FEATURE: Spotlight: Rose Gray

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Rose Gray

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ALTHOUGH there are not many new interviews online…

from Rose Gray, she has been involved with some fantastic features through the years. A hugely talented young artist whose music should be in everyone’s rotation, her latest track, Last Song, is among her best. With embers of ‘00s Pop and Electronic together with modern vibes and the huge personality and buzz from the infectious and irresistible Gray, she is an artist who is going to go far. I am not sure whether there is an E.P. coming soon. Before wrapping up and looking to the future for the incredible Rose Gray, there are a few interviews that I want to bring in. A lot of the online promotion and interview surrounded around the release of Drinking, Dancing, Talking, Thinking (2021). It is an amazing and eclectic 1990s-infused and inspired collection of songs from one of the most promising British artists. The London-born Rose Gray is, like me, someone hugely inspired and motivated by the music and characters of the ‘90s. Not that she is beholden to the decade. She is a singular voice who does not wear her influences heavily and too obviously on her sleeve. The first interview I want to quote from is The Forty-Five. In addition to talking about her Drinking, Dancing, Talking, Thinking mixtape, we discover about her childhood and fascinating upbringing:

“Born and bred in E17, she only has fond memories of her childhood, and speaks warmly of trips to the market with her parents, and of Sundays spent watching greyhounds speed around the borough’s long-since-closed dog track – the same stadium where Blur famously shot the now-iconic artwork for ‘Parklife’. “I really love my area, but it is quite a confused little place because it’s quite close to Essex,” she smiles. “And at school with you were either one or the other: a real East Londoner or quite suburban with different prospects for your life. I definitely decided that as soon as I possibly could I would be making my way in the city.”

You could argue this desire to make an impact is hereditary: both her mum and stepdad are jobbing actors after all, and – being the oldest of five – much of Rose’s childhood was spent socialising with her parents’ friends, many of whom were also actors or musicians. “I think I just thought that everyone was in the arts somehow?” she shrugs. “Like that’s what everyone did.” But compound that upbringing with the eerie focus that she credits to being a “textbook Capricorn”, and it feels like Rose was always destined to push herself to the fore.

“Seriously, my tunnel vision is almost quite dangerous. I was quite dweeby at school, always wanting to spend hours on projects. And I was sporty as well. I used to train a lot, do cross country and play football for a girls team, so I was quite driven with practise. And I always wanted to win things. So it hit me hard when I left college and I realised I was no longer the little star at school with a really good voice. Suddenly you’re in this massive pool of brilliant people and you need to work out who you are and what you want to do before you can make anything happen.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Eva Pentel

After dropping out of her Performing Arts course, she focused on finessing her songwriting, though it was still to be some time before her epiphany at the Bussey Building. Even looking back on 2019 singles ‘Good Life’ and ‘Blue’, Rose confesses to feeling removed from the pared-back, jazz-influenced sound. “I think I took myself a bit too seriously with the other releases. Because I’ve got a soulful voice it was easy for me to lean into that neo-soul and jazz influence but actually the music I love to listen to, and the music I like to go out to, is quite different. My manager was like, ‘Rose, you want your music to reflect who you are.’ And I feel like this mixtape is 100% me.”

Recorded over the last year and half with long-term collaborator Frank Colucci plus Rob Milton (Arlo Parks, Easy Life) and Mark Ralph (Georgia, Jax Jones), the seven-song collection solidifies Rose’s status as a rising star, and one who isn’t too proud to wear her reference points on her sleeve. Joining the Madchester swagger of ‘Save Your Tears’, the balmy dream-pop of ‘Same Cloud’ channels the swirling rhythms of ‘Screamadelica’ while ‘Easy’ features the sort of rave piano last seen on Strike classic ‘U Sure Do’. And that’s before you even get to her uncannily faithful version of Saint Etienne’s ‘Nothing Can Stop Us,’ her latest release”.

With a foot in the 1990s (musically) and the ’00 (musically), there is that sound and blast from the past. Rose Gray is a very modern artist who, in a sea of competitors, is shining and a real bright spot. I think she will be a massive artist of the future. NOTION confirmed this promise and potential when they spoke with Rose Gray back in late-2020:

“Noting Primal Scream, Massive Attack and Saint Etienne amongst her influences, Rose Gray has been building a name for herself as a rather uniquely British pop star. Lacing her music with her own blend of 90s dance melodies and 00s indie-pop vocals, the budding artist has been creating quite a buzz since releasing her first single last year.

Recalling house parties, bus rides, and the highs and lows of relationships, Rose’s music, in her words, “captures the early 20’s experience and all the in-between”.

The Walthamstow musician started her music career young but rebelled against the traditional popstar aesthetic she was being corseted into, instead, choosing to run down her own path.

With six singles under her belt, Rose is gearing up to release her debut mixtape, ‘dancing, drinking, talking, thinking’, due in January 2021.

From singing about a loved one with a cocaine addiction on the stripped-back track “Billy” (“But the powder’s got to you/ It’s got a power over you”) to serving up nostalgic Balearic House vibes on “Easy” and “Save Your Tears”, Rose Gray’s mixtape is the antidote we all need in today’s fun-sapped world.

You’ve just shared the brilliant new song “Save Your Tears”, a homage to 90s dance music. You’ve said that the genre is a big source of inspiration for you – what drew you to it in the first place?

From a young age, I was always in awe of the voice. Soulful pop Queens. From, Aretha, Dusty to Etta..and modern Queens like Amy, Christine Aguilera, and Lauryn Hill. I’ve always loved playing with my voice, and I feel 90’s dance music sets the stage for this exploration. Crazy big voices and soundscapes cushioned by breakbeats, strings, electronic elements live and programmed. It just feels so fun. I found a place that really works for my voice and where I’m at as an artist. Before lockdown going out and partying was a massive part of my life and I wanted this to reflect in my music. I have the freedom to sing and speak all in one song. 90’s dance music does this a lot, someone like Lady Miss Kier (the lead singer of DeeLite) positions herself so perfectly within a dance track. She’s a big inspo for me. There’s also something quite magic that 1990 is now 30 years ago. In the 90’s a massive subculture was psychedelica/ trip rave music.. heavily influenced by the 60’s. Now in 2020, we are 30 years on from the ’90s, it’s like a natural revival of this music. It feels like the right amount of time to be making and recreating these sounds. I also just honestly love this music.

Who are some of your all-time favourite 90s dance artists?

Ok here it goes. Saint Etienne of course. Primal Scream. Opus 111…the lead singer gives me Grimes.  I like listening to quite obscure stuff a little different from the music I’m making like Eris Drew or just ravey mixes. 1998 Madonna, Ray Of Light. I love this era for Madonna. Andy Wetheral mixes of any kind, he remixed ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ its magic. Smoke City. The Grid. Moby of course. Massive Attack and Portishead for slow dancey jams. The list could go on.

PHOTO CREDIT: Freddie Stisted

Your mixtape, ‘dancing, drinking, talking, thinking’ is due in January. What can we expect from the record?

So, ‘Dancing, Drinking, Talking, Thinking’ – is just that. it falls into one of those motions, maybe a few at the same time.

It’s 7 tracks. It’s fun. It’s sad. It’s classic. I’ve cried and danced making every track on it. I hope it captures the early 20’s experience and all the in-between.

Do you have a favourite song from the mixtape?

It’s always different. The mixtape goes through the motions. Some days I feel like I want to dance to some of the songs. Other days I could cry to all of them. I think I have a soft spot on a track called “Interlude, Thinking” – I produced it myself in June. It’s a reflection/realisation that partying and getting involved in fun dark things maybe isn’t what I really want. I love the string arrangement”.

There are a couple of other pieces I want to bring in before closing up. DORK chatted with Rose Gray in February last year. At a strange and stressful time for artists trying to put material out there, they asked as to whether lockdown and the pandemic had altered her approach to music and songwriting:

“Hi, Rose. You’re often described as telling sweeping stories with your lyrics, how do you approach writing?

I try not to give myself rules. I do write a lot of my songs as notes on my phone, concepts on my phone, so I do call myself a lyricist. I have a lot of poems and writings that I’ve built myself up, but if I’m at home writing, I do write a lot of my stuff on the spot.

You have a new mixtape coming up, right? How would you describe its sound?

I think it’s really fun, there’s a massive influence of 90s dance music! It’s quite classic with a lot of breakbeats. One thing as well that I feel threads through the whole mixtape is there’s a lot of lyricism, there’s a real story that comes through. It’s about a time of my life where I was partying and going out a lot, and so it feels like it’s going through motion.

Has lockdown changed the way you approach the creative process?

100%. I had a lot of unfinished songs. From the second week of lockdown, I started to figure out the production software Logic. I needed to figure out how to produce, how to make beats, how to finish off the vocals at home, so I’ve learnt a lot. I really love production and playing around, there is something on the mixtape I produced completely.

How has the mixtape changed the way you think about music?

For me now, I feel quite excited about where I can go. It’s the first stepping stone, and there’s so much material, and I feel quite excited. There are no rules, my next EP or album could be completely different. I feel creative freedom, especially for when I can play live again. I have so many ideas. I want to keep being different”.

There is one more feature that I want to include. Fred Perry asked some quick-fire questions about Rose Gray’s favourite music, some of the songs she grew up listening to, and songs that define the teenage her:

“If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?

John Lennon. I would love to share poetry or ask John to play something on his white grand piano. I think we could write something beautiful... try and put the world to right.

Of all the venues you’ve been to, which is your favourite?

Brixton Academy in London. I love this venue. The sound and atmosphere, the way the floor is raised so even if you're near the back you have a perfect view.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?

Of course Amy Winehouse. I grew up loving Amy, her lyricism and honesty had me in awe from a young age. I related to her, I felt like I'd never listened to a female being so honest about love and loss. But also - Melanie. She went pretty under the radar in the '60s/'70s and should have been huge.

The first track you played on repeat?

'F*ck You' - Lily Allen.

Apart from playing the Spice Girls and Christina Aguilera on repeat as a young one, I have a real memory of buying 'It's Not Me, It's You'. I remember breaking up with my boyfriend who was the definition of the guy described in 'F*ck You' so it just became my vent song.

A song that defines the teenage you?

'With Every Heartbeat' - Robyn.

If I listen to this I am 14 again dancing around my room.

One record you would keep forever?

'A Brand New Me' - Aretha Franklin (song - 'Angel' The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra version)

I grew up on Aretha Franklin. She had a true voice of an angel. I think I will love this album for the rest of my life. The Royal Philharmonic version of this record is so beautiful.

The song to get you straight on the dance floor?

'Groove Is In The Heart' - Deee-Lite.

Family parties and or weddings I will leap from my chair for this song. Also 'Green Light' - Lorde.

Best song to end an all-nighter?

'Yes I’m Changing' - Tame Impala.

I played this walking home the other night, the sun was just coming up and it was a special moment, beautiful way to start/end the day”.

I shall wrap up now. Keep an eye out for Rose Gray throughout 2022. With a new track out there, I think we will hear more from her. Whether that is another mixtape, or an album has yet to be seen. Whatever it is, it is going to be a fantastic release. Although she has a deep love of the music she grew up on from the 1990s and 2000s, she is someone who is very contemporary and unique. On the evidence of a song like Last Song, it will not be long until we will see the fantastic Rose Gray…

REALLY take off!

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Follow Rose Gray

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/rosegray_

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/rosegray_/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/rosegrayyy

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5YYrWH3w4JYijU4JZrOXWA

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwBKtW5UEKfHpdRrhbyW3Pw

FEATURE: Inspired By…Part Sixty: Elvis Presley

FEATURE:

 

 

Inspired By…

Part Sixty: Elvis Presley

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I have not included him yet...

but for this sixtieth part of Inspired By…, I am including the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley. One of the most influential artists ever, I am ending with a playlist of songs from artists influenced by Presley. In August, we will mark forty-five years since the icon died. His legacy and impact are being felt today. Before getting to the playlist, here is some biography about the incredible Elvis Presley:

“Elvis Presley belongs on the short list of artists who changed the course of popular music in the 20th century. He may not have invented rock & roll, but he was indisputably its first rock star, a singer whose charisma intertwined tightly with his natural talent for a combination that seemed combustible, sexy, and dangerous when Presley seized the imagination of America in 1956 with four successive number one singles in 1956. Elvis spent the next two decades near the top of the charts, weathering changes in fashion, self-inflicted career missteps, and comebacks as his music expanded and evolved. Throughout his career, Presley never abandoned the rock & roll he pioneered on his early singles for Sun Records, but he developed an effective counterpoint to his primal rockabilly by honing a rich, resonant ballad style while also delving into blues, country, and soul, progressions that came into sharp relief with his celebrated "comeback" in the late 1960s. Some musical nuances were overshadowed by Presley's phenomenal celebrity, a fame maintained by a long string of B-movies in the '60s and extravagant Las Vegas shows in the '70s, elements that were essential in creating a stardom that persisted long after his premature death in 1977. The myth of Elvis grew in his absence, aided by turning his Memphis home Graceland into a tourist attraction, which made him an enormous cultural icon only loosely tied to his rock & roll origins; fortunately, the passage of time helped clarify the depth and range of his musical achievements. He undeniably kick-started the rock & roll era, shaping the sound and attitudes of the last few decades of the 20th century in the process, but he also built a distinctive body of work that reflected the best of what American music has to offer.

Born to a poor Mississippi family in the heart of the Depression, Presley had moved to Memphis by his teens, where he absorbed the vibrant melting pot of Southern popular music in the form of blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel. After graduating from high school, he became a truck driver, rarely if ever singing in public. Some 1953 and 1954 demos, recorded at the emerging Sun label in Memphis primarily for Presley' own pleasure, helped stir interest on the part of Sun owner Sam Phillips. In mid-1954, Phillips, looking for a white singer with a Black feel, teamed Presley with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Almost by accident, apparently, the trio hit upon a version of an Arthur Crudup blues tune, "That's All Right Mama," which became Presley's first single.

Presley's five Sun singles pioneered the blend of R&B and C&W that would characterize rockabilly music. For quite a few scholars, they remain not only Presley's best singles, but the best rock & roll ever recorded. Claiming that Presley made blues acceptable for the white market is not the whole picture; the singles usually teamed blues covers with country and pop ones, all made into rock & roll (at this point a term that barely existed) with the pulsing beat, slap-back echo, and Presley's soaring, frenetic vocals. "That's All Right Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train" remain core early rock classics.

The singles immediately sold well in the Memphis area, and by 1955 were starting to sell well to country audiences throughout the South. Presley, Moore, and Black hit the road with a stage show that grew ever wilder and more provocative, with Presley's swiveling hips causing enormous controversy. The move to all-out rock was hastened by the addition of drums. The last Sun single, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget"/"Mystery Train," hit number one on the national country charts in late 1955. Presley was obviously a performer with superstar potential, attracting the interest of both bigger labels and Colonel Tom Parker, who became Presley's manager. In need of capital to expand the Sun label, Sam Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA in late 1955 for $35,000.00; a bargain when viewed in hindsight, but an astronomical sum at the time.

This is the point where musical historians start to diverge in opinion. For many, the whole of his subsequent work for RCA -- encompassing over 20 years -- was a steady letdown, never recapturing the pure, primal energy that was harnessed so effectively on the handful of Sun singles. Presley, however, was not a purist. What he wanted, more than anything, was to be successful. To do that, his material needed more of a pop feel; in any case, he'd never exactly been one to disparage the mainstream, naming Dean Martin as one of his chief heroes from the get-go. At RCA, his rockabilly was leavened with enough pop flavor to make all of the charts, not just the country ones.

At the beginning, at least, the results were hardly any tamer than the Sun sessions. "Heartbreak Hotel," his first single, rose to number one and, aided by some national television appearances, helped make him an instant superstar. "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" was a number one follow-up; the double-sided monster "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" was one of the biggest-selling singles the industry had ever experienced up to that point. His first two LPs, Elvis Presley and Elvis, were also chart-toppers, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. The 1956 RCA recordings, while a bit more sophisticated in production and a bit less rootsy in orientation than his previous work, were still often magnificent, rating among the best and most influential recordings of early rock & roll.

Presley's (and Parker's) aspirations were too big to be limited to records and live appearances. By late 1956, his first Hollywood movie, Love Me Tender, had been released; other screen vehicles would follow in the next few years, Jailhouse Rock being the best. The hits continued unabated, several of them ("Jailhouse Rock," "All Shook Up," "Too Much") excellent, and often benefiting from the efforts of top early rock songwriter Otis Blackwell, as well as the emerging team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Jordanaires added both pop and gospel elements with their smooth backup vocals.

Yet worrisome signs were creeping in. The Dean Martin influence began rearing its head in smoky, sentimental ballads such as "Loving You"; the vocal swoops became more exaggerated and stereotypical, although the overall quality of his output remained high. And although Moore and Black continued to back Elvis on his early RCA recordings, within a few years the musicians had gone their own ways.

Presley's recording and movie careers were interrupted by his induction into the Army in early 1958. There was enough material in the can to flood the charts throughout his two-year absence (during which he largely served in Germany). When he reentered civilian life in 1960, his level of popularity, remarkably, was just as high as when he left.

One couldn't, unfortunately, say the same for the quality of his music, which was not just becoming more sedate, but was starting to either repeat itself, or opt for operatic ballads that didn't have a whole lot to do with rock. Presley's rebellious, wild image had been tamed to a large degree as well, as he and Parker began designing a career built around Hollywood films. Shortly after leaving the Army, in fact, Presley gave up live performance altogether for nearly a decade to concentrate on movie-making. The films, in turn, would serve as vehicles to both promote his records and to generate maximum revenue with minimal effort. For the rest of the '60s, Presley ground out two or three movies a year that, while mostly profitable, had little going for them in the way of story, acting, or social value.

While there were some quality efforts on Presley's early-'60s albums, his discography was soon dominated by forgettable soundtracks, most featuring material that was dispensable or downright ridiculous. He became largely disinterested in devoting much time to his craft in the studio. The soundtrack LPs themselves were sometimes filled out with outtakes that had been in the can for years (and these, sadly, were often the highlights of the albums). There were some good singles in the early '60s, like "Return to Sender"; once in a while there was even a flash of superb, tough rock, like "Little Sister" or "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame." But by 1963 or so there was little to get excited about, although he continued to sell in large quantities.

The era roughly spanning 1962 to 1967 has generated a school of Elvis apologists, eager to wrestle any kernel of quality that emerged from his recordings during this period. They also point out that Presley was assigned poor material, and assert that Parker was largely responsible for Presley's emasculation. True to a point, but on the other hand, it could be claimed, with some validity, that Presley himself was doing little to rouse himself from his artistic stupor, letting Parker destroy his artistic credibility without much apparent protest, and holing up in his large mansion with a retinue of yes men who protected their benefactor from much day-to-day contact with a fast-changing world.

The Beatles, all big Presley fans, displaced him as the biggest rock act in the world in 1964. What's more, they did so by writing their own material and playing their own instruments; something Presley had never been capable of, or particularly aspired to do. They, and the British and American groups the Beatles influenced, were not shy about expressing their opinions, experimenting musically, and taking the reins of their artistic direction into their own hands. The net effect was to make Presley, still churning out movies in Hollywood as psychedelia and soul music became the rage, seem irrelevant, even as he managed to squeeze out an obscure Dylan cover ("Tomorrow Is a Long Time") on a 1966 soundtrack album.

By 1967 and 1968, there were slight stirrings of an artistic reawakening in Presley. Singles like "Guitar Man," "Big Boss Man," and "U.S. Male," though hardly classics, were at least genuine rock & roll that sounded better than much of what he'd been turning out for years. A 1968 television special gave him the opportunity he needed to reinvent himself as an all-out leather-coated rocker, still capable of magnetizing an audience, and eager to revisit his blues and country roots.

The 1968 album From Elvis in Memphis was the first LP in nearly a decade in which Presley seemed cognizant of current trends, as he updated his sounds with contemporary compositions and touches of soul to create some reasonably gutsy late-'60s pop/rock. This material, and 1969 hits like "Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto," returned him to the top of the charts. Arguably, this period has been overrated by critics, who were so glad to have him singing rock again that they weren't about to carp about the slickness of some of the production, or the mediocrity of some of the songwriting.

But Presley's voice did sound good, and he returned to live performance in 1969, breaking in with weeks of shows in Las Vegas. This was followed by national tours that proved him still capable of being an excellent live entertainer, even if the exercises often reeked of show-biz extravaganza. (Presley never did play outside of North America and Hawaii, possibly because Parker, it was later revealed, was an illegal alien who could have faced serious problems if he traveled abroad.) Hollywood was history, but studio and live albums were generated at a rapid pace, usually selling reasonably well, although Presley never had a Top Ten hit after 1972's "Burning Love."

Presley's '70s recordings, like most of his '60s work, are the focus of divergent critical opinion. Some declare them to be, when Presley was "on", the equal of anything he did, especially in terms of artistic diversity. It's true that the material was pretty eclectic, running from country to blues to all-out rock to gospel (Presley periodically recorded gospel-only releases, going all the way back to 1957). At the same time, his vocal mannerisms were often stilted, and the material -- though not nearly as awful as that '60s soundtrack filler -- sometimes substandard. Those who are serious Presley fans will usually find this late-period material to hold only a fraction of the interest of his '50s classics.

Presley's final years have been the subject of a cottage industry of celebrity bios, tell-alls, and gossip screeds from those who knew him well, or (more likely) purported to know him well, but it's enough to note that his behavior was becoming increasingly unstable. His weight fluctuated wildly; his marriage broke up; he became dependent upon a variety of prescription drugs. Worst of all, he became isolated from the outside world except for professional purposes (he continued to tour until the end), rarely venturing outside of his Graceland mansion in Memphis. He even stopped leaving his home for recording sessions, using an RCA Records mobile recording truck to make up the bulk of his final two albums, 1976's From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee and 1977's Moody Blue, At Graceland . (A collection of these final home recordings appeared in 2016, titled Way Down in the Jungle Room.) Colonel Parker's financial decisions on behalf of his client have also come under much scrutiny.

On August 16, 1977, Presley was found dead in Graceland. The cause of death remains a subject of widespread speculation, although it seems likely that drugs played a part. An immediate cult (if cult is the way to describe millions of people) sprang up around his legacy, kept alive by the hundreds of thousands of visitors who make the pilgrimage to Graceland annually. Elvis memorabilia, much of it kitsch, is another industry in its own right. Thousands of singers make a comfortable living by impersonating the King in live performances. And then there are all those Elvis sightings reported in the tabloids, first on a seemingly weekly basis, then less frequently as the decades went on.

Although Presley had recorded a mammoth quantity of both released and unreleased material for RCA, the label didn't show much interest in repackaging it with the respect due such a pioneer. Haphazard collections of outtakes and live performances were far rarer than budget reissues and countless repackagings of the big hits. In the digital age, RCA finally began to treat the catalog with some of the reverence it deserved, at long last assembling a box set containing nearly all of the '50s recordings. This 1992 set, called The King of Rock 'n' Roll, was the first of many serious compilations that focused on particular decades, phases, and collaborators. These archival sets were balanced by sets from Follow That Dream, all targeted at collectors, with the discs aimed at mainstream audiences. The most popular of these was the 2002 compilation Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits, which topped the charts in the U.S. and U.K. on its way to multi-platinum certification, but a pair of albums that grafted original Presley performances to music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra -- 2015's If I Can Dream and 2016's The Wonder of You -- went to number one in the U.K. in the mid-2010s; Christmas with Elvis, a seasonal set overdubbed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, debuted at six in the U.K. upon its 2017 release. In 2018, the two-part documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher premiered on HBO and was accompanied by two soundtracks, one a single disc and one a box set. Later that year, an overdubbed collection of gospel material was released under the title Where No One Stands Alone, as was a box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of his '68 Comeback.

In 2019, the 50th anniversary of Presley's return to live performance, was celebrated with the release of Live 1969, a box set containing 11 full concerts from his first engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas”

To showcase the impact and influence of The King, below are songs from artists that count him as a guide. Someone they have taken something from, or they have been compelled by him in some way. Influencing artists from multiple genres, Elvis Presley will be inspiring people…

FOR many more years.

FEATURE: Revisiting… Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains

FEATURE:

 

 

Revisiting…

Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains

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IT may be an uneasy listen..

and an album that has a hard and tragic backstory. It was celebrated upon its release on 12th July, 2019. Purple Mountains is the only album from the Indie Rock band of the same name. It is the final overall album by David Berman before his death on 7th August, 2019, almost four weeks after the album's release. Formerly a member of Silver Jews (in 2009), this was the first new studio album from Berman. A remarkable album throughout, I am not sure how many of the tracks are played a lot on the radio. How well is the album known? Maybe Purple Mountains is spun more in America - though there is awareness in other parts of the world. It is worth spending time with and playing if you have not heard it. Although it is quite emotive and is for particular moods and times, it is a wonderful album that will stay with you. The gorgeous and rich arrangements, together with David Berman’s unique and always-fascinating lyrics, will definitely pull you in. I am going to end with a couple of the many positive reviews Purple Mountains received. Not only was it one of the most acclaimed albums of 2019. It is one of the best-reviewed and adored albums of the past decade. This is what AllMusic said in their review of the sublime Purple Mountains:

“After the Silver Jews ended in 2009, David Berman's retreat from music seemed so final that the mere existence of Purple Mountains is somewhat miraculous -- and even more so because it's one of his finest collections of songs. For this go-round, Berman chose a brilliant band name: Purple Mountains is traditional but not obvious, familiar but with more than a hint of eternal mystery. While he's always been an eloquent songwriter, now he's also a direct one -- it's as if these songs are making up for lost time as they let listeners know what's been on his mind during the years he was gone. Within the first few seconds of "That's Just the Way I Feel," the hapless honky tonk that begins Purple Mountains, Berman transports his audience back into his world instantly. Just as quickly, it becomes clear that this incarnation of his music isn't as ramshackle as the Silver Jews were, even at their most gussied-up. He's backed by Woods, who ably handle any challenge Berman throws at them, whether it's the ironically mighty brass that soundtracks his lack of faith on the standout "Margaritas at the Mall" or the velvety vibraphone and pedal steel on "Snow Is Falling on Manhattan."

These timeless sounds mirror the classic tenor of Purple Mountains' songwriting. Over the years, Berman tried to record an album numerous times (with collaborators ranging from Destroyer's Dan Bejar to his old friend Stephen Malkmus), but reportedly couldn't finish his songs' lyrics. Based on how his simple, carefully chosen words let his wit and poetry ring out on Purple Mountains, it's safe to say that they were worth the wait. As he touches on his losses, Berman blends humor and heartbreak more masterfully -- and quotably -- than ever. "Lately, I tend to make strangers wherever I go/Some of them were once people I was happy to know," he sings on "All My Happiness Is Gone," a song with a shuffling beat that echoes Silver Jews' "Trains Across the Sea" and synth strings that feel decidedly Purple Mountains. He's even more eloquent on "Darkness and Cold," where he distills the growing distance between him and his estranged wife, Cassie, with lyrics like "the light of my life is going out without a flicker of regret." That song's flip side, "She's Making Friends, I'm Turning Stranger," boasts a country song title so archetypal that it almost didn't need to be fleshed out into an unflinching mix of self-awareness and jealousy with a bitterly strutting bass line and quietly seething pedal steel -- but fortunately, it was. By the same token, Berman knows when to let a simple "she was, she was, she was" speak volumes on "I Loved Being My Mother's Son." Filled with lonely songs that are as warm as a hug from a long-lost friend, Purple Mountains is a potent, poignant reminder of Berman's gifts -- and how much they, and he, will be missed”.

To finish off, I will source a review from Pitchfork. There is a simplicity and beauty to Purple Mountains that reminds me of Pink Moon. It is debated whether Nick Drake took his own life or died of an accidental overdose, though there is a graveness to his final album. David Berman took his own life in August 2019. Whether there are ‘warning signs’ or haunting messages that point to future tragedy, there is definitely more weight to Purple Mountains than other albums:  

“As warm and immediate as the record sounds—heartland harmonica, cantina horns, and pedal steel all guide his words—Berman’s lyrics reveal all the reading that has inspired him. The singalong chorus of “Margaritas at the Mall” alludes to a philosophical text on the capitalist origins of purgatory; a line about treating the world as a “roadside inn” in “Nights That Won’t Happen” echoes a teaching by the second-century Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus. And the jaunty “Storyline Fever” continues his tradition of whimsical penultimate tracks by considering the span of life as a long narrative with an infinite number of possible outcomes—it reads a lot like an anxiety attack but sounds a little like the Kinks. That Berman has scrounged a college syllabus’ worth of texts for their most human uses is a testament to the enduring, tragic empathy of his writing. Few writers are so willing to submit to their lowest depths to make you feel less alone.

While Purple Mountains is remarkable for affirming what we missed in Berman’s songwriting, it’s equally affecting for what it’s missing. He alludes to crises of faith in both “That’s Just the Way I Feel” and “Margaritas at the Mall,” a song that finds him at his wit’s end looking for answers from “such a subtle god.” His separation from Cassie after two decades of marriage casts a heavy shadow through nearly every song, a thematic and musical absence that gives the album an unsettling starkness. His voice has never been strong, but there’s a new helplessness to his delivery. “The end of all wanting is all I’ve been wanting,” he sings weakly in the opening track. “If no one’s fond of fuckin’ me, maybe no one’s fuckin’ fond of me,” he grumbles in the last. These are the kinds of characters he once observed with self-aware distance; nowadays, he just sounds spent.

The subject matter of Purple Mountains is grim, but he’s still David Berman, and he can still dazzle with the sheer beauty of his writing or wink at the camera to lighten the mood when necessary. Back when he first gained prominence in the ’90s, he was called a slacker, suggesting his unpolished delivery was either an affect or an ethos. Over time, he insisted just the opposite—that it was the striving that was important; that even if you couldn’t hold a note, it was worth showing the effort; that a song was something you spend a lifetime learning to sing right”.

An album that is so moving to listen to, it is not as hard-going or downbeat as one might imagine. Go in with an open mind, though there are songs and moments that will hit you. Purple Mountains runs in at just under forty-five minutes; it is not a huge or epic thing that takes several sittings. As I said, it might be for a particular mood or time of the day. If you do listen to it, you will definitely not regret it. Purple Mountains does deserve more discussion and airplay, as it is the final album…

OF an extraordinary and hugely-missed artist.

FEATURE: Inside Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty: Track One: Sat in Your Lap

FEATURE:

 

 

Inside Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty

Track One: Sat in Your Lap

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IN September…

Kate Bush’s fourth studio album, The Dreaming, turns forty. It is a way away, but I wanted to spend time investigating various aspects of the album. In the first instance, I wanted to look at all ten tracks from The Dreaming. Going more into detail with each, it is a chance to highlight their individual originality and brilliance. Starting at the top, it is time to look at Sat in Your Lap. The first single from The Dreaming, it was released in June 1981. Over a year until the album came out, I wonder what people thought when they heard the song! Faster and most percussive-heavy than any single Bush had put out before, it was a definite change of direction. Struggling to write, Bush’s writer’s block was unlocked when she went to see Stevie Wonder play in concert at Wembley. Although Sat in Your Lap does not share too much DNA with Wonder (there is more of Bowie in the mix), the fact that am exhilarating performance stirred something inside of Bush resulted in one of her greatest singles. One of the things that will become clear about the singles from The Dreaming is that they did not chart as well as the singles from her follow-up album, Hounds of Love. Sat in Your Lap was the most successful from the album, though it only got to eleven in the U.K.. That is a pretty good position, though I think Sat in Your Lap is worthy of a top ten place. Not a commercial and easily accessible album, The Dreaming’s strengths lie in the fascinating layers and sounds. Relying more on texture and depth rather than instant hooks and catchy choruses, The Dreaming is an album that demands a proper listen and consideration.

Sat in Your Lap is the perfect opening song. It opens the album with so much propulsion and physicality. Not exactly commercial, it is one of the more accessible songs on The Dreaming. With its video filmed at Abbey Road Studios across two days, the editing was a long and difficult job. Even though it sounds like the video was a lot of work, the result was unlike any other Kate Bush video. A nod to the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia who are going to prove invaluable when it comes to getting more detail about the brilliant ten tracks on The Dreaming. Here is what Kate Bush said about the incredible Sat in Your Lap:

“I already had the piano patterns, but they didn't turn into a song until the night after I'd been to see a Stevie Wonder gig. Inspired by the feeling of his music, I set a rhythm on the Roland and worked in the piano riff to the high-hat and snare. I now had a verse and a tune to go over it but only a few lyrics like "I see the people working", "I want to be a lawyer,'' and "I want to be a scholar,'' so the rest of the lyrics became "na-na-na"' or words that happened to come into my head. I had some chords for the chorus with the idea of a vocal being ad-libbed later. The rhythm box and piano were put down, and then we recorded the backing vocals. "Some say that knowledge is...'' Next we put down the lead vocal in the verses and spent a few minutes getting some lines worked out before recording the chorus voice. I saw this vocal being sung from high on a hill on a windy day. The fool on the hill, the king of the castle... "I must admit, just when I think I'm king."

The idea of the demos was to try and put everything down as quickly as possible. Next came the brass. The CS80 is still my favourite synthesizer next to the Fairlight, and as it was all that was available at the time, I started to find a brass sound. In minutes I found a brass section starting to happen, and I worked out an arrangement. We put the brass down and we were ready to mix the demo.

I was never to get that CS80 brass to sound the same again - it's always the way. At The Townhouse the same approach was taken to record the master of the track. We put down a track of the rhythm box to be replaced by drums, recording the piano at the same time. As I was producing, I would ask the engineer to put the piano sound on tape so I could refer to that for required changes. This was the quickest of all the tracks to be completed, and was also one of the few songs to remain contained on one twenty-four track tape instead of two! (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)”.

There is so much to unravel and investigate when it comes to Kate Bush’s The Dreaming. I will discuss Bush producing the album, a lot of the sounds and instruments used throughout, in addition to the way The Dreaming was received and influences people today. A lot of people either do not know about The Dreaming, or they pick a few tracks. In this ten-part feature that looks at each song individually, I am starting out with the lead single. Anyone who felt they have Kate Bush pegged before 1981 would have been in for a surprise when Sat in Your Lap was released. A year later, the extraordinary The Dreaming highlighted the fact that her music would…

NEVER be the same again.

FEATURE: Born in a Storm: Deacon Blue’s Raintown at Thirty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Born in a Storm

Deacon Blue’s Raintown at Thirty-Five

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IT is a shame…

that there is not more available online regarding Deacon Blue’s debut album, Raintown. With the Glasgow band still going strong today, I wonder how they will mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of their remarkable debut. It hits that milestone on 1st May. With Oscar Marzaroli’s iconic cover image of a rainy day in Glasgow’s West End, you are gripped and intrigued by Raintown before you even hear a song. With most songs written by their lead, Ricky Ross, Deacon Blue (Ricky Ross – lead vocals (additional guitar, piano & keyboard on bonus tracks on reissue version), Lorraine McIntosh – backing & harmony vocals, Graeme Kelling – guitar, low voice, James Prime – keyboards, backing vocals, Ewen Vernal – bass guitar, backing vocals and Dougie Vipond – drums, percussion) released a masterpiece in 1987. I was very small when the album came out, but I can only imagine what it was like trying to earn a living and survive. Sadly, there are parallels today. With energy prices rising and the Conservative leadership leading us into Hell, the songs on Deacon Blue’s debut seem strangely fresh today. Before carrying on, the band are releasing a thirty-fifth anniversary edition of Raintown:

“To celebrate its 35th anniversary, we’re excited to announce a special release of Raintown. The remastered album will be available on 12″ black vinyl and limited to 2000 copies, each individually numbered. This latest edition also features new liner notes from Ricky, plus the famous cover will feature “Raintown” in gold lettering. It will be released as part of this year’s Record Store Day UK in association with War Child – £1 from each sale will go towards supporting children living in conflict.

Available to buy from your local indie record shop on Saturday 23rd April. More info on #RSD22 and to find your local store, click here. Also see Record Store Day.

From Ricky: “I’m grateful, every day, we got that chance to make an album we still hold up to be the template of what any Deacon Blue album should be. That we are remastering the album for an audience who still want to hear it thirty-five years later is something none of us expected. Thank you for listening”.

One of the best releases from the band (arguably it is their finest album), Raintown contains some classic Deacon Blue cuts. Born in a Storm, Raintown, Loaded, When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring), Chocolate Girl, Dignity are wonderful songs that I fell in love with as a child. I do not know why there have not been more articles written about the mighty and magical Raintown. Glasgow Skyline wrote about the making of a masterpiece:

“Raintown was recorded at Air Studios in London between December 1986 and February 1987.

Associated Independent Recording (AIR), an independent recording company, was founded in London in 1965 by Beatles producer George Martin and his partner John Burgess after their departure from EMI.

The studio was on the fourth floor of 214 Oxford Street, over looking Oxford Circus which famously inspired Ricky Ross to write the song Circus Lights.

RPM2015 · Deacon Blue: 30 Years of Raintown

In 1991 AIR Studios relocated to Lyndhurst Hall in Hamstead, London.

The album was produced by Jon Kelly. One of the 'Great British Producers'. He has produced and mixed legendary albums for an incredible spectrum of artists including Chris Rea, The Beautiful South, Heather Nova, Tori Amos, Paul McCartney, Prefab Sprout and Kate Bush.

Jon Kelly later returned to produce the Four Bacharach And David EP and Fellow Hoodlums.

The band set up live in the studio and recorded together in the same room. This provided a great connection and energy much like their famous live performances.

Dignity is perhaps one of the most striking songs on Raintown, the lead single from the album it was the track that attracted the attention of Gordon Charlton who would later sign Deacon Blue to CBS. Written by Ricky Ross on holiday in 1985, this early Ricky Ross demo, whilst early in it's production shows the clear vision Ricky had for the track, capturing much of the feel of the finished record. Dignity (Demo 1).

By 1986 and now with much of the Deacon Blue line up in place this second demo shows how close the band were to having the final arrangement for the track. Dougie and Ewen's rhythm track is in place and Jim Prime's piano arrangement is also largely complete. Graeme's guitar part is very much to the forefront and there are still no backing vocals. Dignity (Demo 2).

Although Riches never made the final cut for Raintown the song was recorded by Jon Kelly during the Raintown sessions and has always been an important song for Ricky Ross. This early demo has a similar arrangement to the final recording but the inclusion of a drum track give it a more pop laden sound. Riches (Demo).

This demo of The Very Thing recorded circa 1986 was one of the tracks on the cassette that attracted Gordon Charlton to the band. Very similar to the final cut, the most noticable absence once again is Lorraine's backing vocal. The Very Thing (Demo).

Whilst recording Raintown it's said that Ricky Ross was sat at the piano playing this song and Jon Kelly suggested they record the track 'just like that' stripped back, more acoustic and soulful, with less production than Ricky's previous demo. The track was When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring). This classic Deacon Blue song began life sounding very differently as this demo shows. When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) (Demo).

Songs often first premiere at gigs as the band try them out. This happened a lot with the songs that made it on to When The World Knows Your Name. Sadly very few recordings exist of Deacon Blue concerts before Raintown, in fact there are no known audience recordings in circulation. However on the 20th November 1986 just weeks before Deacon Blue began recording Raintown they played a gig at The Marquee, London. The show was recorded by the band and the tape has been in circulation for a number of years. Some of the tracks have now been officially released on the 2006 Raintown Legacy Edition.

Loaded was performed that night, and like the demo version that appears on the Legacy Edition this live performance features some alternate lyrics and slight differences to the finished arrangement. Loaded - Marquee 86”.

I am looking forward to the thirty-fifth anniversary of Raintown on 1st May. Deacon Blue are on the road at the moment, and I know that fans love to hear songs from their debut played live. They resonate with different generations for different reasons. Such a remarkable album that introduced a band who are so beloved, Raintown summed up a lot of the despondency and depression that would have been evident, not only in Glasgow in 1986 and 1987, but right across the U.K. under Thatcher. Today, as we look back, one wonders of the current government are any better. The relevance of Raintoiwn remains. If you have not listened to the album before or have not heard it in a while, go and spend some time with it. I feel we will be discussing Raintown for decades to come. Such is the quality of the songwriting and the band performances, you are hooked and immersed in the album from start to finish. There is no doubt in my mind that Deacon Blue’s Raintown is…

ONE of the very best debuts.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Dead Kennedys – Bedtime for Democracy

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Dead Kennedys – Bedtime for Democracy

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THE final album…

from the San Francisco band, I wanted to shed light on Bedtime for Democracy. Released in November 1986, the album deals with themes such as conformity, Reaganomics, the U.S. military, and critique of the hardcore Punk movement. Maybe not ranked alongside classics such as Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (the band’s debut), I feel Bedtime for Democracy is an album that deserves new light and appreciation. The band split up as the record was released. Even though Bedtime for Democracy is the last album from the band, they did reform in 2001. The new line-up consists of East Bay Ray, Ron ‘Skip’ Greer, D. H. Peligro and Klaus Flouride. Their former lead, Jello Biafra, split from the band following the release of Bedtime for Democracy. It is like looking back at the former life of a band. I am not sure whether they are going to release another album, but it is encouraging to see there is still life in them! Bedtime for Democracy arrived at a moment in the U.S. when Ronald Regan was President; there was a lot of anger towards his foreign and domestic policies. Whilst some applaud his term as President (between 1981 and 1989), there were many more who felt he caused more harm than good. It is unspringing that artists reacted with albums that were quite political and angry. Dead Kennedys’ Bedtime for Democracy still has relevance today. I want to explore a couple of reviews for an album that definitely requires fresh ears and some new appreciation.

In their review, AllMusic had this to say about one of the strongest albums of 1986. They note how, whilst not their strongest album, the band do go out with a bang and sense of purpose and anger:

“The Dead Kennedys go out in a blaze of snarling, defiant glory in their final studio release. They drub a bushel basket's worth of entrenched interests, including scientists, the military, the power hungry, macho attitudes, classicism, lie detectors, Reagan and his economic policies, the press, the entertainment industry, and the commercialization of rock and revolutionary attitudes. The album's manic speed punk style recalls In God We Trust Inc., particularly on the frenetic cover of Johnny Paycheck's hit "Take This Job and Shove It." When the tempo slows, a few songs resemble frantic rockabilly; of these, "Hop With the Jetset" lampoons the privileged classes, "I Spy" savages government agents, and "Where Do Ya Draw the Line" is a plea in favor of anarchy. The quiet, furtive "D.M.S.O." is a highly atypical number strongly resembling the theme to The Pink Panther. The lengthy, anthemic "Cesspools in Eden" is a hard rock number with unusual chord changes and lyrics railing against toxic waste; similarly, "Chickenshit Conformist" alternates slow and hyperfast sections and sports wide-ranging verses that constitute a scathing indictment of the rock music industry. As usual, the rushed hardcore numbers often garble or swallow up the well-written lyrics (if you want people to follow you into revolution, your ideas need to be intelligible). The album cover sports witheringly disparaging artwork; also included in this release are two muckraking newspapers, one containing clip art, and the other written articles about the obscenity trial embroiling the band at that point. While it's not totally successful, at least the Dead Kennedys had the satisfaction of going out on their own terms. It's all well worth hearing”.

I think Bedtime for Democracy is an album people should spend a bit of time with. This is Punk News’ tale on a fitting and fierce final studio album (or is it?) from Dead Kennedys:

“By the time their final studio album, Bedtime for Democracy, was released in November 1986, the Dead Kennedys were no longer a band. They announced their breakup in January, and played their final show (at least with Jello on vocals) in February. The title of the album was a play on the 1951 Ronald Reagan film, Bedtime for Bonzo. The album expanded on musical and lyrical themes the band had previously worked in, and would do so successfully.

The opening song, was a cover, of the David Allen Coe song “Take This Job and Shove It” which given the bands dissolution at the start of year, was likely a not so tongue in cheek nod to their decision to no longer be a band. While the song was, and still is, unlikely to appeal to David Allen Coe’s core audience; it was able to become a favorite for some Dead Kennedy’s fans and they certainly were able to show how elements of outlaw country and punk rock can make solid bed fellows. Given the breakdown that occurred between Jello Biafra and the other members of the band in the decades to come, the song now reads like a tongue in cheek statement on Jello’s behalf.

Coming off a trial for obscene album art, for the H.R. Giger insert for Frankenchrist, some may have wondered what the band was getting at with the song “Rambozo the Clown.” As it was a critique of the violent imagery found in many 1980’s action films. This is where the band walked the fine line between punk rock outrage and a more intellectual outlook on issues such as this. The band wasn’t saying these films should not exist, but rather stating films that suggest over the top violent action films being used to help define masculinity were dangerous. As was, and still is, the case with many Dead Kennedys songs the songs would come to reflect the culture and remain relevant in conversations of not only modern punk society, but American society as a whole. And while the term “toxic masculinity” is likely unsettling to some, in contemporary terms that’s what this song was about, when violent or otherwise harmful behavior becomes interchangeable with the term masculine.

The band would also begin to examine punk culture as they made their exit from it. Songs like “Chickenshit Conformist” along with “Anarchy for Sale” would not only touch on the punk scene becoming more intellectually mainstream but also the tourist nature some people coming into the punk scene were taking on. It would be easy to simplify this down to a simple word, such as poser, but that wouldn’t be doing the songs justice. The scene had begun to attract the attention of people who would have previously been at odds with the punks. This isn’t to say jocks, but definitely people who were drawn to the scene not because it challenged societal norms. But, rather they were drawn to the scene because of the nihilism and violence that came with those challenges, without any of the intellectual sacrifices that fueled those feelings.

Jello also goes after his normal targets in the form of Ronald Reagan, Reaganomics, the government as a whole, citizen’s privacy rights, and machismo. Given how accurate the predictive nature of his lyrics were, and the tinges of psychedelia, metal, rockabilly, surf rock, and straight ahead hardcore the band delved into on this album, the fact it ended up being their last proper album, truly is a shame. While Jello Biafra would continue to make strong albums both inside and outside the umbrella of punk, neither Jello nor the band would ever recapture the magic they had when they were playing together.

Even with all that heaping praise in mind, the measure of classic album is that album’s lasting influence and not the band that produced it. Nobody will ever be able to dispute the influence this band had, but when you ask people to name their favorite Dead Kennedys’ songs or you see a band cover one of their songs live. You’ll find those songs are rarely off of this album. Perhaps that’s because the band’s previous albums garnered so much attention. Perhaps, it was a band getting their last gasp of life in and using it to try as many things as they could. Whatever caused, Dead Kennedys will always be a classic punk rock band, however that did not and does not make this a classic punk rock album”.

If you are new to Dead Kennedys or have not heard Bedtime for Democracy, I would urge you to give it a listen. It did not get the strong reviews that it should have (not from everyone at least). Although the band did produce stronger albums earlier in their career, the magnificent Bedtime for Democracy is…

A really solid album.

FEATURE: Paul McCartney at Eighty: Twenty-Five: Is the Legend the Most Musical Person Ever?

FEATURE:

 

 

Paul McCartney at Eighty

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Twenty-Five: Is the Legend the Most Musical Person Ever?

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MANY would argue…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Mary McCartney

that the most musical people who have ever lived are Classical composers. When you think of the symphonies and incredible works the likes of Mozart have composed, that must be seen as the most musical things ever?! In terms of range and the sheer breadth of musicality, the masters of Classical are limited. Look to traditional music and who else rivals Paul McCartney?! Look back to the first Beatles albums and he was definitely showing signs of future genius. It is not only the scope of instruments and styles he was blending. It is the intelligence and innovation of his songwriting. I think 1965’s Rubber Soul is the first album from the band when McCartney really started to show his musical genius. The tracks, You Won’t See Me, Michelle and I'm Looking Through You are all magnificent in terms of their melodies and originality. Think about how he broadened his sense of ambition and musicality through Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). Even though it was a George Martin (the band’s producer) suggestion, the strings on Eleanor Rigby are inspired! A haunting song from McCartney, it is very different to Good Day Sunshine, For No One and Got to Get You Into My Life. In terms of genre and sound, this was McCartney reacting to what was happening around him and making it his own. One could say that John Lennon was rivalling him in terms of musicality. Whilst an inventive composer and songwriting, McCartney’s solo career has confirmed that there is nobody who comes close. Even by the end of The Beatles’ career, McCartney had laid down a gauntlet regarding sheer musicality and genius.

McCartney’s songs on The Beatles (1968), I think, are broader musically than that of Lennon’s. Back in the U.S.S.R., Wild Honey Pie, Blackbird and Helter Skelter are all over the place and do not join up. Abbey Road’s amazing medley (most of which was composed by McCartney) was one of the final moments in the band where he was demonstrating his compositional and musical ambition and talent. Look at the recent documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, and you can see McCartney composing these classic songs on the spot! Without any nerves or thought, he was coming up with these melodies, lyrics and compositions that have endured for decades! Into his solo career and work with Wings, that musicality broadened. Wings are very underrated, yet it was a time when McCartney was writing some of his best work. Though McCartney had mixed genres like Musical Hall, Reggae, Rock, Musique Concrète and R&B with The Beatles, this strengthened and expanded with Wings. An album like Band on the Run (1974) is extraordinary in terms of its variety and musicianship. Although Wings was short-lived, it was a chance for McCartney (as the primary composer) to do something aside from The Beatles. A different project and direction, McCartney’s innate tunefulness and curiosity resulted in such a broad musical palette. Not that everything he wrote was gold. His Wings work was great but, like his solo material, some of it was brilliant; other tracks was merely promising or average.

Even though the quality was not always up his impeccable standard, look at the solo work McCartney has produced and all the different styles and genres he has fused! From 2020’s McCartney III, right back to the original McCartney in 1970, there is no doubt that McCartney is in a league of his own! Think about everything he has written and accomplished. From the medleys and beautiful moments to the odd twists and angles, this is an artist who is always innovating and discovering new ground! A forbearer of future genres, though an album like 1980’s McCartney II was negatively reviewed by many, a lot of the experiments and songs that Macca wrote for that album were so far ahead of their time! As he approaches his eightieth birthday (in June), I don’t think there is anyone who will ever match McCartney’s musical vision. Something encoded into him from such a young age, he can play any instrument or write a song in any style. He is so adept when it comes to weaving together interesting lines and melodies. Finding hooks and avenues that his peers could never have dreamt of, there is no doubt in my mind that Paul McCartney is the most musical person ever. Let’s hope that we get to hear the brilliance of McCartney’s musical gifts for many more years. It is clear that there is…

NOBODY like him.

FEATURE: At Her Most Innovative: Kate Bush in the ‘80s: Her Best of the Decade

FEATURE:

 

 

At Her Most Innovative

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

Kate Bush in the ‘80s: Her Best of the Decade

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WHILST Kate Bush…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Phillips

delivered some exceptional music during the 1970s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, it was the 1980s where she was at her most acclaimed and innovative. Classic Pop recently ran a feature about Bush during the ‘80s. It is a fascinating read that documents how she evolved as an artist. The biggest takeaway is how she grew as a songwriter since her first couple of albums. An eventful and successful decade, Bush did not really get full acclaim and respect until 1985’s Hounds of Love. The 1980s was also the time when Bush started to produce her own work. I wanted to keep this short. Whereas I love Bush’s work outside of the 1980s, the music she made during the decade ranks alongside the all-time best. From 1980’s Never for Ever through to 1989’s The Sensual World, Kate Bush demonstrated what a remarkable original and accomplished artist she was. As The Dreaming approaches its fortieth anniversary later this year, I feel people should not only spend more time with that album, but Bush’s entire catalogue. Not only the hits, but the deeper cuts that we do not often hear. When we think about artists who defined the Eighties, we think about the likes of Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson. The Pop mainstream that deserve acclaim. I feel Kate Bush should be listed among those titans! She produced so much remarkable music during that decade – as you can clearly hear from…

THE playlist below.

FEATURE: Never Torn and Frayed… The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. at Fifty

FEATURE:

 

 

Never Torn and Frayed…

The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. at Fifty

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EVEN though…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Keith Richards and Mick Jagger on tour in America with The Rolling Stones in 1972

I have written about The Rolling Stones’ 10th studio album, Exile on Main St., before, it is fifty on 12th May. I wanted to look ahead to a huge anniversary. It is unusual for bands to hit a peak ten albums in. The Rolling Stones were on a very hot streak that sort of slowed on the following album, Goats Head Soup (1973). Before that, they put out a string of albums with their best material on. I feel Exile on Main St. is the band’s greatest album. I am not sure whether a fiftieth anniversary release is planned. I am going to source some articles and reviews for an album that took The Rolling Stones to a new peak in 1972. Exile on Main St. is seen as one of the most astonishing albums ever. Udiscovermusic.com told the story of the album in a feature back in 2020:

“The celebrated circumstances of the making of this storied double-album were so challenging, and its gestation so drawn-out, that few Stones diehards could have imagined how Exile would claim such an exalted place in their history. It took its name, with knowing irony, for the band’s own, enforced tax exile status from their own country. This started immediately after they finished a UK tour at London’s Roundhouse in March 1971.

“You were very resentful about having to leave your own country, because that’s really what it came to,” said Keith Richards to this writer, in a Sunday Times feature at the time of the deluxe reissue of Exile in 2010. “Yeah, you could have stayed and made tuppence out of every pound,” he joked, of the punishing tax laws that forced the Stones to relocate. “Thanks a lot, pals.”

“It was the only thing to do,” added Charlie Watts. “What do they call it, a break in earnings? It worked out, thank goodness.” Both he and Bill Wyman settled in France. “My family were very happy there, and I was.”

The Stones began sessions for songs that finished on the album at Mick Jagger’s Stargroves estate as early as 1969. They continued at Olympic Studios in London. But Exile was chiefly recorded, with considerable difficulty, at Richards’ Nellcote villa in the south of France. The challenges were myriad, from sheer audiophonic limitations to endless delays caused by the Stones’ lifestyle of the time.

‘It was magical’

The sessions were captured in their celebrated and much-used Rolling Stones mobile truck, but only after certain modifications. Wyman, describing the villa in the Sunday Times piece, said: “It was very Mediterranean, and very beautiful, on top of this point with its own boat. When Keith rented it, the garden was very overgrown, so it was magical.

“It was fantastically exotic, with palm trees. We had to saw a couple of them down to get the truck [the Rolling Stones Mobile] in to record. We ran the cables down into various rooms that we tried sound in.”

“The basement was the strangest place,” Richards said in the same article. “It was large, but it was broken up into cubicles, it kind of looked like Hitler’s bunker. You could hear the drums playing, for instance, but it would take you a while to find Charlie’s cubicle.”

Mick Jagger, remembering the coterie that surrounded the Stones, added: “Everyone’s life was full of hangers-on. Some of them were great fun, they’re all good for a bit, but when you really come down to it, you don’t want them around, because they just delay everything.

‘It’s a rock‘n’roll environment’

“But that was the lifestyle then. It was just another way of living. There’s a lot of people with a lot more hangers-on now than we ever had. There was lots of drugs and drinking and carrying on. But you know, it’s not a factory. It’s not a mill in the north of England. It’s a rock‘n’roll environment.”

But from such unpromising circumstances came a record that continued the Stones’ blinding run of form of the era. Released on May 12, 1972, it went to No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic — their sixth chart-topper in their own, temporarily estranged country —and in many other countries from Spain to Canada. It was certified platinum in the US by 2000, and the chart-topping deluxe reissue went platinum in the UK.

Lenny Kaye, reviewing Exile on its first release, admired its “tight focus on basic components of the Stones’ sound as we’ve always known it, knock-down rock and roll stemming from blues, backed with a pervading feeling of blackness that the Stones have seldom failed to handle well”.

I want to repeat myself a little regarding the chronology. A superb double album that is among the rawest and most electric The Rolling Stones released, it seemed to have this special meaning for Keith Richards. The Guardian nod to this in a 2010 piece (a year when Exile on Main St. was remastered):

“As summer turned to autumn, people started drifting away from Nellcôte and, in November 1971, Richards and Pallenberg followed suit. The album was eventually finished in Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles. In the documentary, Jagger reveals that some of the lyrics were written at the last minute, including the album's first single, "Tumbling Dice", which was composed "after I sat down with the housekeeper and talked about gambling". The words to another gambling song, the frenetic "Casino Boogie", were created by Jagger and Richards in the cut-up mode made famous by William Burroughs, which gives a lie to the notion that the line about "kissing cunt in Cannes" refers to an episode in Jagger's notoriously promiscuous sex life.

Jagger also denied recently that "Soul Survivor" was about his relationship with Keith Richards during the making of Exile. On it, he sings the line, "You're gonna be the death of me".

In places, Exile on Main St does indeed sound, in the best possible way, like an album made by a bunch of drunks and junkies who were somehow firing on all engines. Jim Price and Bobby Keys's horns are an integral part of the dirty sound, as is Nicky Hopkins's rolling piano. Songs such as the galloping opener, "Rocks Off", surely about the effects of a heroin hit, and "All Down the Line" are messily powerful, with vocals fading in and out of focus and the group kicking up a storm underneath. "Tumbling Dice" features one of the greatest opening gear changes in rock'n'roll and a swagger that carries all before it.

In one way, the double album, housed in Robert Frank's contact sheet-style cover, is Keith Richards's swan song of sorts, a final blast of rock'n'roll energy before he descended into a protracted heroin addiction that would often make him seem – and sound – disconnected from the rest of the group during live shows. After Exile, Jagger carried the weight and, despite some great moments on subsequent albums including Goat's Head Soup and Black and Blue, the Stones would never sound so sexy, so raucous and abandoned, so low-down and dirty. Neither, though, would anyone else. By the time punk came and went and indie rock had taken hold, the mix of sexiness and sassiness that the Stones at their best epitomised had disappeared entirely from rock music. So had the kind of survival instinct that the group drew on when the going got tough.

"The Stones really felt like exiles," Richards says. "It was us against the world now. So, fuck you! That was the attitude." You can still hear it, loud and clear, on this messy, inchoate, rock'n'roll masterpiece; the Rolling Stones in excelsis”.

A near-perfect album has, unsurprisingly, received nothing but acclaim since its release. I think Exile on Main St. has got five stars or near right across the board! One of the reasons why it remains so popular is that it keeps fresh and has not dated at all. With the band at the top of their game, you can feel and hear the excitement, energy and inspiration in every track. This is what AllMusic said in their review of a masterpiece:

“Greeted with decidedly mixed reviews upon its original release, Exile on Main St. has become generally regarded as the Rolling Stones' finest album. Part of the reason why the record was initially greeted with hesitant reviews is that it takes a while to assimilate. A sprawling, weary double album encompassing rock & roll, blues, soul, and country, Exile doesn't try anything new on the surface, but the substance is new. Taking the bleakness that underpinned Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers to an extreme, Exile is a weary record, and not just lyrically. Jagger's vocals are buried in the mix, and the music is a series of dark, dense jams, with Keith Richards and Mick Taylor spinning off incredible riffs and solos. And the songs continue the breakthroughs of their three previous albums. No longer does their country sound forced or kitschy -- it's lived-in and complex, just like the group's forays into soul and gospel. While the songs, including the masterpieces "Rocks Off," "Tumbling Dice," "Torn and Frayed," "Happy," "Let It Loose," and "Shine a Light," are all terrific, they blend together, with only certain lyrics and guitar lines emerging from the murk. It's the kind of record that's gripping on the very first listen, but each subsequent listen reveals something new. Few other albums, let alone double albums, have been so rich and masterful as Exile on Main St., and it stands not only as one of the Stones' best records, but sets a remarkably high standard for all of hard rock”.

In finishing, I wanted to drop in Entertainment Weekly’s 2010 review of Exile on Main St. Even if you are not a devoted fan of The Rolling Stones, one has to respect and connect with the quality and importance of the music! It is an album that we will be discussing centuries from now:

“The greatest Rock & Roll Band in the World has not always shown the greatest skill when choosing which tunes to put on albums. After all, these are the folks who sat on ”Start Me Up” for years before sticking it on 1981’s Tattoo You.

So fans’ mouths were set a-watering by the news that the group would reissue its classic 1972 album, Exile on Main Street, with 10 previously unheard bonus tracks from the same era. And if the songs — which have been overhauled to varying degrees by producers Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Don Was — are of lesser quality than, say, Exile high point ”Tumbling Dice,” there are several that certainly deserve to be heard. ”Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren)” is an excellent piece of loose-limbed funk. ”I’m Not Signifying” boasts a nice bluesy swagger. And lament ”Following the River” is a genuine tearjerker, although its shiny presentation — which includes newly recorded Jagger vocals — is far removed from the atmospheric murkiness of the original collection.

Some other songs, including a Richards-sung version of Exile number ”Soul Survivor,” are of more archaeological interest. It also seems rich that the ”super deluxe edition” features a half-hour film containing footage from the forthcoming documentary Stones in Exile, rather than the doc itself. Literally rich, given that the deluxe version, which also includes the original Exile on vinyl, costs more than $100. But the basic package is an essential purchase that rescues a clutch of terrific tracks from their 38-year Exile exile. Original album: A+”.

Ahead of its fiftieth anniversary on 12th May, I wanted to spend some time with a very special album. It is one of those undeniably faultless albums that should be preserved for all time. Even though The Rolling Stones did not hit the same high on albums after 1972, that is not to say they did not get close before that (albums such as 1971’s Sticky Fingers is another masterpiece) are not worth exploring. Such a staggeringly strong and well-aged album, Exile on Main St. is…

NEVER going to feel torn or frayed.

FEATURE: Paul McCartney at Eighty: Twenty-Four: Thinking Back to Paul McCartney’s 2018 Carpool Karaoke and Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney, Live From Liverpool

FEATURE:

 

 

Paul McCartney at Eighty

IN THIS PHOTO: James Corden and Paul McCartney/PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Sugden/CBS 

Twenty-Four: Thinking Back to Paul McCartney’s 2018 Carpool Karaoke and Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney, Live From Liverpool

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WHEN thinking about subjects…

to write about when it comes to Paul McCartney, I have been casting my mind back to his appearance on Carpool Karaoke in 2018. Part of James Corden’s U.S. chat show, there was some scepticism from some when it was announced. Maybe some wondered whether Corden and McCartney would not gel, or they would be an ill fit. It stands out as one of the most important moments of his (McCartney’s) career! The original Carpool Karaoke segment was a real coup. Corden, to that point, had driven around a lot of famous people. It is basically him and a guest singing alongside to songs (it is usually artists). It is this unique and fun interview idea. For someone like Paul McCartney that has had such a long and unmatched career, I guess there was always going to be something extra-special. The reaction to the initial segment was incredibly positive. I love the fact that McCartney was so accommodating. Corden drove McCartney around Liverpool; the songwriting legend revisited his childhood home where he wrote music with John Lennon. James Corden did a great job of bonding with Paul McCartney and bringing the best out of him. Although McCartney has provided countless interviews, there was something more intimate and revealing about this one! A glimpse into his life and a city that he calls home, the original twenty-three-minute segment was shown as a special.

This Deadline article talks about Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney, Live from Liverpool. It featured never-seen-before scenes. It is an extended version of the original broadcast:

“Saying “Baby, I could drive your car” has proven to be a very good strategy for James Corden — never more so than when he put Paul McCartney into the highly sought passenger seat.

The primetime special “Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney, Live From Liverpool” is a contender in five Emmy categories this year, including variety special (prerecorded), plus directing, writing, editing and sound mixing for a variety special. That’s hardly the only impressive stat Corden can claim, though. The late-night host himself is up for seven Emmys, the most for any on-air performer this year, and five of those nods are directly associated with the “Carpool Karaoke” franchise. (The only person with more 2019 nominations than Corden is his executive producer and director, Ben Winston, with eight.)

 “You’ve got to be really careful at times like this to not start to think you might be more of a dude than you really are,” admits the “Late Late Show” host, faced with the abundance of Emmy love (which the Television Academy keeps having to adjudicate upward, having previously undercounted before establishing in late July that he got seven personal nods).

It does not hurt to have an ex-Beatle as a co-dude. “I just always felt he was made for” the segment, Corden says. “Genuinely every day since that went out, somebody somewhere has talked to me about it. It’s rare to have a segment on a late-night talk show that would seep into the public consciousness in that way.”

 McCartney himself brought it up repeatedly on his recent stadium tour, pointing to the single “Come on to Me” (from 2018’s “Egypt Station”) as “one you might have heard” because of “Carpool Karaoke.” Says Corden: “Every few weeks I’ll get a text from a friend saying, ‘Dude, I was just at Paul McCartney’s show, and he mentioned you.’ It’s lovely that he would talk about it in such a way. Paul had not had a No. 1 album in America [since 1982], and he very kindly and publicly credits that segment as being an instrumental thing in that happening. But I also know that he feels very proud of it because it took a lot for him to open up in such a manner.”

It’s not just McCartney who opens up. When Corden recently did a “Carpool” segment with the Jonas Brothers, s— got just real enough for a few minutes that it seemed as if the seemingly frolicsome bit might be the most revealing interview they did as part of their post-contention comeback.

“Obviously people think about the songs when we do these ‘Carpool’ things, but I think the thing I’m proudest of is the interview,” says Corden. “You’re in there for a long time. I mean, the one we shot with Paul was shot over five or six hours. And the Jonas Brothers was, I think, three hours. Everybody just relaxes into that segment. It’s very rare that we use anything that’s shot in the first 10 minutes of those ‘Carpools.’ Then very slowly people start to open up and chat, and you’ve got to let them know that this is a safe place and they can trust you — and then you’re seeing a real version of themselves, because there’s no one else around. It’s blocked off cameras. There’s not a soul there. If you and I were conducting this interview now in front of an audience of people, or with loads of cameras around, or even a crew around, we’d probably be talking very differently than we are right now, and that’s the thing.

Another freeing element, he says, is “there isn’t the construct or the pressure of time. You can go down some dead ends. You can organically find stuff. If you’re in there with, like, Migos… Offset was in the back, and he was carrying something like $200,000 in cash in a bag, which I had absolutely no idea about. That wasn’t set up. They hadn’t told me. I was just like, ‘What?’ And then that just opens up a whole new sort of thing.”

With McCartney, that played out in an unexpectedly emotional way for interviewer and subject. As Corden recalls: “We were going back to Liverpool, telling stories that he had never told before. On the day of shooting, he said, ‘Can I talk to you for a minute?’ We were in this hotel, and we went into this walk-in closet and he said, ‘Listen, I know we’ve talked about this, but I don’t want to go back into my house.’ And I said, ‘Can I ask why?’ And he said, ‘I just feel weird about it. I haven’t been in there in 50 years.’ It’s now a National Trust house. ‘All I ever do when I bring people to Liverpool is I drive up outside and I show them that house, and I show them where John lived …’ And I said, ‘Look, Paul, don’t overthink this. If you don’t want to go in, we’re not going to do anything you don’t want to do. All you have to think about is having a great time, and that’s all that’s expected of you. Nothing else matters other than you and me enjoying this. Just see how you feel. And if you don’t want to go in, just give me a look, and we’ll drive on.’

“That was a moment where I thought, ‘I don’t know what’s happened to my life that I’m standing in a wardrobe giving Paul McCartney a pep talk about enjoying himself.’ But when we pulled up outside the house, I looked at him, and I suddenly realized we probably should have used a word, because what if he’s giving me a look and I don’t know? But he goes, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ And it was glorious.”

Obviously only parts of it were played for comedy. “I didn’t expect for it to be quite so moving,” Corden says. “And I didn’t expect to have feelings or thoughts of my grandfather. My grandfather was a musician, my father is a musician, and I remember so vividly them playing me ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Hey Jude.’ And I said to Paul, ‘If my granddad was here, he’d get a real kick out of this.’ Because I know that he would. And there’s a moment where Paul just says, ‘He is.’ And it gives me chills now even thinking about it.”

The McCartney segment wasn’t originally planned to be a primetime special. It originally ran on the late-night show at a mere 23 minutes, but “the reaction to it afterward was so incredible, and we just had so much footage left over, that we spoke to the network and spoke to Paul’s people” about expanding it to an hour for primetime. There was so much content there. Just being with him walking down Penny Lane, it felt closer to something you’d maybe see on ‘60 Minutes’ or something, you know? I mean, we could have made it longer, in truth”.

I love that original Carpool Karaoke and the longer version. It is a celebration of McCartney’s endless significance and popularity. Him showing genuine love and fascination for Liverpool is infectious and touching. I love Corden and McCartney singing along to these iconic songs. Even though, I guess, there was this intention Carpool Karaoke was promoting Egypt Station and it was trying to draw attention to that, it took on a life of its own. I remember seeing Carpool Karaoke at the time, and I was instantly struck by it. Looking back now, it still has this effect. It creates emotion. I wanted to highlight it now, as there may be people who have not seen Carpool Karaoke or the extended version. After the huge wave of acclaim and affection for the original, Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney, Live From Liverpool gave us a fuller picture and some great extras. I think, when McCartney is no longer with us, we will watch these specials and understand what a special person he was! Inspiring throughout, it is so much more than an interview. I wonder whether James Corden and Paul McCartney will ever interview again and do something similar. Turning eighty in June, I think his ninth decade of life will bring a lot of new music and memorable moments. Everyone has their favourite Paul McCartney interviews and specials. The Carpool Karaoke and Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney, Live From Liverpool specials are among…

THE absolute best.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Kelly Rowland - Talk a Good Game

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Kelly Rowland - Talk a Good Game

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IN another Second Spin...

I wanted to spotlight an album from an artist who remains underrated. Formerly of Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland’s solo material is exceptional. I think a lot of former band members struggle to adapt solo or create something that is different from their former self but is relatable. Like her former bandmate, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland releases music that is personal to her. Rowland’s latest studio album, Talk a Good Game, is one I want to talk up. Though she has released E.P.s since that album was released in June 2013 (last year’s K is amazing!), there are many who will ask if a new studio album is planned. An artist I love loads, Talk a Good Game is a great album that did not get the respect it deserves. I will end by sourcing a couple of reviews. Following on from 2011’s Here I Am – another undervalued album -, she put out an L.P. with some of her best solo cuts to that date. Freak and Kisses Down Low epically and beautifully opens Talk a Good Game. Although there are a few producers and writers in the mix, this is very much Kelly Rowland’s album. She wanted to nod to personal heroes like Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. Talk a Good Game is a celebration of womanhood. It is a very passionate and powerful album. A commercial and chart success, I love how her Destiny’s Child bandmates Beyoncé and Michelle Williams join her on You Changed. One of many highlights from Talk a Good Game, this is an album that everyone needs to check out!

Her most vulnerable and personal lyrics, Talk a Good Game goes deep. I am surprised that it did not score bigger reviews across the board! That said, there were some positive reviews. People that were listening hard and properly. This is what SPIN said in their review:

“The ballad “Down on Love” precedes “Dirty Laundry” on the track list, a sort of prequel to the deep shit, detailing another man with commitment issues and hoping for someone good enough. “Gone” flips a “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone” hook (Janet Jackson via Joni Mitchell) into a sleeper banger with cloudy synths and a snap beat. “Talk a Good Game” is a dating-standard-setting guide for K-Row’s potential suitors; the awesome “Red Wine” makes good use of her breathiness. “Street Life,” featuring Pusha T, has her getting gritty over a summery, ’70s-funk-meets-2070 Pharrell production — the only song here not directly dealing with matters of the heart, it had better be released as a single before August, and should come with subwoofers as a matter of courtesy. Another banger, “I Remember,” is reminiscent of the Jamie xx beat that powered Drake and Rihanna’s “Take Care,” with residual effects of U.K. funky house that make it perfect for Rowland’s British audience, who were holding her down for those first two solo albums when the U.S. was busy gawking at Beyoncé.

Speaking of: Inevitably, Rowland reunites with her girls here, which feels like proof that the jealousy rumors were unfounded. “You Changed” is essentially a classic Destiny’s Child song, but each vocalist gets equal billing: Kelly Rowland, featuring Beyoncé and Michelle Williams. Better than recent trio single “Nuclear,” it’s got a midtempo funk bass line propelling the sisterhood to gang up on an unworthy dude so effectively that it’s the best girl-power break-up song that never dropped in ’99, and that’s no dis: It’s worthy of Destiny Child’s classic catalogue, their chemistry unscathed by time. It also makes sense to put a reunion joint on an album this good: A sliver above 2011’s hit Here I Am, this one shows that even when she’s going through hell, Rowland steps out with sure footing, a girl-next-door who belongs on top”.

Just prior to round off to let people listen to Talk a Good Game, FACT wrote this in regards Kelly Rowland’s amazing fourth studio album. There is definitely appetite for a fifth studio album – or a reunion release with Destiny’s Child:

“It’s been a standard story in the post-Destiny’s Child years that Kelly Rowland has some baggage but with Talk A Good Game, it turns out we didn’t know the half of it. Selling upwards of 25 million solo records still hasn’t quelled jokes about her career being a side note to Beyonce’s stratospheric success, and Rowland has repeatedly dismissed rumours of in-fighting as tabloid fodder. They’re the best of friends, sisters if you will, and to suggest otherwise is merely a callous attempt to drive a wedge between them. This is something at the very heart of Talk A Good Game and on lead single ‘Dirty Laundry’, Rowland addresses years of repressed suffering with stark honesty and self-awareness, and in turn shedding new light on an artist that, after nearly 20 years in the game, we still know remarkably little about.

The confessional element is on the one hand a standard R&B trope – tales of being head over heels in lust, unrequited love and the heartache born of it – but Rowland uses ‘Dirty Laundry’ to detail a violent relationship and how it reinforced a sense of inferiority initially born of a faltering solo career with a rawness largely absent from previous work. It’s hard not to take in a sharp breath to lyrics like: “Post Survivor, she on fire, who wanna hear my bullshit? / Meanwhile this nigga putting his hands on me” and “I was battered / He hittin’ the window like it was me, until it shattered / He pulled me out, he said “Don’t nobody love you but me / Not your momma not your daddy and especially not Bey / He turned me against my sister, I missed you.” In laying herself bare, Rowland is as much reflecting on pain and the path it took her down as her desire to reach out to Beyonce from the better place she’s on her way to.

As ‘Dirty Laundry’ closes Bey extend both hands out by introducing ‘You Changed’ with “Ladies, y’all wanna do it again?”, flipping this pain into a slowly forming peace within through a sort of grown woman reflection on solidarity-in-sisterhood jam ‘Emotions’. Over a decade on Kelly, Beyonce and Michelle still sound in good company, and ‘You Changed’ likely follows ‘Dirty Laundry’ as a way of quashing rumours of in-fighting as much as being symbolic of Rowland’s healing process. It’s an interesting doubling that bolsters the albums thematic core of making peace with the past and holding onto the promise of the new, yet also doesn’t make Talk A Good Game a heavy listen overall.

It’s a taut balancing act that is reflected back onto the production. Having worked with The-Dream, Pharrell, Mike Will Made It and Boi 1da amongst others, each with their own signature sound within the R&B sphere, it remains a very cohesive and easy-going listen. It doesn’t stray too far from a palette of restrained and steady percussion and twinkling key arrangements on the bridges and hooks, but there’s still surprises to keep things interesting. The line “Tell Obama about the street life / The recession eating me alive” on ‘Street Life’ comes out of nowhere: because Rowland’s storytelling is almost exclusively confined to romance, it doesn’t pack much of a contextual punch and sticks out awkwardly amongst the rest of the writing. Sonically, a highlight comes in ‘Down On Love’ when Boi 1da sample The Whispers’ ‘Rock Steady’ to glorious effect, turning it into the kind of sultry after hours jam that would be the envy of most female R&B singers working today.

These kind of surprises are minimal, but Talk A Good Game carries itself with the kind of relaxed poise that Rowland’s keen to show us in herself. Mike Will Made It executes super lush romantic R&B on ‘Kisses Down Low’; muffled hi hat crashes and light and loose MPC drum patterns giving plenty of breathing room for Rowland’s well-honed vocals to take centre stage on her most sexual track since 2011’s stellar ‘Motivation’. This is what stands out most on Talk A Good Game overall: Rowland is an excellent R&B singer who has, perhaps for too long, lingered in the shadow cast by Beyonce’s immediately recognisable, stadium-sized vocal range. Considering her career so far, this is super cool, contemporary grown-up R&B that shows just how far Rowland has come”.

If you have not checked out the brilliant Talk a Good Game, I would definitely recommend it. Even if you are not a big Kelly Rowland fan, the 2013 album stands aside as a brilliant listen. I don’t think we really hear R&B like this anymore. Even though Talk a Good Game was nine years ago, it is a nod to a bigger and more visible time for R&B. Packed with amazing material and some of Rowland’s best vocals and songwriting, the stunning Talk a Good Game…

LIVES up to its title!

FEATURE: The Need to Break Free: Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Need to Break Free

Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty

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EVEN though...

Kate Bush’s fourth studio album, The Dreaming, is not forty until September, I am writing a few featured about it in the run-up to the anniversary. One think that is clear with the album is that Bush was making a statement. She was fed up with being guided and easily defined. Someone who was loved and had a lot of attention in her corner, maybe that pressure and sense of being crowded comes out in The Dreaming. From record labels and people trying to define her music or guide her too closely, through to that expectation from her family, it would have been intense for Bush. She was only twenty-four when The Dreaming was released. Still so young, you can definitely detect this woman blossoming and striking out. The layered and dense sounds of The Dreaming is this sense of independence and almost rebellion coming out in the music. Producing the album herself and doing things her way, this was not going to be anything like she had produced before! Even though Bush had a sense of pressure and would have wanted to find some space and peace – which is one reason why she built a bespoke studio at her family home for Hounds of Love; getting out of the smog and busyness of London -, there was also a desire to have fun and more pleasure.

Prior to The Dreaming, there was a lot of album promotion. A new artist being pulled pillar to post! Not that things calmed down in 1982 - but you get the sense Bush wanted to branch out and have the option to do other things. In an interview with Company Magazine at the start of 1982, Bush talked about her desire to work on stage and in film:

 “One new song on her next album has Kate talking about herself and her new awareness of life, its goals and inevitable pressures. "The song is called Get Out of My House ," she says, "and it's all about the human as a house. The idea is that as more experiences actually get to you, you start learning how to defend yourself from them. The human can be seen as a house where you start putting up shutters at the windows and locking the doors--not letting in certain things. I think a lot of people are like this--they don't hear what they don't want to hear, don't see what they don't want to see. It is like a house, where the windows are the eyes and the ears, and you don't let people in. That's sad because as they grow older people should open up more. But they do the opposite because, I suppose, they do get bruised and cluttered. Which brings me back to myself; yes, I have had to decide what I will let in and what I'll have to exclude.

"While I was working on this album I was offered a part in a TV series. I've been offered other acting roles, but this was the first totally creative offer that has ever come my way. I had to turn it down--I was already committed to the album. Sadly, I don't think that offer will be made again, but you have to learn to let things go, not to hang on and get upset, or to try to do it and then end up making a mess of everything else. It's like wanting to dance in the studio when I'm recording--I want to but I know that I can't because it will just tire me. I wish I had the energy to do everything," she says, sighing at her limitations, "but at least I'm healthy and fit."

Kate is one of those lucky people who never puts on weight. <Well...> She's a slim, elf-like, five foot three and has been a vegetarian since sixteen because, she says, "I just couldn't stand the idea of eating meat--and I really do think that it has made me calmer." She smokes occasionally--though she admits she shouldn't--and hardly drinks. "Champagne, I love champagne...but I don't really call it alcohol!" She confesses that she doesn't do breathing exercises, though she is very aware of breath control when she is singing. She regards her voice as a "precious instrument: it can be affected by almost anything: my nerves, my mood, even the weather." On stage she's a bundle of energy--a complete contrast to the calm, mature, pretty girl who sits drinking coffee in the elegant farmhouse drawing room.

"My plans for the future..." she muses. "Well, I want to get into films. And I want to do more on stage. I love staging my own shows, working out the routines, designing the whole package, and using every aspect of my creativity." What kind of films would she like to make? "My favourite is Don't Look Now. I was incredibly impressed by the tension, the drive and the way that every loose end was tied up. I get so irritated by films which leave ideas hanging."

Singing, she says, will always be with her. So will songwriting. Never satisfied with her voice or with her work, she strives all the time towards some impossible goal of perfection. "But, I suppose," she says, "that if the day ever came when I was 100 per cent satisfied, that would be the day that I stopped growing and changing--my deatch knell."

Despite her stardom, Kate Bush has remained amazingly gentle and sensitive. She is well aware of how easy it would be to be sucked into the music business, drained of all her natural creativity in and artificial world. To her the most important thing is, "To feel that I am progressing with my own life and my work. I also desperately want to feel some kind of happiness in what I am creating. Not contentment," she pauses, "but pleasure”.

That combination of a young woman who was feeling claustrophobia and definitely reflects some of that tension and strain together with her need to diversify and maybe have a bit of time to work on other projects. The Dreaming was certainly an important moment in her career. It would be three years until she released Hounds of Love. Not that this was a long gap but, after such an intense period, the need to rest and spend building a studio and being closer to home meant that people were asking whether she had disappeared. I am going to investigate and spotlight all of the tracks from The Dreaming closer to its fortieth anniversary. Today, I was eager to highlight how, by the time Bush was recording The Dreaming, she must have felt such pressure! Not that she ever wanted fame, but the glare of the media and the promotional circuit had definitely got to her. Although you can hear some crisis and anxiety in The Dreaming, I also think that it is an album where Bush was taking charge and wanted to change the way her career was conducted. To an extent, that did begin to happen. After the success of Hounds of Love, she was in a more powerful position and had this incredible successful album under her belt. Whether a transition between a sheltered and stressful era and the beginning of a new one, or the sound of a young artist putting all of her emotions into an album, The Dreaming is fascinating and important. I hope that it gets a lot of attention in September when it turns forty. Her 1982 underrated masterpiece is an album where she wanted to…

BREAK free.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

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ON 25th March...

Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters died aged fifty. Their legendary drummer, there is still shock and disbelief in the air! He died whilst the band were on tour in South America. I am not sure whether the band will continue, or whether they will recruit a new drummer once they have had sufficient time to grieve and reflect. A band who have released some classic albums, there are a few in their cannon that did not get as much love as they deserved. One such album is the underrated Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Released on 25th September, 2007, it is the U.S. band’s sixth studio album. With some incredible drumming and backing vocals from Taylor Hawkins, this is not only an album reserved for Foo fans. I am not a big fan of the band, yet I really like Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace and feel more people should hear it. It is unfortunate that some people and reviewers wrote off the album or did not score it high. There were some positive reviews for a fascinating and varied album. This is what NME observed in their review:

“There’s a genuinely heartwarming story about the genesis of ‘The Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners’, too – a gentle, spiraling instrumental acoustic interlude that crops up unexpectedly and apropos of nothing towards the end of the album. It goes something like this: following the tragic collapse of the Beaconsfield mine in Tasmania last May, one of the trapped miners requested an iPod fully stocked with Foos tunes to be lowered down to him to get him through the whole harrowing experience. When he heard of the miner’s request, Grohl, being the doyen of decency that he is, sent the two men a note that read, “Though I’m halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there’s two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for you.” Some rock stars probably would’ve fobbed them off with an autograph. Via fax.

Of the quieter moments, there are two clear standouts: ‘Statues’ sounds very much like Grohl’s paean to his newfound domestic bliss (“We’re just ordinary people, you and me/Time will turn us into statues/Eventually”). It’s built around cascading piano chords and soaring, country-esque guitar licks that are so gorgeous, they made us weep like a little girl when we drunkenly heard it for the first time. Oh, alright, we weren’t drunk. Meanwhile, the hymn-like ‘Home’ – the album’s closer – begins just as sparsely, only Dave, a solitary piano and his ruminations on wanting to get off the road and back home, before turning into a full-blown, clenched-fist, lighters-aloft anthem. It’s simple stuff, but done incredibly well.

There are take-it-or-leave-it moments, of course; ‘Stranger Things Have Happened’ sounds like a bluesy acoustic afterthought and should’ve been saved for a B-side, while the plodding, aimless stadium-rock-by-numbers of ‘Summer’s End’ is almost as dull and uninspiring as its title. But by and large this is as consistent a record as the Foo Fighters have ever made. Neither as instantaneously radio-friendly as ‘There Is Nothing Left To Lose’ nor as self-absorbed as ‘In Your Honor’, it’s the record the Foo Fighters have always threatened to make. Foo Fighters albums are like a box of Quality Street; everyone has a favourite. This one is ours”.

Featuring two of the Foo Fighters’ best songs, The Pretender and Long Road to Ruin, there are two anthems there. A lot of the deeper cuts are really interesti9ng and worth some time. This is what AllMusic said in a more mixed review:  

“It's not quite right to say that the Foo Fighters only have one sound, but why does it always feel like the group constantly mines the same sonic vein? Even on 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace -- their sixth album and first with producer Gil Norton since their second, 1997's The Colour and the Shape -- the Foos feel familiar, although the group spends some palpable energy weaving together the two sides of their personality that they went out of their way to separate on 2005's In Your Honor, where they divided the set into a disc of electric rockers and a disc of acoustic introspection. Here, the Foos gently slide from side to side, easing from delicate fingerpicked folk (including "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," an instrumental duet between Dave Grohl and guitarist Kaki King) to the surging, muscular hard rockers that have been the group's modern rock radio signature. Echoes never lingers too long in either camp, as it's sequenced with a savvy professionalism that only veteran rockers have. That sense of craft is evident in all the songs, whether it's the subtly sly suite of the opening "The Pretender" -- after a slow build, it crashes into a crushing riff into a chorus, building to a typically insistent chorus before taking a slightly surprising bluesy boogie detour on the bridge -- or the sweet melodic folk-rock "Summer's End," a song as warm and hazy as an August evening.

"Summer's End" is one of the unassailable highlights here, and all the rest of the truly memorable tunes on Echoes share its same, strong melodic bent, particularly "Statues," a wide-open, colorful anthem that feels as if it's been resurrected from a late-'70s AOR playlist. These songs place the melody at the forefront and also have a lighter feel than the rockers, which are now suffering from a dogged sobriety. For whatever reason, Dave Grohl has chosen to funnel all of his humor out of the Foo Fighters' music and into their videos or into his myriad side projects. When Grohl wants to rock for fun, he runs off and forms a metal band like Probot, or he'll tour with Queens of the Stone Age or record with Juliette Lewis. When it comes to his own band, he plays it too straight, as almost every rocker on Echoes -- with the notable exception of "Cheer Up Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)," a song that has a riff as nimble as those on the Foos' debut -- is clenched and closed-off, sounding tight and powerful but falling far short of being invigorating. They sound a little labored, especially when compared to the almost effortlessly engaging melodies of the softer songs, the cuts that feel different than the now overly familiar Foo signature sound. And since those cavernous, accomplished rockers are so towering, they wind up overshadowing everything else on Echoes, which may ultimately be the reason why each Foo Fighters album feels kind of the same: Grohl and his band have grown subtly in other areas, but they haven't pushed the sound that came to define them; they've only recycled it. Since this is a sound that's somber, not frivolous, the Foos can sometimes feel like a bit of a chore if they lean too heavily in one direction -- as they do here, where despite the conscious blend of acoustic and electric tunes, the rockers weigh down Echoes more than they should, enough to make this seem like just another Foo Fighters album instead of the consolidation of strengths that it was intended to be”.

A great album that I think has not been given the ratings and acclaim it warrants, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is one you need to investigate! Featuring some super playing from Taylor Hawkins, and some great songwriting from the band (Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett), go and check out Foo Fighters’…

BRILLIANT sixth studio album.

FEATURE: Paul McCartney at Eighty: Twenty-Three: Tug of War at Forty

FEATURE:

 

 

Paul McCartney at Eighty

Twenty-Three: Tug of War at Forty

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PART of a run of Paul McCartney features…

ahead of his eightieth birthday in June, I am concentrating on some of his solo albums and big anniversaries. I have looked at Flaming Pie and its upcoming twenty-fifth anniversary. I wanted to also look to his third studio album, Tug of War, turning forty. His third studio album, it was his first album released after the dissolution of Wings the previous year. It was also McCartney's first album after the murder (in 1980) of John Lennon. The album was produced by former Beatles producer George Martin. There is a lot to unpick about an album that carries quite a lot of weight. Because of the fact it was released not long after Lennon’s death, one can detect him in most of the songs – McCartney writing about his former close friend. I think Tug of War is an underrated album that definitely requires some reinspection. I think Tug of War contains some of McCartney’s best work. Take It Away, Tug of War and Ebony and Ivory are fantastic tracks. Maybe there are a couple of weaker tracks towards the end of the album, though the album as a whole is very strong! One of his best and most important solo works, I think Here Today is the standout. Written very much with John Lennon in mind, it is one of the most emotional songs McCartney ever composed. Listening to it now, it still affects you; a man talking about someone who he was extremely close to and had a complex relationship with.

I am going to come to a positive review for Tug of War soon enough. Before that, Ultimate Classic Rock discussed how Tug of War followed the break-up of Wings and the reality of John Lennon’s death:

“It was a somewhat trying time for him: Wings, the hit-making band he put together a few years after the Beatles broke up, just called it quits themselves. More significantly, the album's sessions started in October 1980 but were put on hold after the murder of his former bandmate John Lennon two months later.

So McCartney's will to carry on following these two life-shaking events could have resulted in another tossed-off experimental oddity like his previous solo work, 1980's McCartney II, or a worn rehash of what he accomplished with Wings for most of the '70s. Instead, Tug of War turned out to be his best album since 1973's Band on the Run, the one undisputed masterpiece of his post-Beatles career.

It helped that he was working with producer George Martin for the first time since the Beatles' swan song, Abbey Road. Martin knew McCartney better than he knew himself in the studio. McCartney produced (or co-produced, in a couple rare cases) all of his previous solo records and Wings albums, and the finished material often steered all over the place in search of a direction.

Martin was a pro who knew what made McCartney sound good. That included ace musicians to back the star, including jazz bassist Stanley Clarke, Stevie Wonder (who sang Tug of War's No. 1 hit, "Ebony and Ivory," with McCartney, and played various instruments), former Wings bandmate Denny Laine and, for two songs, old Beatles pal Ringo Starr.

McCartney's last album with a band, Wings' 1979 finale Back to the Egg, was messy and unfocused. When he emerged a year later with his second solo record, he was entirely on his own, producing and playing every instrument himself. Tug of War was supposed to be – and, indeed, turned out to be – a rebirth of sorts for McCartney, who lost his way creatively over the previous few years.

Even though Lennon's death was a turbulent blow, when he and Martin regrouped in February 1981 to resume sessions, the mood was light, professional and prolific. For the next several months they hopped continents and studios (mostly recording in the Caribbean and London), picking up guest musicians, along the way.

Two songs were recorded with Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory" and the way funkier "What's That You're Doing"; Starr played drums on another pair, "Take It Away," the album's second single, and "Wanderlust"; and old friends like Laine, Beatles inspiration Carl Perkins and wife Linda showed up throughout.

From the opening title track (a mournful meditation that could be interpreted as commentary on McCartney's splintered relationship with Lennon) to "Ebony and Ivory" (his eighth No. 1 as a solo artist), Tug of War played like an equal balance of his career: good songs, sappy songs, commercially targeted songs and some adventurous songs.

It all paid off with another No. 1 album, his first since 1976's Wings at the Speed of Sound and last until 2018's Egypt Station hurtled McCartney back to the top. The sessions were so productive that several of its leftover songs (which didn't become B-sides) ended up on his next record, the following year's Pipes of Peace.

Tug of War marked the moment where McCartney was at his most Beatlesque since the group's breakup more than a decade earlier – from Martin's shimmering production and Starr's participation to the mix of pop, rock and R&B and the reflective nature of some of the songs. ("Here Today" is a moving eulogy for Lennon.)”.

Even though some in 1982 did mark down Tug of War and felt that it was not up to McCartney’s very best work, I feel a lot were just piling onto him or could not accept anything from him post-Beatles. He did get a lot of stick and negativity after the end of The Beatles in 1970. Retrospective reviews have been kinder and more considered – people concentrating on the quality and breadth of music, rather than writing the album off before they heard it. This is what AllMusic had to say in their review for Tug of War:

“Like 1970's McCartney, 1980's McCartney II functioned as a way for Paul McCartney to clear the decks: to experiment and recalibrate in the aftermath of his band falling apart. This means 1982's Tug of War is, in many ways, the very first Paul McCartney solo album, a record recorded not at home but in a studio, a record made without Wings and not co-credited to Linda, who nevertheless is present as a backing vocalist. McCartney recognized this album as something of a major opportunity, so he revived his relationship with Beatles producer George Martin and brought in several heavy-hitters as guests, including his hero Carl Perkins, his Motown counterpart Stevie Wonder, fusion star Stanley Clarke, prog rock refugees Eric Stewart and Andy Mackay, and his old bandmate Ringo Starr, whose presence was overshadowed by "Here Today," an elegy written for the murdered John Lennon.

 Tucked away at the end of the first side, "Here Today" is bittersweet and small when compared to all the show pieces elbowing each other for attention throughout Tug of War: the grave march of the title track, the vaudevillian "Ballroom Dancing," the stately drama of "Wanderlust," and sincere schmaltz of "Ebony and Ivory," the Wonder duet that helped turn this album into the blockbuster it was intended to be. As good as some of these numbers are -- and they are, bearing an ambition and execution that outstrips latter-day Wings -- much of the charm of Tug of War lies in the excess around the edges, whether it's the rockabilly lark of the Perkins duet "Get It," the later-period Beatles whimsy of '"The Pound Is Sinking," the electro-throwaway "Dress Me Up as a Robber," or the long, electro-funk workout of "What's That You're Doing?," a track that's a fuller collaboration between Paul and Stevie than "Ebony and Ivory." Such crowd-pleasing genre-hopping finds its apotheosis on "Take It Away," a salute to eager performers and the crowds who love them, which means it summarizes not only the appeal of Tug of War in general -- it is, by design, a record that gives the people old Beatle Paul -- but McCartney in general”.

One of Paul McCartney’s essential albums, Tug of War turns forty on 26th April. I think that it has been viewed differently through the years. Maybe it got some flack in 1982 because of some people’s impressions of McCartney. Maybe some were reacting to John Lennon’s 1980 murder and thinking negatively about Paul McCartney. In terms of the material, Tug of War is incredibly strong. Considering the emotions McCartney would have been processing, he released one of his most consistent and enduring albums. I listen to it today, and so many songs pop out. From the Stevie Wonder duet, Ebony and Ivory, through to the devastating Here Today and the underrated The Pound Is Sinking, I wanted to celebrate Tug of War. It sounds amazing and so incredibly strong…

FORTY years later.

FEATURE: Revisiting… Run the Jewels – RTJ4

FEATURE:

 

 

Revisiting…

Run the Jewels – RTJ4

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THIS time out in Revisiting…

I recommend people listen back to one of the best albums of 2020. Sometimes, in this feature, I revisit albums from the past five years that were overlooked. That is not the case with Run the Jewels’ RTJ4. A monumental release from El-P and Killer Mike, I hope that people pick it up. I don’t think radio stations examine and spin the album as much as they should. I am going to finish with a couple of reviews for the album. 2020 was an incredible year for music. Albums from Taylor Swift (folklore), Rina Sawayama (SAWAYAMA), and Dua Lipa (Future Nostalgia) arrived in the first year of the pandemic. It is amazing that such amazing music came out at a very difficult time. There was something potent and important about RTJ4 arriving when it did. The album was released in June 2020, only a month after the murder of George Floyd in the U.S. Such a charged, sensational and essential album, this is one for the ages! I want to source one of a number of interviews Run the Jewels provided to promote RTJ4. COMPLEX spoke with them about, perhaps, their greatest album – one that may well be their last:

“On your website, there’s a message to the fans for RTJ4. It reads: "We never thought that when we were doing the first one that RTJ would become our whole lives and honestly we're so grateful that it did." Can you elaborate on why you posted that message and the sentiment behind it?

Killer Mike: I was just going to say I'm very proud to be defined as a part of two different partnerships. There's my marriage with my wife Shay and there's the marriage that is Run the Jewels.

El-P: Run the Jewels was born out of a moment of us hanging out with our friends and making some music. We really didn't have any idea what it would become. Writing that to our supporters was just us acknowledging how grateful we are, and I think that a lot of people try and present everything that happens to them as like, “Oh yeah my plan worked.” The truth is is that we would be fucking lying if we were saying our plan worked. We didn't have a fucking plan. We just reacted to our friendship, then to the music, and then to the impact the music was having.

I think that me and Mike both sensed there was some greatness in it. There was something that we could do together that I don't think either of us would have pulled off or could possibly pull off on our own. Just know that when you're fucking with us, you're fucking with two guys who are excited that this is even happening still and are grateful for this and therefore grateful for people who let us do it.

You've mentioned the magic that happens with you guys. You guys have made your own exceptional solo work, but something is just different when you two come together. RTJ4 is the clearest evidence of that. What is that?

Killer Mike: Who knows why strawberry lemonade got invented? You know, the shit you get at the The Cheesecake Factory? Who the fuck was sitting around stoned like, “You know what? I need to put strawberry puree in a already fucking classic?" So I have no idea why the magic happens. What I do think and I do give myself credit for this: I recognized we had magic within the first three hours of knowing each other. Within the first three hours, I literally was calling my manager like, "Hey, man, I am Ice Cube who's just found his Bomb Squad.”

I knew El and I were supposed to be making music together. I knew R.A.P. Music was supposed to be produced entirely by him, but when we went on the road and we performed as Run the Jewels, I knew that it was something special and magical and I knew that I didn't have responsibility for knowing why people like strawberry lemonade. It was my responsibility to make sure they kept getting strawberry lemonade. I wanted to make sure that through it all Run the Jewels became the prominent driving force because it allowed me to be as creative as I ever wanted to be.

It allows me to be as creative as a 15-year-old who wants to make a record about angst and what I'm angry about with society just to get it off my chest so I don't implode. At the same time, I get to rap about shooting an old lady or a poodle if they don't meet my demands. There's something very freeing about having a partner to balance yourself with. As a solo artist you get locked into a character. Not that the character isn't you or based on you or who you are. I'm just as much as Killer Mike as I ever was, but Run the Jewels enhances the ability for that to be fully me in a lot of ways. I can be both the Michael that smokes weed and doesn't give a fuck on one record, and the Michael that gives a shit on the next record and no one says, "Oh, he's contradicting himself." They simply say, "What El and Mike managed to do is magic.” I don't know why it's magic, but I do know that it's our job to keep making magic as long as we aspire to.

El-P: Me and Mike are very different people. We have very different ways of getting to our points. We have very different ways of expressing ourselves, but there's this fundamental agreement that we have on a lot of things and we agree on allowing ourselves room to be who we are and no matter what that may be. From being silly and jokey to stupid, serious or sad, there's a safety and an agreement between us that we got each other's backs.

The solo stuff I was doing when I met Mike was important to me, and I'm proud of those records. I think that they had their own voice. That's very different from what I do at Run the Jewels, if you were to ask me what's more fun, I would say getting high and rapping with my friend is a lot more fucking fun. Inspiration has to come out of fun, and when you get that you don't want to turn away. Sometimes it's not fun, but even when the hard moments come it just means that we are actually humans and that we're voices that are constantly trying to learn how to work with each other. The result of that shit is something that neither of us can replicate on our own. It's just the truth.

There was chatter about this being the last RTJ album, but you’re both saying there’s too much fun being had to stop now. What does that fun look like?

El-P: Yeah, it was really weird, motherfuckers started being like, "Will Run the Jewels continue?" It's like why wouldn't we? It always baffled me. Like do you hear this shit that we're making? This shit's great!

Killer Mike: When you say, "What's your idea of fun?" Walking in a room to a dope-ass, jamming-ass beat with a joint in your hand having to figure out how to make this motherfucker doper so that you aren't so in awe that you just sit there and listen to it. When you walk in a room and El has just laid the most cutthroat, killer verse ever, you're sitting there like, “Oh I got to fucking step up!” That's fun. That's Michael Jordan's pregame. That's Kobe Bryant shooting a hundred shots after the game. When we say fun we're not talking about doing a dilly dally—we're talking about the work, but the work is satisfying”.

The reviews for RTJ4 were overwhelmingly positive. It is an album that is impossible not to be moved and affected by. This is what AllMusic wrote in their review of one of 2020’s best albums:

“Arriving earlier than expected as both a global pandemic and a nationwide movement against police brutality gripped the United States, RTJ4 distills the anger and frustration of the people through Run the Jewels' hard-hitting, no-nonsense revolution anthems. Trim with no filler, this fourth set from the outspoken duo provides relevant history lessons that are more useful than a classroom textbook. Rousing and lyrically dexterous, Killer Mike and El-P deliver their densest collection yet, balancing clever bon mots with tongue-twisting screeds decrying police brutality, systemic racism, class injustice, and a litany of other ills plaguing the nation. RTJ4 rarely strays from the intensely political; when it does, the duo shine with boastful quips and chest-thumping bravado, loosely weaving their "Yankee and the Brave" personas -- alluding to the baseball teams from their respective home bases -- with production that merges old-school hip-hop nostalgia with aggressively sharp contemporary stylings. BOOTS and Dave Sitek return for the very RTJ-titled "Holy Calamafuck," a menacing attack that's bested only by the clattering "Goonies vs. E.T.," which sounds like a Prodigy

Additional guests include 2 Chainz on the breathless "Out of Sight"; DJ Premier and Greg Nice on the "DWYCK"-sampling "Ooh La La"; and Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire on the neon dystopia of "Never Look Back." Meanwhile, an unlikely pair join forces on the swirling "Pulling the Pin," with Josh Homme's ghostly wails and Mavis Staples' pained cries creating an RTJ-meets-...Like Clockwork doomscape that pushes back against a power structure that allows for "filthy criminals...at the pinnacle." On album highlight "JU$T," "poet pugilist" Zack de la Rocha and Pharrell Williams join the fight by contributing popping production and a condensed socio-economic lecture, pulling back the curtain to reveal "murderous chokehold cops still earning a living" and "all these slave masters posing on your dollars." On "Walking in the Snow," Mike, El-P and Gangsta Boo tackle the American school-to-prison pipeline and those "chokehold cops," directly invoking the spirit of Eric Garner -- who was killed by Staten Island police in 2014 as he pleaded, "I can't breathe" -- and unwittingly honoring George Floyd, whose murder under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer prompted protests across the globe and pushed RTJ4's early release. Bringing the past and present full circle, Mike reminds listeners to "never forget in the story of Jesus, the hero was killed by the state." Much like reality, the raw and unflinching RTJ4 is a lot to take in, both a balm for the rage and fuel to keep the fire burning. Although eerily prescient, RTJ4 is less prophetic and more a case of deja vu, addressing the endemic issues of a broken country that sadly continue. This has all happened before and, as El-P laments, this is the "same point in history back to haunt us”.

The final review I want to source is from CLASH. As mentioned, the reaction to RTJ4 was enormously impassioned and positive. I think that the album still sounds as powerful and earth-moving nearly two years later:

 “Back at it like a crack addict, / Mr. Black Magic” announces Killer Mike, kicking off the album with ‘Yankee And The Brave (Ep. 4)’. A two-and-a-half-minute reintroduction to the unmistakable sound of Run The Jewels. From the offset it’s obvious: the boys are back; this is Trump’s America and they aren’t taking it lightly. The drum beat pounds the track with maliciousness as both rappers growl aggressively over the Schwartz brothers and El-P produced beat.

‘RTJ4’ dropped ahead of its expected release date. Pushed forward by the rappers themselves in wake of the recent murder of George Floyd. The early release was announced on social media along with a download link to access the 11-track digital album for free. The message read:

F-ck it, why wait.

The world is infested with bullshit so here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all. We hope it brings you some joy. Stay safe and hopeful out there and thank you for giving 2 friends the chance to be heard and do what they love.

Run The Jewels is a legendary combination of two highly skilled MCs. Atlanta, Georgia’s Killer Mike and Brooklyn, New York’s El-P, who also produces RTJ cuts. Both are veterans of the rap game. Separately, they are masters of wordplay. Together they are a hip-hop supergroup. This, their consecutively titled fourth album, is a welcome return for the duo. Featuring appearances by 2 Chainz, Pharrell Williams, Zack De La Rocha, Greg Nice, DJ Premier, Mavis Staples and Josh Homme. Those wanting a physical copy will have to wait until September.

‘Ooh La La’ sets the scene for us. Featuring renowned producer and one half of Gang Starr, DJ Premier, and Greg Nice of late 80s rap group Nice & Smooth. Introducing the video with the text “One day the long fought battle between humanity and the forces of greed and division will end, and on that day, finally free, we will throw a motherf-ing party...” the visuals feature the artists in the midst of a crowd of revellers who are dumping bags of money and credit cards onto a street bonfire before setting them alight.

Indeed, El-P spits fire behind the literal flames: “I used to be a munchkin / Wasn’t ‘posed to be nothin’ / Ya’ll f-ckers corrupted / Or up to somethin’ disgustin...” The boom-bap is strong in this one and it was hard not to feel the energy within.

2 Chainz joins the party in Out of Sight. As Mike and EL playfully exchange rhymes back and forth over a sample of Foster Sylvers’ ‘Misdemeanor’, co-produced by Little Shalimar and Wilder Zoby. I sense echoes of Run-DMC throughout the first verse. Was that a subtle sample of The Sugarhill Gang’s version of ‘Apache’, I could hear buried in there?

‘RTJ4’ gets darker as it progresses. Holy Calamaf-ck strikes hard with the ragga dancehall inspired beat as EL-P boasts: “I’m the decider / You evil eyers / A pile driver provider for liars / The sleep depriver...” before the beat switches as the New Yorker continues: “Ayo, one for mayhem / Two for mischief / Now aim for the drones in your zoning district / Hindenburg ‘em, / get ‘em / burn ‘em / Can’t give the ghost up / No resistance.” The contrasting styles of the rappers are apparent here, with Mike’s southern drawl holding steady against EL’s flow, not too dissimilar from late fellow New Yorker, Big Pun.

‘Walking In The Snow’, the album’s sixth track features a guest appearance by one time Three 6 Mafia member Gangsta Boo. The beat is heavy and the lyrics are eerily all too close for comfort as Mike takes us back to the 2014 death of Eric Garner at the hands of the police: “And every day on evening news, they feed you fear for free / And you so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me / And 'til my voice goes from a shriek to whisper / ‘I can't breathe’ / And you sit there in the house on couch and watch it on TV / The most you give's a Twitter rant and call it a tragedy.” Such lyrics are hard to listen to, especially in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officer.

‘RTJ4’ is a must listen. It is diverse enough to appeal to even the hardest crowds. Many genres are represented here, but lyrical hip-hop is at the forefront of all that Run The Jewels is. They stand out from the crowd, whilst invoking the people to stand up for themselves. There is not a bad song on the entire album and the production and features are second to none. I kept rewinding the tracks, not just from a reviewer’s perspective, but to hear the how well combined Mike and El-P are.

As the album’s finale builds up with a saxophone crescendo, the track fades out before we are once again introduced to the mock TV show Yankee And The Brave. As I pressed play once more on the album, I realised I cannot wait to hear what Run The Jewels 5 will bring”.

An album that will rank alongside the best of this decade when we look back years from now, Run the Jewels’ RTJ4, let’s hope, is not their last! One of the most powerful albums I have heard, maybe its songs are not played and discussed as much today as they were back in 2020. Let’s hope that this changes…

VERY soon.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Latto

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Latto

___________

ONE of the most amazing and compelling…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Scrill Davis for Inked

artists coming through is Latto. Although she has been releasing music a while, I feel 2022 is a breakthrough year. With her new album, 777, out in the world (it came out on 25th March), this is an artist that everyone needs to know about. I will finish off with a review of 777. I want to start with a bit of background on Latto. I want to get to some interviews soon. First, from her website, here is what you need to know about Latto:

“Raised in Atlanta, GA, 22-year-old rising rapper Latto has been making a name for herself since she was 10 years old. The Rap Game Season One winner has continually released music since 2016 and signed with RCA Records in 2020. In June 2019, Latto released her EP Big Latto, which included her breakout-hit song “Bitch From Da Souf.” The December 2019 release of her follow-up project, Hit The Latto, contained the remix version of the track featuring Saweetie & Trina. The accompanying video has been viewed nearly 82 million times. Combined, both versions of “Bitch From Da Souf” have over 200 million streams on Spotify and Apple alone. Prior to the aforementioned, her impressive catalog of music includes Miss Mulatto (2016), Latto Let ‘Em Know (2017) and Mulatto (2018).

Latto has proven that her pen game, replete with witty and raw verses, is unmatched. The “Bitch From Da Souf (Remix)” went RIAA-certified Platinum, making Latto the first solo female rapper from Atlanta to accomplish this feat. The 22-year-old was also one of only two women inducted into the XXL 2020 Freshman Class, earning her another major milestone in her burgeoning career. In August 2020, Latto released her major label debut project Queen of Da Souf, and later that year released the extended version of the project. Combined, both versions garnered over 300 million streams worldwide and had multiple standout tracks including “In n Out” feat. City Girls, “Sex Lies” featuring Lil Baby, and the now RIAA-certified Gold track “Muwop” feat. Gucci Mane. In addition to her own music, Latto has been inescapable; from her cameo in Cardi B’s iconic “WAP” video featuring Megan Thee Stallion, to countless features including Chris Brown & Young Thug’s “Go Crazy (Remix)” with Future and Lil Durk, Chloe& Halle’s “Do It” (Remix) with Doja Cat and City Girls, NLE Choppa’s “Make Em Say”and Hitmaka’s “Thot Box (Remix),”she’s proven that Big Latto is bigger and better than ever before”.

Such a young artist showing such ability, confidence and promise, I think Latto is going to be a rapping icon! Someone who inspires the next wave. An impassioned and hugely talented artist, I was keen to know more about her earlier life. This recent UPROXX interview gives us some background regarding her build-up to acclaim and success:

“Growing up in Atlanta, Alyssa Michelle Stephens was pushed into rap early after showing both interest and impressive aptitude for the craft. Dubbed Miss Mulatto for her mixed heritage (her father is Black, while her mom is white), she quickly developed as an artist thanks to a near relentless schedule that found her learning multiple facets of entertainment from as young as eight years old, including rapping, DJing, promoting events, and even hosting a podcast, resulting in practiced ease in dealing with media – as well as an advantage over the competition when she appeared on the Lifetime reality show, The Rap Game, at just 16 years old.

Hosted by So So Def founder and veteran hip-hop hitmaker Jermaine Dupri, the show offered the polished teen what some would call the opportunity of a lifetime when she won the inaugural season — an opportunity she eventually turned down. In our prior interview ahead of the release of Queen Of Da Souf, Latto explained why she left the deal on the table in favor of a strenuous independent grind. “It wasn't something that I was comfortable doing yet,” she admitted. “I was 16 when we filmed the show, I was 17 by the time it aired and I was offered the contract. I'm a baby at 17. I don't want to get myself into no record deal to where I don't even fully understand the terms, or be locked down for years to come, and I was fresh off of a hit television show. So I didn't even get to see the outcome of the show and receive other offers.”

That gamble paid off. After dropping the “Miss” from her nom de plume and releasing a string of mixtapes throughout her teens, she got her big break — and laid the groundwork for her future name change — after releasing the EP Big Latto, which contained her first charting hit, “Bitch From Da Souf.” Released in January that year, the track peaked at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, spawning a well-received remix featuring the original Southern rap queen Trina and pop-rap upstart Saweetie. It also led to her major deal with RCA Records and placement on XXL’s 2020 Freshman Class just weeks before the release of her debut album. The album reached No. 44 on the Billboard 200, solidifying her status and justifying her boldness in holding off on signing at 16.

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing; as she received greater acclaim, she also garnered more intense scrutiny for her rap name. After all, in today’s increasingly socially conscious landscape, there was simply too much room to misinterpret the reference — both deliberate and inadvertent — even despite her insistence that her name was meant only to pay homage to her parents, reclaiming an insult that had been levied against her as a child. Under intense pressure from fans on social media, she relented, opting to shorten the name to Latto, comparing it to “lotto” or lottery. She even has a tattoo that reads “777,” a jackpot on a slot machine, so the new name works. And she freely admits that the old name was never the best and attributes the delay in changing it to the vagaries of business.

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Donaghy  

“I did not name myself originally Miss Mulatto,” she recalls. “I was eight years old. So, how could an eight-year-old even name themself that? But as my career blossomed and continued to develop, I feel like those things were brought to my attention. And as I'm getting older, I'm having my own train of thought, I'm having my own perspective and opinions and morals and values. So I feel like, my name just didn't align with those so that's when I changed my name…. I think people need to give me more credit for even being open-minded to changing it because it's a lot of different factors that went into changing it. I got the label involved. I got management. I got lawyers.” Now that the name controversy is behind her, though, she’s set about the business of building her new brand, with her new sound, while sticking to that deeply ingrained philosophy of remaining true to herself.

Latto’s been outspoken about the competition among women in the field before, as well as questioning the higher standards to which women are held in the first place — especially compared to men who rap. “Don't get me started on that because I'll go all day,” she winds up when the subject is broached. “They criticize us so hard, but these boys get up there with they shirt off grabbing they nuts and jump up and down and they the hottest thing ever. We got to be four hours in glam. Make sure your nails match your outfit, your hair, makeup everything matches. And don't sound out of breath. Make sure you have choreography. And then we doing it in heels!”

Speaking of glam and heels, back at the shoot, I catch up with Latto’s sister Brooklyn as Latto changes into a new ensemble consisting of a Marni coat, Ottol Inger pants, and McQueen shoes. Much shier than her sister, Brooke has become something of a fixture at the rapper’s side while on tour and at shoots like this one, faithfully documenting their adventures for TikTok, where once again, that dynamic, down-to-earth personality is on full display.

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Donaghy 

We watch a video that features the siblings playing a common question-and-answer game on the platform. The questions wonder which of the two “got the most whoopings growing up,” prompting both sisters to point emphatically toward Latto. When asked about her sister’s supposed rebellious streak, Brooke explains, “She don’t like being told what to do. She don’t like you to tell her the rules. She just does whatever she wants to do.”

Latto confirms this was the case, even in that early stage that laid the foundation for her later success. “I used to hate it when I was young,” she says. “I used to be like, 'I want to go to the skating rink.' At times, I'd be like, 'Man, my friend having a sleepover on Saturday.' And my daddy would be like, 'You got a show on Saturday. You going to appreciate me for this when you get older.' Now, I understand what he was saying, but I think it just gave me an overall advantage. I'm not scared of the camera.”

That rebellious streak means she’s not afraid of the criticisms or taking risks, as she did with the release of “Big Energy” and its departure from her established sound. It also shines through in the defiance she projected throughout her recent freestyle for the LA Leakers radio show, where she laid the “Beatbox” controversy to rest for good. “How you big can't name a track,” she wondered. “How you big but can't hang a plaque?” Of course, with all that ferocity, it helps to remain anchored, which she has by keeping a little piece of her hometown close at hand”.

A few years from her introduction onto the scene, you can hear and feel this growth in her music. Almost re-establishing and reintroducing herself to the world, COMPLEX interviewed Latto around the release of 777. It has been a busy and exciting past three years for the Atlanta rapper:

“It’s been nearly three years since Latto broke through with her anthem “Bitch from da Souf,” and a lot has changed since then. In March 2020, the Atlanta native signed a deal with RCA Records, before dropping her debut studio album Queen of da Souf, which peaked in the top 50 of the Billboard 200 and included two platinum-certified singles. She also changed her name from Mulatto to Latto, and grew a massive following.

Now, Latto is walking into the release week for her second studio album with a lot more experience and knowledge. “I’m really growing as a woman, and it just reflects in the music,” she says.

Latto’s forthcoming album, 777, will be the first full-length project she’s dropped under her new name, and with it, she says she’s “reintroducing” herself to the world and hoping to make a statement. While she opted for a pop-leaning sound with “Big Energy,” she says the album will showcase her versatility, with all different types of vibes.

“I wanted to solidify myself and where I fit in the industry,” she tells Complex. “This is just the first introduction. ‘Big Energy’ is the pop sound from this project. I got an R&B sound.

 I got the rap trap sound. I got some rhythmic stuff that I did with Pharrell, just different swaggy stuff.” The album also includes features from major collaborators like Lil Wayne, 21 Savage, Childish Gambino, and more.

Ahead of Latto’s album release, she revealed that an artist featured on her album made it difficult to clear the collaboration when she denied their advances. Her comments shed light on what women in the music industry are constantly faced with. “People have always told us, ‘It’s better not to speak on that,’ or we’re burning bridges or we’re problematic if we do,” she explains. “But it really shouldn’t be how the game is.” Latto did not explicitly name the artist, noting, “It is something that you just got to tread lightly on when you do speak on those subjects, because sometimes people get invested for the drama of the situation rather than the fact that female rappers are being silenced in the industry and bullied behind closed doors.”

Latto is confident about where she is at in her career and what fans will hear on her new album. She declares herself the “female face for Atlanta,” and suggests 777 will further stamp her name in the history books. Complex spoke with Latto about making the album, navigating the music industry as a woman, and more. The interview, lightly edited for clarity, is below.

It’s been two years since you released Queen of da Souf. How have you grown as an artist over that time? 
I tried more things. I’m really growing as a woman, and it just reflects in the music. I have new experiences as a woman to talk about. And being an artist, I’m going to naturally talk about my experiences growing up and becoming a woman. So it shows my evolution in life through music. 

Did you feel any pressure going into this music cycle? 

Yes, for sure. I think after “Big Energy” and its success, I knew how many eyes I had on me—new eyes at that. A new audience tuned in, and I feel like this album is my chance to reel them in as fans.

What was your biggest goal going into this album cycle? 

I really wanted to solidify my place in this industry. I wanted to get my bars off and let people know that I do songs like “Big Energy” and showcase my versatility, but let them know where the passion started in the first place. And that was rapping—just getting the bars off, no hook freestyles. So I’m definitely rapping my ass off and showcasing the versatility at the same time.

What separates you from other artists? 

I’m a female face for Atlanta and that’s never been done before on a mainstream massive scale. That alone is my lane. And then, my Southern open flow with the bars, that separates me. And my authenticity. I don’t put too much thought into anything. I really just be myself.

What does the album title 777 personally mean to you? 

Seven is God’s number, so it just started with that. From a younger age, seven has always been my favorite number. And then triple—it triumphs 666, or overcomes 666. It became a part of my brand when I changed my name to Latto in reference to the lottery and casino, hitting the jackpot is 777. But it already had a meaning to me. It just somehow aligned with my career”.

I will end with a  review of 777. Receiving a lot of praise, it is an album that you need to get involved with! This is NME’s take on the incredible 777:

“I’m from the Southside / Bougie bitches and dope boys,” the artist born Alyssa Stephens raps on last year’s single ‘Soufside’, emphasising the distance she’s travelled as a Platinum-certified star who has overcome stinging controversy and the music industry’s glass ceiling to become one of the most exciting rappers in the world. And with album two, Georgia-raised Latto peels back the layers of her larger-than-life persona.

It’s a record that meets Stephens on the other side of criticism that has dogged her since she introduced her unintentionally offensive former moniker, Mulatto, as an eventual winner of reality show The Rap Game in 2016. Last year, she told NME: “The negative definition of Mulatto might have been holding me back.” She explained that her then-new abbreviation meant “lottery” and that she hoped it would “be forthcoming of good fortune – financially, spiritually, emotionally”. On the hard-boiled ‘Trust No Bitch’, the 23-year-old puts it more boldly: “Big Latto – short for lottery / So ‘fuck I look like losing?”. No wonder this album’s title references the jackpot on a slot machine.

For the most part, the mood is fittingly buoyant, the album’s trappy percussion variously slathered in blaring horns, crisp acoustic guitar and – in the case of the 21 Savage-featuring ‘Wheelie’ – a buzzing syntheziser that would put a swagger in Mario’s 8-bit step. Perhaps inevitably, the feel-good highpoint arrives in the form of the mega-hit (almost 64 million Spotify streams and counting) ‘Big Energy’, a dumb, fun summer anthem wrapped up in a squelchy sample of ‘80s new-wavers Tom Tom Club’s ‘Genius of Love’.

Away from the Billboard chart-bothering singles, however, Stephens dials down the braggadocio and dials up the introspection. If there was a criticism of her 2020 debut ‘Queen of Da Souf’, it was that the “rich bitch shit” (as she defined her lyrical preoccupations on the clenched ‘He Say She Say’) and steely production could seem a little one-note. With this second round, Latto is utterly compelling when she slows things down.

Take the foe-forgiving Lil Wayne and Childish Gambino collaboration ‘Sunshine’, or the Kodak Black team-up ‘Bussdown’, on which she demands respect: “Got it out the mud without no handouts”. In that NME interview, Stephens insisted it would be “ignorant” not to acknowledge the stigma that female rappers still face, adding: “it’s flat-out in our face every day”. Here is proof, once again, that Latto could go toe-to-toe with the best of ‘em”.

An amazing artist who will keep growing and getting stronger, Latto is someone who needs to be on everybody’s radar! Go and follow her (all the links are below) and check out her music. There is no doubt that you will continue to put out incredible music…

FOR many years more.

______________

Follow Latto

Official:

https://www.biglatto.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/latto777/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Latto

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQ6wJbGwbF9Wmvp5HfT7Pg

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BigLatto/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3MdXrJWsbVzdn6fe5JYkSQ

FEATURE: Spotlight: Alex Amor

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Alex Amor

__________

AN artist I would love to interview one day…

Alex Amor is a stunning talent who is going to be among our very best artists. Her Love Language E.P, released last year, is tremendous. I predict that, as she releases more E.P.s and an album, we will see her tour the world and hook up with some of the biggest artists of the time. It would be reductive to label Amor’s music simply as Pop. Although there is an accessibility and spirit to the music that lifts you up, she is an artist who has so much depth and variety. There are a lot of terrific artists rising and coming through right now. The Glasgow-raised, London-based artist is one of the strongest and most promising I have heard in a very long time. I am doing things a little roundabout. Before coming to a few interviews – where we can discover more about the wonderful Alex Amor -, there was a lot of love (rightfully so!) for her E.P., Love Language. SNACK provided their impressions on a remarkable E.P. that stands up to repeated listens:

“Perfectly produced with swagger and sincerity to match, Alex Amor’s Love Language is an ode to the romantic tribulations of youth. Amor, who is 23 and from Glasgow, worked alongside Derbyshire-based DJ Karma Kid to craft this ethereal and majestic piece of alt-pop.

Love Language explores the progression of relationships, from their blissful beginnings to their fractious ends – it’s as relatable as it is playful. The EP’s title track – a reference to Gary Chapman’s book The Five Love Languages, which discusses how humans can show affection in relationships – sees Amor dissect her own failed romance through a series of light-hearted juxtapositions. It is fun and familiar, but with an RnB twist; a style which clearly comes naturally as a result of Amor’s background in poetry, as does her love for the syncopation of rap.

The coming-of-age narrative which predominates on Love Language relates as much to Amor herself as it does her relationships with others. ‘I am a woman struggling for autonomy’, she states. ‘I’m moving into adulthood and desperately trying to make sense of its complexities’.

This inner struggle is particularly apparent on ‘Motion’. Great care is taken to ensure that the instrumentation is kept minimal so as not to overwhelm the delicate lyric. ‘It’s me who got it wrong / I don’t know when to let things go’, Amor laments, before coming to terms with her situation. It’s not all doom and gloom.

Amor expresses personal experiences and feelings using her songs as vehicles of connection. It’s almost uncanny for someone so young. She says: ‘I am speaking directly to people from the heart. There’s an overarching theme of positivity in my music, the idea that it’s okay if things aren’t okay but there’s always hope that things will get better’. This sentiment extends far beyond the literal subject matter of Love Language and appeals to the more general human condition: we want to be loved, we want to be reassured, and we want to be excited. It’s safe to say Alex Amor is capable of creating moods where the listener is free to feel all three.

Love Language, much like a fleeting adolescent romance, is short but oh so sweet. It packs in everything from effect-laden soundscapes to sparse, airy ballads, and even includes some contextual swearing for good measure. At times it feels a little like poetry set to music, but this and its conversational feel are also what makes it fresh.

In an international pop world brimming with opulent, exclusionary, bourgeoise bluster, Alex Amor is speaking an engaging and honest modern language”.

Even though she is young and making her first statements, the promising is definitely there. Launching into the music world at a time when the pandemic was gripping, I am not sure what Alex Amor would have thought about the future and whether her music would get the audience it deserves! It must have been strange and stressful releasing an E.P. during the pandemic. Though things are not over. Gigs are returning, and she is able to get her music to the masses. Her fanbase online is growing. Whilst most of her following is on Instagram, her Twitter numbers are growing. If you have not followed Alex Amor, go and do so! It is worth getting some background and information about a wonderful artist. NOTION chatted with Amor in December 2020. We learn about some of her first musical loves and experiences:

“23-year-old Glaswegian newcomer Alex Amor has only released three songs to date and she’s already secured a spot at next year’s Great Escape Festival.

Debut single “The Part With Each Other”, an airy, harmonised alt-pop number about the first flush of romance, only dropped this year, and was then followed up by “Prove Me Right”, a more cynical number about modern dating. Now, Alex has shared her new single “Motion”, another tune reflecting on her life’s experiences, wrapped up in a foot-tapping beat.

All three songs will be featured on Alex’s upcoming debut EP, ‘Love Language’, set for release in January next year.

Produced with Karma Kid, the EP documents the highs and lows of a relationship as it progresses from the first youthful infatuation to the inevitable demise. “This EP reflects a recent time of my life where I am a woman struggling for autonomy. I’m moving into adulthood and I’m desperately trying to make sense of its complexities. Though there’s no happy resolve at the end of the EP, I feel more self-assured than ever, more me than

I’ve ever been”, Alex said of the project.

PHOTO CREDIT: James O'Donohoe 

First song you wrote?

I reckon I was around 11 when the songwriting curiosity kicked in. The first song I wrote, I never actually wrote down because the lyrics changed every time I sang it. It was called ‘Take me on a Trip’ and the highlight of the song’s short life span was performing it at my annual flute camp, at the end of the week talent show.

First CD you owned?

I can quite vividly remember pressing play on my baby pink CD player and rocking out to “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne. ‘Folklore’ by Nelly Furtado was the first CD I bought with pocket money.

First time you were starstruck?

The closest I’ve been to being starstruck was when I saw Lana Del Rey live in concert when I was 15. There was a full orchestra and the whole concert felt quite otherworldly, as did she

First time you wanted to give up?

I guess I’ve never really given up. I did stop taking music as seriously when I went to university to study textile design. I tried to do the whole normal life thing but it didn’t last long. Music was always there in the back of my mind even when I wasn’t doing it. I got a lot of life experience during those years that I still take inspiration from to this day so I don’t regret it at all. When I started fully committing to pursuing music, that was when things started to align”.

There are a couple of other interviews that I want to explore before wrapping up. I love the fact Alex Amor set up a studio in a cupboard under the stairs at her parents’ house in 2018. She spent two months in creative self-isolation and used technology to work remotely with producers. That determination and focus is paying off. Such a memorable talent with a very long future ahead, there are albums and artists that inspire her. When she spoke with Beats Per Minute in 2021, Amor discussed some records that are important to her. I have chosen a couple of them as a highlight:

“Scottish indie-pop artist Alex Amor releases her debut EP Love Language today; a five-track set that shows a surprisingly defined musical personality and bravery for someone on their first body of music. Diving headlong into emotional entanglements, dating disappointments and intimate trails of thought, Amor makes a captivating and amusing singer and lyricist. Aided by simply stylish production, Love Language heralds an artist who should be slipping her way into many people’s playlists this year.

Of course, we wanted to know about her influences, those songwriters who’ve helped guide her path to this point. In her On Deck, Amor tells us about four particularly luminary artists that have helped her escape, provoked new ideas and, ultimately, been there for her when she needed them.

Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae

[Capitol; 2006]

One of my favourite albums from childhood is Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled album. The songwriting on every song is nothing short of exquisite. I remember as a young girl getting lost in her world of calming vocals and raw production that perfectly complimented the music. It’s an album that pushes your emotions to either end of the scale – there’s moments of elation and then times of desperate longing and melancholy like on “Choux Pastry Heart”. I was 10 when I heard this record, daydreaming of what it was like to fall for a boy and perplexed at the emotional rollercoaster that is love.

Kali Uchis – Isolation

[Rinse/Virgin EMI; 2018]

Isolation is one of my favourite albums of the past five years. Kali Uchis has a way of shape shifting genres on every track yet manages to sound entirely like herself. I love artists that merge old with new and Uchis does just that. The track “After The Storm” seems to fit the current feeling of the moment too. Her feel good futuristic nostalgia is at its best on this track, where she motivates us not to give up even though “we’ve been struggling endless days.” Her unapologetic self love is infectious too, which is a thread throughout all of her music”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Elsie Matilda

I will round off with an interview from LOCK. Although the last couple of years have not been ideal in terms of venues open and restrictions, Alex Amor’s music has got out there and connected with a lot of people. She is definitely one of the names to watch closely this year. Among the live dates she has coming up, she will play Brighton’s The Great Escape. When she spoke with LOCK late last year, she was asked where that amazing sound comes from:

“You’ve recently shared your new double single project “Summer Is Sweet With You”, can you tell us more about the project?

The project came from a genuine place during the pandemic. I was finding freedom in a relationship when it felt like the whole world was literally locked down. I’m not really the type of person to throw caution to the wind, but sometimes you just have to say ‘fuck it’ and go with your intuition, do something drastic and ride the rollercoaster. The music has an uplifting feeling to it and a sense of possibility, which is ultimately what I wanted to convey with this project.

Really loving your hazy indie-pop sound, where do you draw the most inspiration from?

I listen to a lot of dream pop bands from the west coast and Canada like Men I Trust,  Alvvays, Wild Nothing and Beach Fossils. There’s a sense of warmth in the music I’m inspired by, that puts your mind at ease. I’m naturally quite an anxious person, so I like music to calm my nervous system down. My producer for the ‘Summer is Sweet with You’ singles owns a lot of analog gear, which was so much fun to experiment with over the past year. I’ve wanted to experiment with synths for such a long time and I’m finally managing to translate the sounds I hear in my head into the music.

What does your creative process look like?

Recently I’ve been inspired by movies. There’s something about listening to a monologue at a pivotal scene that always makes me want to write afterwards. Yesterday I wrote a poem after watching ‘IT: Chapter 2’. It’s about how us humans seem to always forget the good memories while we never seem to be able to get rid of the bad ones. It’s hard to let go of things that hurt us in the past but it’s so easy to forget all the great things that have happened to us. So yeah, I’ll probably bring that poem into a session and make a song out of it. If I’m lucky, I’ll pick the right chords for the song, and improvise the right melodies to go with the lyrics. That would be a good day in the studio!”.

I know that Alex Amor is going to go a very long way. The more she performs and with every song, here is someone who is standing out from the crowd! At a time when so many artists are emerging, I don’t think there is anyone quite like Amor. It will be fascinating to see how her career develops and blossoms through the next few years. I wonder when her debut album will come out. With an impressive string of singles already out there, small wonder so many people are buzzing about her music! Go and check out the brilliant Alex Amor. She is a young artist who is…

A mighty talent.

_____________

Follow Alex Amor

Official:

https://alexamor.world/

Instagram:

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FEATURE: Hills, Hounds and Skies: Ranking Kate Bush’s Albums: The Best Opening Three Songs

FEATURE:

 

 

Hills, Hounds and Skies

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush shot in 1979 by Gered Mankowitz 

Ranking Kate Bush’s Albums: The Best Opening Three Songs

__________

ALTHOUGH I have already…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2011 in a promotional photo depicting 50 Words for Snow’s Misty

ranked Kate Bush’s album tracks (the best opening and closing tracks. In addition to the best side one ender), I have looked through the archives and I cannot find a feature where I have ranked the albums in terms of the best opening three tracks. The reason I want to focus on this is because, according to many, the first three tracks are the most important. Scoring a great one-two-three hooks you in and announces a damn fine album! Bush’s opening and closing tracks are always excellent, but which of her ten studio albums has the finest opening trio of songs? Actually, I will omit Director’s Cut (2011) as, essentially, it as reworking of tracks from The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993), so I think the results will be predictable enough – and it is an album that I think stands on its own because of its unique place in her catalogue. In terms of the remaining nine albums, here are my rankings as to which…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985 in an on-set promotional photo for the Running Up That Hill (from Hounds of Love) music video alongside dancer Michael Hervieu/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

HAVE the best opening three songs.

_____________

9. Aerial

Release Date: 7th November, 2005

Label: EMI

Producer: Kate Bush

Opening Three Tracks: King of the Mountain/Pi/Bertie

Review:

“Domestic contentment runs through Aerial's 90-minute duration. Recent Bush albums have been filled with songs in which the extraordinary happened: people snogged Hitler, or were arrested for building machines that controlled the weather. Aerial, however, is packed with songs that make commonplace events sound extraordinary. It calls upon Renaissance musicians to serenade her son. Viols are bowed, arcane stringed instruments plucked, Bush sings beatifically of smiles and kisses and "luvv-er-ly Bertie". You can't help feeling that this song is going to cause a lot of door slamming and shouts of "oh-God-mum-you're-so-embarrassing" when Bertie reaches the less luvv-er-ly age of 15, but it's still delightful.

The second CD is devoted to a concept piece called A Sky of Honey in which virtually nothing happens, albeit very beautifully, with delicious string arrangements, hymnal piano chords, joyous choruses and bursts of flamenco guitar: the sun comes up, birds sing, Bush watches a pavement artist at work, it rains, Bush has a moonlight swim and watches the sun come up again. The pavement artist is played by Rolf Harris. This casting demonstrates Bush's admirable disregard for accepted notions of cool, but it's tough on anyone who grew up watching him daubing away on Rolf's Cartoon Club. "A little bit lighter there, maybe with some accents," he mutters. You keep expecting him to ask if you can guess what it is yet.

Domestic contentment even gets into the staple Bush topic of sex. Ever since her debut, The Kick Inside, with its lyrics about incest and "sticky love", Bush has given good filth: striking, often disturbing songs that, excitingly, suggest a wildly inventive approach to having it off. Here, on the lovely and moving piano ballad Mrs Bartolozzi, she turns watching a washing machine into a thing of quivering erotic wonder. "My blouse wrapping around your trousers," she sings. "Oh, and the waves are going out/ my skirt floating up around my waist." Laundry day in the Bush household must be an absolute hoot.

Aerial sounds like an album made in isolation. On the down side, that means some of it seems dated. You can't help feeling she might have thought twice about the lumpy funk of Joanni and the preponderance of fretless bass if she got out a bit more. But, on the plus side, it also means Aerial is literally incomparable. You catch a faint whiff of Pink Floyd and her old mentor Dave Gilmour on the title track, but otherwise it sounds like nothing other than Bush's own back catalogue. It is filled with things only Kate Bush would do. Some of them you rather wish she wouldn't, including imitating bird calls and doing funny voices: King of the Mountain features a passable impersonation of its subject, Elvis, which is at least less disastrous than the strewth-cobber Aussie accent she adopted on 1982's The Dreaming. But then, daring to walk the line between the sublime and the demented is the point of Kate Bush's entire oeuvre. On Aerial she achieves far, far more of the former than the latter. When she does, there is nothing you can do but willingly succumb” – The Guardian

8. The Red Shoes

Release Date: 2nd November, 1993

Label: EMI

Producer: Kate Bush

Opening Three Tracks: Rubberband Girl/And So Is Love/Eat the Music

Review:

“The album is a continuation of Bush's multi-layered and multiple musical pursuits and interests. If not her strongest work -- a number of songs sound okay without being particularly stellar, especially given Bush's past heights -- Red Shoes is still an enjoyable listen with a number of diversions. The guest performer list is worthy of note alone, ranging from Procol Harum pianist Gary Brooker and Eric Clapton to Prince, but this is very much a Kate Bush album straight up as opposed to a collaborative work like, say, Santana's Supernatural. Opening song "Rubberband Girl" is actually one of her strongest singles in years, a big and punchy song served well with a horn section, though slightly let down by the stiff percussion. "Eat the Music," another smart choice for a single, mixes calypso and other Caribbean musical touches with a great, classically Bush lyric mixing up sexuality, romance, and various earthy food-based metaphors. Another highlight of Bush's frank embrace of the lustier side of life is "The Song of Solomon," a celebratory piece about the Bible's openly erotic piece. Those who prefer her predominantly piano and vocal pieces will enjoy "Moments of Pleasure" with a strong string arrangement courtesy of Michael Kamen. Other standouts include "Why Should I Love You?" with Prince creating a very Prince-like arrangement and backing chorus for Bush (and doing quite well at that) and the concluding "You're the One," featuring Brooker” – AllMusic

7. The Sensual World

Release Date: 16th October, 1989

Label: EMI

Producer: Kate Bush

Opening Three Tracks: The Sensual World/Love and Anger/The Fog

Review:

“It’s more fanciful than most of The Sensual World’s little secrets. To hear someone recall formative childhood truths (the lush grandeur of “Reaching Out”) and lingering romantic pipedreams (the longing of “Never Be Mine”) is like being given a reel of their memory tapes and discovering what makes them tick. On “The Fog,” she’s paralyzed by fear until she remembers the childhood swimming lessons her father gave her, his voice cutting through the misty harps like an old ghost. Relationships on the album can be sticky and thorny. “Between a Man and a Woman” is half-dangerous and half-sultry, its snaking rhythms mirroring the round-in-circles squabbling of a couple. When a third party tries to interfere, they’re told to back off. This time, unlike on “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” there’s no point wishing for a helping hand from God.

But if there are no miracles, there are at least songs that sound like them. For “Rocket’s Tail,” Bush enlisted the help of Trio Bulgarka, who she fell in love with after hearing them on a tape Paddy gave her. The three Bulgarian women didn’t speak English and had no idea what they were singing about, but it didn’t matter. They sound more like mystics during its a capella first half, and when it eventually blows up into a glammy stomper with Dave Gilmour’s electric guitar caterwauling like a Catherine wheel, their vocals still come out on top: cackling like gleeful witches, whooping like they’re watching sparks explode in the night sky. Its weird, wonderful magic offered a simple message: Life is short, so enjoy moments of pleasure before they fizzle out

Perhaps that’s why there are glimmers of hope even in the album’s most desperate circumstances. “Deeper Understanding” is a bleak sci-fi tale about a lonely person who turns to their computer for comfort, and in doing so isolates themselves even more. But while there’s an icy chill to the verses, Trio Bulgarka imbue the computer’s voice with golden warmth. Bush wanted it to sound like the “visitation of angels,” and hearing the chorus is like being wrapped in a celestial hug. She pulls off a similar trick on “This Woman’s Work,” which she wrote for John Hughes’ film She’s Having a Baby, although her vivid, devastating interpretation of its script has taken on a far greater life of its own. It captures a moment of crisis: a man about to be walloped with the sledgehammer of parental responsibilities, frozen by terror as he waits for his pregnant wife outside the delivery room, his brain a messy spiral of regrets and guilty thoughts. Yet Bush softens the song’s building panic attack with soft musical touches so it rushes and swirls like a dream, even as reality becomes a waking nightmare. “It’s the point where has to grow up,” said Bush. “He’d been such a wally.”

She didn’t need to prove her own steeliness to anyone, especially the male journalists who patronized her and harped on her childishness as a way of cutting her down to size. Instead, The Sensual World is the sound of someone deciding for themselves what growing up and grown-up pop should be, without being beholden to anyone else’s tedious definitions. It gave her a new template for the next two decades, inspiring both the smooth, stylish art-rock of 1993’s The Red Shoes and the picturesque beauty of 2005’s Aerial. Like Molly Bloom, Bush had set herself free into a world that wasn’t mundane, but alive with new, fertile possibility” – Pitchfork

6. The Dreaming

Release Date: 13th September, 1982

Label: EMI

Producer: Kate Bush

Opening Three Tracks: Sat in Your Lap/There Goes a Tenner/Pull Out the Pin

Review:

“Four albums into her burgeoning career, Kate Bush's The Dreaming is a theatrical and abstract piece of work, as well as Bush's first effort in the production seat. She throws herself in head first, incorporating various vocal loops, sometimes campy, but always romantic and inquisitive of emotion. She's angry and pensive throughout the entire album, typically poetic while pushing around the notions of a male-dominated world. However, Kate Bush is a daydreamer. Unfortunately, The Dreaming, with all it's intricate mystical beauty, isn't fully embraced compared to her later work. Album opener "Sat in Your Lap" is a frightening slight on individual intellect, with a booming chorus echoing over throbbing percussion and a butchered brass section. "Leave It Open" is goth-like with Bush's dark brooding, which is a suspending scale of vocalic laments, but it's the vivacious and moody "Get Out of My House" that truly brings Bush's many talents for art and music to the forefront. It prances with dripping piano drops and gritty guitar, and the violent rage felt as she screams "Slamming," sparking a fury similar to what Tori Amos later ignited during her inception throughout the '90s. Not one to be in fear of fear, The Dreaming is one of Kate Bush's underrated achievements in depicting her own visions of love, relationships, and role play, not to mention a brilliant predecessor to the charming beauty of 1985's Hounds of Love” – AllMusic

5. The Kick Inside

Release Date: 17th February, 1978

Labels: EMI (U.K.)/Harvest (U.S.)

Producers: Andrew Powell/David Gilmour (co-producer)

Opening Three Tracks: Moving/The Saxophone Song/Strange Phenomena

Review:

“Besides, Bush had always felt that she had male musical urges, drawing distinctions between herself and the female songwriters of the 1960s. “That sort of stuff is sweet and lyrical,” Bush said of Carole King and co. in 1978, “but it doesn’t push it on you, and most male music—not all of it, but the good stuff—really lays it on you. It’s like an interrogation. It really puts you against the wall and that’s what I’d like my music to do. I’d like my music to intrude.” (Evidently, she had not been listening to enough Laura Nyro.) That reasoning underpinned Bush’s first battle with EMI, who wanted to release the romp “James and the Cold Gun” as her first single. Bush knew it had to be the randy metaphysical torch song “Wuthering Heights,” and she was right: It knocked ABBA off the UK No. 1 spot. She soon intruded on British life to the degree that she was subject to unkind TV parodies.

But provocation for its own sake wasn’t Bush’s project. EMI not pushing her to make an album at 15 was a blessing: The Kick Inside arrived the year after punk broke, which Bush knew served her well. “People were waiting for something new to come out—something with feeling,” she said in 1978. For anyone who scoffed at her punk affiliation—given her teenage mentorship at the hands of Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour and her taste for the baroque—she indisputably subverted wanky prog with her explicit desire and sexuality: Here was how she might intrude. The limited presence of women in prog tended to orgasmic moaning that amplified the supposed sexual potency of the group’s playing. Bush demanded pleasure, grew impatient when she had to wait for it, and ignored the issue of male climax—rock’s founding pleasure principle—to focus on how sex might transform her. “I won’t pull away,” she sings almost as a threat on “Feel It,” alone with the piano. “My passion always wins” – Pitchfork

4. Never for Ever

Release Date: 8th September, 1980

Label: EMI

Producers: Kate Bush and Jon Kelly

Opening Three Tracks: Babooshka/Delius/Blow Away

Review:

“You listen to all of these records in sequence and good as The Kick Inside is, it’s just very apparent that the songwriting has gone up a gear with Never Forever. Strident, diverse, and intense Never Forever is the last Bush album with batshit mental prog art, the last album with an outside producer (though she co-produced with Jon Kelly), and the last record before she started using her beloved Fairlight synthesiser/sampler. It was also her third album in three years, that preempted the first meaningful gap in her career - you could point at the ways in which it predicts The Dreaming and call it a transitional album, but the truth is Never for Ever feels like the [apotheosis] of Leotard-era Kate Bush. The songs are just dazzlingly strong and distinctive. There are singles: ‘Babooska’ is a lot of fun, and the closing one-two of the eerie ‘Army Dreamers’ and the apocalyptic ‘Breathing’ is remarkable. But there’s a hell of a lot of little-remembered gold amongst the album tracks: the breakneck ‘Violin’ and tongue-in-cheek murder ballad ‘The Wedding List’ are really extraordinarily good pieces of songwriting. (8)” – Drowned in Sound

3. Hounds of Love

Release Date: 16th September, 1985

Label: EMI

Producer: Kate Bush

Opening Three Tracks: Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)/Hounds of Love/The Big Sky

Review:

“Hello Earth bleeds into The Morning Fog. There has been some disagreement among fans as to whether the narrator survives. The question is whether this is a praise song upon rescue or does the narrator perish and this is a song of rebirth? I lean toward survival and Kate Bush has stated the narrator survives and not to take the lyric, “being born again” literally but figuratively. My conclusion is that the heroine after her harrowing experience has acquired a treasure trove of wisdom and is completely changed i.e. reborn. The song conveys a completely different feeling: the fear, threat, anxiety and madness have given way to ecstasy and joy. This is mirrored by the chimes and sheer beauty of the accompaniment. We and the narrator have travelled through this harrowing ordeal and she has survived. It is an understatement to say the Ninth Wave is completely enveloping and emotionally cathartic.

Hounds of Love delivered a masterpiece for Kate Bush and would guarantee artistic independence for her now long career. This exquisite, idiosyncratic album would pave the way for many female artists to follow. She would singlehandedly create the personage of the enchanting songstress that Bjork, Florence Welsh, Natasha Khan and Catherine Davies to name just a few would emulate. Bush would with “Hounds of Love” deservingly win at the 1986 Brit Awards, Best Album, Best Producer, Best Female Artist and Best Single for Running Up That Hill. Her vision and determination along with her breathtaking musical abilities make her a living legend. The songs off of “Hounds of Love” have had such an enduring potency that 29 years later Bush would return to live performance to present Before the Dawn. Bush would perform all of the songs from Hounds of Love except The Big Sky and Mother Stands for Comfort in front of sell-out crowds. Before the Dawn would dramatically flesh out visually the story of The Ninth Wave. As this retro review goes to press Bush has announced the live recorded release of the Before the Dawn performance. In the end “Hounds of Love” is a masterwork because it is still as fresh and engaging as the first day it was released. Hounds of Love has an unfathomable emotion impact on listeners with a beauty that is breathtaking. It is a true example of an essential album and listening experience” – xz noise

2. Lionheart

Release Date: 13th November, 1978

Label: EMI

Producer: Andrew Powell (assisted by Kate Bush)

Opening Three Tracks: Symphony in Blue/In Search of Peter Pan/Wow

Review:

“One of the funny things about The Before Time when you had to buy music to listen to it is that ropey critical reputations could really put you off ever listing to certain records, even by artists you loved. It took me years to get around to Lionheart. And you know, sure, it’s the weakest Kate Bush record but that doesn’t make it bad. If anything the fact it’s routinely dismissed as a rushed follow up to The Kick Inside means it doesn’t have the pressure to compete with the stronger later records. The luminous ‘Wow’ is obviously the best and most memorable song, but seriously, check out those elaborately layered vocals on opener ‘Symphony in Blue’. The songwriting is a bit hazy compared to the laser-definition of later albums, but musically and texturally it’s a really beautiful record - the only Kate Bush album that is content to be pretty and not ask you to commit to it, and there’s something to be said for that, I think. (7)” – Drowned in Sound

1. 50 Words for Snow

Release Date: 21st November, 2011

Label: Fish People

Producer: Kate Bush

Opening Three Tracks: Snowflake/Lake Tahoe/Misty

Review:

“But in one sense, these peculiarities aren't really that peculiar, given that this is an album by Bush. She has form in releasing Christmas records, thanks to 1980's December Will Be Magic Again, on which she imagined herself falling softly from the sky on a winter's evening. She does it again here on opener Snowflake, although anyone looking for evidence of her artistic development might note that 30 years ago she employed her bug-eyed Heeeath-CLIFF! voice and plonking lyrical references to Bing Crosby and "old St Nicholas up the chimney" to conjure the requisite sense of wonder. Today, she gets there far more successfully using only a gently insistent piano figure, soft flurries of strings and percussion and the voice of her son Bertie.

Meanwhile, Fry's is merely the latest unlikely guest appearance – Bush has previously employed Lenny Henry, Rolf Harris (twice) and the late animal imitator Percy Edwards, the latter to make sheep noises on the title track of 1982's The Dreaming. Equally, Fairweather Low is not the first person called upon to pretend to be someone else on a Bush album, although she usually takes that upon herself, doing impersonations to prove the point: Elvis on Aerial's King of the Mountain, a gorblimey bank robber on There Goes a Tenner. Finally, in song at least, Bush has always displayed a remarkably omnivorous sexual appetite: long before the Yeti and old Snow Balls showed up, her lustful gaze had variously fixed on Adolf Hitler, a baby and Harry Houdini.

No, the really peculiar thing is that 50 Words for Snow is the second album in little over six months from a woman who took six years to make its predecessor and 12 to make the one before that. If it's perhaps stretching it to say you can tell it's been made quickly – no one is ever going to call an album that features Lake Tahoe's operatic duet between a tenor and a counter-tenor a rough-and-ready lo-fi experience – it certainly feels more intuitive than, say, Aerial, on which a lot of time and effort had clearly been expended in the pursuit of effortlessness. For all the subtle beauty of the orchestrations, there's an organic, live feel, the sense of musicians huddled together in a room, not something that's happened on a Bush album before.

That aside, 50 Words for Snow is extraordinary business as usual for Bush, meaning it's packed with the kind of ideas you can't imagine anyone else in rock having. Taking notions that look entirely daft on paper and rendering them into astonishing music is very much Bush's signature move. There's something utterly inscrutable and unknowable about how she does it that has nothing to do with her famous aversion to publicity. Better not to worry, to just listen to an album that, like the weather it celebrates, gets under your skin and into your bones” – The Guardian

FEATURE: Feels Like a Different Thing: Confidence Man’s TILT and the Need for a Dance Revival

FEATURE:

 

 

Feels Like a Different Thing

Confidence Man’s TILT and the Need for a Dance Revival

__________

ALTHOUGH this is a not a review…

of Confidence Man’s new album, TILT, I did want to make it the focal point of this feature. I am going to get to a couple of reviews for TILT. The reason I want to focus on it is because of the nature of the album. Harking back to the big Dance albums of the 1990s, I have not heard too many modern albums like it. Sure, there are Pop albums that are quite energetic and have anthems, though I have bemoaned the lack of Dance music that nods back to the past. Not to say modern examples are weak, yet there isn’t the same sort of innovation and resonance. When it comes to TILT, the Brisbane group (with Janet Planet and Sugar Bones at the centre) are leading a new charge. They spoke with EUPHORIA. about the sound and nature of their second album:

“They say the second album can be a “difficult” one to make. Have you felt his statement to be true?

In the lead-up to the pandemic, we had been touring non stop for like five years. The first album had popped off and we were just kind of riding it. People started asking about the second album and we freaked out cause we were about to go on another big tour and there just wasn’t any time. Then COVID happened. It was a silver lining for us because we all moved in together and suddenly had endless days with literally nothing to do but write. We all went a little crazy at times but overall, we worked our asses off day in day out, found the sweet spot, and didn’t stop until we knew we had something really strong. It all came pretty naturally.

Who and what was the inspiration behind the record, sonically and lyrically?

We just wanted to keep making party tracks to get people moving and feeling good. We also wanted to maintain the message of empowerment while adding some depth and new dimension. Musically we wanted to make it bigger and more expansive. Grace Jones is a massive inspiration for us.

Was there a particular track that was most challenging to create that almost didn’t make the cut?

“Luvin U Is Easy” was a tough one to nail down. We had a breakthrough when we sped it up by 20 bpm, the only problem then was that Janet had to sing this nice cruisey chorus double time. It can really mess with your head when you’ve learnt a song one way then you’ve got to re-learn it all over again in a new format. One year later and we got the perfect take.

“Holiday” is such a big tune and moment on the album and a favorite of mine. What are your favorites and why?

I really love “Relieve the Pressure.” It’s the album closer and encapsulates the entire album. A solid pop body with an extended off-the-wall outro. “Holiday” is also a fave, it just came to us so complete, barely needed anything after conception, a rarity.

What are you hoping listeners will take away from the album once they’ve heard it?

We want them to dance out the door with a swagger in their step, a smile on their face, and love in their hearts.

What is Confidence Man’s main goal for 2022? Is there something you want to achieve before the year is over

Just destroy as many dance floors/minds as possible. Oh, and maybe kiss Bono”.

Confidence Man’s 2018 debut, Confident Music for Confident People, was masterful when it came to humour, colour and these amazing songs that over-spilled with life, wit and character. Maybe a different sort of album to their debut, in Janet Planet, there is this voice and Dance icon that reminds me of the women who sung some of the biggest anthems of the ‘90s. It makes me wonder whether we will get more albums that are like TILT in the coming year. This is what NME had to say in their review:

“Confidence Man’s first record, ‘Confident Music For Confident People’, was a masterclass in hyper-charged, over-the-top pop, fizzing with in-your-face grooves and hilarious lyrics about shit boyfriends, delivered with razor-sharp deadpan by the commanding Janet Planet and her himbo foil Sugar Bones. Live, it was more preposterous still: a chaotic, out of time kaleidoscope of goofy dance moves and LED lights. In other words: a complete blast.

On its follow-up, ‘TILT’, the Brisbane electro-poppers are still anything but subtle. The beats are still blaring, the grooves immediate and direct. Most of the songs are still about partying and fucking. Nevertheless, it’s a decidedly different experience to its predecessor. It’s less silly but more assured, happy to let pumping ’90s-indebted rave instrumentals take centre stage as often as Planet and Bones’ storytelling.

It’s still silly in places, mind. “Living life on the wild side just like a bear / We’re alive – we’re just animals with beautiful hair” Sugar Bones gurns like a third-rate playboy in an unplaceable accent on the deranged ‘What I Like’. Their appropriation of ’90s aesthetics is so full-hearted that they’re unafraid to occasionally drift into full-on Eurodance territory. Yet at other points the group reveal hitherto unheard aspects of their personality. ‘Luvin U Is Easy’ is a tender expression of blossoming love over a smooth Balearic instrumental. The gently psychedelic ‘Holiday’ is bewitching escapism, stripped of irony or overthought”.

I will round off with a few thoughts after another review. AllMusic were among those keen to share their thoughts about the mesmeric TILT:

“Four years after their painfully hip debut, Confident Music for Confident People, Australia's Confidence Man amassed even more of their titular surety, letting their guard down and fully embracing their dance roots on the celebratory Tilt. While the devastating cool of their first album made it feel like trying to get into a club with a high cover charge, Tilt throws the doors open and invites everyone to the party, going full-bore on a collection of '90s house-indebted thrills that uplift listeners to another plane of pure euphoria. Stylish and swaggering, sibling vocalists Janet Planet and Sugar Bones and producers Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie execute like seasoned veterans, recalling 2000s dance-revivalist favorites like Hercules & Love Affair, Scissor Sisters, CSS, and LCD Soundsystem. Naturally, they also dig deeper into their own influences, channeling pre-millennial forebears such as Madonna, Haddaway, CeCe Peniston, Deee-Lite, and Ace of Base. Exuberant cuts like "Feels Like a Different Thing" and "Relieve the Pressure" build to unbearable heights, inspiring rapturous release like a church service on the dance floor. The infectious disco of "What I Like" injects playful horns and cowbell into one of the better gang vocal performances on the set, just as expertly as "Holiday" hypnotizes with synth stabs and swirling atmospherics. Fans of Confidence Man's debut might even feel a surge of nostalgia on the throbbing, defiant "Angry Girl" and "Break It Bought It," a glittering glam throbber fit for runways and ballrooms. The cathartic release is absolutely joyous on this stylish party album, a heaping dose of maximalist escapism from a quartet that just wants you to dance your cares away”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @samar0103/Unsplash

The reception to the album gets me thinking widely about Dance and modern Pop. There are a lot of artists who nod to decades like the 1980s and 1990s, and the sound and result can be quite watered-down or muddled. There are others who do not like genre and, as such, they produce music that is lacking in identity and focus. One of the saddest things about music of the past couple of decade is how we do not hear strong music that could have been in the clubs of the 1990s. Often fronted by women, epic tracks that had incredible choruses and big beats have struck in our heads for decades! I can appreciate how it is hard for artists to show huge enthusiasm and energy at such a draining time. Confidence Man, being based in Australia, are in a glorious landscape and nation that I think it more inspiring then the U.K. or U.S. at the moment. I think they will help to kick a wave of albums that have this energy, campiness, lack of restraint, yet there is depth and layers that keep revealing themselves with every listen. After such a rough couple of years, festivals and gigs are starting to return. TILT is an album that demands a willing and lively audience. Whether you were alive in the 1990s or not, one cannot deny the beauty and power of those songs that made you feel free and unshackled. Everybody's Free (To Feel Good) by Rozalla and The Key, The Secret by Urban Cookie Collective are two classic examples.

Not to say anything from modern Pop is lacking, yet one does not hear fifth gear activated all that often. Maybe some feel that overtness and huge energy risks trampling on personal lyrics or a certain subtleness. There have been some dancefloor fillers released since the pandemic started yet, as Confidence Man have shown throughout TILT, turning the volume up and unleashing these big and neon declarations is so powerful and cathartic! I am not suggesting we all immerse ourselves in nostalgia and want things to be like they were in the past, though there is a dearth of music that grabs you and really gets you moving. As the summer approaches, let’s hope that things are in a better position regarding the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and other things that are depressing us at the moment. I have asked whether we will get a third Summer of Love. The Second Summer of Love happened in 1988-1989, and I think a third one would react to the British Government’s incompetence and a need to come together – though, with the pandemic rising again, maybe that will not be possible. Perfect mood-lifting music is what we need more of. With the likes of Confidence Man putting out albums like TILT, it is really helping. Let’s hope (from them and other artists) there is…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @juantures12/Unsplash

MORE to come!

FEATURE: You're a Bird of Paradise: Duran Duran's Rio at Forty

FEATURE:

 

You're a Bird of Paradise

Duran Duran's Rio at Forty

__________

IT is amazing that an album…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Duran Duran in NYC in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Goldsmith

with Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf and Save a Prayer could ever be seen as forgettable or average! That is how some felt when Duran Duran’s second studio album, Rio, arrived on 10th May, 1982. Still their greatest album, it was recording at AIR in London between January and February 1982. I think a lot of the negative reviews were coming out of America. Rio peaked at number two in the U.K. on the second week of its release. I think Rio still sounds fresh today, and not like an album that can only exist in 1982. Produced by Colin Thurston, there is a freshness and sense of the timeless about it. Ahead of its fortieth anniversary, Rio has got some new attention in the form of a 33 ⅓ series book by Annie Zaleski. It came out last year, and it has introduced a phenomenal album to many who were not aware of it. PopMatters discussed the book around its release:

“It’s easy to dismiss Duran Duran. When they blew up in 1982 and 1983 with their second album, Rio, they were all over MTV in impeccable suits and perfectly coiffed hair. Their music was full of danceable beats streaked with fashionable keyboard riffs. They dominated teenybopper magazines. Girls screamed.

What those who failed to look beyond the superficialities didn’t realize was that Duran Duran — who went their separate ways after Live Aid 1985 — made sophisticated, meticulous, deeply felt music — and continued to do so for decades. Rio may have been their apex, but they were hardly a flash in the pan. What’s more, anyone who dives into Rio will be rewarded many times over with an album that may be an iconic statement of its times but also resonates to this day.

As part of Bloomsbury’s 33 ⅓ series, journalist and critic Annie Zaleski dissects Rio, places it in its proper cultural context, and makes a strong case for its present-day relevance. This is an album released nearly 40 years ago but it still merits repeated listens. Zaleski follows the band from their initial formation in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s by way of a local Birmingham [England] club, the Rum Runner. Bassist John Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes, both rabid fans of glam rock, were looking to form “a cross between Chic and the Sex Pistols.” Eventually, guitarist Andy Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor (none of the three Taylors are related), and vocalist Simon Le Bon were added, and the band was off and running.

Zaleski’s book often underscores the fact that Duran Duran — a band with a relatively fast trajectory — became successful largely due to hard work and talent. While often lumped in with the early ‘80s “New Romantics” such as Spandau Ballet and Human League, they set themselves apart through sheer tenacity and dedication. What’s more, the glitterati style they perfected on Rio (mainly through the iconic music videos) was hard-won. “While recording the album,” Zaleski explains, “the band members weren’t jaded jetsetters, but hopeful dreamers. The cosmopolitan and escapist vibe permeating the Rio LP is aspirational, rooted in sincerity and earnestness.”-

After the modest success of their self-titled 1981 debut album — which includes the singles “Planet Earth” and “Girls on Film” — Duran Duran was hard at work on the follow-up, using the band members’ disparate styles to their advantage. Rhodes’ adventurous, forward-thinking keyboards worked well against Andy Taylor’s more rock-leaning guitar work, and the combination of John Taylor’s fluid bass work and Roger Taylor’s danceable beats made them a unique rhythm section. Le Bon’s occasionally surreal lyrics were the cherry on top.

“We had an open-mindedness with each other musically about anything we created at that time,” Rhodes quotes. “Really, it was a free-for-all. You had to pass the board of everybody else. But if you wanted to try something out, everybody would just step aside and say, ‘Go for it. Let’s see what we get.’” This type of professionalism and easy creativity will likely come as a shock to anyone with the mistaken notion that Duran Duran were a band of models assembled by record company executives looking to profit off their good looks.

While Zaleski chronicles the making of the Rio album in great detail, the book’s longest chapter, “Duran Duran, Video Pioneers”, was inevitable. Musically, Duran Duran may have rock-solid bona fides, but their popularity was aided in part by MTV, which was officially launched between the release of the band’s first and second albums. Duran Duran hooked up with now-legendary music video director Russell Mulcahy and headed off to Sri Lanka in the Spring of 1982 (between the recording and release of Rio) to shoot videos for “Hungry Like the Wolf”, “Save a Prayer”, and the album’s title track. These videos were crucial in helping sell the Rio album, established the band’s cosmopolitan “look”, and aided in the legitimization of music videos as an art form. The making of these music videos also helped bond friendships amongst the band proved their desire to work hard to attain artistic and commercial success”.

As I do with big album anniversaries, I want to bring a combination of features and reviews in. Undoubtedly one of the most prominent and popular albums of the 1980s, Rio is an album where the deep cuts are as excellent and worthwhile as the singles. Albuism revisited the classic on its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2017:

“On May 10th, 1982, Duran Duran released their second long player Rio. Their world―and ours―was irrevocably changed. The sensation that swept the world and propelled five English lads―Taylors John (bass guitar), Roger (drums), and Andy (guitar), along with Nick Rhodes (synthesizers, keyboards) and Simon Le Bon (vocals)―into the international public consciousness was just that, a sensation. Rio went on to become the definitive LP of the New Romantic period, the British born movement that combined post-punk salt, synth-pop style, a touch of latent disco swing and a flair for theatricality.

The platinum busting album launched four commercial singles between November 1981 and November 1982: “My Own Way” (UK #14), “Hungry Like the Wolf” (UK #5, US #3), “Save a Prayer” (UK #2, US #16) and the title track (UK #9, US #14). The corresponding music videos secured Duran Duran's legacy as visual auteurs. And, on top of monopolizing MTV and conquering the charts, there were the screaming teenage girls (and boys). Pop hysteria to be sure, but, there was more to Rio than just frenzied fans or the plentiful spread of accolades it earned.

The genius of Rio was that it was a logical step forward for a group that would show favor to modernity over nostalgia, always. But prior to the record's world dominance, it all began with Duran Duran (1981). Their eponymous debut record met success at home in Britain, whereas listeners in the United States dismissed it upon its initial launch there. Plucked from the mind of a band enthralled with the glam and art rock of Bowie and Roxy Music, they wrote (and played) with gusto. Production focus was lent to them from the departed Colin Thurston who had already tasked behind records for Magazine and The Human League.

But how to elevate themselves further from an already eclectic, competitive debut? Simple, they unleashed their collective creative imagination with no limitations. Duran Duran hunkered down to script and play on what was to become Rio. Thurston resumed production duties on the record as well.

Across its nine tracks, Rio is an upscale affair, lyrically and musically. Their rock musicianship sinew snaps and sneers on the acidic “My Own Way” and “Last Chance on the Stairway,” but conversely balances pop guile on the title track with its synaptic shattering synths, guitar and drumming patterns per Rhodes, Taylor and Taylor. This path between the refinement and nerve of pop and rock, Duran Duran repaved enthusiastically―Rhodes and Thurston's keen programming and production made this possible.

The songwriting, initially, painted opulent visions of Brazilian shores, European airshows, British dancefloors and endless New York City skylines where seductive trysts were infinite. Closer listening revealed stormier narratives underneath these pseudo-escapist songs. Nowhere was this more apparent than on the creeping gloom of “The Chauffeur” which closes the record.

But if the words compelled, it was in due part to their delivery via the unmistakable Simon Le Bon. Le Bon's range and color, equally human and alien, could transfix audiences. Not only did his singing establish him as an indisputable peer to his accomplished contemporaries Tony Hadley (of Spandau Ballet), (Boy) George O'Dowd (of Culture Club), and Martin Fry (of ABC), it made him one of the most vital vocalists in British music history.

Deeper album cuts mixed comfortably with the mammoth hits as heard on the chilly “Lonely in Your Nightmare” and the light proto-funk of “New Religion.” The latter had all three Taylors bringing buoyant rhythm to the Duran Duran sound. The song was a harbinger for the steamier funk Duran Duran served up with their groovy Notorious LP four years later”.

Shocking that it was slated by some critics back in May 1982, retrospective acclaim has settled that score. Maybe it took a few years to see the influence Rio would have and the popularity it would accrue. Singles like Rio and Hungry Like the Wolf are radio staples. Songs that will passed through the generations. I am not a massive Duran Duran fan, though I love Rio and how astonishing it is. Arriving a year after Duran Duran’s eponymous debut, this was a step up from the Birmingham band (Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor). To end, I want to quote a sample review. This is what AllMusic observed about the wonderful Rio:

“From its Nagel cover to the haircuts and overall design -- and first and foremost the music -- Rio is as representative of the '80s at its best as it gets. The original Duran Duran's high point, and just as likely the band's as a whole, its fusion of style and substance ensures that even two decades after its release it remains as listenable and danceable as ever. The quintet integrates its sound near-perfectly throughout, the John and Roger Taylor rhythm section providing both driving propulsion and subtle pacing. For the latter, consider the lush, semi-tropical sway of "Save a Prayer," or the closing paranoid creep of "The Chauffeur," a descendant of Roxy Music's equally affecting dark groover "The Bogus Man." Andy Taylor's muscular riffs provide fine rock crunch throughout, Rhodes' synth wash adds perfect sheen, and Le Bon tops it off with sometimes overly cryptic lyrics that still always sound just fine in context, courtesy of his strong delivery. Rio's two biggest smashes burst open the door in America for the New Romantic/synth rock crossover. "Hungry Like the Wolf" blended a tight, guitar-heavy groove with electronic production and a series of instant hooks, while the title track was even more anthemic, with a great sax break from guest Andy Hamilton adding to the soaring atmosphere. Lesser known cuts like "Lonely in Your Nightmare" and "Last Chance on the Stairway" still have pop thrills a-plenty, while "Hold Back the Rain" is the sleeper hit on Rio, an invigorating blast of feedback, keyboards and beat that doesn't let up. From start to finish, a great album that has outlasted its era”.

On 10th May, the world will celebrate forty years of Duran Duran’s Rio. An album that is overflowing with standout songs and incredible band performances. The group are wonderful together, and they each add these elements and layers that make Rio such a nuanced and stunning album. A New Wave classic with some of the biggest and more recognisable hits of the 1980s, Rio will only continue to grow in its importance. I love everything about the album, maybe except for the video for the title track. However, like everything else on the album…

I shall come around soon enough!