FEATURE: Rebel Grrrl: The Iconic Feminist Punk Idol Kathleen Hanna

FEATURE:

 

 

Rebel Grrrl

 

The Iconic Feminist Punk Idol Kathleen Hanna

__________

LEADING a group who have…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kathleen Hanna (front) on stage with Bikini Kill (Tobi Vail (drums) and Kathi Wilcox (bass) in 2019/PHOTO CREDIT: Debi Del Grande

had a huge influence and no doubt inspire modern artists like Charli XCX and The Linda Lindas, I did want to talk about Bikini Kill and the extraordinary Kathleen Hanna. Apologies if this seems a little random in terms of the information and structure. Rather than simply talk about some new news that is exciting and worth exploring, I wanted to expand a little. The news is, as Pitchfork explain, related to Kathleen Hanna releasing her new memoir, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk:

“Kathleen Hanna has announced a U.S. book tour in support of her new memoir, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk. The book is out May 14 via Ecco, and the tour begins in Brooklyn on the same day as the memoir’s release. The Seattle date on May 22 will be streamed live, and a portion of all ticket sales will be donated to the nonprofit Peace Sisters. Find the book tour dates below.

Just yesterday, Bikini Kill announced a benefit show for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. It takes place at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, Washington, on January 27.

05-14 Brooklyn, NY - Greenlight Bookstore @ Kings Theatre

05-15 Washington, D.C. - Loyalty Bookstore @ Lincoln Theatre

05-16 Cincinnati, OH - Joseph-Beth Booksellers @ Mason High School

05-18 Chicago, IL - Women & Children First @ Hermann Hall

05-20 Los Angeles, CA - Book Soup @ First Congregational Church

05-21 San Francisco, CA - City Arts & Lectures @ The Sydney Goldstein Theater

05-22 Seattle, WA - Seattle Arts & Lectures @ Town Hall Seattle

05-23 Portland, OR - Powell’s Books @ Revolution Hall

05-28 Boston, MA - Brookline Booksmith @ The Wilbur Theatre

05-29 Philadelphia, PA - Uncle Bobbie’s @ WHYY Studio”.

For anyone who does not know about Kathleen Hanna and what she and Bikini Kill created and gave to the world, AllMusic provide some detail and depth. You can feel and see the legacy of what the band left and how, reformed and in this new phase, they will shape music and female artists coming through. I shall come to that reformation in a little bit:

“The point band of the early-'90s riot grrrl movement, Olympia, Washington's Bikini Kill exploded onto the male-dominated indie rock scene by fusing the visceral power of punk with the impassioned ideals of feminism. Calling for "Revolution Girl Style Now," the group's fiercely polemical and anthemic music helped give rise to a newly empowered generation of women in rock, presaging the dominance female artists would enjoy throughout the decade.

Bikini Kill formed in the late '80s at Olympia's liberal Evergreen College, where students Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, and Kathi Wilcox first teamed to publish a feminist fanzine, also dubbed Bikini Kill. Seeking to bring the publication's agenda to life, they decided to form a band, enlisting guitarist Billy Boredom (born William Karren) to round out the lineup. Led by singer/songwriter Hanna, a former stripper, the group laced its incendiary live performances with aggressive political stances that challenged the accepted hierarchy of the underground music community; slam dancers were forced to mosh at the fringes of the stage so that women could remain at the front of the crowd, for example, and female audience members were often invited to take control of the microphone to openly discuss issues of sexual abuse and misconduct.

In 1991, Bikini Kill issued their first recording, Revolution Girl Style Now, an independently distributed demo cassette. For their first official release, the quartet signed with the aggressively independent Olympia-based label Kill Rock Stars; the Bikini Kill EP, produced by Fugazi's Ian Mackaye, consisted largely of reworked versions of material from the first cassette. In 1992, the band issued Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, a split 12" released with the British group Huggy Bear's Our Troubled Youth on its flip side; a subsequent U.K. tour with Huggy Bear in early 1993 raised the visibility of the riot grrrl groundswell to unprecedented heights, and the movement became the focus of many media outlets on both sides of the Atlantic. When Bikini Kill returned to the U.S., they joined forces with Joan Jett, whom the band held up as an early paragon of riot grrrl aesthetics. Jett produced the group's next single, the bracing "New Radio"/"Rebel Girl," and Hanna returned the favor by co-writing the song "Spinster" for the Jett album Pure and Simple.

In 1994, Bikini Kill released Pussy Whipped; their most potent effort to date, it featured the songwriting emergence of both Vail and Wilcox, a trend continued on 1996's Reject All American. The group quietly disbanded in early 1998, and Vail, Wilcox, and Boredom went on to form the group the Frumpies, while Hanna released a solo project, Julie Ruin, before assembling the band Le Tigre in 1999. Hanna left Le Tigre in 2005, later revealing that she'd been struggling with Lyme disease. In 2010, Hanna had recovered sufficiently to launch a new band, featuring Kathi Wilcox, which they dubbed the Julie Ruin. The Punk Singer, a documentary on Hanna and her career from Bikini Kill to the Julie Ruin, opened in 2013, and in 2014 Hanna founded a new record label, Bikini Kill Records, devoted to reissuing the band's back catalog and associated projects”.

Bikini Kill were pioneers and an essential part of the Riot Grrrl movement. At a time when male bands were still being seen as essential Punk and Rock voices, Bikini Kill were essential alternative and progressive voices. They helped pave the way and affect change. Kathleen Hanna, as lead of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, was one of the most important and powerful voices of the 1990s. Her impact is still hugely strong today. Before moving on, I want to source Molly Cooper’s 2021 words for Mindless Mag:

“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard, but I think ‘oh bondage up yours!’” X-Ray Spex, 1977

The “best” punk bands: the Rolling Stones, the Clash, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols. All regarded as the greatest punk bands. All men. That’s what a group of college students in the US (United States) state of Washington thought in the 1990s. A group of people who came together against one thing: bigotry, and so began the revolutionary movement known as: Riot Grrrl.

"There was a lot of anger and self-mutilation. In a symbolic sense, women were cutting and destroying the established image of femininity, aggressively tearing it down." - Liz Naylor, manager of Huggy Bear.

Born out of necessity, the movement wasn’t “created”. It was forced under the boot of an oppressive

society. It was about empowering women, bringing notice to rape culture, and screaming loudly about homophobia. It brought people together who had been torn down by patriarchy.

Music was the root. It started with music, and that was its voice. Through the words of Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Heavens to Betsy, troops were rallied. That created a culture. A culture around music and DIY, around zines and activism. It was a revolution. The movement was more than its roots. It was society.

It was different. It was anger against what was dictated as normal, at what was “mainstream”. Riot Grrrl was not a conversation on legal obstacles or voting rights, it was pure rage. 

Grrls got s*** done.

They used everything they had. They used music and published their own manifestos and they weaponised their clothing.

How to dress to overthrow the patriarchy

“Stop always worrying about what you look like and what clothes you wear, 'cause in the end it's not important. What's important is friendship and being creative” Kathleen Hanna, frontwoman for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

With a subculture, comes a look. A fashion to go with values, but with the Riot Grrrl movement it was the very act of pushing against societal norms of femininity and consumerism that instead created a weapon: fashion itself.

There was no “Riot Grrrl” look.

The very idea of a specific “look”, went against the what the movement stood for. Grrrl’s didn’t have a style, they just expressed themselves, and how they were feeling.

But that didn’t mean fashion was completely void. Riot Grrrl’s used everything in their power, in their arsenal and that included fashion. More specifically how clothing made them feel.

In zines (small handmade publications handed out at shows which spread the movement) Grrrl’s wrote from their own experiences.

They wrote about the sexualisation of their bodies, and how the mainstream fashion industry relied on women being jealous of each other to sell their brands. There was an emphasis on self-expression, but also a move from reliance upon corporate industries and big brands in clothing.

Fashion to Riot Grrrl’s wasn’t just clothing, it was an attitude. It was the way clothes made you feel, and repercussions of male-dominated, female-focused industries. It was the use of clothing as policing of feminine bodies.

They wanted to dress how they wanted, it was as simple as that. Without the male gaze, without people telling them as feminists you “cannot dress sexy”.

It was gender expression. It was butch lesbians dressing without the risk of being attacked or called slurs. It was trans and non-binary people having a safe space at shows, to present their gender in any way they wished.

Riot Grrrl fashion is alive and well today 

The Riot Grrrl movement has had a resurgence of sorts, mainly due to online platforms like TikTok. The rising alternative subcultures of E-Girls and E-Boys have taken obvious inspiration from punk subcultures, like Riot Grrrl. The mixture of harsh blush and soft baby-dolls, with chunky black boots reminiscent of the mixture of femininity and resistance of Riot Grrrl’s. 

But it’s more than just clothing. As the original movement was, it’s a move from the male gaze. For people to control how they're perceived and to own their own sexualisation. The idea of girls and nonbinary people dressing how they choose to, it’s a political statement.

It’s a push for self-expression, and people making their own footprint in the world regardless of their oppression. It’s the girl on TikTok who made her prom dress from duct-tape. It’s punk and Riot Grrrl living on through them”.

Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk is a book that everyone needs to pick up. Recollections and memories from one of the leaders and most influential voices from the Riot Grrrl movement. The Los Angeles Times spoke to Kathleen Hanna about the return of Le Tigre. On the road with Bikini Kill at the time of the interview, it was a time of looking back and forward for the icon. I can only imagine how amazing it is bringing this fantastic and powerful music to a new generation:

“Never one known for her eagerness to submit to interviews, Kathleen Hanna was happy, she admitted on a recent afternoon, to be talking to anybody at all.

The veteran punk singer and activist had just completed a 10-day stint isolating in a Maryland hotel room after contracting COVID while on the road with Bikini Kill, the foundational riot grrrl band that galvanized a generation with its radical-feminist anthems — and famously shunned most media beyond underground fanzines — then broke up in 1997 before reuniting three years ago.

Now, with Hanna, 53, due to fly to Poland the next day for another string of Bikini Kill dates, the singer was on Zoom from her home in Pasadena to discuss a second comeback: that of Le Tigre, the sly electro-punk trio she formed in New York in 1998 with Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning (who was later replaced by JD Samson).

PHOTO CREDIT: Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times

“I’ve been so f—ing bored,” Hanna said with a laugh of her time in quarantine. “So, yeah — lovely to chat with you.”

This month Le Tigre will play its first show in over a decade as part of This Ain’t No Picnic, a two-day music festival set for Aug. 27 and 28 at Brookside at the Rose Bowl that will also feature LCD Soundsystem, the Strokes, Phoebe Bridgers and Beach House, among other acts.

A kind of bridge between New York’s electroclash and garage-revival scenes, Le Tigre layered fuzzy guitars and shouty vocals over chunky drum-machine beats in songs about queer visibility and institutional misogyny. The band, which released three LPs, wasn’t as impactful as Bikini Kill, whose classic “Rebel Girl” has been covered by both the Linda Lindas and Miley Cyrus. But it proved enduringly influential among DIY synth heads, and its pop smarts even led to a major-label deal for the group’s 2004 album, “This Island.”

Hanna, who’s married to Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz of the Beastie Boys and who recovered a few years ago from Lyme disease, talked about the band’s reunion, its legacy and touring in the age of COVID.

Why get Le Tigre back together?

Basically because I started playing with Bikini Kill again and was finally having fun singing. My health is so much better and my technical skills are way better. When I was playing with the Julie Ruin, which was the last project I did before getting back together with Bikini Kill, I was still really sick and kept having to cancel stuff. I was battling my illness to get onstage, and it just was not fun. It was a little bit of faking it. I remember playing a really bad show in Paris with Le Tigre. So now I’m like, I need to play Paris again and have it be a good show. It’s literally something that will keep me awake.

You’ve played — what? — thousands of shows in your life. But this one crummy gig sticks in your mind?

I’ve gone through a lot of permutations as a performer. When I first got into being onstage, a lot of it was: I didn’t get love as a child, and I was looking for love in all the wrong places. I wanted anonymous strangers to applaud me. That was the difference between Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. In Le Tigre it was about me outperforming myself rather than pleasing the audience. I wasn’t looking for them to validate me. I knew what I was doing was good. So when I say I need to go back to Paris and fix it, it’s not because I give a s— that Paris hates me. It’s that I know I didn’t do my best.

Say more about rediscovering the joy of singing.

With Bikini Kill at first I was like, There’s no way I can still sing like that — I’m too old. But then I got into the flow. We played the Greek Theatre [in April] and I felt like I was flying. All of the stuff that’s been pent up in me, it was like I was shaking all the demons out of my body. I feel like I just did a year of therapy from 10 shows.

IN THIS PHOTO: Le Tigre (L-R: JD Samson, Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman)/PHOTO CREDIT: Dusty Lombard/IFC Films

What have you learned about your old songs by going back to them?

They’re catchy! Why does everybody always say we’re activists, not musicians? These are real songs. I get them in my head when I’m not on tour — and not in a bad Spin Doctors way. What’s been coming up with me performing live again is how often our musicality gets diminished. Is that a sexist thing, or does it happen to all bands? I don’t see people talking about Tame Impala the same way they talk about my projects.

I mention Tame Impala because I was just in the car and I was trying to listen to the Beyoncé record and Spotify kept switching to this playlist of MGMT and Tame Impala — all the indie hits of the 2000s. And it was all men. The only women on the playlist were, like, the two women in Arcade Fire. So I started having a contest to see how long I could listen before I heard a woman’s voice. Then I was like, Wait, this is keeping me from listening to Beyoncé.

Talk about Le Tigre’s decision to leave Mr. Lady, a tiny indie, and sign to Universal. These days nobody has any anxiety about that kind of move, but people worried about it back then.

Mr. Lady was wonderful, they just weren’t equipped to deal with a band of our size. So eventually you get to the point where you’re paying for all your own recording because the label just doesn’t have the money to do it. My whole career I would earn money from one band, put anything I could aside, and then I’d spend it all on the next band. And then I’d end up broke. I married somebody with money, so it’s totally different now. But in Le Tigre, after I spent all my money on the first record, I was like, I can’t keep doing this — I can’t raise $8,000 to make another album, which is how much it cost, and then cross my fingers that I’m gonna get it back.

What do you think of “This Island” now?

A lot of people disliked it, but when I listen to it I’m really happy with it. I mean, not all of it. But there are great songs on there: “On the Verge,” “TKO.” We always considered ourselves a conceptual art band. And so part of the art of that record was: What happens when three f—ed-up feminists get on a major label?

So what happened?

I remember one meeting where we were like, “Are you guys gonna put any marketing money behind what we’re doing? Is that what happens?” We were newbies in terms of all that. And they were just like, “Well, we’ve decided to put our marketing money behind JoJo’s new record.” Not JoJo Siwa — JoJo who had that song where she was all, “Get out!” I was like, “Ooookaaaay.” But, I mean, we already knew. We were all in our 30s. The fact that a major label was even interested in three women who weren’t 18 was kind of amazing.

Do you think Le Tigre’s sense of humor will come across to a Gen Z audience?

Yeah, but I think even more than that, sincerity is back. That was one really big earmark of us: We could be funny and sarcastic, but we were also just trying to make something positive in a really negative landscape. Part of the reason we weren’t considered a New York band is maybe that we didn’t have the veneer of coolness. There’s all these books and films and whatever coming out about the New York sound, and we’re never mentioned. We’re always the mashed potatoes, and they’re the steak.

You’re talking about the early-2000s moment with the Strokes and LCD Soundsystem and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Which is weird, because James Murphy [of LCD Soundsystem], one of the first big things he ever did was a remix of [Le Tigre’s] “Deceptacon.” We were all hanging out. James stayed at our apartment and we spent time at his studio. We were breathing the same musical air. No one ever calls them Le Tigre for men, but we’re wannabe LCD Soundsystem feminists? That’s the placement it feels like we get.

Those other acts projected a very different image than Le Tigre.

We were f—ing dorks. We wore kooky costumes. We did dumb-ass dances. And we spoke directly in the mic to people. We weren’t trying to be a band of rock stars where people felt like we were a thousand miles away and they could never be us. We wanted people to see themselves in us. And I feel like people are receptive to that now because everything’s gotten so shiny and fake. People are going back to craft, people are going back to vinyl. We had a song where we labeled ourselves the New Sincerity, and now there’s articles coming out about the New Sincerity. 

When Bikini Kill reunited, it was impossible not to think about how relevant the band’s songs about sexual assault still felt. Is the same true for you of Le Tigre’s songs?

Definitely, which is horrifying.

Have you felt inspired to write new songs about what’s going on right now? “Don’t Say Gay,” the overturning of Roe v. Wade and so on.

I’m in another band that hasn’t recorded or played live yet, and I’m writing for them. But so much of my life now is taken up singing about political stuff. In Le Tigre and Bikini Kill we’re singing about the after-effects of rape and domestic violence. We’re singing about queer visibility and how sometimes the visibility feels invisible-izing, if that makes sense. Like, what happens when the visibility lets people think, Oh, it’s all solved? I know as a feminist, the more pictures of me there are and the more interviews I do that just get cut up to get clicks — it actually feels like I get smaller. That’s why I hate doing press”.

It is important that there is a new era for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. At a time where women are still underrepresented and there is this toxicity that still exists through the industry, the continued words and music from Kathleen Hanna is essential. One of the most important artists of her generation. There will be new interviews closer to the release date of her memoir. Before I wrap up, I want to quote from this interview from Monster Children. They spoke with a figurehead of the Riot Grrrl movement. Someone who owns Tees4Togo, a T-shirt company that works alongside Peace Sisters, a non-profit that sends girls to school in Togo, West Africa:

“After the long hiatus of Bikini Kill, what brought the band back together?

We got asked to play a song to open for The Raincoats, in New York, to celebrate a book that was written about them by Jenn Pelly. I was on the fence about it because I live in California. Kathi [Wilcox] called me and was like, 'Tobi [Vail] is going to be here and we're going to do something,’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to go all the way out there.’ I hung up the phone and was like oh my god, I am so stupid; this is an opportunity to hang out with two of the people I love most on the planet. When a band breaks up, there are always hard feelings and weirdness, but here is an opportunity for us to hang out and celebrate The Raincoats, a band that we all really love. I called back and was like sure, let’s do it.

The funny thing was I ended up being the one who really wanted to play together more because it was so much fun and awesome for us to be together. Not only just as musicians, but as friends and people who went through this really strange experience, which was Bikini Kill in the 90s. There were only three other people that went through that and to be together with two of them was pretty remarkable and something I wanted to repeat.

The tour originally started in 2019 but was postponed due to covid. Was doing Australia and New Zealand stops something that was planned then?  

That was a newer thing. Once the US shows were successful and fun, we realized, we wanted to keep going, and we were like, we want to go back to Australia. As a band, we have always had a fun time when we went to Australia, and it was always a really important bonding time for us. Getting to travel and see old friends in Melbourne. It kind of relieves the stress because we don’t have the same scene dynamics and stuff over there as we do at home.

You guys were brought out to Australia by Steve ‘Pav’ Pavlovic in the 90s, (whose collection makes up the Unpopular exhibition). Do you have any memories of working with him?

Steve let us stay at his apartment, and he said to us, ‘You can stay here but don’t go through my stuff, and don’t wear my bathing suit.’ We were just like, what kind of gross person is going to wear your bathing suit, like, who do you think we are? Then the second he closed the door, we took out his bathing suit, and we all put it on. We took polaroids of each other in his bathing suit, and we left them all over his apartment [laughs]. I think they are in the exhibition, and I want to go there, take a sharpie, and if they’re on a wall, write the context next to them. Because I think it looks like we were taking these cute, sexy polaroids in his bathing suit. But we weren’t. It was just a total joke that we left for him, and he just happened to keep the photos, so they ended up in the show.

Is the mandress going to make a comeback on the current tour?

I wish, but I sold the mandress at a garage sale when I moved from Olympia. I don’t know who has it. But I have seen it on the internet. Someone had one and was wearing it. I would love to buy one. It would be funny to surprise my band by wearing it [laughs]

What’s your take on Twin Peaks now?

I still haven’t watched it, so I really have no business criticizing it [laughs]. It’s the arrogance of youth. The only reason I didn’t like Twin Peaks was because these people in our apartment building had a Twin Peaks party every night, and they didn’t invite us because we were the weird feminists who they thought would criticize everything. So, I made a song that criticized it, just so I could fit in with the stereotype that I was the mean feminist. So, be careful what you wish for, neighbors. Then we went up on the roof and unplugged their cables so they couldn’t watch it [laughs]. We were such jerks. I love that about us”.

For those here in the U.K., order Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk here. It is a book that I think is going to be among the must-haves of 2024. It will be fascinating to read revelations and realities from an icon. The supreme Kathleen Hanna has undeniably made such a big impact on the music world. An influence that is strong today and will continue to connect with women in music for years to come:

“An electric, searing memoir by the original riot grrrl and legendary frontwoman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

'Hey girlfriend I got a proposition, goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want.'

Kathleen Hanna’s rallying cry to feminists echoed far and wide through the punk scene of the 1980s, ’90s, and beyond. Her band, Bikini Kill, embodies this iconic time, and today their gutsy, radical lyrics of anthems like ‘Rebel Girl’ and ‘Double Dare Ya’ are more powerful than ever. But where did this transformative voice come from?

In Rebel Girl, Hanna’s raw and insightful new memoir, she takes us from her tumultuous childhood home, to her formative college years in Olympia, Washington, and on to her first years on tour, fighting hard for gigs and for her band. As Hanna makes blindingly clear, being in a ‘girl band’, especially a punk girl band, in those years was not a simple or a safe prospect. Male violence and antagonism threatened at every turn, and surviving as a singer who was a lightening rod for controversy took limitless amounts of determination.

But the relationships she developed during those years buoyed her – including with her bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren; her friendship with Kurt Cobain; and her introduction to Joan Jett – and they were a testament to how the true punk world nurtured and cared for its own.

Hanna opens up about falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and her debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and she brings us behind the scenes of her later bands, Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. She also writes candidly about the Riot Grrrl movement and its decline, documenting with love its grassroots origins but critiquing its later exclusivity.

In an uncut voice all her own, Hanna reveals the darkest, hardest times along with the most joyful – and how it all fuelled her revolutionary art, from the 1980s to today”.

Ahead of the release of that must-read memoir, I wanted to highlight a hugely important artist who was part of the Riot Grrrl movement and was a key figure when it came to kicking against the sexism and misogyny that existed throughout Punk and beyond. As lead of Le Tigre and Bikini Kill, Hanna has been responsible for some of the most anthemic and potent songs of the time. She remains such a key cultural figure…

TO this day.

FEATURE: Revisiting… BC Camplight - The Last Rotation of Earth

FEATURE:

 

 

Revisiting…

  

BC Camplight - The Last Rotation of Earth

__________

I am looking back…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ashley Laurence

on some albums from this year that rank alongside the very best - but may not have been as played and dissected as much as they deserved. Those that warrant a place on most of the ‘best albums of 2023’ lists. An artist that very much is worthy of that honour is BC Camplight. Brian Christinzio is a New Jersey-born, Manchester-based artist who released his sixth studio album in May. One that I felt should have been nominated for a Mercury Prize – as someone who has resided in the U.K. for a long time now, I think that he is eligible -, everyone needs to check out this album. Three years after the superb Shortly After Takeoff, The Last Rotation of Earth offers similar brilliance. Another nine-track album packed with incredible moments and his distinct sound; I will wrap up with a couple of reviews for one of this year’s best albums. Before getting to some others interviews, I want to start with MOJO. It begins really interestingly. A moment when BC Camplight (I shall refer to him by his artist name and not Brian Christinzio) was preparing to be really open and real:

“How warty does MOJO like to go?” asks Brian Christinzio. “Because my story is pretty warty.”

For instance, there’s the state he was in in 2012. The New Jersey-born singer and songwriter (“don’t say ‘singer-songwriter’, that makes me think of James Taylor on a stool and I’m not that guy”) was squatting an abandoned church in Philadelphia, siphoning electricity from neighbours and selling equipment that he’d borrowed off friends. “I was an absolute scumbag,” he says, staring down at his coffee. “I was drinking, doing way too many drugs, losing friends and feeling angry and bitter.”

On two albums as BC Camplight, Christinzio’s elegant and eloquent piano-based pop – equal parts Brian Wilson, Harry Nilsson and Lou Christie – had been met by critical bouquets but demoralising sales. Beset by an anxiety disorder, he reckoned he’d already “blown it”. Adding insult to perceived injury, he’d played piano on Sharon Van Etten’s album Epic and seen members of his live band, Dave Hartley (bass) and Robbie Bennett (keys), join The War On Drugs, both local favourites blowing up with the success he’d anticipated for himself.

“I was seething!” he says. “And mad at myself, like, What are you doing? Do something, or you’re going to drop to the bottom of the ocean. And if you stay in Philly, you die, or go to jail.”

Christinzio roused himself to ask his Facebook followers if anyone knew of a flat in London he could escape to. “I’d fucked up so much, I was running away,” he sighs. A journalist friend stepped in to offer refuge in Manchester instead, and four days later Christinzio was outside the Castle Hotel pub-cum-venue in the city’s Northern Quarter to pick up keys. Eleven years later, he’s still here. “Manchester represented a life,” he adds. “A place that meant that the old Brian was dead.”

The ‘old Brian may be gone, but  the ‘new’ Brian remains feisty and opinionated. Christinzio, now 43, meets MOJO at Manchester Piccadilly station, and walking through the concourse he spies a piano for members of the public to play. “There’s something so immediate and romantic about the piano,” he starts. “So, when I see people pounding on it, it makes me ill. It’s an instrument. You wouldn’t leave a dentist’s drill lying around in the middle of a train station. Playing bad music in front of people is just as dangerous.”

What first drew me to Manchester was the shit weather. It brings everyone down to my level.

Settling down to a full English fry-up at the Koffee Pot on Oldham Street – where he once washed dishes to make ends meet – Christinzio visibly relaxes, and begins to wax lyrical about his adopted home city.

“What first drew me to Manchester was the shit weather,” he says, “because it brings everyone down to my level. I remember walking down this street; I didn’t have five pounds in my pocket but I had the energy of new friends in a new city, and writing all this new music, which hadn’t happened in ages. What a relief that was. Anyway, I consider myself Mancunian now. I never felt American anyway, but more like an alien.”

Christinzio looks more like a bear than an alien, dressed in black except for a rust-coloured beanie with tufts of black hair escaping out the back. He’s jovial and garrulous, but it masks a history of unease. Young Brian would look at photos of family members and fret about when they would die. At the same time, he was obsessed with Jerry Lee Lewis, discovered in his mother’s record collection and encouraging him to stick with piano lessons (Frankie Valli and other high voices were a similar influence on his own).

Christinzio’s anxieties abated in high school – “I was captain of the football team, and my girlfriend was prom queen” – but exploded right after, “like a switch had been flipped.” Suffering overwhelming bouts of hypochondria and neurological disorders, he was hospitalised several times. A thyroid-related auto-immune condition has been diagnosed, but medication hasn’t worked. “It’s all just a big, muddy ball,” he sighs”.

Skipping to an interview with Silent Radio, they highlight how the music on The Last Rotation of Earth emerged from more than the triumph over adversity. It is a far less predictable and richer listen than that. His first album as a single man. His other albums were very much done with his other half providing inspiration and support. Maybe a strange experience creating The Last Rotation of Earth:

“Your lyrics were really direct on ‘Shortly After Takeoff’ and on this one even more so. Do you still feel that’s important, as I think a lot of people hide behind similes and metaphors and don’t say what they mean?

Well, I stopped doing that, so much so, that in one of my songs I start yelling at myself in the song for using similes!” (on the brilliant ‘It Never Rains In Manchester’). “Right, I’ll preface this by saying, I don’t give a fuck about what anybody thinks about my music” he laughs. “I’m glad that people like it, and when people do like it, they seem to be drawn to the directness of it, and I have noticed that. I, in turn, started to become more drawn to my own music, the more direct I was. When you make a song, I like to give each one of my songs its own little brain, its own little artificial intelligence, so when you create one of these songs, for me, it’s kind of a little living thing. I like making that little thing able to communicate in a way that it communicates with me, it communicates with the listener. I noticed on a few records back, the more I was trying to be clever, it was losing me, it was losing other people as well. So I thought stop being clever, teach these songs how to talk, and let them talk. People don’t listen to music cos they want to figure out a fucking verbal Sudoku puzzle! It’s like, they want to be spoken to, and felt heard, and that’s what I try to do with my music now. I just don’t have the time or the patience to be writing these awful deep metaphors and stuff, it’s just not what I do.”

This sixth album, the hugely anticipated follow up to ‘Shortly After Takeoff’ was shaping up to be a very different beast entirely. There was one problem though “It wasn’t very good.” Brian reveals. “I was terrified. If there was one good thing to come out of this break-up, it’s that my music doesn’t suck”! he laughs. “I was doing this album, and I don’t think it was as good as ‘Shortly After Takeoff’, I was like ‘fuck, I’m finally slipping backwards’. I was convincing myself ‘no, no, it’s good, it’s good’ and there was this voice in the back of my head going ‘it’s not as good’. I had a good day in the studio one day, I was feeling a little bit better about it, and came in, and then my partner handed me a glass of wine, and I saw that she was crying and I thought ‘uh-oh’, and then she left. Then I looked at that piece of shit record that I had been doing and was like ‘you’re leaving, you’re done!’ About ninety-five percent of it I just tossed, and then within two months I’d made ‘Last Rotation Of Earth’ from start to finish. It’s my stupid brain! There’s always a log jam and I have to have something to shake it loose and usually that something isn’t very pleasant!”

‘Last Rotation Of Earth’ feels like the album he should have made. It’s the perfect follow up to ‘Shortly After Takeoff’ which was supposedly the end of the ‘Manchester Trilogy’ as BC christened the three albums made since moving here in 2012 with’ How To Die In The North’, and ‘Deportation Blues’, preceding ‘Shortly After Takeoff’. The new album still retains a distinct Mancunian flavour running through its core with lines such as “I was struck by lightning when I was fourteen but I’ve been fucking mint since” from the the aptly titled ‘It Never Rains In Manchester’. However Brian is quick to play down the thought that this is now a quadrilogy of Manc themed albums. ”It’s not as catchy is it? Quadrilogy. You know, I’m always honest. I only thought of the Manchester trilogy as a way to sell the last record” Brian jokes. “I thought ’well, these are the three records I’ve made in Manchester, let’s call it a trilogy’ I didn’t really set out to do it, it wasn’t Star Wars! This is definitely  a totally separate animal. In some ways it’s less about my journey here in Manchester and all that stuff, and I feel it’s more about telling a story about another person, and some of the themes are, I think, a little bit more universal. To me, it feels different, and it’s the first album I’ve done in ten years, without the missus. So, those felt like the albums I did with her, I mean she didn’t do anything with the music, but they wouldn’t exist without her, she was kind of like my backbone, so this is the first thing I did on my own, so it doesn’t feel part of those at all”.

Prior to coming to some reviews for the brilliant The Last Rotation of Earth, I am going to bring in another interview. The Skinny spoke with an artist who performs a difficult trick: mixing humour and funny lyrics among direct and painful lines. Able to pull it off without the music being jarring or there being this uncomfortable blend and insincerity:

“Since relocating from Philadelphia to Manchester in what he describes as a lifesaving move, he has released a string of sparkling alt-pop albums, each one blighted by misfortune. He was deported from the UK two days before the release of 2015’s How to Die in the North; his father died days before the release of 2018’s Deportation Blues; 2020’s Shortly After Takeoff was released in the first month of lockdown.

That The Last Rotation of Earth is also defined by personal turmoil, then, seems to place it in the same tradition, although Christinzio sees this album as a substantial departure from his previous work. Like its predecessors, it contains several references to his beloved Manchester (Albert Square, the curry mile), but here the themes are more internalised and therefore more universal. What does remain, though, is his characteristic ability to throw in seemingly mundane everyday references, with Homes Under the Hammer and Faith No More among the pop culture potpourri getting a mention this time around.

“It’s just a device that I really enjoy,” Christinzio explains. “It puts the listener in a specific place. It’s a reminder that you’re listening to a person going through something, and I’m not trying to be Bill Shakespeare.”

Few songwriters of his generation sprinkle laugh-out-loud lyrics into their songs so successfully, especially while walking the tightrope of maintaining such heavy subject matter at the same time. “Music is just the instrument my brain uses to get its thoughts out,” is his typically self-effacing explanation for that. “You have to be mindful that you can’t just dump 3000 pounds of awful feelings onto people all at once. I enjoy having a reprieve and letting people breathe and reset. It’s more human; humans are very complicated people, and I think some people appreciate music that reflects the complexities of just how weird our brains are.”

Something else that sets The Last Rotation of Earth apart from his previous work is the expansiveness of its sonic palette; tracks like The Movie and Fear Life in a Dozen Years are positively cinematic in their scope, with members of the Liverpool Philharmonic being brought in to add grandeur to Christinzio’s arrangements (“I think I was just trying to convince one of these fucking music supervisors to let me do a film”). The album closes, meanwhile, on a disarmingly uncertain note with the drifting two-minute instrumental The Mourning.

“One thing that I don’t like about some musicians is that they assume that they have answers to things,” he explains. “I just want to be honest with people, I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, and I don’t know how any of this is going to turn out, but this is what I have to say, and I hope you come along for the ride”.

I am going to come to The Skinny again. Big fans of BC Camplight’s work, they were full of praise for the majestic The Last Rotation of Earth. An album that did not get the coverage and expansive airplay I feel that it warrants. Maybe it would not trouble its author, yet so many fans would say there are many songs not played or known about:

“Brian Christinzio has been a writer reborn since, on a whim, he swapped Philadelphia for Manchester a decade ago, an act of desperation intended to put clear blue water between himself and the self-destructive tendencies that were engulfing him in his hometown. He’s found plenty more strife waiting for him on the other side of the pond since, but has always found a way to mine it for material, with his experiences of mental illness, deportation and loss coming to inform his Manchester Trilogy of How to Die in the North, Deportation Blues and Shortly After Takeoff.

Now, heartbreak has entered the picture; just 18 months after a triumphant adopted hometown show at Manchester’s Ritz that saw a crown-wearing Christinzio strut across the stage covering Prefab Sprout’s The King of Rock 'N' Roll, The Last Rotation of Earth sees him dethroned, rambling around Manchester in a haze after the collapse of a long-term relationship. He works his way through the pain in highly idiosyncratic fashion, exchanging niceties with a concerned Tesco cashier on the title track, chronicling the mundanities of the split on She’s Gone Cold, and uproariously finding gallows humour in it on the epic, sweeping The Movie ('Couldn’t you have done this three weeks ago? / Before I spent a million pounds on your air fryer?')

There is nobody quite like Christinzio, who finds room for brooding art rock (Fear Life In a Dozen Years), glorious melodramatic balladry (Going Out On a Low Note) and descents into impressionistic weirdness (It Never Rains In Manchester). His lyrics, meanwhile, imbue resounding sadness with rapier wit. On Twitter, Christinzio has repeatedly suggested this might be his last album. Bella Union boss Simon Raymonde is on the record as saying he wants to release Christinzio’s music forever. On the basis of The Last Rotation of Earth, pray that the former Cocteau Twin gets his way”.

Let’s round off with another really positive review for The Last Rotation of Earth. Loud and Quiet awarded it nine-out-of-ten when they spent time with it. A masterful songwriter and distinct voice in the musical landscape, it will be interesting to hear the next BC Camplight album. Make sure that you check out his current one. Such an accomplished, funny and open album from the Manchester-based legend:

“Brian Christinzio’s bad luck is legendary. If you thought things would be looking up for the Manchester-based Philadelphian songwriter’s 2020 album as BC Camplight, Shortly After Takeoff; written on the back of a deeply traumatic battle with the Home Office, followed in close succession by the death of his father, then you’d be wrong. If that record deals with the aftermath of being cruelly ripped from a home, then The Last Rotation of Earth, deals more with the wreckage of a relationship, detailing the slow, emotional end of a nine-year relationship, amid a backdrop of addiction struggles and mental anguish.

It’s not going to shock you then when I say that The Last Rotation of Earth is pretty bleak in its themes and motifs. Each song glides past like pictures in a scrapbook detailing the downward spiral of a love affair, with lyrics that feel like overheard snippets of bitter arguments and heartbroken reflections into a bathroom mirror. However, Christinzio, always the eager-to-please performer at heart, can’t resist finding the humour in the wreckage. The record is peppered with odd little vignettes that manage to capture the mundane ridiculousness of it all. Arguments with his significant other on how to correctly pronounce Theroux, sit next to sudden, depressing revelations that come when you find yourself watching David Dickinson in a fleabag hotel.

But, as the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And this is pretty incredible lemonade. The subject matter might be dark, but the melodies make this pure, hook-laden pop. Finding influences from the last 60 years of popular music, every song honestly feels like its own self-contained masterpiece. From the luxurious, Talk Talk-style sophisti-pop of ‘Kicking Up a Fuss’ to the lush, orchestrated strings and soaring emotional arrangements of ‘Going Out On A Low Note’ and the scene hopping audio-verité of ‘The Movie’, every track seems to fizz and glisten with uncontrolled creativity.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about The Last Rotation of Earth, though, is just how emotionally honest it is. This isn’t a story about redemption, or someone finding a new lease of life. No, like the aftermath of most relationships, this is a record about coming to terms with feeling shitty and trying to move on. Dodging any clumsy attempt at closure, instead the album elects to just fade out with a song called ‘The Mourning’. A quiet requiem, the ghostly piano and haunting string encapsulate both a crushing sense of despair and a need to move on. It’s a feeling that anyone who’s ever been jilted, ghosted, or unceremoniously dumped will know intimately. Most of the time, it’s all you have to cling on to”.

You can buy The Last Rotation of Earth here. I feel that there should be so much love aimed at this album. There is, though, from such a mighty talent, some sites missed out providing their opinions on an album that sits comfortably among this year’s very best. The Last Rotation of Earth is unforgettable. Maybe you have not heard it since it came out in May. If that is the case then do make sure that you…

HAVE another listen.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Lindsay Lou

FEATURE:


 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Dana Kalachnik

 

Lindsay Lou

__________

SOMEONE who is quite new to me…

I wanted to spend some time with Lindsay Lou. The child of a coal miner and millwright, she was born in Missouri and grew up in Michigan. It was here where she compiled her debut album, 2010's A Different Tune. I have only just discovered her music. I was compelled to dig deeper and find out more about her. Lindsay Lou is performing in the U.K. in February. A good chance to hear a remarkable artist. Lou released the new album, Queen of Time, in September. Someone who mixes Bluegrass with Folk, Americana and Country, there is this poetry, beauty and spirituality that comes from the music. I am going to get to some interviews with her. First, here is some background about the wonderful Lindsay Lou:

“I saw a literal manifestation of the sacred feminine, and had this profound sense that I was meant to embody it,” recalls celebrated singer-songwriter Lindsay Lou after journeying through a hallucinogenic ritual that would inform the way she processed waves of grief in the sea of change ahead of her. The loss of her grandmother, the end of her marriage, and the overwhelming turmoil of COVID lockdowns found the Nashville-based artist on a spiritual journey of self-knowledge and healing with this gift from the mystic swirl. On her new album Queen of Time (due September 29th from Kill Rock Stars), Lou explores that quest across ten tracks of tender, heartbreakingly beautiful music.

With this new vision of womanhood in mind, Lou began to see a throughline from her grandmother, to herself, to the art she was creating. Her 2018 release, Southland (recorded with her former band, The Flatbellys), felt like the first chapter to a greater story that was unfolding; with this release, the theme deepened. “It started with my grandma. She was the unattainable woman in a way,” Lou explains. “She had 12 kids and ran homeless shelters and was always taking people in. She felt that her calling was to be a mother to everyone – this communal caregiver – but it also meant that in belonging to everyone, she also belonged to no one. I realized that this is the catch-22 of anyone who is a woman unto herself. Women, first and foremost, belong to themselves, so nobody can really have them; but, there's also this element of self-sacrificing and giving to the idea of the feminine.”

Lou’s vocals are a powerful companion to her songwriting. “In an era when style and trends can become genericana, [Lou] focuses on the song,” said No Depression. “It is infectious and joyful, soulful even.” The undeniable centerpiece throughout Queen of Time, Lou’s voice is a molasses-sweet instrument equally capable of clarion ache, slicing deep into the soul. The daughter of a literal coal-miner and millwright, and the granddaughter of a teacher gone Rainbow Gathering healer, Lou honed her honest and resonant style with her bluegrass-inspired band, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, and Michigan supergroup, Sweet Water Warblers (Rachael Davis, May Erlewine), excavating elements of bluegrass, folk, Americana, and soulful pop for their emotional depths. The Warblers’ debut album, The Dream That Holds This Child (2020), was dubbed “a testament to the trio’s range” by Billboard, running the gamut of blues, gospel, soul, and Appalachian folk.

On this latest record, Lou has refined those gemstones to a brilliant luster, holding the listener’s hand on the path filled with heartbreak, discovery, and resilience. On “Nothing Else Matters” (co-written by Nashville musicians Maya de Vitry and Phoebe Hunt), Lou blends those emotions into one vibrant present. The track features GRAMMY® Award winner Jerry Douglas, his immediately recognizable dobro work helping Lou tap into her bluegrass roots while she unravels this new vision of the world. “There is something incredibly iconic to Jerry’s playing; it’s unmistakable,” says Lou. “Like every touch of his bar to the string speaks exactly to the heart of the song. I feel really honored to have his musical voice among the players.”

Lou explores the continued theme of duality on lead single and album namesake “Queen of Time”, her limber, golden vocals backed by a suite of acoustic guitar, psychedelic synth and an energetic rhythm section. The song’s lyrics play out like zen koans. “I’ve spent years at this point, listening and reflecting on this record. ‘Queen of Time’ seems to embody the entire work’s theme of self-discovery in a way that almost feels like a wake up slap in the face; like if it was a snake, it would have bit me,” says Lou. “And I think that’s kinda the nature of self-discovery. It’s discovering something you knew all along.”

On the radiant “On Your Side (Starman)”, Lou sings to a loved one through rose-colored glasses, as if they were her hero. “You can be the starman/ The lightning in the sky/ I will be a shelter/ ‘Cause I am on your side,'' she sings, a lithe mandolin bolstering her serene offer of support. Bathed in harmonies and supported by a honeyed troupe of pedal steel, guitars, and a splashy percussion section, Lou sounds like a heroine herself, a gleaming bastion of strength and love.

Elsewhere, “Nothing’s Working” finds Lou dueting with GRAMMY®-winning guitar virtuoso Billy Strings on their co-write. (You can hear String’s version of it, accompanying Lou, on his 2020 release Renewal). “This was another track that came together over the course of a few years; it lived as the first verse alone for a long time,” recalls Lou. “A suicide in our community stirred me to finish the lyrics, and pandemic gave Billy and I some extra time at home to flush it out.”

The message comes through in the lyrics as Lou sings, “Take time to listen to the quiet ones/ Watch how the rain gives up a chance to swim/ Burn the broken bridges and build them up again,” the duo crying out for change in the face of the endless pain and violence in personal lives and spread across the media. String’s flat-picked guitar ripples and writhes, a deep purple smoke pervading the track.

“I’ve been fortunate to have spent formative years surrounded by immensely talented friends and collaborators, who, like Billy, feel more like family at this point.” explains Lou. “Having them lend their voices to this record is very special to me.”

Lou’s devotion to understanding where she came from plays a central role not only in the ethos of Queen of Time, but in its sound. “I have 27 hours of conversations that I recorded with my grandma, her telling me her story and explaining how she developed her unorthodox, somewhat radical, somewhat fringe philosophy,” Lou says with a wistful smile. Snippets of those recordings are infused into the album, as in the delightfully Calypso-flecked “Love Calls”. And as the album nears its end, another call to grandma helps exorcize the pain of death. “Nothing can stay bad forever,” Grandma Nancy reminds us, and you can feel the tears being wiped aside and replaced by something new—hope and resilience.

Named among NPR’s “12 Best Live Performances” in 2015, Lou has long been beloved as a live performer, from Telluride Bluegrass Festival to Stagecoach, Celtic Connections to Australia’s National Folk Festival, and a “Can’t Miss Act” at AmericanaFest—not to mention acclaim from PBS, No Depression, Billboard, Holler, Paste, and The Bluegrass Situation, among other outlets. But on Queen of Time, Lou captures a new arc of haloed beauty, becoming unattainable in her own way—a vibrant, powerful woman who can share herself with the world, and yet define a mystic sense of inner self as well”.

I am going to move on a second. Before I do, there is a really interesting interview from Holler. that I want to include. We get to learn something new about Lindsay Lou. Such an interesting artist that I do feel everyone should follow and experienced:

“Another event that has informed this album was a hallucinogenic episode you had a few years back. Tell us about that - how did it impact your creative outlook and process?

It actually happened just before I recorded Southland, but it was sort of the beginning of my journey to understanding this notion of the sacred feminine. I did two DMT trips in the summer of 2016 with Billy Strings. He’d had similar psychedelic experiences so I asked if he could join and be my guide. We sat down in my backyard with a couple of books and I began reading Alan Watts’ The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety.

The first time I tripped I didn’t really go anywhere. The second time I did it I still didn’t leave my body, but I did see a really intense visual of this cat figure that eventually morphed into this goddess. Afterward I tried drawing the vision out on a piece of paper, but I couldn’t do more than a couple lines. Then this line about an unattainable woman from the Watts book popped into my head that brought it all together, so much so that I nearly named the album Unattainable Woman.

A couple of days later I went to my friend Maya de Vitry’s house and told her about what I’d seen. She gave me this Sue Monk Kidd book called The Dance of the Dissident Daughter that further led me down this path of understanding the sacred feminine.

Then in 2021 I had another, drug-free, psychedelic experience where I saw this vision again and realized that I am that goddess. This whole record is a lot about self-discovery, understanding and knowledge, and it’s my purpose to see and embody that. The tripping experience set me on a course of understanding femininity within the scope of divinity. It’s a snapshot of where I am at this point in my story. It set me on this path to understanding myself and understanding the spiritual narratives that I lean on in times of both hardship and joy.

Speaking of Billy Strings, what was the writing process for ‘Nothing’s Working’ like and what made you want to put your own spin on the song?

We started writing that back in 2016 or 2017 not long after we both moved to Nashville from Michigan. We wrote the first verse and it sat in the voice memos on my phone for years before I finished it in 2019 when I was on a plane traveling to a benefit concert for Jeff Austin in Denver. In 2020 Billy and I got back together again, finally putting the words to music and adding a couple instrumental parts to it.

When it came to me wanting to record the song, I reached out to Billy to ask about recording a stripped-down duet version of it, similar to how we recorded early versions of ‘Freedom’ [a co-write included on Strings Grammy winning album Home]. He immediately replied, “Hell yeah!”. It feels nice giving people a look into how the song came to be and what it sounded like when it was being workshopped. Back in the day, if a song was great everyone would record it, but I feel like we’ve been getting away from that.

For example, on [de Vitry and Phoebe Hunt co-write] ‘Nothing Else Matters’ I really thought that song was written specifically for me, because that’s what a good song does. It’s nice to have different versions because it's reflective of the true nature of a song when it's doing its thing, living many lives. For that reason, I was glad that Billy was so encouraging in recording my own version of the song.

One of my favorite moments on the record comes on your Billy Swan cover, ‘I Can Help’. What made you want to include that song and how do you feel it fits into the album’s overall narrative?

Sierra Ferrell actually showed the song to me one day when we were headed out to the river. We were doing a lot of kayaking early in the pandemic and she put it on the radio. I may have heard it before, but hearing it then was just what I needed at the time.

My producer, Dave O'Donnell, was actually the one who asked about including the song on the record because he had recently heard me perform it during a live session raising awareness for musician suicides. I played the song there because I thought it would be an appropriate fit for the event and love how it fits into this album as well.

The song ‘Shame’ sounds different from the rest of Queen of Time. Was its angsty feel a result of your divorce, the pandemic and everything else thrown at you in recent years, or something else?

It’s kind of like my punk rock song. ‘Everything Changed’ was my punk rock song on [2015’s] Ionia. Punk was such a huge part of my musical experience growing up, so it feels proper to have that included in anything I do. As far as what inspired the song, I’ll leave that up to interpretation from the listener because I don’t want to ruin it. Sometimes it’s best to not know.

What has music taught you about yourself, especially in terms of Queen of Time?

It’s taught me that I'm exactly who I thought I was all along. I plan to spend the rest of my life continuing to figure that out in different ways”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Dana Kalachnik

Someone I may have otherwise missed; I am glad I get to discuss Lindsay Lou. She is such a brilliant songwriter. A voice that is so distinct and filled with so many colours, shades, emotions and layers. Regardless of your music tastes, she is someone who I would recommend. The Bluegrass Station spoke with Lindsay Lou around the release of her latest studio album:

“On Queen of Time, Lou welcomes herself to that new identity (and all who care to follow), doing so with a fresh sound and some old friends. Featuring Billy Strings and Jerry Douglas, 11 thought-provoking tracks infuse her bluegrass roots with atmospheric folk, back-porch psychedelia, and more, as lyrics and voice weave together into something like a sonic dreamcatcher – snatching ethereal truths from the cosmos and translating them in ways the mind can just begin to process.

Recently, Lou spoke with BGS about this heady transformation, working with her friends, and how her “teacher-turned-Rainbow-Gathering-healer” of a grandma helped shape her radical spirituality.

BGS: Tell me how you’re feeling about music making these days? I know this album comes after a lot of change in your life, personally and professionally. Has the way you feel about making music changed, too?

Lindsay Lou: It felt like the most freeing recording endeavor that I have ever set out on. Working with [producer] Dave O’Donnell was really great. He held a ton of space for me creatively and emotionally and just in all the ways. So it was really nice. I brought in all of my friends, and what drew me to music to begin with was jams that my family would have, so feeling among my chosen family, being able to bring in the people who I’ve been jamming with in living rooms and on stages for the last several years, was really, really sweet.

Honestly, I’m feeling really inspired and just really happy about music. All of the tours have felt like they were in really good flow, and spiritually, it just feels very open and satisfying. I sort of blew up my life a few years ago, and the last three years or so I’ve been gestating and rebuilding my path. It was rebuilding on the foundation I had laid down with the Flatbellys and the Warblers, so it wasn’t out of nowhere, but it felt like there was a lot of unknown – and there were times where I felt there’s just some fear that goes into it. But now I’m on the cusp of watching all of this be born and come to life, and it feels so good. It’s like everything that I could have hoped for.

Seeing the record in the hands of people and hearing all the stories they send me about how it’s touched their lives has been very, very fulfilling. And I’m watching the album chart and watching different things on the horizon, different gigs and stuff – it’s just really inspiring, and I feel really excited to follow this new path that I’ve laid out for myself.

I know your grandmother had a big part in influencing the record. But on top of everything else she was to you, did she also help you get into music?

I guess in a roundabout way, she did. Her greatest influence on me was spiritually. She was a preacher woman, and she lived her life the best that she could in the literal footstep of Jesus. So she took everyone in and she welcomed everyone. She was always preaching that [unless] you have not sinned, don’t cast the first stone and really strongly believed that no one will be left behind. Like if God said the greatest commandment was to love God and to love your brother, then she spent her whole life practicing that. Now, I call myself a praying atheist. I don’t necessarily connect with any institution of religion, but I do connect with the practice of spirituality and of love. Even Christianity says that God is love. So in my mind it’s like, “Well, then let’s just get right to the heart of the matter and call it love!” If we’re living in love and if we’re thinking critically and we’re following our radical truth, then we’re doing it right.

I noticed a lot of hard bluegrass influence on tracks like “Rules,” and along with Billy you have a collab with Jerry Douglas. Do you still feel like you can be creative in the bluegrass form these days? Or is it harder to do that as you grow as an artist?

Bluegrass gave me a lot of tools and a home. It gave me a place to belong and an opportunity to hone my craft, just in terms of tightening up rhythm and getting better at playing the guitar – and having an entire world of people I can get together with anytime, anywhere, and play any one of the many songs in the bluegrass canon and sing three-part harmony, like we’ve been a band our whole lives. It gave me so much, but I didn’t grow up in a family or a community that played bluegrass music. It was something I found in my early 20s. I’ve never been like people like Billy and Molly [Tuttle] – [bluegrass] is not just a part of their history, it’s like their earliest memories.

I grew up doing acoustic music, so there’s always going to be some element of that in my music. And I’m so grateful to have bluegrass now as a tool of expressing myself. But I don’t think I find it harder as I get older. I just find it easier to connect more authentically with my own voice, and bluegrass is a tool of doing that – but it’s not the only tool”.

In an extensive and deep interview, Atwood Magazine gave us new insight and perspective of an artist who should be known to us all. Such is the quality of her music. I am looking forward to seeing what might come from Lindsay Lou next year. An exciting artist that already has a busy tour diary. Taking her latest album to the fans:

“Queen of Time feels like a whole new beginning for the Nashville-based singer/songwriter, whose roots have grown over the years in the bluegrass and Americana worlds. Produced by Dave O’Donnell (James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Heart) and featuring collaborations with Grammy Award-winners Billy Strings and Jerry Douglas, Lou’s first full length solo release in five years – since 2018’s critically acclaimed Southland – focuses on her ability to bring a song to the table and see it blossom with a full band or guest appearance.

What a thrill it is to not be needed

What a drag it is to be all thrills

I’m a wishing well, I’m a wishing well

Check it out, here’s a moment to be still

Call it loneliness, call it what you will

I’m the queen of time, I’m the queen of time

Who are you? Who are you?

Who are you?

– “Queen of Time,” Lindsay Lou

Born in Missouri and raised in Michigan, Lou relocated to Nashville in 2015, and has found not only a home in Music City, but also a nurturing environment that has enabled her to embrace her voice and take her musical talent to a whole new level. Whether she is “picking” with friends on a front porch or in the studio, she brings a song to life and makes it her own.

Queen of Time is a particularly intimate album that finds Lou diving deep into herself and her emotions, exploring her spiritual being in depth.

“I lost my grandmother, I got divorced, and went through the pandemic, sort of had this rebirth of myself, within myself,” she tells Atwood Magazine. “There’s a lot of hope and grief, in the whole transition. Losing my grandmother and getting a divorce is very heavy; this record has a lot of emotional value to me”.

ATWOOD MAGAZINE: WHO WAS THE FIRST SINGER SONGWRITER THAT MADE YOU WANT TO DO THIS AS A CAREER?

Lindsay Lou: They both happened around the same time. It was two women who I was in a band with called The Sweet Water Warblers. Before I was in a band with them, I was a really big fan of theirs.  It was a very transitional period of my life in East Lansing, Michigan when I was attending college. Their names are May Erlewine and Rachael Davis. Their music totally changed my life because I always wanted to be a singer and be a part of music. The way I grew up you were either a pop star or you just jammed at home with your family. I wasn’t sure if “pop star” was the thing for me, I was a punk rocker. I turned my nose up at fame and the sort of commercialism. I loved science so I went to college to become a doctor (pre-med). When I was in college I met May and Rachael along with The Flatbellys. That’s when I finally saw myself being a part of this world, the bluegrass world, making this my life. That’s exactly what I did.

WHEN LISTENERS HAVEN’T HEARD FROM AN ARTIST FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS, SOME DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE EMOTIONALLY.

Lindsay Lou: Even though it’s been since 2018 since I’ve released a full-length, I did have three “A-Side + B-Side” singles and a four song EP, so I’ve sort or released a whole record just a couple songs at a time. All of the songs on the new record are not going to be versions of those. They’re all new songs, like “Nothing’s Working,” another tune I did with Billy Strings who he put on his record that we wrote together.  I get “demotitis,” attached to the demo version of how it sounds, with Billy playing the guitar part he had written and the me singing the lyrics I had written.

I remember our two bands were playing a gig at a theater in Wisconsin. They started to do some really shreddy metal things, with my drummer Alex doing the hi-hat really fast and Billy was doing the really metal guitar. I wanted my version of “Nothing’s Working” to embody that. Dave (O’Donnell) helped me craft that with the band. They (the band and Dave producing) really helped my vision come to life. A couple of friends have written songs that speak to my heart so I have some of those songs on the album, with some co-writes.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS IN THE BLUEGRASS / AMERICANA SCENE?

Lindsay Lou: Some high schoolers (who just graduated) stopped me in a coffee shop the other day and asked me if they could interview me.

They asked me “If you could tell your younger self what would it be?” It was a difficult question because you can’t really tell your younger self anything because you have to go through everything to get to where you want to be. I had to go through everything to be able to get here. I would tell myself to have faith and everything is going to be alright.

The best advice is giving people their own space for their own emotions. Emotional over-involvement hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m a very emotional person, and there’s a serious line between being creative with the human spirit and their emotions. Don’t take it upon myself. It’s one of those simple things: Don’t confuse someone’s bad day with anything that you’re doing. Realize where that boundary is and respect it. Have your own emotions and performance; don’t try to control someone else’s perspective. If you’re doing your job, you’re going to get exactly what you need”.

I want to end with a review for Queen of Time. No Depression provided their thoughts. Although it did not really penetrate the mainstream music press in the U.K. – they tend to focus too heavily on certain genres and overlook others -, it is well worth seeking out and playing Queen of Time. A stunning album that I have visited a few times:

“On Queen of Time, her first album without the Flatbellys, Lindsay Lou tracks her progress through recent turmoil and grief that led to songs of hope and realization. In this album of self-discovery, she addresses the competing tensions women face.

In the title song, she explores the paradoxes:

What a thrill it is to not be needed

What a drag it is to be all thrills

. . .

I have learned to love the work that I do

I have not yet learned to love it when you make it harder

Throughout the album, though, the messages of her lyrics prove more universal: People need to listen to each other, to take care of each other. “Love Calls” opens with a calypso-inspired beat. A synthesizer and an array of world music instruments — caxixi, pandeiro, djembe — augment the more traditional guitar and mandolin. Lou’s voice itself rings like an instrument in the song, a foil to her late grandmother’s voice reproduced here from fragments of recordings of their phone calls. In the song, the older woman tells Lou about chance encounter with a man at a gathering who later tells her she saved his life. The lyrics describe a strong woman, presumably Lou’s Grandma Nancy, then the repeated phrase:

Love calls, you’re gonna answer.

Love calls, you’re gonna answer.

Near the end of the album, the grandmother speaks again, preparing Lou for loss, reminding her, “This too shall pass.”

Queen of Time contains a carefully curated collection of songs matched to Lou’s clear, powerful voice. It opens with “Nothing Else Matters,” setting the tone of loss and acceptance. Phoebe Hunt, one of the song’s co-writers, recently included a stripped-down rendition of the song on her recent album, which shares the song’s title (ND review). Lou’s version, featuring dobro master Jerry Douglas, has a fuller instrumental background and harmony, softening the plaintive tone.

Billy Strings also joins Lou on vocals and guitar on “Nothing’s Working,” a song they co-wrote during the pandemic and finished after a tragedy in the neighborhood they share. The song advocates “taking time to listen to the quiet ones.” Strings included the song on his 2020 album Renewal (ND review). He also plays on “Shame,” a song challenging the idea that that emotion has any value.

While most of the tracks were written or co-written by Lou, she gives a fresh spin to Billy Swan’s “I Can Help.” Her rendition sounds more like a genuine offer of help than a pick-up line. Throughout the album, in fact, Lou offers her presence and reassurance. In “On Your Side (Starman)” she repeats, “Time is on our side … I am on your side.”

On Queen of Time, Lindsay Lou sounds like a woman who has taken control of her future. She’s looking back, but not letting what’s behind her weigh her down. “Rules,” she declares in the track by that name, “are made for breaking.” She looks back at where she’s been, noting, “I’ve been a long time gone.” Looking forward now, she adds, she’s “wondering what’s home”.

There are so many artists we should keep an eye out for as we go into the new year. Lindsay Lou is someone I am invested in now and will follow. An experienced and awesome songwriter whose words and songs have an incredible power and importance. I love Queen of Time. Such a rich and rewarding album that will reveal something new each time you pass through. If you have not discovered her yet then go and…

FOLLOW her now.

____________

Follow Lindsay Lou

FEATURE: 3×3 = Nein! Is There An Overkill of Unnecessary Reissues, Special and Anniversary Editions?

FEATURE:

 

 

3×3 = Nein!

IMAGE CREDIT: Capitol Records


Is There An Overkill of Unnecessary Reissues, Special and Anniversary Editions?

__________

I remember an article…

from The Guardian back in April. They were reacting to the fact that there were a spate of five-year anniversary released. Should the minimum length of time an album has to mature and age is ten years in that sense?! I agree that a ten-year anniversary edition is okay. Most albums released from the past five years are not that epic in terms of getting an anniversary edition out! I guess there is a need to reaffirm that excellence and maybe introduce the album to new listeners. Is it a case of cashing in and devaluing something that could be quite significant? The fifth anniversary have taken advantage in the continued rise in vinyl sales:

“Keen to make the most of a seemingly steady revenue stream, labels have begun increasing production on limited and deluxe repressings of popular albums. Anniversary reissues – once only common to recently remastered records, or albums several decades old – are now becoming popular for releases that are just five years old, such as Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy, Phoebe Bridgers’ Stranger in the Alps, Lucy Dacus’ Historian and Idles’ Brutalism. They’ve all been repressed in coloured formats or with alternate sleeves in the past two years, often at a slightly increased price point to standard black discs.

It’s in keeping with a frantically shortening nostalgia cycle that’s seen frenzied media coverage of supposed emo and “indie sleaze” revivals and music publications churning out cheap anniversary content – although these repressings seemingly offer little to the consumer other than a coloured disc. But Hannah Carlen and Ali Murphy – marketing directors for heavy-hitting indie conglomerate Secretly Group, which released Bridgers’ album – insist that fifth anniversary pressings allow artists to “give new fans something, and say ‘you’re welcome here too – you don’t have to be a day one fan’,” says Carlen.

Bridgers’ album hadn’t been repressed on coloured vinyl – demand for which vastly outstrips black vinyl – since 2019. In the intervening years, she broke through to the mainstream with her second album Punisher and found a swathe of new fans thanks to collaborations with Taylor Swift, SZA and Paul McCartney. Last year, it was rereleased in a run of 10,000 “galaxy-coloured” records. An anniversary “acknowledges that there’s been a lot of new fans over that span of time, and maybe they haven’t gotten access to something special, or when they’ve looked for it on eBay it’s $200,” says Carlen. (Original coloured pressings of Stranger have sold for upwards of £600 on the vinyl resale website Discogs.) “We don’t want to relegate people to a crazy inflated secondhand market.”

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

Lawrence Montgomery, managing director of Rough Trade record shops, concurs: anniversary pressings with alternate covers or vinyl colours, he says, are in tune with “demand from customers for unique vinyl pressings”.

“I think it’s about the reaction to streaming and digital consumerism,” he says. “Streaming is really good for vinyl sales because people can discover artists much more easily than they could in the past – when you then want to buy something to reaffirm your love of an artist, you want something more special.” During Covid, he says, many consumers began to use money they would have once spent on gig tickets on vinyl; at the same time, collectors have become “very savvy about finding what the best variant in the market is”.

In a crowded market, a limited edition repressing can also help a record get noticed by music shops with limited stock space. With a different barcode and catalogue number to a standard repressing, distributors can resolicit it for distribution. “The timeline of a record has changed so drastically,” says Ali Murphy. “Twenty years used to be the span of time in which people were celebrating a record, and now it’s got so much shorter, not only due to the quickness of everything coming out.”

For millennial music fans, the boom in anniversary content may feel like an exploitation of their recent youth. But Montgomery says that a younger contingent of fans is rivalling audiophiles and DJs as a significant market for vinyl, thanks to pop artists like Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey, who turn their albums into collectibles through the release of multiple alternate album covers or disc colours, and #VinylTok, a TikTok tag that creators use to showcase their collections and obsess over special editions. “We’ve done really well this year with Boygenius, Lana Del Rey, Caroline Polachek, Taylor,” he says”.

There does seem to be an increase in reissues. The anniversary releases are predictable I guess, though there are also the special editions and different-coloured vinyl options. When we get good news about vinyl sales, of course that will compel artists to reissue albums and deluxe versions. You wonder how much it is to do with satisfying demand from fans and artists taking advantage on a willing revenue stream. It is mainly something that major artists do. If the five-year anniversary gap seems a little exploitative and far too premature, then how about a third anniversary?! Even though I have nothing but love for Paul McCartney, the fact is that he is reissuing his 2020 album, McCartney III, has caused eyebrows to rise:

“Paul McCartney is set to celebrate the third anniversary McCartney III with the limited run vinyl version of McCartney III — 3×3 Edition, to be released December 15 on Capitol Records.

McCartney III — 3×3 Edition will be released in three randomly distributed configurations, each featuring one of three unique combinations of multi-color vinyl and prints of Paul’s handwritten draft lyrics or of his hand-drawn album artwork sketch: the Tri-color vinyl + “Pretty Boys” lyric draft; the Three-striped vinyl + album artwork sketch; and the Swirl vinyl + “The Kiss of Venus” lyric draft.

Additionally, all copies of McCartney III — 3×3 Edition will feature new cover art and will include a poster of Ed Ruscha’s hand-sketched draft for the original McCartney III album artwork.

Originally released on December 18, 2020, McCartney III is the third in a trilogy of home-made self-titled albums that began with Paul’s milestone 1970 solo debut McCartney, and continued in 1980 with the bold, experimental McCartney II.

All three albums were written, performed, and produced by Paul in varying states of isolation, all showcasing his unique creativity and inspired spontaneity. Recorded in “Rockdown” in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, McCartney III saw Paul turn unexpected time on his hands into an opportunity to get into the studio on his own. An intimate and revelatory record, McCartney III features Paul’s melodic gift at its forefront throughout. Upon release, McCartney III charted at No.1 on both the UK’s Official Album Charts and Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

Out today (15th December), I guess there is something convenient if you missed the original release. Order details are here. I am not sure how long stocks will last but, only three years after its release, is it a step too far?! The excess of only giving a three-year gap before reissuing an album! It has been a busy year for Macca-related content. The Beatles’ final single, Now and Then, came out earlier this year (and made it onto vinyl). There has just been the fiftieth anniversary reissue of Wings’ Band on the Run. There are always reissues in McCartney’s world, however the short time between his most recent studio album being released and then reissued without much extra seems a bit like a cash-grab! I know that he is a prolific artist who always wants to bring in new fans. I wonder whether the release of the 3×3 album is taking things too far1 It is not only Paul McCartney who is fully riding the opportunity of the vinyl wave. Alongside fifth anniversary reissues comes the ever-growing cycle of special editions. Extra tracks and some added artwork. Maybe adding to an already-successful album. There is the issue of overinflating the market. Maybe newer releases get overlooked. Smaller acts might not have the option to put out their album on several colours of vinyl. There is a collectability to having various reissues and colours of vinyl. I can understand why a new studio album should have a few physical options, though artists putting out recent albums again seems excessive! In some incidents it is a case that the original pressing has limited availability and there is a demand for a new pressing.

A group like De La Soul who recently reissued their back catalogue after a contract/label issue that also meant their music was not available on streaming platforms. Steely Dan put out their albums recently too after scarce availability. Kate Bush did likewise in 2018. There was some criticism this year after she reissued her studio albums again; this time with different colours and designs for each vinyl. It also came with a Baskerville edition of 1985’s Hounds of Love. Many fans feeling it was her capitalising on the recent success and new fans after the success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and its appearance in Stranger Things last year. Even if many fans are willing to shell out money for special editions or reissues of albums that are quite new or already been released and are available, there is a worthiness of reissues when there is availability issue or an album is harder or more expensive to find. I hope that there is not a trend of artists putting albums back out after only a few years or so. There is a limit of vinyl manufacturing plants and resources, so there should be priority for new artists and ensuring original material gets out there. I agree that big-anniversary albums are worth a reissue. I struggle to find much value to fans when an album gets an extra lick of paint or some extras. Even if the songs are remastered, is there much of an improvement on the original?! A lot of fans will buy the 3×3 Edition from Paul McCartney but, considering there was also the McCartney III Imagined (other artists tackling its songs) in 2021, it has provoked some backlash! Let us hope, next year, that we see fewer unnecessary reissues and more space for new artists and their albums. I fail to see why any new reissue of a new album offers something…

THE original doesn’t.

FEATURE: To Watch in 2024: Abby Roberts

FEATURE:

 

 

To Watch in 2024

 

Abby Roberts

__________

I have already included some artists…

PHOTO CREDIT: Otto Masters via ENFNTS TERRIBLES

in Spotlight, so rather than repeat artists who are coming through and will make big moves soon, I am popping some in a new strand. Features around artists to watch in 2024. I have featured Abby Roberts before, though I feel that she is someone who, since I included her on my site in 2022, has reached new heights. There are so many incredible artists that I will cover between now and the start of next year. I think that Abby Roberts is one that everyone needs to look out for. I will reintroduce her before coming to some interviews from this year. Here is some background to the remarkable artist – and one set to blow up in 2024:

“Abby Roberts is an up-and-coming artist, singer and songwriter from the United Kingdom. Born in 1999 in London, Abby has been singing since she was 7 years old. At the age of 13, she began writing her own music and has been actively performing in various venues across the U.K. ever since.

Abby's music style is a unique blend of soulful R&B and Pop. Her catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics make her songs stand out from the rest. She has written several singles throughout her career that have been featured on Spotify and Apple Music playlists. She is also currently working on an upcoming EP that is sure to be a hit with fans of all ages.

Abby has collaborated with a number of other artists over the years, including Grammy Award-winning producer James Fauntleroy. She has also been featured on tracks by fellow British artists such as Skepta, Dave, and Loyle Carner.

In addition to her studio work, Abby has performed live at many venues across the U.K., including festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Bestival, and Latitude. She has also had the privilege of opening for renowned acts such as J Hus, Lady Leshurr, and Ray Blk”.

Following the release of her debut album/long-E.P., Ashes, last year, Roberts released some incredible singles since then. Including this year’s Imposter Syndrome and volatile, she is an artist who I think will get worldwide touring dates next year. Maybe another album will come out. Definitely someone primed for huge festival stages very soon. Last year, I wrote about this promising artists taking her earliest steps. A year or more later, a lot has happened in her career. I am keen to get to some interviews with Abby Roberts. I want to start with an interview from Wonderland. They spoke with Roberts about her new single, Imposter Syndrome, and what is was like touring with Halsey:

“Hey! Congratulations on the upcoming release! Could you tell me a bit about your background and how you’ve gotten to this point?

I feel like I’m still very new to music. I started making it about three years ago now, but releasing only at the start of last year. And doing shows and everything, that was only the start of last year as well. So it feels like it happened very quickly, which can be quite overwhelming at times. But obviously, I was doing social media for such a long time before this — since I was 11 years old. And I felt that music was the creative release that I needed after doing the same thing for such a long time. I’m loving it.

How have you found that transition from sharing makeup videos to your own music?

I think the main difference is music feels like such a more slow-paced kind of media. With social media, you make the video and post it the day of. It’s that instant gratification. Music has been such a game of patience. A lot of the [current] stuff we’ve written a year or two years ago. So it feels like you’re sitting on this older version of yourself. And then when you release it, it’s like, you’ve already mentally processed it and gotten over it. But now it’s new for everyone else. So it’s an entirely different creative process, I think, which has been a bit of a learning curve to get used to, for sure.

Did you write “Impostor Syndrome” with Halsey while on tour? Or how did that happen?

No, we kind of just became really good friends off the back of the tour. Which I think is really nice, it’s not always that. Sometimes you’re kept really separate from the artist. But like I said, I feel like Ash just took me under her wing and wanted to help me in any way possible. And I’m just like, “thank you. I don’t know why you want to help me, but thank you.”

And we said that we should jump in a session together sometime. I don’t think we ever knew what that was going to be like, but it was just an amazing experience to get to watch someone so well versed in the studio and see that process. And it was the weirdest session ever.

I went out to LA for this writing trip last November and I’d been doing all these sessions and this was one of my last ones. I was stressed and a little burnt out. I felt like I didn’t deserve to be on this trip. I was doing these sessions with all these amazing producers who had worked with artists that I love, such as The Wallows. “Imposter Syndrome” was done with Sammy, Harry Styles’ producer. And then jumping in the session with Halsey as well, I was like, “oh my God, how did I get here? What if she thinks I’m shit?” I was so scared. But I think that was this idea of imposter syndrome in my head. So I kind of wanted to channel that idea. And me and Ash had kind of spoken about feeling that as well, because they said that they still feel it. Which was crazy. So yeah, I’d written all these ideas down before I went to the session — lyric ideas about imposter syndrome. And what was so weird was that me and Ash didn’t even speak about what we were going to write, and she came with the same idea… to write about imposter syndrome. I was like, “what the fuck?” Then we wrote the song and it just came about so quickly. It was really effortless.

She was really encouraging in the session as well. I felt really intimidated at first, but I think that so quickly went away, because there was just no judgement. If things messed up, there was no judgement. So it was just really nice to get to spend that time with her.

Do you have any other dream collaborators, either producers or artists?

I would absolutely love to work with Dan Nigro. I think he’s amazing, but he’s booked and busy right now. I love The Neighbourhood. I think my voice and their kind of mood would sit well together. But Lana Del Rey is my ultimate.

Can you tell me a bit more about your songwriting process? Do the lyrics come first?

I’m very lyrics first, and very chronically over prepared every time. I will keep a little diary in my phone on ideas and themes and whatnot, and write pages and pages of little notes before a session. Then when I get to the session, I’ll piece it together. I always have ideas that I need to write down.

How are you feeling stepping into this next chapter of your music? How does this song set the scene for a new era?

I’m just so ready for something to be out because it’s been such a long time, literally years. I’m just like, “please get it out into the world.” It’s nice to hear people’s feedback on TikTok already. I feel like I’ve been teasing a little bit and stuff and people are going crazy, which is so nice. I couldn’t hope for anything more.

I’m just excited to tour again and maybe do some headline stuff. I’ve done a lot of support stuff over the last year, so I’m ready to do some sweaty little gigs again”.

Before coming to another interview based around Imposter Syndrome, there is one from NOTION from September where Abby Roberts does discuss the single. She also talks about her early music memories, plans for the months ahead, plus her less-than-traditional path into the music world. She is an artist who now commands scores of fans. Someone who is hugely influential:

“The rush to early stardom didn’t come without its challenges, though. As the burgeoning musician explains when we speak, the stigma that came with her beauty-influencer-to-pop-rock-musician arc wasn’t something she could simply brush past. “People say ‘Oh, your music’s actually good’,  like they’re expecting it to be a cash grab,” she explains. Another setback? Imposter syndrome: something she felt so strongly that it ended up being the focus of her Halsey co-written new release, the aptly titled ‘Imposter Syndrome’. Channelling darker themes and ‘80s-inspired rock via acts like The Cure, we see Abby step into herself with this new release as she opens up on feeling out of her depth. To celebrate, we caught up with the artist to discuss the record, as well as her love for Lana Del Rey and the Barbie soundtrack.

Let’s kick off with ‘Imposter Syndrome’. Could you talk me through the tracks and the themes? Or the personal meaning behind that?

I wrote ‘Imposter Syndrome’ when I was out in LA on one of my first writing trips late last year. And I just felt so out of my depth, like, “Oh my God, I’m in these rooms with all these amazing producers that have worked with people like Harry Styles”. I just felt like I didn’t deserve to be there – and that feeling wasn’t new to me, either. A lot of the events and situations that I’m in, it feels as though I haven’t earned the right to be in that situation. I was talking to Ash (Halsey) about it – because we became quite good friends after our tour last year – and she explained that the feeling was imposter syndrome. I’d never heard of it before, but she said she even feels it at her level.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophie Buckley

Looking at ‘Imposter Syndrome’ next to some of your earlier singles and debut EP, how do you think this release marks a change or evolution?

There were a lot more slow songs on that first EP, and, being on tour, I got to see how an audience reacted to my music for the first time. When I was writing that first EP, it wasn’t something that I’d considered; that people were going to react to it in a live way. Obviously when you’re playing heavier rock bangers and stuff live, it goes off in a different way: the crowd is loving it, everyone’s moving and jumping. That was how I wanted to make music going forward. I wanted to make something that’d feel really amazing to run across a stage singing. ‘Imposter Syndrome’ is definitely more of a vibe than the bedroom pop stuff in my first EP.

Do you have any early musical memories or anything that sticks in your mind from childhood?

My dad introduced me to Lana when I was maybe 10. I remember he played her debut album to me in the car one time. And I was like, “God, I love this woman”. So I feel like she’s kind of been stuck with me ever since. I’ve always idolised her.

Other than Lana Del Rey, were there any artists you admired growing up that have shaped your sound today?

I mean, Arctic Monkeys. They were always playing at house parties and stuff growing up. I love ‘90s music as well, Mazzy Star is a big inspiration. The Neighbourhood. I really love moody alternative music.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophie Buckley

You’re a Yorkshire girl, right? Did you find much inspiration musically from the rich music scene there, or was it more the internet that you gravitated to?

Honestly, it was definitely more the internet. I don’t think I discovered my personal taste in music until my late teens, to be honest. And discovering new music through TikTok – as cringy as that sounds, that’s definitely the common experience these days. I find so much new music through TikTok.

What’s exciting you right now, whether that’s beauty-related, music, fashion? Is there anything outside of what you’re doing right now that’s giving you inspiration?

I’m really excited about Olivia Rodrigo’s new stuff. I’ve been obsessed with ‘bad idea, right?’. It’s so early ’00s movie makeover scene. Billie Eilish I’m always loving. And the Barbie soundtrack. Charli XCX.

Last up, what’s the big plan? What’s this year consisting of, and where are you hoping to end up?

Right now, I just want to do more headline tour stuff. I did loads of supports my first year, and now I want to work on my headline stuff and figure out my visuals in a live setting. That’s what I’m really excited for. But, to be honest, I’m really impulsive and I don’t plan super far in the future”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Sophie Buckley

There are a couple of other interviews that I want to come onto. EUPHORIA. chatted with Abby Roberts last month about a successful and busy year. Someone both in the public gaze but also still coming through in music, it must be quite an odd world for her. That need to communicate with her fans and get out there. How much privacy does a modern-day ‘TikTok artist’ (though I wouldn’t label her as that) get at all?! I know Roberts is an artist who will have her own headline shows and festival headline slots next year:

“Having grown up in the gaze of millions, Abby Roberts’ teenage years were exposed under the white light of her ring light and captured, condensed, and well-edited into a matter of minutes for all to see. At only 11 years old she began filming YouTube videos, expressing her creative streak to the world, which has now exploded into a multitude of careers, music being her most recent venture as she prepares to embark across Europe supporting Gus Dapperton on his “Henge” tour this week.

“I am so chronically online it hurts,” she laughs, kicking off our interview in classic Gen Z fashion and making a statement that many can relate to. “I think it shaped the way I grew up, to be honest. Like, all of my music taste comes from social media and, people might find this next bit a little cringy but, TikTok made me who I am,” she continues before delving into online presences being perceived in many ways. “I think it’s weird to think that we were all being perceived in different ways online from such a young age. You know, being subject to negative comments about yourself from the age of 11 is not good for anyone’s mental health,” she slightly laughs, almost like she’s shaking it off. “I think those experiences gave me really tough skin. Having to deal with that for such a long time really helps you develop methods of not letting it get to you,” she admits. “None of that fazes me as much now.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophie Buckley

She’s been a makeup artist for over a decade now, and an entrepreneur for just as long, but the switch over to music didn’t come without its worries. “There was definitely a stigma at first,” says Roberts. “I think there were a lot of opinions and thoughts that I was just doing the TikTok to music pipeline because I did branch out into music around the same time loads of others who got their start on TikTok did,” she states. “I also thought people’s interpretation of me going into this would be like oh my god, another TikToker going into music, how cringe, but I feel like I’ve really proven myself,” she shares. “I felt like I had to for quite a while and it has definitely taken this past year for me to get to a place of where people are almost accepting of it,” she opens up before shining light on other things she worried about when switching from makeup to music. “I was totally worried that my audience wouldn’t follow when I made the switch,” she admits. “I think, you know having an audience that followed me primarily for makeup, it was a case of will they ditch me or not now that I post a bit of everything,” she says, the entrepreneur in her popping out. “I feel like a lot of the makeup stuff carries over into the music world too though,” she exclaims. “Like, it’s all been a big part of this experience so I’m lucky to still have quite a lot of the same audience hanging around. Since I began doing live shows, a few people only know me for music and didn’t have a clue about all my makeup ventures which is weird but new and fun.”

She knows what people are thinking. She’s nothing but self-aware as she reflects on how she got here and on her journey to music. “I was quite late with getting into music, to be honest,” she notes. “I had already been doing social media since I was around 11 years old and I was so dedicated to that; when TikTok started blowing up, I made that my main focus,” she continues. “I was doing makeup looks every day, like four videos a day, for three years and I became creatively burnt out. I felt like I had done every type of makeup look in existence and I didn’t feel like it was fuelling me creatively to keep going,” she apprehensively admits with love for the art form still evident across her face. “I’ve always been the type of person to like a challenge,” she switches up. “I need creative challenges to keep me interested and music was something that was always at the back of my mind but I never really had the time to pursue it,” she adds. “Off the back of doing social media for so long, I managed to make a lot of friends, some within the music scene, and they helped me start off in terms of helping me experiment with different styles and see what I liked,” she proclaims. “I was actually writing and creating music for two years before I released anything because I didn’t want to put out the first thing I made. I wanted to sit back and learn different things before I took that step,” she discloses. “Looking back, I hope those first few songs I created never see the light of day. They were terrible!”

Unlike previous steps in her career, you can tell that her music wasn’t made with a specific audience in mind. You can tell that she’s making it for herself and herself only. “I’m always changing things around. Like, if I could change a song and make adjustments forever, I absolutely would,” she starts off. “At some point though, you’ve got to realize that it’s as done as it’s going to be and you need to get it out before the time for it has passed,” she discloses. “I think my own music adapts to what I’m listening to at the time so when I was writing ‘Imposter Syndrome’, I had lots of ‘80s sci-fi and gothic influenced music on,” she shares.“ I had The Cure on so much and I feel like you can hear some of those vibes.”

“It was quite interesting going into that session but I think it kind of manifested itself in terms of the meaning behind the song,” Roberts begins. “I was going to all these sessions in LA and it was my first time out there; being with all these industry professionals, I started feeling like I was a bit out of my depth and that I couldn’t be in those rooms with them,” she vulnerably admits. “The imposter syndrome was kicking in so I started talking to Halsey about it who expressed how they still feel the same way at times, even as successful as they are,” she exclaims, almost like she’s still in disbelief about the latter. “Like all these years down the line and they still feel like that sometimes, it really helped me decide to hone in on it and express it within my music,” she notes before sharing how the collaboration came about. “Ashley and I became good friends last year. They kind of took me under their wing and is now my music mother. I love them to bits,” she confesses. “We, obviously, stayed in touch and they became so invested in my career that we thought it could be fun to work on something together,” she adds. “For me, it was such a learning experience to be in that studio and pay attention to how the professionals do it in a session,” she continues. “It also made me feel a lot less intimidated because of how chill it was. There was no judgment,” she states. “I could say what I want and do what I want without any pressure,” she beams. “We had some good takes, some bad, and nothing was criticized. It was one of the weirdest but most fulfilling writing experiences ever, almost like it was meant to be because we had the same brain,” she expresses. “We were on the same wavelength the whole time”.

@abbyroberts

⚠️6 DAYS TIL VOLATILE⚠️ presave in 8!oooo

♬ VOLATILE chorus - Abby Roberts

I am going to finish off with an interview with Rolling Stone. Abby Roberts was speaking with them about her new single, volatile. It pertains to the end of a friendship. Messages and a theme that many of her listeners will connect with. It is another tremendous release from one of our brightest young artists. Someone who is adding something a little different to Pop:

“It’s essentially me telling the story of this friendship, breakup and the whole kind of aftermath of that and my feelings surrounding that. And I really wanted the lyrics first of all to really represent like that situation as accurately as possible. And I think I was quite nervous for people to hear that when I started teasing it and eventually releasing it and people are reading into that. So that’s been something that I really have spent a lot of time going over for sure.”

She went on: “It’s about this ex best friend, which I’ve explained in shows when I performed it before. Which is worse than a relationship breakup because we were best friends for a very long time and things ended in a really very messy way, as I think as you can tell by the lyrics in the song.

“I think it was like a build up of a lot of things, that had been happening in this friendship caused by this person, dragging me into dramatic situations and I was like, I don’t need this drama in my life anymore.”

On production duties, meanwhile, is Rob Milton – who has previously worked with the likes of The 1975 and Holly Humberstone.

“His production is a lot more stripped back and that allowed me to be more vulnerable with my lyrics and we worked together to figure out how we could do this song in a way that doesn’t come across as bratty and petty, because there was definitely a lot of real meaning behind what I was trying to put out there,” she said.

Going forward, Roberts explained that the anthemic sound of the track would inform her future output.

“It feels like I’m now only just letting people into this world that I’ve like been in for such a long time,” she said.

“I just think performing that kind of music in a live setting is so much more fun than doing the slow ones. Like, I love a good hair flip. I love running about the stage and like expressing that in a performance. So you can expect a lot more high energy stuff I think from my next project”.

Having already featured Abby Roberts last year, I wanted to end this one by celebrating someone who has built on all that momentum and promise and is now in a position to look at 2024 will big ambitions. Having already played some big gigs and supported Halsey, she has this run of material out there that marks her out as an impressive talent. As her portfolio grows even more, we are going to see Abby Roberts compared to some of the biggest artists of the day. She is someone that should be on everyone’s radar as we…

HEAD into next year.

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Follow Abby Roberts

FEATURE: In Response to a Potential #MeToo Music Movement… The Need for the Music Industry to Support Women Experiencing Domestic Abuse

FEATURE:

 

 

In Response to a Potential #MeToo Music Movement…

PHOTO CREDIT: Marina Pechnikova/Pexels

 

The Need for the Music Industry to Support Women Experiencing Domestic Abuse

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I realise that this is not…

IN THIS PHOTO: Alex Scott is a sports presenter, pundit and former professional footballer who is ambassador for the domestic abuse charity, Refuge/PHOTO CREDIT: GLAMOUR

the most Christmas-appropriate feature I can run. It is important to discuss important and tough subjects, even if they are quite upsetting and challenging. I saw a recent article from GLAMOUR, where Alex Scott discussed her role as ambassador for Refuge. They are a charity that offers specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. You can donate to them. We know that domestic abuse impacts so many women and children. I do appreciate that men experience domestic violence. I completely sympathise with them. It does happen with men in the music industry, so I would never discount that or minimise it. However, when it comes to domestic violence affecting those in the music industry, the vast majority is against women. In fact, when we do think about those women affected by something so horrific, maybe we look at those outside of music, film and other industries. For want of a better word, the more ‘everyday’ women. That is not the case. I wanted to look at the issue wider afield, as it an important thing to talk about. Ending domestic abuse and protecting women (and children). I know there are women within music – whether artists, those working through the industry or even music fans – who are affected by domestic abuse in some way. A vital charity doing really important work. Alex Scott, as someone who has experienced domestic abuse, has this first-hand insight and impact. I know that there will be women in the music industry and associated who are involved in abusive relationships or victims of domestic abuse. Alex Scott’s words can definitely provide strength:

“GLAMOUR: Hi Alex! Thanks for speaking with GLAMOUR today. Can you tell me about why you wanted to be an ambassador for Refuge?

Alex Scott: Honestly, when my book came out – where I detailed my upbringing, my life and what I'd been through with domestic abuse – I wasn't thinking about what next or how I could help or be an ambassador for anyone. That wasn't the case. During my Women's Hour interview on BBC Radio 4, I realised that I didn't want anything from the book, but if I could use the proceeds to help anyone else who's gone through what my mum did or what I kind of experienced as a kid, I wanted to do that.

I remember going away thinking, well, where do I look? Where should all these proceeds go? I did a lot of research, and it just felt right; something within my gut told me that I wanted to work with Refuge. 

PHOTO CREDIT: GLAMOUR

Do you think that there is more scrutiny on you when you support a cause like this? Especially when it's a cause about an issue that specifically impacts women. I know people are quick to ask, ‘What about the men?’ even when we have stats like the one you mentioned – two women a week are killed by a current or former partner – that show we need to have these conversations about women.

As you said, there will always be those people who are like, 'Oh, it's not only women that go through it,' and we're not saying that is the case, but as I said, it just goes back to me knowing what I went through. I saw my mum go through it. I connected with Refuge because I know that's the side that they specialise in and they try and help. That's the side that I lent to, but that's not saying I'm disregarding anyone else and the work that they're doing or saying that you don't matter and it doesn't count. It's me just trying to raise a voice in this certain area because of my experiences.

In a dream world, how could society better support survivors of domestic abuse?

Oh God. Well, that's the thing. It's a societal issue. And we all need to come together to tackle that. It's excellent that GLAMOUR's covering this issue and that we're talking about it because it needs to be acknowledged that it's a serious crime. We need to tackle the myths around domestic abuse – it's not going away. How can we continue to let it happen?

There are so many women who look up to you. Maybe some of these people are going through a similar situation. Maybe they're watching their parents deal with domestic abuse. Maybe they're experiencing it firsthand. What would be your message to them?

You are not alone. I know that you can feel that you are isolated, but support is available. I know I think back to my mum thinking that she was a coward and she didn't do enough. When I see my mum and all the women who have gone through this and are survivors, you are superwomen! Everything you've gone through to protect yourself and your kids – and the fact that that's stripped of you – but I think you are absolutely incredible, powerful women, and it's just getting that courage back to see that in yourself. You're not alone, and there is help out there. You can call Refuge's National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

As I say, it is perhaps not the most Christmassy thing to post at the moment! It is quite tough and dark…yet it is a time of year when many are going to be together and there will be this unity. Happy homes and families coming together. There are those who will not have the same Christmas as a lot of people. Women living in fear and trapped in abusive homes. Subjected to the most horrific domestic abuse. It is important that Refuge is out there and doing amazing work. We are in a time when many men in the industry have been accused of sexual assault and abuse. GLAMOUR asked recently whether the #MeToo movement is finally coming to the music industry. It is a time when there is reaction to this wave of abuse and assault. Women standing up and telling their stories. There is a long history of domestic abuse in music. The industry called out time and time again for not doing enough. Will we see changes in 2024? Things as they stand are not good:

“Domestic violence against women in the industry is nothing of the past, as there have been many cases of it within the past year. One of the most publicized cases in 2022 was the trial of Meghan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez. According to an article from the New York Times, on July 12, 2020 Meghan Thee Stallion was shot multiple times in both feet after leaving a party with Tory Lanez. She needed surgery to remove the bullet fragments from her feet. Three months later, Meghan Thee Stallion spoke out about the incident and claimed that Tory Lanez was the one who wielded the gun. Rather than being supported and believed by the internet, he was met with a large amount of criticism from his fans. The trial ensued during December of 2022, where Meghan Thee Stallion took the stand and testified about how the controversy over the encounter had made her depressed and hurt her career, as she was the target of many hateful comments on social media. The jury found that Tory Lanez was guilty on three felony counts and he faces more than twenty years in prison and the possibility of deportation. No matter how successful a woman is in the music industry, this case proves how they are still not safe from domestic violence. 

Future of the Issue 

Although people have become aware of the domestic violence women face in the music industry following the #MeToo movement, there does not seem as if much will change in the future. Women may be able to speak out against violent incidents, but they are not shielded from the incoming flood of hate from the internet and are still silenced by powerful executives. There are no laws being put in place by anyone in the music industry in order to protect women either. According to an article from Gem, his kind of violence is an issue across the globe for women of every race, age, and background. With the amount of domestic violence accusations within the past decade, musician FKA twigs begs the question, “How long can the music industry go on without a #MeToo style movement?” and “How will the industry enact positive change and tackle the larger problem?”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Megan Thee Stallion/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

A lot of strong and brave women have spoken about their experience with domestic abuse. It is a different case for every woman. Different situations. Musicians’ Union offer support for victims of domestic abuse. It does obviously impact men and non-binary people - though the majority of cases relate to women being the victims. Whilst we know of the more high-profile cases of women affected by sexual abuse, there are many cases of domestic abuse behind closed doors. Not only involving artists. Many other women across the industry will be affected. There are terrific resources out there. I was moved by Alex Scott’s words for GLAMOUR. It made me think about the music industry and how there has been this ongoing issue addressing of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Something that, in an especially prolific year regarding cases, more needs to be done about. At a time of year where so many of us are looking forwards to relaxing and being in this safe and warm space, we need to think about women who are in very unsafe homes. Every article and interview that comes out is helping to bring more awareness and hopefully affect change. It is quite slow in the music industry. Maybe not enough knowledge and understand about the fact that it is a very real thing that affects a lot of women. There is help out there.

PHOTO CREDIT: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

In addition to tackling inequality, discrimination and increased sexual assault through the industry, there also needs to be measures to protect women who are impacted by domestic abuse. It can take various forms. It is not always the case women can speak out or tell their stories. This is especially true in music, given the prominence and position of some artists. Recent programmes like Taking Back Control - that showed on Ireland’s RTÉ - will no doubt inspire other women. New conversations around #MeToo in Pop and Hip-Hop will obviously help regarding the issue. In an industry that traditionally silences women who experience sexual abuse, there is little recognition and support for those who are victims of domestic abuse. 2024 needs to be a year of much greater engagement and support. Not silencing women. Instead, ensuring that they are safe, believed and find justice and space. We have just been told that former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan is now eligible for a BRIT Award. A high-profile ceremony that is very respected making this ridiculous decision. Seemingly, if a man in the industry is accused of domestic abuse then they are let off of the hook. No ban from ceremonies or further punishment. As Mel B said in a statement to The Independent, it is a terrible move from the BRITs. It also send a really terrible message. Artist slowthai (who has been accused on two counts of rape) may be eligible for BRIT honours:

“Mel B has hit out at former Kasabian member Tom Meighan being eligible for the 2024 BRIT Awards, despite him being convicted of domestic assault.

The Spice Girls singer voiced her disappointment in a statement to The Independent – saying that she feels let down by the decision to have a singer convicted of abuse being eligible to win a BRIT Award.

It comes after Meighan was among the acts included on the form for the voting academy for the 2024 edition.

Meighan parted ways with the Leicester group in July 2020, shortly before being charged with assaulting his partner Vikki Ager – who he married the following year. He was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work.

The BRIT buzz comes following the release of his solo album, ‘The Reckoning’, and he is eligible for Album of the Year, British Rock/Alternative Act, and Artist of the Year at next year’s ceremony.

“I am deeply disappointed that an organisation so highly respected within the music industry should make a choice like this,” Mel B told the outlet.

IN THIS PHOTO: Mel B/PHOTO CREDIT: PA

“You have to think what kind of message are you sending out to people when crimes of violence against women can be committed and then that person could be rewarded as part of a massively high profile awards event. It’s shocking to me.”

Mel B’s comments against Meighan come following years of work campaigning against domestic violence. She has also voiced her own experiences of alleged abuse in the past – sharing claims of domestic violence during her marriage to Stephen Belafonte in her memoir Brutally Honest. Belafonte has repeatedly denied the claims against him, and the two reached a private settlement in 2017.

“I am not only a Patron of Women’s Aid but I have just completed three new chapters of my book, Brutally Honest, which charts my journey through abuse and the six years it has taken me to deal with the trauma of that abuse,” she added. “I am still dealing with that trauma and I know I am not alone”.

Going back to Alex Scott’s interview with GLAMOUR, there is this amazing work being done. Incredible charities like Refuge. Musicians’ Union support those in the industry here. Thinking about the Christmas period ahead and how so many women will be experiencing something miserable and awful makes it evident that tackling domestic abuse in the music industry needs to be…

PHOTO CREDIT: MART PRODUCTION/Pexels

ANOTHER big priority.

FEATURE: Limited Run Time: Empowering Feminist Broadway Musicals and the Role of Modern Pop

FEATURE:

 

 

Limited Run Time

IN THIS PHOTO: Jordan Dobson (left) as Prince Sebastian and Linedy Genao as Cinderella in the musical, Bad Cinderella, at the Imperial Theater in Manhattan/PHOTO CREDIT: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times 

 

Empowering Feminist Broadway Musicals and the Role of Modern Pop

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I was struck by a feature…

IN THIS PHOTO: Lauren Zakrin (second from left) as the Little Mermaid gets her voice back upon reading The Feminine Mystique in Once Upon a One More Time/PHOTO CREDIT: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

from The New York Times. It relates to music but is more concerned with Broadway musicals. It got me thinking about feminist music and whether there are many examples in the modern Pop market. I am going to sample quite heavily from the article. I think it adds context, not only to musicals on Broadway perceived as feminist and whether the retelling of classics is progressive and meaningful or is lacking. Also, whether Pop and Pop music written by men can provide useful form of feminist discourse:

“During the first act of “Once Upon a One More Time,” the Broadway jukebox musical that grooves to the Britney Spears oeuvre, a fairy godmother arrives with a present for Cinderella. A gown? No. Glass slippers? No. Cin has enough already. Instead, her godmother gifts her a copy of Betty Friedan’s 1963 best seller, “The Feminine Mystique.”

It’s a clumsy gesture in the show, which plans to close next month. (Feminist thought has advanced in 60 years!) And arguably emblematic of a recent spate of Broadway musicals that set feminism to a pop beat, including “Six,” a zippy modern retelling of the lives of Henry VIII’s six wives; “& Juliet,” whose protagonist, miraculously alive, embarks on a girls’ trip of self-discovery; and “Bad Cinderella” (now closed), a chaotic rejiggering of the classic fairy tale. Aimed at girls and women (historically the majority of Broadway ticket buyers), these shows may be sincere attempts to engage with women’s issues — or they’re hollow efforts to capitalize on calls for change. Empty political gestures on Broadway? To quote a song used in two of these shows: “Oops! … I did it again.”

On a recent morning, Laura Collins-Hughes, contributing theater critic and reporter; Salamishah Tillet, critic at large; and Lindsay Zoladz, pop music critic, gathered to debate facts and fairy tales. They discussed how narrowly these shows define empowerment, if they define it at all, and why Prince Charming gets the best song. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Why do you think we’re seeing these shows now? Is it a cynical attempt to appeal to female ticket buyers or something more organic?

TILLET These shows, despite their best intentions, seem limited by their source material. There was a lot of Cinderella this year! The publicity appeal of anything Cinderella is obvious, so for Broadway theaters struggling to get audiences back into the theater, of course it is a ploy.

COLLINS-HUGHES “Bad Cinderella” could have been so much more than it was. It is a messy show, it’s always been a messy show, but in London it was actually fun. It had a bit of substance to it. And magic. The feminism, which was so clear and so dramatically propulsive in the London version, was wiped away for Broadway.

I took my daughter to “Bad Cinderella” and afterward we had a conversation about the show’s messaging, which was confused at best.  Is it asking too much of a musical to also have great messages?

COLLINS-HUGHES This question makes me think we all live in fear of that riposte that often greets girls and women who won’t laugh along at a joke that’s not funny: “Where’s your sense of humor?” It’s perfectly legitimate to recoil from a show whose message bugs you, and all the more if it’s at odds with its girl-power, you-be-you marketing.

And yet if a show is successful enough in other ways, the messaging may not matter. That was my delighted experience of “& Juliet.”

TILLET This was definitely my favorite pop feminist musical of the year. I was genuinely intrigued by the conceit of what happens if Juliet doesn’t die. What life does she make for herself beyond the formula prescribed for her? The musical opens up possibilities for her as a protagonist. And with its thoughtful casting of Lorna Courtney as a Black Juliet and Justin David Sullivan as the nonbinary character, May, it enables us to see Shakespeare differently, too.

COLLINS-HUGHES When it has a top-notch cast, “& Juliet” is a blast. But I am baffled that people perceive it as feminist. It really is not.

ZOLADZ Say more!

COLLINS-HUGHES I don’t mean that it’s anti-feminist, but I don’t think it’s particularly female-centered — not on Juliet, nor on Anne Hathaway [Shakespeare’s wife], who gets one of the subplots.

With the exception of “Six,” these shows are largely created by men. Does that explain anything?

COLLINS-HUGHES Of course. It’s not that men can’t and don’t write women well or can’t imagine women’s lives. And it’s certainly not that artists should stick to writing only about people just like them. But they are writing from the outside. That can come with a lot of blind spots and a lot of misapprehensions.

All of these musicals use a pop vernacular, “Bad Cinderella” somewhat less so. Is pop, particularly pop written and produced by men, a useful form for feminist discourse?

ZOLADZ Something I’ve been thinking about regarding “Once Upon a One More Time” and especially “& Juliet,” which uses the songs of the massive millennial hitmaker Max Martin, is the lyrical limitation of a lot of modern pop music. Martin and the generation of pop architects who followed him treat lyrics almost as an afterthought. Martin has referred to his method of songwriting as “melodic math.” “& Juliet” was fun and more cleverly written than “Once Upon a One More Time,” but a lot of that had to do with the ironic distance between the lyrics themselves and the winking, metatextual way the characters employed them — like when “I Want It That Way,” by the Backstreet Boys, becomes not so much a love song as a narration of an argument between Shakespeare and his wife, who have conflicting opinions about how his latest play should end.

TILLET I hated a lot of those pop songs and found them anti-feminist when they originally came out, but when I sang along with the “& Juliet” audience and my tween daughter, I found that they aged better than I had expected. Or maybe, because I’m now middle-age, I’m mistaking nostalgia for progress.

COLLINS-HUGHES Inattention to lyrics is a limitation of jukebox musicals, but it doesn’t hold for original pop songs, which can be whatever the writer makes them. It would help, though, if more of the songwriters getting musicals produced were women.

ZOLADZ I generally pay more attention to pop music than Broadway musicals, so I found the sound of these shows to be quite striking. Modern pop’s influence is everywhere, especially in a show like “Six,” which is full of electronic beats, hip-hop cadences and direct nods to artists like Beyoncé and Ariana Grande. Is that a trend you have observed over time? And given that this is such a golden age for female pop stars, do you think that crossover appeal has something to do with the rise of these empowerment musicals?”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Lindsay Zoladz

There was a lot to think about with that article and interview. I know a bit about Broadway musicals. I was not aware of feminist takes and retellings of classic texts and fairy tales. You can see how diversified feminism and roles celebrating female empowerment have become on Broadway.  A lot of additional points were raised in that article from The New York Times. The fact that the storytelling is not completing and impactful. Many of the Pop songs used in musicals not empowering or their messages are dated. A question was raised regarding the Barbie movie and whether that will impact Broadway. It did mix modern Pop songs into a film that is feminist. Songs that do ask important questions. Even though the tracks were varied and excellent, maybe it was more the film’s messages rather than the songs’ that created that impression and impact. It is fascinating trying to transform and evolve modern Broadway so that its feminism is effective and useful and can fully engage and inspire its largest audience. As an article from The New York Times in 2019 noted: maybe it is the men who write shows that need ‘fixing’ and not the women:

“Empowering the female lead may be a celebratory hook for selling a show, particularly given that women buy the bulk of Broadway tickets. But on closer inspection, it is rarely the women that require revision. The streetwalking Vivian Ward, stage-dominating Lilli Vanessi and hardscrabble Eliza Doolittle are not lacking in grit. An additional injection of strength risks turning them into bland, uncomplicated superwomen.

No, the real problem with these stories is the men. They are terrible, and yet they have the audacity to believe they can teach these women lessons, and to come out on the other side looking like plausible romantic leads. A modern production’s success rests on how it tames its man”.

There are a lot of interesting discussion and questions. If Broadway musicals do have feminist tales and takes, is it still stuck on the traditional ideas of liberations and emancipation in terms of romantic relationships and love?! That feeling that empowerment comes through getting out of a bad relationship or independence?! Few that discuss careers, politics and anything outside of that. There are a few examples that buck that trend, though I wonder whether too this mixture of modern Pop beats and stories coming into Broadway musical is lacking something. Are there enough feminist anthems today? There was once upon a time, yet the trend and demand has maybe moved away from that. I guess there are examples from the past few years of diverse and empowering Pop songs. Representation of women behind the scenes has always been quite poor. I do wonder whether there are still too many imbalances when it comes to women writing Broadway musicals. In the technical crew and working behind the scenes. If representation on stage has broadened and increased, is there enough of a drive to create these meaningful and compelling stories of female empowerment and independence?

I wonder about the role modern music can play and whether we are enough choices when it comes to songs that can bring a story to life and drive the narrative. Also, and going back to the original source of The New York Times, there are even problems highlighted with the Barbie film. That the Kens are quite bland. They also get the big dance numbers. That ‘Broadway moment’, rather than being women in the spotlight, features the Kens. I know the Barbies have their awesome raging party scene where it is interrupted by Stereotypical Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) thoughts of death. Many feel that musicals squarely aimed at women or singularly about women are not interesting enough to appeal. I feel that there are modern successful women at the forefront of music – such as Beyoncé – who write empowering songs and have these careers that are not about power and commercial success. Many feminist Broadway music and plays that discuss and focus on female empowerment leave it there. No nuance and discussion around the way power can corrupt. Maybe Broadway itself has an issue when it comes to sincere and purposeful musicals about feminism and empowerment due to empty gestures and clumsy politics. I wonder whether the music used is there as backdrop or drives the story. Too much a case of the musicals being Pop concerts - and not a perfect balance of powerful female-led musicals with Pop effectively used as a score.

Lindsay Zoladz noted (regarding modern Broadway feminist examples) that “the overarching problem with these musicals is the way they fail to define terms, presenting “empowerment” and “feminism” as given, unexamined virtues”. I do not have the answers. It is clear that many modern Broadway shows and musicals narrowly define empowerment. Is this also the case in music?! The majority of empowering songs from women about love and getting out of relationships?! I do think that Pop music has some modern and original feminist examples that go beyond bad love. If Broadway and Pop can connect effectively and there is a meaningful show that engages with the need for change (and the messaging is clear). Broadening the source material. Songs written by men can work as a feminist anthem in a Broadway music, though there is that desire to bring women to the front and ensure there their voices and words are being highlighted. If some Broadway musicals are benefitting from modern Pop’s inclusion and women’s voices scoring scenes, there is still that disconnect when it comes to casting and diversity. Many of the shows written by men and from their viewpoint. A need to review and balance things. The demand for feminist musicals and shows might react to the fact that its largest audience is women. The way incredible modern women in music are so influential and successful. Maybe not enough examples of musicals and plays that get that blend right when it comes to the music, casting and messaging. There are some incredible modern female Pop and R&B artists. Great women in Rap whose music can brilliantly work in Broadway musicals. Some amazing actresses who are coming through. A diversity and embarrassment of riches that will be realised soon enough. Ensuring that female writers are promoted and given space and opportunities. Broadway musicals that are empowering and whose feminism is purposeful and has meaning. If that is realised – however gradually but with commitment – then that will be…

A potent combination.

FEATURE: SAULT in the Wound? The Balance Between Artists Covering Gig Costs and Not Overcharging Loyal and Eager Fans

FEATURE:

 

 

SAULT in the Wound?

  

The Balance Between Artists Covering Gig Costs and Not Overcharging Loyal and Eager Fans

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I think that there is something exciting…

about a mysterious act coming to the stage for the first time! We do not really have that sense of theatre and hype in music much. There have been some great acts coming through the past decade or so. Few match the quality and consistency of SAULT. Not very much is known about the group, as there are not promotional photos and a load of interviews. Fronted by, we know, the tremendous Cleo Sol (who is a successful solo artist in her own right), their latest album matches their very best. They are such a varied group who are writing really important and powerful songs. Few would have thought an early treat would come from them. They have announced some gigs. The first, on Thursday (14th), takes place at Drumsheds in London. It is making news for another reason. A large venue for sure, it is hardly in the centre of London. Out in N18, it is a bit of a trek for some. Even a bit for fans who live in London. The debut gig for SAULT comes with some ‘savoury’ notes. For fans who haver waited a long time and have had the stress of saving up for Christmas, is it a bit like pouring SAULT in the wounds (do not excuse the pun!) for the loyal fanbase?! In fact, a lot of the diehard fanbase are priced out and going to miss on an event that should have reflected a difficult time for many. I am not saying tickets should have been £20 or £30. Even if you are a tremendous group and there is this anticipation and build-up, think about artists like The Last Dinner Party and the fact there is plenty of momentum behind them. Their ticket costs are far lower than what SAULT are charging for their London gig this week. CLASH explains more:

“Earlier today – December 11th – tickets went on sale, priced at an eye-watering £99, and that’s before booking fee. One fan described themselves as “gobsmacked” while another commented “frankly, you’re just being plain greedy”.

The timing doesn’t help. The run up to Christmas leaves many of us drained financially – trips to see family have to be booked, there’s a work Christmas party to fork out for, and the list of presents grows longer each year. There’s commitments in place that a show in, say, March, don’t have.

There’s always been an implicit message of accessibility in Sault’s art – hosting a WeTransfer featuring five albums, for example, the price of admission being a password saying ‘GODISLOVE’. A £99 entry fee cuts away much of that, and prevents some of their longest fans from being able to attend.

Furthermore, the comms have – for once – been slightly messy. The build-up ramped up expectation, no doubt to create demand; but idents on social media describing ‘Africa’ as a country felt rushed. Alongside this, Sault insisted each ‘country’ would get one show each – the United States gets two, one for each coast.

Much of this wouldn’t matter, however, if it was anyone else. Put simply, Sault mean a lot. The mystery counts for a great deal of this – to this day, fans aren’t 100% who is even in Sault. The project is reputed to hinge on the imagination of Inflo, a generation-defining producer who has worked alongside Adele, while Cleo Sol – the two are married – is speculated to be the primary vocalist. Guests include Little Simz and Michael Kiwanuka, and that’s before we even attempt to break down Inflo’s orchestral manoeuvres.

But all that talent means that the margins are tight. To book a big enough venue in London – their home city – in December requires a lot of planning. To do so on an independent basis, means that no one is there to under-write the risk. It’s not as though Sault pop up on Coca-Cola commercials – if the art is paramount, then the commercial asks made of them have to be made in other ways.

It’s cruel, but the climate we’re operating in is far from fair. Sault made their name by placing their music on streaming – open, easily accessible, but ultimately not a great deal for artists. The vinyl drops may be a means of fans to show support, but the rapidly increasing cost of the physical artefact itself means that even this isn’t a perfect mode of exchange. The burden falls on the fan, but it also falls on artist – to do without, to persevere, and to make the economics work”. 

CLASH make good points in their article. There is a massive cost of hiring a venue, doing the promotion and publicity. Then there is the crew and technical team. SAULT have to consider all the musicians and the fact they have orchestration and quite a big set. I shared the tweet by CLASH when they posted their article. Some rightly pointed out how we do not know what form the show will take in terms of the staging and length etc. There is also the fact that SAULT, largely, are a digital band. In the sense they release music digitally mostly – or have been putting a lot out for free. Even so, you can pre-order albums on vinyl now. I think that this is admirable when it comes to making their music accessible and affordable. I think this is more a case of the band wanting to keep some mystery and distance, rather than it being about the fans’ pockets. More change you’d need to promote an album if it came out physically? I see that they are in a difficult position. Costs in general are very high. Venues need to pay increasing rents. They are fighting to stay open. I know that many fans’ living costs are going up and they have less to spend on live music. It is a bind and quandary that has no easy solution. SAULT could lower the ticket price but compromise their structure and set. The venue also misses out too. I doubt there will be merchandise or any stalls set up so fans can buy the albums afterwards. Maybe keen to keep that mysterious aura and still give fans music, that will all be blown apart on Thursday.

It makes me think that the next move will be for SAULT. There is call and demand for physical release and a closer relationship with fans. They do not need to do TikTok videos and loads of interviews but, after this build-up and hype, they are so loved and popular that there is little chance they can keep anonymous and distant. I am not sure why they were more keen on digital releases. The fact that this might account for a high ticket cost is as good an argument against avoiding the physical market. In any case, it will be a huge event for fans who go and see them! Aside from some promotion and messaging that is a bit messy and flawed, the group will get a lot of love when they play Drumsheds. There is going to be undeniable quality on that stage. World-class singers, musicians and talent, there is richness and reward for those lucky enough to go! It is close to Christmas. So, in a hard year, this is a relief for so many. Something to look forward to! After all this time wondering who the group are and supporting their music, there will be this wonderful moment and night to remember! They are playing all-new music from an album nobody has heard yet. There is that exclusivity and rareness that might account for the ticket price. Maybe too the price will come down the more they perform. There is no magic ticket price. Whilst some artists can do a smaller set and thus impose lower prices, the more complex and full your stage is, the more that will cost artists – who need to pay a lot of people and pocket enough for themselves too. It is a year when ticket prices have been making news. Bad enough that ticket resale sites are charging extortionate amounts. Major artists who do these worldwide tours are charging three-figure sums for fans to see them. You have to balance the experience and costs involved versus the fact that many of the artists are making immense profit and could afford to lower the ticket prices.

SAULT are hardly on the same global level as some of the artists I am sure you know who I am referring to. I am glad that there will be this sort of ‘unveiling’. There has been some backlash against SAULT. I reacted angrily at first. I felt that, actually, this is a case of hype and them taking advantage of the fans. I still feel they had wiggle room to take the ticket price down a tad yet, if you consider who takes cuts from those ticket costs, how much goes to SAULT?! The venue gets some. There is taxation and all sorts of layers and people to pay before anything comes to SAULT. They may take a small piece of that £99+ ticket cost. When you factor all of that in, maybe they are not really the issue. It reflects more on the harshness of modern touring and the expense of hiring venues and putting on a memorable show. How many bodies go into making a gig when you think about it. Sadly, rising costs and people having less disposable income means there is this anger and disappointment. A feeling of being gouged. We cannot blame artists for the high costs. I am not sure how much say they have in pricing their own tickets and making that call. Rather than focus on SAULT as an example of a group taking a liberty, the revelation of their ticket prices opened up greater consideration around the point of artists’ pay. How much of a ticket sale goes to them. How many people get a cut. The realisation and reality is that that they have sold out their London show. Many will take that small financial sacrifice. It means that we do need to look closer at the live sector. Venues closing down and many struggling to remain afloat. There being this disparity when it comes to artists and ticket prices. In SAULT’s case, you have these supreme artists who will no doubt throw surprises and spectacle into their show on Thursday. It is going to be…

A night to remember.

FEATURE: Kate Bush: The Deep Cuts: Delius (Song of Summer)

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Deep Cuts

  

Delius (Song of Summer)

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I have not done a new…

Kate Bush: The Deep Cuts for a while. I thought, as so many of her most interesting songs are not played on radio, to give another great example of a song that should be better known and played. It has been a while since I talked about Delius - or, to give it its full title, Delius (Song of Summer). There are a few reasons for including this song now. The track is taken from Kate Bush’s third studio album, Never for Ever. There are a few big anniversaries next year. 1979’s The Tour of Life turns forty-five. Also, in September 1979, Bush began recording Never for Ever. I am thinking about that album and how, without much explanation, the reviews for the album were not that great. It is a beautiful mix between the more eccentric and unusual sounds of her first two albums (1978’s The Kick Inside, Lionheart) and something a little more ‘conventional’. This is explained and explored in Delius (Song for Summer). It has the sound and tone of an older track. Something choral that you might have heard centuries ago. Even so, there is that (then) modern production and Bush’s distinct vocal. A song I rarely hear played or discussed; it is one of the standouts on Never for Ever. I am going to give my personal thoughts about the song and why it is one that deserves a lot more attention and airing. Like so many of Kate Bush’s greater and most interesting songs, there is something unusual and rare when it comes to the inspiration for Delius (Song for Summer).

Before carrying on, and thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia, here is some background information on the song and its music video. Not released as a single, it was a live video (Bush mimed to the song on a T.V. show). I think that Delius (Song of Summer) could have been a very interesting single. Such a shame that this song is not known more widely. It is a really beautiful and interesting one:

“Song written by Kate Bush as a tribute to the English composer Frederick Delius. The song was inspired by Ken Russell’s film Song of Summer, made for the BBC’s programme Omnibus, which Kate had watched when she was ten years old. In his twenties, Delius contracted syphilis. When he became wheelchair bound as he became older, a young English admirer Eric Fenby volunteered his services as unpaid amanuensis. Between 1928 and 1933 he took down his compositions from dictation, and helping him revise earlier works.The song was released on the album Never For Ever and as the B-side of the single Army Dreamers.

Music video

A music video for ‘Delius’ exists, which was shown on television at least twice: during a Dr. Hook television special on 7 April 1980 and during the Russell Harty Show on 25 November 1980. The setting is a quiet, lazy English riverbank filled with reeds and grass. By the bank is a wheelchair-ridden old man, his body covered by a throw-rug, his head obscured by a large yellow disk resembling a sun. This figure presents an image of Delius much like the one which was depicted in the BBC television film  by Ken Russell. Gliding along on the river is a young swan-girl, represented by Kate in a gossamer white gown with wings”.

Maybe one reason as to why Delius (Song of Summer) was not released as a single, played that much on radio, or indeed was taken that seriously by a lot of people, as some viewed it as pretentious or too arty. Maybe this odd Pop artists trying to step into Classical. There is evidence of this attitude when Kate Bush appeared on the Russell Harty Show in 1980 (as you will see in the video above). This clash of an original and bold young artist meeting stuffy and slightly ignorant views:

“Kate shows her video for Delius; and discusses the music of Frederick Delius with Harty, Eric Fenby and Julian Lloyd Webber.

The program begins with Kate meeting Harty on stage, hiding a large hammer behind her back, and slyly promising not to hurt him. {A reference to Harty being hit by Grace Jones - CDW}

Later the Delius video is shown, and afterward Kate joins the group discussion about the British composer. Fenby is pressed for an opinion of Kate's song, and politely suggests that Delius would have applauded Kate for "at least doing her own thing." Harty patronizingly accuses Kate of intellectual pretensions in her choice of subjects for her songs, to which she ably and devastatingly replies that "music is pure emotion." Unfortunately Julian Lloyd Webber does not join in the brief and hurried discussion”.

I have a lot of time and respect for the majestic and divine Delius (Song of Summer). Not only is it part of a group of very beautiful songs on Never for Ever (including Blow Away (For Bill); it is one that would have made people aware of English composer, Frederick Delius. Again, this is a songwriter whose influences were far from ordinary! Standing aside from her peers, this is a song that nobody else would have come up with. Even though she was twenty-two when most people heard that song, that is not to say she deserved to be patronised or seen as someone unqualified to talk about the composer and write music like that. Most of the eleven tracks from Never for Ever are not played much (or at all!) on radio. Or known wider afield. Delius (Song of Summer) is a terrific and beautiful track that everyone should know about. The second track on Kate Bush’s third studio album, this gem of a song is…

FIRST class.

FEATURE: Massive Impact: 2024: A Year for the Industry to Reduce Its Carbon Footprint

FEATURE:

 

 

Massive Impact

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

 

2024: A Year for the Industry to Reduce Its Carbon Footprint

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I know that there are…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ron Lach/Pexels

so many people through the music industry that are tackling climate change in their own way. Trying to reduce their carbon footprints and think more ‘green’. There are a couple of recent music news stories that piqued my interest. Relating to the environmental impact of festivals and physical music. They are very different in terms of their tone - though they both raise points worth discussing. I think that, with more and more artists touring and there being this huge demand for live music, it is very hard to fulfil that and be as environmentally conscious as possible. In terms of festivals and gigs, it is almost impossible at the moment to put one on that is carbon-neutral. Between transportation of equipment and the energy needed to power everything, there is a fair bit to tackle and find alternatives too. You can read how festivals have impacted (positively and negatively) on the environment and how some, like Glastonbury, are taking steps already to do their part. I do think that there has been a lot of awareness and reaction to an issue that needs to be a top priority. With freak weather being more common now, the cost of adapting festivals is huge. At the moment, with many struggling to book big headliners and having to raise ticket prices, there is an extra cost in making things greener. Ensuring that, in the case of extreme weather, people are safe and the damage is as minimal as possible. It is a worrying time where so much has to be considered!

Last year, this article from The New York Times state how one festival, Nashville’s Deep Tropics, took steps to show how a festival can become greener. A smaller festival compared to America’s Coachella and Glastonbury here, how easy and affordable is it to follow in their lead?! I think that the more smaller festivals make changes and reduce their carbon impact, this will then spread to more of the larger ones. Of course, it is more difficult for major festivals to go as close to carbon-free as possible owing to their size and the amount of people they attract. Rolling Stone UK recently reported how Massive Attack are making a big impact. Reducing travel emissions/pollution and introducing new initiatives, let’s hope that this can roll out to many other festivals next year:

“Massive Attack have announced details of a huge new hometown gig in Bristol next summer, set to trial new advances in climate friendly live music events.

The gig at the Clifton Downs on August 25 is titled ‘Act 1.5: Climate Action Accelerator’, and aims to become the lowest carbon gig of its size ever held.

Initiatives at the gig include a presale of tickets for local residents with nearby postcodes to avoid extensive travel to the show, free electric-powered shuttles to train stations after the gig, the planting of a new woodland area in the south west and more. Find out more details here.

It comes after the band’s collaboration with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, where they collaborated with climate scientists and analysts to work out ways of making live performance greener.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Massive Attack/PHOTO CREDIT: Warren Du Preez

They were set to trial these findings at a special show in Liverpool, but that was cancelled during the pandemic.

Speaking about the show and its aims, Massive Attack’s 3D said: “We’re chuffed to play our home city again and to be able do it in the right way. In terms of climate change action there are no excuses left; offsetting, endless seminars and diluted declarations have all been found out – so live music must drastically reduce all primary emissions and take account of fan travel.

“Working with pioneering partners on this project means we can seriously move the dial for major live music events & help create precedents that are immediately available.”

Professor Carly McLachlan from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research added: “This is precisely the type of transformative approach that we need to see more of in the live music sector and indeed every sector; one that has the collaboration and vision to reduce emissions across all areas of impact and working beyond the areas you directly control to unlock the systemic change we urgently need to deliver on our Paris Agreement commitments”.

Alongside festivals and the impact they have on climate change – in a negative sense -, there is also the production of physical music. I am going to say outright how physical music needs to continue. There is no way that we can stick with digital music and be happy with that. People need physical products and, for artists and labels, it is unsustainable relying on streaming. Given the continued demand for vinyl and formats like C.D.s and cassettes still being bought, there is no question that physical music needs to flourish and be available to all. If we get rid of that, it will have devastating consequences for artists. Many are struggling to make money at the moment. A lot rely on the money from physical sales - so we cannot let that slide. It is clear that there needs to be alternatives in terms of the material of albums and how they are being distributed and manufactured. Something that made me angry was reading a recent NME feature. They reported how one music executive called out artists who are supposedly highlighting climate change and want to make a different, yet they continue to have their albums manufactured and sold (which does create some damage to the environment):

“A senior music executive has said artists who advocate for climate change and continue to produce physical records are “hypocritical”.

Sir Robin Millar is a senior record industry executive who has also produced albums such as Sade‘s ‘Diamond Life’ and Everything But The Girl‘s ‘Eden’. He is also the co-founder of management company Blue Raincoat Music, who currently lists Skin and Phoebe Bridgers amongst its clients.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Sir Millar said he believed the production of physical records such as vinyl and CDs should be eradicated.

“I am baffled that no large record company has had the backing of a big-selling artist to stop making physical records,” he said.

Millar further argued that the quality of digital songs were equal to vinyl, and that artist tours – which also cause damage to the planet – could be screened online. Furthermore, vinyl and CDs are packaged with “chopped-down trees and plastic”.

“How can anybody stand up and say ‘save the planet’?,” he said. “Artists are awful for hypocritical bandwagonery.”

Back in 2019, NME examined how artists could tackle climate change, highlighting vinyl production as one facet of the issue. We spoke to Chiara Badiali, who works at London-based charity helping industries improve environmental sustainability Julie’s Bicycle. Badiali said vinyl “is actually such a small part of the industry if you look at the manufacturing footprint.” (In 2019, vinyl accounted for 3.6% of music sales worldwide.)

“People focus on it because it’s so visible and it’s a tangible thing. From a carbon footprint perspective the environmental impact doesn’t compare to the impact of travel. It’s so small that it’s basically a blip.”

However, she did see room for improvement in the sector regardless: “People are looking at how you’d reduce the amount of energy that gets taken in pressing a piece of vinyl. There are people who are experimenting with the actual raw materials of vinyl. But that’s where it’s really tricky because at the moment vinyl is one of the best mediums that we have found to do what we want it to. The biggest problem is: what happens to it at the end of its life?”

Since then, the likes of Bicep, Angel Olsen, and Black Country, New Road teamed up to feature on the first bioplastic vinyl release. R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe also released music on the world’s first commercially available bioplastic vinyl in 2022”.

There are steps and developments where artists are finding ways to press to vinyl in a green way. NME recently reported how some bands are reissuing albums on eco-friendly vinyl. It is encouraging that there are shoots of good news - though I don’t think it will be easy to convert all vinyl to something more eco-friendly:

“Albums by Enter Shikari, Napalm Death and Carcass are set to be re-released as eco-friendly ‘Greenyl’ vinyl records.

Record shop Rude Cares has teamed up with Greenyl to release the album as part of a new Be The Change initiative, for which the LPs will be made at the first eco-friendly vinyl plant.

Enter Shikari’s ‘Common Dreads’, Napalm Death’s ‘Harmony Corruption’ and Carcass’ ‘Heartwork’ will be printed on PVC-free Greenyl, made from 99 per cent recycled plastic compound which has zero emissions during the production process.

Other bands taking part include The Dangerous Summer, Less Than Jake, Chiodos, Polyphia, Sydney Sprague and Graphic Nature. You can find release dates and links to pre-order here.

According to the Be The Change initiative, the records sound “perfect” and still have a “high-quality sound”.

“We’re on a mission to flip the script on vinyl manufacturing, launching a project that’s not just music but a message for our world,”  said co-founder of Greenyl and president of Rude Records, Ilich Rausa (per Kerrang!")”.

For a start, artists should not have to choose between having principles and being able to survive in the industry. They are quite right to back change and highlight climate change. It is not hypocritical still relying on physical sales. Major and smaller artists need to produce physical albums to make money. Fans demand it and want to keep that music on something they can play years from now. Not only does streaming have its own carbon impact, it is also ephemeral by nature. Various songs and albums can disappear at any time. When it comes to artists making a difference in terms of their carbon footprint, maybe travel and gig dates are more realistic. Perhaps performing more as close to home as possible or finding new and less damaging ways of traveling. Physical music is something they have very little say in. They are not making those albums and shipping them out. Rather than calling out artists and calling them hypocritical for being concerned about the environment and seemingly damaging it by making albums, the better approach is to realise that, in such a tough and demanding time, very few artists can rely on streaming revenue. We also do not know how long streaming sites will operate; therefore it is a less stable and long-term source of revenue. Physical music is a way of passing music through the generations. The better approach is to make bioplastic vinyl as affordable and available as possible. Maybe not as short-term reality, artists committing to finding alternatives to plastic.

 PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

It does seem that bioplastic vinyl is going to help decarbonise. I am not sure how realistic and available it is at the moment. It is still an idea in its infancy. In terms of manufacturing, shipping and delivery, there are a lot of considerations. How to make the entire process and production cycle as carbon-free as is possible. At the moment, with there being relatively few vinyl manufacturing plants and it being quite expensive to buy vinyl albums, there is not this short-term and easy fix. I also think that bioplastic might be an even more expensive option to start. If it is making a more positive impact on the environment, will it sell less because it is not as ‘affordable’ as vinyl?! I know that there are costs involved producing vinyl though, with prices pretty high at the moment, we also need to think about consumers and pricing them out. There is a lot to absorb when it comes to physical music manufacturing and festivals next year. Two of the biggest and more difficult areas to tackle when it comes to pollution and climate impact, there are signs that things can change. From Massive Attack’s Act 1.5: Climate Action Accelerator – which is a really stupid name, but you can’t fault its importance! – to possible alternatives to traditional vinyl, even more commitment and innovation needs to occur in 2024. I know it is a gigantic thing to take on board! I haven’t even mentioned C.D. and cassette production and alternatives to them in terms of material. How realistic it is for artists to travel further afield more greenly. There is so much to take on board. We are all witnessing the effects of climate change. The music industry needs to – and I believe will – do everything they can to reduce its carbon footprint. The responsibility is everyone’s. Labels, artists, fans and venues need to pledge to a greener 2024. Striving towards a future where we can buy physical music and attend festivals whilst ensuring that there is as little impact on the environment as is possible. It is not only to keep music fans and artists happy. It is to ensure that we are all kept…

SAFE from harm.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Frex

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 

Frex

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THERE are not too many…

interviews out there with the amazing Los Angeles-based Frex. She is a wonderful artist who I hope people check out. I think that next year is going to be her most successful one yet. It seems like a new project – whether an E.P. or album, I am not sure – is coming along soon enough. I have a few interviews that I want to include. Working up something quite recent. A standout name in a busy market, there is no doubting the fact Frex is going to take some big steps in 2024. I really love what she does. She has played in the U.K. before. The final interview I am sourcing is Frex speaking from a gig from Folklore Hoxton. I am quite new to her music, so I am working back a bit and catching up on things I have missed. I want to start my going back to 2020. Swidlife spoke with an awesome talent about a rising talent whose music was already standing out and turning heads. Her debut (and only to this point) album, Blu, came out in 2018:

“Frex has shown an artist on the rise, on the cusp of acclaim throughout the years. Having paid close attention to LA-based Frex for a while now, she continues to release some of the most enchanting songs we’ve heard thus far. A lot of music falls into relaxing or “chill” genres these days, but Frex’s more mellow moments are uniquely soothing, a trait not shared with much other music.

We recently had the chance to catch up with Frex for an exclusive interview to discuss all the music and everything that goes into it. Check out the full interview down below.

So let us begin with introductions. For those who don’t know, where are you from?

I’m from this small town in Pennsylvania called Mechanicsburg. Not much ever happens there [laughs.] Although Bret Michaels is from there, that’s pretty cool.

Let’s backtrack a little. How was it growing up in Mechanicsburg?

It was… hmm. There’s a straightforward kind of mindset where I’m from. You go to school, and college, get a job and have kids. Creativity isn’t encouraged, which led to me feeling misunderstood a lot of the time growing up. It’s a lot of farmland with a lot of narrow-minded people.

Is that when you thought LA was the best option for you?

Not quite. It took a little more time. I went to school for business in Philadelphia for a little bit before deciding it wasn’t for me. But when I was in Philadelphia, I met some people who also made music, which helped. That’s when I started coming out of my shell a little bit more.

Can you recall when you told yourself, “yeah, music is what I want to do”?

Oh, I always wanted to make music! Always, always, always. I just never thought I could.

What made you think you couldn’t?

The idea just seemed so impossible to me. As I said, I’m from a small town, so no one thinks that kind of stuff is possible. Plus, I didn’t get that much support from anyone for a long time.

Did you always think it was possible, or did being in LA and near the music industry put things into perspective?

Coming to LA changed everything. I visited in June of 2016, and that’s when I was like, “oh.. shit is different out here,” and after that, I started taking music more seriously. I never thought it was possible before, and it took a long time for me to believe in myself.

When did you officially decide to move out there?

January 2018. Funny enough, godchild and I moved out here by complete coincidence around that time.

Let’s talk about your last album, “Blu.” How did that album come together conceptually?

So at this point, godchild and I were both working remotely, only sending each other stuff instead of working in person. Crazy how it all came together because “blu” is only eight songs, and I probably only made like 15 songs for the project, way less than I would make now.

It was a cool time for me creatively because it was the first time I had a producer to work with at my disposal. It leveled up my sound. Luckily, all the songs we created on blu just felt cohesive to us.

The concept of “blu” was that most of the songs had pretty sad lyrics despite some of them sounding happy. “blu” was my sad-girl era. But, for “blu,” I made an effort to get in the studio and make finished songs. Until then, I was making pretty loosely structured songs, so I wanted to make something people could take seriously.

How do you push yourself out of your comfort zone sonically?

Pushing boundaries sonically became easier once I realized that not everything I create has to be released. That’s the beauty of making more and more music. If you’re consistently creating, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’re making a hit. You can create what you feel at that moment, which opens up space to do something you usually wouldn’t.

Nowadays, when people talk about artists and artistry as a whole — it’s far more than just music, and it seems like you have the total package. Outside of just music — while staying true to yourself, how much attention do you pay to what else goes into being an “artist?”

There’s a lot that goes into it. For a long time, I felt tired of “branding.” It felt phony to try and cultivate an image for myself. Then I realized I was only hurting myself by running away from it. I started actively trying to improve my social media presence. It isn’t “uncool” to try. The only people who will tell you this are people who wish they could do what you’re doing. So yeah, as an artist, I feel like it’s about expressing yourself as much as you can, as authentically as you can. It’s not about trying to be cool. It’s about doing what you think is cool. There’s a difference”.

I will fast forward things to last year. With E.P.s and an album under her belt, there had been plenty of music and live performances from a wonderful artist. I feel 2024 is one where Frex will take things to a new level and release a follow-up to 2018’s Blu. RAYDAR chatted with Frex about her career path so far. Some of the artists who inspire her. It seems like acts such as SZA are really important to her. Let’s hope that they get to collaborate sometime soon:

“She made waves upon the release of “Out The Blue” and 2017’s White Sun EP—a pivotal start in her artistry. After refining her sound, Frex reintroduced herself to the world through enchanting singles “History” and “Homebody,” subsequently followed by her debut offering Blu. The eight-song project, which boasts a lone feature from FIH, is a thoughtful reflection on themes of self-identity, love loss, and the feelings that encompass those emotions. She further cemented her presence with 2020’s “Come Around” and “Don’t Wait,” as well as “Slide” and “Kill For You” the following year.

With her recent situationship-inspired and R&B-tinged maxi-single Mixed Feelings, two songs created in 2019, Frex embraces her abilities and steps into the limelight as an exciting name to keep a lookout for. Both the titular track and “Love For Granted” are produced by frequent collaborator Godchild and serve as a warm welcome to the singer-songwriter. With her obsession with the early to mid-2000s R&B vibe—as well as Rock and Alternative—that groups singers and rappers like Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Usher, and Gorillaz, Frex pulls from a variety of music icons which is evident in her songs.

Did you grow up surrounded by music? How did you discover your talent for songwriting and develop your expressive vocals?

I’m not from a musical family. Although, my grandpa played piano and sang. I also recently learned my great-grandpa used to play the banjo along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, which I thought was cool. My oldest brother also must’ve been an influence because he was in a band for a little bit and made like three songs, which I thought was crazy. I couldn’t even wrap my head around how music was recorded at the time, but this was like 2008 and I think that’s when recording equipment was just becoming more accessible to smaller artists.

Anyway, my brother got a new laptop and let me keep his old one, which had a few guitar loops he had played in GarageBand. I recorded myself singing over them through the laptop microphone. That was my first recorded song. I was probably like 10 or 11 at the time. Before that, I had always been singing, writing poems, and was always very intrigued by music. As time went on, I started playing acoustic guitar and making beats but ended up quitting for a few years for two reasons: I gave up on guitar when I couldn’t play a barre chord and the beats on Soundcloud were WAY better than anything I was making.

I started writing to beats I found on SoundCloud, which is where I ended up getting in contact with my long-time friend and collaborator, Godchild. I also started going to a “real” studio with an engineer, which is when I ended up making Blu. I think recording with an engineer really allowed me to get more comfortable with my voice and allowed me to try experimental sounds which I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own.

Who are some of your past and present musical inspirations?

My mom was always playing whatever was on MTV or VH1 in the early 2000s, so all of that music had a profound effect on me. Ne-Yo, T-Pain, The-Dream, Sean Paul, Gwen Stefani, Gorillaz, Rihanna, Norah Jones, Avril Lavigne, Ashely Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Robin Thicke, Maroon 5, Usher. She also played her favorite oldies like Madonna, BeeGees, and Earth Wind & Fire.

My oldest brother in the band gave me his old laptop which had a lot of Rock and Alternative music on it. I listened to Death Cab For Cutie, Phoenix, Escape the Fate, The Used, Asking Alexandria, Saosin, Anthony Green, The Killers, Dance Gavin Dance, and so much more.

My other brother was always making mix CDs, which usually had a lot of rap on them like Snoop Dogg, Soulja Boy, Chingy, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, and many more. My early inspirations were all over the place and I loved downloading artists’ discographies and listening to everything I possibly could. My list of inspirations goes on and on and on, but as far as current inspirations I would say Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Don Toliver, Kenny Mason, Phabo, Kurtis Wells, Tierra Whack, Isaiah Rashad, Tay Iwar, and PartynextDoor. There are so many more though. These are people with projects I couldn’t stop listening to.

It’s been nearly four years since the release of your debut project, Blu, how have you grown as an artist since then?

Sheesh! Sometimes I forget people have only heard what I’ve released because I’m on the other side of it knowing everything I’ve made since Blu and everything I’m capable of. I think I recorded about 10 songs for Blu, and released 8 of those. Since then I’ve made somewhere close to 200+ songs. The amount of energy, hours, and research I’ve put into my craft since Blu is something that won’t go unnoticed.

I’ve gotten way better at writing and WAY better at singing. I’ve become more comfortable with my voice, and don’t always need so many layers or effects when recording. I’ve learned how to play guitar—even the barre chords—and am more comfortable with music theory. I’ve grown with Godchild, and we’ve had a countless number of sessions since Blu. I’ve educated myself by doing my research and listening to a bunch of older classics. I’ve stepped into my sense of fashion and started doing more research in that lane.

Most of all, I’ve learned so much about how the music industry works and what it’s really like to be an artist, even if it’s constantly changing. After all of that, I feel I’m finally ready to put myself out there in every sense.

As a musician, songs can be relatable and quite therapeutic to the listener—what do you want young women to take away from your music and journey as a whole?

Stay true to yourself and your vision. I know that’s basic, but it’s true. Remember who you are and where you come from, because more than anything, people appreciate authenticity. People don’t want perfection, they want realness. Don’t do anything that doesn’t align with YOU. Don’t let anyone, especially men, try and tell you who YOU are. Get comfortable with saying no. Be your biggest cheerleader even when no one sees you”.

I am going to wrap up soon. Back in September, Wordplay spoke with Frex after her headline set at Hackney Folklore. It does seem that the U.S. artist has a connection with the U.K. A growing and passionate fanbase here. There is a lot of love out there for her. Let’s hope that Frex comes and plays back here through 2024:

“You have recently played All Points East and had a headline show at Hackney Folkore in London. Could you tell us more about how it went?

Honestly I tried to manage my expectations before the shows just in case the whole thing ended up being a total flop, but it definitely went way better than I imagined. The festival had some people who knew every word to the released stuff, and then some people who I think stumbled across me just by being at all points east, and they were vibing. As for my headline show, I’m so happy and almost surprised at how many people showed up. one guy said he found out that same day that I was performing and travelled 2.5 hours to see me. Another girl told me ‘oxford circus’ inspired her to move to London. plus people were singing along and that always warms my heart. It was special.

If you could curate your own festival line up, which 3 artists would you have headlining?

SZA, Rihanna, then maybe a band like the Strokes or Tame Impala or something like that.

Who/what do you consider to be the biggest influence on your music?

Instead of telling you my biggest musical inspirations, because the big ones are sort of basic, I will just tell you that all of the songs I write are heavily influenced by real life situations I find myself in, involving people I am romantically delusional about. My music is influenced by romantic fantasies, heartbreak, connection, nostalgia, naivety, and harsh truths.

What’s the proudest moment to date for you as an artist?

Having the nerve to fly overseas for my first headline show and have it go as well as it did was pretty amazing. I feel like if I pulled that off I can do so much more. I feel like I really connected to everyone who attended the show, so to know my music has this far of a reach feels like a big accomplishment.

Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?

I know everyone says this, but focus on yourself. don’t focus on who isn’t supporting you, what artist or producer you can work with that you think is gonna make you blow up, or how you’re “not getting enough numbers”.  Stop focusing on the externals. Tap into the things you like, and use it. Do the internal work and self-discovery. More than likely the reason you blow up will not just be because of a feature or a retweet, but because of all of the hours of work you put into your craft that no one else witnessed but you. Also, don’t be afraid to show it to the world.

What have you got planned for the not so distant future?

I’m going to New York Fashion Week this year which I’m excited about. I also have a project coming out very soon, but like actually. I’ve said I have a project for years now but this is actually the one, so I’m excited to finally give people a body of work”.

There are a lot of great artists being tipped for big things in 2024. It can be easy to miss some and regret it later! I think that everyone can get something from the music of Frex. An interesting artist whose music definitely stands out from a lot of her peers’, next year is going to be one where she builds on her hard work the past six or seven years. Someone ready to release another project and showcase the next stage of her career. Though she is based in Los Angeles, the incredible Frex…

BELONGS to the world.

____________

Follow Frex

FEATURE: Groovelines: Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

  

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime

__________

WHEN we think about…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Mary McCartney

the all-time best Christmas songs, there are some common choices. The likes of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You and Wham!’s Last Christmas are in there. One that is divisive – though I never know why! – is Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime. Released on 16th November, 1979 following Wings' final album, Back to the Egg, it was recorded during the sessions for McCartney II (1980). Wonderful Christmastime is one of my favourite Christmas songs! I love the synth sound and the fact it does not incorporate the same musical elements and lyrical themes as others. More experimental than most, the messages are still positive and about togetherness. A joyful song that never gets the love it deserves, I wanted to dig deeper for the final Groovelines of the year. This article provides more details about a Christmas song that should nestle right alongside the most adored and played:

“It was recorded on August 30, 1979 at the end of the sessions for the upcoming McCartney II, which like its spiritual predecessor was a Pure Paul Project.

So, Paul wrote it all by himself, produced it all by himself and played keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, bass, drums, percussion and – of course – jingle bells, all by himself.

Despite that, the members of Wings popped in for the video, which was taped at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex.

When was 'Wonderful Christmastime' released?

Like 'Merry Xmas Everybody', while 'Wonderful Christmastime' was actually recorded in the summer it was of course held back until the runup to Christmas.

It was released on November 16, 1979, six months before McCartney II.

And the B-side? The incredible 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae'. Yes, really. A (thankfully) instrumental reggae-(ish) version of the Christmas classic.

Wedged between the release of two Macca albums as a standalone single, in later years it's been bundled into fancy reissues of both Wings' Back to the Egg AND McCartney II.

Wings toured the UK in November and December 1979, which was perfect timing, so while it was absolutely a solo Paul song, it was played live by the band during the shows.

What is 'Wonderful Christmastime' about?

Here's where audiences get a bit split.

Unlike the grand statements of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 classic 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)', 'Wonderful Christmastime' is about, well... simply having a wonderful Christmastime.

That's about it, really.

"The choir of children sing their song / Ding dong, ding dong / Ding dong, ding, ooh, ooh"

That's about the measure of it, and plenty of Twitter jokers have had some fun with the song.

But hey, after a faceful of mince pies and a load of mulled wine, maybe people don't want or need to be preached to about world hunger or the horrors of war when they pop on their Christmas playlist.

Where did 'Wonderful Christmastime' get in the charts and how much does it earn in royalties every year?

'Wonderful Christmastime' got all the way to number 6 in the UK singles charts. On Christmas week itself it was at number 7 – the distinctly unseasonable 'Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2' by Pink Floyd was the Christmas number 1.

Unlike some artists, Paul McCartney's Christmas hit is far from his sole earner, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have a seasonal smash in your back catalogue.

Way back in 2010 it was estimated that the song raked in $400,000-$600,000 a year (£300,000-£450,000).

In the era of constant streaming Spotify Christmas playlists, that's likely only increased”.

I can never get my head around any antipathy for this song. Wonderful Christmastime is so festive and amazing. I always feel more upbeat when I listen to it. I don’t think critics were objective in 1979. There was antipathy towards McCartney lingering since the breakup of The Beatles (1970). McCartney II was slagged off too. All these years later, I think more people are starting to approve and embrace Wonderful Christmastime. This Wikipedia article discussed the chart impact and reception to a Paul McCartney standard that splits opinion:

“Following its release as a stand-alone single in the United Kingdom, "Wonderful Christmastime" peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending January 5, 1980. In the United States, the single peaked at number 83 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart (week ending January 12, 1980) and at number 94 on the Record World Singles Chart (week ending December 29, 1979), but it did not initially make the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"Wonderful Christmastime" first appeared on a Billboard magazine music chart in December 1984, when it peaked at number 10 for two straight weeks on the magazine's special Christmas Singles chart. Its next appearance on a Billboard music came on the week ending January 6, 1996, when the song both debuted and peaked at number 29 on the magazine's weekly Hot Adult Contemporary chart.  "Wonderful Christmastime" finally debuted on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 2018, at position number 47. It peaked at number 28 on the week ending January 2, 2021, following its 2020 chart re-entry two weeks earlier.

"Wonderful Christmastime" continues to receive substantial annual festive airplay, although some music critics consider it to be one of McCartney's mediocre compositions. Beatles author Robert Rodriguez has written of "Wonderful Christmastime": "Love it or hate it, few songs within the McCartney oeuvre have provoked such strong reactions."

Including royalties from cover versions, it was estimated in 2010 that McCartney makes $400,000 a year from this song, which puts its cumulative earnings at over $15 million”.

A beautiful and hugely spirited song recorded at Paul McCartney’s Lower Gate Farm Studio, I have heard it a few times already this year. With less than a week to go until Christmas Day, I hope that we hear Wonderful Christmastime a lot more. A song that deserves a chart relaunch. Get it to new ears. In spite of those who dislike the song, Wonderful Christmastime is still popular and is played every year. Last year, for his official website McCartney discussed the song. He was asked about the enduring legacy of Wonderful Christmastime and whether he ever thought it would stand the test of time:

“The party’s on, the feeling’s here... And a certain Paul McCartney holiday song is back in the charts! Written during the sessions for McCartney II, ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ didn’t make it onto the album but has since become one of Paul’s best-loved songs, making its annual return to radio and streaming playlists from November onwards. Whether you’re listening to the radio on your car journey home for the holidays or walking into a store to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, you’re guaranteed to hear that iconic synth intro at some point!

Over the past few years, we’ve shown ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ a lot of love. On the 40th anniversary of its release in 2019, we remastered the music video in HD, and last year it became the first Paul McCartney song to be released in Dolby ATMOS. Most recently, the single was reissued on 7” vinyl (with ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae’ on the B-side) as part of The 7” Singles Box.

One thing we haven’t done, however, is ask Paul what he thinks of the track and its popularity now. So, as the temperatures dropped here in London, we grabbed a hot drink and chatted to Paul about all things ‘Wonderful Christmastime’; got the lowdown on his own family Christmas traditions; and found out whether he might release another Christmas song (or album) one day…

PaulMcCartney.com: When you first released ‘Wonderful Christmastime’, did you think it was going to be a Christmas hit that would come back every year? Or does it surprise you that it’s still so popular now?

Paul: I like the idea of Christmas songs purely because they only come around at Christmas! They remind us of the fun atmosphere of the whole season, and when I was writing ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ I was trying to capture that party aspect. I did hope it would keep coming back – which it has. Sometimes people will go into a shop and hear it a little too much, but I don’t care! I’m happy!

PM.com: We really wanted to ask you about this ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ fan theory that has gone viral on social media. The theory suggests the song is about people practising witchcraft, chanting ‘the moon is right, the spirit’s up’, and when someone walks in, they must play it cool and pretend they are ‘simply having a wonderful Christmastime!’. Is this theory true?

Paul: Oh yeah. Well, thank goodness they found me out. This is completely true and in actual fact I am the head wizard of a Liverpool coven. (Paul laughs) Either that… or it’s complete nonsense. And you know it’s the latter!

PM.com: This theory may have come from people mishearing the lyrics. Could you confirm if the lyric is ‘the moon is right’ or ‘the mood is right’?

Paul: It’s ‘the mood’! This is the mood; I’ve gathered together the witches and wizards... I’ve got ‘the mood’, which is what we in wizardry call it (laughs). The thing is about this stuff, it’s so easy to convince half the people in the world. You do have to be a little bit careful!

No, it’s ‘the mood’. And you know what, I’m thinking about Liverpool Christmas parties, that’s really all I’m doing with that song. “The mood is right, let’s raise a glass, the spirit’s up” – you know, all the stuff you do at Christmas. Particularly with my old Liverpool family parties.

PM.com: You’ve spoken before about singing around the piano at parties in Liverpool, and in ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ the choir ‘sing their song’ - but do you have any memories of going carolling at Christmas?

Paul: I can’t remember ever having done it, so I probably didn’t. The fun thing about Christmas carolling, that probably would have influenced my decision NOT to do it, was that my dad always used to make fun of them. He'd say, ‘Here’s a shilling to go sing in the next street’. He was not a big fan of Christmas carols. I quite like them!

PM.com: Are there any Christmas traditions from your childhood which you have continued into adulthood, and shared with your own children and grandchildren?

Paul: I have actually started some new traditions. When the kids were little, I suddenly thought there wasn’t the ideal Christmas record, in my opinion. There’s some great Christmas records like the Phil Spector one, and Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby on the old standards, but I just wanted an instrumental of all the tunes. So, I ended up recording one for the family in my studio. And Eddie Klein, my engineer at the time, helped me. I now have this album I pull out every year, and it’s a bit of fun for the kids when we’re carving the veggie roast. I’ll stick it on and it means Christmas is here. It’s quite a cute little record actually! But it’s just for the family.

PM.com: Some fans already know this exists, it’s part of the Paul McCartney folklore! I think they’re hoping to hear it one day.

Paul: I’ve often thought it’s good enough if people would like it released, and I’ve thought I could do it for charity or something, but never really felt strongly enough to make a decision. It’s just a family record, and I’ll pull it out again this Christmas.

My main job is to carve the roast. That was one of the things I liked when we became veggie years ago. I said it would be nice for me to able to do what I thought of as the traditional ‘dad’ job, so that’s the carving of the turkey in the old days, and now it’s the carving of the veggie roast. I normally do that – unless someone gets in there first, and I get miffed! Steady on!

So yeah, I put on the Christmas record, carve the roast, and then we do all the normal Christmas things. Christmas crackers and reading out all the terrible jokes and trying to really be happy with the little gift that comes inside, which is something you’re never going to use or keep. This is the spirit of Christmas! We mainly do all the stuff that everyone else does at Christmas time.

Well, we might not be any closer to hearing that secret Christmas record, but at least we know the story behind ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ – and we can hold out hope for a magic-inspired song (with the Liverpool coven on backing vocals) in the future!”.

A track that I have a lot of affection for, it is always part of my Christmas playlist rotation. It is in my top-five that is sure! I hope that, years from now, Wonderful Christmastime gets all the due love it deserves. Recorded at a difficult time where Wings were breaking up and MacCartney was recording a new solo album, it was turbulent and strange. He managed to create a unique and instantly catchy Christmas song that would give an indication of what to expect with the as-then forthcoming McCartney II. A magnificent sluice of Christmas magic from Macca, take some time out now and listen to…

THE simply majestic Wonderful Christmastime.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Aby Coulibaly

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 

Aby Coulibaly

__________

MAYBE a name that is known to quite a few…

though there are those who do not know about the wonder that is Aby Coulibaly. Hailing from Dublin, she sources inspiration from her Senegalese heritage and day-to-day Dublin life to create music richly original and hugely impactful. I am keen to get to some interviews from the incredible and must-follow musical treasure. I will start with one that is from a few years ago. I have know about this artist for a while now. I am seeing people start to discover her music so, for this Spotlight, it is time to include Aby Coulibaly. A name that is going to be among those to watch next year. A truly remarkable artist who is already inspiring others in the industry. I want to start out with a chat from Flavour Mag. Back in 2020, with less material out there, there were some ahead of the curve that noticed the huge talent and potential of Aby Coulibaly:

“The 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Dublin first started recording the summer of 2019 with her friends and eventually ended up starting their own independent record label ‘Chamomile Records’.

At first, Aby was too shy to sing but gradually she started to gain more confidence and found her sound as she recorded in her room over YouTube beats. These demos would later be uploaded onto Soundcloud gaining her a bit of a cult following. The name Aby Coulibaly stirred up a buzz and she started performing shows in her hometown Dublin.

I chatted to Aby about her new single ‘Taurus’ and being an artist in 2020

What inspired you to create ‘Taurus’?

I was inspired to write Taurus after I had ended things with a guy at the time who I thought was wasting my time. It was a way for me to get out all the emotions I was feeling at the time. The song is really empowering and its focus is about self-love and putting yourself first.

What’s your songwriting process like? Do you feel like it’s a good way to deal with what’s going on emotionally inside your head?

Usually, I write the chorus first and then the verses next. Yes definitely! Writing is my way of getting out how I feel about whatever is going on in my life at that time.

How would you describe your sound?

I’d say my sound is kind of alternative r&b but not every song I make sounds the same which is something that’s exciting for me because you never know what I’ll release next.

Was there one moment you knew that music was something you wanted to pursue?

To be honest, there wasn’t one moment, I’ve been singing since I could talk and I’ve always known music was what I wanted to do since I was a kid.

Who would be your dream collaboration and why?

I’d probably say James Blake, I’ve been listening to him for time and I just love his production, writing and voice.

What’s it like being a female artist in 2020? Is there anything you would change about it?

I think it’s lit being a female artist in 2020, although I don’t feel like there are enough talented women who get recognition, especially female rappers. I would love to see more women dominating the spaces that are usually occupied by men.

What’s next for you? Can we expect more music this year?

Yes definitely, I’ve just released the official video for Taurus and planning to release my second single on the 30th October so stay tuned”.

There are some great and interesting interview with Aby Coulibaly. The Irish Times spoke with her in June. Like other mixed-race artists, that idea and issue of identify. If you have different cultures ruining through your blood, the hurdle and consideration of accents and which you sing with. That is something that Aby Coulibaly has wrestled with:

“It’s a fine balance Coulibaly treads, with one foot in Irish culture and the other in Senegal, the country where her father was born – something she finally became comfortable with in her late teens. Her mother, brother and sister are white, meaning her vantage point in the family was different.

“It took me time to feel okay dipping between two cultures, and to be secure in my place in the middle,” she says. “To accept my afro hair, to accept what I need from relationships, to find the sort of clothes or music or whatever I liked, that wasn’t just influenced by the people around me. Like I’d say or do things and people would say sh*t like ‘that’s such a white thing to say’ or ‘that’s so black of you’ and it took a long time to be able to think I can have any sort of mannerism I want, and that I’m happy and I can be both.”

Coulibaly popped up, seemingly fully formed, in 2019, as an incognito independent. The gambit paid off almost instantly. In 2020 alone, she was hailed as the next big thing by Nialler9, CLASH Magazine and FLAVOURMAG. It happened by accident, she remembers.

“I always had friends at school, but I kind of always felt like a lone wolf,” she says, looking up from her chair. “They never had the same interests as me, so I just accepted that it was going to take a while for me to find my people. Then MJ [Monjola] reached out to me after he saw some covers I uploaded to Instagram and asked me to come to his studio. I was sh*tting myself! I remember being the only girl in the room and terrified – I didn’t open my mouth for months.”

But the team kept trying. “They’d be so encouraging and be buzzing whenever I sang quietly in the corner but that freaked me out even more,” she laughs. “Eventually though, that got me into looking up beats on YouTube and singing over them, then something clicked.” The result is Chamomile Club, the creative collective formed by Monjola, his brother Moyo and Coulibaly.

“When you upload stuff to Spotify, it tells you to fill in your label – and we didn’t have one, so we just typed in Chamomile Records, because I’d always be drinking chamomile tea coming into the studio [here, Coulibaly informs me that the beverage in her takeaway cup today is a latté, with reishi mushroom powder and ashwagandha added for her anxiety].

“Then the track got picked up and Chamomile Records was shouted out on the radio. We couldn’t stop laughing! And then we kind of decided to just go for it – I don’t even know what our intention was. After a while we changed it to Chamomile Club though, because it’s not a label. It’s just a collective of people that make music and create. And now we have this as well,” she gestures to the third-floor space in which we’re sitting, with its white walls, a comfortable sofa, Red Bull minifridge and incense burning. “It’s nice now but when we first got it, it was terrifying. It looked like an attic. One that you’re not supposed to be in.”

Music has a tendency to exaggerate, soften or oversentimentalise, to put language into code. But with Coulibaly, her lyrics are as true as her spoken voice. In her music, she turns her gaze outward, exploring her frustrations with a culture that tethers itself to black art without sufficiently valuing its sources.

For Coulibaly, racial struggle manifests itself in small but profound ways. “I’ve experienced microaggressions in jobs and stuff growing up,” she says. “I think a lot of it went over my head before George Floyd to be honest. It used to really, really bother me but what can I actually do? I don’t want to be angry all the time, so acceptance has been my main thing. That said, as a mixed person, I also benefit from white privilege at times as well. It’s all about acknowledging the different circumstances of that situation.”

Coulibaly’s music is marked by its wisdom, painfully earned and not easily discarded. She seeks immediate thrills even though hurt is soon to follow – the mark of a true creative, with no signs of slowing down. So, what’s next? “At the moment, my time is entirely devoted to my EP, At the End of The Day, It’s Night,” she says with a smile. “It’s something I’ve always said, and like, at the end of the day, nothing really matters. So that’s why I named it that,” she says, sweetly but seriously. “I just can’t want to get a body of work out there. It’s been too long”.

I am going to come to an interview from Wonderland. Before coming to this interview, there are others such as this that I would recommend you seek out. I would urge everyone who has not heard about Aby Coulibaly to check her out. She is going to be a very big name in 2024. I am excited to see where her career takes her. Ireland has been producing amazing artists for the longest time. The past few years has seen some of the best ever spread to the U.K. and beyond:

“How did you first find your love for creating and writing?

I’ve sang since before I could speak properly so the love for music has always been there but it was in 2019 where I really gained the confidence to begin writing my own music through making new friends who constantly encouraged me which helped me so much!

Who and what inspired you to pursue a career in music?

I’ve never wanted to be anything other than a musician to be honest. I didn’t go to college because I didn’t have a passion for anything else. I’d say growing up the music both of my parents listened to and introduced me to had a huge impact on my love for music that was naturally there. Being friends with other supportive musicians pushed me to take it seriously and actually go for it.

How did you find your musical pocket?

I’d say i’m still finding my sound because I make a lot of different kind of songs but I guess I naturally leaned towards alt-R&B.

The UK and Irish soul scene has soared in popularity over the last few years, with so many highly talented artists doing through. How do you think you stand out from the masses?

I naturally stand out as a mixed Irish person but also because I just do me and have fun with it. I don’t want to release music for anyone else but myself and I don’t take myself too seriously.

How would you define the essence of your sound?

Most of my released music is in the R&B bracket but I have demos that are completely different genres. I love experimenting with sounds because there’s so many genres that I love. I definitely plan to be more experimental with my music in the future.

As someone from Ireland who has successfully impacted the UK market, how have you approached breaking into the scene?

To be honest I don’t have a crazy calculated plan on it. I just release music and hope it reaches the right audience/people no matter where they are and thankfully it’s starting to do that.

We love the new single “Patience”! Talk us through the creative process?

I wrote patience with another artist/ songwriter named Rationale, he’s super talented along with the producer maths time joy also! We had a long conversation before we began writing the song so we could get to know each other and just chat for a bit which is always really nice when you first meet rather than just jumping straight into making a song. After chatting for a good while we decided on what we wanted to write about and that’s when ‘Patience’ was born.

What are you trying to convey with the song?

The song is about escapism, watching the world go by but you don’t really feel part of it

What else is to come from you this year?

After my project a couple headline shows and some other bits!

Where do you want to take your artistry?

As far as I can, I don’t have any limits but I also don’t plan too far ahead. All I know is what I’m trying to do right now and when I execute that i’ll worry about further down the line”.

I am going to wrap things up now. This article recently discussed the latest single from Aby Coulibaly, Big Pharma (Withdrawal). It might be one of her finest yet. It all bodes well for next year and what we might get from this extraordinary and individual songwriter. Growing and building her sound over the past few years, I think next year will be one where she gets a lot more exposure:

“Brace yourself for the seismic impact of Aby Coulibaly's latest single, 'Big Pharma (Withdrawal),' as the fast-rising R&B sensation takes an unapologetic dive into the personal trenches of her struggles. Released today under the AMF Records banner, this standalone single follows hot on the heels of Coulibaly's genre-spanning debut EP, 'At The End of The Day… It’s Night,' unleashed just last month. The EP, featuring hits like 'Patience,' 'DYWS?' and 'Weekdays,' has already left an indelible mark on the musical landscape.

Aby's latest offering, 'Big Pharma (Withdrawal),' serves as a soul-baring exploration into her daily battles with Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW). This condition, a consequence of unknowingly ingesting harmful medication from a young age, propels Aby to share her raw and unfiltered emotions. With an aim to connect with listeners who may share similar experiences, the single unveils an intimate side to Aby's dextrous songwriting abilities.

Accompanying the release is a visually stunning illustrated lyric video that elevates the emotional depth of the song, providing a powerful visual narrative. In Aby's own words, "Big Pharma (withdrawal) is a song about a condition I have called TSW. It's something that affects me every day & the worst part is it was 100% avoidable. I was constantly given medication from a young age by my doctor not knowing how harmful it was."

The track boldly addresses the dual nature of the pharmaceutical industry, acknowledging its necessity while critiquing its potential exploitation. Aby remarks, "In so many ways, we need the pharmaceutical industry, but in many ways, it also takes advantage of us and makes us worse off, and that’s what this song is about." Despite the challenges posed by her condition, Aby remains resilient, determined not to let it hinder her artistic journey. She states, "It's a challenge doing what I do having this condition, but I'm determined to not let it stop me. Everything I go through ends up coming out through music. All of the good emotions but also the tough ones, and this is one of those.

Adding to the excitement, it was revealed this week that Aby will join Olivia Dean as the main support for her Spring 2024 UK and Europe headline tour, including two nights at London’s iconic Hammersmith Apollo. Aby Coulibaly, at the age of 24, is forging a dynamic musical path with a palette that seamlessly blends soul, R&B, and experimental soundscapes. Drawing inspiration from her Senegalese heritage and daily life in Dublin, she counts Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and James Blake among her influences. Since her debut in 2020 with 'Taurus,' which quickly racked up millions of streams, Aby has amassed over 5 million streams and performed for Boiler Room, solidifying her position as a force to be reckoned with in the R&B scene.

Stay tuned for the resonating echoes of 'Big Pharma (Withdrawal)' as Aby Coulibaly continues to captivate audiences and etch her name in the annals of contemporary R&B”.

Oner thing I have not mentioned yet is that Aby Coulibaly released her debut album, At the End of the Day... It's Night, in October. It is a magnificent work that everyone should check out. It definitely stands alongside the best debut albums of the year. I have very high hopes for Aby Coulibaly next year. She is going to go on to achieve so much success and love. A familiar name to many in Ireland the U.K., I predict that Coulibaly’s music will span even wider and further. This is an artist that you…

NEED in your life.

_____________

Follow Aby Coulibaly

FEATURE: After the Starter, the Main Course… Why The Last Dinner Party Are Set to Dominate 2024

FEATURE:

 

 

After the Starter, the Main Course…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Phoebe Fox for NME

 

Why The Last Dinner Party Are Set to Dominate 2024

__________

IT doesn’t seem like…

it was that long ago since I spotlighted The Last Dinner Party. You can follow them on their official website, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify and YouTube. When the London band had brought out their debut single, Nothing Matters, there was a mixture of excitement and those asking if they were industry plants. It suggested that the group had a label behind them giving them money and shaping their narrative. Rather than them being independent and unfunded in that sense. The amazing group, Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies, and Aurora Nishevci, release their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, on 2nd February. You are cordially invited to pre-order an album I can see being one of 2024’s very best. One sure to be nominated for the Mercury Prize. A group that had to respond to lies, criticism and general sexism have emerged with a string of wonderful singles and some incredible tour dates. I am going to write why we will see them dominate 2024. There are quite a few interviews that I want to bring in. With this being their first full professional year, it is impressive how many honours they have already scoped. In addition to winning the BRITs Rising Star 2024 award, BBC Radio 1 have included them in their shortlist of artists to watch next year have also tipped them for 2024 success. One feels that NME will announce them as one of their one hundred to look out for. After the likes of DIY spotlighted them as a standout act this year, the group have more than made good of that potential!

One big reason why I think they are going to be a name to watch in 2024 is that momentum they have already collected. It was unsurprising that The Last Dinner Party had to react to those accusing them of being industry plants. The Forty-Five asked why people are cynical of the female-led Indie wave that was happening last year and this. A group that had to battle sexism and almost prove themselves twice as hard as most, they will end this year with a lot of confidence and reassurance. It is the connection and closeness between the group members that makes them such a phenomenal proposition. One of the best live acts out there, reviews like this, this, and this show that The Last Dinner Party are a consistently brilliant from the stage. While the final review says that this year has been a wonderful one for women in Rock – a couple of the groups they mention I don’t think can be categorised as ‘Rock’ -, it is evident that female-led/female bands are ruling and showing they are festival-ready and hungry. Whilst there are many other artists that will add something brilliant to next year, I feel that the energy and talent that The Last Dinner Party has will increase next year. They will grow stronger and stronger.

I will round up with some thoughts. I want to source some interviews with The Last Dinner Party from the past couple of months. It has been a hugely busy year and one where they have achieved so much over these last couple of months. All signs point to them going global very soon. Square One Magazine spoke with an Art-Pop quintet that are producing music that is as original as anything I have heard in years:

“Being from London - the band found each other through meeting at University - plus gaining members such as Emily (guitarist) and Aurora (keys) through close friends introducing the band. The Last Dinner Party started as a live band: they played shows aiming to draw attention to themselves through word of mouth - which was deemed successful. When asked why the five-piece chose to build their status this way instead of the standard single, album, or promo roll-out - Aurora exclaims: “It felt like the natural thing to do. Start playing the music then figure out what the songs need to be, we wanted to let the songs live. Each time we play a song it changes a tiny bit and you learn something new. Once it felt ready we got in the studio. It is work-shopping essentially, it is so retro,” she jokes. She continues enthusiastically: “People cared about us despite not having music online”. This heartwarming reaction from the key player indicates the gratitude of The Last Dinner Party of people attending their shows despite the lack of streamable art.

If you attend a The Last Dinner Party show - the setlist is extensive - including the released singles and a catalogue of unreleased yet flawless material. Choosing the next single to be released is a principal thought for the band: “It is always difficult to decide what song we are gonna put out next,” Aurora ponders. “We have played these songs so much they have almost become different people with different personalities,” she adds. Aurora delves in and continues: “It is kinda imagining what we want people to sing along to next. When we go to the show what song do we want people to scream next.” Relating to the singles ‘Nothing Matters’ and ‘Sinner’ - the pianist describes them to be: “Quite poppy and dancey, I think they occupy a similar kind of space, but the rest of the album is a bit different, heavier.”

The Last Dinner Party hit the road on their all-most sold-out tour starting in October - performing in places such as Manchester, London, Glasgow, and Leeds - this band is no stranger to being on stage at this point and knows how to captivate a room of people - like a mythical siren call. “We are all excited to go see faces because it is all kinda new to us, we are so excited. We wanna go out for dinner and see the sights,” Aurora discusses. Swiftly adding in before the interview takes a turn, she exclaims: “I am so excited to go see Glasgow!”.

If anyone knows how to captivate a crowd and memorise thousands - while being covered head to toe in outrageous and theatrical costumes - it is Florence and The Machine - whom The Last Dinner Party had the honour of supporting in Ireland in June this year. “Oh my god! Yes!” the pianist yells when asked if the interview can take a b-line into that magical experience for the London five-piece. “She is such a role model. Her music, her aesthetic, and as a person, she lived up to it all. When we met her she ran towards Georgia and we were like do you know each other? Her advice was to follow your gut. What you think is good instinctually is almost always the right thing.” It is epically heart-warming to see such a powerful force as Florence Welch - guiding and supporting a group of five rockers in the right direction - and providing them with unforgettable advice that will undoubtedly shape The Last Dinner Party for the rest of their careers.

“From the beginning, we have given ourselves dress codes on stage, but before the band, I did not think much about style and fashion. But now I find it so freeing, it has allowed us to be creative and express ourselves,” Aurora explains when directing the band’s latest advisement for their audiences to come dressed up in specific dress codes for each show on their upcoming tour. These dress codes range from Greek Mythology, Victoriana and The Brothers Grimm. She adds: “I cannot wait to see everyone, I hope you all dress up,” a direct plea to anyone attending a show.

‘Nothing Matters’ has become a staple for the band - from the aesthetically and visually pleasing music video, combined with the ABBA / Bowie / Florence and The Machine-esque rhythm and lyrics - the success and admiration for the song has reached new heights, allowing The Last Dinner Party to get their foot in the door. While discussing what the song means to the group, Aurora claims: “It has always been the most joyful part of the set, it is just euphoria and joy. I cannot wipe the smile off my face seeing everyone singing and jumping along when we play it live”. It is a stand-out part of a The Last Dinner Party show - so if the opportunity arises - go scream: “And I will fuck you / Like nothing matters”.

The group are ending their year supporting none other than Irish folk icon - Hozier - on his Unreal Unearth tour. Another staple artist support locked in their grasp. But what is next for The Last Dinner Party? Where is the album? “Album is coming next year,” Aurora secretly hints and adds: “It is gonna be full on from next year for us”.

I forgot to mention, when discussing the awards and honours that have gone the way of The Last Dinner Party, that they were also given the Rising Star Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards. They spoke to Rolling Stone UK around that. They look ahead to their debut album and some big dates. You can see that their diary is already pretty packed. Their gig on 1st February at London’s Roundhouse will be their biggest and most important date yet:

“When the last Dinner Party finally emerged this April with debut single ‘Nothing Matters’, four years after their formation and 18 months since that first post-lockdown live show, the response was rapturous. A dramatic, catchy and raucous opening statement, it established Morris as a charismatic and thoughtful vocalist from the jump, taking cues from Kate Bush and David Bowie but presenting a singular voice at the same time. Its video saw the band dressed like a funeral from a period drama, establishing a clear and vivid aesthetic. “Wait… this is your debut single?” the video’s top YouTube comment reads, such was the level of accomplishment and ambition on display.

Later in the year, they followed up with second single ‘Sinner’, a track both catchier and at times heavier than its predecessor. High on drama, it tells the story of a loss of innocence while longing for a time with simpler priorities and emotions: “I wish I knew you before it felt like a sin.” Later in the song, they break into a rapturous, transcendent backing vocal which melts into a shredded guitar solo. This heaviness is explored further on third single ‘My Lady of Mercy’, which has tinges of Queens of the Stone Age in its sludgy chorus.

 “There is so much music online, and it’s difficult to digest,” Nischevi says. “If we released the whole album as soon as we recorded it, it’d be too much. Releasing singles gives people time to live with that and get ready for a bigger body of work.”

That will arrive in February in the form of debut album Prelude to Ecstasy. Recorded with James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine, Gorillaz and more) in the famous Church Studios in Crouch End, it expands upon the world built through the band’s formative live shows while keeping hold of the special energy created at those gigs. “He was a great fit because he’s not a producer that feels like he needs to put his stamp on things,” Mayland says. “He’s not trying to make it ‘a James Ford record’. He’s just so brilliant. He elevates it to a place that we never thought it could go.”

For Morris, the album isn’t a conceptual piece of work like The Last Dinner Party as a whole, but representative of “an elevated honesty”. She says: “The lyrics, the music, the way we look — none of it is an act or a character. It’s all us, but in our platonic form rather than a Ziggy Stardust-type of character. It’s us at our full capacity.”

IN THIS PHOTO: The Last Dinner Party backstage at the Rolling Stone UK Awards/PHOTO CREDIT: Kit Oates

Among the new tracks on the album is ‘On Your Side’, the band’s most uncomplicated, pure declaration of love yet. “When it’s 4am and your heart is breaking,” Morris sings with visceral emotion, “I will hold your hands to stop them from shaking.” Elsewhere, ‘Portrait of a Dead Girl’ has a grandeur reminiscent of Queen with a dash of Wolf Alice’s rock’n’roll snarl.

Throughout, Morris inhabits characters, tells stories and interrogates her own emotions with the ability and thoughtfulness of a songwriter decades into their career. Maybe most striking is ‘Beautiful Boy’, a flute-assisted slow jam about a friend of the singer’s. “I had a really clear thing that I wanted to say,” she recalls.

“It’s about a friend of mine, who is a very beautiful boy, and I remember I was talking to him once, and he was describing a holiday he had gone on on his own, where he just went off, hitchhiking around Spain. He lost his phone, had nothing — he was just relying on the kindness of strangers. Wherever he went, everyone adored him and took him in and gave him things, and it just made me think, ‘What’s it like to go around life being an exquisite man?’

“When you’re a beautiful woman, it’s a different thing that has a different kind of privilege, and also comes with its own horrors,” Morris adds. “Being a normal man has a different set of privileges, but what is it like to be not only a man, but a man that’s so beautiful no one would ever say no to you? He came to one of our gigs once, stole a bottle of rum from the venue, got caught, but then got let off because, and I quote, ‘What a handsome thief!’”

Such was the clarity of the artistic vision presented by The Last Dinner Party from the off that the band were inevitably boxed into certain corners. “We were seeing some interviews, even from the very start, where people would say, ‘Pride and Prejudice, Bridgerton, corsets!’ And that’s one aspect of what we like, but very quickly we realised that we don’t want to just be that one thing. We want to be able to do stuff that’s more modernist alongside that and keep evolving.”

For Morris, the present and future of The Last Dinner Party isn’t slowly moving towards a final form, but allowing themselves to change and grow, incorporating different styles and aesthetics and sounds while maintaining their core DNA. “We are what we are in each fully realised bit of the band’s history, and each fully realised bit will be different than the last one.”

“You want a thumbprint on all your music,” Nischevi offers. “A lot of the best artists, and the ones that stand the test of time, all have their thumbprint on everything, but they’ve also had a whole career’s worth of development and change. In among all of that, there’s something that’s cohesive about all of it. There’s something special in that”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Phoebe Fox for NME

I am going to come to an NME interview from earlier this year. They were among those keen to speak with the band of the moment. One who might have an even more acclaimed and notable 2024 than 2023. Whether you see them as Art-Pop or Baroque-Pop, they are the most talked-about group around. Queens and monarchs who are in no danger of letting their feet off of the gas:

“This afternoon, the band ground themselves in another force amidst the chaos – each other. Just sitting around in the studio, they are an inexhaustible source of their own entertainment, with comedy bits, meme references and inside jokes flying around each conversation like stray bullets. “This is Georgia, our tall Australian prankster”, Morris grins as she introduces the bassist to NME. And don’t get them started on Mayland’s “scarily accurate” Mark Corrigan impression. “Being in this band is what I imagine it’s like to have siblings,” Morris says, to the tune of a circus theme.

From this whirlwind of big personalities and overlapping voices, it seems inevitable that a visual identity as striking and resplendent as theirs would form. “From the beginning, before we even had one rehearsal, we decided that our visuals would be just as important as the music”, says Morris. “We wanted the whole thing to be an entire spectacle.” Davies continues: “The glam rock, the historical fashion… It all comes from the ‘magpie’ visual culture we grew up with in the age of Tumblr. You’d be scrolling through this dispassionate list of random shit all the time, just this massive blob of stuff. It would go from Pride & Prejudice to David Bowie to Effie Stonem from Skins, and you could pick up anything that looked interesting.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Phoebe Fox for NME

The world of The Last Dinner Party – a “nebulous and ever-changing” place where theatrical stylings and ABBA meet The Secret History – manifests in live shows, where fans are free to indulge in their wildest aesthetic desires. Playing a sold out show in LA last month, the band were floored when fans showed up wearing hand-embroidered biker jackets. “It was so obviously ‘Last Dinner Party’, even if it wasn’t the most obvious iteration of our aesthetic”, Davies says. “There’s no set ‘dress code’ at our shows. It’s all about self-expression and community. There’s so much love in the room”, says Mayland.

The hotly-anticipated ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ is testament to this: a collection that includes road-tested material from their live shows (including ‘Caesar On A TV Screen’ and ‘Beautiful Boy’), as well as new songs – a true culmination of their two-year anniversary as a band. Committed to the classical tradition in which they play, the album even features a musical prelude and a coda, each sprinkled with motifs from their other tracks. “Our whole mission statement is very theatrical,” Morris explains. “We love being intentional and indulgent. I mean, we have a composer! We want to flex that!” she says, gesturing proudly towards Nishevci.

PHOTO CREDIT: Phoebe Fox for NME

The band’s rapid, explosive success has led to them being the subject of continued online discourse, largely based around false presumptions that they are “industry plants”. They are frustrated by these comments, which seem a cruel and ironic punishment for being so polished and deliberate with everything they’ve done so far. “Do we have to address that?”, Morris asks candidly. She shares with NME that they’re trying to phase out this particular discussion point. Still, they ponder how they want to respond anyway. “We take it as a compliment”, Davies says, wryly, after some thought. “If people think it’s too good to be true, then all we can say is thank you.”

For now, The Last Dinner Party aren’t thinking about the doubters – or even how far they’ve come and how far they’ll go. They’re living minute-to-minute: checking their outfits in the mirror, charging their phones by the wall, huddling together to discuss where they’re going to fit rehearsal time into the next few days. Crucially, they’re making sure to enjoy every second. “No one else in the world knows what it’s like to go through what we’re going through,” Mayland concludes. “This is something that’s so precious to us”.

It would be too easy to say that the sheer quality of the songs is the reason as to why The Last Dinner Party have had such a massive year and will be runaway and unstoppable successes next year too. There is the friendship and chemistry within the group. Their take on Pop is refreshing at a time when there is a lot of same-sounding Pop. Artists coming from TikTok with something quite familiar and over-copied. Many smaller Pop acts having a very similar vibe. Massive Pop artists stealing a lot of focus. A breath of fresh air against all of this are The Last Dinner Party. There are very few others that sound like them and are doing that they are. They engage with fans on social media and seem a lot more relatable and accessible than a lot of Pop artists. Their live shows are legendary already. Various sites and sources have tried to explain what makes The Last Dinner Party so special. Their fashion choices mixes the elegant and gothic. Almost like rebellious outsiders at a fancy ball. Mixing something from the 19th century with modern-day chic, they have created a very eye-catching and distinct aesthetic. That extends to their music videos and artwork. They are extremely distinct and memorable. The Last Dinner Party are unique and different. Though there is this contemporary relevance that means they do not just appeal to a single demographic. They have such a wide fanbase. Their songs switch between energised and foot-tapping numbers to ballads. Some of their lyrics call for unity and togetherness. There is interesting instrumentation and moments in every song. Unusual progressions and unexpected twists combined with this distinct sense of harmony that runs throughout. Whatever the magic ingredient(s) is, nobody now can say that The Last Dinner Party are flashes in the pan of just a fad! They are very much here for the long-run. After some wonderful gigs including Glastonbury, there are plenty of great memories for the group to reflect on. The title of their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, might suggest that it is the foreplay and foreword to something explosive and epic. I would argue that has already happened - and that their hotly-anticipated debut will confirm them…

AS modern-day legends.

FEATURE: Rolling Stones Gathering No Moss: Has Rock Become More About Aesthetics and the Personal and Less Political?

FEATURE:

 

 

Rolling Stones Gathering No Moss

PHOTO CREDIT: PNW Production/Pexels

 

Has Rock Become More About Aesthetics and the Personal and Less Political?

__________

ABOUT halfway through its run…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (Jan) and Georgia Landers (Gillian/Magda) in Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll/PHOTO CREDIT: Manuel Harlan

at the Hampstead Theatre, Tom Stoppard’s play, Rock ‘n’ Roll, has led me to wonder about modern Rock music and whether it is politically engaged and purposeful. Before I come to that, and for anyone wanted to take in this new work of brilliance from the legendary Stoppard, here are some more details:

“1968: Russian tanks have rolled into Czechoslovakia, and Syd Barrett has been dumped by Pink Floyd. Jan, a visiting postgrad at Cambridge, breaks with his old professor Max, a Marxist philosopher, and heads home to Prague with his suitcase full of “socially negative music”. Rock ’n’ Roll covers the ensuing 21 years in the lives of three generations of Max’s family while Jan is caught in the spiral of dissidence in a Communist police state. But it’s a love story too - and then there’s the music…

Tom Stoppard returns to Hampstead after the triumphant revival of Hapgood (2015). Winner of eight Evening Standard, three Olivier and five Tony Awards, Stoppard’s plays include Leopoldstadt; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Arcadia.

Director Nina Raine also returns to Hampstead where her directing credits include her own play Tiger Country (2011 & 2014) and William Boyd’s Longing (2013).

“Triumphant! Rock ’n’ Roll is arguably Stoppard’s finest play.” The New York Times.

We are grateful to the Rock n Roll Giving Circle who have kindly supported this production:

Ken & Lin Craig

Melanie J. Johnson

David & Carole Warren”.

Tom Stoppard’s play is set in the past. A time when the intranational landscape was perhaps quite bleak. One that was seeing warfare, struggles, and civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated. So much turmoil and bloodshed that was dividing the world. One could say that Rock music of the time was more political and reactive. It was too early for Punk music, through there were artists of the late-1960s that were producing political music. The Rolling Stones did. Bob Dylan too. I will come to The Rolling Stones again in a minute. I think that there was this need for artists to speak about what was happening around them. This was not something new. Billie Holiday talking about lynching and oppression against the Black community in the 1950s. There did seem to be this movement in the 1960s where there was a rise of politically-minded artists. Although Folk and Pop had its representatives (such as The Beatles), I think Rock music was leading the way in that sense. Is that the case now?! It is an interesting question. Tom Stoppard, when speaking with Rolling Stone recently about his play, Rock ‘n’ Roll, asked whether modern Rock was as political or revolutionary as it could and should be:

“The last line of Rock ’n’ Roll is Esme exclaiming that she doesn’t care (“I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care.”). It echoes a central concern of the play: whether or not music is genuinely political — and furthermore if musicians as figures of rebellion are actually political themselves or just want to be rock stars. In one off-hand scene, Jan explains why the police hate the Czech band The Plastic People of the Universe. It’s not because they oppose the official policy of the authoritarian state. What drives them crazy about the rock musicians is that they’re indifferent. “They’re not actually ideological, they just want to play their music and they don’t care about communism or anti-communism — they’re musicians, artists, pagans. The police resent them because they don’t care,” Stoppard explains, fully reclining on a sofa on an upper floor of the theatre, adding that, “This thing of ‘I don’t care, I don’t care.’ That is what every generation feels at a certain point.”

He may not be a rock star but in many ways Stoppard, who became an overnight success during the swinging 60s, is the Mick Jagger of theatre. He doesn’t look dissimilar for starters. In the years that followed, Stoppard was pictured in editorials with a shag haircut, snappy style and cigarette in hand, his love life was a hot topic in certain literary and media circles, and he was swiftly known for being prolific and immensely talented. Today, he is still best described as Daphne Merkin once did in the New York Times, looking “like a lounge lizard who reads Flaubert”. His plays are never simple: they’re impressive displays of discourse, a literary fight between science and philosophy, with characters typically existing to be a conduit for ideas rather than as part of human dramas in their own right. The likes of Arcadia and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead have been mainstays of A-level English courses, presumably picked for their brilliance in confusing teens across the country. Stoppard “matters”, Hermione Lee wrote in her 2020 biography of the man, “he will be remembered.”

Before writing for the stage, Stoppard was a freelance culture journalist, exchanging words for free nights out to plays and live music. One day, while he was working at a pop-culture title Scene Magazine, his colleague and future novelist Gordon Williams came into the office with black and white photographs of a little-known band called The Beatles. “It was like someone saying: ‘I have heard the future,’” Stoppard remembers. “Very shortly after that, one was listening to ‘Love Me Do’; before you knew where you were, it was ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Help’. Before I knew where I was, I was married and listening to ‘Hey Jude’ in my own house outside London near Maidenhead where my wife worked, living a more suburban life.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Humphrey

Despite his passion for music, Stoppard doesn’t have a musical ear and says he usually discovers music through personal recommendations. For instance, Pink Floyd — whose music is also played in Rock ’n’ Roll, and whose members are also now personal contacts of his — became one of his favourite bands after two of his sons continually played them at home when they were younger. “I’m always a bit embarrassed about me and music because I don’t have a musical brain,” Stoppard admits, adding that the speed with which people recognise what a particular song is on University Challenge baffles him. “It’s an odd one because you’d think that if you love something a lot, it will be because you understand what it is. Conversely, you might think if you get to understand something really well, it makes you love it. So, it’s a reciprocal thing, like a loop. But it’s not like that with me. I genuinely love the things I love but I couldn’t hum them, I don’t understand. If I’m actually watching music, I’m staring at the guitarist’s fingers trying to see what’s happening and I never can. Everybody’s got one thing that they wish they’d done, and for me, that’s what it is. Even going into a pub, and there’s somebody banging out music on an upright in a corner in a bar, I feel so envious of the ability to do that.”

Of all his plays, it feels culturally fitting that this one should get a revival in 2023. The vast majority of mainstream rock music over the past decade has been created for aesthetics and feeling rather than for any real engagement with politics and culture. There’s the fact that one of Rock ’n’ Roll’s themes is that of moral exhibitionism: posturing and demonstrating moral superiority has never been more prevalent than in a social media age. But Stoppard says this play is happening now simply because he wanted it to have another life. “Constantly what one gets is ‘Can you explain why this is still relevant?’ And I don’t give a toss about it being relevant,” he says casually. “It’s not the point for me. Theatre is recreational, it takes all kinds of stuff.” Yes, the play is about politics but it’s also about being human, eroticism, time, the poet Sappho, philosophy. Besides, Stoppard just really loves his play”.

You can say that Rock music is alive and well. It is evolving all of the time, so anyone expecting the sort of music that was popular in the 1960s to exist now need to understand artists blend in other sounds and take Rock in new directions. Brands like Rock bands The Last Dinner Party, Nova Twins The Lanthums, and The Snuts are all successful and adding something fresh. Some suggest that the tide is turning. Whilst it is clear that Indie and Rock are seeing new artists enter the fray and make their mark, venues closing and labels being risk-averse, tied to the dominance of Pop and a particular sound being favoured, does mean that Rock music is not as visible or popular as it once was. I do wonder, as the world is more chaotic and frightening than it has been in decades, whether there is a new place and need for a Rock revolution where climate change, the genocide in Gaza and so many other issues needs to be addressed. I am thinking about the band The Rolling Stone and a well-known saying. A rolling stone gathers no moss is a proverb that was first credited to Publilius Syrus, who in his Sententiae states: "People who are always moving, with no roots in one place or another, avoid responsibilities and cares”. It can also mean people pay a price for being always on the move, in that they have no roots in a specific place. Does this apply to music?! Artists releasing new music so often. Always trying to cover new ground and evolve. That word, moss, almost makes me think of model Kate Moss. How there was a period when she was the epitome or Rock chic. A coolness where bands like The Libertines and Razorlight were in vogue.

That sense of being cool and fashionable. All about the aesthetics. Modern Rock is delivering some excellent bands who will stand the test of time. I do worry that there is more concern with a certain cool and look rather than the depth of music. It is commendable that they want to be personal and connect with their fans. Maybe too many songs that are either personal or quite generic. It is great bands such as Nova Twins can address racism and sexism through their music. Big themes are being tackled in Rock. I worry, as Tom Stoppard does, that Rock has tolled to a place that is less about politics and discuss what is happening in the wider world. Maybe bleak to talk about, this year especially should have been a moment where Rock and Hip-Hop artists released albums that addressed concerns. That is not to say that Rock artists lack substance and politics. In terms of imagery and Rock being about the aesthetics, articles like this write how that was the case decades ago. Also, in terms of market, maybe things are not that broad yet. Modern Rock bands are bringing in more young women and girls, though it is the Pop market that still dominates their listening time. In a bid to broaden their fanbase, are artists being selective and focusing more on the personal and less on the political?! That would suggest that women are disinterested in political music. This is patently not true! Rock music is still male-dominated and white. A narrow representation means that you will get a narrow representation of the world. Things are improving in terms of race and gender, though Rock music might not seem like a genre many women feel they are embraced, accepted or seen as equals. There is also this tussle between Rock music being fun and it being serious.

If it too fun, then it is seen as insubstantial and wasting opportunities to speak about something important. It is hard to discuss politics and hard topics when people are not gripped by the sound. At a time when people might want something uplifting, can you pair something like that with dark lyrics?! It is a hard balance that might be a reason why modern Rock is less politics. Baring all of this in mind, I still feel that there needs to be a breakthrough. I can appreciate that there are all sports of reasons why modern Rock is less political than in decades previous. At a time when so many people need to speak out against some pretty weighty and horrific things, the modern Rock climate does not seem to be as attuned to this desire as it should be. Look at many of the artists already tipped for success in 2024 and they are heavily Pop-based. Bands really not getting as much spotlight as they should. Does the industry, labels and venues need to do something?! Do we need more funding for venues so potential political heroes can play and hone their craft?! That is definitely true! It is a little disappointing in such a horrific year that there has not really been much of a Rock revolution. I know songs cannot change the world and reverse oppression and genocide (unfortunately). They can definitely speak to people and engage minds in a way politics cannot. Let’s hope that things change in that sense as we look ahead…

TO a more stable and brighter year.

FEATURE: High or Low? The Struggle of Being Able to Match Established Pop Giants

FEATURE:

 

 

High or Low?

IN THIS PHOTO: Tate McRae/PHOTO CREDIT: BAETH

 

The Struggle of Being Able to Match Established Pop Giants

__________

I came across a review…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa

quite recently that made me think about those Pop artists who both change direction and are in competition with real heavyweights like Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Charli XCX. There is a top tier that have been in the industry for a long time and have their own sound. They have very large fanbases - and they do dominate the press. A lot of attention of particular artists. It is hard for those artists that are a bit lower down the popularity layer that will have a hard task on their hand. Maybe there is this split between the kind of Disco and Dance-inspired Pop or artists like Dua Lipa and something more emotional and dreamier that Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish produce. The group and sector that Harry Styles sits in. I don’t think that the Pop market is as broad as it could be. Tate McRae has just released her second studio album, Think Later. It has got some great reviews. The Telegraph were impressed with biting of-the-moment Pop. It was a review from The Guardian that noted how the music was similar to what is in the mainstream, though it lacked a unique selling point or distinction:

“If you view a certain kind of current pop as involving a checklist of prerequisites, then the career of 20-year-old Canadian Tate McRae ticks virtually every box. A prehistory in kids’ television? Check, albeit as the voice of Spot Splatter Splash in the cartoon Lalaloopsy. Online celebrity translated into IRL musical success, aided by a co-sign from an established artist? Check: her transition from a YouTube vlogger was aided by Billie Eilish, who co-wrote, with Finneas O’Connell, McRae’s debut single Tear Myself Apart. Lyrics that deal in bad boyfriends, I-didn’t-ASK-to-be-born angst and loud declarations about not minding being recently dumped because he’ll come crawling back soon enough? Check: her oeuvre is heavy on tracks with titles such as Feel Like Shit, Hate Myself, Hurt My Feelings, We’re Not Alike, Exes and Go Away. Music that’s a three-way split between pop-trap, big ballads and guitars that go chugga-chugga in time-honoured pop-punk style alongside vocals larded with AutoTune or delivered in that accusatory mush-mouthed slur that somehow suggests the singer is performing with their bottom lip stuck out like a petulant four-year-old? Check.

And virality, absolutely – her recent single Greedy has not only frequently been the most listened-to track in the world on Spotify, it has soundtracked nearly 4m videos on TikTok, many of them featuring something called the “tube girl hair flip transition trend”, that it’s perhaps best not to explain in depth lest you take it as further evidence that culture as we know it is doomed.

It’s hard not to listen to McRae and think that there is an awful lot of this stuff about. Yet it’s clearly a formula with commercial life. Last week, as the UK charts were swamped by Christmas songs, Greedy – the latest in a string of gold and platinum hits for her on both sides of the Atlantic – remained one of the last redoubtable holdouts, a small corner of the Top 10 fending off the massed hordes of superannuated sleigh-bell shakers, armed with the power of the tube girl hair flip transition trend”

The quest for a USP doesn’t seem to have yielded a definitive answer: McRae is still fitting a lot of currently popular boxes without escaping them. There are highlights, but the overwhelming impression is of placeholder pop, filling space until something different comes along. How Tate McRae will respond when it does is anyone’s guess”.

It was those words (in the review) about a Pop artist having a formula or set background. Tate McRae is an example I am using, though there are a lot of Pop artists out there who have a similar sound and background. Maybe quite a few are deliberately trying to replicate sounds that are trending or popular. I think that is hard to distinguish yourself in a busy market. When it comes to Tate McRae, she has switched when it comes to her sound. More of a natural evolution, some might see her embracing something more biting as an attempt to stand alongside artists like Olivia Rodrigo. She explained more in an interview with Variety:

“Recently anointed Tater-Tots (her fandom name) met her explosive arrival with equal parts intrigue and skepticism. But anyone with a YouTube or TikTok account—and just the right algorithm—would know that McRae has been a songwriter, dancer and singer since making waves with 2020’s “You Broke Me First,” which now tallies 1.2 billion streams on Spotify. In the years that followed, she planted her flag as a moody, introspective analog to Billie Eilish, a diary-scribbler who wore it proudly with song titles like “Feel Like Shit” and “Don’t Be Sad.” But her recent reinvention secured her first bona fide smash with “Greedy,” which has been used in more than two million TikTok posts and topped the Billboard Global 200 and Spotify’s Global charts.

Much of it is because “Think Later,” McRae’s sophomore album that was released on Friday, is a rebirth. She wipes the slate of the more somber bedroom fare that largely drove her debut full-length, last year’s “I Used to Think I Could Fly,” and assumes a new form as a pop savant, one who bastes cutting pop production with raspy meditations on love and heartache. On opener “Cut My Hair,” she makes her mission statement known: “Couple years back, so sensitive yeah / Moving like that gets repetitive, yeah / Singing ’bout the same old stupid ass things / Sad girl bit got a little boring.”

“I was like, god, writing sad songs and being depressing, no one has ever seen a different side of me,” she says. “All they’ve seen is victim, depressed Tate. Sometimes you grow up and things change and I got bored of it. So I’m like, I want to switch this up, but it feels perfect because I think it’s fun to take a jab at yourself sometimes and your older self.”

When McRae began recording “Think Later” at the top of the year, she felt lost. She was coming off of an 11-month break—the longest breath she’s taken since she started pursuing dancing seriously as a teen—and was unmoored, unsure of who she was and what she wanted to say as an artist. Add to the fact that here she was, alone in Los Angeles after moving from her native Calgary, Canada at 17, navigating the music industry on her own.

“I’ve been a very intuitive person my whole life, and I totally lost that the past five years,” she says. “My intuition was so buried among so many voices. And I did a lot of self-work and meditating and was like, what the fuck do I want and who am I? I had no idea.” She looks back at “I Used to Think I Could Fly” and how she simply acquiesced to suggestions from songwriters to try on as many sounds and identities as possible. “It’s so drastic from this record that I made right now. I think the biggest thing was the look of it, my album cover art, I was put in a hot pink dress, and I was like, I don’t even like pink!”

 

Which isn’t to say she doesn’t respect the album and its statement. It’s just that “Think Later” was an opportunity for her to lasso creative control and chisel a spot for herself in the pop firmament. It began with mood boards and playlists (one “sonic,” another “inspiration”) that drew from early 2000s culture. She agrees that “Greedy,” for example, has shades of Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous,” and referenced the song’s producer Timbaland during the writing process.

What helped McRae narrow her vision was assembling a core team of writers who could crystallize it. OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, who serves as executive producer on “Think Later,” played a key role alongside Amy Allen and Jasper Harris. She and Tedder bumped heads in their first Zoom session—”I was like I have my writing ways, and he was like, ‘I have my writing ways'”—but they settled into a groove that yielded consistent returns. Throughout the year, she recalls, there were roughly 80 to 90 sessions to yield the 14 tracks that made the album.

“Think Later” is as much radio fish food as it is a personal manifesto. There are the sassy bops, like the swishy “Guilty Conscience” and boyfriend-stealing “Hurt My Feelings,” and then the more downbeat reflections like “Plastic Palm Trees” and “Calgary,” where she sheds her skin of a bad breakup and the insecurities that linger from her teenage years. That duality was front and center during her “SNL” performances: one of “Greedy,” full choreo on display, another of “Grave,” poised at the mic singing of loosening the shackles of a forlorn relationship. (Her appearance on the show resonated far: Eilish texted her after, Harry Styles sent her flowers.)

Listeners have taken notice, and she’s aware she’s under a microscope. Women in pop have historically been held to a higher standard, one that doesn’t actually exist, and McRae is no exception. But she doesn’t internalize it. Instead of doomscrolling through comments on social media, she instead chooses to focus on the things that matter, like perfecting her artistry and delivering her best”.

I know that female artists especially are put under the microscope more and subjected to more scrutiny than their male counterparts. I think there is that attempt to be relatable. Tate McRae and her young peers are writing music that is going to be relatable to their fanbase. Popular on sites like TikTok and Instagram, it does seem like a lot of Pop artists at the moment are making music that is aimed at teens and young people in their twenties. The subjects, as The Guardian wrote in their review, are “Bad boyfriends, bedroom-door-slamming angst and friendship group drama”. Some would say that this is what a Pop audience want. That said, with quite a few artists doing the same thing, it is going to be really difficult for any new artists to make an impression and stand out. If there is a demand and familiar sound, it is only natural for them to incorporate that. Look back decades ago and there was a broader Pop scene. I wonder whether social media is damaging the potential variety of the genre. A distinct sound and type of music that is used on TikTok, for example. This article argued how massive artists like Taylor Swift and her ubiquitousness means that there is a narrowness and repetitiveness in the industry. It is clear there are a lot of talented artists who are grinding away and working hard. It is hard enough for artists being accused of being industry plants. Something that particularly is levied at women. I feel that the reason many artists are seen as box-ticking is that there are a number of factors happening at the moment that are contributing to a certain staleness. Earlier this year, Billboard asked why more Pop stars are not being born (that stand out and are distinct). There is a lot to unpick:

“It’s All TikTok’s Fault

The most common reason given for the scarcity of new pop stars was TikTok, which was blamed for all but killing traditional artist development.

“They need to stop signing people based off of a couple viral tiktok videos, churning out fast food music and work with real artists with longevity,” wrote @internetmaeve on X. “like Olivia didn’t blow up overnight she was a disney kid?? s– takes time.”

The ephemeral nature of the short-form video platform — a significant change from a radio-dominated business, when songs in rotation on Top 40 stations were inescapable — was cited as a factor by Reddit user @anneoftheisland, weighing in on the r/popheads channel where the article was shared: “TikTok isn’t set up to boost artists, it’s set up to boost individual songs…In the radio era, if a hit broke out, labels had significant sway to get that artist’s second and third songs in front of you … they couldn’t force you to like those songs, but they could force you to listen to them. But that’s a lot harder to do in the streaming/TikTok era. If you hear a song you like on TikTok, there’s a large chance you won’t hear that artist’s second/third singles unless you seek them out yourself.”

On the same Reddit thread, @Interesting-Ad9838 said that artists who break through on TikTok simply don’t have the cross-generational impact as in previous eras, thereby limiting their influence. “The general audience don’t know who these artists are anymore,” they wrote. “If my grandparents know who you are, then you definitely made it.”

Record Labels Are Too Risk-Averse

Another common theme, which ties in with concerns about TikTok, is the complaint that labels are increasingly risk-averse, preferring to sign artists with preexisting fanbases rather than putting the time, energy and money into developing them from the ground up.

“Mind you there are artists on…labels right now probably begging to have full label support and funding for their projects,” said X user @waylojan. “The problem is they’re looking elsewhere instead of bolstering the talent they have.”

“The industry wants quick and fast and isn’t giving, in my opinion, some people who could really do this the right chance,” added Reddit user @moxieroxsox on the r/popheads thread. “It took Rihanna 3 albums before she skyrocketed. Taylor Swift wasn’t taken seriously until what? Speak Now? Red? Ariana did Broadway and TV before she started music and she has the voice of a literal angel. Beyoncé spent years tailoring her sound, not to mention all the years she spent developing her abilities in Destiny’s Child.” 

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio

Record Labels Are Doing This On Purpose

Provocatively, a Reddit user (who has a rather provocative handle we won’t name here for reasons of decorum) positioned the pop star drought as something engineered by labels to avoid paying the kind of money they gave superstars like Janet Jackson and Madonna in the old days.

“When you have stars that have a lot of momentum behind their career, and they have a lot of prestige, and they have a large and solid fanbase, they get to demand more from labels,” they wrote. “If you have stars with much shorter careers…and shorter reigns in public interest, you don’t have somebody who can walk into a negotiation, and demand more on their side of the deal with the label.”

Our Attention Is Too Fragmented

Audience fragmentation, precipitated in part by the rise of social media influencers, was also a theme hit upon by several commenters.

“It’s probably hard when everyone can be famous now on TikTok,” said X user @kariwarburgon. “It’s like that one quote from The Incredibles ‘Once everyone is super no one is.’”

With so many platforms to release and consume music now, Reddit user itsyagurlb says public attention has simply become more diffuse — making it more difficult for artists to achieve stratospheric levels of fame.

“As someone else here has mentioned, we no longer have ‘smash’ hits from major pop stars that are inescapable, and so even with the rise of streaming, it’s much easier for people to tune out of today’s ‘hit’ song,” they wrote. “We consume music differently now which also impacts how pervasive a song can be because of how individualized our streaming choices can be. Even in the age of iTunes, hits were more impactful because if you wanted to hear the hot new song, you might pay for it. Now? I can listen to a minute of the song on spotify without any real investment and move on if I dont vibe with it, and there’s been no ‘sale.’”

Added Reddit user @BronzeErupt, citing one of the most powerful promotional vehicles of the late ’90s and early ’00s: “There’s no modern equivalent of TRL where a song can be deliberately played and suddenly everyone knows about it.”

Music Is Boring/Bad Now

Predictably, some social media users slammed the state of modern popular music. “I want to blame TikTok for this, but truthfully I think the root of the problem is how boring, dull and unoriginal modern-pop music sounds like,” said Reddit user TuffyTenToes. “They aren’t popping off because there is nothing to be popping off for. Perhaps I’m doomposting but it truly feels like pop music is in an all time low, creatively speaking.”

“Too many people mistake tik tok earworms for musical talent,” added @LSX3399 on Reddit. “No albums anymore, no concepts, no risks. Over-saturation of mid.”

It’s Taylor Swift’s Fault

Is the real problem…Taylor Swift? According to Reddit user @LifeOfAWimpyKid, the uber-popstar of the 21st century is simply taking up too much space in the conversation for other artists to break through.

“I feel like Taylor Swift has singlehandedly saturated the pop market to the point where the entire industry has become boring as s— and not fun for other artists to participate in,” they wrote. “Taylor is not without merit, but now it’s just Taylor, Taylor, Taylor all the time. Her fans are very vocal and active too and dominate the conversation, and all the other opinions just get drowned out. This was hardly the case a decade ago, when you had multiple acts coexisting at the top, such as Rihanna, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Calvin Harris, and Eminem”.

If new and young Pop artist want to stand out and establish a career built on originality and accessibility, there are so many challenges and questions. If they want something relatable that speaks to their fans, then that means a lot of the same subjects are repurposed. Many of the good reviews for those albums and songs might be very positive, but is that because they fit in with what is popular? The sort of music that modern Pop giants are producing? If they want to be more revealing and sensitive, then there are other better-known artists already doing that. I think that artists such as Tate McRae are very impressive and worthy. They have their own stories and direction, yet it is quite easy to draw a line through them and bigger names like Olivia Rodrigo. This blend of so many artists packing into the scene balanced against a select few artists dominating the airwaves means that it is extremely hard to stand out. I wrote recently how Pop music is dominated by some big names and might lack fizz. By ‘fizz’, rather than it being generic energy and something upbeat, maybe that originality and blend that is missing at the moment. We have so a selection of tremendously promising Pop artists coming through. I wonder how many are being heard and getting airtime. It also seems that, the more there is a desired or go-to Pop sound for success and social media connection, then the more we will hear this from artists. 2024 could be a year for refreshing and updating. I am not sure how easy it is for artists to break a certain malaise or overfamiliarity. It might well be a time where we see diversification and…

SOMETHING new.

FEATURE: The Duchess, The Queen: The Influence of Katherine Ryan

FEATURE:

 

 

The Duchess, The Queen

PHOTO CREDIT: James Gilham

 

The Influence of Katherine Ryan

__________

THERE are a few reasons…

why I wanted to focus on Katherine Ryan. I am going to do some housekeeping first. I will bring in a couple of reviews from last year. With one of the most impressive and busy C.V.s you can imagine, the Canadian comedian, actor, writer and author is someone who has made a big impact on me. I am a music journalist, though occasionally I do divert – being neurodivergent, it is very in keeping with tradition! – and focus on women outside of music who have impacted me. Aisling Bea, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie are recent examples and feature heroines. I am going to get to hopes/predictions relating to Katherine Ryan in 2024. First, she is in my mind because I was rewatching her BBC interview with Louis Theroux in 2022. I find her inspiring, formidable, and enormously impressive anyway! Someone I have always respected – even when I have not liked or bonded with some T.V. projects she has been involved in -, she is one of the most important voices in comedy and culture. As someone who considers themselves a pretty passionate feminist – and that being unusual and rare for a male music journalist -, I am always learning from amazing women. We all remember the Dispatches documentary earlier in this year where Russell Brand was revealed to be this decades-long predator and abuser. Someone literally abusing and being inappropriate with women in plain sight, Katherine Ryan revealed to Louis Theroux how she knew about his crimes all along. She did not name Russell Brand, though she said she mentions this famous male comic who is a sexual predator. When allegations came out, there was new focus on Katherine Ryan. As she said, it was not her story to tell. She just knew that the stories she heard were true. That bravery to talk about it and help bring about progress and justice (as I write, 9th December, 2023, Brand has not been imprisoned and legal proceedings and police investigations continue) was really stirring.

IN THIS PHOTO: Katherine Ryan hosted GLAMOUR's 2023 Women of the Year awards in Gyunel Couture/PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Molloy for GLAMOUR

I was interested in the Louis Theroux interview, as Katherine Ryan spoke about feminism. How, as she worked at Hooters and got breast implants at the age of twenty, could she ever consider herself a feminist?! She has presented a dating show, made a lot of money and has a really nice home. A successful and wealthy success story, that presumption that she is someone fake or inauthentic. The reality is that this sort of attitude seems to pertain to a rather stereotyped or false-minded view on feminism. That a woman needs to be a certain way and have a particular journey. It was angering to hear that she has been judged and criticised. Someone who has forged a successful career on her terms and can be free and frank on stage, but she is also sensitive, a proud mother and someone who stands for women and is a feminist, one can never call into question her ethics and stances! For me, as someone always keen to be more educated and aware when it comes to feminism and challenges women face in the music industry, Ryan’s strength and amazing talent has moved and connected with me. I am a member of The Trouble Club. As I have written about a few times (most recently here), it is a member’s club made up mostly of women. Though there are a few men. It is open to all. They are there to create ‘trouble’ in terms of passion, activism and advocacy. Holding events where amazing and important women discuss their careers, books and industries, I have learned so much from the events. Always in great London venues surrounded by some incredible, very warm and compelling women (from being moved and teary to heartbroken and (romantically) stunned; it has been a really emotional and eventful time there so far). I think that Katherine Ryan would make a perfect guest and speaker for them next year! I am not bold enough to suggest her myself but, maybe alongside fellow comics like Aisling Bea and Caitlin Moran, she could discuss her career in comedy/writing. I would love to hear her speak!

 PHOTO CREDIT: Justin Downing for Only Natural Diamonds

2022 was one where she put out her book, The Audacity: Why Being Too Much Is Exactly Enough. A hugely successful debut book from her, it allowed her to go beyond the panel shows we know her from. Away from that circuit – where female guests are still in the minority and it is still imbalanced -, Ryan is honest and fascinating throughout the book. This review shows why it such a must-buy and important book:

“From the star of the hit Netflix series The Duchess comes a brilliantly funny, fiercely honest, and dangerously astute handbook of life instruction.

Detailing Katherine Ryan’s journey from a naive ex-Hooters waitress fresh off the boat from Canada to comedy megastar, The Audacity combines Katherine’s unerring ear for the perfect line with the warmth, compassion and hard-won wisdom that makes up a life on and off stage.

IT WAS HARDLY THE TIME OR THE PLACE FOR A MUM LECTURE, BUT I FELT QUITE PASSIONATELY THAT THEY SHOULDN’T BE SO BLASÉ WITH THE NEXT CALLER FACING AN INTRUDER. I HAD PAID A LOT OF TAX THAT YEAR AND I THINK I WAS MOSTLY FRUSTRATED WITH THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY AND THEIR BUDGET CUTS. THE WHOLE SITUATION WAS SOOOO LIBERAL-ELITE: A SHOELESS WHITE WOMAN HOLDING A GLASS OF MERLOT WHILE CRYING IN THE STREET ABOUT CUTS TO GOVERNMENT FUNDING AND TRYING TO BE POLITE ABOUT HER HOUSE BEING ROBBED.

I don’t often read celebrity memoirs, but I’ve always really liked Katherine Ryan. She’s funny, fabulous and I absolutely adored her Netflix show The Duchess. After all, a gal who appreciates the comfort and sheer style of Sleeper feather-trimmed pyjamas is a gal after my own heart.

From watching her stand-up, I was already familiar with a few tidbits recounted in The Audacity, such as her time working at Hooters and her visit to the Playboy Mansion, but Ryan really lifts the lid on her life. She discusses everything from cosmetic surgery to miscarriages. The Audacity is obviously hilarious and Ryan’s sardonic humour is ever-present, even in those darker moments. Yet, I was stunned by how honest and heartfelt it is. It’s a little bit all over the place in terms of structure and is perhaps less linear than we expect from an autobiography – hopping back and forth between Ryan’s upbringing in Sarnia, her current life with Bobby, Violet and Fred and her past diabolical relationships – but I was too engrossed by Ryan’s authentic and humorous voice to really mind. Rather than tell a straightforward narrative from birth to comedic superstar, Ryan breaks the book down into ‘How-to’ chapters that focus on a particular time in her life. For example, ‘How To Get Started In Comedy’, ‘How To Nearly Be In A Music Video’ and ‘How To Be Crowned Miss Hooters Toronto’.

Ryan’s sarcastic, no-nonsense style won’t be for everyone. However, there are some tender moments and reflections from Ryan in The Audacity that are really interesting. Her musings on adolescent insecurity, toxic relationships and sexism within the comedy industry and healthcare were particularly insightful and relatable. I admire Ryan’s take-no-shit attitude and left The Audacity feeling empowered and at times very seen.

Not everything in The Audacity was a hit for me. While I can get onboard with Ryan’s #girlboss persona, the chapter dedicated to ‘cancel culture’ felt, in part, as a way to justify her own offensive behaviour in the past. Ryan acknowledges her mistakes and has very clearly grown and matured both personally and professionally, but the excuse of ‘it was the early 2000s’ or ‘that’s just how it was back then’ feels a bit wishy-washy and does leave a bit of a sour taste.

That aside, Ryan’s lived a heck of a life and it makes for great reading. As someone who used to be an avid panel show fan, the anecdotes about the British comedians she’s friends with were particularly enjoyable. I have a newfound admiration for Jimmy Carr, even if he did glare at me once for running to catch my train and nearly bulldozing him in the process. Pls invite me to your parties with Kourt Kardash, Jimmy xoxo

Cheeky, brash, brazen, inspiring, empowering, heartwarming, raw, beautiful and downright audacious. The Audacity will leave you wanting to be as glam-and-not-giving-a-damn as Katherine Ryan”.

Last year also found Katherine Ryan on tour. Missus – an account and exploration of her unexpected marriage to her childhood sweetheart, Bobby, and their surprisingly traditional new life together – is quite a change of pace from her usual style. If many feel Ryan’s comedy is bracing, very open, challenging, provocative and impersonal, this is a more intimate and ‘toned-down’ (though that sounds offensive!) show. The Guardian shared their reaction to a truly amazing comedy set from one of the industry’s very best:

“Be your authentic self!” I don’t love it when standup sets end with self-improvement homilies for the audience. But at least Katherine Ryan seems to be practising what she preaches. The Canadian made several successful shows off the back of a steely, self-loving and showily cynical persona – brilliant in its way, but never quite transcending caricature. Her new and best outing, Missus, is quite the departure, as Ryan loosens and softens up, dedicating the 70 minutes to an account of her unexpected marriage to childhood sweetheart Bobby and their surprisingly traditional new life together.

 It’s a story that finds Ryan inhabiting a more fully human – and even self-deprecating – character without stinting on the tart, high-quality jokes that made her name. The story it tells is rooted in an episode of the genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are?, which sent Ryan home to Canada – where she hooked up with her first boyfriend. Bobby follows her back to the UK, where his unworldly antics and struggles with the local accent (“he’s not shouting at you, he’s just from Belfast”) supply some fruitful fish-out-of-water comedy.

The productive line Ryan treads here is between naked adoration for her new beau and horror at finding herself living conventionally and shackled to a straight white male. There’s a fine gag trading on the coincidence, timing-wise, of her marriage and the restrictive first Covid lockdown. There are set pieces, both starring Bobby as a backwoodsman from central casting, about Ryan’s house being burgled, and the not-as-planned birth of her second child.

The Ryan that emerges here is blindsided by her life, not in control of it, and prey to a lively array of emotional responses – which makes for animated and sympathetic comedy. That doesn’t at all undermine her command as a performer, on show here in some expert crowd-work when a couple in Row B divulge intriguing details of their not-quite-relationship. Additional material invoking tolerance for anti-vaxxers, and toying with the cultural downsizing of straight white men, flesh out an excellent show. Missus feels like Ryan in three dimensions, a richer, more sympathetic (authentic, even?) persona, albeit with acerbity very much intact”.

Often pitted against other women – though that is an experience many women go through! -, I don’t feel like the world has embraced and given Katherine Ryan the true respect she deserves. Going back to that Louis Theroux interview. She said how she spent years on the poverty line (or near it) living in London. She was in an office job and struggling. I am in that same situation in terms of finance and occupation. I am about to be made redundant next week, so the fact that she found success and has come from something stressful and horrible to where she is now is providing (however brief and small) hope. More than anything, Katherine Ryan’s mix of feminism and incredible comedy is something I am always learning from. A hugely admired women who attacked panel show Mock the Week in 2020 because of its sexism (she quit the show, partly to give way for other female comics; also the rife and toxic nature of the show it seems) -, I know that Ryan’s influence extends beyond comedy. No doubt pioneering when it comes to greater female representation on panel shows and through the industry, I keep in my mind how she always knew about Russell Brand and how she have strength for women to speak out. Ryan was attacked by some after it was revealed she knew for a long time. It is heartbreaking to imagine what she had to read! She is a feminist superhero that is a huge inspiration to me. I don’t know if that would surprise her – she is never going to read this, so I will never know! -, but there are not mainly out-and-out and active men who feminists in the music industry, let alone journalism. I often look around to see whether there are other men writing about gender inequality, sexism, misogyny and sexual abuse through music like I do. I have not experienced it myself, though it is important to be an ally and to highlight this.

I think there is still a reluctance among many men to embrace something more feminist and feminine. In researching this feature, I am reading through online editions of GLAMOUR. I often read websites designed more for women. Same with articles, magazines and other outlets. I find more enriched and rounder by doing this. If there is this rightful perception that Katherine Ryan is loved by women (most anyway!) and has this blend of boldness and huge strength with something more tender and emotional, she is also reaching people like me. I continue to take from her when I write about gender issues and harrowing subjects. Before rounding off, I want to bring in a 2022 article from GLAMOUR where, when at their Women of the Year Awards, she discussed the ‘shame’ of single motherhood:

“Discussing the most significant thing she has overcome in her career, Katherine explained: "I feel like its really crucial that I overcame shame. To do what I do, you have to be shameless, and when I came to this country, I was a very young single mother, very vulnerable, and was miles away from anyone who loved me. I did feel shame about that - the narrative was I was damaged goods. Everyone was like, 'why did he leave you?' And I was like, 'because I asked him to'. Soon I started feeling good about myself and enjoying the privilege that it was to have that time with my daughter and be a single mother to my daughter. It was then wonderful things started coming into my life.

Katherine also said that the most radical thing she had done in the name of feminism was to be "the only person standing in a room with a microphone allowed to speak", as it's "considered to be very masculine".

However, Katherine Ryan explained that she thinks that action is actually alpha. "It's only recently that we started recognising alpha behaviours as feminine and non-binary as well. My lifestyle is very alpha, so I hope to inspire young people with the things that I say, and anyone who feels not good enough or dishearted, you can be the alpha in any room”.

For me, feminism and addressing subjects other male music journalist do not address regularly is not a flex or virtue-signalling. It is not an act! I may not be as versed and authentic as many of my female peers, though I think that I am in an industry – if you can call a non-professional male music journalist in the ‘industry’ at all! – where there are so many issues and evils to battle and redress. Most of the campaigning and writing comes from women. Ryan recently spoke to Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs about why she spoke out against Russell Brand but did not explicitly name him. She got pushback about her stance. It must have been an ethical wrestle for Ryan. Her actions and attitude always amazes me. Someone I respect hughley. Her entire career and life has directly influenced my journalism and approach to women and feminism. A reason why I am becoming more invested and want to be as ‘good’ – in terms of getting things right and not being a ‘bad feminist’ – a feminist as possible. She is a mother to several young children (her third child is one I believe) and has recently, like me, turned forty.

There are decades ahead for her. I wonder whether Ryan will be used for Hollywood films. Someone obviously a screen natural, she would be incredible, not only in comedy films but a range of genres. As an actress and writer. Same for T.V. I would love to see her both in great and arresting dramas and a range of comedies. I can see her in U.SA. productions too. I am sure Ryan is thinking more about a new tour and perhaps another book, though she should realise that she is a magnetic personality and a tremendous talent. Her filmography shows that are reality/panel-based. I loved her time show, The Duchess (which was on Netflix in 2020) deserved to run for longer. Katherine Ryan would be a sensational actress, truly. I would love to speak for The Trouble Club, as the ‘troublemakers’ (as we are known) would love to hear her speak (maybe at a venue The Ned or Allbright). She would make a phenomenal guest - but, as I say, maybe bold of me to suggest it directly to its director, Eleanor (Ellie) Newton (even though we know each other fairly well by now). As much as anything, for all that she has done and all she will do, I wanted to salute the duchess and queen Katherine Ryan and offer up immense…

THANKS and love.

FEATURE: Endless, Nameless: Cassie Workman’s Aberdeen, and the Influence Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain Had on the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ Community

FEATURE:

 

 

Endless, Nameless

IMAGE CREDIT: Cassie Workman/Brett Boardman

 

Cassie Workman’s Aberdeen, and the Influence Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain Had on the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ Community

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I am just down the road…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jake Bush

right now from where a must-see play, Aberdeen, is running. It is open until next Saturday (16th December). Staged on the Soho Theatre on Dean Street, there are a couple of reasons why I wanted to spotlight this play. Tickets are still available for the remaining dates. I am going to come to interviews with the late great Kurt Cobain. Where he spoke about L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ rights. Where he gave his voice and support to the community. I understand that, in the 1990s, the term would most likely have been ’L.G.B.T.’ - but, because of Aberdeen as its significance on its author and performer, Cassie Workman, it is important to be as inclusive as possible. Workman is an Australian-born comic, actor and writer who came out as transgender in 2017 and began transitioning. You can find more out about her here. Kurt Cobain was born in Aberdeen, Washington (hence the play’s title), in 1967. Next year marks thirty years since Cobain took his own life. In many ways, Aberdeen seems timely and timeless. Remembering the legacy and importance of Cobain in terms of his voice for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. How he was this advocate and refreshingly tolerant, embracing, accepting and kind-hearted male figure in a Rock and Grunge scene where one would not expect that. Maybe that is stereotyping. Even so, just look at a lot of the toxicity that has blighted these scenes for decades. How male bands in the mainstream are problematic and bigoted. Cobain was an idol who was not ego-driven and concerned with controversy and himself. He was troubled by demons and depression, though he was this incredibly powerful and influential songwriter and lead who inspired a generation.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kurt Cobain/PHOTO CREDIT: Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images

I am going to come to some archive relating to Kurt Cobain. Importantly, NME posted about Aberdeen. Sourcing words from Cassie Workman. I think the play (or maybe more a performance piece or monologue) will make people think more deeply about Kurt Cobain as an advocate. Almost rebellious when you look at the attitudes of his male peers:

“The creator of a new play about Kurt Cobain has explained how the Nirvana frontman “made a huge difference to the LGBTQ+ community”, and how her work is a reflection on “depression, alienation and detachment”.

Aberdeen opened at London’s Soho Theatre this week, receiving its press night last night (Thursday December 7) after receiving critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe. Penned and acted out by writer and comedian Cassie Workman, the one-woman poetry play is a homage to Cobain as she “traverses time and space in a bid to save the life of her hero, in his US hometown of Aberdeen, Washington”.

“I’m transgender, and transgender people go through a second puberty,” Workman told NME. “During that time, you look back on your first adolescence and the things that were important when you reassess them from an adult perspective. One of those things was Nirvana. Looking back as an adult on Kurt Cobain and his life and how deeply that affected everyone in my generation, I thought it was really interesting grounds for a story. I became obsessed with it. 

She continued: “I started writing, then I decided to go to Washington to research where he lived and see the places where he hung out and where he died. While I was there, standing under the Young Street Bridge, I had this epiphany that I should turn it into a poem. The entire show is in rhyming couplets.”

Cobain and Nirvana were renowned advocates for gay rights and spoke out against homophobia during a time that was rife with prejudice off the back of the AIDs epidemic of the ’80s. In the liner notes for the 1992 B-sides compilation album ‘Incesticide’, Cobain wrote: “If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different colour, or women, please do this one favour for us: leave us the fuck alone! Don’t come to our shows and don’t buy our records”.

Workman explained how moves like this meant a lot to her throughout her life.

“It was very hard to be queer back in the early to mid ‘90s, or even just being an ally would get you a lot of negative attention,” she said. “He definitely made a huge difference to how the LGBTQ+ community was perceived. The coolest person in the world was saying, ‘This is OK’ – and that really means something. As a queer icon, he’s incredible. He deserves all the credit that he gets and he was certainly a big influence on me.”

Speaking of how the genesis of the play came to be, Workman explained how she travelled to Aberdeen and discovered Washington to be “a really magical and spiritual place”.

I am keen to come to some reviews that have come in for Aberdeen. It has scooped a lot of acclaim. Critics left teary and moved by the words of Cassie Workman. A play that will definitely incentivise and compel others to reframe a musician who has had an impact on a community or movement we might not know about. Maybe people do know about Kurt Cobain’s advocacy though, when articles are published about him, it is about Nirvana and their music. The Soho Theatre gives us more insight about Aberdeen. It has got some kudos from, among others, Phoebe Waller-Bridge:

“In 1994 the world lost one of its most beloved musicians; grunge icon, Kurt Cobain. Part eulogy, part fantasy, part biography, Aberdeen, is an in-the-round conversation with Kurt, about life and death, taking place across Washington, including his hometown, of Aberdeen. Traverse time and space as multi award-winning comedian and storyteller Cassie Workman races in a desperate bid to save the life of her hero, by attempting to manipulate time itself.

Aberdeen is an epic, about loss, music, and memory; an extraordinarily heartfelt love poem, to the voice of a generation”.

“I was captivated from start to finish... Cassie is a phenomenal storyteller. I could practically feel the rain that she conjured. We were lulled by the elegance of her writing and wit into an unforgettable story of raw pain, fury and fragility. It is a howl of a poem. I was floored'

Phoebe Waller-Bridge”

 IN THIS PHOTO: Phoebe Waller-Bridge/PHOTO CREDIT: Dylan Coulter/The Guardian

There have been some amazing reviews for Aberdeen. The Play Is the Thing UK provided their take on an amazing and deeply moving play that is both obviously personal – yet it is something that will speak for so many people. It will resonate with so many people:

“Fresh from a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Cassie Workman brings her lyrical 55-minute poem to the intimate upstairs space at the Soho Theatre. A spoken-word performance of uncommon intensity, it tells the fictional and fantastical story of the narrator traveling back in time to try to save Kurt Cobain from committing suicide. It touches on additional, more universal themes and issues however, so it isn’t just for the Kurt Cobain fans to enjoy.

This is a stark departure from Workman’s normal stand-up comedy performances, and is clearly deeply personal. Within this framework of the play, Cassie draws parallels between her life in the titular Aberdeen, and Cobain’s in Seattle. An absorbing tour of Cobain’s iconic life and tragic death commences. The show is moving and at times witty, and with some theatrical flourishes in such a involving the lighting that are a surprise in such a small venue. The rhymes and iambic pentameter of the text’s rhythm really work to showcase the poetry in the piece. Some of the more intense descriptive passages are hard to watch, especially when they describe Kurt’s suicide and death.

Ending with a good portion of the audience wiping a tear away, this is a lovely and worthwhile production dealing with difficult yet important topics. Hopefully it is a show which has a strong future and long life ahead of it”.

Prior to coming to some Kurt Cobain press and interviews, I want to bring in this interview. Yet more love and respect for a play that must have been cathartic and challenging to write. Having transferred from Edinburgh’s Fringe, I wonder whether there will be a short film or further adaptation of Aberdeen. I can see it working as a short film. Maybe backed by Nirvana songs or archived words from Cobain. I am sure that his widow, Courtney Love, would definitely approve:

“Multi-award-winning comedian and storyteller Cassie Workman takes the audience on a poetic journey through the space time continuum on a mission to save Nirvana’s former frontman and member of the ‘27 Club’, Kurt Cobain, from himself in Aberdeen.

Workman is an accomplished storyteller and spoken word artist, wheeling the audience away from the blank space of the undecorated set to the grim, rain-drenched Aberdeen, Washington - childhood home of Cobain.

Workman’s poetry is hauntingly and desolately beautiful, with creeping echoes of the master of American horror, Edgar Allan Poe. Workman matches the isolation of young Cobain with the bereavement and anger of the generation of lost souls he left behind. This elegiac piece moves from powerfully evocative scene-scaping to angry dialogue between the poet and her hero in an attempt to understand what drives people to take their own lives.

Like many myths and legends, Aberdeen proves that fate is immutable, and the show is shadowed with the dreadful inevitability of Cobain’s demise, the ‘patron saint of suicide’, whose life and legacy have been indelibly marked by his death. Workman poses questions around the responsibility of artists towards their fans, the painful irony of inspiring figures and voices of their generation losing their own voice and will to live.

Workman’s verse is dense, intense and unrelenting. If you don’t know anything about Kurt Cobain, that won’t stop you appreciating this heartbreaking tribute to a broken hero.

Engaging, beautiful and poignant – a staggering hour of spoken word”.

Back in 2019, Washington Post ran a feature about how Kurt Cobain was a gay rights hero. Writer Aaron Hamburger described how, as a teen in Midwestern America, being closeted and maybe not having anyone who was life-changing and provided strength; Cobain’s advocacy and openness was revelatory and possibly life-saving:

“Though Cobain might not be the first name you think of when it comes to gay rights, his band was never shy about its politics, especially where LGBTQ issues were concerned. In 1992, Nirvana played a “No on #9” benefit concert and issued a public statement opposing Measure 9, a statewide anti-gay citizen ballot initiative in Oregon that would have required “all governments” in the state to treat homosexuality as “abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse.” And in the liner notes of their album “Incesticide,” released that December, they warned: “If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us — leave us the f--- alone! Don’t come to our shows and don’t buy our records.” The liner notes to their next album, “In Utero,” echoed that admonition: “If you’re a sexist, racist, homophobe or basically an a--hole, don’t buy this CD. I don’t care if you like me, I hate you.”

Cobain himself repeatedly and publicly affirmed his pro-gay stance. In a 1993 interview with the Advocate, which I remember reading breathlessly in a Borders bookstore with the cover folded over so no one could tell what I was holding, Cobain called himself “gay in spirit” and revealed that as a teenager, he often questioned his sexuality and sprayed “God is gay” graffiti in the small town of Aberdeen, Wash., where he grew up. (The line “God is gay” later popped up in the Nirvana song “Stay Away.”) During the end credits of a “Saturday Night Live” episode in 1992, he made out with bandmate Krist Novoselic. And in 1993, Cobain appeared on the cover of the music magazine the Face wearing a dainty flower print dress.

All this played out in the early ’90s, when AIDS jokes and the word “fag” were common, ideas about allowing gays to openly serve in the military were considered radical, and politicians were waging culture wars over “family values.” Sure, there were rumors about the complicated sexuality of R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, but Nirvana’s pro-gay gestures and its iconoclastic sound were remarkable for any popular music act. Guitar-smashing rock bands on MTV and mainstream music stations (Warrant, Poison) were generally uber-macho hair-metal acts, and even Hüsker Dü’s Bob Mould was in the closet at the time — not to mention wholly off my radar. The idea that you could make music that was aggressive, hard and loud and be an ally to the gay community seemed revolutionary, especially for me, a closeted prep school graduate from Detroit’s suburbs.

By the time Cobain killed himself at the end of my junior year of college, I was coming out to my friends and family. Having found my own confidence in his unapologetic approach to life, I didn’t fully appreciate just how insecure Cobain was until more than 20 years later, while researching a novel that pays tribute to his influence. The rock star I idolized was just one aspect of a real human being who created great art but also suffered great pain, both physical and emotional. And yet, during his relatively short life and career, he spoke with a clarity that inspired me to do the same, creating a kind of role model for me to follow”.

Before wrapping up, in 2019 (twenty-five years after Kurt Cobain’s death), Advocate revisited their 1993 interview with Cobain. With In Utero, Nirvana’s final album, a darker and rawer alternative to 1991’s Nevermind, it was towards the end of the band’s time together. A year before Cobain’s suicide, it is fascinating reading this interview:

“The world still dearly misses Kurt Cobain, the brilliant, genre-smashing guitarist and lead singer of Nirvana. Today marks a quarter-century since he died by suicide, haunted by depression, drug addiction, stomach pain, and an aversion to the fame machine. His legacy endures -- not just for the brilliance of Bleach, Nevermind, and In Utero, but for the way he changed the definition of "rock star."

Before Nirvana hit it big with their single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in 1991, the male rock star was epitomized by Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose and other hair-band lead singers. These men were proudly sexist and homophobic (Skid Row's Sebastian Bach famously wore a T-shirt that read, "AIDS Kills Fags Dead").

Cobain, on the other hand, was sensitive and effeminate -- someone who regularly spoke out for minorities and called out racism, misogyny, and homophobia. While many remember Cobain and his Nirvana bandmates wearing dresses and kissing in videos and live performances, virtually forgotten is the fact that Nirvana performed at a gay rights benefit in Oregon in 1992.

While promoting Nirvana's late-1992 compilation album Incesticide -- which included the following statement in its liner notes, "If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us: leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records" -- Cobain spoke to The Advocate, granting the LGBTQ publication his only interview at that precarious time.

At the time, Cobain and wife Courtney Love were still reeling from a Vanity Fair article from the previous year, where the writer described the two as heroin addicts and Love as using the drug while pregnant with their daughter.

In the Advocate article, Cobain displayed comfort in speaking with an LGBTQ publication and a familiarity with gay culture, often using terms like "homophobia" and "misogyny," appreciating the description of Love as a "fag hag," and recalling the time he saw the Village People in concert.

Here are some of the choicest quotes from the interview with journalist Kevin Allman.

The Advocate: I read the liner notes you wrote on Incesticide. I've never seen somebody on a major label say, "If you're a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, we don't want you to buy our records."

Kurt Cobain: That's been the biggest problem that I've had being in this band. I know there are those people out in the audience, and there's not much I can do about it. I can talk about those issues in interviews -- I think it's pretty obvious that we're against the homophobes and the sexists and the racists, but when "Teen Spirit" first came out, mainstream audiences were under the assumption that we were just like Guns N' Roses.

These were his words: "You shut your bitch up, or I'm taking you down to the pavement." [Laughs] Everyone around us just burst out into tears of laughter. She wasn't even saying anything mean, you know? So I turned to Courtney and said, "Shut up, bitch!" And everyone laughed and he left. So I guess I did what he wanted me to do --be a man. [Laughs]

Does he remind you of guys you went to high school with?

Absolutely. Really confused, fucked-up guys. There's not much hope for them.

When he was singing about "immigrants and faggots," people were excusing it by saying, "Well, he's from Indiana --"

Oh, well, that's OK then. [Laughs] Insane. Later, after we played our show and were walking back to our trailer, the Guns N' Roses entourage came walking toward us. They have at least 50 bodyguards apiece: huge, gigantic, brain-dead oafs ready to kill for Axl at all times. [Laughs] They didn't see me, but they surrounded Chris, and Duff [McKagan of Guns N' Roses] wanted to beat Chris up, and the bodyguards started pushing Chris around. He finally escaped, but throughout the rest of the evening, there was a big threat of either Guns N' Roses themselves or their goons beating us up. We had to hide out.

Well, when we played that No on 9 benefit in Portland, I said something about Guns N' Roses. Nothing nasty -- I think I said, "And now, for our next song, 'Sweet Child o' Mine.'" But some kid jumped onstage and said, "Hey, man, Guns N' Roses plays awesome music, and Nirvana plays awesome music. Let's just get along and work things out, man!"

And I just couldn't help but say, "No, kid, you're really wrong. Those people are total sexist jerks, and the reason we're playing this show is to fight homophobia in a real small way. The guy is a fucking sexist and a racist and a homophobe, and you can't be on his side and be on our side. I"m sorry that I have to divide this up like this, but it's something you can't ignore. And besides they can't write good music." [Laughs]

You know, you were probably taking money from people who were voting yes on 9 [an antigay ballot measure] -- but they really wanted to see Nirvana.

[Laughs] Right! Chris went to a Guns N' Roses concert when they played here with Metallica a couple of months ago, and he went backstage, and there were these two bimbo girls who looked like they walked out of a Warrant video. They were sitting on the couch in hopes of sucking Axl's dick or something, and one of them said, "Chris, we saw you at that No on 9 benefit! We're voting yes on 9! You kissed Kurt on the lips! That was disgusting!" [Laughs] To know that we affect people like that -- it's kind of funny. The sad thing is that there's no penetrating them. After all that, after all the things those girls had seen us do, that was the one thing that sticks in their minds.

You used to push people's buttons like that in high school, didn't you?

Oh, absolutely. I used to pretend I was gay just to fuck with people. I've had the reputation of being a homosexual every day since I was 14. It was really cool, because I found a couple of gay friends in Aberdeen [Wash.] --which is almost impossible. How I could ever come across a gay person in Aberdeen is amazing! But I had some really good friends that way. I got beat up a lot, of course, because of my association with them.

People just thought I was weird at first, just some fucked-up kid. But once I got the gay tag, it gave me the freedom to be able to be a freak and let people know that they should just stay away from me. Instead of having to explain to someone that they should just stay the fuck away from me-I'm gay, so I can't even be touched. It made for quite a few scary experiences in alleys walking home from school, though.

You actually got beat up?

Oh, yeah. Quite a few times.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kurt Cobain’s mugshot in 1986 when he was arrested for spraying the words ‘GOD IS GAY’ on trucks

And you used to spray-paint GOD IS GAY on people's trucks?

That was a lot of fun. The funniest thing about that was not actually the act but the next morning. I'd get up early in the morning to walk through the neighborhood that I'd terrorized to see the aftermath. That was the worst thing I could have spray-painted on their cars. Nothing else would have been more effective.

Because people thought you were gay and you had gay friends, did you ever wonder if you might be gay?

Yeah, absolutely. See I've always wanted male friends that I could be real intimate with and talk about important things with and be as affectionate with that person as I would be with a girl. Throughout my life, I've always been really close with girls and made friends with girls. And I've always been a really sickly, feminine person anyhow, so I thought I was gay for a while because I didn't find any of the girls in my high school attractive at all. They had really awful haircuts and fucked-up attitudes. So I thought I would try to be gay for a while, but I'm just more sexually attracted to women. But I'm really glad that I found a few gay friends, because it totally saved me from becoming a monk or something.

I mean, I'm definitely gay in spirit, and I probably could be bisexual. But I'm married, and I'm more attracted to Courtney than I ever have been toward a person, so there's no point in trying to sow my oats at this point. [Laughs] If I wouldn't have found Courtney, I probably would have carried on with a bisexual lifestyle. But I just find her totally attractive in all ways”.

That is maybe a bit more non-personal context to Kurt Cobain and his influence on the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. It is important that a play/piece like Aberdeen exists. The fact is its voice, Cassie Workman, has been deeply affected and moved by Cobain and his advocacy. How Cobain felt he could have been bisexual. Someone who deeply respected women and was always supportive and kind. A spirit and soul whose importance and legacy extends way beyond the music, the fact that we have plays and creative projects with Kurt Cobain at heart shows just what a cultural icon he is. I would urge anyone near Soho to go and see Aberdeen. I think that it will have life beyond the stage. It runs for another week. The reviews have been really positive. A project definitely important to Cassie Workman, I was moved to write about it. As I say, I am around the corner from Soho Theatre. I am about to walk past it, so I will see the poster and get a sense of how people will feel waiting to see the play. Spotlighting Aberdeen has given me a deeper appreciation of Nirvana. Even in 1992, they were pushing back against homophobia. There was this hugely accepting nature about the band. A message that they would not tolerate any form of discrimination based on sexuality. That extended to women and misogyny that was rampant through music when they were coming through and famous. The band, as they have sung on record and preached in their interviews, urged all their fans to..

COME as you are.

FEATURE: A Brilliant Start to 1979… Kate Bush: Best New Artist of 1978

FEATURE:

 

 

A Brilliant Start to 1979…

  

Kate Bush: Best New Artist of 1978

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AS we are near the end of the year…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Aris

there is not much news on Kate Bush to expect. Not many anniversaries to look into. I am going to look to one that is happening on 6th January, 1979. Forty-five years ago, Bush was rounding off her first professional year in music. Lionheart, her second studio album, came out in November. Even if December saw Bush doing a bit of promotion – on 9th December, 1978, Bush performed in the U.S. on Saturday Night Live -, she was wrapping up and looking ahead to Christmas. In a year when she put out two studio albums, Bush was thinking ahead to her tour in 1979. It was inevitable that, after such a busy 1978, there would be plaudit and congratulations. On 6th January, 1979, Kate Bush was voted Best New Artist of 1978 in the Record Mirror annual poll. In a previous feature, I did look at the events that happened in December 1978 and January 1979. I wanted to focus on 9th January, 1979, as this was a date where quite a lot of important things happened. It is especially notable this honour, as many still saw Kate Bush as a curio. Someone who was a novelty act. Remember, a month before that Record Mirror honour, Bush was in the U.S. on Saturday Night Live! That performance was pivotal in the sense it was U.S. exposure. However, I don’t think the American audience had seen anything like that. It was this introduction of a unique artist who would take a while to penetrate the market there. A month later, Bush was nodded to as a serious artist. Someone who could not be ignored in the U.K. This run of success continued. She would get the same award in 1980. Bush was voted Best Female Artist in the Record Mirror poll, Best Female Singer in NME. She was also voted Best Female Singer in Sounds. In addition, Kate Bush won Top Female Artist in the Music Week Annual Awards at the Dorchester Hotel, London; Top Female Singer at the British Rock and Pop Awards (later the BPI Awards) at the Café Royal (also London). At the Capital Radio Awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel (London too), she was presented with the award for Best Female Vocalist.

I think that 1979’s award was the start of this run. Approval that she was a worthy and brilliant artist. That was not always the case. Throughout 1978 – and far beyond -, there was a lot of mockery. Journalists not taking Kate Bush seriously. 9th January, 1979 was a packed day! Not long after Christmas, Bush was back on the promotional trail. She was guest of honour at the San Remo Song Festival in Italy. This is screened in most of Europe but not in the U.K. It was still a period where Bush was promoting two albums at the same time. I can imagine she was a bit tired of the two crossing over! There was focus on Lionheart, as that album came out a couple of months before. Bush performed live more extensively throughout 1979. Appearances like the one on Italian T.V. were important. I think the international performances were tricky in terms of translation. Not only Bush trying to navigate her way through interviews. There was also that thing of audiences trying to understand the words Bush was singing. If you though that American audiences were confused because of the originality and unusual nature of the music, it was extra hard to break through an extra layer – an audience whose first language is not English! She managed to (to an extent) in 1978 when she visited Japan. I think, on that trip, there was confusion and a sense of acceptance. A mixture that resulted in quite a strange and wonderful period. The Italian audience are quite warm regarding Bush’s performance - though you can tell that this was not a type of artist they were used to.

More importantly, on 9th January, 1979, Bush was proactive and hitting the grounding running! As I said in the previous feature, she was starting earnestly. There were sketches and ideas of what she wanted. Between this date and the first date of The Tour of Life – 2nd April, 1979 -, quite a lot had been achieved. Bush was also still recording and writing. Never for Ever was released in 1980. She was putting together various songs before that. For The Tour of Life, Bush would have been inspired by various live performances. She was at the final Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie) performance in 1973. No doubt channelling some of David Bowie, her dance concepts and training were planned to be supervised by Antony Van Laast (he appeared with Kate in the video for Hammer Horror). In Bush’s sketches and notes, she will be backed by a seven-piece band. At the centre is Paddy Bush (mandolin, backing vocals), Del Palmer (bass), and Brian Bath (rhythm guitar) of the KT Bush Band, supplemented by Alan Murphy (lead guitar), Kevin McAlea (keyboards, saxophone), Ben Barson (keyboards), and Preston Heyman (drum). Thanks to this invaluable source for providing the essential information. I think about that transition between the end of 1978 and the start of 1979. Bush was still working quite hard until the end of December 1978. She had some time with family over Christmas. Soon enough, there was this new wave of promotion and creativity. Getting that award honour from Record Mirror, combined with a performance on Italian T.V. meant that, right from the start of 1979, Bush was very much still in the spotlight and keeping momentum going! Whilst many people were slowing getting into 1979 after the Christmas downtime, there was no stopping Kate Bush! 1979 would see Bush go on her only tour; she released singles (The Kick Inside’s Strange Phenomena was released in Brazil in June; Wow was a huge success; Symphony in Blue was released in Japan and Canada); Bush started to record Never for Ever in September. Starting 1979 with success and some new exposure, that would kickstart a year that was…

A huge step in her career.

FEATURE: Rediscovering America: A Modern Icon, the BBC 100 Women 2023 List, And a Need for a Music Equivalent

FEATURE:

 

 

Rediscovering America

 IN THIS PHOTO: America Ferrera/IMAGE CREDIT: BBC

 

A Modern Icon, the BBC 100 Women 2023 List, And a Need for a Music Equivalent

__________

I may have covered this…

 IN THIS PHOTO: America Ferrera alongside BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne on 8th December, 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC

in other features. In terms of recognising the important women in music. There are occasions and ceremonies where influential women are celebrated and recognised. One of music’s most influential and successful women, Taylor Swift, was recently named TIME’s Person of the Year. There are annual events like Music Week’s Women in Music Awards. Some might say, when these exist, then why add another?! It is the same reason as to why award ceremonies like the BRITs have expanded categories so that women are included. The same reason as to why festivals need to act and not be stubbornly male-heavy. It is because the talent is out there and there are some incredible women not being heard and recognised. We are still in a time when there is an immense amount of incredible work by women in music that is either not acknowledged or is not highlighted as much as their male peers. It is really baffling that those in power in the music industry are not really tackling imbalances and discrimination they have created. An apathy or ignorance, progress is pretty slow! There are glimmers of hope, though. We all hope that 2024 is a year where genuine change is seen and felt across all corners of the industry.

IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift/PHOTO CREDIT: Inez and Vinoodh for TIME

This thought of mine regarding women being recognised in music was reignited and repurposed after hearing America Ferrera speak on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour today (8th December). It was a fascinating discussion: “America Ferrera is an award-winning actress, a director, producer and activist. She shot to stardom with her roles in Ugly Betty and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, but you'll most recently have seen her playing Gloria, an assistant to the chief executive of Mattel, in the blockbuster Barbie film, who delivers a powerful monologue on the double standards of being a woman. America joins Anita to talk about how she didn't "set out to be a role model, or to break barriers, or to have a career about defying the norm”. Also today, America Ferrera spoke with Lauren Laverne on her BBC Radio 6 Music show. Not only was Ferrera speaking about Barbie and her role in it. She also reacted to be included in the BBC 100 Women 2023 list. A hundred influential and inspiring women from around the world.

When it came to Entertainment & Sport, America Ferrera was top of the list. T.V. presenter Georgia Harrison was also in the list. In Culture & Education, great women like U.S. student and social entrepreneur, Sophia Kianni, were included. There was not really any musical representation across the one hundred names. That is fine. Culture was covered. Politics, art, society, science, health and beyond. It is important that women across all corners of society are named and highlighted. It is an amazing and important feature that I would urge people to look at in full. America Ferrera’s inclusion particularly caught my eye, as Barbie is my favourite film of the year. Her role as Gloria was amazing. I was not quite aware of all the activism and important work she has done outside of acting. Such an inspiring human who is using her platform to help improve the lives of Latinas. To see more representation for women on the screen and throughout her industry. Very commendable. To be fair, Barbie colleagues like Margot Robbie could also have been included. Maybe there would be different if there was a music-based equivalent of BBC 100 Women 2023. Their names are women who are changing society and making a big difference. Not necessarily relating to their field/profession. I guess a music version would include some of that, though it would be amazing to recognise women right across the industry rising and established who are making change and inspirational.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Sophia Kianni

Taylor Swift seems like an obvious inclusion. Producers like Catherine Marks. Broadcasters, D.J.s, those at labels and venues. Journalists and writers. Rather than having categories and prizes, this is the same as the BBC does. It could be broken down into sections, though there would not be this element of shortlists and narrowing down you get with awards. Instead, it would be a hundred names that could partner with programmes like Woman’s Hour and music publications and websites. Rather than a trophy or prize being given out, instead, it would be this feature online. Maybe links to websites and their work. Next year is one, I hope, that there is greater gender balancer and equality right throughout music. There are so many influential and important women in the industry that are affecting change. From massive artists to journalists and those we may not often see; it is important to show the wealth and depth of female talent throughout the industry. It is not only something that is overdue and would be welcomed. I hope that it also helps speed up progress and recognition through the music industry. Inspired by the BBC’s hundred women who are changing the world, there are so many phenomenal women throughout music – of all ages and nationalities – who should be combined. With the BBC naming one hundred influential women across so many sectors and walks of life, it made me think more widely about changes and impact women are making in so many different and important ways. It is something that the music industry should adopt, celebrate and incorporate. We all know of worthy women who could and should be…

AMONG the one hundred.