing herself as a singular artistic voice on the rise”.

Actually, there is just one more from 8th August I will recommend, as there are plenty from the three weeks after. Good Charlotte’s Motel Du Cap is out then and is going to be amazing. They are a band who have been around a while but are producing some of their very best music. I think this album will draw in new fans in addition to their diehards. You can pre-order it here:

“Good Charlotte is back and they’re bringing their rawest, most authentic energy yet with their album Motel Du Cap. The rock legends have spent nearly three decades crafting anthems for the underdogs, the dreamers, and the broken. Now, they’re channeling a serendipitous moment into their most genuine and honest work since their early days.

The spark for Motel Du Cap ignited when the band played a private gig at the iconic Hotel du Cap in France for a friend's wedding in 2022. The surreal beauty of the venue, the raw emotion of the occasion, and the freedom of performing without expectations lit a fire under the Madden brothers. “It was this wild, once-in-a-lifetime vibe,” Joel recalls. “We were just there to celebrate, no pressure, and it reminded us why we started this—pure, unfiltered connection”.

This might be a shorter feature than I anticipated, as it is hard to see the albums without too much written about them. Even so, I hope that what is included entices you! On 15th August, Alison Goldfrapp released Flux. Her debut solo album, The Love Invention, was released in 2023 to large acclaim. The lead of the legendary Goldfrapp is a superb solo artist in her own right. Make sure that you pre-order her forthcoming album:

“Alison Goldfrapp, the creative force behind some of the most captivating music of the past two and a half decades, releases her new album Flux, out on her recently launched record label, A.G. Records.

With "Flux", her second album following 2023's critically-adored The Love Invention, Alison stands on a precipice of new experiences in more ways than one. Launched with the joybomb of a single "Find Xanadu," the album showcases some of her most undeniable pop hooks since Goldfrapp's iconic album Supernature as well as her most poignantly vulnerable songwriting to date. Alongside Alison, the album is co-produced by Richard X and Stefan Storm”.

You may know Bret McKenzie as half of the New Zealand comedy duo, Flight of the Conchords (alongside Jermaine Clement). They released a couple of studio albums. Those were very much comedic in tone. Freak Out City is going to offer something different. This is an album that you will definitely want to pre-order:

“Bret McKenzie is a Grammy and Academy Award winning artist most well known for his band Flight of the Conchords and their eponymous television show. McKenzie is internationally renowned for singing and writing funny, strange, and unique songs primarily for film and television. Bret’s songs have been sung by Kermit the Frog, Celine Dion, Lizzo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brittany Howard, Homer and Lisa Simpson, Fred Armisan, Miss Piggy, Amy Adams, Jason Segal, Ricky Gervais, Benee, Isabela Merced, Spongebob Squarepants, Tony Bennett, Mickey Rooney, and more.

As a young adult Bret was an active part of the Wellington music scene playing in multiple bands across multiple genres. He was a founding member of the popular band The Black Seeds, a reggae funk phenomenon that went on to make multiple gold albums and tour extensively around the world. He also started the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, a surprisingly popular ten piece ukulele group, played in Dub Connection, an experimental electronica ensemble, made an indie pop electro record under the alias Video Kid, and performed in various jazz groups from The Shrinks, a band made up of people playing miniature instruments, to corporate function quartet The Canapés. At the same time Bret was heavily involved in the local theatre scene performing regularly in countless devised comedy theatre productions where he developed a friendship with a large community of theatre artists including long time collaborators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

In 2000 he was cast as an extra in the first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring and was unexpectedly catapulted to fame as a background elf that garnered an abnormal amount of attention from the Tolkien fans. He was coined Figwit - an acronym for “Frodo is great, who is that?”

Around the same time The Flight of the Conchords emerged from this prolific Wellington artistic community and Bret spent several years touring comedy festivals in Australia, Canada and the UK with his bandmate Jemaine. They made a radio show for the BBC followed by a TV show for HBO that became a cult classic and propelled the pair to international fame. They released one EP and three albums with Sub Pop Records winning the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2008. Bret’s work with Flight of the Conchords established him in the entertainment worlds of both comedy and music and opened the doors to working in the American film industry. He has consistently worked on film and television projects since. In 2012 he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for his ballad “Man or Muppet” from the Disney film The Muppets. During this time Bret and his wife Hannah Clarke had three children, and Bret started to focus on projects that would allow him to be at home in New Zealand with his family. In 2022 Bret released a solo album called Songs Without Jokes that saw him explore songwriting without punch lines. FarOut Magazine described the songs as “like musical versions of a Kurt Vonnegut novel.” This year he is releasing his second solo record, Freak Out City, made up of songs developed while on the road with his eight-piece band. Freak Out City was recorded in both Los Angeles and New Zealand, and co-produced by Bret and his long time collaborator Mickey Petralia. It was mixed by Michael Harris in Los Angeles at East West Studios. The musicians on the record are a mix of Los Angeles players Leland Sklar, Dean Parks, Drew Erickson, Chis Caswell, Joey Waronker and New Zealand musicians Ben Lemi, Leo Coghini, Jacqui Nyman, Moana Leota, Iris Little, Justin Clarke”.

Before moving to 22nd August and the great albums on offer then, there is one more from 15th you will want to pre-order. This is Marissa Nadler’s New Radiations. Go and pre-order the album. Many people might not know Marissa Nadler’s music. She is a wonderful artist. Someone who should definitely be oin your radar:

“Marissa Nadler has spent the past two decades crafting a singular body of work defned by spectral beauty, haunting lyricism, and a voice that feels both ancient and intimate Since her 2004 debut Ballads of Living and Dying, the Boston-born singer-songwriter has become a revered fgure in the worlds of dream- folk, gothic Americana, and atmospheric rock.

Across acclaimed releases like Little Hells, July, and For My Crimes, Nadler has seamlessly woven tales of longing, mystery, and memory with ethereal instrumentation and poetic depth. With New Radiations, Nadler pares back to a more minimal, drumless sound--letting her voice and fingerpicked guitar take center stage. The album feels intimate and clear- eyed, offering a quiet yet resonant collection of songs that refect an artist ever attuned to the power of subtle transformation”.

There are a load of albums out on 29th August I want to highlight. Some of the most anticipated of the year. Because of that, I will include only one from 22nd August. That is Ciara’s CiCi. This is an album that I can definitely recommend that you pre-order. A phenomenal American artist whose debut album, Goodies, came out in 2004, it seems that CiCi is going to be her most important release yet. August is shaping up to be incredible and busy for albums. Ciara’s is among the very best:

“On the album CiCi, Ciara reclaims her narrative with clarity, confidence, and a full-spectrum sonic experience that marks her most dynamic era yet. The project — which includes standout singles like “Ecstasy,” “How We Roll,” “Wassup,” and “Run It Up” — effortlessly bridges her legacy in R&B and pop with fresh, future-forward production and unapologetic storytelling. The CiCi era isn’t just a return — it’s a reinvention. Across the album, Ciara blends sultry grooves, empowering anthems, and melodic dance records that reflect both her personal evolution and artistic growth. Each track reflects a refined sense of purpose: she knows exactly what she wants to say and how she wants to say it. Whether celebrating freedom, sensuality, or power, CiCi is an album about owning your voice, your joy, and your journey. Over the last two decades, Ciara has consistently pushed culture forward — from setting dance floors ablaze with iconic choreography to defining the sound of modern R&B-pop. With CiCi, she not only reintroduces herself to a new generation, but also strengthens the bond with her core audience, continuing to build an intergenerational community of fans who ride with her every evolution. It’s bold. It’s intimate. It’s CiCi — raw, radiant, and ready to reign”.

Six albums due on 29th August to end on. Let’s start with CMAT’s EURO-COUNTRY. This is going to be among 2025’s best albums. After a successful performance at Glastonbury and her incredible music out in the world, this is a future icon we have in our midst. Go and pre-order EURO-COUNTRY. Here are some details about an album that you really need to own. I cannot wait for it to arrive:

“It’s almost inconceivable that it’s only five years since the arrival of CMAT, as she approaches the release of her third album, Euro-Country. This BRITs / Mercury / Ivors-nominated acronymic star feels like she’s been part of the culture forever - and what has endeared fans to her heart-sore tunes and humour is CMAT's ability to combine contradictory themes and moods: wide-eye drama with self-deprecation.

Country music has always been a lynchpin for CMAT, but this is country in an augmented, reimagined way. Mixed with classic indie and affirmative soul-pop, it resists the music industry’s desire to pigeonhole artists as one genre. Not only is there a palpable tonal shift, Euro-Country also feels like a huge step-up creatively.

There is a sense of determination, of urgency, of ‘gather round and listen up’. From re-evaluating where you come from (geographically, metaphorically) and the impact of economics on a small country, to the attention that comes with increased fame (not all of it good) and being a woman in the music industry”.

The second 29th August-due album is Jehnny Beth’s You Heartbreaker, You. You can pre-order it here.  I want to bring in part of a recent interview with NME. We get a bit more insight into the new album and what we can expect. Jehnny Beth is an artist I have loved since the earliest days of Savages. That band are, in my opinion, one of the most important of their generation. Her debut solo album, TO LOVE IS TO LIVE, was released in 2020. If you do not know about this artist and have not heard her music then you really do need to check her out – as she is truly phenomenal:

“Paris, 13th District got so much attention and then Anatomy Of A Fall had pretty phenomenal critical success. How did it feel to be seen by so many in a different light? Did that confidence and new sense of identity bleed into the new album?

“When I go into the studio to write music with [creative partner and longtime collaborator] Johnny Hostile, the world outside disappears. Although it is within me and the sum of all these experiences add up to be part of who you are. However, I was not thinking about my experiences as an actor when I was writing – but there are links between artforms. Acting is an interpretation. What they have in common is that you have to think of what you want to say in the world, where your places is and what your point of view is.

“Singing or acting – they spring from that place of ‘What do I want to say?’ You’re not thinking about the superficiality of it of ‘Where do I place my hands?’ The need comes from within. What I wanted to do with this record was to reconnect with the urge of my time in Savages – maybe adding something more dangerous to it, perhaps a sense of humour as well.

“I think it was the first time I was not overthinking what I was doing. I was just enjoying the process with an unconditional trust and belief. Maybe that’s me watching too much Ted Lasso…”

Is the album basically saying, ‘Everything’s fucked, but we must move’?

“I like that! They’re your words not mine, but yes. The world is better with a good song in it, and music is a way to bring things back together. Nothing really makes sense in the end, but it’s a way to cope. It’s the same for live music: it’s a great thing that we do as a species that we should be proud of. The times are traumatic, there’s a lot of drama and pain in the world. We still consider love with a very prehistoric approach.”

And that’s what inspired the album title, right?

“The artwork of the record is a reference to all the car tags you see when lovers break up and attack their ex’s car by spraying a massive ‘TWAT’ or something like that. Me and Johnny Hostile came across a few in London. One was, ‘You cheating bastard – I’m pregnant with your child’. It’s very violent and aggressive. My friend tagged my car to make the record sleeve. That’s the echo of the world that I receive.

“Yasiin Bey said in a recent TV interview that if your heart’s not broken then your heart’s not working. If you find yourself displaced in a society that’s sick then it probably means you’re sane. One of the lyrics on the record is: ‘Anyone who does anything with their heart knows one day they’ll have it broken’. That was the starting point of the record”.

I am really excited about Nova Twins’ Parasites and Butterflies. They are an exceptional duo who I have been a fan of for a very long time. You can guarantee that their new album is one you will want to add to your collection. You can pre-order the album here. I think that Parasites and Butterflies is going to be their most powerful and honest work yet:

“Nova Twins have risen from the UK's independent scene to become one of its most transformative acts, rewriting the rules of success and redefining alt.rock music's future. Sharing stages with Foo Fighters and Muse, earning two BRIT Award nominations, and making history as the first Black rock band shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, they've cemented their legacy as trailblazers. Praised by legends like Tom Morello and Elton John, their electrifying presence continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

Their latest album, Parasites and Butterflies, is a genre-defying journey through life's chaos and beauty, blending hip-hop, punk, rock, pop and electronic influences. Fearless and unflinching, it explores empowerment, identity, and mental health, balancing turbulence with clarity and vulnerability with strength. "This is the sound of us pushing the boundaries of everything Nova Twins can be," they affirm--an album destined to challenge, inspire, and redefine expectations.

Following the Mercury Prize shortlisted 'Supernova' by Mobo and brit-award nominee alt. Rock duo, Nova Twins, Parasites and Butterflies boasts tracks that'll make you want to cry, laugh, dance; spanning themes of female empowerment, mental health, grief and letting loose - With focus firmly on giving back to the fans with dedicated experiences. Set to make Nova Twins a generational success story, this album demands your attention; Parasites and Butterflies will empower new and existing fans Worldwide - everyone is welcome in this new era”.

Three more albums to round off with. The next I want to include is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man's Best Friend. You can pre-order it here. A lot of people have been discussing its cover. A lot of discussion around it and whether it is anti-feminist or tongue in cheek. I think that there has been far too much overreaction. One of the world’s biggest artists is at the top of her game. I found an interview with Rolling Stone from last month that I want to source from:

“Plenty of stars can craft catchy, clever love songs with glossy hooks. But Carpenter’s sharp-witted lines are on another level. “She’s as intelligent as someone can possibly be, which is why she’s funny,” says her producer, Jack Antonoff. “When she says something incredibly profound and then chucks it away with a joke, it almost hits deeper. You go back, the Beatles would [have] the most beautiful love song on Earth, and then something that sounds like a cartoon that John or Paul made up in their head. Some of the best songs ever, and these really funny things, live hand in hand. It’s something I’ve personally been yearning for, and I think other people have been, too.”

Short n’ Sweet earned Carpenter six Grammy nominations (including nods in the “Big Four” categories), and won her two (Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance, for “Espresso”). She appeared as a musical guest on SNL last May and has returned to the show twice more, duetting with Paul Simon on “Homeward Bound” to kick off the 50th-anniversary special earlier this year (“He trusted me a lot with that,” she notes, “because I could’ve fucked that up”) and making a cameo during host Quinta Brunson’s monologue in May.

Along the way, Carpenter got to collaborate with another legend — Dolly Parton, who joined Carpenter on “Please Please Please” from the deluxe version of Short n’ Sweet. “It felt like I was looking in a weird mirror into the future,” Carpenter says of her hero, who is also a five-foot-tall blonde with serious pipes. “Our voices are very similar,” Parton tells me. “I can’t tell sometimes which part’s her and which part’s me. And we look like relatives. She looks like she could be my little sister. We’re little women, doing big things.”

Those things are going to get even bigger this year, when Carpenter releases Man’s Best Friend, the follow-up to Short n’ Sweet. Due August 29, the album includes the new single “Manchild,” a spicy kiss-off to an ex. (Asked which ex it’s about, she replies, “It’s about your dad.”) Like several of the songs on Short n’ Sweet, Carpenter co-wrote it with Antonoff and Amy Allen. “It’s easily my favorite song we’ve ever done together,” says Antonoff. “The things we did on the last album — things that people really loved — were just the start of places we wanted to take it. It’s like, ‘Oh, you like that? Well, just you wait.’”.

The penultimate album out on 29th August you should pre-order is The Beaches’ No Hard Feelings. Go and pre-order it here. They may be new to you. I would say that you definitely need to get their music in your life. The Canadian Rock band follow their astonishing 2023 album, Blame My Ex. There is not a lot in the way of details I can provide for No Hard Feelings. However, this is what Rough Trade have written about an album that I would recommend you grab a copy of:

“The Beaches have spent the past decade building something unstoppable. Their third album No Hard Feelings finds the band blaming themselves (rather than their exes), embracing their partying ways and accepting the occasional semi-self destructive thoughts and actions. The LP includes the last-call anthem “Last Girls At The Party”, fan favorite “Jocelyn” and self-reflective “Takes One to Know One”.

I am finishing with Wolf Alice’s The Clearing. This was another act who had a triumphant time at Glastonbury. Even though they have been in the industry a while, I think they are producing their best music and delivering their greatest live sets. This is a new peak for the band. I want to spotlight some of a recent interview with Rolling Stone UK:

“Produced by pop luminary Greg Kurstin, the melodies are huge and glorious, replete with silken harmonies and woozy, cinematic strings. Lead single ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ is a magnificent, maximalist showcase of what’s to come, with Rowsell’s vocal range the star of the show (with an exquisitely choreographed and spangly leotarded video to boot). On The Clearing, her voice has transcended itself to become more lilting and powerful than ever. Rowsell’s pen is also engrossingly assured these days, as she sings wryly but tenderly of life decisions big and small. In previous times, she preferred burying her words in the scuzz, but now she says she wants to lean into clarity and let people hear what she’s saying.

After years as one of the most revered British bands of their generation, Wolf Alice are getting back to basics. But this is not in response to conversations about tech and AI — if anything, the band are quite open to TikTok and tech platforms in music (“A knee jerk reaction to anything because of age difference is a trap you can find yourself falling into as you get older,” says Ellis). Instead, they see their approach on The Clearing more as a way of reconnecting with an innate part of the band experience after the density of their last record. “I remember getting the stems back from the songs in Blue Weekend and being like, ‘I love this! But I can’t hear it, because there’s so many ideas,’” recalls Rowsell. “So I thought: ‘Next time, you’ve got to make sure all the ideas are the best ones, and if you can’t hear them, you take stuff out.’”

PHOTO CREDIT: Oscar Lindqvist for Rolling Stone UK

Previously, they had felt the pressure for each album to explore new sonic ground, and to showcase skill by getting as intricate as possible, but this time they recognised the bold potential of simplicity. As Oddie says: “When you’re a group of people and you spend years doing these songs, it’s quite brave to go, ‘Your contribution may be not doing something.’”

“There’s a power in giving less,” agrees Amey. “Obviously, for lots of bands it’s normal to just sit in a room with guitars and write. But for us, that was new and felt exciting […] It’s like in Get Back, how they’re all just looking at each other’s eyes, trying to work out what’s going on. There’s an intimacy.”

It’s an intimacy rooted in that strange, unique relationship that comes with being in a band. They clearly have a lot of affection and respect for each other (“I’m always more nervous emailing these three a demo than I am putting out a song to the rest of the world,” says Amey at one point). They’re aware that it can be an odd dynamic for outsiders to step into — although it quickly becomes clear over my week of interviewing them that the four-piece have cultivated an easy camaraderie with everyone in their circle. Take this rehearsal studio in Wembley, where the band are preparing their live show for upcoming performances including Radio 1’s Big Weekend and Glastonbury but have still found time to decorate the area around the mixing desk for their Front of House sound engineer Johnny Dodkins’ birthday (think bunting and bubbly). They gather round to coo at photos of touring keyboardist Ryan Malcolm’s new niece and, when I arrive, Amey takes me on an adventure through the surreal cavernous warehouse (“Have you ever seen Indiana Jones?” he quips), all in order to offer me a cup of tea”.

I hope that the albums recommended above give you some ideas. It is a very eclectic and interesting month for music. From Wolf Alice and Sabrina Carpenter to Jehnny Beth and Good Charlotte, there truly is a bit for everyone! Some very hot albums out there…

TO bring us out of summer.

FEATURE: Guts and Glory: The Exciting New Breed of Female Headliners

FEATURE:

 

 

Guts and Glory

IN THIS PHOTO: Olivia Rodrigo headlined the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, 29th June/PHOTO CREDIT: Samir Hussein

The Exciting New Breed of Female Headliners

__________

EVEN though I am basing this off…

IN THIS PHOTO: Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) played the Park Stage at Glastonbury on Friday, 27th June/PHOTO CREDIT: Dereck Bremner for NME

of one major festival, Glastonbury, it is clear that there was a mix of revelations and missed opportunities. There were so many standouts sets through the festival. Many that got five-star praise. Whilst there is a lot to talk about Glastonbury is terms of its politics and how important it was for artists to speak out in support of Palestine, the music itself was among the best it has been for years. There was something for everyone, and artists really rose to the challenge (and the heat!). Even though headliner Neil Young was superb and won huge reviews, I feel it was evident that there were plenty of women through the bill that could have been headliners this year. The sole female headliner on the Pyramid Stage, Olivia Rodrigo, was outstanding. I want to bring in reviews from The Guardian of five amazing women who are headliners. Self Esteem released A Complicated Woman on 25th April. An amazing artist from one of our best artists, I do wonder why she was not considered as a headliner. She played the Park Stage on Friday night. It is clear that her Glastonbury set was a highlight:

“Tonight Taylor is back with another album under her belt, A Complicated Woman. She’s an imposing presence on stage, wearing the Amish-style robes and headdress and flanked by a crew of backing dancers dressed the same, and singing I Do and I Don’t Care with its arresting refrain: “If I am so empowered, why I am such a coward?”

The show is relatively high-concept and tightly choreographed, as fans will have come to expect of Taylor, but with a darker aspect than Prioritise Pleasure. Through Lies, a drone flying above the crowd adds to the implied menace. Taylor corners the camera and contorts her grin, mocking the pliant, less complicated woman the world would supposedly prefer her to be. When she concludes the song, crouched on the stage, she looks briefly a bit knackered, then drops the stony-faced act. “Thank you,” she says cheerily. “This is a song called 69.”

The song, about Taylor’s lack of enthusiasm for that particular sex act and consideration of its relative merits against others, is greeted by childish oooohs from the crowd and even laughs. I admit it’s an instant skip for me when I’ve listened to the album at home, but live, Taylor’s deadpan delivery is entertaining and a welcome lift through the otherwise frequently straightfaced setlist.

In another seamless transition, with call and response with her dancers, Taylor is helped out of her robes revealing all of them to be wearing rugby jerseys. (Her number is of course 69.) As with the Prioritise Pleasure tour, there’s a real cleverness to the staging. Through You Forever, the first full-throated singalong of the set with its rallying chorus of “you need to be braver”, Taylor runs drills with the rest of her team.

The highlight from A Complicated Woman, tonight as on the album, is The Curse, which finds Taylor relatively alone on the stage with a guitar, cursing, in another stirring outro, the depressing predictability of a relationship past its best: “I wouldn’t do it if it didn’t fucking work.”

But it is undeniably the songs from 2021’s Prioritise Pleasure, notably the title track and Fucking Wizardry, that draw the most enthusiasm from the crowd. Many of them know every word – and these are very wordy songs – and really seem to get something out of shouting them to the sky. It’s stirring, serious-minded yet still upbeat”.

Someone who I think is ready now to headline is CMAT. She played thew Pyramid Stage on Friday and was tremendous. With her album, Euro-Country, out in August, this is an artist embarking on a new chapter. Someone who I feel could easily have been a headliner. It does seem amazing that an artist who seems so natural on the Pyramid Stage was not given a bigger opportunity. For a festival that has constantly struggled to include women on the Pyramid Stage in the headline slots, there is a ready and waiting option with CMAT:

“What does is that CMAT is a fantastic pop star. It’s not merely that she’s smart, funny, gobbily outspoken, and looks fantastic – today she’s clad in huge earrings in the shape of the euro symboland blue plastic dress that she removes to reveal a matching blue leotard, while mocking the fat-shaming comments posted about her on social media. It’s not just that she is blessed with both a potent, octave-leaping voice and a surfeit of superb, hook-laden songs that split the difference between country mid-70s Fleetwood Mac and come equipped with sharp, witty lyrics. It’s that she’s a quite spectacularly brilliant live performer. She alternates between stage moves that very much hail from the Dance Like No One’s Watching school of abandon, and choreographed routines with her band members: at the climax of one, she rips off her male band members’ skirts in a manner reminiscent of Bucks Fizz’s famous Eurovision moment. She announces herself as possessed of “middle child syndrome, an amazing arse and the best Irish country rock’n’roll band in the world” and beckons for applause whenever she mentions her own name – when the crowd start chanting her name of their own accord, she responds by bending over and wiggling her bum at them. When she successfully encourages the audience to engage in synchronised dance moves to I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!, she looks quite startled at what a crowd this size enthusiastically dancing in unison looks like.

It’s all incredibly engaging and preposterously good fun, and it reaches a climax with Stay for Something She runs to the barrier at the front stage, climbs on top of it, hugs a fan, strikes a series of coquettish poses, then – to the visible horror of the security guard accompanying her – motions for the crowd to part, runs into their centre and delivers the final chorus in the middle of the audience. Back on stage, she leads a chant of “free Palestine” and she’s gone – it really doesn’t seem inconceivable that she could be headlining the next time she returns”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Yui Mok/PA

There are two more women who were not headliners on the Pyramid Stage who easily could have been. Doechii is one of the brightest and most respected names in Rap right now. Her mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, was released last year. She is a GRAMMY-winning sensation who is a natural-born headliner. Playing the West Holts stage on Saturday, she delivered this live masterclass. I know all of these reviews are from The Guardian, but they are not biased or unreliable. It is clear their words reflected what was actually witnessed and went down. Doechii was at the top of her game:

“The show’s pace is so relentless, the choreography so precise and the Doechii’s flow so airtight that all the crowd can do is hold on and hope for dear life to be carried along. With her freestyle over America Has a Problem, from Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Doechii challenges anyone who dares fancy themselves her competition to step up: “I see a lotta bitches, I don’t see a lotta stars / I hear a lot of rappers, I don’t hear a lot of bars.”

The follow-up nod, in that song, to the Barbz – Nicki Minaj’s famously fanatical fanbase – makes Doechii’s most obvious comparison explicit, but not only does she match Nicki’s impeccable flow, she also bests her stage presence. Nicki’s never been known as much of a performer, whereas Doechii runs the length of the stage in heels and throws her body around like it’s another special effect at her disposal. Through Alter Ego, she’s flirtatious, casting coy glances over her shoulder, then antagonistic, spitting fire from a low squat position. Doechii’s association with alligators, appearing on the cover of her album Alligator Bites Never Heal, is apt: they share the same implacable ferocity, bared teeth and glint to the eye.

PHOTO CREDIT: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

A dance break involving umbrellas adds to the spectacle, but slightly obscures the school of hip-hop through-line. The show restores equilibrium with Persuasive, Doechii’s track with SZA – obviously performed tonight without her, but with such force that you don’t feel the absence. Doechii’s back and forth with her DJ/hype woman Miss Milan adds to the party atmosphere; by the time she launches into Nosebleeds from atop of a giant pair of speakers with her dance troupe way below, the crowd is hanging on her every word.

From that apparent peak, the highs only continue with an X-rated performance of Crazy and a rendition of her hit Anxiety that blasts the sample, Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know, with heavy distortion. For all her immense technical ability and precision, there’s actually something quite metal about Doechii in her commitment to spectacle. On top of all that, she has a strong, clear voice, capable of acrobatics but not inclined to launch into them just for show. On GTFO, she spars with her dancers, then the camera; for Catfish, she shows off her vocal timbre, descending into a guttural, bristling growl.

It is brilliant, but unrelenting; a reprieve from all that intensity arrives with Denial is a River – Doechii’s Salt-N-Pepa-esque, gossipy hit about a cheating partner and the narrator’s own self-deception. It’s presented within the educational framework of tonight’s set as an exemplar of “the art of storytelling”, and more than delivers on that promise: Doechii is relaxed, self-deprecating and conversational with Miss Milan. You could happily watch her riff in this register for hours.

As it is, Doechii concludes her “school of hip-hop” with a rousing rendition of Boom Bap, then skips off stage. It might seem anticlimactic – West Holts seems to be left slightly reverberating by her sudden absence – but it’s in fact one last lesson: a true master knows to always leave the crowd wanting more”.

Among the other highlight performances was Wet Leg. They were really amazing! It does seem criminal that Charli xcx was not booked to headline the Pyramid Stage. Not only could we have had two women headline for a second year running – SZA and Dua Lipa headlined last year -, but there would have been competition for it to be an all-female headline triple. I have mentioned women who were not there who could have been headliners – Kylie Minogue was a name that instantly sprung to mind – and I do hope that many of the women who shone at Glastonbury this year are considered in 2027 for headline status. Charli xcx showed why she should have been headlining the Pyramid Stage. One of the biggest omissions in recent festival history, she was predictably on fire! Even if the set was minimal and there was not a lot of on-stage chat and cameos were not a big part of her performance, it allowed people to focus on the music. The heart and soul of things. Rolling Stone UK also gave Charli xcx a five-star review. If her Other Stage set was tantalising and celebrated, you wonder just what she could have created and pulled off if she played on the Pyramid Stage! It was clear her Saturday performance was a Pyramid Stage-worthy revelation:

“With the release of last year’s Brat, an album that became a cultural moment without ever diluting Charli’s ingenuity, mainstream culture finally caught up to Charli. So it’s fitting that she’s here at Worthy Farm headlining, by some metrics, the biggest music festival in the world. Of course, she’s not really headlining – Charli’s Saturday night set closing the Other stage is, on a purely technical level, second billed to Neil Young, who is headlining the Pyramid at the same time. But ask anyone here, and the headliner of the entire weekend is Charli.

Her audience at the Other stage is dizzyingly huge, surely at least 60,000 people – a surreal sight for the many gay men who saw her perform in 200-capacity clubs as recently as 2019. And from the very first moments of her set, when she intones, gravely, “Glastonbury, don’t fucking play with me”, it’s clear that she is at the height of her powers, totally capable of holding the attention of a stadium’s worth of people. After all – who else could warrant a general expanding of the Other stage and the addition of more screens and speakers? Even if Charli wasn’t first billed, everyone at Glastonbury knew she was headlining.

This was made clear with an intense, totally uncompromising set in which Charli performed totally alone, not even with collaborators such as Lorde, who was also at Glastonbury. The Brat tour is at its most effective when the viewer has to submit to Charli’s world, and this show, loud and bawdy and sometimes very unnerving in its intensity, was practically Charli-led hostile takeover.

Her skill is in welding sophistication on to brute force – consider a song like Club Classics, which deftly stitches together at least four different styles of dance music in barely four minutes, but also brandishes a chorus of simply “me, me, me, me” – and even when she breaks script, you see that skill in action. “I’m known to have a heart of stone,” she tells the crowd, “But this is very fucking emotional.” She should save her tears – with an audition so memorable, so fun, so spectacular, the Pyramid has to be next“.

IN THIS PHOTO: Charli xcx/PHOTO CREDIT: Aaron Parsons for Rolling Stone UK

Before wrapping up, it is worth mentioning the only female headliner on the Pyramid Stage. Olivia Rodrigo was responsible for one of the best sets of the festival. More than worthy of a headline slot, she was among those who got a five-star thumbs-up. Not only was Olivia Rodrigo electrifying and completely commending. She also performed an unexpected collaboration with The Cure’s Robert Smith. The Guardian declared how Rodrigo stole the festival. Her set. It was that good:

“Securing the presence of the Cure’s frontman is, as young people are wont to say, a massive flex. For one thing, as the sharp WTF? intake of breath that greets his appearance indicates, it’s the one “secret” appearance of the entire festival that genuinely seems to have been kept a secret. It’s also a smart way of drawing in a crowd substantially more varied than you suspect ordinarily attends Rodrigo’s gigs: she made her name with songs that sounded like teenage diary entries set to music that balanced piano balladry with zippy pop-punk.

But in truth, Rodrigo doesn’t really need an alt-rock legend to win over the crowd – it’s already happened before Smith arrives. Clad in a pair of 18-hole Doc Martens, she’s a really engaging performer, cravenly playing up to the crowd by hymning Britain’s pubs – “where no one judges you for having a pint at lunchtime” – and M&S confectionery legend Colin the Caterpillar, changing into a pair of union jack hot pants midway through the set, and demanding her fans “think about something or someone that really fucking pisses you off” and scream mid-song.

PHOTO CREDIT: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Theoretically her sound exists at two distinct polarities that shouldn’t really mesh together – the soft rock adjacent ballads and the pop-punk, the latter sounding noticeably heftier live than on record, the guitar solos surprisingly gnarly. But they’re united both by the fact that the songs are uniformly well-written – Get Him Back! has a timelessly snotty chorus that glam titans Chinn and Chapman would have been proud to give Suzi Quatro; All-American Bitch is sharp and funny; Vampire’s swell from downcast introspection to bile-spitting theatricality is brilliantly done – and that their tone is invariably lovelorn and accusatory. If the noisier tracks are more immediate live, giving her backing band more chance to demonstrate their potency, the set is perfectly balanced. Even if you don’t count yourself among the Rodrigo stans lined up against the front barrier – the big screens show them both passionately screaming along and looking faintly baffled when Robert Smith’s moment in the spotlight arrives – it never lags.

It also feels like more of an event than any other big set this year: as it ends with fireworks, you get the distinct feeling that, at 22, a teen pop star might have unexpectedly, but deservedly, stolen the show”.

Glastonbury was remarkable and its line up was incredible. I love how artists like Kneecap and Nadine Shah spoke up for Palestine. There was a real sense of anger and protest in the air. Even if Glastonbury’s organisers had to issue an insane apology because of Bob Vylan’s call for the death of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) – they are fine with Israel committing genocide but when someone calls out those responsible for it then it is hate speech and deplorable! -, it cannot take away from the impact of the performances. So many highlights. I do hope 2027 is a year when the festival commits to two or three female headliners on the Pyramid Stage and it becomes a regular thing. Even if you liked Neil Young and The 1975, you cannot deny everyone from CMAT to Doechii to Charli xcx and Self Esteem could have headlined. There were so many others too. Women not even invited to play. These women hailed as headline-worthy but, when we flip forward two years, will they be overlooked again? Probably so! A major festival like Glastonbury needs to put these queens…

WHERE they belong.

FEATURE: Supervixen: The Mighty Garbage at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Supervixen

The Mighty Garbage at Thirty

__________

1995 is a year when…

IN THIS PHOTO: Shirley Manson with her Garbage bandmates Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig in 1995/PHOTO CREDIT: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

some of the all-time best albums were released. A few classic debut were also released that year. An embarrassment of riches and bounty for music fans – including me – at the time, we look back at these albums thirty years later with a sense of nostalgia and retrospection. How well they have aged and what do they mean now. In terms of the very best of 1995, there is no doubt that Garbage was among them. The eponymous debut of the U.K.-U.S. band - released on 15th August, 1995 -, they are still going strong today. Many people rank Garbage as the all-time best album from the Shirley Manson-led group. Reaching number twenty on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart, it was lauded for its innovative production sound and its incredible consistency and confidence. Garbage spawned incredible singles like Queer, Only Happy When It Rains, Milk, and my personal favourite, Stupid Girl. I will end with a review of Garbage’s debut album. Before that, there are some anniversaries features that I want to include. We get a bit of backstory into the album. Before getting to some anniversary features, when going through Garbage’s discography for SPIN in 2012, this is what Shirley Manson noted about their 1995 debut: “I can remember Butch slicing and splicing like a crazy man with bits of tape hanging off every surface of the studio. We had no idea the record was going to become this cultural zeitgeist. We put “Vow” out on a little CD sampler magazine, and before we knew it, we were getting played on the radio from Sydney to Seattle and everywhere in between. It was a such a headfuck. In a good way”.

I will get to a twentieth anniversary feature soon. Before that, in 2020, Albumism marked twenty-five years of Garbage. Even though the debut album is seen as a classic, some do not rate it as highly as they should. To me, it is one of the most significant debut albums of the 1990s:

“This phenomenon in life is also often mirrored in artistic collaboration and the genesis of Garbage is evidence thereof. Holed up in his Madison, Wisconsin headquartered Smart Studios, a few years removed from his notable production triumphs with Nirvana’s generation-defining Nevermind (1991), Sonic Youth’s Dirty (1992), and the Smashing Pumpkins’ debut Gish (1991) and smash follow-up Siamese Dream (1993), Butch Vig embarked upon a new chapter of his career by forming Garbage with longtime cohorts and fellow sonic experimentalists Duke Erikson and Steve Marker.

Soon thereafter, the trio recognized that the missing piece to giving the group a formal go was the absence of a commanding lead presence—preferably a woman—with the confidence, charisma and vocal chops to distinguish the band from the rest of the alt-rock landscape.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in the great city of Edinburgh, a Scottish songstress named Shirley Manson was also in the midst of a fresh career phase with her new band Angelfish, which morphed out of her previous outfit Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. In early 1994, the buzz behind the group was beginning to build and the video for “Suffocate Me”—the lead single from their self-titled debut LP—was added to the rotation of MTV’s 120 Minutes. (Side note of unabashed nostalgia: Man, I miss that program. But I digress.)

Marker just happened to be viewing the program one evening when the video played, and his interest was piqued. Marker, Erikson and Vig spared precious little time in setting up an introduction with Manson and despite an infamously botched initial audition—at least according to Manson herself—the gentlemen had found their coveted lead.

When Garbage’s inaugural single “Vow” debuted at the modest #39 slot on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart in June 1995, roughly a year after the threesome fortuitously became a quartet, it did so within the predominantly male-dominated airplay paradigm of the mid-1990s. A cursory glance at the artists who secured the Modern Rock chart’s top spot in 1995 reveals just one woman among their ranks: Alanis Morissette, who peaked at #1 twice that year with “You Oughtta Know” and “Hand In My Pocket” from her breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill. Otherwise, alt-boy bands including Bush, Green Day, Live and Silverchair reigned supreme.

Although Garbage wouldn’t capture the #1 spot until the first week of 1997 with “#1 Crush” (remixed for the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, but originally released in 1995 as the B-side to “Vow”), from its inception, the Manson-fronted band was doing its part to provide a welcome, er, alternative to at least some of the testosterone overload that defined the alternative rock scene at the decade’s midway point.

But beyond their charismatic firebrand of a frontwoman, the quartet differentiated themselves in another key way: their sound. With arguably Nine Inch Nails as the other analogue at the time with respect to their genre-bending disposition and proclivity toward dense and dark textures, Garbage melded an abundance of riffs, synths, samples, and looped percussion for a brooding yet melodic mélange.

“I think because of my success with Nirvana and the Pumpkins, everyone expected a grunge album,” Vig confided during a 2005 Vanyaland interview. “And Garbage sounded different, just in the way we approached using different genres and blending them together—electronica, hip-hop beats, film atmospherics, pop melodies and fuzz guitars and whatever—and then a lot of other bands started to copy that approach. I’ve definitely heard bands Garbage influenced, and that’s totally cool with me. We take that as a compliment.”

Preceding the release of the band’s eponymous debut album by nearly five months when it emerged in March 1995, the aforementioned “Vow” served as the band’s official introduction and captured the group’s sonic muscle replete with multiple textures and shapeshifts that envisaged more of the same to come via the full-length. Poised and coolly defiant, a vengeful Manson declares war on her lover-turned-adversary, vowing, “I came to shut you up / I came to drag you down / I came around to tear your little world apart / And break your soul apart.” No empty threat, Manson makes sure that there’s no doubt in listeners’ minds that she means business.

Four additional singles subsequently saw the light of day, including the trip-hop-esque “Queer,”  a universal anthem for embracing eccentricity in its various forms, which continued Garbage’s steady momentum at radio, building upon the solid airplay figures for “Vow.” It’s also notable for featuring the percussion prowess of the late Clyde Stubblefield, a fellow Madison, WI resident at the time and the “funky drummer” extraordinaire who played a vital role in James Brown’s musical legacy and, by extension, countless hip-hop samples.

The propulsive “Only Happy When It Rains” unfurls as a sardonic, self-deprecating nod to the angst-ridden, misery-loves-company credo—or at least the semblance thereof—that largely defined alternative rock during the 90s’ first half. The song took off at radio in the early weeks of 2016 and the accompanying video quickly became a fixture on MTV (remember when the network actually played videos?), cementing the single as the group’s breakthrough moment.

Nearly one year after Garbage’s arrival, “Stupid Girl”—a damn near perfect pop-rock confection—became the crowning success of their debut album, peaking at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, garnering a pair of GRAMMY Award nominations, and a coveted MTV Video Music Award nod.

“I have always defined myself as a feminist,” Manson reflected in revisiting “Stupid Girl” during a 2015 Rolling Stone interview. “I have never rejected that label. I’ve always welcomed it and believed in it. But I also think you have to be careful that you don’t get entrenched in clichés. I don’t think that just because you’re a feminist, that gives women carte blanche to do whatever they want and behave which way they wish. I felt strongly that when someone acts like an asshole that you should challenge that. So I loved the idea of a woman calling out another woman. I felt like it was a fresh perspective.”

Since Garbage arrived a quarter-century ago, the group has cultivated a career worthy of reverence and wholly devoid of the superficial trappings of pop-rock stardom, owing to their unbridled discipline and dynamism, both in the studio and on stage. Three years later in the spring of 1998, they unleashed an even broader critical and commercial triumph with their sophomore, GRAMMY Album of the Year shortlisted set Version 2.0 and they’ve delivered four sterling albums in the two decades since. With rumors swirling that their seventh studio project—the successor to 2016’s Strange Little Birds—is on the near horizon, there’s no better time to relive where it all began by dropping the needle anew on their enduringly wonderful debut”.

Before I get to a review from Rolling Stone, I think I will actually come to an interview from The Independent from 2020. Celebrating twenty-five years of Garbage’s debut album, Shirley Manson and Butch Vig shared their recollections and insights:

“With Garbage, she was thrust into the limelight and not entirely comfortable with her newfound position as rock poster-woman. She didn’t feel she deserved the attention. “I’ve suffered imposter syndrome my whole life,” says Manson now. “I had been in Goodbye Mr Mackenzie for 10 years before I joined Garbage. I was quite happy in the background. People think of me now as some sort of ambitious go-getter. That’s not who I was.”

Suddenly she was halfway across the world, living out of a hotel in Vig’s hometown of Madison and trusting her artistic future to three men she barely knew and a good decade older. And Vig was risking a great deal, too. Vig’s Smart Studio in Wisconsin had become an epicentre of the American alternative scene since he opened it in 1983. It was at Smart that Nirvana recorded “Polly” – with Vig in the production booth – and where Smashing Pumpkins laid down their 1991 debut, Gish.

When Vig started Garbage, several music industry friends took him aside and told him he was crazy, that the band was doomed to fail and then his reputation as a super-producer would go down in flames. But Vig was convinced that his new path was the right one.

“After the success of Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins I had a lot of offers to move to Los Angeles or New York or London to set up a studio,” he shrugs. “All these high-powered managers were calling: ‘You’re going to work with the Rolling Stones, you’re going to work with Pearl Jam.’ I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t take on a manager. I stayed in Madison. I liked being off the beaten track. I felt it kept me grounded.”

Garbage hit stores in August 1995 and was a sensation. The commercial crescendo came with “Stupid Girl”, built on a sample of The Clash’s “Train In Vain”, which became a ubiquitous hit in the UK in the summer of 1996. And yet, even as the confetti rained down, Manson felt ever more adrift. “I didn’t let myself enjoy it for numerous reasons,” she says.

“I felt pretty worthless as a human being. I had a lot of guilt. I came from a music scene [in Edinburgh] that was rife with unbelievable talent. And here I was on Top of the Pops. Who was I to stand front of the stage on Top of the Pops, this iconic TV show? I didn’t have half the talent of so many of my peers at home. I was embarrassed.”

And then came the misogyny. “It’s funny,” she begins. “On the one hand, [Garbage] was one of the most exciting things that ever happened to me. But also, it was the most lonely, most cruel. I endured so much criticism. When I look at the headlines from magazines, I am shocked at the venom and the disrespect that I was under and how much worshipping there was of my male colleagues.”

Rolling Stone described Manson as a “pop-star-as-one-night-stand”; Entertainment Weekly praised her “menacing sexuality”. This sort of language was rife in the music press of the time. “They asked if I was a prostitute,” remembers Manson. “They asked me all kinds of things about my body, my sexual preferences, my face, how my lips looked good. It was truly, truly unbelievable. Now I look back and think, ‘Wow… I must have really been threatening to these boys.’ And they were young boys, a lot of the journalists writing for these papers I loved.”

By that point, Manson and her bandmates were unstoppable. Garbage went on to shift a blockbusting 4 million copies worldwide and, in 1997, receive three Grammy nominations (one for best newcomer and two for “Stupid Girl”). Manson clearly found the experience stressful, but she is proud of what the group achieved and its legacy, of proving pop and heavy rock could co-exist in beautiful harmony.

“If there was more than one of me in the band, it would have been a disaster,” she says. “If they hadn’t had me, it would have been a disaster. I didn’t think anybody in their right mind would listen to that first record. Shows you what I know”.

I am going to end with one of the many positive reviews for Garbage. Even if some feel the album has not aged well and it was a bit of a mis-mash of Grunge, Alternative Rock and commercial Pop, there is no denying that artists of today have been inspired by Garbage. It is an album that I feel stands up and has very few weak moments. It is a brilliant work that deserves more respect and love ahead of its thirtieth anniversary. This is what Rolling Stone offered in their review:

“Apprenticing in cheap and fast sessions during the '80s in Madison, Wis., at his Smart Studios, producer Butch Vig helped give structure and lucidity to the music of young bands such as Killdozer, Tad and Urge Overkill. Then he rewrote the pop book on distortion with Nirvana's epochal Nevermind. Quickly he became current rock's best shaper, a quietly logical guy who could navigate the complicated corners of, say, Sonic Youth and still remember the big beat, chewy tunes and adolescent aggression that make pop fly. Now, Vig has formed Garbage with Shirley Manson of the indifferent Angelfish and his longtime associates Steve Marker (Smart's co-owner) and Duke Erikson. Together, this unshy Scottish female singer and guitarist and these three ingenious Midwesterners – who provide percussion, guitars, samples, bass and keyboards – compose a studio band that makes up its own drama and kicks as it goes along.

Garbage screw around with dance pulses and guitar tones, pop concision and 12-inch madness, highly flown confessions and teenage thrills. Their basic attack comes from a known yet infrequently considered road: the rock remix. In the studio-driven world of hip-hop and its millions of track versions, this aspect of Garbage would seem unremarkable. But in rock, where the standard of live performance rules, remixes have been dicier affairs. Still, a few bands explore them, developing parallel sonic landscapes often denser and knottier than dance music's or hip-hop's. Vig, Marker and Erikson have themselves reconfigured sonics for U2, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, House of Pain and others, so this unpredictable remix sensibility arrives intact in Garbage. The rest of the shock comes from Manson, who hardly lounges around in these soundscapes like a pop singer content with her settings. This creates a jumpy, unsettled blur of scrupulously clear music and jarring mixed messages.

Immediately, as the mangy riffs of "Supervixen" begin to churn through space, Garbage drags you someplace else. As Manson's violet throatiness offers to create "a whole new religion," beats chatter, and delicate acoustic guitar notes and those opening riffs float in and out of the song's gently pounding rhythmic foundations. At times the main riff pauses to halt the music altogether. From there, Garbage ease into "Queer," a more roundly shaped tune orchestrated with this same love of junk and command of finesse. Acting as a sensual guide, Manson promises to "dirty up your mind," forecasting a black-and-white path through the strange and the lame as the music makes stringy transitions in ironic technicolor. On the next song, "Only Happy When It Rains," she and Garbage rock righteously as though Manson is running for the presidency of the Robert Smith Fan Club. Just as you think she has won by a landslide, the band swings in with rhythms and riffs whose complex demeanor recolor the whole song.

"As Heaven Is Wide" rides cool grooves high in focus and fiber, locomoting toward unknown dance-floor destinations. "Not My Idea," another querulous high-speed track, patiently explains its depressed circumstances, then bangs its silverware on the plate, insisting that "this is not my idea of a good time." Warm Euro-style balladry shows up with "A Stroke of Luck," but Manson shivers. "Here comes the cold again," she sings with regret. On "Vow," the current single, she's throwing fits again, threatening to tear somebody's world apart to the tune of industrialized guitar noise.

Near the end of Garbage, Manson affects a kind of peace with her own ravings. On "Stupid Girl" she marches along to a funky bass, indicting someone – herself? – for not believing in fear, pain or people she can't control. "All you had," she sings, seething, "you wasted." After another tuneful near-metal tantrum called "Dog New Tricks," she and Garbage crest on "My Lover's Box." On this great piece, arranged with those mangy riffs but reframed with syncopations from the Spinners and outbreaks from Bad Brains, Manson fears she'll never get to heaven and pleads, "Send me an angel to love." The album ends on a lovely two-song coda comprising "Fix Me Now," a wracked appeal for togetherness, and the lush "Milk," a ballad in which Manson and Garbage go grunge torch, and she explains her previous moments of cruelty in terms of having been "lost." Oh, was that it? Garbage teems with such disjunctions of tragedy and junk. Like so much fun and important rock & roll, it's the product of brilliant misunderstandings”.

On 15th August, we will remember Garbage at thirty. The sensational debut of a band who followed it up with another defining album of the '90s, Version 2.0 (1998), they are arguably entering a new peak in their career. They put out their latest album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, in May. A wonderful band I have always admired, I wanted to show love for their mighty debut album…

THIRTY years after its release.

FEATURE: Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love at Forty: One: Inside John Carder Bush’s Amazing and Timeless Cover

FEATURE:

 

Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love at Forty

One: Inside John Carder Bush’s Amazing and Timeless Cover

__________

EVEN if I have…

ALL PHOTOS: John Carder Bush

published some recent features that look at Kate Bush in 1985 or are based around Hounds of Love, this is the first of a twenty-feature run specifically marking forty years of the genius album. It turns forty on 16th September. I am spending time focusing on each of the tracks. I will also publish a feature about its legacy. One around Kate Bush as a producer. In fact, I am spotlighting eleven of the tracks with a feature each. As Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) turns forty in August, I will run two features about the single. This feature is the first one of the run. That leaves four other features that I will reveal as we go through the series. I wanted to start out with the front cover. Maybe shorter than other features, it is important. It is the first thing you see when you pick up the album. Preferably on vinyl. You can get a copy here. I did write about the cover back in 2021. A shot taken by her brother, John Carder Bush, he photographed all of her album covers from 1982’s The Dreaming up to and including 1993’s The Red Shoes. I think most people would agree that Hounds of Love is his best album cover. In terms of the composition and colours. The look on Kate Bush’s face. The fact that she is lying with her Weimaraner dogs, Bonnie and Clyde. I am going to come to Leah Kardos’s 33 1/3 book about Hounds of Love that was published this year and what she writes about the cover. Before coming to Leah Kardos’s words and rounding off with my thoughts about the cover, I will come to words from John Carder Bush about his experience of shooting the cover. Writing in the newsletter for the Kate Bush Club in a section named ‘3. Some of the Photographs’, you can sense and feel how much of a game of patience it was getting that stunning cover shot:

“The shot of Kate Bush reclining on the Hounds of Love album cover was taken by her brother, John Carder Bush, who included plenty of funny outtakes from the photo session. The ‘hounds of love’ on the album cover were her own two dogs, Bonnie and Clyde, and it took all day to get them to settle down. When the final picture was taken, one of the pooches actually fell asleep on her. On the album sleeve notes Kate gives “A big woof to Bonnie & Clyde.”

Here’s the amazing story behind the Hounds of Love album cover shoot, as told by John Carder Bush:

“There had been quite a few ideas for this cover that we tried out in rough, and then abandoned. The feel of the photo was in the air around the music that was being finalized: color and emotional pace became clear first.

“Elaborate environments, such as forests, mountains, palaces, etc.––places for the Hounds to run that would suit their style––were rejected as too busy. The cover had to have a strong, full image of Kate, as it was the first for three years, and landscapes, however beautiful, tend to dwarf people. It’s fine to use the big outdoors for bands because you can spread them all over it, but for a beautiful solo lady it doesn’t work. So we decided on a close-up of Kate and the dogs, and a made-up background.

“There was a feeling for daylight rather than studio, so we went round and discussed it with the dogs. While Kate was chatting to them in their back garden, I snapped away. But when we looked at the processed results, daylight was too cold, there wasn’t enough diffusion of the shades of color and the environment. It just didn’t feel right. I had been working on a series of “body poems” in which I was writing my poems on people and then photographing them, and it seemed like a good idea, but when we tried it, apart from Kate looking like the tattooed lady from a circus, there was much too much activity in the small frame, and the eye just wandered around too much. But the dogs were wonderful, and did everything they were asked too.

“It was becoming clearer. We had to do it in the studio, without the writing, and with the lights set in a delicate, pastel way. So I constructed a rough, made sure all the cables were well pinned down and anything likely to be knocked over out of the way, and then phoned up the dogs and asked them over for another tryout.

“We let them explore for an hour or so, and then Kate settled down on the floor for an overhead shot.

“An hour later we had managed to persuade them to lie down next to Kate. Not surprising that they took so long, as they are not trained dogs, and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. I had a minute to hoover up as much as I could before they were off again, tending to use Kate as a launching ramp for their leaps and cavorting.

“After they had left, we seriously considered trying feline friends, but Cats of Love wasn’t quite the same at all. But on looking at the shots we had, there was potential, and we decided we would persevere. And the best thing seemed to be to take the studio to the dogs, have another rehearsal and, if that was a shambles, think again. Also another rehearsal would mean I could try out more variations in the lighting and the set. So a week later I took my studio to the dogs and constructed a scaffolding for the overhead shot; a bed of lilac net and silks for Kate; and around her, a tent of lilac material to reflect and diffuse. And when I looked through the lens at the little room, it looked like an illustration from Dulac’s Arabian Nights.

“The Hounds had been taken out for a long run and then fed, because we thought that if they felt dozy long enough they would want somewhere to lie down and sleep it off. Kate did her hair in an approximation of how it would look in the final shot, and then settled down in the tent. Up came the lights, and in came the dogs––noses first––and after a few minutes of looking around, yawned and went to sleep next to her. I had all the time I wanted to explore the possibilities.

“When the film was processed, it was very exciting to see how the various elements were coming together, and how close we were getting to the album cover that existed inside our heads. There were a lot of small points to iron out, but they presented no problem, and I looked forward to the big day.

“When it came round, Kate asked Clayton Howard, the make-up artist, and Anthony Yacomine, the hair artist, to do their magic, so for three hours of painstaking work they added the colors and shapes that were necessary for the right atmosphere. I reconstructed the scaffolding and rebuilt the set, and after lunch we were ready to go. Kate lay down in the tent, and Howard and Anthony arranged the final touches of nuance. The materials were placed in just the right places, and I climbed up into the scaffolding. When I looked through the lens, it was fairyland underneath me.

“The dogs, meanwhile, had been waiting in the wings, supposedly exhausted and dying for somewhere to put their heads down. Anthony and Clayton withdrew in a cloud of hairspray and eye-glitter, so that the dogs wouldn’t be distracted by strangers, and the word was given to let them in.

“Within seconds, Kate’s delicate arrangements were in tatters and a paw in the mouth didn’t help make-up. One dog would settle down and start snoring while the other one turned her back on us all by the door and wouldn't budge. As soon as she had been persuaded to stop being a prima donna and come alongside Kate, the other one smelled Anthony and Clayton, and was off to meet them. We tried for half an hour before we realized we were wasting our time, so while Kate was being repaired, I went outside with the Hounds and had a serious talk with them.

“I could see their point of view, but it didn’t help in getting this expensive, time-consuming session off the ground. While they hurtled off to chase non-existent cats that I suggested were lurking at the end of the garden in the hope of tiring them out even more, I received the signal that Kate was ready to go again. Apparently seeing reason, the dogs returned, and we signed the deal with some chocolate digestives: if they behaved themselves and gave me the photo I wanted, there was a McDonald’s with milk shake and apple pie in it for each of them.

“We went back in, but it was the same thing. Looning and sulking. Then suddenly they lay down next to Kate, and we were away. Half an hour later I had enough photos, and could have gone on to take more, but everyone was becoming too sleepy in the heat from the lights and the softness of the set, so it seemed pointless.

“Choosing the final photo, deciding how best to present it on the cover and what sort of typeface to use for titles is yet another story”.

Starting on page fifty-one of her Hounds of Love 33 1/3 book Leah Karos dissects and discusses the cover. Considering the alternative shots, the challenge of getting too energetic and restless dogs to settle and pulling it all together, it must have been the most challenging cover shoot of Kate Bush’s career! However, it was worth the effort! Bush is, on the cover “bathed in amethyst organza”. Also, “Her hair is fanned out as though she is floating on water while the light ripples on the fabric underneath her in swirling, dreamy waves”. Kardos notes how Bush’s expression is “sensual, slightly sleepy, elegantly guarded. The dogs on either side recall the image of Hecate – the Greek goddess of the threshold realms, the places where crossroads meet – with her hounds”. The choice of purple is interesting. In terms of the mix of red and blue. Blood and water maybe? In terms of what purple represents tonally and sonically, it is more lush and mysterious than previous albums. Kardos writes how, “According to the Maitreya School of Healing, co-founded by Bush’s friend, the late healer Lily Cornford (the addressee of the song named after her on Bush’s 1993 album The Red Shoes), this colour (‘wisteria amethyst’) promotes strength, dignity, spiritual growth and courage”. It is clear that the cover indicates what is to come: “the ideas and colours of the album inside are forecast: water, sky, storms, stars, the dream, world, the liminal place between life and something else, chill and warmth; power and restraint. Never has Bush appeared so soft and so strong”.

In terms of the all-time best album covers, there are few as striking as Hounds of Love. They say a picture paints a thousand words. There are almost as many as that you can apply to John Carder Bush’s photo! I wonder how people felt in 1985, in September, when they picked up their copy of Hounds of Love. Seeing that gorgeous and slightly mysterious photo. Bonnie and Clyde in the starring roles as the Hounds of Love themselves! The colour scheme and the streak of purple in Kate Bush’s hair. The look on her face: part alluring and sensual and also a little fearful and sad in a way. When it turns forty on 16th September, I wonder if people will talk about the album cover. As important as anything on the album, this John Carder Bush-shot image will go down as one of the great album front covers! I have always admired it and feel that it tells you so much about the album. A high watermark of music photography, it is very different to his photo for The Dreaming and The Sensual World. In terms of what the images say and how they connect with the albums. In future Hounds of Love at Forty features, I am going to discuss Kate Bush as a producer, the legacy of the album, how it was received at the time and the promotion Kate Bush undertook. I will, as mentioned, explore each song and spend some extra time with Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), The Ninth Wave – the album conceptual suite on the second side – and I also might mention the artists today who have definitely been influenced by Hounds of Love. You can tell from that stunning and utterly entrancing cover photo that the music within is of…

THE highest order.

FEATURE: Mercury Prize Predictions: Songs from Albums That Could Appear on This Year’s Shortlist

FEATURE:

 

 

Mercury Prize Predictions

IN THIS PHOTO: Loyle Carner released hopefully ! on 20th June

Songs from Albums That Could Appear on This Year’s Shortlist

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IT is not…

IN THIS PHOTO: English Teacher picked up last year’s Mercury Prize for This Could Be Texas/PHOTO CREDIT: John Marshall/JM Enternational

too long now until this year’s shortlist for the Mercury Prize is announced. On 25th July, 2024, the twelve contenders were named. In an especially strong year, it was English Teacher’s This Could Be Texas that won the prize. Beating off contenders such as Charli xcx, CMAT, The Last Dinner Party and Ghetts, it was a popular choice. The award finally being given to a band who did not hail from London. Originally, anyway. With the Mercury Prize doggedly and predictably handing out the award to London artists every year, it was in danger of excluding artists from other parts of the U.K. and Ireland. This year will see some London-based artists in connection. However, there is no telling which twelve albums will make the shortlist. I do like to make predictions. This year’s shortlist is announced on Wednesday, 10th September. The 2025 Award Show will be held on Thursday, 16th October at the Utilita Arena, Newcastle. We have a little while to wait. However, as we are just over a couple of months away from the shortlist announcement, I wanted to make my prediction. The twelve albums released between Saturday, 13th July, 2024 and Friday, 29th August, 2025 will go up against each other In October. I will write a feature about the shortlisted albums when they are announced. Right now, as so many great albums from British and Irish artists have been released since last July, it is a good moment to reflect and combine those that are in with a shout of Mercury Prize shortlisting. You might agree with the selection of have those you would include instead. I have selected a song from each of the twelve albums. Hare are artists I feel will be in the running when the Mercury Prize…

SHORTLIST is announced.

FEATURE: Another Example of Kate Bush’s Generosity: M3GAN 2.0 and This Woman’s Work

FEATURE:

 

 

Another Example of Kate Bush’s Generosity

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Cummins

M3GAN 2.0 and This Woman’s Work

__________

EVEN though…

I have written about Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work and how it is perhaps overused in film, the latest example does at least come with a nice addition. The song weas originally used in a film. The 1988 comedy, She’s Having a Baby. It was not until the following year that it appeared on Kate Bush’s The Sensual World. It is a track that has been used widely used. A recent inclusion in the Jennifer Lopez-fronted film, The Mother. Now, it appears in M3GAN 2.0. One of the most anticipated sequels in recent years, it is not a surprise that this classic Kate Bush track features once more. Kate Bush News shared the details:

“The sequel to the hit 2023 sci-fi/horror film M3GAN has been released in cinemas worldwide. M3GAN 2.0 continues the story of an artificially intelligent doll who develops self-awareness and becomes hostile toward anyone who comes between her and her human companion. The first film grossed over $181 million worldwide against a budget of $12 million and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its campy blend of horror and humor.

A pivotal moment in M3GAN 2.0 involves Kate’s classic song This Woman’s Work. According to writer-director Gerard Johnstone, a fan of Kate’s, he had designs on using the song for a while. Speaking to Forbes.com, he says “It was in the script, but in an earlier draft, it was another song because the situation was different and called for a different song. I wanted M3gan to sing This Woman’s Work over the titles of the first film, but we didn’t have enough time to seek out the rights. That was a fun idea I had that I didn’t get to do anything with. Once I realized the context of the scene in the sequel had changed and it was about motherhood, it felt like the most natural song choice.”

Johnstone continues, “I’m a massive fan of Kate Bush, and in all honesty, we shot that scene not knowing if we would get the rights; we just had to hope and pray that we did. It took a little bit of convincing, and she had to see the scene to approve it, but she did. Kate didn’t take any money for it either. We gave her all we could afford, and she gave it to charity. That made me an even bigger fan.”

USA Today have talked about the scene in question: “It wouldn’t be a “M3GAN” movie without a killer needle drop. M3GAN singing Titanium by David Guetta and Sia in the first film, for example. But none can compare to the demented brilliance of a pivotal new sequel scene, in which M3GAN launches into “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush. The jarringly hilarious performance comes after a rare earnest conversation between M3GAN and Cady’s roboticist aunt, Gemma (Allison Williams), who worries about her shortcomings as a parent to her young niece. M3GAN uses the tranquil pop ballad to ostensibly console her, in her own disconcerting way”.

It is always amazing when a Kate Bush song is played and used on the screen. It means more people connect with the track. The downsides are they tend to be the same track. The same ones overused. Deeper cuts never making their way into T.V. or film. It is not an original choice going for This Woman’s Work. It is a little obvious but, if the choice was that or no Kate Bush track, then it is a good option. However, it is not the studio album version used. Rather the song being sung by the eponymous anti-heroine. It is a bit of comedic take I guess. I do hope that filmmakers push beyond the go-to of a song from Hounds of Love or This Woman’s Work. It is a little stale now. However, every bit of Kate Bush exposure if a positive thing! It shows how there is this breadth of love and respect for her work. How it can be used across so many genres. Such adaptable music that is used in pivotal moments. Perhaps unsurprising that her music more and more is used for tense or dramatic scenes. Something a little darker, more stirring. Or at least films and T.V. shows that have a darker tone to them. That said, her music has been used in comedies and, through the years, has really resonated. This will continue for years to come. The most striking thing about the M3GAN 2.0/This Woman’s Work collaboration is that Kate Bush was not interested in the money. So many news articles come out that ask what she is worth and how much she has earned. It always seems insulting and lurid. Yes, Bush has made a lot of money and is not short of a penny or two! However, she is someone who gives a lot to charity and is hugely generous. This is the latest case. Rather than asking for a lot of money to have her song used, instead, the money is going to charity. It is a great gesture from her! Not to say that this will be the case with every request she gets. However, it is clear that she is more interesting in seeing her work being used in an effective and respectful way. That it elevated a scene and makes an impact. That seems to be the case with M3GAN 2.0.

I do hope that filmmakers look deeper into Kate Bush’s catalogue. This Woman’s Work does seem a bit too overdone now. It is a shame. However, as I said, it is valuable use of her music. That is not to be sniffed at! However, there is this array of wonderful songs that would be incredible on the screen. It was a bit of unexpected news with M3GAN 2.0, as I did not know Kate Bush’s 1989 single would be used. Nearly thirty-six years after it was released (not including it featuring in She’s Having a Baby), this emotional song is still very relevant and popular. I wonder how many requests Kate Bush gets to use her music. No doubt other filmmakers have approached in the past year or two. Maybe we will see another one of her songs on a T.V. show or film before the end of this year. We are of course all anticipating a new Kate Bush album. I feel the attention she gets from filmmakers shows how loved her music is. That will definitely spur her to create something new I feel. The rest of this year is going to see anniversaries being marked (including Hounds of Love’s fortieth on 16th September). I do hold hope that we will see a deeper cut or a single that has not been used features in a film or a T.V. show. Maybe a long-overdue inclusion of Wuthering Heights? Maybe something different? However, the most revealing and pleasing aspect from the M3GAN 2.0 inclusion of This Woman’s Work is to see the generosity of Kate Bush. Someone who is always putting others first. Not too many artists are as altruistic and charity-minded as her. That is to be applauded! At a time when she could cash in and make herself more wealthy accepting so many offers to use her music, she has this sense of discretion and quality control. Not being driven by money. That alone is…

WORTHY of huge credit.

FEATURE: Beneath the Sleeve: Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You

FEATURE:

 

 

Beneath the Sleeve

Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You

__________

AN album…

IN THIS PHOTO: Aretha Franklin in 1967

that I would advise everyone to own, Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You sounds perfect on vinyl. Released on 10th March, 1967, after nine unsuccessful Jazz standard albums, this album marked a commercial breakthrough for Franklin. Featuring tracks such as I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You), Respect and Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, it is one of the greatest albums ever. It was an album of independence and declaration from Aretha Franklin. Rolling Stone placed the album at thirteen in their list of the five-hundred best albums in 2023. I am going to go inside I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You for this feature. An album that needs to be in everyone’s collection. Far Out Magazine took us inside the making of this classic:

“By the mid-1960s, Franklin was beginning to find her footing. Emphasising her gospel roots, Franklin began to spearhead the nascent genre of soul, along with performers like James Brown and Otis Redding. But Columbia wasn’t evolving with her, and after nine albums with the label, Franklin opted to seek out a label that would work better for her more hard-edged sound. She decided to jump to the same label that had previously housed genre forerunners like Ray Charles and LaVern Baker, Atlantic Records.

The first order of business was to shed Franklin of the jazz standards of her past. Instead of the lighter orchestral pop that had been part of her previous sound, Franklin carefully chose her covers that allowed her a greater amount of personality and control. When it came to picking songs from other songwriters, Franklin similarly chose more pointed material. Although it wasn’t explicit, Franklin was crafting one of the first feminism-centred albums in pop music with I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You.

It all starts with the album’s first track, Franklin’s take on the Otis Redding number ‘Respect’. Rather than embodying a figure who is fine with a philandering partner, Franklin flips the song on its head and demands to be treated as the only one in her man’s life. Franklin is in complete control, steadfast in her knowledge that she is the end-all, be-all that can be found in this particular union. Whether it was from transferring to a new label or the growing independence she felt from her husband, songwriter, and manager Ted White, Franklin exploded into an entirely new level of confidence on ‘Respect’.

Backing her up is the F.A.M.E. Studios Rhythm Section, later known as both the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and The Swampers. Although tracking originally began at F.A.M.E. Studios in Alabama, an altercation between White and studio owner Rick Hall resulted in production halting after only the album’s title track was recorded. Franklin decided that she still needed the white boys from Alabama to bring her newly emancipated sound to life, so she flew them out to New York, where sessions resumed at Atlantic’s in-house recording studio.

The secret to I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You lies in two more prominent features that had yet to be explored on Franklin’s previous albums: Franklin’s own signature piano playing and her insistence on using her sister Carolyn and Erma as her backing vocalists. Franklin played piano rhythmically and aggressively, a style that was followed by The Swampers behind her. Meanwhile, her hooks were accentuated by the preternatural blend that the Franklin sisters had.

The lesser songs on I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You are the most fascinating to revisit 55 years later. ‘Soul Serenade’ is a nod back to the jazz origins of Franklin’s style while adding a noticeable groove that had been missing up to that point. Drummers Gene Chrisman and Roger Hawkins developed a pocket that had never appeared on Franklin’s previous records, and it allowed her to dig into a song’s arrangement in more primal ways, belting vocals straight from the piano as she emanates heartbreak, love, frustration, and self-assuredness.

‘Don’t Let Me Lose This Train’ would be a jazz-lounge track if not for Franklin and her sisters’ soulful vocals. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You didn’t start as a major departure for Franklin from the jazz styles of her past, but thanks to the new band and new surroundings that she found herself in, soul began to replace jazz in a natural progression as Franklin became more comfortable finding her brassy voice. It would be her greatest asset, and it only took a decade to find it.

For the first time on her recordings, Franklin found herself at the forefront of the recording process. In previous works, Franklin had to contend with lush orchestrations, dense arrangements, and inflexible producers who believed they knew what was best to mould Franklin into a success. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is one of the first feminist albums not just because of the words Franklin is singing, but because of the autonomy that she now had over her own music.

Tellingly, Franklin never loses the thread when she jumps from topic to topic. She can take on both ends of Sam Cooke’s discography, from his breezy party-rock track ‘Good Times’ to his impassioned call for racial equality ‘A Change is Gonna Come’, without contradicting herself. Instead, she embodies all sides of life, including the good and the bad in equal measure. Love is a difficult proposition on the album, as it was for Franklin in her real life, but it was never straightforward or twee like it was on Franklin’s previous records.

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You was more than just a change of pace for Aretha Franklin. It was an announcement that everything had changed, from her style to her sound to her image to her attitude. It was a seismic declaration of independence and self-actualisation, complete within 11 songs that had a new groove and rhythm that was leaps and bounds beyond anything that Franklin had done before. With Atlantic, she had a course set for the future that would allow her to indulge in soul and gospel, the synthesis of which would become her signature sound. But more importantly, she had found the sound within herself, a sound that was always there but was just waiting to find the right vehicle to come out. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You remains a treat for the ears, the brain, and the soul to this day, completely untouched by more than five decades of musical change. Few records are as timeless and consistently relevant, and that’s the way it will stay for the next five decades to come”.

CLASH illuminated a work of genius for this feature. They note how every note and thought on the album explodes with soulfulness. It is one of the deepest and most affecting albums ever. One that comes from Aretha Franklin’s heart. Almost sixty years after its release, it sound utterly unsurpassed and jaw-dropping:

“Despite only making it to number two in the charts and with total album sales of only 500,000 at the time, it put Aretha up there with the daddies of soul – Otis, Ray Charles, Al Green, Marvin Gaye. It was the album that helped Aretha find her voice and become a voice for thousands of other women. ‘Respect’, recorded on Valentine’s Day and opening the album with its uplifting and exciting piano introduction, became an anthem for women’s and racial rights, while the rest of the album offered strength, passion and guidance to others. Two days after its recording, Aretha Franklin Day was declared in Detroit.

No one can sing the blues like Aretha. Ray Charles’ ‘Drown In My Own Tears’, previously recorded by Dinah Washington, tugged so hard at the heartstrings, you could almost hear them snap. It is followed by some renditions of her contemporaries’ finest song writing, like Sam Cooke’s ‘Good Times’ and the political ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’. Her versions stand side by side with the originals, with some being more recognisable with the Aretha makeover.

Aretha also penned some of the classics herself, with the help of her then husband and manager Ted White or younger sister Carolyn Franklin, such as ‘Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream’, ‘Save Me’ and the tender ‘Baby, Baby, Baby’. She made new songs by some of the world’s greatest musicians and writers, such as ‘Soul Serenade’ by Luther Dixon and Curtis Ousley, the real name of sax god King Curtis, her own. ‘Dr Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)’, with its rolling Hammond and powerful bluesy brass, was also written by the Franklin/White collaboration and is seen as one of the best original numbers on the album, but it is one of a collection that most soul singers could only dream of. Among the many single hits there was also the album’s title track, which reached number nine in the billboard chat, and ‘Do Right Man – Do Right Woman’.

During the recordings at the Florence Alabama Music Emporium in Muscle Shoals, a drunken brawl meant sessions at the famous studios had to be put on hold. The album almost wasn’t finished, until Aretha and all the Muscle Shoals musicians reconvened in New York to complete the project. ‘I Never Loved a Man…’ is an album where Aretha – a young, black woman – is in control. Aretha played piano and directed the band, which helped create the strong, rich and sublime with its horn and rhythm sections. With the great King Curtis on tenor sax and her little sister on backing vocals, the whole package is one to be proud of and sets the scene for Aretha’s many successes in the years to come.

Despite releasing such greats as ‘Say A Little Prayer’ the following year, Aretha didn’t score another number one in the US until 1987 with ‘I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)’, with George Michael”.

I am going to end with some words from Rolling Stone. When ranking the best five-hundred albums of all time, they placed Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You at thirteen. For anyone who has not heard the album, then go and check it out. You really do need to own it on vinyl:

“The Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin had recorded 9 albums for Columbia Records within the space of 6 years. She struggled to find success on those records and so when her contract expired, Jerry Wexler convinced her to move over to Atlantic Records. Wexler wanted to use Franklin’s Gospel background to capitalise on the rising popularity of Soul Music. Franklin headed to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record with the famous house band there. After recording the title track for this record on day one, her husband had an altercation with the studio manager, forcing her to move sessions to NYC. The song was released as a single ahead of the albumand went straight to #1 on the RnB chart, as well as #9 on the mainstream chart.

But it was the second single that would launch Franklin to stardom. Recorded on Valentine’s Day 1967, Franklin took a song that has been a moderate hit for its composer, Otis Redding, flipped the gender in the lyrics and in turn created arguably the greatest feminist and Civil Rights anthems of all-time. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T/Find out what it means to me.” The song would become her only solo mainstream #1 single and went on to sell over a million copies in The States alone. Her voice is incredible on this recording. She effortlessly works her way through the eleven tracks, hitting impossible notes without breaking a sweat. ‘Do Right Woman, Do Right Man’ incorporates a Country feel on the record, while ‘Dr. Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)’ is a through-and-through Gospel track. She ends the record with a perfect rendition of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come.’ “It's been a long/A long time coming/But I know a change gonna come/Oh, yes it will.” Her conviction on this song is palpable. The US was at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, with seemingly no change in sight. It’s impossible to not feel the sense of urgency in Franklin’s urging of ‘A Change Is Gonna Come.’ It’s an anthem and one that is still relevant today in the Black Lives Matter Movement. The more things change, the more they stay the same, but here’s hoping that a change is gonna come soon. This record cemented Franklin as one of the greatest vocalists in history with na incredible performance from start to finish”.

I shall stop here. Undeniably one of the most significant albums ever released, I wanted to spend a bit of time with it for Beneath the Sleeve. Such a captivating and emotional listen, Aretha Franklin makes every song her own. Inhabits every word and syllable! I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is…

A Soul masterpiece.

FEATURE: Modern-Day Queens: Ela Minus

FEATURE:

 

 

Modern-Day Queens

Ela Minus

__________

PERHAPS an artist…

PHOTO CREDIT: Alvaro Arisó

that some people do not know, I think that Ella Minus is someone everyone should know. An incredible talent whose new album, DÍA, is among the best of this year, I would urge everyone to follow her. I am going to come to a review of that album very soon. I want to drop in a few interviews with Minus before getting there. I am going to start out with an interview from NME. Ella Minus discussed the private reckoning behind her new album. How the Brooklyn-based Colombian had a long road to completion and realisation of DÍA:

“A lengthy process of “letting all the shit come out” followed. “I just needed to get it out of my system and put it in the trash,” Minus contemplates. “I’ve never done therapy, but I imagine it’s something like that.” This private reckoning made her feel that she’d paid more attention to the production than lyrics on her first album. “It felt like time to give it some intention,” she says. Such self-reflection helped Minus to “learn so much” and she “realised the things I was singing about were inside of me”.

‘DÍA’ is a rarity in the dance world: a record that doesn’t shy away from tough subjects and personal stories. “I think we have enough dance music about dancing,“ Minus says vehemently, “I don’t need to give us more of that.” A shining example is ‘IDOLS’, particularly its “very physical” lyrics of “I took a blow, straight to the face, there was blood everywhere, when I opened my eyes”. The first song written for the album, it was inspired by a spiking incident which left her in a London hospital’s intensive care unit. “It happened at the same time as when I got signed, finished mixing my first record and started playing with bigger acts,” she recalls openly.

True to her character, Minus set about turning a negative into a positive. “A lot of things about that experience were hard, but that made it inspiring. It felt like an invitation to look over the life that I was about to start,” she reflects. “It’s so easy for us to follow the paths we are shown without even knowing if that’s what we actually want to do, just because those are the paths that have been drawn for us.” It led her to conclude that “the music industry is kind of a dark place”, yet it’s something “we choose to close our eyes to” because of her love for music.

It’s through music that Minus comes to terms with these thoughts, in particular on ‘I WANT TO BE BETTER’, which she describes as the core of the record – though it almost didn’t make it onto the album. “I thought it was very bad and embarrassing,” she recalls. However, as she kept returning to the song, she was slowly struck by its raw emotion. “There’s this anxiety and intensity, and I wanted the production to self-destruct, then rebuild into the next song, ‘ONWARDS’,” she says, describing the sequence as “redemption in the form of joy”.

As an artist who has always straddled the worlds of pop, club music and electronic experimentalism, many of the tracks on ‘DÍA’ are hook-heavy (particularly the space-shuddering ‘BROKEN’, which conjures the feeling of running down a dark alleyway) but sonically challenging. Though Minus says this balance has never been intentional. “I still try really hard to not rationalise what I’m making while I’m making it,” Minus says. “Except for when the music asks for something very specific, I try to just go with my gut.”

Her instincts have led her to frame ‘DÍA’ as a “call to action”, as Minus describes, much like how her debut was aimed to incite protest and rebellion. “It makes you want to stand up and do shit!” she declares. Though it’s not an easy listen – “It’s angry, there’s a lot going on, but it’s quick and then you wonder what happened?” – she likes that it makes the listener think. “There’s a deep catharsis to it that leaves you energised,” she says.

Having gone through so much to reach a place far beyond contentment, Minus is understandably thankful that ‘DÍA’ is finally out in the world. “It wasn’t easy,” she concludes, describing the entire process of making it as “painful”. “The first album seemed like a walk in the park, so I’m glad this one is now behind me and I can look forward to keep making records”.

I am going to move on to this interview from Juno. Ella Minus discussed what is her most inward-looking album yet. DÍA is one of the best albums of the year for sure. I am quoting interviews that I hope give some background to the album and how it came together. Anyone who has not heard of Ela Minus needs to follow her and experience her music:

“Minus is staying in East Williamsburg in the New York borough of Brooklyn, and inhabiting a rather curious space. She’s staying in the building she called home for seven years – but in a different flat, staying with a neighbour.

“It’s my old neighbourhood so it’s very surreal, as I used to live here for seven years, in this building – so it’s the same but it’s not my apartment.”

New York is the place that feels the most like home, after her native Bogotá of course. She’s just done her first show in the Colombian capital since 2022, a truly emotional experience. “It was incredible,”  “I’ve never felt so much love as I did in that room that night.

A launch for the album, it was held in the city’s planetarium no less. “It was the first time I’ve done anything like that I Bogotá – I want to bring music into different spaces.”

Landing five years on from her debut Acts of Rebellion, DÍA was made in multiple locations across several continents in fact, from Colombia and Mexico to New York and LA and numerous other locations in Europe. Not at all by design, she hastens to add.

“It was completely out of necessity. I couldn’t afford rent in New York any more, at the beginning of 2021, so I went back to Columbia for a little bit, but I didn’t have the mindspace to decide where I wanted to move to permanently. 2021 and 2022 were weird – shows kept getting confirmed and then cancelled then confirmed again.  It was very difficult to plan. I wanted to move to London but I couldn’t get on a plane because there were no planes, it was a very weird time.

“So then I decided to prioritise making music rather than prioritising where I wanted to live.  So I had to go to studios I could use, either places owned by the label or places where I had friends with studios I could borrow.”

Does the enivornment – or in this case, environments – seep into the record at any point, or was she simply locked into the task wherever she was?

“I was very focused on what I was doing,” she says, “but I think inevitably I think the outside world got into the record.  I think it’s inevitable, you know.  So both.  The first track (‘Abrir Monte’) I made literally in the middle of nowhere in Northern Mexico – it was just this cabin, nothing else, just nature.  It feels like nature to me.  To me it sounds like the birds, the insects, the sound of the night in the countryside”.

The final interview I am coming to is from Rolling Stone. Ella Minus looked inside her most personal album. I am really looking forward t see where she heads next. An astonishing artist that should be on everyone else’s radar. Make sure that you do not miss out on Ela Minus and her extraordinary music:

“Your career path is very interesting. You came to the United States for music school and then you started designing your own synthesizers. What piqued your interest in electronic music?

I grew up playing drums in a punk band so I like that spirit of aggressive, loud music. Maybe it was my first influence, but it’s hard for me to say. I wasn’t really exposed to a lot of live music other than rock growing up in Colombia. There weren’t really any non-Colombian bands or DJs touring. So when I moved to the States for college, that was my first exposure to electronic music. And it was there that I made the connection that a lot of the bands I loved as a teenager, like Radiohead and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, used synthesizers — I thought they were effects on the guitars or something, I didn’t know. As soon as I made that connection, it kind of opened this door that I eagerly dove through.

But it wasn’t as simple as you hearing Bjork’s Vespertine. What motivated you to pursue this style full-time?
I was a drummer from nine years old until I was eighteen. The moment I left Colombia, I was over rock music, to be honest. I moved to college and started studying jazz and synthesizers and music synthesis. I was exposed to all of this new music, a lot of Bjork and James Blake, Four Tet, Caribou. I started listening to things I wanted to make for myself. I tried to explain it to my bandmates from my position as the drummer, but I quickly realized that it was not going to go anywhere  — I needed to do it by myself. And it just felt like I arrived at a point where I had more technical knowledge and had kind of taught myself how to produce. It felt easier to teach myself how to produce and make music on my own than trying to explain to these other boys what I’m hearing in my head, which is why I made my first EP. I had this sound in my head, and I just needed to get it out somehow.

Part of your curriculum involved studying jazz music. Does jazz inform a lot of the music you’re making as Ela Minus?

Definitely a lot. I still listen to the music of my drum teacher, Terri Lynn Carrington. She was my private instructor for four years in drums, so I think a lot about her teachings. Everything she taught me about drums kind of applies to all aspects of music-making. And I keep going back to the classics, a lot of Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey.

How has your production process changed since your early EPs? Those early records [First Words and Kiddo] quickly establish your signature sound. How much do you focus on developing your voice, or is your music really an extension of experience and access to different production techniques?

I think I definitely have found my voice, but I keep looking to develop as a musician. Those early EPs intentionally had a very specific sound. I wanted to make something that sounded unique, which was really the kernel of the idea to start a solo project. I was tired of not really being excited by a lot of artists, realizing that a lot of music was starting to sound the same. I didn’t have any budget, but I also didn’t want one. I was trying to make electronic music from a perspective of the life of a jazz or punk band, where each synthesizer was like its own band member. “Do I have a synthesizer for all the drums? One for all the basses? One for all the chords?” I wanted to take this band of synths, and focused on working for one week, and then whatever I record would go on YouTube. I was trying to be coherent and cohesive with what I was doing — making music which I could perform live as-is. This new album is the first time where I’ve focused on not restricting myself and using whatever instruments that I want. It’s growth by trusting that I can work in different ways.

One thing that’s changed since you began your career 10 years ago is the amount of media attention for Latina electronic artists operating in a range of styles, from Sofia Kourtesis to someone like Elysia Crampton (Chuquimamani-Condori) who makes dense underground DJ music. How do you think about your place in the music scene as it relates to your own identity?

Of course, it’s impossible to get away from it. I’ve learned identity is something we all need as humans, and that we look for in the world, to try to understand and to grasp things. I don’t think it’s a negative thing. I agree that the names you mentioned make music different from mine, but so do, you know, Caribou and Floating Points. I feel like I’m kind of touching a lot of worlds, like I’m Latina and I’m Colombian which are things that I am very proud of and part of my identity as a human being. I’m grouped into many different scenes, but I don’t really think I’m 100 percent a part of any of them. I can never be a synth-pop American singer because I’m not American. I can’t do what Sofia Kourtesis does because I’m not making club music. Sitting in-between all these worlds and forging my identity from this unique combination is a big driver personally.

Your lyrics are mostly written in English. Is that your preference when writing song lyrics or is that related to most of your influences being sung in English?

I think both. I’m very committed to trying to be as honest and intuitive as I can with my music. Usually when I start writing something, I hear a vocal melody, and usually it comes already with a sentence, like lyrics, in either English or Spanish. I try to stick to that language and develop the idea through improvisation. It kind of trickles down from one single idea, including the choice of language, so I don’t try to rationalize it. But I also think it has to do with the fact that most of the music I consume, growing up and still to this day, is in English. I’ve been living in English-speaking places for most of my adulthood. English and Spanish are very different languages but it’s helpful to be able to choose depending on how I want to express my ideas.

I often think of musicians that aren’t Latin American, who sing in English when it’s not their native language, and how it doesn’t come with the same controversy. Like Bjork, for example, I’ve never really seen any conversation about why she sings in English, but it’s evidently not her native tongue. Daft Punk and Phoenix too, many global north musicians that aren’t native English speakers. But for some reason, it’s only a topic when it’s Latino musicians. I think that’s interesting.

Listening to your latest album, DIA, there appears to be a major post-punk influence to a lot of tracks, like early Suicide records, whereas Acts of Rebellion had more of an anthemic quality.

They’re different sounding albums, but you can hear the same artist behind them. The difference is in how they reflect the five years in-between making each album. The sounds on DIA originate from working in a lot of different places instead of at home — lots of change of scenery. I was less focused on self-made rules as far as production or writing. I felt freer to do whatever I wanted. I don’t consider DIA a better record by any means, but as a musician, I feel like I got better at what I do.

Acts of Rebellion gained a bit of a reputation as an agit-pop album, one very heavy in political sentiment. DIA, on the other hand, sounds like an entirely personal work by comparison. 

Everything is political. You can see them as two sides of the same coin. Just one is dealing with certain topics outwardly, and the other one is dealing with the same topics inwardly”.

I am ending with a review from CLASH of DÍA. I think I first heard her music a couple of years ago. I recognised a distinct and unique artist the minute I heard Ela Minus. I do hope that this feature has gone so way to convince anyone who is not that familiar with Minus to check out her music and do some investigation:

“Opening up is never easy – especially for artists. But more often than not, those who have the capacity to scrutinise and share their most personal facets, are those who resonate with listeners on a level of authenticity that matters most. Colombian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Ela Minus, reckons with this on her second album, ‘DÍA’. Looking inward to look outward, she spent three years creating her new material before deciding that her lyrics didn’t dig deep enough. She delved into fresh territory, both physically and internally, gathering snippets of self-discovery and weighing up new words to illustrate what she’d uncovered. The result is a broad body of work which shines as a forward-looking follow up to her acclaimed 2020 debut, ‘acts of rebellion’.

‘COMBAT’, the album’s closing track, was the first album taster shared in June last year. Its sombre, reflective tone may have come as a surprise to fans initially. But within the context of the album, it offers the perfect introduction. Its lyrics sung in Spanish are a plea to never giving up, and its simple, effective music video shows Minus at her most vulnerable yet, looking directly down the camera lens, a glint of a tear in her eyes, laying bare her emotions. ‘BROKEN’ leans further into this vulnerability. Mentioning in a press release that she felt fine before writing the song, Minus soon realised she wasn’t. Its lyrics tackle an enduring of suffering lingering beneath the surface, hidden in plain sight: “I tried to keep up the pretence / Keep doing it for you / Like pulling bones through my skin / How did we end up here?”

Sonically, ‘DÍA’ picks up from where ‘acts of rebellion’ left off. Occasionally looking back to the intensity of late-night reverie on her debut, her new album’s expansive feel smashes through the club ceiling towards new possibilities. The production is impeccable throughout; ‘QQQQ’ blends syncopated Latin rhythms with quirky layered synths, ‘IDOLS’ puts ominous reverbs to the fore for a dark, edgy feel, while the three-track segue (‘ONWARDS, ‘AND’, ‘UPWARDS’) culminates in the best of Minus’ impeccable abilities as a producer. Catchy vocal melodies, meticulously detailed sonics, bounds of relentless energy – it’s as though the body heat of the dancefloor pours out of the music.

Minus’ new album succeeds with its M.O. In terms of artistry, it’s similar to the work of Kelly Lee Owens, blending accessible pop tendencies with techno infused experimental flair. Yet, and perhaps more importantly, Minus has said exactly what she wanted to say, in the exactly the way she wanted to say it on DÍA. She’s patiently pored over it, unafraid to go back and change things and choosing introspectiveness as her means for moving forward.

Less an act of rebellion, more an act of honesty. It was worth the wait.

8/10”.

I shall leave it there. One of the most talent and innovative artists in Dance, do go and seek her out. Even if there has been a shift inwards from her 2020 debut, Act of Rebellion to her new album, this has been a natural and needed evolution. One that takes her sound and lyrics in a new direction. It is clear that this artist has…

A very bright future.

___________

Follow Ela Minus

PHOTO CREDIT: Alvaro Arisó

Official:

https://elaminus.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/elaminus

Twitter:

https://x.com/ela_minus

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@ela_minus

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4rdJkXHNrMgowlwUdQAg8T?si=grGXT_r6QeKJp3-FrvtAng

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@ElaMinus

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ElaMinus/

FEATURE: Kate Bush: The Iconic Shots: ‘A Smudge of Lipstick’, 1985 (Guido Harari)

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Iconic Shots

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush captured in 1985 during a Hounds of Love shoot with a smudge of lipstick and Kabuki makeup/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

‘A Smudge of Lipstick’, 1985 (Guido Harari)

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I thought I had…

put this feature to bed! Gone through all the best shots of Kate Bush. However, there is one more that I want to include. It is another from Guido Harari. I am doing a lot of features about Kate Bush in 1985. That was when Hounds of Love was released. On 16th September, the album turns forty. Ahead of that, I am going to dissect the album and talk more broadly about 1985. However, for this feature, I want to put a photo in the spotlight that I think is one of the most striking of Kate Bush. I can’t recall if I have talked about this before. I am going to get to an interview with Guido Harari, who discussed working with Kate Bush. I have used the photo at the top of this feature when posting on social media. I never really knew where it came from or the story behind it. Guido Harari started working with Kate Bush in 1982 and collaborated through to about 1993. It was a decade that saw Harari shoot Kate Bush during the release of Hounds of Love, The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993). He was taking photos of her on the set of the 1993 short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. That was directed, written by and starring Kate Bush. Most fans love Hounds of Love above all her albums, so it is fascinating to look at all the promotional images from around that time. I wanted to focus on this photo because it is especially stunning and eye-catching. A composition that casts Kate Bush in a new light. Many might think of her in 1985 and imagine big hair and have this distinct impression. However, for this particular photo, Guido Harari captured Kate Bush at a moment when she was experimenting and playing with styles and guises. All personal and meaningful, there was this colour scheme and emotional range uncovered for the camera. I will get to an interview with The Guardian from 2016. Harari talking about his book, The Kate Inside.

IN THIS PHOTO: Guido Harari

The book is one that I would love to own one day. For any fans who want to see some unreleased photos and get a more intimate look of Kate Bush, then this book is something you should get. That trust and fondness between Kate Bush and Guido Harari. A huge range of exceptional looks and compositions over the decade. The photos taken for Hounds of Love very different to the ones shot in 1993:

“The Kate Inside is a lavish tribute by Guido Harari to one of the world’s greatest music geniuses. Guido’s collaboration with Kate spans from 1982 to 1993 when he shot her official press photos for landmark albums like Hounds Of Love, The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, including a completely never-before-seen reportage on the set of Kate’s film The Line, The Cross & The Curve. The Kate Inside is a limited edition of just 1500 copies worldwide. All are numbered and hand-signed by Guido and the Deluxe Edition is co-signed by Lindsay Kemp who also wrote a very sweet foreword. Accompanied by his own commentary, The Kate Inside is packed with more than 300 hundred photographs, including all of Guido’s classic images of Kate plus a wealth of vastly unseen photographs and other materials (test Polaroids, notes by Kate, various ephemera, etc.) taken from his personal archives that are showcased here for the first time. The Kate Inside is available as a Collector Edition and a Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition is limited to the first 350 copies in a slipcase and will include a unique 10 x11in signed fine art pigment print and a set of 8 replica polaroids (3 x 5in). These images have never been printed before and will only be available in this size as part of the Deluxe Edition. They will not be available for sale separately. The book measures 29 x 39 cm (11 x 15in) with 240 pages. Each copy is printed on heavyweight fine art paper under Guido’s personal supervision”.

I am going to wrap up soon. First, I shall come to that interview with The Guardian. Guido Harari discussing his book and his working relationship with Kate Bush. The final part of this extract is Harari talking about the subject of this feature. A brilliant photo from 1985 with such a wonderful pose. A gorgeous smear of lipstick. Bush’s face powdered to give it a whiter look. It is one of the best photos of Kate Bush in my view. One that I constantly think about:

“The photographer first met her in 1982 in Milan, when she was promoting her album The Dreaming. In the book he describes his first impressions: “Beautiful golden eyes, pouty lips, a big mane of hennaed hair.” Bush and her dancers had just come from a TV studio. “She was wearing what looked like decaying astronaut gear,” he recalls. “I had my equipment with me, so I asked them to improvise. What amazed me was how she switched. She seemed to be this shy girl then suddenly this wild beast came out. ”

In Milan, Harari showed her proofs for a new book he was making about Lindsay Kemp. The choreographer had trained the teenage Kate Bush in the mid-1970s, becoming a mentor to her, as he had been for David Bowie. “So my book was like a calling card – showing her that I understood where she was coming from artistically.”

Three years later, Bush called, asking if he would do the official shoot for her album Hounds of Love. “I went to meet her at her parents’ farmhouse in Kent. She had built a 48-track studio. One thing that really struck me was that there was no glass between the control room and where the musicians recorded. It was a place of silence and retreat from the rock’n’roll world. She had no desire to go to parties or be famous. Instead, she had her family around her. Her father was her manager and her brother had taken photos for her previous albums.”

For the Hounds of Love shoot, Bush told Harari that she would bring clothes that would be brown, blue and gold. “Nothing else! No other clues! So I got some backdrops I thought would go with those colours, and at 8am she turned up at the studio with her makeup woman and a few outfits and we went to work.”

Harari goes back to that Hounds of Love shoot, recalling Bush’s rapid transformations. First she appeared in an orange jacket with padded shoulders. “She looked like Joan Collins. And then she went off to the dressing room and came out wearing this fabulous purple scarf, like a woman from 1900. And then she disappeared again and I wondered where she was, so I went to the dressing room. And there she was sitting in a chair in this thick white Kabuki make up. She looked great, even with the powder still on her shoulders, but there was one detail missing – so I took her lipstick and smeared it across her lips”.

I really love how Guido Harari took this wonderful photo almost as a final thought! Kate Bush during this shoot was adopting diverse and compelling looks. This one very different and almost perfect. The addition of lipstick. The way Bush almost has her eyes closed and is sort of looking down. Rather than smiling, there is this seriousness and sense of dignity. Looking both strong and vulnerable, it is a sensational photo that uncovers new sides to Kate Bush. One of these artists who loved to collaborate with photographers and was always very giving and engaging, she brought the best out of everyone she worked with! I love this 1985 photo with the smudge/smear of lipstick. It is a classic that has this allure, sadness, steeliness and sense of a different culture. Bush wore kimonos early in her career and performed in Japan. I think she has always had a fascination with that country and the Asian continent. There is a touch of that in Guido Harari’s 1985 photo. Taken during a Hounds of Love shoot, it was such a busy and important time. Among all of that, this incredible photo was taken that creates mystery and wonder…

FORTY years later.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: The Songs of Summer 2025

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Vlada Karpovich/Pexels

The Songs of Summer 2025

__________

EVEN though we are still…

in June, I was keen to compile some of the songs of the summer so far. It has been a wonderful start to summer in terms of incredible tracks. Not necessarily bangers and those that summon up sunshine and energy. Instead, theses are the tracks that have made the biggest mark. The weather is pretty hot and sweaty, and there is a long way to go until we are in autumn. Until then, we can enjoy the sun at least (even if the heat is too much!). From Pop legends of today to some newer artists that you might not be aware of, I wanted to assemble a selection of this summer’s defining tracks. Whatever you think of the summer weather, there is no denying the fact the music has been incredible. Other websites have been thinking about their choices regarding the finest cuts of the past month or so. I might update my thoughts just before autumn. Now, here is my choices for the…

PHOTO CREDIT: Kindel Media/Pexels

SONGS of summer 2025.

FEATURE: Messages in a Bottle: Why Coldplay’s Vinyl Innovation Should Be Adopted More Widely

FEATURE:

 

 

Messages in a Bottle

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

Why Coldplay’s Vinyl Innovation Should Be Adopted More Widely

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WITH the climate crisis…

 IN THIS PHOTO: The U.K. office of Warner Music says plastic bottles were the source material for the recycled-content PET (rPET) used to make the Coldplay albums, which were produced using injection-moulding technology/PHOTO CREDIT: Warner Music Group

getting out of control and there is emphasis on doing as much as we can to protect and preserve the planet, there is obviously consideration towards recycling and plastic waste. In terms of the music industry, there are ways in which it comes do more to reduce its carbon footprint and be more environmentally aware. Artists are reducing the distance they travel for tours and finding greener ways to travel and play. When it comes to physical music, one of the biggest problems is the materials used. How much carbon emission is produced making these products and transporting them. C.D.s and their casing have not really developed since their inception. Quite a lot of plastic used. Vinyl perhaps not the most eco-friendly or responsible material. The factories that produce vinyl records and how they are transported definitely needs to be considered. However, with the format being so popular and there being relatively few vinyl pressing plants, it is a difficult situation. If artists and labels can find other ways to produce albums more environmentally consciously, then that would be a big step. It is not the first time that alternatives to the vinyl production process have been introduced by various artists. As this article explains, Coldplay are doing their bit:

“Continuing their sustainability mission, Coldplay are re-releasing all of their albums as clear 140g EcoRecords made from recycled plastic bottles, produced using injection-moulding technology which reduces carbon emissions during manufacture by an impressive 85% compared with traditional vinyl production.

An EcoRecord sounds and looks as great as a traditional vinyl record, but it has been manufactured using 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a lightweight and durable material that is easily recyclable and designed for a circular economy, significantly contributing to reduced shipping emissions and end-of-life environmental impact.

Each 140g injection-moulded LP is made from, on average, nine recycled PET plastic bottles. These bottles are recovered from consumers as part of a process known as post-consumer recycling (PCR), where they are cleaned, processed into small pellets and then molded into new items.  While EcoRecords can be made using either virgin PET or recycled PET (rPET), Coldplay has chosen to use only rPET for all their EcoRecord products.

This pioneering move follows the successful launch of the band’s 10th album, Moon Music, last year, which was already released on 100% recycled PET EcoRecords, the world’s first album released as a 140g EcoRecord rPET LP. Coldplay continues to lead the charge in making music more sustainable, building on efforts such as cutting the carbon footprint of their Music Of The Spheres World Tour by 59% to date.

Jen Ivory, Managing Director, Parlophone, says: “We are incredibly proud to partner with artists such as Coldplay who share our commitment to a more sustainable future for music.  The shift to EcoRecord LP for their releases is a testament to what’s possible when innovation meets intention.  It’s not just about a new product; it’s about pioneering manufacturing that significantly reduces environmental impact, providing fans with the same high-quality audio experience while setting a new standard for physical music production”.

It sound like a really good initiative. How possible and sustainable it would be for most artists to do this. With huge demand comes the need to supply. It is a very timely and expensive process to create vinyl and get it into shops. However, I do wonder whether there needs to be greater action. How many people who buy vinyl know the environmental damage being done?

 IN THIS IMAGE: Billie Eilish (photo illustration by Nicholas Konrad; source photograph by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images via The New Yorker)

Coldplay’s introduction of using recycled plastic bottles for their reissues is another step in the right direction. Artists such as Billie Eilish are passionate proponents of BioVinyl – records made from bio-based PVC. Someone who is an environmental and one of the most important figures of her generation, how many other artists will join Eilish, Coldplay and those committed to doing more? This article highlights how Billie Eilish is one of the few big artists doing more to stray away from traditional vinyl:

“She has long been one of the most vocal figures on climate change in the world of music, having hosted her own climate convention, used renewable energy to power her shows, and worked with environmental nonprofits to slash the impact of touring.

Eilish is the biggest artist to embrace biovinyl, but not the first. And she joins a long tradition of musicians drawing attention to the climate emergency: British group Massive Attack, for instance, have been talking about global warming for decades, and worked with scientists to produce evidence-backed recommendations for reducing emissions from live music. Dave Matthews Band has a longstanding partnership with the environmental nonprofit Reverb. Coldplay has embraced renewable energy and green tech for their tours, cutting emissions by nearly 50% on their current tour, compared to the last one. As for Pearl Jam, they’ve been counting their carbon emissions since 2003, but last year a carbon credit provider that the band used was accused of overstating the impact of its deforestation work – a reminder that offsetting alone won’t ever be enough.

Can vinyl be better?

Environmentally, vinyl is quite nasty stuff. Vinyl records are made from PVC, which is also used to make things like water pipes, car interiors, clothing and shoes. The pellets of PVC used to make records are created by a complex procedure that starts with salt and hydrocarbon, a compound derived from fossil fuels.

“If the processes exist to create recycled or eco-friendly vinyl, why aren’t more A-listers doing it?”

Not only does PVC rely on environmentally damaging processes to create it, it’s also difficult to dispose of, due to the chemical compounds it contains. There’s no use throwing a broken or scratched vinyl record in to your plastic recycling bin at home – local waste services are generally not able to deal with it. Across European Union member states, Norway, Switzerland and the UK, only around 27% of PVC waste is recycled, and a lot of that comes from industry. In the US, trade body The Vinyl Institute says 71,000 tonnes of consumer vinyl products are recycled annually – but the US produces 7.2 million tonnes of PVC per year, so even when industrial PVC recycling is factored in, those figures suggest only around 7% of all the PVC produced in the US is actually being recycled.

But if the processes exist to create recycled or eco-friendly vinyl records, why aren’t more A-list musicians following Eilish’s example? I put this question to Chris Roorda, founder of Deepgrooves – a Netherlands-based pressing plant committed to producing records as sustainably as possible. He thinks for a moment. “I’m really not sure,” he answers. “We are talking with major labels, but it’s not really coming through.”

Deepgrooves has worked with Massive Attack, as well as Martin Garrix and environmental toxicologist-turned-DJ Jayda G. Roorda teases that he’s working with more artists that he can’t yet mention. “The resources are there,” he says. “At the moment, we specialize in biovinyl. Sound-wise, it’s the same product as a regular vinyl. Production only costs about 50 cents more per record. But we’ve seen some majors say that because it’s 50 cents more, it has to be five euros more in the shops, and I don’t think that’s fair.”

Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja has been outspoken on environmental issues. The band have funded research into how music can reduce its environmental impact. Photo: Iwi Onodera via Getty Images

Could major labels be reluctant to use slightly more expensive eco-production methods, for fear they won’t recoup the money? “That is an assumption,” says Roorda. He adds that they might also be tied into contracts with other vinyl producers, but says he’s seeing more and more artists insist on green products. “Production can be easily upscaled,” he says. “We have the resources. And when more people buy biovinyl, the price will go down”.

It is a moment when demand for vinyl keeps rising. There is this incredible passion for the format. How possible is it to use BioVinyl entirely? Coldplay’s use of recycled plastic bottles. Is this more of a novelty that could not possibly be rolled out across the world and used by all artists? Is the sound quality genuinely as good? There are ways for record buyers to become more environmentally conscious. Even know there is going to be a long way to go until vinyl is completely gone and replaced with something more environmentally sound, there are positive steps. Let’s hope that more major artists do more. There does need to be a revolution and overhaul…

IN years to come.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Folk Bitch Trio

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Bridgette Winten

Folk Bitch Trio

__________

MAKE sure that you…

pre-order Now Would Be a Good Time. It is released on 25th July. It is the upcoming album from Folk Bitch Trio. An act that are getting a lot of love and focus right now. I am going to come to some interviews with them. The Australian trio of Grace Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington, and Heide Peverelle started in 2020 and have delivered a string of brilliant singles. Their debut album is one you will want to own:

“Folk music has a bad habit of being presented as a deathly serious concern. It’s something you cry to, it’s overly sacred, it’s solemnly considered by critic-historians. But Folk Bitch Trio, former high school friends Heide Peverelle (they/them), Jeanie Pilkington (she/her) and Gracie Sinclair (she/her), have a shared sense of humour that is embedded deep in their music, and that sets it alight, safe from the self-serious traps of the genre.

Now Would Be A Good Time, their debut album, tells vivid, visceral stories, and is funny and darkly ironic in the manner of writers like Mary Gaitskill or Otessa Moshfegh. Their music sounds familiar, but the songs are modern, youthful, singing acutely through dissociative daydreams and galling breakups, sexual fantasies and media overload, all the petty resentments and minor humiliations of being in your early twenties in the 2020s.

“Cathode Ray” opens with caution, its first harmonies arriving in big, looping sighs. It’s vulnerable but a little menacing, with a wide open chorus and a spacious, airy beat anchoring everything. “Moth Song”, a song about unrequited love and “being so spun out by everything that you feel like you’re delusional and hallucinating crazy things,” forms the album’s spare centrepiece, Anita Clark’s undulating violin part drifting in and out of focus as if from a dream.

Other songs aren’t as oblique, instead chronicling brutally familiar moments at the end of relationships: The tense, emotionally volatile torch song “The Actor”, says Peverelle, is about “going to your partner’s one-woman show and then getting broken up with”. “Hotel TV”, a hypnotic, late-night reverie, is about “having a sex dream about somebody else while next to your partner, and your partner being a liar,” explains Pilkington.

The strongest link between the trio, aside from friendship, is music. “We all talked about loving music when we were growing up, and knowing we wanted music to be a big part of our lives,” says Pilkington. That feeling—of music as an innate calling, as opposed to hobby or folly—was justified: Folk Bitch Trio have already toured across Australia, Europe and the US, supporting bands as disparate as King Gizzard, Alex G and Julia Jacklin. They’ve signed with Jagjaguwar, a home for singular icons and iconoclasts (Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, UMO and others), and they’ve found their first diehard fans with dazzling harmonies and acerbic lyricism that transcend genre expectations and audience lines.

These are the stakes: Learning how to live a life free of lovesickness and loser exes, when to sink into contemporary nihilism and when to have a laugh with your friends, and why being alive can feel so ephemeral and unreal. In this sense, Now Would Be A Good Time feels like a manual for modern living: a missive from three proud Folk Bitches finding beauty and wisdom where they can, together”.

I am going to come to some recent interviews with the trio. Including a great cover feature from NME. However, going back to last year, there was this sense of anticipation and excitement around the group. I want to move to an interview from 2024 from Atwood Magazine. I am a new convert to Folk Bitch Trio. They are going to go a very long way:

“Atwood Magazine: Great to chat, Gracie, Jeanie, and Heide! For readers who are new your music, how would you describe Folk Bitch Trio to a first timer?

Folk Bitch Trio: It’s a good fun time. Maybe that isn’t what people are expecting but that’s how we like to think of the live show. Our music can be sad and earnest but we actually do have a really good time on stage.

How did the band initially form? I know you debuted your first single in 2022; had you been playing together for a while before then?

Folk Bitch Trio: The band was born pre-COVID in 2019 from us being bored and wanting to make something together. The first single in 2022 was kind of the rebirth post-lockdown.

Where did your band name come from? And how do you feel it serves as an “intro” to folks getting to know who you are and what you’re all about?

Folk Bitch Trio: Folk Bitch Trio just came from calling this band what it is in a pretty unserious way. We think it’s a pretty accurate intro to what you’re going to get.

Speaking of folk, what pulls the three of you to the folk genre and to these rich, wondrous vocal harmonies that fill every song with such beautiful warmth?

Folk Bitch Trio: We were all raised on folk adjacent music, and are all singers, so it was an organic progression to start making that music together.

“God’s a Different Sword” is an especially moving track, with some truly aching lyrics. What’s the story behind this song?

Folk Bitch Trio: The lyrics for this song came from Heide taking themself out on a date to a pizza shop and getting a little wine drunk and then writing almost the entire song. Shout out pizza mein liebe.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bridgette Winten

You’ve said this song is about “relinquishing a pattern, but indulging in the habit ‘just one more time.’” Can we dive deeper into that together? Where in your lives is this pulled from, and how does it resonate with you now?

Folk Bitch Trio: It’s about finding it in you to quit a habit even when it still feels good. The song is about a kind of post breakup euphoria that’s also very existential as you question your life for what it is without this person.

I love how you open with the line, “Am I lucky? Or am I just sane?” - it really helps set the tone from the start, but what really struck me is the refrain, “Could I be good on my own accord? Heaven knows I know need it but god’s a different sword.” What do these lines mean to you, if you don’t mind my asking?

Folk Bitch Trio: Well they are questions, so the answer is that we don’t really know. The song is questioning, so what it all means is pretty ambiguous.

Do you have any personal favorite lines in this track?

Folk Bitch Trio: “If you tell me that you need it, I can get up off the floor.” We’ve all been there.

Folk Bitch Trio © Bridgette WintenWhat do you hope listeners take away from “God’s a Different Sword,” and what have you taken from it as well?

Folk Bitch Trio: Take whatever you want. This song is supposed to be optimistic and curious and life affirming, and we just want people to resonate with it however they like.

What’s on the horizon for Folk Bitch Trio as we look ahead, out at the rest of the year?

Folk Bitch Trio: We are currently on our first EU/US tour, then a national Australia headline when we get home next month. We’ve been on tour a lot this year so looking forward to kicking back over the Australian summer. Big things coming in 2025”.

Before getting to that NME interview, I am coming to an interview from The Music. The Australian website chatted with the remarkable Folk Bitch Trio about their rise and career so far. I would advise everyone to go and seek out this group on social media. Listen to their music. With some exciting dates coming up in the U.S, I am not sure whether they will come to the U.K. soon. I am writing this a few days before Glastonbury starts, so I am not sure if they have been booked or will come here another time:

“The slow burn of the first few years was defined by all the gigs and singles, and since then, the opportunities have been blazing hot. The group’s ascent has been rapid within the last couple of years, yet they admit they’ve been given some legroom to reflect on the realness of it all.

“We started this project just before COVID hit, and that was obviously like a year off, and then, like, a year of pretty stagnant movement,” Sinclair tells. “And I think perhaps if we didn't have that buffer, things would have been maybe a little bit crazier. But when you have, like, private time to soak things up…”

Pilkington adds, “We have very low expectations as well. So, every step of the way, things have felt crazy. Like, things now that feel minuscule compared to the things that are happening to us now felt crazy at the time [sic]."

“And because we're such good friends, I do think that, like, I remember the first time we were interstate as a band, and then the first time we were overseas as a band, like… we've definitely relished in the moments of being like, ‘This is this is insane, and this is really special, and this won't happen again.’ So, I don't think it's lost on us. I think we have time to sort of, even if they are small moments, we're like, ‘Yo, this is crazy guys.’”

Sinclair nods, “It’s definitely all still wild.” Peverelle takes a beat as well, “Yeah. But we do talk a lot, I think, like, we take moments to process together and feel… Which is good, I think.”

Even now, with sold-out rooms across the UK and US added to the pool room and another Europe run around the corner, not much has changed behind the scenes. “We tour-manage ourselves,” Pilkington laughs. “Running around those fucking European train stations with a guitar and a suitcase.”

And still, somehow, they manage to keep their cool through it all. “We maintain our glamour,” Sinclair deadpans. “All the time.”

Even now, as they prepare for the UK showcase festival, The Great Escape, and shows in Amsterdam and Paris, their compass hasn’t shifted.

They still laugh at the absurdity of it all. They still giggle at their own jokes. They still believe in making the most tender, stripped-back music — and pairing it with visuals that are a little bit silly - ergo running around in chainmail for the Analogue clip or shedding a tear for their mums’ stage auditions in The Actor’s clip. Modern-day irony blended with folk-music sincerity.

And maybe that’s the reason they’re still here. Still friends. Still laughing. Still harmonising through the madness of a very fast-moving career.

“Big things,” Sinclair grins when asked what’s next. “Watch this space.”

“Off the hook,” she adds, half joking. “Off the line.”

Whatever it is — it’ll be theirs”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ian Laidlaw for NME

I am ending with a brilliant NME interview. Grace Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington, and Heide Peverelle discussed finding heart and humour in “pathetic little tragedies”. The Melbourne trio are creating so much hype. It is all justified. I would love to see them live one day. By all accounts, they are a group that are as impactful and amazing on the stage as they are in the studio:

“They credit the “other folk bitches – people like Julia Jacklin, Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen” as helping to reinvigorate the genre in recent years. “They were the ones that helped us fall back in love with folk and realise that everything’s cool in its own way,” Peverelle nods. Meanwhile, it was a member of another trio that first helped launch them into public consciousness: in a 2021 radio interview, Phoebe Bridgers described their debut single ‘Edie’ as “Boygenius if it was from the ’40s”.

Folk Bitch Trio would rather the wider world judge them on their own merit than try to cast them as Boygenius from down under. “Obviously, it’s different when it’s Phoebe drawing that opinion, as I’m sure it’s much more nuanced, but it’s hard to not see it as a comparison to another triple-femme band because there’s simply not enough of them for people to not go there,” Pilkington says. “It does feel frustrating, but that has nothing to do with Boygenius and everything to do with a lack of attention on femme-led music.”

However, the surrealness of the moment was clearly not lost on them. “She was definitely my number one Spotify listen at the time,” Pilkington smiles. “I guess that was when I started to become aware that people were formulating opinions on us and consuming the music, and that felt completely bizarre.”

Now all aged 23, Folk Bitch Trio have become an unshakeable unit, their close bond helping them deal with the world’s perceptions, both as budding artists taking early steps into the industry – they signed to Jagjaguwar earlier this year – and as young femme-presenting people in the world. “I look at other artists trying to navigate it on their own and I can’t really imagine not having my two other brain cells with me all the time,” Sinclair says.

Pilkington nods: “When you’re in this funny grey area of having the success that we’re so lucky to have had, but also doing small, weird gigs and having strange people approach you, sometimes we feel like our life is a bit like Flight of the Conchords. It becomes fun when your friends are with you, but if you were by yourself, you might be crying and not laughing…”

The same approach of taking tough situations and finding the funny side rings throughout their music, whether in ‘God’s A Different Sword’’s satirical wink to feminist text The Body Keeps The Score or ‘That’s All She Wrote’’s fears of getting “doxxed in the paper”. Peverelle calls their songs “our pathetic little tragedies”. They laugh about how being in your early twenties is “pathetic”, but, as Peverelle says, it’s also “fun, messy – always – but never that bad. Our tragedies are miniscule in the scheme of what’s going on in the world, but they’re our tragedies.”

“And there’s something so important about being able to transform that into art,” Sinclair nods. “There are many things in my life that I would not have survived if it hadn’t been for people transforming their pathetic little tragedies into a song or a piece of art that I could consume”.

Now Would Be a Good Time is out on 25th July. I am excited about the album and seeing how it is received. Melbourne has always been rich and vibrant musical hub. It has given us so many incredible artists through the years. When it comes to Folk Bitch Trio, they can stand proud…

ALONGSIDE the very best.

____________

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FEATURE: Levitating: Saluting a Global Superstar: A Dua Lipa Mixtape

FEATURE:

 

 

Levitating: Saluting a Global Superstar

PHOTO CREDIT: David Sims for British Vogue

A Dua Lipa Mixtape

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A few reasons…

PHOTO CREDIT: Tyrone Lebon

to revisit Dua Lipa’s music. She has just completed a run of gigs in the U.K. She has a brief break before engaging in live shows in the U.S. It is clear that she is going to have a very busy rest of the year. I wanted to feature her again as she turns thirty in August. One of our very best Pop artists, Dua Lipa is also busy planning a wedding. I was also a big fan of her most recent album, 2024’s Radical Optimism. That album did not get the love it deserved. Someone who also has a future in acting and documentaries, this is a supreme talent who is also one of the best live performers in the world. I am going to end with a review of a recent gig from The Standard. Before that, I want to start off with an interview from British Vogue. A window into the life and routine of Dua Lipa. Her Service95 Book Club is wonderful and inspirational. It even has its own podcast. The Queen of British Pop – though one feels Charli xcx might challenge, or she be the queen of a sub-genre -, it is amazing seeing her rise. This incredible artist whose passion for literature is just as interesting and important as her music:

“At 15, Dua made a much marvelled-at decision: to return to London on her own and pursue a career in music.

“When I look back on it, I’m like: ‘Bloody hell, 15 really is so little,’” Dua reflects now. “But at the time I felt like I had such a clear idea of where I was going.”

“I think that’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life,” Anesa remembers, of letting Dua go, “but she was so determined and full of dreams. From an early age she knew what she wanted. She was very mature, and we believed in her.”

Dua shared a flat in London with the daughter of a family friend from Albania who was doing a master’s. On her first day at Parliament Hill School, two girls in her year – Sarah and Ella – heard there was a new starter and eventually found someone who looked younger than her years. She was sitting alone on a stage. “That must be the new girl,” they thought. Soon Sarah was spreading the word about Dua’s gifts. “Guys,” she said to their fellow drama students, “you have to listen to her sing, she’s amazing.”

Another girl joined their group: Rosie. When she went home she told her friends that Dua was going to be the next Beyoncé. “They were like: ‘What are you talking about, she’s only got one song on YouTube!’” Rosie recalls. “But it’s the way she makes you feel. The way she puts her energy into everything. She spends every single day making small decisions in the right direction.”

The group of friends went out all the time. Dua was always the one to host pre-drinks. She wore Jeffrey Campbell shoes with studs and extra high heels. “Do you ever wonder how Dua can perform a whole show in high heels?” Sarah asks. “I just remember: we were maybe 15, 16, and she would literally be stomping around Soho in the highest, highest high heels.”

PHOTO CREDIT: David Sims

“There’s a wild side to me, but I’m also very sensible,” Dua suggests. “I think I was quite aware of the fact that my parents had allowed me to be away from them. They put so much trust into me I was like: ‘I’m not going to fuck that up.’” Her background had a handy side-effect: “When I was young, trying to get into clubs was kind of easy because every bouncer was Albanian,” Dua remembers. “All I needed to do was speak Albanian to the bouncer.”

There was a slight hiccup. “Basically I started going out so much that I failed my A levels,” Dua confesses. She asked to redo the year at Parliament Hill and wasn’t allowed back. Threatened with a return to Kosovo, she found a workaround: a course in advertising and marketing that would equal two years of A levels. As her mother tells me poetically: “There are no obstacles. Only stepping stones.”

But it hardly mattered: the apprenticeships that served Dua best were the nights out and the friendships forged. “My whole goal, with my show, is: ‘I want to start people dancing and I want them to leave for home dancing,’” Dua explains. “And I guess that is to do with my love of going out and bringing people together in that time.”

At 18 she was working in clubs and posting covers online when she was cast in an ad for The X Factor. She played a fresh-faced star-to-be who sings along to “Lost in Music” on her headphones while pinning laundry on a line. In the advert, everyone within hearing distance flocks to listen. In life, a similar thing happened. The allure of Dua’s voice became undeniable, and the rest, with a few twists and turns, is pop history.

On the short drive to the stadium in Madrid, the tinted windows are up for privacy, the air conditioning off to protect Dua’s vocal cords. She doesn’t mind – she says she’s prepared to “roast”. When we get there she’ll go into vocal exercises, sound check, hair and make-up, dance warm-ups: everything timed to the minute.

After her last tour in 2022, for Future Nostalgia, when she listened back to the album she preferred the live versions of the songs. This time she’s planned them that way: the songs on Radical Optimism were “written for live”, and she hopes they show more of her range as a musician, not just as a pop star. On this tour, she’s added a new cover version each night for the country she’s in. She likes a little added risk: feet dangling off the edge, as she puts it – and she’ll get that in spades when she plays Wembley this summer.

So what do Dua’s 30s hold for the Radical empire? “I think I’d love to expand Service95 and the book club,” she says. “I’d love to publish authors. I would love to help produce them into film and TV.” She recently executive produced a documentary about the music scene in Camden for Disney+, and would like to do more. She’s keen to see the music festival she set up in Kosovo grow. And at some point she wants to look after other musicians, “maybe have my own record label, maybe represent other artists”. Overall, she’s thinking: “How can I be of service, literally, to other artists, whether that be in film, TV, books, music?” You get the impression she doesn’t so much want to conquer the world as invite it to join her.

“Can you do all that?” I ask. She throws me an “are you kidding – I got this” look. “Yeah,” she says. “Nothing’s impossible. You’ve just got to get up and do it”.

I will celebrate her music closer to her thirtieth birthday on 22nd August. Before that, I wanted to react to her incredible live performances. Shows that rank alongside her most electrifying. This is what The Standard wrote in their review of a huge Wembley show from an artist who must have dreamt about this when she was a child. She did not disappoint her fans:

“Of all the people for Dua Lipa to bring on as a guest for her first night at Wembley, Jamiroquai would not have been top of my list of likely suspects. Or, I suspect, anybody’s.

And yet, the 70,000 strong crowd roared for him when he appeared on Friday night. When the pair duetted on his 1996 hit Virtual Insanity, the energy levels went stratospheric. At least, among the older attendees who knew who he was.

But that’s Lipa’s tour all over: a good time, yes, but ultimately, a victory lap for the megalithic pop star. A celebration of doing things her own way – a way that has gotten the British-Albanian artist (as she told the crowd) from playing 350-person gigs to a sold out three nights in one of the biggest venues in the country.

”This is such a massive, massive milestone for me,” she told her massed fans. “I've had a lump in my throat from the moment this show started.”

It certainly didn’t affect her performance: what we got was two hours of high octane euphoria, a formula that Lipa has polished and perfected over the course of her months on tour.

Lipa’s stock in trade, these days, is hazy club bangers: perfect for the sweltering summer. And we got them: things kicked off with her Radical Optimism hit Training Season, which saw the stage flooded with backing dancers.

There were fireworks; there was confetti. There was the general sense of the kitchen sink being thrown at the entire gig, in the best way possible – the pyrotechnics budget must have been tremendous.

From there, we had the bouncy, breezy End of an Era, followed by Break My Heart, which came with an extravaganza of backing dancers. Adding to the victory lap-ness of it all, at one point she simply stopped singing, letting the crowd roar out their approval into the silence.

From there, we veered into her older material: One Kiss, which dropped into a thundering bass-heavy remix. Hot on its heels came her big hit Levitating, which was delivered on full strut, complete with fireworks – and then a pared back version of If These Walls Could Talk and a Western flavoured rendition of Maria.

Lipa was clearly having fun, too, breaking character to smile and dance around with her dancers. And she was keen to underline how far she’d come, introducing her old hit Hotter Than Hell as “the song that got me signed”, to raucous cheers from the crowd.

To be honest, the big hits came so thick and fast that the excitement of seeing Jamiroquai was soon forgotten (though she was obviously in fangirl mode for that, too). There was the slinky Illusion, an aggressively muscular Physical, and Hallucinate, which turned the bass and reverb way up to rattle the stadium walls.

At one point, Lipa descended into the crowd to chat with her fans – which had the effect of sapping the night’s momentum somewhat – before heading out into a stage in the audience’s centre. From there, dressed in a Union Jack-lined fur coat and lifted high into the air, she conducted the audience’s cheers before leading them in a dreamy, hazy rendition of Be The One, just up the road from where she shot the music video in Hampstead Heath.

And though she rounded off the gig with an encore featuring some more of her biggest hits – a Bicep remix of New Rules stood out, then Houdini – that image was the one that stuck. Lipa, triumphant, in the place where it all started. Home at last”.

I will end there. One of the greatest artists in the world, Dua Lipa does not get the same focus as the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Beyoncé, or even Charli xcx. She is a very special artist who has this incredible talent. There is also the Service95 Book Club. Always so busy and barely giving herself a moment to rest, I feel like the next year is going to be very important and eventful. To highlight her sensational music, below is a very special mixtape…

FEATURING Dua Lipa’s best music.

FEATURE: Got Me in Those Desert Eyes: Live Translations of Kate Bush’s Music

FEATURE:

 

Got Me in Those Desert Eyes

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during 1979’s The Tour of Life/PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne

Live Translations of Kate Bush’s Music

__________

THERE are two major…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during 1979’s The Tour of Life/PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Verhorst

bookmarks or points of Kate Bush’s career where the live representations of songs had to be at their best. Many songs never released as music videos, it was down to Bush and her team to envisage something that was true to the song but would work brilliantly on the stage. 1979’s The Tour of Life combined songs from 1978’s The Kick Inside and Lionheart. There were also some unreleased tracks that would be included on 1980’s Never for Ever – including Egypt. This song is one that was brought to the stage but never truly visually arresting. It is a hard song to get right in the sense. I shall come back to that. The other notable live bookmark was 2014’s Before the Dawn. The two main albums featured this time were Hounds of Love (1985) and Aerial (2005). Aside from some pleasing inclusions from The Red Shoes – Lily and Top of the City – and a lone inclusion from 2011’s 50 Words for Snow, Among Angels, it was these two big albums that were focused on. In the case of Hounds of Love, singles like Hounds of Love and Cloudbusting already had videos. However, Bush performed A Sky of Honey from Aerial. The second disc of Aerial, until 2014, people could only imagine these songs. Bush spent a long time realising the concept of Before the Dawn and The Tour of Life. Making sure the songs fitted together and there was this theatrical feel. Rather than it being like any live show where the songs do not form part of a larger narrative arc or concept, she treated these big events more like films or theatrical productions. Some criticised parts of The Tour of Life. In terms of various songs and how they were visualised. Bush as the central performer wouldn’t have wanted too much of a cast or to have too many other people there apart from her and her dancers, so she was a bit limited in those terms. However, for Before the Dawn, it was a more collaborative effort. Bush in 1979 wanted to be the standout and be at the centre. 2014 was in part realised because of her young son Bertie (who appeared on stage); circumstances were different.

I was not lucky enough to see Before the Dawn. I can imagine that everything was executed beautifully, though there may have been one or two moments that were not perfect. However, the most curious case of songs translating to the stage occurred at other times. When Bush was performing liver around the world. Of course, her first televised live performance was on Germany’s Bio's Bahnhof in 1978. She performed Wuthering Heights and Kite. In terms of translation, language and interpretation was a factor. Where one might expect a  backdrop or Yorkshire moors or something windswept, maybe the producers did not know about Emily Brontë’s novel. Rather than giving it any English touches, Kate Bush was backed by a volcano! I am not sure what the thinking was. It did show that there were barriers when it came to her music being taken to the stage – especially in other countries. Bush performed in Japan in 1978 and faced similar issues at the Nippon Budokan during the Tokyo Music Festival. I have recently written features about Babooshka. A single from 1980’s Never for Ever, Bush performed this song live a few times. One example of her in Italy is especially odd. In the sense that the staging was not really related to the song. For ZDF in Germany, on the Rock Pop show, Kate Bush lip-synched to Babosohka and Army Dreamers. The latter is particularly interesting how it was visualised. Quite humorous, Bush was this mother figure with a broom and a cigarette. Quite eccentric and camp, I am not sure how much say Kate Bush had when it came to the performance! I imagine more control than a couple of years later when she performed in Germany.

Kate Bush fans will have their own view when it comes to the best or maddest lived performance. Bush in some very odd settings. Her 1978 appearance at a Dutch amusement park, where she performed songs from The Kick Inside. Her 1979 Christmas special had a few moments that were either odd or you felt the visuals did not match the song. Egypt unusual because of how Bush looked and the fact it looked more like parody or a cheesy advert than anything else. Ran Tan Waltz, a great song, was performed live for the one and only time as far as I know. Some of the oddness of these T.V. performances were orchestrated by Kate Bush. Other occasions were examples of the song being misread. That Wuthering Heights performance in Germany. As this article explores, there was a very special performance in Germany once more. On 27th September, 1982, Kate Bush performed the title track from her fourth studio album, The Dreaming, shortly after that album came out. It was a typically original and unusual Kate Bush take:

“This video was the basis of a series of TV performances around Europe. There’s a couple on YouTube from Italy – Discoring and Riva Del' Garda – where Bush and two of her dancers do their routine in what looks like twin versions of Light Entertainment Hell. But the most renowned performance is from the German show Na Sowas!, which takes a decidedly more inventive approach…

Host Thomas Gottschalk – who with his cream jacket, skinny tie and mullet would literally implode if he was any more 80s – excitedly introduces the song, but the first thing we see is a giant lizard beadily surveying a similar landscape to The Dreaming video. Bush and the dancers gradually fade up in the foreground, and writhe in some very real dirt. But the lizard looms large at the back, looking like it’s about to join them for a tasty snack. Then the lizard fades, and the three performers are left to complete their routine against a black sky and glowering red orb – the effect is genuinely eerie.

The song ends, and Gottschalk can’t resist showing us how it was done, with the giant lizard revealed to be just an ordinary iguana in a model desert, filmed and superimposed behind Bush & co in a clever piece of video mixing. All that’s left is for Gottschalk to bound across the studio – “Kate, I’m coming!” – and present a gold disc to Bush for her previous album Never For Ever. She accepts with a combination of bemusement and good grace – her default response in nearly all her TV appearances at the time – then takes a bow”.

There are a lot of videos available of Kate Bush performing live. Or miming in a lot of cases. Of course, there are some wonderful examples. I think most of the more questionable ones happened before 1985. Especially in the earliest years, when it came to some international recordings, maybe it was hard to get the set and staging right. Some of the more humour and stranger examples were where Kate Bush had a say. A few beyond her control. Even some of the U.K. performances were either strange or the song didn’t fit the show maybe. When she performed There Goes a Tenner (from The Dreaming) on Razzamatazz. A kid’s T.V. show. I am not sure how many of those T.V. performances Kate Bush enjoyed. I think the ones she did for the Wogan show were favourites, as she loved Terry Wogan. A lot of those international trips perhaps quite draining. Her only tour gave her the chance to bring her songs to the stage. It was quite tricky making every song a visual delight. Maybe Before the Dawn was more successful. From the odd to the delightful, I am interested in how Kate Bush’s music was brought to the stage. Whether the backdrop or staging of the performance matched the song and its visual possibilities or not, every one of these examples is truly the work of Kate Bush. Never boring or phoned in, the amazing live outings were…

DISTINCTLY her.

FEATURE: The Moment: Tame Impala’s Currents at Ten

FEATURE:

 

 

The Moment

Tame Impala’s Currents at Ten

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ONE of the best…

IN THIS PHOTO: Tame Impala in 2013/PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

albums of the 2010s turns ten on 17th July. Tame Impala’s third studio album, Currents, was released on 17th July, 2015. I wanted to look ahead to that anniversary and explore Currents. The live band is led by Kevin Parker. Parker produces and writes alone in the studio. Many consider Currents to be the best Tame Impala album to date. I am going to end with a couple of reviews of the album. Before getting there, I want to bring in a couple of interviews with Tame Impala. SPIN spoke with him in July 2015 around the release of Currents. One of the best albums of that year, it is still discussed today. I am not sure if there are any tenth anniversary plans:

“Not too bad,” Parker says, when asked how he’s feeling. “Not too good, either.” That noncommittal answer, broken up by a sigh and a chuckle, is exactly the kind of unassuming sincerity one would expect from a guy who opens his feverishly anticipated new album with an all-will-be-well mantra called “Let It Happen.” The nearly eight-minute “Let It Happen” — with its snapping percussion, fidgety synth transmissions, and symphonic second half — surfaced back in March, kickstarting the hype and promotional cycle for Currents, Tame Impala’s third album and the follow-up to 2012’s lauded Lonerism. Rightly hailed as one of the year’s best songs, the single also reintroduced the project as something far more omnivorous than it had been in the past.

When you were putting Currents together, did you feel extraordinary pressure because Lonerism was so well-received? Or was it the usual kind of anxiety that comes with any new project?

I think the only pressure I felt was the pressure I put on myself — just the pressure to live up to my own expectation of what I wanted the album to be, and because I was treading new territory with this album. It was a suck-it-and-see kind of situation. I was like, “Well, I’m going to go into this and give it my all.” So, I wanted to successfully do something new, and even just have the confidence to go through with it. Because that can happen a lot of the time: You have grand ideas and then you just end up backing out and go with the safe option.

Did you set any specific rules or goals for yourself with the new record?

I think — and this is going to come across as extremely cliché [laughs] — the only rule was to make an attempt to abandon the rules that I’ve set up in the past. [They weren’t] like conscious rules, or anything, but just boundaries that I’d put up for myself.

What kinds of boundaries?

Things like not using drum machines, not using certain effects that in the past I would have considered cheesy or musically taboo — but only from me at my most snobby, musically and intellectually snobby. Because the other part of me — I love all music that makes you feel good. All pop music. Well, not all pop music, I shouldn’t say that.

There are parts of me that would just make instantly gratifying music, and a part of me that is dedicated to making music with depth, something you can sink your teeth into, something that has layers and you can explore the dimensions of. There’s always those two sides battling it out — or getting along, if they want.

Your vocals are much higher up in the mix here than in the past — they’re not buried under as much reverb or effects. What was the impulse behind that? Was it for the sake of doing something different, or did you specifically want people to understand the lyrics on this record?

I put so much time into the lyrics and I feel like I bare my soul a little bit more with each album. With each album, I get more and more proud of my lyrics, of what I’m able to break off of myself and put into a song. And with the last album I was really proud of the lyrics; I wanted people to get the message of each song, but it so happened that I had a million other parts of the mix that I wanted to squeeze in there as well.

I guess I was a little disappointed in myself for how difficult it was to extract meaning from the songs by listening to it — which is why the lyrics were printed in the sleeve. I felt like you could still kind of understand what I was saying. I basically gave them a fighting chance by putting the lyrics in the booklet. And this album, for me, the message of the music is just as strong as the music itself. They’re basically hand-in-hand, whereas in the past, I think I started out making music with vocals just being treated as another instrument.

I am going to come to a fifth anniversary feature from NME. Talking with Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker about a hugely important album. One that is influencing artists to this day. I do hope that there are new features and investigations of Currents closer to 17th July:

“Released on July 17, 2015, the 13-track record was a revelation. The trippy fusion of rock, electronica, pop and disco took this once-introverted stoner dude from Perth into a worldwide festival headliner. His previous releases, 2010’s ‘Innerspeaker’ and 2012’s follow-up ‘Lonerism’, are both now considered modern-day psych-rock classics, but ridden with anxiety-ridden, insular listens. ‘Currents’ couldn’t be more different.

Not only is ‘Currents’ Parker’s most-successful and best album to date, but one of the decade’s most influential. It landed Parker his first Number One album in his native Australia, and he turned the heads of Kanye West, Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky and Lady Gaga – all of whom he’s now collaborated with. It’s so good, in fact, that Rihanna closed her 2016 album ‘Anti’ with a cover of cosmic-R&B banger ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’ and changed almost nothing except swapping Parker’s vocals out for her own.

Half a decade on, it remains a spectacular listen and sees Parker fully embracing his love of rave culture and classic pop. Take the ‘70s strut on ‘The Less I Know The Better’, or The Chemical Brothers-indebted ravedelica on ‘Let It Happen’ as proof of his emboldened creativity. Those tracks are complemented by bewitching instrumental interludes (‘Gossip’), sultry slow-jams (‘I’m A Man’), psych-surf-pop (‘Disciples).

When NME calls him to celebrate the fifth anniversary, Kevin Parker in a chipper mood. He’s tinkering with a few projects, and when it comes to corona-induced lockdown he’s mainly a “glass half-full” kinda guy. ‘The Slow Rush’, his fourth album and follow-up to ‘Currents’, was released in February 2020, and he managed to play four live shows before the tour was pulled due to safety concerns around COVID-19. As the world takes a breather, Parker is able to do the same and reflect on his past.

“The longer it’s been since ‘Currents’, the more it becomes an enjoyable and nostalgic experience,” he says. “Five years feels this sweet spot where I can really enjoy it. When I look back at that time, I get a snapshot of who I was, what I was feeling and what I was going through. I can see myself so clearly when I listen to it.”

So who was Kevin Parker when he made that album? He’d been on the road since 2010 in support of his two-released albums, gradually working his way up festival bills and bigger crowds. But the latter’s willingness to dabble with slinky R&B (‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’) and tub-thumping rock (‘Elephant’) spawned support slots with Arctic Monkeys and critical acclaim. NME named his second album, ‘Lonerism’, as its Album of The Year in 2012.

Still, it’s an anxious listen. The sound of an introverted genius who loved the craft of making music, but less so with the world at large being interested. So how did we end up with bombastic party album like ‘Currents’?

“When we started touring, the outside world kind of intimidated me,” he says. That shit just terrified me. The anxieties and self-doubt on ‘Lonerism’ – both thematically and musically – was something inside of me that I just had to get out and with that album I felt like I’d fully flushed that side out of me. With ‘Currents’, I had this burst of confidence. I decided that I wanted to make weird pop music, and I wasn’t afraid to make pop music and stand behind it. I just wanted to make silky disco-pop and anyone who says that they don’t like that kind of music is missing out.”

Parker credits that mindset shift on a few reasons. He says that the perception of pop as “profit-driven” by music snobs had largely been eradicated. “I think people have realised that it’s not that clear cut. Just because someone who makes something that is alternative-sounding or just isn’t pop, doesn’t mean that they are any more intelligent than someone who makes pop”.

I will finish off with a couple of reviews for Currents. Pitchfork noted a jump forward for Kevin Parker as a producer, composer, writer and vocalist, they salute someone with almost superhuman powers who released an album unlike anything else released in 2015. Ten years later and Tame Impala’s third studio album still sounds hugely accomplished and forward-thinking:

“Currents is the result of many structural changes, most of which exchange maximalist, hallucinatory swirl for intricacy, clean lines. As we knew from "Elephant", the song that Parker sheepishly admitted "[paid] for half my house," Parker is good at writing catchy, simple guitar riffs. But he’s also somehow the best and most underrated rock bassist of the 21st century, and it’s not even close on either front. The near total absence of guitars means there is nothing remotely like "Elephant" here. But this allows the bass to serve as every song’s melodic chassis as well as the engine and the wheels: "The Moment" actually shuffles along to the same beat as "Elephant", though it's a schaffel rather than a trunk-swinging plod, its effervescent lope and pearly synths instantly recalling "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" or even Gwen Stefani and Akon's "The Sweet Escape". "The Less I Know the Better" merges Thriller's nocturnal, hard funk with the toxic paranoia of Bad.

And make no mistake, Parker is writing pop songs here, and doing them justice. During the lead-up to Lonerism, he claimed he wrote an entire album of songs for Kylie Minogue and had to stress he wasn't joking. Perhaps appearing on one of 2015's biggest pop records inspired him. Either way, the external or internal pressure to keep his pop impulses at bay are gone.

Nearly every proper song on Currents is a revelatory statement of Parker’s range and increasing expertise as a producer, arranger, songwriter, and vocalist while maintaining the essence of Tame Impala: Parker is just as irreverent working in soul and R&B as he is with psych-rock. "Nangs" and "Gossip" function as production segues, pure displays of "How'd he do that?" synth modulation that prove Parker sees himself as a friendly rival of Jamie xx rather than someone who sees a strict DJ/"musician" binary. While the sitar-like frill on "New Person, Same Old Mistakes" has hints of shimmering Philly soul, there's also engagement with the dubby textures and repetitive melodies of purple R&B. And for good measure, there's a bridge where Parker makes a modern studio take sound like a forgotten, vinyl breakbeat and drops it mid-track like a jarring DJ transition—a trick most effectively used on Yeezus' "On Sight" and "I Am a God".

While Parker will never not sound like John Lennon, this time, he imagines a fascinating alternate history where the most famous Beatle forsakes marriage and the avant-garde for "Soul Train" and Studio 54. On Innerspeaker, Parker's melodies were effectively smudged with reverb and layering—once drawn with charcoal, now they're etched with exacto knives. As a result, the singles on Currents could be covered by anyone, and Parker has advanced to the point where he can write and sing an immaculate choral melody on "'Cause I'm a Man" and have it sound like a soul standard.

"'Cause I'm a Man" also puts Parker's personal life front and center in a new way. The chorus ("I'm a man, woman/ Don't always think before I do") finds him in league with Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear and My Morning Jacket's The Waterfall, taking an unsparing and often unflattering look at masculinity and romance, examining what qualifies as biological instinct and what qualifies as mere rationalization for wanting to fuck around and/or be left alone.

The emotional power of Currents comes from its willingness to accept that relationships will expose an introvert's every character defect. Parker's lopsided inventory is revealed on "Eventually", which exposes the false altruism often used to justify "it's not you, it's me." The structure of the chorus ("But I know that I'll be happier/ And I know you will, too/ Eventually") makes it plain that it's always about me first. And even if Parker honestly wishes eventual happiness for "you," he wants it to arrive on his schedule. On "The Less I Know the Better", he calls out an ex's new lover by name and plots his empty revenge (his "Heather" to her "Trevor"). By the next song ("Past Life"), Parker passes her on the street and considers giving her a call not because he cares or wants to get back together, just because he can. He fools himself into thinking a new routine of picking up dry cleaning and walking around the block, which he enumerates in a mumbled, pitched-down monologue, constitutes a new existence, but it's all part of the same continuum”.

I am going to end with a review from The Quietus. Most of the reviews for Currents were (rightly) positive. I don’t think I was too aware of Tame Impala before 2015. Maybe BBC Radio 6 Music introduced me to him/them. Ten years after the third studio album, Tame Impala is still going strong:

“Currents is not, I’d guess, a title simply plucked from the ether. It describes the album just so. It is a series of songs in which you immerse yourself, not to be engulfed and swept headlong this way and that, but to be borne along gently, as if gliding in a giant inner tube on bright sunlit streams fed by a deep and distant well of melancholy. It is sparkling and wistful, and it’s quite lovely.

That, at any rate, is how it feels, which is the first thing, always. The next thing is how it sounds, and why. On Currents, Tame Impala show themselves entirely in command of a recognisable set of sources, and able to fashion them into a something at once familiar yet fresh – in the way that, for instance, LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip have done. (Indeed, it is hard to think of a spirit more kindred to Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, who writes and records as a soloist then tours at the head of a band, than LCD’s James Murphy.)

What may surprise you – it did me – is that this isn’t just an analogy about method. This time, Tame Impala share some of those bands’ sources. Where LCD and Hot Chip stretched back only a little bit further than early 80s synth-pop, Tame Impala have now stretched forward to it – and even taken in new wave on the way, if ‘Disciples’ is anything to go by. On Currents, the percussion in particular owes a great deal to that era, as do the woozy analogue synth sounds. It’s still a record with its roots in the 60s, just one whose creators saw no reason to keep its branches there too. At times, not least at the start of ‘Past Life’ – which then transforms into a monologue about lost love, and the triumph (or perhaps disaster) of hope over experience – I wonder if Parker has been listening to ‘Steve McQueen’ by Prefab Sprout. Perhaps he’s sought to capture that same swirling, dense, emotive prettiness which became inseparable from its wondrous songs.

Everything on Currents evokes something without ever pastiching that thing, or even settling directly upon it. The point of music is never to provide an object lesson in anything – it is to be experienced, heard and felt – but all the same, Currents does provide one, in how to be at once retrospectively inspired and progressively minded. ‘The Less I Know The Better’ is funky disco-rock, but you won’t often hear it so sweetly haunted as here. In ‘The Moment’ you find yourself listening to a Tears For Fears record, and ‘Yes I’m Changing’ might briefly be The Cars. Then the banks of the stream widen, the vista branches outward, and again you’re floating and basking in that uncanny place you simultaneously know and don’t know. The dream that’s not a dream, but certainly isn’t the ordinary world either. There are many ways to effect the psychedelic; this is just one, and a calmer, balmier, more dulcet mode than most of the others. You might say Parker has a talent for shaping bubblegum into beguiling fractals. Sod it, I will say it. He does.

Throughout, Parker treats his high, frail, fluting countertenor as an instrument in itself, which of course it is. He weaves it through the songs as he might do a keyboard or guitar pattern, all phase and effects, an aromatic smoke ring of a voice; with the curious result that it seems to stem directly from the heart, far more than it might were it unadorned and naked”.

On 17th July, the incredible Currents turns ten. One of the finest albums of the 2010s, it charted high in the best of 2015 polls by critics. Some since have included it among the very best albums ever. Ten years after its release, and you can feel its influence on the contemporary music scene. So many new artists influenced heavily by Kevin Parker’s supreme talent. For anyone who has not heard Currents, do go and put it on. It truly is…  

A remarkable release.

FEATURE: Needle Drop: Why Is Music So Underused When It Comes to Creating Memorable Cinematic Moments?

FEATURE:

 

 

Needle Drop

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

Why Is Music So Underused When It Comes to Creating Memorable Cinematic Moments?

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MAYBE it is because…

PHOTO CREDIT: Luis Quintero/Pexels

music clearance is so expensive and hard to get, cinema is not as synonymous with its big musical moments as it used to be. There is this great thing in films where you get needle drops. Songs perfectly deployed at great moments. Music very much scoring some incredible scenes. I have discussed this before. I am probably thinking more about title sequences. Over the past decade or so, how many truly memorable title scenes have there been? Ones where music is very much at the core? So many films do not take the time to craft something ambitious and distinct. In terms of music in general, obviously it is used in film and you get great soundtracks. Scenes that are soundtracked by incredible songs. However, there were periods in cinema where music was much more integral. Think of some of the best films ever and how they use music. It is tricky getting music cleared and it can take up a lot of budget. However, I think been thinking about the best opening sequences and credits ever are largely in the past. Very few films from the past decade or so make the list and particular use music powerfully when opening a film. I really don’t think it is the case that every song would cost a lot of money to put on the screen. I have been thinking of some different scenarios. I have pitched before a dazzling opening scene of a film set in the late-Disco era. One where we’d open on a dazzling dance sequence set in New York that has this fusion of Disco tracks and songs from the likes of ABBA and Fleetwood Mac. It would be this colourful, inclusive and dazzling opening that, whilst complicated and maybe expensive to stage, would use music wonderfully and effectively.

I have also been thinking of an opening sequence to a film set to Nightmare on Wax’s Les Nuit. Something set at night that immerses us in a cityscape and the sleepiness and quiet. Something distinct because of the way it is shot and the techniques used, it would rely on the power of that song. Another would be a stark and frank opening credit where we see a cycle of domestic abuse behind closed doors, scored by The Temptations’ Get Ready. That juxtaposition in terms of the mood of the song and the scenes playing out. It would be shocking and hopefully rank alongside the best opening credits in terms of its power. Another that would build an organic city soundtrack. Sounds of the streets, building into a crescendo in those one-track trip of a city. The sound layers would then disappear one by one until it is quiet. Another sequence, which I have discussed before, set to an original song that takes influence from director Michel Gondry. Ideas for films and opening credits based on music. How these particular tracks and sounds would elevate the cinema. How much is hugely powerful when it comes to provoking imagination and ambition. I do not see it much with modern films. The art of the iconic opening credits long gone. Maybe fewer standout cinema moments where music is key. I do wonder what is causing this and whether music is as important. Reviews of films not really picking up on scenes where music and cinema perfectly intertwined.

Maybe T.V. is more effective and prolific when it comes to marrying music and visuals. I can’t recall the last film I saw when there was a perfect needle drop or even a decent opening sequence. Films so keen just to get down to things and, if they do spend time with the opening credits, it is so ordinary and boring. I don’t buy that there is very little budget to push things. Like an album, you need to hook people from the opening track. If you start off with a very boring or unengaging song then the attention span for the rest of the album will probably wane. I feel the same relates to film. Music can be so instrumental (no pun intended) when it comes to crafting and birthing majestic and timeless film scenes. As I mentioned, I have ideas for films and opening credits because of the music. The visuals form around them. The entire film can then grow from there. A single song can project scenes, characters and inspire an entire film. I am thinking of films in recent memory where we associate a scene with a particular song. Maybe the use of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor from Saltburn. Apart from that, I am really reaching to think of examples where music has realty helped define a scene. I don’t know whether music is too difficult to clear or it is hard to pair a song with a scene to create that brilliant cinematic moment. I feel music is undervalued and underused. Perhaps there are too many obstacles and too much cost involved. However, there has been a distinct absence of perfect music-cinema occasions that rank alongside the best ever. Especially the all-time best credit sequences. I hope that this is not going to the case for the future. The power of music in cinema has been established and is clear. I hope that more filmmakers…

DROP the needle.

FEATURE: Man’s Best Friend? A Double Standard and Sexism in Music That Needs to End

FEATURE:

 

 

Man’s Best Friend?

A Double Standard and Sexism in Music That Needs to End

__________

EVEN though she is…

only twenty-six, Sabrina Carpenter is gearing up to release her seventh studio album. Her first album, 2015’s Eyes Wide Open, was released when she was a teenager. Last year’s Short n' Sweet was one of the best-received albums of 2024. Coming so soon after that album is Man’s Best Friend. That is due for release on 29th August. Unfortunately, rather than people celebrate that and focus on the music, there has been more attention on the album cover. With Carpenter on all fours like a dog – hence the album’s title, I guess – and wearing a collar, you see a man out of frame grabbing her hair. It is tongue-in-cheek and provocative but also an image from an artist who is very much in control. A backlash was created. Many saying it pandered to the male gaze and was setting a bad example. I am going to take from Wikipedia, and their collation of reaction to Sabrina Carpenter’’s cover for Man’s Best Friend:

“Glasgow Women's Aid, a charity providing support for victims of domestic abuse, called it "regressive" and "pandering to the male gaze and [promotion of] misogynistic stereotypes" with "an element of violence and control". Kuba Shand-Baptiste of The i Paper wrote: "At best, Carpenter's cover is a bad example of satire. It's titillating to those who do believe women are inferior

Others saw the cover as satire—a way to challenge "misogynistic expectations of women" and initiate a conversation about women's sexual desires. Adrian Horton of The Guardian thought that Carpenter was "clearly working in the Madonna tradition of sexual provocation for provocation's sake, poking fun at tropes and people's prudishness with an alluring frankness." Dominique Sisley of Dazed wrote: "The idea that one image has that much influence, in an internet full of hardcore pornography, where men can now freely make deepfakes or use AI prompts to create a whole world of horrors, seems a bit delusional." Jessica Clark of Mamamia thought that the album's cover and title worked together to imply a statement on the derogatory use of "bitch" in popular culture, adding: "She's not reinforcing objectification, but rather skewering it [...] It's one huge joke and [she] isn't the punchline, but rather the one delivering it." Helen Coffey of The Independent believed that the cover's detractors "know literally nothing about Carpenter, her music or her brand." Emma Specter of Vogue called the controversy the result of a "depressingly puritanical society"

In reality, the cover is perfectly fine and inoffensive. It is satire and funny. People clutching their pearls and being outraged. It is not regressive or anti-feminist. There are articles like this, that argue how the album cover is unhelpful when it comes to women’s rights. How abuse and assaults against women in the media right now – including Cassie Ventura testifying against Diddy – are almost being mocked. How it isn’t subversive or funny. Sabrina Carpenter is not trying to disrespect or make light of women who have been abused by men. This article from The Guardian has a different take:

“On TikTok, the image has folded easily into one-woman explainers on how the cover is actually the opposite of empowering, or how the furore encapsulates the context-less, ahistorical, flattened discourse that is everything wrong with modern society, etc. (For what it’s worth, there’s also a semi-convincing theory that Carpenter will eventually reveal a larger image in which she also plays the man in the suit.) A women’s aid group for victims of domestic abuse in Glasgow went as far as calling it, absurdly, “a throwback to tired tropes that reduce women to pets, props, and possessions and promote an element of violence and control”.

In short, the discomfort is palpable, if predictable. Though female sexuality is de rigueur in pop music, we are still not used to seeing pop stars in control of their own sexuality, let alone framing themselves as the submissive. Carpenter on all fours rubs against the prevailing rhetoric of female sexual empowerment – “be on top”, “have sex like a man”, “call the shots”. Fuck, not be fucked. Dominance as the only acceptable mode, submission for sexual pleasure as inherent weakness. To be submissive and strong at once is to break some brains, the idiosyncrasies and confidence of one woman’s sexual performance inflaming the chronic poster’s allergy to fun, as well as the internet’s incentive for black-and-white thinking.

Carpenter, unapologetically girly and often bedecked in lace lingerie, knows exactly what she’s doing. With only an album cover and one song to go by, it’s still too soon to see the full scope of her tongue-in-cheek satire, but the outline of riffing and reclaiming male fantasies is clear. The Rolling Stone shoot – floral, pastoral, fairy-esque – invokes the imagery of tradwives, the third rail of female empowerment discourse online. Such women sell a fantasy of chicken eggs, meals from scratch, barefoot and pregnant and always in service of the man. They also sell sex, albeit quietly, as baby-making machines for the head of the family. Carpenter in gingham lingerie, posing with a deer in the woods surrounded by flowers, makes the subtext literal: this is a male fantasy for men who do not like women’s independence, and she is owning it.

The thing missing from all this commentary is a sense of fun, which Carpenter appears to be having in spades. Like Addison Rae, a fellow recent breakout who frequently performs in a bra and underwear, Carpenter’s pop performance relishes the messiness, sexual exploration and growth of one’s mid-20s via refreshingly catchy tunes. Rae’s brown-eyed, Louisiana girl-next-door perkiness, athletic dancing and pure pop instincts recall a young Britney Spears – except, crucially, she is 24, and has been pursuing mega-fame on her own terms for years on TikTok. Both she and Carpenter exist at the young adult nexus of self-awareness and youthful abandon, their frank sexuality both cheeky and serious”.

The bottom line is that the furore created by the album cover has overshadowed the music on Man’s Best Friend. The truth is that male artists have released album covers like this and it is sexist and regressive. They have not been taken to task. I think about the mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap, and the album cover for Smell the Glove. That famous scene where the band try to defend using this sexist and offensive image. Unironically, men in music have depicted women in derogatory ways. They have been reduced to objects for decades. Sabrina Carpenter is definitely not adding to that narrative. She is a feminist and someone who supports other women. Someone too who would never create an image that disrespects any women who are victims of abuse. She has come out to say how little she cares about the negative reaction. This article argues how there should be nuance around the debate. How the backlash has been an overreaction but, rather than get outraged, there are things to discuss when it comes to images like Sabrina Carpenter’s album cover. It is clear that there is more discussion to be had. More campaigning about how women are treated in society and how they are still objectified. That there is this widespread misogyny. However, as I have mentioned, men in music have shared videos and created album covers that are genuinely offensive and regressive and not been held to account. What comes out of this is how there is a double standard. Women much more likely to be attacked than men. This misogyny that means women are judged and abused if they do something seen as controversial or provocative. I am thinking about how Chris Brown, currently accused over an alleged nightclub bottle attack, is selling out arenas. Whilst Sabrina Carpenter is being lambasted and judged for a single image, a man who has a history of assault and is a known abuser is allowed to roam free and his music is widely available! Where are the discussions around Brown and whether he should be allowed to tour?!

His fans – deluded and insane as they – pay money to see Brown and fill up stadiums. It is not the only example of a man in music being celebrated and profiting following abuse, violence and all manner of disgusting things. Chris Brown will no doubt get his own way and continue on with his career. Women do not have that luxury. If roles are reversed and a woman was in court accused of assault then they would be attacked and harassed. Their career would be in jeopardy and they would find it hard to make a living. There are very few examples of women being accused because, as we know, violence and sexual assault is largely a male issue. However, there has been more oxygen judging Sabrina Carpenter and an image – that hurts nobody and has been misinterpreted by many – than there has been about Chris Brown touring. This sort of double standard is misogyny. I know that Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend cover has nuance and there is more conversation to be had. However, she has been vilified by many and if a male artist released something like this then it would be seen as edgy or risqué. Have we progressed much since bleak decades past when it comes to sexism and the way women are judged on different standards?! Look around the music industry and those doing the greatest harm are men. High-profile artists in jail for or on trial for sexual assault, trafficking and abuse. Regular reports of another man being accused of God knows what, whilst women are contributing the greatest music and changing the industry for the better! However, if you are a popular male artist then you can get away with a lot before your career is in actually jeopardy. Women are walking on eggshells all the time. If they say anything slightly controversial or create an album cover that might offend some then the heat on them is immense. This needs to end. Call it a double standard or misogyny, there need to be change. As always, women in music need to be treated with…

GREATER respect.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Revisited: Joy Crookes

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight: Revisited

Joy Crookes

__________

HERE is an artist…

who I spotlighted in 2020. Joy Crookes’s new album, Juniper, is released on 26th September. It is one that I would urge people to pre-order. One of out very best artists, she is someone I have been a fan of for years now. Having recently played Glastonbury, Crookes has a string of tour dates later in the year. It is an exciting time for her. I wanted to revisit her music, as she is someone who has been on my mind since I spotlighted her five years ago. An amazing talent that is going to be releasing music for many years to come, I will bring in some interviews with Joy Crookes. Her debut album, Skin, was released in 2021. It is one that I remember very fondly. I am looking forward to seeing what Crookes gives us with Juniper. I want to start with some extracts from a 2023 interview with Culted. The interview was not in promotion of her music as such: “Joy has recently been named an Original as part of adidas’ latest campaign, celebrating the Samba, Superstar and Gazelle”:

“I know you’re working on the second album, can you talk me through a typical day working on the project?

I wake up, I feel like I’m on top of the world. By three o’clock, I haven’t eaten, and I’m having an existential crisis. By four o’clock, I’m doing the best backing vocals that I’ve ever done. By five o’clock, I want to redo the lead vocal. By six o’clock, I wonder if it is going to be any good overall and by seven o’clock my stomach is rumbling and my mum’s called me three times and I’ve missed every single call, and I want to go home and cry. By eight o’clock I’m like, “this is f*cking fire.”

You’ve said in previous interviews that you’re an overthinker. How does Joy Crookes switch off?

I switch off by going to the pub. I switch off by engaging in very intense situations like watching football or supporting Arsenal, which is a great way to switch off from music. I also disengage by weirdly just listening to music for no other purpose than just enjoying it.

I also switch off by sleeping… sometimes. Sometimes, everything follows me into my dreams.

You’ve previously said that your favourite subject at school was history. What is a bit of history that you think the world should know more about and why?

I think people should know more about colonisation. There was a survey, and I think a really large percentage of people thought that colonisation was a positive thing because they had obviously been ill-educated. I actually don’t think ignorance is necessarily an evil thing if you live in a country where the curriculum doesn’t necessarily tell you all of the details.

British colonial history and imperial history is probably something that [people need to know more about], as someone who grew up in Britain and is from two immigrant backgrounds that have been colonised or have been the product of decolonisation, I would probably say that. And also, it is really important to understand how decolonisation then played a huge part in subculture.

It’s horrible and tragic and deeply gory, and there are always going to be beautiful things that are born from places of pain. You can take British history and relate it to some of the more positive moments in British culture and be the influence that the Windrush generation had on Britain, or be the influence that South Asian people had on Britain, Tower Hamlets – like it just contextualises the melting pot that is London I think.

Does history inspire you musically?

Definitely, history also inspires my style, I think I’ve always been super obsessed with subculture.

I had a vintage dress phase and learnt about Kate Nash when I was 12, and the Northern Soul big dress type of thing.

I really got into the French Liberation phase when I was 16 and moved out. I just wanted to be in trousers and loafers and be a very serious and very 1950s French woman but Brown type beat.

And then the beauty and world around Audrey Hepburn, the pathetic fallacy of Hollywood and then Mod culture and the way that girls would dress during that period of time. And then Caribbean women in the 1970s.

I’ve always associated fashion with culture and history, and I don’t think people remember that history is such a huge part of the reason why people dress the way they do. That’s probably why I like Wales Bonner and adidas because it feels really reminiscent of a time and culture in Britain.

Now, just some quickfire ones. What is your top song to Lime Bike through London to?

I do love “Mercy Mercy Me” by Marvin Gaye, when the sun comes down, that’s such a good song to Lime Bike to. But also “Loving You” by Kiki Gyan.

Go to food when working long hours recording?

My Mum’s house.

Finally – what does the future look like for Joy Crookes?

I’d like to make music less sh*t. That’s it. There’s no explanation. That’s all I can give you right now”.

I will actually end with a live review. There are not a lot of particularly recent interviews with Joy Crookes. There will be more closer to the release of Juniper in September. I want to bring in an interview from May from GLAMOUR. They spoke to Joy Crookes as part of their Sound of Summer issue. An artist fighting for authenticity who unapologetically and unashamedly wants to be herself, it is an interesting interview. The South London artist explains how why there has been a fairly long gap between albums:

“So where has one of Britain’s rising stars been for the last four years? “I wasn’t very well,” she says. “I basically had a mental health crisis between albums.” While we are waiting for staff to deliver us some cigarettes to compliment the cocktails, I ask her about some lyrics that hit me particularly hard: “‘Who am I when I’m out of your sight? I want to see how we look apart” on Somebody to You. “It’s such an important question for women trying to define their full adult selves outside of relationships that no longer serve them,” I say. Though the lyrics sound like they could be spoken by someone after a bad romantic break-up (“that’s intentional”, she says) it actually hints at a familial relationship that had broken down in the interim and caused Joy to rethink what her life looks like without her reliance on that relative. In that vacuum, she did a lot of soul searching. “It’s funny you picked that line out of all of the lines on the album, because it’s kind of what the whole thing is about,” she explains.

From the first track on her sophomore album, Juniper [released on September 26th] it’s evident that her four-year hiatus has been about self-growth. It shows on the record: how she chronicles the uncertainty and chaos of her mid-twenties; the vulnerability and soulful inflections betraying the depth of pain she’s experienced from one album to the other. Brave hits you in the chest, as she stretches her range to a falsetto at its crescendo to announce her step towards a new horizon: “I’m so sick, I’m so tired I can’t keep losing my mind / I want to be brave, I want to be in love / It’s time I stopped running away. I should stay.” Any avoidantly attached listener will resonate with the track’s sentiment. “It’s about being so scared of love and truly being seen and knowing you have to do it anyway,” she says. “I reached flow state and wrote that in one day, and it was recorded in basically one take with a handheld mic on a sofa. It’s a song where I feel like I am transported back in time”.

While Skin was a tour through the cultures and spaces Joy inhabits, her new album is fittingly named to exhibit Joy’s introspection and personal metamorphosis. Even though this album is a chronicle of her lowest points, she’s emerged out of that dark period wise enough to help others navigate the industry. “I want to start an agency for the protection of musical artists. Something that feels like it gives guidance, or is almost a union, because I spend a lot of my time on the phone to people in crisis because of the way this industry really plays with you,” she says. Over the years, she’s found her peers – from Miso Extra to Holly Harby Dweller – to be an invaluable resource for uplift and support. “Me and Jai Paul will just sit in my car talking about how weird the world is right now and eating McFlurries,” she laughs.

And so Joy begins to gear up for a summer preparing for the release of her sophomore album in September, which is the sum of her artistic and personal growth. She will be able to start touring her new material in the summer – notably at Glastonbury, which, in her opinion, is “the best festival in the world” because “it makes you feel like a community of people who are all free, just for a few days”. And therein lies Joy’s mission statement for her next album, and likely for the remainder of her twenties: freedom: “The most important messaging for this era for me musically is that I just want to be me. More comfortable with myself, unapologetic, and unashamed”.

I am going to end with a reviews from The Guardian from earlier in the year. One of the things that annoy me when people talking about artists is the word ‘comeback’ or ‘return’. Like they have been in the wilderness lost for decades! In many cases, the artist has been working on new material or taking time off. It seems somewhat judgemental to say they have returned. Like this is a big comeback. That pressure that artists have to produce material and tour all the time and, if they do not do that, when they do release music then it is this dramatic return from the darkness. Joy Crookes has always been present and out there. The fact is that she needed a bit of time to put together her second album:

“These songs, which largely fit the mould of the tracks on Skin with a little added pop oomph (sturdier and simpler beats, big choruses), are frequently about top-of-mind topics for young people: anxiety, beauty ideals, toxic exes, reliable besties. I sometimes found myself wishing for more bullish defiance or abject sadness, coming from a voice so brassy and rich, but there is no denying that Crookes can write a killer hook. Never more so, perhaps, than on the as-yet-untitled song whose hook goes “You’re a killer”, a bouncy, surely viral-ready track that Crookes introduces as one of her favourites of the new batch. Slick and energetic, it’s a highlight of the evening.

Another new song, Crookes explains, is about “unrealistic beauty standards, and how they’re kicking all our arses”. The track centres on a fictional character called Carmen, who represents an impossible ideal; with its halting piano intro, it brings to mind Frank Ocean’s Super Rich Kids and the opening bars of Bennie and the Jets. Later, she plays a song about anxiety and the queasy feeling of adrenaline, inspired in part by the scene in Pulp Fiction when Uma Thurman’s character is given an injection to the heart. (“This song is a fuck off to mental health issues,” she quips.) Although Crookes warns the crowd early in the night that she has “bubble guts” because she hasn’t performed for so long, her voice sounds pitch-perfect, resonant and full in a room that – likely not built for pop concerts – doesn’t always sound particularly great. She’s backed by a crack four-piece band whose deft, warm style is far more appealing than that of the unsubtle hired hands usually drafted in to perform with rising stars like her.

The most poignant moment comes when, bathed in blue light, she addresses the reasons behind tonight’s show. “I really wish we weren’t raising money for children that are in conflict and wars,” she tells the audience. As she dedicates a new piano ballad, Forever, to just such children, it feels like a perfect combination of pop and politics”.

With Juniper out in September, there will be a lot more eyes and ears on Joy Crookes. A truly magnificent artist that everyone needs to follow, it has been great revisiting her music. I am excited to see where she goes from here. There is no doubt that Joy Crookes is going to…

GO very far.

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Follow Joy Crookes

PHOTO CREDIT: Ruth Ossai for GLAMOUR

Official:

https://www.joycrookes.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/joycrookes

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@joycrookesmusic

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XMyhVhi5ZN2pi0Qwi1zXS?si=b1VRqNYjQ1GqacVDV41G-Q

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/joyohjoyoh