FEATURE: Cracked Emerald and Blossoming Roses: Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below at Twenty

FEATURE:

 

 

Cracked Emerald and Blossoming Roses

Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below at Twenty

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WHEN it comes to Outkast’s finest album…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Outkast (Big Boi (left) and André 3000)/PHOTO CREDIT: Sony

many might argue that it is 2000’s Stankonia. It’s 2003 follow-up, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is my favourite. It is one that a lot of people agree with. What can’t be argued is the fact that André 3000 and Big Boi were in imperious and unstoppable form at the turn of the century. After the celebrated and flawless Stankonia, they released this ambitious double album that turns twenty on 23rd September. When this came out – and I was twenty at the time -, I had not heard too many modern double albums. Definitely not from Hip-Hop artists. The fifth album from Outkast, it is essentially solo albums from Big Boi and André 3000. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a Southern Hip-Hop album influenced by P-Funk. André 3000's The Love Below features Psychedelic, Pop, Funk, Electro, and Jazz styles. What you get with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is too masterful and hugely inventive songwriters given the opportunity to release their own album and then put them together. I think people should judge it as a complete album rather than choose between the two. Even though Speakerboxxx is a Big Boi vision, André 3000 (André Benjamin) co-wrote several of the songs. Even so, Big Boi (Antwan Patton) is the driving force. Classics like Ghetto Musick and The Way You Move are on this album. Flip over to The Love Below and we get Hey Ya! and Roses. Both members of Outkast in sublime form by offering up these timeless songs. If I had to pick a favourite album, I would go for The Love Below – though I admire the strength and consistency through Speakerboxxx. You can pick up the album on vinyl. I am not sure if there are plans for a twentieth anniversary release. I think that Outkast’s greatest achievement should be given some new focus after twenty years. One of the greatest Hip-Hop albums ever, it is one that still sounds incredible today!

I want to bring in a couple of reviews and features for this masterpiece. There is a fascinating feature that explored the album on its tenth anniversary (2013). A double album where both members of a duo do their own thing might suggest a parting of the waves and some personal animosity. I think it was a case of two free thinkers and Hip-Hop masters wanting to do something different and join the results. Before Speakerboxxx/The Love Below came out, André 3000 pursued an acting career (which wasn’t a huge success) and he recorded this solo album. He wanted to do something different to what Outkast had put out in the past. Rather than him being unhappy, it was a chance for him to do something on his own (many band members stay in the group but also do solo stuff). Rather than André 3000 release it as a solo project, it meant that Big Boi could do his own solo album and then they could be fused. I think that more duos/bands should try this, as there is a strange harmony and connection between the two different albums. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is both members, rather than pulling in different directions like The Beatles did on their 1968 eponymous album, working together and wanted to create something cohesive. Before getting to reviews, there is a feature that sheds might light and insight onto Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Consequence, for their Dusting ‘Em Off feature, saw Senior Staff Writer Len Comaratta and Staff Writer Zach Schonfeld discuss the nature of collaboration, the iconic Speakerboxxx/The Love Below singles, and comparison with The Beatles:

“In this week’s edition of Dusting ‘Em Off, Senior Staff Writer Len Comaratta and Staff Writer Zach Schonfeld mark the 10th anniversary of Outkast’s landmark 2003 double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, where a match made in heaven (okay, Hotlanta) split neatly apart. The two discuss its sprawling eclecticism, its iconic singles, the frequent Beatles analogies, and the ultimate value of collaboration itself.

Zach Schonfeld (ZS): As a Jewish kid from the suburbs, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was one of the first hip-hop albums I ever owned. No surprises there — “Hey Ya!” and “The Way You Move” were literally inescapable on the B’nai Mitzvah circuit of the time.

More embarrassing, though, was my tendency at the time — blame it on my staunchly rockist upbringing — to match significant hip-hop albums with their classic rock counterparts. Paul’s Boutique, for instance, always felt like the Sgt. Pepper’s of rap’s adolescence. Illmatic could well be Highway 61 Revisited. Madvillainy is the closest thing hip-hop has to its own Trout Mask Replica, a scattershot avant-garde pastiche.

On a literal level, it’s obvious: here is where atoms split, where one of pop’s most remarkably inventive collaborations drifted into distinct molecules, scurried down their own zigzagging rabbit holes. (Forgive me: my chemistry is no good.) And OutKast went one further by giving its dual visionaries — Big Boi, who just wants to be rap’s golden prince, and Dré, who just wants to be, well, Prince — their own discs. Plenty of critics argued they should have just issued them as their own separate solo efforts. I disagree. Separately, both discs have their flaws — the former felled by some turgid collaborations (“Tomb of the Boom”, “Last Call”), the latter betrayed by its sheer length. But joined together, they are divine — matter and antimatter. Lennon and McCarthy. I’ll let you parse out which is which.

The result lands squarely in The White Album tradition: a sprawling double album so overflowing with ideas, so liberated by its sense of eclecticism, as to feel somehow uncontainable. Big Boi’s disc is driven by a mastery of everything that made Southern-fried Goodie Mob-era hip-hop fresh; Dré’s is as horny as space-funk could possibly get in a 2003 fogged by war and terror. Sure, it’s got filler — but so does Stankonia. The highs here are as high as OutKast ever got.

Len Comaratta (LC): Though I love the idea of Madvillain and Beefheart, I think I may have to disagree with the Beatles comparison. I’ve seen references made between the two a couple of times; the first being Dorian Lynskey’s reference in her review of the album comparing Outkast’s effort with The White Album but only in terms of it being “ a career-defining masterpiece of breathtaking ambition.” I think we both can agree with that sentiment.

But when Stephen Erlewine likens the distinct personalities to each half of Speakerboxx/The Love Below to if the Beatles released their epic as a one half being a distinct LP of Lennon songs and one of McCartney songs, I find his “what if” situation a tad misleading. He ends his comparison saying that “the individual records may be more coherent, but the illusion that the group can do anything is tarnished” but fails to understand that that illusion only pertains to the Beatles, not Outkast.

The entire presentation of The White Album is steeped in illusion. The completely blank jacket, calling the album The Beatles (the album’s real title), and purposefully sequencing the album to mix Lennon’s contributions with McCartney’s all was done to maintain the appearance of unity and that everything in the Beatles’ camp was good and happy, though in reality nothing could be further from the truth. At the time of the White Album‘s production, nobody knew of the self-destruction, dissolution, and ever growing chaos that existed behind the scenes. There was no mention of Lennon or Harrison quitting the band on a few occasions before McCartney’s eventual public defection. No one talked of George Martin’s waning influence or how the group lost multiple engineers throughout the album’s genesis. Every effort was taken to maintain the illusion of the Beatles’ infallibility.

Not so with Outkast. Firstly, outside the division of labor on this effort, there was no real tension between the two – in fact, each have multiple contributions on the others’ disc. In spite of every effort of the media to find out if the two were or were not breaking up or if the Outkast banner was used simply as a way of fulfilling a contract, there was never any real sense of animosity. The two go out of their way to to emphasize that there is no beef, parodying in the video for André’s “Roses” or more directly in the lyric’s to Big Boi’s first single, “The Way You Move”, when he says rather matter of factly, “nip it in the bud/ We never relaxin’/ OutKast is everlastin’/ Not clashin’, not at all but see my nigga went to do a little acting.”

I think Big Boi’s line, more than anything, explains best why the difference of the two albums, why the need to express themselves as individuals while at the same time toying with the idea of what Outkast is. Certainly there is truth to Big Boi mentioning his partner’s acting because at the time of this album’s creation, André had begun exploring acting. But if you think about it, André has always been playing a character. Over the course of Outkast’s existence, André has been Dre, André 3000, André 1936, then André and even billed as Johnny Vulture on an Idlewild track, while Big Boi has always been Big Boi. This is somewhat reflective on the two albums, one a solid hip-hop album by somebody who is solidly hip-hop (and always has been) while the other morphs in and out of various styles and methods, multiple personalities, and influences all while hovering under the label “eccentric.”

Though I love Speakerboxx/The Love Below and agree with Dynskey in that it is something of a landmark album for the group, if I may extend the Beatles metaphor, I’ve always been a Revolver guy, so it’s no wonder I prefer Stankonia.

outkastZS: Touché, Len. You’re right that there wasn’t such personal animosity between Big Boi and André (or so we’re told — I wasn’t privy for these sessions, much as I’d like to say otherwise). But what matters more, I think, is that this double-disc set (you have the CDs, right? With the sweet album art?) captures a creative divorcing: it’s 39 tracks just to announce that barring a few odd examples (“Roses”, most notably), Big Boi and Dré were no longer interested in sharing track space. Much of the conflict surrounding The White Album reportedly arose out of track list-related disputes (George Martin famously urged the Fab Four to cut it down to a single LP, but egos got in the way). Seems like it’s easy to avoid such scuffles when you’ve allotted a full compact disc-per-person. (Of course, you could point to the Idlewild soundtrack as evidence the duo tried to reconcile creatively, but I think you’ll agree that effort wasn’t entirely successful.)

I’m reminded of a point Pitchfork‘s Julianne Shepherd made in 2005, calling Stankonia one of the top albums of the first half of the decade:

Aquemini was OutKast’s pressing together and Speakerboxx/The Love Below was their peeling apart; Stankonia was one last missive of unity before their values divided.

Speakerboxxx/TLB’s brilliance, I’ve always thought, is that it dares to question the value of collaboration. It dares to question whether working together is really better — or inherently better — than working apart. And I think critics are too scornful in labeling Speakerboxxx “just” a hip-hop record. Between “Church”, “Bowtie”, and “Ghetto Musick”, it contains some of the funkiest and most progressive-minded hip-hop of Big Boi’s career, and, given “Unhappy” and “Reset”, some of the most soulful. I prefer it over Sir Lucious Leftfoot, which was perhaps more critically embraced”.

There is no denying the fact that, as we look to 23rd September and the twentieth anniversary of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, it remains one of the most important Hip-Hop albums ever. Whereas many double albums are sprawling without purpose and economy of quality and merit, everything seems essential and must-hear on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below! Sadly, Outkast’s final album together, 2006’s Idlewild, would be a slightly underwhelming affairs. Hard to follow such a high benchmark, it seemed that Idlewild was a duo who were ready to call time. Even though there is musical harmony through Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, maybe personal relationships were not as tight as they were years before. The 2003 masterpiece was a case of Outkast maybe looking towards future solo endeavours. That said, André 3000 and Big Boi are friends and have a lot of love for each other. In their review, this is what AllMusic said about the towering Speakerboxxx/The Love Below:

“To call OutKast's follow-up to their 2000 masterpiece Stankonia the most eagerly awaited hip-hop album of the new millennium may be hyperbole, but not by much. In its kaleidoscopic, deep-fried amalgam of Dirty South, dirty funk, techno, and psychedelia, Stankonia was fearlessly exploratory and giddy with possibilities. It was hard to imagine where the duo was going to go next, but one possibility that few entertained was that Big Boi and Andre 3000 would split apart, each recording an album on his own and then releasing the pair as the fifth OutKast album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, in the fall of 2003. Although both albums have their own distinct character, the effect is kind of like if the Beatles issued The White Album as one LP of Lennon tunes, the other of McCartney songs -- the individual records may be more coherent, but the illusion that the group can do anything is tarnished.

By isolating themselves from each other, Big Boi and Andre 3000 diminish the idea of OutKast slightly, since the focus is on the individuals, not the group. Which, of course, is part of the point of releasing solo albums under the group name -- it's to prove that the two can exist under the umbrella of the OutKast aesthetic while standing as individuals. Thing is, while it would have been a wild, bracing listen to hear these 39 songs mixed up, alternating between Boi and Dre cuts, the two albums do prove that the music can be solo in execution but remain OutKast records through and through. Both records are visionary, imaginative listens, providing some of the best music of 2003, regardless of genre. If conventional wisdom, based on their public personas and previous music, held that Big Boi's record, Speakerboxxx, would be the more conventional of the two and Andre 3000's The Love Below the more experimental, that doesn't turn out to be quite true. From the moment Speakerboxxx kicks into gear with "GhettoMusick" and its relentless blend of old-school 808s and breakneck breakbeats, it's clear that Boi is ignoring boundaries, and the rest of his album follows suit. It's grounded firmly within hip-hop, but the beats bend against the grain and the arrangements are overflowing with ideas and thrilling, unpredictable juxtapositions, such as how "Bowtie" swings like big-band jazz filtered through George Clinton, how "The Way You Move" offsets its hard-driving verses with seductive choruses, or how "The Rooster" cheerfully rides a threatening minor-key mariachi groove, salted by slippery horns and loose-limbed wah-wah guitars. It's a hell of a ride, reclaiming the adventurous spirit of the golden age and pushing it into a new era.

By contrast, The Love Below isn't so much visionary as it is unapologetically eccentric. And as the cocktail jazz pianos that sparkle through the first few songs indicate, it's not much of a hip-hop album. Instead, Andre 3000 has created the great lost Prince album -- the platter that the Purple One recorded somewhere between Around the World in a Day and Sign 'o' the Times. It's not just that the music and song titles cheekily recall Prince -- "She Lives in My Lap" is a close relation of the B-side "She's Always in My Hair" -- it's that Dre disregards any rules on a quest to create his own interior world, right down to a dialogue with God. The difference between Andre 3000 and Prince is in that dialogue, too: Prince was tortured; Andre is trying to get laid. That cheerfully randy spirit surges through The Love Below, even on the spooky-serious closer, "A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre," and it gives Andre the freedom to try a little of everything, from mock crooning on "Love Haters" to a breakbeat jazz interpretation of "My Favorite Things" to the strange one-man funk of "Roses" and the incandescent "Hey Ya!," where classic soul and electro-funk coexist happily. So, both records are very different, but the remarkable thing is, they both feel thoroughly like OutKast music. Big Boi and Andre 3000 took off in different directions from the same starting point, yet they wind up sounding unified because they share the same freewheeling aesthetic, where everything is alive and everything is possible within their music. That spirit fuels not just the best hip-hop, but the best pop music, and both Speakerboxxx and The Love Below are among the best hip-hop and best pop music released this decade. Each is a knockout individually, and paired together, their force is undeniable”.

Entertainment Weekly also gave Speakerboxxx/The Love Below a rave review. Reading the reviews through, I did not know that there was perhaps more division between Big Boi and André 3000 than I first assumed. That unity that was always there seemed to have cracked slightly:

“You know we live in freakish times when two of pop’s most outrageous characters, Andre ”3000” Benjamin (a.k.a. Dre) and Antwan ”Big Boi” Patton — the duo called OutKast — can walk on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards and be counted among the more understated participants. Of course, they could afford to be: They’d just finished ”Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” a long-awaited pair of solo CDs (out Sept. 23) that, if released separately, would each be a candidate for Hip-Hop Record of the Year. Packaged together, they make a twofer whose ambition flies so far beyond that of anyone doing rap right now (or pop, or rock, or R&B), awards shows may need to create a special category for it.

Forgive the hyperbole, but it’s been a while since artists adept at the nitrous-oxide head rush of radio hitmaking have also shown talent for the old-fashioned art of the album. Hip-hop’s other reigning visionaries, Missy Elliott and Timbaland, have yet to make a great LP, despite devastating singles; ditto the Neptunes. You need to look back to vintage Prince, Funkadelic, and Sly & the Family Stone for a mix of funky pop and wide-screen aesthetic madness comparable to what you get on ”Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” In fact, the set winds down with an environmentalist warning that mirrors the opening of Funkadelic’s 1971 mind melter, ”Maggot Brain.” But there’s much more here than recycled influences.

In OutKast’s yin and yang, Big Boi is the Everydude — the neighbor you talk football with, who raises pit bulls and admits a fondness for both corny pop ballads and gangsta rap. So you’d expect ”Speakerboxxx,” his half of the package, to be fairly straightforward. But it’s surprising how far-reaching it is. It kicks off with ”GhettoMusick,” a machine-gun-speed rap reclaiming ’80s electrofunk from hipster ironists while targeting low-aiming rappers: ”You oughta be detained by the hip-hop sheriff/Locked up, no possibility of getting out/Because the s — -you make is killin’ me/And my ears and my peers.” ”Bowtie” and ”The Rooster” are good-time anthems with a brass-band swing; ”The Way You Move” mates a Dirty South synth-drum bounce with a faux Phil Collins hook; and ”War” gets grimly topical with a chorus of ”tick-tick-boom.” Things lose some creative steam on posse cuts like ”Last Call” (with Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz and Slimm Calhoun) and ”Tomb of the Boom” (with Ludacris and others), but even the old-school tracks have a twist, whether it’s Jay-Z rapping the hook of ”Flip Flop Rock,” or ”Reset,” with its dice-roll percussion and sermon by Big Boi’s Georgia neighbor Cee-Lo. The tradition-minded moments also remind you where all this experimentation is rooted: hip-hop.

And that’s important because, judging from the swirling strings and Nat King Cole crooning that begin Dre’s deliriously art-damaged ”The Love Below,” hip-hop tradition is fairly low on the list — at least until the Beatles-referencing finale, ”A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete),” an autobiographical epistolary to an ex that lays deep rap testifying over a laptop-techno-beat blur. Between these poles is as strange and rich a trip as pop offers nowadays, a song cycle about love’s battle against fear and (self-) deception that’s frequently profound, hilarious, and very, very sexy. It’s long — okay, maybe overlong — on skits and stylistic spelunking (see the John Coltrane — meets — Roni Size cover of ”My Favorite Things”). But it’s filled with so many pure ass-moving pleasures, you’re happy to indulge its excesses. ”Hey Ya!” is the no-strings-sex-championing single, and maybe the two discs’ catchiest moment. But ”Happy Valentine’s Day” comes close: a half-spoken, half-rapped soliloquy by Cupid, reimagined here as a pistol-packing gangster of love whose hand-clapping denouement should become as linked to its titular holiday as ”White Christmas.” On ”Dracula’s Wedding,” Dre’s a vampire — or a rap star — who’s met his match (”I’ve cast my spell on millions, but I’m terrified of you”). And on ”Vibrate,” a pitch to uplift the human race through music bobs alongside cool muted trumpets in a whirlpool of backward drumbeats.

Dre sings more than raps here, which could be a problem, as his nasal drawl isn’t the greatest instrument. But hip-hop, like punk, is about making magic with limited means through the sheer force of creative will, and whether he’s cooing baby noises on the Goth-soul cha-cha ”Pink & Blue” or scatting with multiplatinum siren Norah Jones on the interlude ”Take Off Your Cool,” Dre’s limitations read here like strengths. With ”Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” his lonely Day-Glo lothario and Big Boi’s wise-thug MC have made an LP that offers an outsize artistic vision, not focus-group ”perfection,” as the route to a mass audience. They may be wrong, but you’ll be very glad to go along for the ride”.

On 23rd September, we celebrate Speakerboxxx/The Love Below at twenty. Even if Idewild is the final album from Outkast, I feel like their 2003 release is actually their last album. At least that’s how I’d like to remember it. Sort of the same way Abbey Road is The Beatles’ final album as opposed Let It Be. In the sense that it was them at their best. Maybe things were not as great between its two members as it could have been. What we get from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is two phenomenal songwriters each with their own vision of an album. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below does not sound like two disconnected projects fused together: it is the sound of two brothers who subconsciously were recording albums that were meant to slot together and sound like the same collective mindset. Even if there are different influences and sounds on each, I think that a song like Roses could fit on Speakerboxxx. Ghetto Musick could easily be a cut on The Love Below. What Outkast gave us on 23rd September was a creative peak that inspired so many artists coming through. For that…

WE offer them our thanks!

FEATURE: Bang Goes Pop: Is a New Wave of Nostalgia Homogenising the Modern Mainstream Sounds?

FEATURE:

 

 

Bang Goes Pop

PHOTO CREDIT: Andras Stefuca/Pexels

Is a New Wave of Nostalgia Homogenising the Modern Mainstream Sounds?

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I think that Pop music…

 PHOTO CREDIT: stockking via Freepik

is as essential now as it has always been. It is definitely busier than ever. So many new artists trying to compete in a very packed market. Platforms like TikTok allow artists this opportunity to get their music heard. Radio play can be very difficult. Nobody is guaranteed that sort of exposure. I do wonder whether a desired sound and style of Pop on Instagram means that a lot of upcoming artists are making things sound homogenised. That same sort of sound that appears to resonate with a younger demographic. Repetition and easier choruses more effective and easier to remember than a more complex structure?! Even so, there are innovative and original artists that are adding something fresh to the Pop scene – music that has longevity and stays in the head. Right now, there is a case of AI being a big threat. If Pop music is less broad and evolving  as other genres, does it mean that AI can too easily replicate other artists – thus, how essential are many modern artists?! That seems quite bleak, though there is a case to argue that a modern wave of nostalgia and a somewhat 2D view and demand for a particularly easily accessible and samey Pop sound is creating this quagmire. What might divide people is the fact that a lot of modern Pop is using samples. Many songs and artists from the ‘90s are making their way into modern Pop. That is understandable in terms of the decade. Many of the artists coming through now were growing up in the 1990s or that is the first decade where they have music memories. According to the BBC, one in four Pop songs at the moment contain a sample of some sort:

“Heard this one before? If you're a music fan it's a question you might have been asking yourself recently.

More and more artists seem to be using samples - snippets of older tracks - to create new ones.

From Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice's Barbie World to Issey Cross' Bittersweet Goodbye, our summer playlists have been full of throwbacks.

And analysis shared with BBC Newsbeat shows that about one in four current UK Top 40 hits uses samples.

Press replay

Data from the Official Charts Company and website whosampled.com suggests as many as one in four tracks in the chart make use of retro tracks.

This week's number two, Doja Cat's Paint The Town Red, samples Walk on By, first released by Dionne Warwick in 1964.

Bou's Closer takes us back to the 90s, recycling dance anthem Children by Robert Miles.

And Charlie XCX wants to remind us of Toni Basil's 1981 hit Hey Mickey with Speed Drive, which also samples Robyn's Cobrastyle.

But one of summer's biggest songs based around a sample is Issey Cross's Bittersweet Goodbye, which entered the charts last week at number 31.

The dance track uses the hook from 1997 hit Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve, a track which, ironically, sampled Rolling Stones hit The Last Time.

Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj dominated the charts with their track Barbie World, which sampled Aqua

You might assume that the sampling phenomenon is a result of our current fascination with the 90s and noughties.

Whether it's down to nostalgia or social media exposing a new generation to the era, it's inspiring trends in film, TV and fashion.

And it would be easy to assume the rise in musical throwbacks is simply down to young people rediscovering older music online.

While that's definitely played a part, US journalist Jayson Greene tells BBC Newsbeat the truth "is more interesting than that".

Jayson, who works for respected music website Pitchfork, looked into the issue of "making old hits new again".

Blame your lizard brain

His investigation started with music publishing companies - a fairly new business that really took off during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the US, two firms have snapped up the rights to dozens of tracks by legendary artists such as Bob Marley, Prince, James Brown, and Whitney Houston.

Jayson spoke to their bosses and found that the companies will look for opportunities to promote the material in the hope it gets used.

If it does, they get paid, and the songs that sell are the ones that people already know.

"The most universally recognisable properties are the ones that are being recycled," says Jayson.

Hearing familiar songs "hits like a node in your lizard brain that recognises something you already love", he says.

"And so that song seems more interesting to you than maybe something you've never heard before."

That's good for business, but potentially less beneficial for creativity, says Jayson.

"Because everybody knows them already... nobody has to do any work breaking in a new entity, a new voice," he says”.

This repurposing of older songs and fusion of the new and old is not something new. Some might argue that Pop has run out of ideas and mobility. Is it harder now to be truly original in a genre where pretty much everything has been done?! I don’t think that Pop has lost its way. It is sunnier and more optimistic than it has been in many years. In terms of the artists coming through, there is a greater range of options. Less homogenised when it comes to race and age even. I am hearing a diversity that has not always been present in this gene. Also, whereas Pop used to be largely autobiographical, there is also a bit more range here. I have included a video from Dylan above, as she is someone doing something interesting with Pop. Many artists taking it away from the personal and towards something more fantastical or invented. Maybe modern Pop is not as explosive as it could be. That goes with other genre. Hip-Hop always used to be the genre where sampling was used to incredible effect. That doesn’t seem to be true now. A distinct lack of punch and inventiveness is missing here. I have no issue with Pop songs sampling other songs. It can introduce listeners to the original source. Does it means that we focus too much on the original track or the ‘new’ one being created? Think about Rita Ora’s Praising You. Based around Fatboy Slim’s Praise You – from his 1998 classic, You've Come a Long Way, Baby -, is it artists getting easy recognition because they are using an established and popular tracks? Is it easier getting traction and popularity if you are piggy-backing a bit on another song?

Some might say nostalgia is rose-tinted. Do we tend to misremember the past and idealise it? I think the music of the ‘90s wasn’t perfect, yet it was terrific and had that eclectic nature. Maybe more so than we have now. Through sampling songs of the past, we are actually ensuring that a lot of modern Pop songs are not static, samey and seemingly of the same wavelength. Like Hip-Hop did with its samples, listeners will be compelled to seek out those songs that are sampled. I will ask whether this new rise in Pop songs using samples is something to worry about. Let us not forget: if a quarter of Pop songs in the charts/mainstream are sampling other songs, that means that the vast majority are not. Why is sampling and this nostalgia rush so prevalent at this moment? Is it a post-pandemic need to embrace a safer, less stressful – yet perhaps more naïve and less responsible – past?! Also, at a time when climate crisis, politics and everything swirling round is creating this miasma, is there some form of escapism here?! It is definitely heartwarming and comforting hearing a classic from the past – even if you were not old enough to remember it first time around. The BBC asked (in a feature from July) why the music of the 1990s and 2000s is having such a comeback:

“But what's the fascination with those decades?

For friends Emily and Yasi it's a love of everything, from fashion to design and music. They're both 20 and grew up with 90s music around the house.

"I'd say it was the best era of music," says Emily.

It's not just original hits that Emily loves, but recent collaborations between artists like JoJo and Mahalia and Aitch and Ashanti.

"I really like that some celebrities feature older songs and bring them to a new generation. I think that's really cool," she says.

Emily and Yasi are dressed for the occasion when they speak to BBC Newsbeat at Manchester's 90s Baby Festival.

PHOTO CREDIT: rawpixel.com via Freepik

Yasi says it's not uncommon for her to spend hours looking at pictures of 90s and noughties celebrities to get fashion inspiration.

"It was iconic, the outfits never go out of date," she says.

"No matter where celebrities went, their outfits were always eye-catching so it's something we can all embrace."

Ellie is obsessed with 90s and 00s TV shows including Friends and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ellie Addis agrees. She's a fashion blogger from Kent, who's made a career out of styling clothes from the era.

She's talking to us over Zoom from her bedroom, which is fittingly plastered in 90s pop culture posters.

The 22-year-old jokes: "It's my childhood dream fulfilled as an adult."

For her, the 90s symbolise happier times and childhood, even though she was born in 2000, or Y2K, as it was known back then.

"I love that era of fashion because it's like reminiscing on being a kid again when things were simpler."

Ellie's TikToks get thousands of likes and she's built up a following of over 500,000 followers who love her TV-inspired content.

"I base a lot of looks on programmes. I love 90s shows and with so many streaming services bringing shows and films back they're allowing younger audiences to discover them for the first time."

Her main muse? That's easy.

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Every single episode I watch and think 'I would wear that outfit' and those episodes aired 25-odd years ago."

The Sugababes have been selling out shows since the original line-up got back together

Nostalgia is something DJ and presenter Nat O'Leary has noticed when it comes to our love of the era.

She hosts the Radio 1 00s show, a programme that - as the name suggests - is dedicated to noughties music.

Each week the reaction from listeners is huge.

"When a song plays, especially from the 90s and noughties, it takes you back to a moment where we didn't have social media," she says.

"We'll play All Saints and somebody will message in and say, 'I remember having my first kiss to this', or another song will remind them of their first rave."

She agrees with Emily's love of modern remixes and collabs, and says it's no surprise current artists are going back to that time.

"It was the best era of music, there was so much range and expression," she says.

"Everybody tried and did different things and nobody followed a form of fashion.

"I think that influence is partly down to freedom of judgement from social media."

Clay Routledge is a psychologist specialising in nostalgia. He thinks our love of the era is about our changing relationship with technology.

"The 90s were the last period where the internet was more of a fun toy that we used to find music and videos," he says.

"Now, we're always online and we're also on the cusp of a potential revolution in artificial intelligence and there's a lot of anxiety about how it's going to affect our lives.

"Reminiscing about the 90s and 00s is comforting because it gives us connection to times in our lives where we felt more free, adventurous and connected to other people”.

I don’t feel we need to be too concerned! Pop music is going through a bit of a moment where repetition is creeping it. Many artists tailoring their sound to an algorithm rather than striking out and doing something new. The scene is crammed. It is very hard to distinguish yourself. I don’t think artists are being cynical or lazy when they sample other songs. Part of it does have something to do with nostalgia. It is also a case of making listeners and younger fans aware of the music they grew up listening to. Some do fear that AI can easily replace a lot of modern Pop if there is something formulaic and derivative dominating. Listen to the wider landscape of Pop and you can hear so much to recommend. Incredible artists pushing boundaries and striking for longevity. Maybe overused samples and an easy source of accessibility does need to be addressed and challenged. Pop artists leaning less on the past. There is still plenty of promise and strength in modern Pop. It is a time when nostalgia is clouding the scene and making it sound more recycled and lazy – which is not the case. Whilst this genre is essential and will evolve and change again soon, right now, we are hearing a…

POP rather than a bang.

FEATURE: Rows and Columns: The LOUD WOMEN Fest 2023, and a Sign That Others Need to Balance Their Line-Ups

FEATURE:

 

 

Rows and Columns

The LOUD WOMEN Fest 2023, and a Sign That Others Need to Balance Their Line-Ups

_________

I do seem…

IN THIS PHOTO: The Dollheads/PHOTO CREDIT: Tiffany Salerno

to say this every year: women are dominating music. The best albums of 2023 have been made by women. A lot of the finest and most interesting upcoming talent is female. Even though there is this typhoon of wonderful music from women, there are still not enough column inches dedicated to their music. Not enough articles being written that highlight gender inequality across festivals. One can say that radio playlists are to blame, as most stations focus heavily on male artists. I am not sure why this is. There are no rules when it comes to gender and why men need to dominate. Why is it seem as normal that men lead and balancing the line-ups is the best we can hope for?! Why can’t women be the ones leading?! They definitely are worthy of that respect. Through the decades, there has been an absence of focus on music made by women. Not that they want special treatment at all. It is just the fact that more men grace magazine covers and are seen as music’s driving forces. That is how festivals approach things. Look at their rows of names and, for the most part, the largest font names are male! You do get festivals where women headline – Reading and Leeds saw Billie Eilish headline last month -, but most are smaller festivals. Even then, there are many that favour men. The majority of the larger festivals do not have a fifty-fifty gender split. It brings me to a very important LOUD WOMEN Fest. You can follow the festival via the official website, Twitter and Instagram. Some might say that all-female festivals are exclusive by their nature. The fact that you do not get all-male festivals. The counter-argument is that, for decades, the vast majority of festivals around the world have been overrun with male acts!

Even in 2023, in a year where there are literally more options for female headline acts and others who could fit on the bill, we still have to have the same tiring conversations about equality and why progress has not been made! For instance, it baffles me as to why the supreme Lana Del Rey was not a headliner at Glastonbury. Guns N’ Roses were seen as a more suitable and popular choice – in spite of the fact their set received middling reviews and they have not released a new album in years. Blondie – led by Debbie Harry – could have headlined too. Apparently the festival has locked in two female headliners for 2024 – though one can argue it is too little too late. Why does it seem, extraordinary and rare that two women are going to headline?! Why isn’t that seen as normal?! Again, it comes to the fact people assume men lead music and they should be the ones in the spotlight. I will continue on my thought process in a minute. Here are the important details a LOUD WOMEN Fest:

““The antidote to male-heavy festival lineups.”

- NME

“if you’ve ever looked at a festival lineup and wondered where all the women are,

they’re playing LOUD WOMEN Fest.”

- Kerrang!

The 7th LOUD WOMEN Fest will be held on 16 September 2023, at Rich Mix in London and for the first time, they are able to make this an ALL-AGES event. Parents can bring children and teens along to be inspired and entertained by this now world-famous showcase of the very best new female and non-binary talent rising up from the grassroots and alternative music scene.

This will be their most international showcase yet, with performances from Breezy (Germany), Hipersona (Turkey), ShyGodwin (USA), The Dollheads (USA) and Vernon Jane (Ireland). Plus UK rising stars and scene stalwarts including COWZ, FFSYTHO?!, I, Doris, LibraLibra, PUSSYLIQUOR, Samba Sisters, Sassyhiya, Shallow Honey, The Empty Page, The Kut, Where We Sleep and WOLFS. they will also be joined by empowering speakers and guests such as Safe Gigs for Women, Bloody Good Period, Janine Booth, Janey Starling – Level Up and Alliance for Choice (Northern Ireland).

Now in its 7th iteration, the not-for-profit Fest is firmly established as the alternative music women’s “pipeline” between grassroots and bigger festival stages – the same pipeline Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis recently said needed support in order to develop the female headliners of the future. LOUD WOMEN’s founder, musician and lecturer Cassie Fox says, “there’s absolutely no excuse in 2023 for festivals not to be booking at least 50% female musicians. Gender equality makes all areas of life more balanced and harmonious – especially in music!”. The festival is set to showcase the best new female and non-binary talent rising up from the grassroots and alternative music scene.

Previous incarnations of the Fest, which started in 2015, have showcased the most exciting newcomers on the DIY, punk and indie scene, such as Nova Twins, Big Joanie, Grace Petrie, Desperate Journalist, Petrol Girls, Pleasure Venom, ARXX and Lambrini Girls. Building quite a following over the years, LOUD WOMEN received nearly 1,000 applications this year from all over the world from artists wanting to play the forthcoming Fest.

Tickets are available here. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult, and will need a (£5) ticket. Ear-defenders are recommended for small ears”.

I think it is wonderful that the likes of LOUD WOMEN Fest exist! It not only highlights women in music that can headline stages and are perfect for other festivals. It is also a safe space for gig-goers to see some incredible rising talent. We are still in a time when not that many feminist male writers exist in the music media. Not that many championing women to the point where they challenge the industry and highlight the imbalance across most festivals. This should help give food for thought as we look towards next year. I think that all festivals need to look around and hear all the terrific music being made by women. There are so many potential headlines that are not being booked. From boygenius to Lana Del Rey and far beyond, there are more than enough choices. I think that it is not a case of pipeline issues or any lack of visible options. It is stubbornness and poor excuses from festival organisers. I hope that the LOUD WOMEN Fest gets a lot of attention! On 16th September, Bethnal Green Road will witness an all-female festival take place. You can book tickets and see for yourself. It will be a terrific celebration of some incredible talent. Let’s hope that the industry recognises the amazing women that are playing and honours that with better representation at festivals. We really need to see a lot more women…

ACROSS all bills!

FEATURE: A New Eras: The Phenomenal Taylor Swift’s Tour Coming to Theatres and New Access and Insight for Fans

FEATURE:

 

 

A New Eras

IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift performs for the opening night of The Eras Tour at State Farm Stadium on Friday, 17th March, 2023 in Swift City, Ariz. The city of Glendale, Ariz., was ceremonially renamed Swift City for Friday and Saturday in honor of the tour/PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Rights Mama

The Phenomenal Taylor Swift’s Tour Coming to Theatres and New Access and Insight for Fans

_________

SOMEONE who I thought would definitely have been cast…

in the Barbie film, Taylor Swift is going to create her own cinematic extravaganza herself. I mention the Barbie film, as I thought she would be cast or get a song on the soundtrack. That film brought people together that may not have otherwise watched this type of film. I think that the same will happen regarding Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour coming to the big screen. I am going to get to a news story where we get more details regarding this approaching release. You may not know about Swift’s new tour. Before getting to a point I want to make. GRAMMY listed five reasons why Swift’s Eras Tour will endure and already has this remarkable legacy:

“Whether she's breaking records or breaking Ticketmaster, Taylor Swift has proven time and again that she's one of the most powerful figures in modern music — and the Eras Tour is a manifestation of that.

Since the moment Taylor Swift announced the Eras Tour, there was no denying that it was going to be the tour of the year. From playing impressive two- and three-night stands at stadiums across the country to crashing Ticketmaster upon just the presale, the Eras Tour was making headlines before it even began.

But after witnessing it in person, it's clear that Swift is not just delivering the tour of the year — it's the tour of her generation.

Sure, Beyoncé fans can't wait for her tour this summer; Harry Styles is about to embark on the final leg of his highly successful Love On Tour trek; BLACKPINK sold out stadiums around the country too. Yet, it's hard to imagine that any other tour this year will have a cultural impact as big as the Eras Tour — something that's wildly apparent whether or not you were there.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS 

Even before Swift hit the stage for her first night at Nashville's Nissan Stadium on May 5, her influence was felt. Practically every fan of the 70,000 in attendance (a record for the venue — more on that later) was wearing some sort of reference to their favorite Swift era: a beloved lyric, or an iconic performance or music video look. While that's not necessarily a new trend in the Swiftie world, seeing all 10 of her eras represented throughout a stadium-sized crowd was equal parts meaningful and remarkable.

As someone who has been to hundreds of tours and most of Swift's — including the Reputation Tour, which I naively referred to as "the peak of her career" — I didn't think this one would feel much different than a typical stadium show. But even when Swift was just a few songs in of her impressive three-and-a-half hour set, a feeling came over me like I wasn't just watching one of music's greats — I was part of music history.

Below, here are five reasons why the Eras Tour will go down as one of the most iconic of Swift's generation.

It's Treated Like A Holiday

In the week leading up to the shows and over the weekend, Nashville was abundant with special events in Swift's honor. From Taylor-themed trivia nights to pre- and post-show dance parties to wine lists transformed into "eras," practically every place you went was commemorating her return (she last performed in Nashville in 2018).

While it's unclear whether this kind of takeover is happening in every city — after all, she does consider Nashville a hometown, as she said on stage — it's rare to see an artist have such a ripple effect by simply just coming to town.

During her May 5 show, Swift added to the excitement by sharing the highly anticipated news that Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was coming on July 7. Upon the announcement, three of Nashville's monuments — the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, the Tennessee State Capitol and the Alliance Bernstein building downtown — were illuminated in purple, the album's color.

 It's Breaking Records Left And Right

Though Swift is no stranger to breaking records, she continues to do so with the Eras Tour. After setting the all-time attendance record at Nissan Stadium on night one of her Nashville run, Swift topped herself (something has become accustomed to on the charts as well) with another attendance record on night two.

And despite the controversial ticketing frenzy the tour caused, Swift also broke a Ticketmaster record with more than 2.4 million tickets sold — the most by an artist in a single day — in the presale alone. If Swift announces an international leg of the tour, Pollstar projects that the Eras Tour could surpass $1 billion, which would add yet another first to her ever-growing list.

It's Spawned Parking Lot Parties

As if history-making attendance and record-breaking ticket sales aren't indication enough of Swift's power, the Eras Tour is so highly in-demand that fans are sitting outside of the venue to still be part of the show (as some fans have cleverly called it, "Taylorgating"). Fans crowded barricades and camped out in the parking lot of Nissan Stadium, ready to watch (and scream-sing along with) Swift on the big screen — something that has seemingly been happening in every city.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TAS

It Can't Be Stopped By The Elements

Adding to the magnitude of the Eras Tour, Swift performs 45 songs across three and a half hours. And to make her last night in Nashville even more momentous, she did almost all of that in pouring rain.

Swift didn't get to take the stage until after 10 p.m. on May 7 because of storms in the area (she normally goes on around 7:50 local time), but that didn't mean she'd be shortening her set. Carrying on until after 1:30 a.m. — even through the "element of slippiness happening," as she joked — Swift made it clear that she's determined to give each show her all regardless of the weather.

It's Simply A Feel-Good Celebration

Perhaps it was the five-year gap between the last time she toured. Perhaps it was the four new albums of material. Perhaps it was the celebratory nature of the show. Whatever inspired the vibe of the Eras Tour, I've never seen Taylor Swift or her fans so alive. The passion was tangible, the energy was magnetic.

Though Swift has always been known as an artist with a very loyal following, it was still mind-blowing to hear 70,000 people belt out every word for three hours straight. There aren't many artists whose catalogs are as equally beloved as they are extensive, especially one who hasn't even seen her 34th birthday. No matter how many albums and tours are in Swift's future, the Eras Tour captures a special moment in time — and celebrates a legend in her prime”.

If you are curious as to what form Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour will take when it comes to the screen,. this article from The Guardian explains more. With tickets already on tour, it has already broken records. It is going to be a rare occasion where a concert film is going to have the same sort of buzz and impact as a Hollywood film:

“Taylor Swift broke an AMC record on Thursday with $26m in presale tickets for her Eras tour concert film, besting Spider Man: No Way Home’s $16.9m. That brings Swift’s total pre-sale haul to $37m, according to Deadline, including tickets sold by AMC, Regal and Cinemark – higher than the first day presales of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which will run for four weekends starting 13 October, seems poised for a huge box office haul – Deadline projects a $70m opening weekend – so much so that it has affected the fall release schedule. Horror sequel The Exorcist: Believer was originally slated to enter theaters on 13 October, is now premiering a week earlier, on 6 October. ““Look what you made me do. The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23,” producer Jason Blum wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday, along with the hashtag #TaylorWins. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Leslie Odom Jr and Ann Dowd.

The concert film, which captures Swift’s billion-dollar, career-spanning, cultural moment of a tour, has thrown a wrench into the October release calendar, including Apple and Paramount’s Killers of the Flower Moon, set to premiere on 20 October. Martin Scorsese’s three-plus-hour historical epic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, arguably appeals to a different audience than The Eras Tour, but both will compete for showtime slots, though Killers of the Flower Moon has a lock on Imax screens.

The announcement of the release comes just days after Warner Bros decided to move the hotly anticipated sequel Dune: Part Two to March next year as a result of the strikes. It also comes after both Barbie and Oppenheimer broke box office records this past summer.

A member of Sag-Aftra, the 33-year-old pop star was reportedly granted a union waiver to film during the strikes, according to Billboard. The two-hour, 45-minute concert film, directed by Sam Wrench (who has also filmed concert specials for Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Brandi Carlile), was shot over three nights in August at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where Swift capped the 52-date American leg of her tour.

The projected $70m opening would set a record for a theatrical concert film, outpacing Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert ($31M opening in 2008), Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($23.2M in 2009) and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.5M opening in 2011).

AMC is reportedly adding additional showings to keep up with demand when “necessary and available”.

‘Eras Tour’ themed popcorn tubs and drinks cups will be available at AMC Theaters for Taylor Swift’s concert film. pic.twitter.com/nLfpe9dnAh

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 31, 2023

There is going to be merchandise too that you can buy. This incredible cinematic experience is going to be one that Taylor Swift fans will flock to see. I think that other concert films should follow. Maybe Beyoncé will bring the Renaissance World Tour to the big screen. That tour runs until 1st October. One of the biggest tours in recent memory, I would really like to see that! I can’t remember when a tour was brought to the big screen. We think that music is this industry where gigs are only seen in the flesh. You do get filmed gigs that are shared to YouTube, but they don’t have the same sort of atmosphere and impact as seeing it for real. By seeing some of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour on the big screen, it will usher a new wave of cinematic treats from big artists. There is going to be behind the scenes stuff and insights into the backstage and preparation for the tour. It will sit alongside music documentaries of the past that have provided intimate access to the artist and a look at the big stage. There are many people who did not get the chance to see Taylor Swift live. Demand was enormous! This, coupled with the fact that tickets were quite expensive, means that this easier and more affordable access will get a lot of new people invested in her music. I have become a bigger Swift fans through the past few years. I have never seen her live, though I am interested in going to see the concert film. With films like Barbie, cinema has become more of a communal thing. I do feel like music films and concert documentaries will have that ability to join people in a way most films do not. It will unite new and long-term Taylor Swift fans alike. Very soon, we will see this record-breaking and phenomenal tour…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift performs onstage during Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium on 3rd August, 2023 in Inglewood, California/PHOTO CREDIT: Emma McIntyre/TAS23/Getty Images

ON the big screen.

FEATURE: A Burning Question: How Many Men in the Music Industry Actively Identify as Feminist and Are Proactive About It?

FEATURE:

 

 

A Burning Question

PHOTO CREDIT: Wallace Chuck/Pexels

How Many Men in the Music Industry Actively Identify as Feminist and Are Proactive About It?

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THIS may sound like me being a broken record…

 PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

but this is not only designed to satisfy curiosity. There is a swirl of stuff going on that makes me wonder how many men throughout the industry are engaged with tackling inequality when it comes to gender. Also celebrating women and non-binary artists. From the continuing gulf at festivals where female artists consistently deliver stunning sets and yet there is that disparity regarding numbers on bills, through to incidents where women are discussing sexual assault and harassment, a lot of the conversation is either held by women. So much of the activation and reaction is initiated by women. I may have covered this before, but the question remains: How many men are there in the industry who identify as feminists?! Many might say that they are (which is great), and they promote, share and highlight the work of women. It is clear most men in the music industry support women and would count themselves as allies. What I mean is, how many actively would call themselves a feminist to the point where they join conversations and raise awareness? Even if it is highlighting festival discrepancies or adding their voice to the #MeToo-like movement in music. Those who also want equality through the industry and are vociferous about it. Using their platform to discuss this sort of thing regularly, in addition to championing women. There are male artists/bands who have female artists as support acts. Many more who obviously collaborate with female artists. It seems like, even in 2023, there is this real visible lack of physical and vocal support from men in the industry. Whether it is fellow artists, label bosses, management or journalists, there is a very small selection that you could say are feminists and/or are very much determined to bring about change. Those afraid to highlight inequality and a lot of the horrible thing women in the industry have to face – from harassment through to a lack of visibility at festivals or as producers in professional studios.

I have been compelled by a new edition of Sound on Sound magazine. The cover features ‘change makers’ in the industry. Amazing producers, engineers, artists and songwriters. We get to read interviews, discover their stories and see them photographed together. Not highlighted, in bold or mentioned really, but they are all women/non-binary. Rather than call attention to the fact that it is not men being declared and proclaimed as these game-changers in music, it is naturalising and spotlighting amazing women and non-binary people who are at the forefront. It is inspiring that this has been done. It also shows that women should be celebrated more. Not too many male journalists or artists are doing this. Even if these gamechangers are in our midst, statistics around the gender discrepancy in studios, on mainstream radio playlists, throughout festivals and beyond is making very slow movement. If you think about the most prominent and influential feminist musicians of the past sixty years, they are all women. That might not be a surprise though, when thinking about those who champion female contemporaries and are strongly advocating for change and highlighting issues, very few spring to mind. I will end with journalism and why there needs to be documentaries and more done to highlight women in music. There is an article from last year where one man in music is mentioned alongside pioneering and remarkable women: Harry Styles:

“Harry Styles strives for a world where feminism is the norm

Harry Styles is a feminist who chalks it up to simply being the right thing to do (and doesn’t want a lot of credit for it). Styles also grew up heavily influenced by his mom and his sister. Since the female influence in his life was so profound, Styles felt it was only natural to be a feminist; he considers the ideals of feminism to be pretty straightforward.

"Most of the stuff that hurts me about what's going on at the moment is not politics, it's fundamentals. Equal rights. For everyone, all races, sexes, everything," Styles told Rolling Stone. He tries to make things better in big and small ways — from the music he chooses to perform, to the words he uses on social media and in interviews. He has used social media to support things like the #HeForShe campaign, an initiative from UN Women to empower women”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Harry Styles/PHOTO CREDIT: Helene Pambrun

HelloGiggles wrote an article where they spotlighted seven times when Harry Styles was their ‘feminist prince’. Someone who considers it natural to him – and he does not want great credit for it either:

“I grew up with my mum and my sister — when you grow up around women, your female influence is just bigger. Of course men and women should be equal. I don’t want a lot of credit for being a feminist. It’s pretty simple. I think the ideals of feminism are pretty straightforward.

Styles has defended his fans a lot, but one time that sticks out to them the most was in his first cover story for Rolling Stone in 2017. When discussing the pressure to please a crowd, Styles was quick to share how much he values his younger fans because they’re honest and devoted”.

With the music industry still male-dominated in 2023, there is a lot that still needs to be done. It is clear that more men in the industry need to get together to discuss ways in which things  can progress and improve. Whether it is ensuring women feel safer in the music industry or highlighting gender imbalance at festivals, more needs to be done. When it comes to songs written about issues like sexual assault and harassment, it is women writing and performing those songs. As a music journalist, there are men who would say they are feminists/feminist writers. They highlight incredible women in music - though I wonder whether that goes deeper. Maybe like Harry Styles, I wonder if there are any men who write regularly about issues affecting women. The inequalities throughout the industry. Passionately supporting women and calling for change. There are very few names (if any…) that come to mind. It is not about me highlighting my own activity and fervency.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels

I feel that there is a genuine need for more men in the industry to do more when it comes to feminism and backing women’s rights. I mean actively. I am not writing men in the industry off, as the vast majority are fully on board when it comes to changing things. There have not been many documentaries made about iconic women, incredible female creatives, artists and producers. In the same way male artists like Harry Styles says he doesn’t want credit for being a feminist, I think the motive for doing more should not be credit or special treatment. Many might think that coming out and discussing ways the industry has to adapt and speaking up for women’s rights would bring undue or a lot of attention (negative or positive) their way. I don’t think it would. It is a more healthy and unified industry if men are combined in conversation. If we see more men around journalism, music and the entire industry regularly joining women in speaking up and out. Whether you label it as feminism, activism or merely doing more, this is a time really to show that willing. Even if most men in the industry have good intentions and respect for women, there seems to be few using their platforms – whether it is a gig, interview or other opportunity – to show their feminism and solidarity. It is great when bands put women in support slots and sends that message that festivals especially need to do more to include women. Journalists and fellow artists highlighting and championing incredible women. It is a moment when so many problems exist – and yet it is almost exclusively women speaking about it. If there was more vocal and proactive men across the industry, then it would definitely help…

TO move things forward and affect change quicker.

FEATURE: Leave It Open-Minded: Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty-One: She Let the Weirdness In…

FEATURE:

 

 

Leave It Open-Minded 

Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty-One: She Let the Weirdness In…

_________

EVEN if Kate Bush…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy

felt that The Dreaming was the album where she went a bit mad, I can appreciate that she may have worked too tirelessly to appreciate all the depths and brilliance. As her first solo producing outing, she put so many hours and ounces of her being to ensure that The Dreaming was a success and as she imagined in her head! One of the things that happened after Never for Ever is this increased popularity and pressure. Never for Ever was number one in the U.K., and it saw Bush produced with Jon Kelly. Maybe feeling she had to go to the next level or do something even better and bigger for The Dreaming, many fans still cannot connect with her fourth studio album. I am going to do a few features about The Dreaming, as it turns forty-one on 13th September. I will end with a bit about why the album is underrated and should be celebrated and seen fresh by those who have avoided it - or feel that it is one of Bush’s less necessary and accomplished albums. Before that, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia compiled interview snippets where Bush spoke about The Dreaming. I will also come to a long interview from 1982. It is intriguing what Bush remarked about Never for Ever and how she followed it:

“After the last album, 'Never For Ever', I started writing some new songs. They were very different from anything I'd ever written before - they were much more rhythmic, and in a way, a completely new side to my music. I was using different instruments, and everything was changing; and I felt that really the best thing to do would be to make this album a real departure - make it completely different. And the only way to achieve this was to sever all the links I had had with the older stuff. The main link was engineer Jon Kelly. Everytime I was in the studio Jon was there helping me, so I felt that in order to make the stuff different enough I would have to stop working with Jon. He really wanted to keep working with me, but we discussed it and realised that it was for the best. ('The Dreaming'. Poppix (UK), Summer 1982)

Yes, it's very important for me to change. In fact, as soon as the songs began to be written, I knew that the album was going to be quite different. I'd hate it, especially now, if my albums became similar, because so much happens to me between each album - my views change quite drastically. What's nice about this album is that it's what I've always wanted to do. For instance, the Australian thing: well, I wanted to do that on the last album, but there was no time. There are quite a few ideas and things that I've had whizzing around in my head that just haven't been put down. I've always wanted to use more traditional influences and instruments, especially the Irish ones. I suppose subconsciously I've wanted to do all this for quite some time, but I've never really had the time until now. ('The Dreaming'. Poppix (UK), Summer 1982)

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982

The thing about all my album titles is that they're usually one of the last things to be thought of because it's so difficult just to find a few words to sum the whole thing up. I've got this book which is all about Aborigines and Australian art and it's called The Dreaming. The song was originally called "Dreamtime", but when we found out that the other word for it was "The Dreaming" it was so beautiful - just by putting "the" in front of "dreaming" made something very different - and so I used that. It also seems to sum up a lot of the songs because one of the main points about that time for the Aborigines was that it was very religious and humans and animals were very closely connected. Humans were actually living in animal's bodies and that's an idea which I particularly like playing with. (Paul Simper, 'Dreamtime Is Over'. Melody Maker (UK), 16 October 1982)”.

As I have said before, I think that The Dreaming was always acclaimed. There were some who found it weird and left-field, but Kate Bush was always that to an extent. None of her music is conventional or what was happening in Pop around the late-1970s and early-1980s. She was always different. I feel like she might have been ahead of her time with The Dreaming. There were definitely not many female artists producing something as unusual and layered as this. Some felt that there was sensory overload and some pretention. I think many were writing Bush off or felt that she shouldn’t be writing and producing the way she was. By that, I sense a degree of sexism and her really ‘staying in her lane’. If a male artist had delivered The Dreaming, I don’t think they would have been criticised or seen as weird and inaccessible. I might come to a review too. Perspective has changed in terms of The Dreaming’s value and brilliance. A technical masterpiece where Bush was using the Fairlight CMI more and building these incredibly interesting sounds, it was seen as a commercial flop. Even though it went to number three in the U.K., it didn’t perform as well across Europe. It was a bit of a failure in the U.S. Maybe a darker, denser and more paranoid predecessor to 1985’s Hounds of Love, the wildly experimental and head-spinning experience still sounds like nothing else to this day! Bush has looked back on The Dreaming seeing it as an angry album – and she was not sure why she was so angry. In terms of legacy, Björk and Big Boi cited The Dreaming as one of their favourite albums. Not particularly commercial, I think that is a big strength of The Dreaming. You do not really get bored or too used to song, as they are not going for instant hits and catchiness. Instead, you revisit the album and find something new in every song!

At a time when the mainstream has quite a lot of conventional music, many journalists were not sure how to approach Kate Bush. Misperceived and written off by some since she came through in 1978, this was her most daring and experimental album to that point. If most critics were on board by 1985, many were on the fence in 1982. Before rounding up and celebrating The Dreaming, there is one interview I want to bring in. Reaching Out has a whole host of interviews with Bush from throughout this year. Thanks to them for transcribing Bush’s 1982 talk with Karen Swayne for Kerrang!:

“Her first album in two years is The Dreaming, and it's as far-removed from the current chart sounds as you could possibly imagine (or hope for), but in it went at number three--proof that you don't have to conform to commercial formulae to be (or stay) successful.

A surprisingly slight but strikingly attractive figure with a direct gaze, clad in baggy jumper and jeans, Kate Bush is nothing like her dreadful public image--that of a breathless, squeaky-voiced girl whose vocabulary is limited to words like "wow" and "incredible". I wondered if she finds it disconcerting that people have such a weird image of her.

"Oh yeah, and it worries me a bit, too," she says. "That image was something that was created in the first two years of my popularity, though, when people latched onto the fact that I was young and female, rather than a young female singer/songwriter.

"Now it's much easier for females to be recognised as that, because there are more around, but when I started there was really only me and Debbie Harry, and we got tied into the whole body thing. It was very flattering, but not the ideal image I would have chosen."

Because people see that, rather than hear the songs...

"Right, and I've spent so much time trying to prove to those people that there's more to me than that. Just the fact that I'm still around and my art keeps happening should convince them.

"I can't go around all the time telling people where I'm at now. I just have to hope that there are people who see the changes and change with me. I think it was just that the media didn't know how to handle it, because it was so unusual at the time."

Did you ever feel like you were being treated as a child prodigy?

"I felt that because I was so young people weren't taking me seriously. They couldn't accept that I could be so involved in what I was doing.

"I was very lucky, because when I left school I knew what I wanted to do, and it worked out; and I suppose I did grow up fairly fast, because in a way, I was working in an area two or three years ahead of myself."

Kate is now twenty-four, and The Dreaming is undoubtedly her most mature work to date. It took over a year to make, and the result is an intricate, complex web of ideas and images, with sounds used to create pictures which are sometimes too abstract for easy comprehension. I wondered if she was occasionally being deliberately obscure.

"No, not at all [Ha! Why does Kate say things like this?], because although there's a lot going on in some of the tracks, to me they're kept on a simple basic level within themselves--all the ideas are aiming towards the same picture.

"Like, some people have said it's 'over-produced', but I don't think it is, because I know what I was trying to get at. I think of over-produced albums as the ones that have strings, brass, choirs, that sort of thing."

What about the lyrics, though? As I sat struggling with them, I felt that you had made them consciously oblique in places.

"I don't intend them to be that way. [Ha!] It's just the way they come out. The thing is, when I have subject-matter, the best way I could explain it would be across ten pages of foolscap, but as I've got to get in a song, I have to precis everything.

"Maybe the album is more difficult for people than I meant it to be. It isn't intended to be complicated, but it obviously is, for some. A lot of it is to do with the fact that the songs are very involved--there's lots of different layers.

"Hopefully the next one will be simpler, but each time it gets harder, because I'm getting more involved. I'm trying to do something better all the time."

Do you worry about losing fans?

"Yeah, I do, because obviously from a purely financial point of view I depend on money to make albums, and if they're not successful it's quite likely I won't have the scope to do what I want on the next one.

"But, I'd rather go artistically the way I want to than hang onto an audience, because you have to keep doing what you feel. It's just luck if you can hang onto the people, as well."

The time and cost of The Dreaming has already been fairly well documented--did you intend to spend that long recording it?

"No, not at all. But I find that a lot of things I do now take so much longer than I thought they would."

What is it that takes the time? Translating your ideas onto record?

"Yeah, that's what's really hard. In so many cases you need to be in the studio to get the sounds, and it can maybe take a couple of days just to get one idea across. Sometimes you wonder if you should just leave them."

How do you feel about your early records now?

"I don't really like them. A lot of the stuff on the first two albums I wasn't at all happy with. I think I'm still fond of a lot of the songs, but I was unhappy about the way they came across on record.

"Also, until this album I'd never really enjoyed the sound of my own voice. It' always been very difficult for me, because I've wanted to hear the songs in a different way."

Why didn't you like it?

"I think a lot of people don't like the sound of their own voices. It's like you have to keep working towards something you eventually do like. It was very satisfying for me on this album, because for the first time I can sit and listen to the vocals and think, 'Yeah, that's actually quite good.'"

Were you pushing it more to create different sounds?

"In a way. But I probably used to push it more in other ways. I went through a phase of trying to leap up and down a lot when I was writing songs. I used to try to push it almost acrobatically. Now I'm trying more to get the song across, and I have more control. When I'm trying to think up the character is when it needs a bit of push."

Do you always try to put yourself in the role of a character, then?

"Yeah, normally, because the song is always about something, and always from a particular viewpoint. There's ormally a personality that runs along with it.

"Sometimes I really have to work at it to get in the right frame of mind, because it's maybe the opposite of how I'm feeling, but other times it feels almost like an extension of me, which it is, in some ways."

You have been accused in the past of living in some kind of fantasy world. Would you say you refuse to face up to reality?

"Now. I think I do, actually, although there are certain parts of me that definitely don't want to look at reality. Generally speaking, though, I'm quite realistic, but perhaps the songs on the first two albums created some kind of fantasy image, so people presumed that I lived in that kind of world."

Where do you get the ideas for songs from?

"Anywhere, really. They're two or three tracks that I had the ideas for on the last album but never got together. Others come from films, books or stories from people I know. That kind of thing."

What about Pull Out the Pin, a song about VietNam? Was that something you'd always wanted to write about?

"No, I didn't think I'd ever want to write about it until I saw this documentary on television which moved me so much I thought I just had to."

Do you hope to change people's opinions by what you write?

"No. Because I don't think a song can ever do that. If people have strong opinions, then they're so deep-rooted that you'll never be able to do much. Even if you can change the way a few people think, you'll never be able to change the situation anyway.

"I don't ever write politically, because I know nothing about politics. To me they seem more destructive than helpful. I think I write from an emotional point of view, because even though a situation may be political, there's always some emotional element, and that's what gets to me."

The thoughts and ideas are expressed through a variety of sounds, an adventurous use of instruments and people--from Rolf Harris on dijeridu to Percy Edwards on animal impressions! Kate has also discovered the Fairlight, a computerised synthesiser.

"It's given me a completely different perspective on sounds," she enthuses. "You can put any sound you want onto the keyboard, so if you go 'Ugh!', you can play 'Ugh!' all the way up the keyboard. Theoretically, any sound that exists, you can play.

"I think it's surprising that with all the gear around at the moment, people aren't experimenting more."

Whatever you may think of Kate Bush, you could never say that she's not been prepared to take risks. In the four years that have passed since her startling first single Wuthering Heights, she has grown increasingly adventurous and ambitious, creating music that she hopes will last longer than much of today's transient pop.

Of The Dreaming she says: "I wanted it to be a long-lasting album, because my favourite records are the ones that grow on you--that you play lots of times because each time you hear something different."

Never particularly a public fave, her last live shows were three years ago, and although she plans to do some in the future, they'll take at least six months to prepare. [Try six years and counting.]

She admits that she found her initial success hard to cope with at times.

"I still find some things frightening. I've adjusted a hell of a lot, but it still scares me. There are so many aspects that if you start thinking about are terrifying. The best thing to do is not even to think about them. Just try to sail through”.

I am going to round off soon. Ahead of its forty-first anniversary on 13th September, I will write about various songs and Bush’s production and use of technology throughout The Dreaming. If you go to Wikipedia, you can see some of the reaction to and reception of The Dreaming. I would recommend article such as this one from Ann Powers. Last year, Garry Berman shared his opinions about the stunning The Dreaming:

“Now we come to the album whose 40th birthday we celebrate this year, The Dreaming. Kate began work on it shortly after the 1980 release of Never For Ever, and, for the first time, acted as sole producer.

What makes The Dreaming such a brilliant album? With a track list of ten songs, no two songs sound even remotely alike. The variation of arrangements, musical choices, and use of instruments is not only effective, but truly astonishing. Perhaps even more impressive is the range of topics she has written about, often from the perspective of the characters within the songs, rather than from her own, first-person experiences. The overall result is an album of remarkable creativity — and from a 24-year-old — presenting musical moments of unnerving power, romantic longing, and even humor.

Several highlights include:

“There Goes A Tenner” — A rare bit of jaunty fun from Kate, as part of a bank robbery scheme that goes wrong. Her character here details the plans to her fellow robbers, but warns, “I’m having dreams of things not going right/Let’s leave in plenty of time tonight…”

One of the more literal video treatments of a Kate Bush song.

“Pull Out The Pin” — What could be more diametrically opposed to “There Goes A Tenner” than this song, a nightmarish account of war, as seen from the perspective of a Viet Cong warrior stalking an American soldier through the jungle, almost mocking how out-of-place and unfamiliar the American is in such an environment (seriously, who else would ever even think of such a scenario for a song?)Kate’s blood-curdling refrain, “I Love Life! (pull out the pin)” raises the tension up to an almost unbearable degree.

“The Dreaming” — Kate takes us to Australia to lament Western Civilization’s exploitation of the continent’s wildlife and indigenous population (“ ‘Bang’ goes another kanga on the bonnet of the van…”) Rolf Harris — comedian, musician, and more recently disgraced due to a sex scandal — plays a native didgeridoo to add atmosphere; Kate reportedly wanted to respect the Aboriginal tradition of allowing only men to play the instrument, and declined to attempt it herself in the studio.

“Night of the Swallow” — Another haunting track (and my personal favorite) with a strong Celtic flavor, especially in the instrumental passage played by Irish musicians recorded in Ireland, during an all-night recording session with Kate. The somewhat mysterious narrative involves a secret, night-time escape by plane, possibly by a smuggler on his way to his next rendezvous, with Kate pleading, “I won’t let you do it/If you go, I’ll let the law know…” The dramatic final chorus is as gorgeous as it is spine-tingling.

Other songs such as “Suspended in Gaffa” and “Houdini” can also be considered highlights of the album, and again are as different from each other in theme and overall texture as are the rest of the tracks throughout. Kate doesn’t dip into the same well twice, that’s for sure.

Kate’s real mother makes a cameo in the latter part of the video.

The Dreaming reached as high as #3 on the U.K. album charts, with five singles released, including the title track and the opening number, “Sat in Your Lap.”

The album is a triumph of imagination, songwriting, and musicianship. It shows Kate at full creative force”.

From the promise and excellence through Never for Ever in 1980, Bush took a big step forward in terms of confidence and sonic scope for The Dreaming. She created a more accessible and even more ambitious album for Hounds of Love. That being said, I don’t think The Dreaming should be seen as too weird or overly-experimental. Bush’s production throughout is incredible. Twenty-four when the album came out, it is remarkably accomplished. No doubt an inspiration for so many musicians today, if you are someone who has not been a fan of The Dreaming - or felt it is a bit too out-there -, I would urge you to take another listen. This incredible album…

WILL never lose its beauty and strange allure.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Hannah Grae

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 Hannah Grae

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A tremendous…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Sam McMahon

artist who I have known about for a while, I wanted to highlight the brilliant Hannah Grae. I would recommend everyone checks out this incredible talent. To get more insight into and background to this amazing artist, I am going to source a few interviews. The first is from the Irish website, STELLAR. Although these are early days for Hannah Grae, there are definitely sparks of potential and ambition – her best work still lies ahead. I would thoroughly urge people to check out the Hell Is a Teenage Girl E.P. from April. In a market with so many competitors, there is something distinct about Grae. Her music definitely makes a mark. I will explore that more soon:

“In 9 STELLAR questions, we put the spotlight on your favourite celebrities and influencers to get the goss on their deepest secrets, gas anecdotes, and their best hangover cures, for good measure.

This week we caught up with Welsh singer Hannah Grae when she jetted into Ireland.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?

I’ve been asked this before but I genuinely have no idea. I feel like I would want someone like Florence Pugh but I don’t know if that’s just me being really vain. She’d be great. She has the septum piercing too.

Who’s the most famous person who follows you?

Probably YungBlud. I’m on the same management as him so he’s given me advice, which is quite sweet.

Who are your 3 dream dinner date guests?

Taylor Swift, definitely, Paul McCartney and Gordon Ramsey. I don’t think there would be any awkwardness. Imagine the conversations between those three.

What’s one thing you’re passionate about right now?

Crochet. It’s all I think about other than music. For my show in Wrexham the other day, I made the two-piece set I wore on stage. It was hot, I was sweating. I made a top on my knitting machine and crocheted the ends for my show in Ireland. I’m obsessed. I close my eyes and I just see crochet hooks.

I also released my mini album, Hell is a Teenage Girl. I wrote that project in 2021, it’s been a long time coming. But it’s been nice to explore the creative stuff and get to know the industry a bit. I had no idea about anything. It’s been wild, I’ve loved it.

I’ve loved playing all the shows, it’s special. My whole EP is about my teenage experience and my school experience. The title is more about me. When you go through bullying and stuff like that you become self-aware in a way. That can be really good but also not so great. It’s that journey and I think a lot of people can relate. The title came from Jennifer’s Body, as soon as I heard it I loved it.

I’ve also written my second project. It doesn’t have a name yet, but it has 10 songs on it and I’m very excited for that.

What’s your ultimate hangover cure?

I’ve got tips to not get hungover. The first tip is just not drink. The second is electrolytes. I found them in a health food shop, they’re drops you put in your water. I swear to God, even just staying up late, I put a few in my water bottle and I feel perfectly fine. Do that. Lucozade works too.

You’re getting ready for a night out, what song are you playing?

Probably Hannah Montana. Any song from the movie can get me going.

Who’s your ultimate celebrity crush?

Zac Efron. I’m a Disney kid. If I could bottle Troy Bolton that would do me fine.

What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

I think the best quote I’ve ever heard is, ‘The harder you work, the luckier you get’. I think that’s something that always stuck in the back of my head. I got told that in school and I think it’s the only thing that stuck from school.

It makes me feel like I’m in control of the things that come to me. People tell me I’m so lucky, but I did this. I think it’s important to be grateful for what you’ve got but also to be proud of yourself.

Describe yourself in three words.

Short, driven and clumsy”.

I want to wind back to earlier in the year. Hannah Grae released the single, Hell Is a Teenage Girl. I do admire the honesty of Grae’s music. Not following cliches or the market as such, she is making music on her own terms. This is why she resonates with a large audience. If her demographic at the moment is teens and those in their twenties, I think there are a lot more years ahead where her music will cross borders and reach a wider audience. The Honey Pop spotlighted Hell Is a Teenage Girl back in March:

“It’s no secret that being in your teens can absolutely suck, but so many artists have turned that angst and turmoil into incredible art for the world to enjoy. The latest to do so is the incredible Hannah Grae, who challenges the status quo and stands firmly in who she is on ‘Hell Is A Teenage Girl.’ And yes, it’s as satisfying as that title suggests. The song starts off fairly mellow, centering around an acoustic guitar before Hannah exclaims, “you look the same,” with a higher intensity, and it switches into a rock anthem!

I really wanted it to feel like a journal entry of mine. For the first time, I had an urge to truly explore how I was feeling and not sugar-coat it with profound metaphors or fancy words. To be honest, I just wanted to complain. The whole song is a big fat 3 and a half minutes of me being an unapologetic brat, and I love it…I listen to it now and I’m proud of how honest and simple I could be. It really feels like I’m looking back on an old diary entry, and I already feel like I have grown since then.

We love how the contrast between he song’s two main sounds mirrors the contrast between who we really want to be as teenagers and who we’re expected to be. ‘Hell Is A Teenage Girl’ centers around a scene in the bathroom where the seeming It Girl of the school, AKA the boss who’s back at it, influences those around her and pays a little too much attention to her makeup instead of how she’s impacting her peers.

You could even argue that the It Girl isn’t a girl at all but a personification of the standards women are held to, especially in their teens when they’re trying to figure out who they truly are. Your teen years are a time when you’re juggling school, friendships, and figuring out what you want in life… but ridiculous beauty standards add even more pressure that no one should have to worry about. Teenage girls are put through hell on so many levels, but even then, they have the fire to fight back against social standards and become hell in their own ways.

We could really see Jenny Humphrey from Gossip Girl jamming out to this song in her first years at Constance Billard – come on, “prom queen so keen to ruin everyone’s life” totally sounds like something she’d say about Blair Waldorf! And “she walked from the mirror as I took her place” would so match up with the arc where Blair loses her Queen B status as Jenny rises to the top”.

Sound of Brit spoke with Hannah Grae when she was in Paris last month. She was playing Rock en Seine. It is clear that, now she is playing big festivals like this, there is this hungry and large audience out there. That will only grow! Make sure that you keep your eyes peeled for the incredible Hannah Grae. I can see great things in her future:

“SOB: In April you released the superb Hell Is A Teenage Girl, which we loved. Do you have any other releases planned for the future? Or a continuation of your tour with dates in theatres including France, for example?

Hannah Grae: I’ve got some new music coming out on Friday. It’s sort of the first single of the new era. I’m really looking forward to it. I think the next couple of months are going to be really busy and I’m really excited. So probably a mini album. And, after that, I hope there’ll be a proper album. And, obviously I love being on stage so I’m hoping for more dates yes.

SOB: You started your career very young, and we know how hard the music industry can be, especially for a young artist. Isn’t the pace too intense? Do you feel under pressure? Everything’s happening very fast for you…

Hannah Grae: Yes, that’s true. Everything moves very fast and I feel that sometimes I have to stop and take the time to digest everything. I’m grateful for how far I’ve come, but I have a very good circle of people around me and I feel that if I’m overwhelmed or stressed, I have people I can turn to. I think that’s changed a lot in the last two years. I think if you’re lucky, you have more time to make music. But there are places where you can go to talk about it.

SOB: How do you go about recording? Do you start by writing the lyrics? Your songwriting is reaching more and more people.

Hannah Grae: Oh, that’s a good question. I come to my producer with a subject, a theme. And he plays guitar for an hour. We find the right atmosphere, then I sit in silence for an hour and write the lyrics, then we build the song from there.

SOB: Could you tell us how many people tour with you? Musicians, technicians… We don’t always realise how many people there are!

Hannah Grae: Yes. There are seven or eight of us. But it’s a small team. There are four of us in the band. There are three musicians on stage with me. Then there’s my tour manager and my sound engineer.

SOB: Do you have any little rituals before you go on stage?

Hannah Grae: I like to have 20 minutes before I go on stage, in a room by myself, to prepare my voice. And I also take time to finish my crochet!

SOB: Do you have time to see other artists at festivals?

Hannah Grae: Yes, I love seeing other artists. I think I’m really lucky to be able to do it so regularly. Tonight there’s Billie, of course, who I’ve already seen because we’ve had several festivals together. There are artists I’ve seen several times, but I may never see them again.

SOB: We’re a website with a lot of small artists. Do you have any younger artists that you think should be given more consideration, that we could discover and talk about?

Hannah Grae: There are quite a few artists, I suppose the same age as me. I love Nieve Ella who’s playing tonight too. She’s incredible and deserves recognition. She’s brilliant”.

I am going to finish off with an interview from DORK. They chatted with Hannah Grae very recently. This is a great time to spotlight her, as she has performed some important dates. Her music and name is reaching throughout Europe. It will not be long until the U.S. comes calling. Since the amazing single, Propaganda (2022), to her current, Screw Loose, this is a wonderful young artist with ambition and a real passion for what she does. It is only a matter of time before she penetrates the mainstream:

“Right now, though, Hannah is feeling nothing but excitement. She’s about to head out on a two-week European festival tour that’ll see her play the likes of Sziget, Pukkelpop and Rock En Seine before appearing at Reading & Leeds. Not bad, considering she only played her first outdoor gig in May. Hannah already knows what every festival stage will look like, thanks to an evening sat on Google, and has just one day to crochet eleven different hats inspired by the flags of each country she’ll be visiting. During each set, she’ll throw one into the audience, but for now, it’s a way for her to wrap her head around exactly how momentous this summer is turning out to be.

It’s made more special because, for a long time, Hannah really wasn’t sure if things were going to happen.

Growing up, Hannah believed music only existed within the worlds of film, TV and theatre. She loved Hannah Montana and had her mind blown when she discovered Justin Bieber as a ten-year-old. Her original plan was to work in musical theatre, but then she saw an episode of Friends where Phoebe Buffay writes a song, which sparked something within her. Hannah wrote her own “ridiculous” track called ‘The Chicken Song’ and would play it constantly. “I just loved creating something from nothing and playing it to people.” She carried on doing that throughout her teenage years, writing stripped-down, piano-led pop songs based on stories and suggestions sent in by her blossoming YouTube following. A rejection from theatre school coincided with her first proper studio session, and she quickly realised playing her own music is all she really wanted to do.

From there, she started posting rock-inspired covers and reworkings on TikTok as she chased what felt good and set about figuring out how to bring that untethered joy to her own music. In 2021, she shared an updated version of Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ featuring pointed lyrics like “they think that they can stare, undress me anywhere. ‘It’s just romantic, stop being dramatic’.” It quickly racked up millions of views on YouTube and TikTok.

While ‘Hell Is A Teenage Girl’ offered empowerment and giddy catharsis around every corner, Hannah isn’t sure you’ll finish listening to this next record and feel excited. “It’s more a picture of a really bad time in someone’s life. Hopefully, if anyone has gone or is going through that, they’ll feel seen. That’s all you need sometimes.”

Hannah’s spent this festival season sharing the bill with artists like Dylan, Nieve Ella and Maisie Peters, who make unapologetic guitar-driven anthems. “I’m so inspired by all those women. I love seeing that feminine energy in something that is usually quite masculine. It’s just so powerful,” she explains. “They’re all so lovely as well; it feels like a big community.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Frances Beach

Her ambitions haven’t changed since she released ‘Propaganda’, though. “They were always quite unrealistic,” she grins. “I wanted to take over the world. I still want to, as well. I do get lost in my ambition,” she admits. “But I think you need to be a little bit delusional if you want to do this.”

For the moment, Hannah is focusing on giving each new song its own moment and has her sights set on playing some headline shows. “All I really want is to be in a room full of people singing my lyrics back to me, who find something meaningful in them. I think a lot of us feel like we’re on the outside of something,” she adds. “I want to create something that feels inclusive.”

“I also want to prove to people they can do things they’ve been told they can’t do. And that it can be fun”.

An exiting and busy summer for Hannah Grae, she will have time towards the end of the year to reflect on a wonderful and successful 2023. Things will only get bigger and better. I am sure that she will want to play in countries further afield than those in Europe. Maybe an album is coming. I can see her collaborating with artists like Nieve Ella. An exciting blend of contemporary Pop with something very personal, her dedicated and loyal fanbase is growing. I would recommend everyone checks her out. These may be the first steps from Hannah Grae. But what is clear righty away is how big an impression…

THEY have made!

____________

Follow Hannah Grae

Official:

https://www.hannahgrae.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/hannahgrae

TikTok:

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

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/HannahGraeMusic

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/06vyPLBCJLDF8EGgQJEEhV?si=9VfGP7YbRGmHpeHqNM8f9w&nd=1

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEfVWUm4mkrdS070DSXIlcg

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/hannahgraemusic/

FEATURE: The Lesser-Heard Gems: Kate Bush’s Never for Ever at Forty-Three

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lesser-Heard Gems

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at the British Rock & Pop Awards, February 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Mirrorpix

Kate Bush’s Never for Ever at Forty-Three

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ON 8th September…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Angelo Deligio/Mondadori via GI

Kate Bush’s Never for Ever will turn forty-three. Released at the start of her most successful decade, as I have said before, Never for Ever reached number one in the U.K. That set a record, as Bush became the first British female solo artist to reach number one with an album. She also broke a record in 1978 with Wuthering Heights. As the song went to number one, it was the first time a self-penned song by a female artist reached the top spot. It is amazing to think Bush was breaking these records when she was so young. I have already written about Never for Ever a few times lately. I wanted to focus on the lesser-known songs. From the eleven on  the album, three were singles – Breathing, Babooshka and Army Dreamers. I don’t think enough people know about the rest of the songs. Those deep cuts that hardly ever get played. I am not going to write a big thing on each of the eight songs. Instead, I would recommend that you listen to the whole album and spend time appreciate them. In a playlist, I am going to rank (best at the top) my favourite lesser-known songs from Never for Ever. There are so many gems that people have never heard or you do not hear played much on the radio. The singles are arranged so that we open with Babooshka. Army Dreamers and Breathing are the final two tracks. In that big middle are these songs which never quite get as much focus as deserved.

Even if Never for Ever got to number one, it has gained a few mixed reviews. The reaction in general is positive, though some feel it has filler and it is not a strong  album like Hounds of Love (1985). I would disagree! There is a wonderful mix of the sublime, beautiful, political and odd. From the brief and beautiful choral passage of Night Scented Stock to the heady rush of Violin and the beautiful Blow Away (For Bill), there is so much to admire. I am going to choose four songs to expand on, and I will end by talking about the album in general and how one should not focus too heavily on the singles – even though they are glorious and charted really well (Babooshka got to number five; Army Dreamers and Breathing reached sixteen). I don’t think I have ever heard All We Ever Look For played. It is one of those distinctly Kate Bush songs. From her vocal to little production touches, it is wonderful. Situated before Egypt at the end of side one, this is a song where Bush made good use of the Fairlight CMI. A relatively new addition and discovery for her, there are some beautiful and interesting sounds on the song. We get some interview archive snippets from the Kate Bush Encyclopedia:

“All We Ever Look For' is about how we seek something but in the wrong way or at wrong times so it is never found. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)

One of my new songs, 'All We Ever Look For', it's not about me. It's about family relationships generally. Our parents got beaten physically. We get beaten psychologically. The last line - "All we ever look for - but we never did score".' Well, that's the way it is - you do get faced sometimes with futile situations. But the answer's not to kill yourself. You have to accept it, you have to cope with it. (Derek Jewell, 'How To Write Songs And Influence People'. Sunday Times (UK), 5 October 1980)”.

That track features  Hare Krishna followers singing the Maha Mantra; Bush uses a part of a line from this mantra: "(Hare) Krishna, Hare Krishna, (Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare)". I wonder if Bush was influenced by The Beatles ands George Harrison in particular, given his attachment and love of Eastern mysticism and his genuine authority of and affection for music of India. One song that I feel should have been released as a single is Violin. Many see it as one of the weaker tracks on the album, though I feel it could have been a chart success. Bush did perform it live – including her 1979 Christmas special -, though this is one that never truly gets loads of love. I know that The Anchoress (Catherine Anne Davies) includes this as one of her favourites from Never for Ever. In musical terms, Egypt is a nation that has had few, but quite odd, representations in music. I can think of The Bangles Walk Like an Egyptian and this song. Maybe not an easy country to depict truly and correctly, I still love what Bush did. Here is some more personal insight:

“'Egypt' is an attempted audial animation of the romantic and realistic visions of a country. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)

The song is very much about someone who has not gone there thinking about Egypt, going: "Oh, Egypt! It's so romantic... the pyramids!" Then in the breaks, there's meant to be the reality of Egypt, the conflict. It's meant to be how blindly we see some things - "Oh, what a beautiful world", you know, when there's shit and sewers all around you. (Kris Needs, Fire in the Bush. Zigzag (UK), 1980)”.

Two particular songs from the second side that I want to highlight are also two that could have been singles. The Wedding List might be my favourite of the non-singles. Premiered of her 1979 Christmas special, this wonderful song would have been a big hit if it got a wider release. Performed live in 1982 for the Prince’s Trust Rock Gala, there was a demo going around for a  while. Never for Ever is an album that I would love to hear demos from. Bush’s inspiration for The Wedding List is really interesting:

“The Wedding List' is about the powerful force of revenge. An unhealthy energy which in this song proves to be a "killer". (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)

Revenge is so powerful and futile in the situation in the song. Instead of just one person being killed, it's three: her husband, the guy who did it - who was right on top of the wedding list with the silver plates - and her, because when she's done it, there's nothing left. All her ambition and purpose has all gone into that one guy. She's dead, there's nothing there. (Kris Needs, 'Fire in the Bush'. Zigzag, 1980)

Revenge is a terrible power, and the idea is to show that it's so strong that even at such a tragic time it's all she can think about. I find the whole aggression of human beings fascinating - how we are suddenly whipped up to such an extent that we can't see anything except that. Did you see the film Deathwish, and the way the audience reacted every time a mugger got shot? Terrible - though I cheered, myself. (Mike Nicholls, 'Among The Bushes'. Record Mirror, 1980)”.

The final lesser-heard cut that I also think could have been a single is the stunning The Infant Kiss. Maybe it would have caused controversy because people would have misinterpreted the title and lyrics – it is not about Kate Bush having a crush on a child -, she did reveal a brief background to it (“The Infant Kiss' is about a governess. She is torn between the love of an adult man and child who are within the same body. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980”). A beautiful song with some gorgeous compositional elements, production and musicians (Viol: Adam Sceaping; lironi: Jo Sceaping; electric guitar: Alan Murphy; string arrangement: Jo & Adam Sceaping), an American fan called Chris Williams made a video for the song using scenes from the film, The Innocents. Wonderfully Bush contacted him and said that the scenes from the film he choose for the videos were ion his head when she was writing the song! Such a solid album with no weak moments, I wanted to spend time with some of its deeper cuts. I love singles like Babooshka but, as Never for Ever is forty-three on 8th September, I hope people spend time with those rare gems. A moment when Bush took her music to new places and co-produced for the first time – she assisted production on 1978’s Lionheart, but co-producing with Jon Kelly on Never for Ever was her first big foray into production - was huge. The music sounds much more naturally her. You can feel her exploring different sounds and themes. Seemingly more confident and happier as a performer, Never for Ever remains an underrated and…

SIMPLY wonderful album.

FEATURE: Running If You Call My Name: HAIM's Days Are Gone at Ten

FEATURE:

 

 

Running If You Call My Name

HAIM's Days Are Gone at Ten

______________

A modern-day classic debut…

 IN THIS PHOTO: From left to right: Danielle, Alana and Este Haim/PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Beard

turns ten on 27th September. The brilliant HAIM (Los Angeles siblings Este (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle (lead vocals, guitar, and drums), and Alana Haim (guitars, keyboards, and vocals) unveiled this magnificent and instantly original and recognisable Days Are Gone back in 2013. Whereas some consider the album cool, breezy and sunny,  I think it is this very rich and varied album that, even though it is considered a classic, never quite got the dues it earned. I am going to come to some reviews for the album. I would encourage people to pre-order the 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. A group whose third studio album, Women in Music Pt. II, came out in 2020, this is where it all began (in album terms) for HAIM – with the truly remarkable Days Are Gone. I think the tenth anniversary is an important one to mark. It is a big milestone. And it also gives fans and the artist chance to reflect back a decade and see how their careers have progressed since then – and how the album in question has aged and resonated. With Days Are Gone, you have this stunning introduction that still sounds amazing to this day. I feel that Days Are Gone had an impact on current artists like Phoebe Bridgers and her band, boygenius. You can definitely hear elements of the album in other artists. The group have a special fondness for the U.K. and London. The first place where they got real recognition and a passionate fanbase, they recently played a headline slot at All Points East in London. This is what NME wrote in their five-star review:

“In little under a month, Haim‘s debut album ‘Days Are Gone’ turns 10 and later this week, they’ll perform the record in full at an intimate show at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. It’s fitting that they’ve come to the UK and All Points East to celebrate the big anniversary, as they tell the London crowd.

“London and the UK was the first place to ever embrace us so we actually call this home. The fact that all of you are here tonight is really crazy, because 10 years ago we were not playing to this many people and we are really grateful to be here. We want to thank every single one of you because this is why we do this. We want to bring happiness and to play music and this has blown our minds,” says youngest sister Alana with glassy eyes. At one point, the three have their hands cupped to their face, happiness and gratuity brimming from their eyes.

I will come to some reviews. It is important to get some context to Days Are Gone. Released on 27th September, 2013, it was a number one success in the U.K. Instantly confirming them as a group to watch, there was a lot of critical love for this incredible debut. Produced by James Ford, Ludwig Göransson, Alana Haim, Danielle Haim, Este Haim and Ariel Rechtshaid, Days Are Gone seems to summon up visions of California in the summer. It has great harmonies and melodies. This is confidence and kookiness. Incredible songwriting and chemistry between the sisters. It is impossible to dislike HAIM or Days Are Gone. Their debut, to me, remains their most important work. There are a few interviews that caught my eye. A sense of what HAIM were saying and where they were a decade ago. The Guardian spoke to the trio about their growing fanbase (including xx and Primal Scream), how to pronounce their name (“High-im” – the Hebrew word for ‘life’), and those quite sparsely-populated early gigs:

“Their sound has not quite united critics – was this "west coast rock layered with R&B" or a "winning update of 80s US mainstream pop"? – but it was liked enough for Haim to be named the BBC's Sound of 2013 in January. Industry peers have put up noisy support, too, the Arctic Monkeys mooting a collaboration, the xx, Florence Welch, Katy Perry and Ryan Adams announcing themselves fans. "I'm like the fourth Haim sister," said Angel Haze, the Detroit rapper. "Honorary Jew shit."

Pondering all this encouragement, Alana said: "We're just happy they know how to pronounce our name." People tend to say Hame, which is wrong, or Hime, which will do. The girls say it the proper Israeli way (their father is from Jaffa) with a second-syllable hop at the end, High-im. It's the Hebrew word for life, which came to feel appropriate as I spent the day with them.

After one show in their local neighbourhood, Este and Danielle were invited to be a part of a pop quintet called the Valli Girls. Brightly clothed, dead-eyed, they hadn't a hope. One of their early songs was called It's a Hair Thing and featured the lyric "Grab your cell phone /Get your laptop /We're going out to have fun /And shop". Este: "It wasn't necessarily the music we wanted to be making." Danielle: "You live and learn."

Around 2007, Rockenhaim slimmed their line-up to sisters only, their name to Haim, added Dash on drums, and played a first show for about 80 people. This would be Haim's best-attended gig for a while. The sisters got used to playing around LA to crowds of 20, 10, three. "In general," Moti once said, "we had to beg people to come."

Este was studying for a music degree, in 2009, when Danielle was asked to play backing guitar for the singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis. At a New York gig with Lewis, she was spotted by the Strokes' founder Julian Casablancas, then looking to staff a band for his solo work. Danielle called her sister at college. Este: "I dropped the phone. I was like: 'Fuuuck this. My sister's going on tour with Julian Casablancas? Why am I here studying?' That really lit a fire up my ass, to make Haim happen."

Este was chairing her university's events committee at the time. "Trying to settle on a figure that didn't look too shady", she booked Haim to play on campus. "We got $1,000. So thank you very much, Este Haim." They spent the money following Casablancas on tour – all of them, Danielle, Este, Alana, even Moti, who drove. Every night, before Danielle played in Casablancas's band, Haim opened the show.

The former Stroke gave them advice. "Julian told us: disappear, come back in a year with stronger songs and hit the ground running." By the time Alana had finished high school the sisters had a new manager, Jon Lieberberg, and a producer, Ludwig Göransson. They put some early tracks online in February 2012, including the thrilling, twitchy break-up song Forever. A month later, gigging at South by South West in Texas, they caught the ear of a British DJ, Mary Anne Hobbs, then with Xfm. Hobbs played their stuff. Soon, Radio 1 did too.

Hobbs explained Haim's appeal to me: "Infectious melodies, hard-hitting hooks, choruses you could bawl. And they felt like a real gang." Polydor signed Haim that summer and they got an American deal with Columbia six months later. By then, the xx had been in touch, asking the sisters to support them when they played in LA. I happened to interview the British band before the show and watched the xx's Oliver Sim break the heel off his shoe in his rush not to miss Haim's set. A few weeks later, I sat with Mumford and Sons backstage at a gig where they watched Haim's single, Don't Save Me, on YouTube. It was agreed in the room that this was pretty much the perfect pop song”.

In 2013, Este Haim spoke with Stereogum about the then-upcoming Days Are Gone (the article was published on the day the album came out: 27th September). In 2013, HAIM has been named a band to watch by many sites. They won BBC’s Sound Of 2013. They had played opening slots on tours with Phoenix, Florence and The Machine, Mumford and Sons, and Vampire Weekend.

“STEREOGUM: You generated a lot of buzz last summer with “Forever” and now you’re finally putting out your first album. Do you feel pressure or just excitement?

HAIM: We’re really excited but would be lying if we weren’t a little stressed about it. You only put out your first record once! But we’re really proud of it and we worked really hard on it. Still, it’s like having a baby and putting them on TV and having people criticize it. It’s a risk but one we’re willing to take.

STEREOGUM: Speaking of which, how are your parents dealing with your newfound fame?

HAIM: Here’s the thing: if I was a science teacher at a school my parents would be proud of me. When I went to college my parents were really excited. Throughout our childhood my parents were really passionate about all of us having a back-up plan. They encouraged us to play but the whole time we were in the music room playing they wanted to make sure we had a back-up plan. They were supportive but realistic. They taught us to work hard.

STEREOGUM: So what’s your back-up plan?

HAIM: When I turned 18 I got my real estate license. I wanted to sell real estate on Million Dollar Listing on the Bravo Network. I got my license, but I never got to use my license. I have never used it. But if all else fails, there’s still that.

STEREOGUM: Would you date any of the guys on Million Dollar Listing?

HAIM: Oh my god, no. Probably not. I’m probably a foot taller than all of them. I want to date a guy who is at least five or six inches taller than me and I’m six feet tall. If we’re talking about dating from reality shows I would probably go for the guys on Basketball Wives.

STEREOGUM: But they’re all taken, that’s why they’re on Basketball Wives!

HAIM: We’re living in a hypothetical world.

STEREOGUM: Speaking of relationships, how many bad breakups went into making the album?

HAIM: Not that many. The album is partly personal, but when we were writing songs we used our experiences and our friends’ experience and the things we read about in books.

STEREOGUM: Which books influenced your album?

HAIM: All three of us are big into Bukowski and Fante, who was one of Bukowski’s biggest influences. He wrote about LA’s Angel’s Flight in Ask The Dust. We could pick something off the wall and write about it. I mean, we’ve had our share of relationships, some good, some bad, you have to take something away and some of those relationships are in our songs, but there’s no Taylor Swift shenanigans going on. There’s no … what’s the Jewish equivalent? Oh yeah there’s no Dear Shlomo on the album.

STEREOGUM: That’s almost disappointing. Is Taylor Swift on your iPod?

HAIM: She is! I really liked “Our Song.”

STEREOGUM: What else is on your iPod now?

HAIM: The iPod that I use is the one I got for my high school graduation it’s this clunky white 60 gig. It’s so old, but it still works. It hasn’t made it to the Apple graveyard yet. You have one of those, right?

STEREOGUM: Yep. Under my bed.

HAIM: I have the orange Macbook and a bunch of other stuff in there. But on my iPod I tend to have new songs that I get sick of and then delete after I listen over and over again. Right now I’m really into Bat For Lashes. Got to see her a lot on the festival circuit and we dorked out and told her about what big fans we are and she said that she liked “Forever” and we were dying inside that she even knew one of our songs. We listen to Kendrick Lamar a lot and Yeezus gets us pumped for our shows. J. Cole. Now, he’s tall. He’s such a babe. He’s literally 6’6″. I just felt so comfortable in his arms. I let the hug go on a few seconds too long but what can you do? We had a whole moment about getting vegan barbecue in Austin and going on a bicycle caravan ride around the city, but it never came to fruition. The iPod also has a healthy dose of Motown, Temptations, Boys II Men, Smokey Robinson, Jackson Five, Spinners.

STEREOGUM: What was it like recording your first record?

HAIM: Our mission statement when we set out to make this record was … well, we had a wish list of producers, two of whom were Ariel [Rechtshaid] and James [Ford]. We loved Ariel’s work with Cass McCombs and Charli XCX and in the first five minutes we found out we had the same childhood. We were all Valley kids, did all the same shit, went to all the same schools, had a million friends in common. Plus we all take production really seriously. We had a five-hour hang out when it was supposed to be a thirty-minute introduction. We ended up getting beers and vegan sausage and hanging out for hours. We knew right away that we wanted to work with him. We were all on the same page and we all wanted to experiment. He had really great ideas and we were really excited to work with him.

And James, well, he hadn’t done a lot of production in the year before, so we were the first band he worked with after hiatus. That week we wrote and demo’d two songs “Don’t Save Me” and “Let Me Go.” We cut them in a week and they were done — the melodies and the drum track. We did all that in the studio. Then we got to show James around LA. We took him to a bunch of bars, ate our weight at Tender Greens, got to go to Amoeba and do record shopping. It was nice to take a breather out of the studio and have some retail therapy. We just had a lot of fun, which was very different for me. I was used to the studio being stressful, but this was just the opposite”.

The final interview I want to bring in i from TIME. Catching up with HAIM in May 20`14, the trio reflected on a busy and successful year. It was Alana Haim that was answering the question. I can only imagine what it was like releasing a debut album and getting this huge amount of attention and demand. This was a band who would soon tour in massive venues. Quite a rise for a trio who, at one point, were pretty much begging people to come and see them play:

“TIME: What’s the craziest thing that’s happened on tour so far?

Alana Haim: Nothing really crazy happens on tours! The craziest part is that we’re in the U.S. Is that weird? We haven’t been in the U.S. for like two years because we’ve been in Europe. When we were getting ready to do this tour, I was like, “I hope people still remember who we are!” But we’re pretty subdued on tour. We’re not a big crazy band.

The problem is our immune systems actually hate us. We can’t do anything on tour because we’re afraid we’re going to get sick. It’s all from our parents. Growing up, getting sick was like the world was ending. We’re the chillest rock stars of all time. All we do after a show is chill in our bus and watch movies.

Songs like “My Song 5” and “Days Are Gone” aren’t your usual guitar-based pop. Were they hard songs to adapt live?

All of the tracks on our records are really dense and have these crazy sounds. They’re really full of different things, and that was the hardest thing, to pick and choose what we could play. Believe me, if I had two extra hands, life would be a million times easier for me.

But you already do so much — keyboards, guitars, drums, singing.

They call me Merlin. That’s my nickname. My wizard station has a million things on it. But that’s the fun part — I’m never bored on stage.

During one song, you told the audience to put down their phones and live in the moment. Are concert-goers today too busy Instagramming and Snapchatting?

I don’t think it’s a problem. There was a girl in the front row, and she yawned and was texting. I was like, why are you even here? You seem so unenthused! Obviously you got here early to be in the front row. When I go to shows, the last thing I want to do is text someone, unless I’m texting someone “My face is getting melted right now.” It’s kind of like the ADD age — we can’t sit and listen to music anymore.

Before Days Are Gone came out, a lot of people made Fleetwood Mac comparisons and fixated on 1970s rock influences. Did you know you were going to surprise them with some unexpected sounds?

I don’t think it was our intention to completely surprise people. With “My Song 5” and “Days Are Gone,” we had written them in the studio. We were like, “Oh God, are these songs too different from the other songs?” And finally we realized if we like the song, it’s going on the record, and we don’t give a sh-t. It’s awesome because “My Song 5” is the biggest song live. Everyone loves that song live. Everyone knows that song, everyone sings along, which is cool because in the studio, we were freaking out.

Do you think Days Are Gone is a breakup album?

I feel like, if it was a breakup album, I would listen to it and feel sad, and I don’t really feel like it’s a sad album. Days Are Gone is more of a record that explains the past six years of our lives. Some of the songs we wrote in 2008, some of the songs we wrote a year ago. It’s the story of me, Este and Danielle growing up at different points in our lives. A lot of people have come up to me and said, “This song got me through a rough breakup,” which is so rad, because when I’m going through a sad breakup, I always listen to Tom Petty’s “You Got Lucky.” That’s my get-over-a-broken-heart song because it’s such a f-ck-you song. To write a song that other people go through to get through the day? It’s an honor.

I’d guess that mish-mash of experiences accurately captures the messiness of breakups.

The record is all about what we went through and what our friends went through. Some songs that seem like breakups aren’t even really about breakups. But I think the craziest thing for us is that we put out Days Are Gone. We’ve been a band for six years, almost seven, and we’d never put out a debut record. It’s kind of a running joke — our next record is going to come out in 2020! But it’s not. It’s definitely coming soon”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Big Hassle

There are so many positive reviews for Days Are Gone. Whilst some of the positive reviews contain an unnecessary note of caution and criticism – the music not being ‘cool’; it not being to everyone’s taste etc. -, there were those who were more focused on the music and its true value. That said, AllMusic’s opening line mentions how HAIM’s music is not cool – something that they think works in its favour:

“There is nothing cool about Haim's music, and that's why it's so refreshing. While many of their contemporaries engaged in a contest to find the most obscure influences, and '80s revivalists sucked synth-pop and new wave dry, the Haim sisters dug up the decade's biggest, poppiest sounds and fashioned a captivating debut album out of them. Days Are Gone sounds all the more unusual precisely because it's so mainstream; a list of their influences -- Stevie Nicks, Phil Collins, En Vogue, Shania Twain -- looks like a glance at the Top 40 from about 25 years before the album's release. Likewise, these songs revel in that era's sometimes-cheesy flourishes without a trace of irony, and the gated drums, gleaming synths, and muted guitars that dominate Days Are Gone haven't sounded so good since their original heyday. Not that Haim's approach is unstudied; the trio obviously did their homework to revive and embody these sounds so perfectly, and it took them five years of recording and re-recording these songs until they had just the right mix of smoothness and immediacy.

The hard work paid off: Days Are Gone is full of should-be hits like "The Wire," which boasts a big, fist-pumping beat and sassy guitar licks (they can only be called that). Compared to the thin voices of so many 2010s pop stars, singer Danielle Haim's rich alto only adds to the group's throwback feel, but like her sisters, she's remarkably versatile. Over the course of the album, Haim captures and explores the nuances within the styles they're reviving: there's the sweet soft rock of "Honey & I" or "Don't Save Me," the title track's tight synth-pop, and the dark, driving territory of "Let Me Go" and "My Song 5," which, with its slinky melody and hard-hitting beats, makes the most of the trio's much-touted R&B influences. This song, along with much of Days Are Gone, features production by Ariel Rechtshaid, whose work with Usher and Vampire Weekend proves he has the breadth to help Haim unite their ideas into a coherent sound. Still, it's the writing that ultimately prevents Days Are Gone from being just an extremely accurate exercise in nostalgia. The best moments here, such as the bookends "Falling" and "Running If You Call My Name," would be great pop songs regardless of when they sound like they're from. A debut album that could pass for a greatest-hits collection, Days Are Gone will provide musical comfort food for some, and possibly an introduction to irony-free pop for others”.

I will finish with a review from The Line of Best Fit. Even though the review sort of goes off on a detour and tangent to start, they, alongside so many, held a lot of love for an amazing debut album. It is one that I keep listening to. Its impact and brilliance has not faded:

“Embarking on this review, I was surprised to read one day that Haim claim to have struggled to be seen as “more than just a girl band”. Now I’m not going to delve into the politically correct – or incorrect – guidelines of what is or isn’t considered sexist in the music industry and/or if that’s even an issue, because a) I am bound to upset someone, which is not the reason I’ve brought this up or b) considering girl band vs boy band (or perhaps, ultimately, girl vs boy) isn’t going to do the trio any favours, since it would probably highlight uncomfortable differences, ideas and opinions which would in turn bring us back to point a) etc., and quite frankly, walking around in circles is both dizzying and pointless.

There is no denying, however, that there is a stigma that lurks beneath the generally positive, empowering ideas that equate ‘female’ and ‘in a band’ – which is why Haim’s declaration of struggle wasn’t perhaps all that surprising after all. It is a stigma that, all in all, is both fading and unnecessary, but my views on its existence at all are obviously better suited to expression on a blog which in no way would reflect the views or opinions of the BBC and so forth. But, the reason I’m pointing all this out is because really, this ‘girl band’ can relax about the struggle. Days Are Gone is not ‘just another record by just another girl band’ but a record, by a band, who are all women. And that’s how it – and all albums, regardless of gender and sidestepping stereotype – ought to be considered.

Now that that’s all out of the way, let’s talk about the record. Days Are Gone opens with ‘Falling’, a pulsating, resonant reminder that you can’t stand up without falling down. Echoes bounce off each other and drums hammer their way irregularly beneath delayed guitar riffs to build towards a united exclamation – “never look back and never give up”.

Without the old there would be no new, however, as shown by follow-up track ‘Forever’ which is still a strong reminder of why our ears excitedly stood to attention last March. ‘The Wire’ is a passionately catchy live-favourite with a chorus and cyclic stick-in-your-head rhythm that deserves crowd clap-and-sing-alongs.

The first of four brand new songs on the record, ‘If I Could Change Your Mind’ is a feverish, sultry clattering of cymbals that swells into an earnest stream of consciousness, nostalgia, possibilities, and regret. ‘Honey & I’, with its muffled chords and tender narratives – “I know there’s nothing good in goodbye”; “This song can’t be played alone / It was made to be played with my honey and I” – layers irregular beats atop unpredictable yet precisely timed vocals and harmonies, building towards a riotous refrain that pulls back to a restrained chiming.

Overall, Days Are Gone showcases the band’s individual strengths that have been pulled together to create a collective group with intensity and depth of potential. Featuring old and new, the expected (‘Don’t Save Me’) and the unexpected (‘My Song 5’), it creates its own spectral glow that it proceeds to deservedly bask in. In fact, by the time the hauntingly darker, semi-synthesized ‘Running If You Call My Name’ closes this 11-track debut, unforgettable melodies will linger to ease the slight disappointment that it doesn’t last as long as I’d like. But we needn’t worry; there’s no denying that for Haim, their days aren’t gone, but just beginning”.

It would be good if there were retrospective reviews for Days Are Gone. I found quite a few concentrated on stuff that was not relevant. Even many positive reviews contained a slight note of caution. Days Are Gone deserves better than that. It introduced us to HAIM. After playing some big gigs in London last week, the group will look ahead to the tenth anniversary of their epic and stunning debut. Since 2013, they have gone on to release further acclaimed albums. They are headlining festivals and are a massive success story. It all started with Days Are Gone. A number one success here (it has gone Platinum in the U.K.),  the Californian sisters are cherished and hugely admired by their British fans. HAIM stormed O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire last Thursday (31st) - where they played their debut album in full. Go and listen to the wonderful debut album from…

THE incomparably brilliant HAIM.

FEATURE: Beg for You: Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama’s Minor Disagreement Highlights How Fans React to Artists’ Personal Matters

FEATURE:

 

 

Beg for You

IN THIS PHOTO: Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX in March 2022/PHOTO CREDIT: David M Benett/Getty Images 

Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama’s Minor Disagreement Highlights How Fans React to Artists’ Personal Matters

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IT has sort of gone out the music news now…

 PHOTO CREDIT: pvproductions via Freepik

but recently there was a bit of a set-to or non-event between terrific music queens, Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX. They collaborated on the track, Beg for You, and are good friends. The reason I wanted to expand on something that relates to Charli XCX being rumoured to be romantically linked to The 1975’s drummer, George Daniel, and how fans interpret things, impose in artists’ lives. It is also about female friendship and swift, friendly and non-dramatic resolution. Sites including CLASH asked what was happening between Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama online. Sawayama seemingly disapproving of her friend being linked to a man in a band fronted by Matty Healy. They (The 1975 and Rina Sawayama) are on the Dirty Hit label, and Healy has been accused of racism, misogyny, sexism and is seen very much as an unsavoury character. The fact that Charli XCX could be linked to George Daniel – and, by association, maybe aligning with Matty Healy -, is something that caused them to disconnect on Instagram and have this brief moment of tension. Billboard fill in the details:

“Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama are not fighting. On Wednesday (Aug. 30), Charli took to X, formerly known as Twitter after she was criticized for unfollowing her “Beg for You” collaborator on Instagram.

On social media, fans noticed that Charli — who has openly supported and Sawayama throughout the years — unfollowed the “STFU!” singer on Instagram. On Tuesday, Charli tweeted “messy era,” which then caused feud rumors to circulate online.

look - this all got a bit crazy - me and rina spoke about things on the phone just now. my unfollowing (which happened a couple of weeks ago) was over a personal disagreement between friends which we’ve now spoken about <3

— Charli (@charli_xcx) August 30, 2023

Fans suspected that a possible feud between Charli and Sawayama dates back to when Sawayama used her set at the Glastonbury Festival on June 24 to seemingly call out The 1975‘s frontman Matty Healy, who came under fire at the time for making comments that mocked Asians and other marginalized groups on a February episode of The Adam Friedland Show. (Charli’s current boyfriend, George Daniel, is Healy’s longtime friend and is the drummer for The 1975.)

“I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of these microaggressions. So tonight, this goes out to a white man that watches ‘Ghetto Gaggers’ and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters,” she said during her Glastonbury set. “I’ve had enough!”

After the alleged feud began trending on X, Charli, Sawayama and Healy all became trending topics on the platform Wednesday, which Charli used as an opportunity to clear the air.

“Look – this all got a bit crazy – me and Rina spoke about things on the phone just now. My unfollowing (which happened a couple of weeks ago) was over a personal disagreement between friends which we’ve now spoken about <3,” Charli tweeted, adding, “anyways stream beg for you!”

Neither Sawayama or Healy have commented on the matter”.

The whole event has been resolved. Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX have spoken on the phone and cleared the air. Whether rumours of Charli XCX and George Daniel are true are not – one hopes not, as I think trouble follows The 1975 -, the ‘drama’ unfolded through fan speculation and intuition. Maybe making too much out of something, the fact there was this Instagram uncoupling and little bit of shade between the two was blown out of all proportion. I can see where Sawayama was coming from regarding Charli XCX. Not making it about herself, I feel she was concerned that she was making a bad decision and was getting into bed (not literally) with a musician who is friends with Matty Healy.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Terrence O'Connor

Nothing has developed when it comes to Charli XCX-George Daniel. Let’s hope that things are kept private and, if anything does happen, it does not cause friction between two friends. Too, the fact Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX got on the phone and had a chat and have worked things out is a mature and really impressive. Not to say men wouldn’t do this - though you feel there would be more fighting, heightened social media prodding and insults. Instead, as Charli XCX posted in a tweet, things got crazy and out of hand. Aside from Charli XCX or Rina Sawayama’s personal and love lives being something that is personal to them, it does seem to highlight a few questions. There has been a lot of talk about fans being too involved in artists’ lives and that intrusiveness. In this case, there was a lot of good humour. There was also a lot of negative comments and things that could have upset or insulted Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX. I am not sure how this all started, though the fact that the two artists’ disagreement exploded into something a lot more speaks for how fans have this real attachment and interest in artists. Whether unhealthy or not, I guess there was concern and genuine love. I do wonder whether fans need to back down a bit and maybe not stoke flames or create this artificial rivalry and fall-out!

Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX having a falling out over Matty Healy who owns Rina's masters is my Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss having a falling out over Scooter Braun who owns Taylor's masters https://t.co/uuYEkSlMw7

— તીર્થના (@_darkdoomhoney) August 29, 2023

It is also encouraging and inspiring seeing how a good friendship is maintained and something that could have turned ugly and very personal was averted. Instead of escalating things on Instagram and the two warring for weeks, they were able to take a step back, chat in private, and then announce things are okay. Rina Sawayama has not spoken about things since the news broke, but her issues with Matty Healy and him being on the same label as her remains. I don’t think she will ever be okay with him. That is not to say that Charli XCX is going to pal with Healy. As far as I know, the two are not great friends. Maybe Healy and Charli XCX have been quite close before, though the association between her and George Daniel seems quite vague and unsubstantiated. It also makes me wonder about artists who are associated with and get involved with controversial or divisive artists and how fans react. When Taylor Swift briefly dated Healy earlier this year, many of her fans judged her and asked what she was doing. That seemingly unwise decision to associate with Matty Healy was met with a lot of social media criticism. Let’s hope there is no further disagreement or possible differences between Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX. I think that the whole situation and its notable aspects – the civil and quick resolution; the fans’ division and opinion about the matter and their role; the way potentially controversial relationships impact artists – that interested me. Let’s also hope that the amazing Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX get back in the studio and…

COLLABORATE again.

FEATURE: Murphy’s Law? At a Time When Distinctly Problematic Artists Are Not Punished or Penalised, Is Róisín Murphy’s ‘Cancellation’ Proportionate?

FEATURE:

 

Murphy’s Law?

At a Time When Distinctly Problematic Artists Are Not Punished or Penalised, Is Róisín Murphy’s ‘Cancellation’ Proportionate?

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I will keep this quite brief (and on-brief)…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Alice Cooper/PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Fenn

because, at a time when there is so much discussion about trans rights and the transgender community, the conversation and waters are being muddied by some artists expressing their views. Carlos Santana and Alice Cooper are two very recent examples of artists who are either mocking trans people are feeling like it is a ‘fad’ (Cooper’s term). You can read what Santana said, and Cooper. Whilst Cooper has lost a cosmetics deal – baffling that he got one in the first place! -, he is allowed to tour and promote his music widely without any limits or curfews. Away from transgender conversations, artists like Matty Healy have repeatedly got into hot water regarding views and remarks seen as racist, misogynistic and sexist. A term, people rather timidly and unhelpful label ‘controversial’, these artists, the vast majority of whom are men, are not checked or challenged by labels or the industry. They may get dragged on social media – and rightly so in many incidents! -, yet they do not sincerely apologise or learn from things. The trans community has received a lot of unwarranted and un-asked-for hatred and ignorance from so many people. From famous figures to trolls online, many are sharing their views – which they were definitely not asked for! -, as to whether they thinks trans people should have rights; if trans women are women; if trans women/men are dangers to society; if kids should be mutilated (which no child is!). There is so much disinformation and misguided vitriol and acid being thrown at a community who only want understanding, equality and acceptance.

 IN THIS PHOTO: The 1975’s Matty Healy/PHOTO CREDIT: Adam Pardee/Special to The Chronicle

To make my position clear, if it was needed at all: I 100% and fully support and love the trans community. Activists like Charlie Craggs ands Katy Montgomery are people I look up to. Inspiring women who often have to field personal attacks and abuse that makes your heart break. There is a lot of talk around transgender rights and topics with people like Graham Linehan throwing grenades at the trans community whenever he can! It is a very difficult subject to get involved in. Whilst there should be freedom to discuss the transgender community, many artists are having their say without knowing realities, facts…and what it is to be a trans person. Many assuming children are forced into transitioning or being mutilated. That somehow these people should not be allowed the same rights and freedom as all of us. Puberty blockers is a side of the transgender ‘debate’ (if that is even the correct word?!) because of something said by Róisín Murphy (“Please don’t call me a terf [trans-exclusionary radical feminist], please don’t keep using that word against women [praying emojis] I beg you! but puberty blockers ARE FUCKED, absolutely desolate, big Pharma laughing all the way to the bank. Little mixed up kids are vulnerable and need to be protected, that’s just true”). Following that post on her private Facebook account, that comment was dragged into Twitter and wider. Murphy, as a result, received a lot of hatred that seems hugely unwarranted and disproportionate. Maybe the comments should have come with more support of the trans community - and a bit more research and knowledge going in. It opens up a couple of debates I will get to. One consequence of this storm is that her label., Ninja Tune, has halted promotion of her upcoming album, Hit Parade. That comes out in a week – and Murphy is unable to promote it, thus affecting sales and chart position. Whilst some defence of Murphy has been misguided and seemingly anti-trans rather than pro-women/freedom of speech, there has been a division as to, a) whether Murphy was right to post these comments and it comes from a place or concern rather than discrimination and, b) why her label has decided to cancel promotion of the album and donate profits to charities supporting the trans community.

Murphy has said how she regrets her actions and words; she did not want this to become a public thing. She is focused on her music and her post was her expressing concerns for the health of some children. If you are not sure what puberty blockers are and the side-effects they can have, here is some valuable information:

“Puberty can be confusing or difficult for a child who is transgender, genderqueer, nonbinary or questioning their gender.

Puberty blockers, also called hormone blockers, help delay unwanted physical changes that don’t match someone’s gender identity. Delaying these changes can be an important step in a young person’s transition. It can also give your child more time to explore their options before deciding whether or how to transition.

How Do Puberty Blockers Work?

Using puberty blockers is like hitting a pause button. By blocking the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen, puberty blockers delay changes that can affect gender expression, including:

Breast growth

Facial hair growth

Periods

Voice deepening

Widening hips

Puberty blockers don’t stop acne, body odor, or underarm and pubic hair development, because these changes are not controlled only by estrogen or testosterone.

Are Puberty Blockers Safe?

Most experts, including our team, believe that puberty blockers are safe:

The Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health support the use of puberty blockers for kids who want to delay or prevent unwanted physical changes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved puberty blockers for children who start puberty at a young age.

What Are the Side Effects of Puberty Blockers?

While puberty blockers are generally considered safe, they have some side effects. Not everyone experiences the following, but some people do.

“Because every child is different, there isn’t a single best age to begin puberty blockers” 

Possible long-term side effects of puberty blockers

Lower bone density. To protect against this, we work to make sure every patient gets enough exercise, calcium and vitamin D, which can help keep bones healthy and strong. We also closely monitor patients’ bone density.

Delayed growth plate closure, leading to slightly taller adult height.

Less development of genital tissue, which may limit options for gender affirming surgery (bottom surgery) later in life.

Other possible long-term side effects that are not yet known.

Possible short-term side effects of puberty blockers

Headache, fatigue, insomnia and muscle aches.

Changes in weight, mood or breast tissue.

Spotting or irregular periods (in menstruating patients whose periods are not completely suppressed by puberty blockers).

For children who want to delay or prevent unwanted physical changes, the mental health benefits of puberty blockers may outweigh these risks.

At What Age Can You Start Taking Puberty Blockers?

Because every child is different, there isn’t a single best age to begin puberty blockers.

In general, starting puberty blockers in early puberty leads to better outcomes and prevents the lifelong difficulties that can result from living with undesired sex characteristics. While they can stop puberty from progressing, however, blockers can’t reverse changes that have already happened.

Are Puberty Blockers Permanent?

No, puberty blockers are temporary:

Injectable blockers (such as Lupron) can last one, three or six months. Patients can continue getting injections until they decide what to do next.

Implants (such Supprelin), which are placed just under the skin in the arm, can last 12 to 24 months before they need to be replaced.

Both types are meant to give patients more time to consider their options:

If your child decides to continue transitioning, they will likely want to consider hormone therapy and possibly gender affirming surgery.

If your child decides that they want to develop characteristics of the sex they were assigned at birth, they can simply stop taking puberty blockers. Once the puberty blockers are out of their system, they’ll go through the puberty of the sex assigned at birth. Puberty blockers alone should not affect your child’s fertility, but hormone therapy can”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Oriel Frankie Ashcroft/Pexels

I am someone who wholeheartedly supports and respects every member of the trans community. I am researching, educating myself and listening to conversations as much as I can. I have never felt it wise to share opinions or negativity at all in case I am misinformed or off the mark. I do not want to wade into a discourse and debate that is raging and is very tricky to navigate. So many people are trolling and attacking the trans community. It means that something quite innocent, slightly misguided or innocuous can be seen as hateful and deemed to be anti-trans or vile. Whilst Murphy was not trying to settle an argument, put out a big statement or political view or stir controversy, as a public figure, her personal posts are always vulnerable to being shared wider. Whether you agree with what she said or felt that it has made it even more imperative that artists are responsible and informed when making statements like that – even though she was expressing a personal belief and not trying to debate fact or make offend -, it is clear that the response from Ninja Tune is too harsh. More a dirty bomb, pulling promotion of Hit Parade and making a very clear point can be seen in two ways. It is reassuring that a label will take decisive measures if they feel an artist has acted irresponsibly and caused a lot of offence. This word, ‘problematic’, come to mind. Whilst a lot of those sharing their views about children/the trans community are very wrong and offensive, Róisín Murphy’s viewpoint is not poisonous or attacking the trans community. Her heart seems to be in the right place - although you can see why at a time when trans rights and the community are in focus and getting a lot of abuse, that some might have felt Murphy was on the wrong side/in the middle of right and wrong. In any case, unlike some male artists who have not been punished for being definitively anti-trans, Murphy has wholeheartedly apologised and stated that this was the last remark about the trans community.

That seems to signal that, whilst her words are not false and something she regrets, she is not someone trying to make anyone upset or offended. It was a personal opinion on a very divisive and complicated subject that has been made public and, as a result, led to a very strong riposte from her label. There does need to be more conversation and education out there for artists. It would be great to see more artists, particularly men, actively supporting the trans community. The music community has many great trans artists in its midst. There are many more coming through fearful of judgment and trolling simply because they want to be who they are meant to be. This idea that many people online need to attack and spit at something they do not understand and does not impact them in any way is very strange. It is almost like a wave or cult. I think there need to be consistency when it comes to how labels deal with artists who have deservedly or not been attacked because of what they say about trans people. In a world where some very unpleasant male artists reign and are celebrated, one cannot help but feel there is something sexist and misogynistic about this. Alice Cooper has not received the same outcome as Murphy. Why do male artists get a pass or small slap on the wrist?! My views and love for the trans community is very clear. I don’t want to get into a debate about free speech and whether people who are anti-trans should do so because they have that ‘right’. I am vehemently against anyone anti-trans, though I think Róisín Murphy was more concerned with children’s’ wellbeing and maybe it was perceived as being transphobic. It is a very unfortunate situation where the end result is disproportionate when you look at what started this. Cancel culture is a term that is thrown around. It is another debate I am not getting into that much. Should ‘comedian’ Graham Linehan be ‘cancelled’ for being anti-trans – and seemingly having free speech – and others are not?!

When it comes to Róisín Murphy, her new album is going to be damaged because she cannot promote it. There is no news whether she will be dropped and how things will shape up going forward. Her social media accounts are still active; Murphy has not posted further after her apology. Many feel the apology was unwarranted given the nature of the comment. Others feel she was walking things back and it was too little too late. When it comes to music, the fact that Róisín Murphy has suffered quite a heavy blow when many male peers have not been accosted or spoken to, it does raise new issues. Can a label like Ninja Tune be seen as ethical and correct regarding the trans debate when they are showing misogyny and sexism?! People can quibble about it, but it does seem like a male artist on their label would not get the same treatment. If Róisín Murphy has not been ‘cancelled’ completely – she will record more albums and tours -, this is a dark-black mark against her name. Ninja Tune have shown their hand when it comes to artists who cause controversy regarding things like trans rights and children (and the ethics around puberty blockers). It is clear that there needs to be conversation and more defined guidelines when it comes to artists across all labels and how they are treated if a remark their make is seen as controversial or discriminating. Maybe Ninja Tune are being cautious and do not want negative attention to follow press for Hit Parade. Does this mean that Róisín Murphy has a future and stable at the label? It is a very tense and unclear situation. All we do know is that, rather than create conversation and greater awareness about the trans community and all sides of it – from transitioning treatment and surgery to hormone blockers and trans rights -, it has stirred up a somewhat sexist and misogynistic storm – something that has been present and correct in music for decades! The focus is now away from trans rights and the community and on to how women are treated in the industry compared to men. I do hope that artists who are definitely anti-trans do not come out and make statements – like Alice Cooper -, as it is hurting people in ways many cannot comprehend or appreciate. It causes so much online hatred to people who deserve love and respect. Whereas Ninja Tune could have spoken to Murphy and accepted the apology, the promotion ban has made things much worse. When it comes to the trans community and ensuring that they are not misrepresented and attacked, what is to be done?! This clash between Ninja Tune and one of their most loved artist has taken the conversation about trans rights…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Katie Rainbow 🏳️‍🌈/Pexels

IN the wrong direction.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Fran Lobo

FEATURE:

 

Spotlight

Fran Lobo

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NOT only is Fran Lobo…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Van Giap

one of the most impressive and must-hear artists coming through at the moment. Her debut album – 2021’s Brave was her debut E.P. –, Burning It Feels Like, is one of the finest of 2023. This year so far has been a magnificent one for debut albums. Prior to getting to a review of that album, there are a few interviews I want to bring in. Before that, here is some background about the East London artist:

“Fran Lobo is a singer, songwriter, producer, choral composer and sound artist from London. Her work is centred around the importance of having a voice and enabling others to doing the same through her creative and facilitation work. Her work has been shown at the V&A, Southbank Centre and Somerset House and has been critically acclaimed by publications such as DAZED, i-D and The Guardian. From DAZED: ‘FRAN LOBO is one of a kind. The London-based singer songwriter is currently carving out a niche of her own, creating music that all at once manages to be ethereal, empowering and perfect for a sing-along, and conjuring up comparisons to artists as diverse as PJ Harvey, Grimes and Rage Against the Machine’. In 2017, Matthew Herbert asked Lobo to support him at his show at the Barbican. Whilst rehearsing for the show, she jammed out this song in a rehearsal room in Peckham, layering and looping her voice, improvising synth lines and a vocal melody. It came together in 20 mins. It is a favourite for her to perform live because it feels raw, urgent and different each time. After recording it in her bedroom in South London, the track has been slowly built upon with Bruno Ellingham in Massive Attack's Bristol studio as well as at Devon Analogue Studio and Press Play Studios in Bermondsey with Stereolab's Andy Ramsay”.

I will get to some more in-depth and long-form interviews. Here, Fred Perry asked some quickfire questions. Fran Lobo’s musical inspirations and tastes are really interesting. It is hard to hear clear influences in her music, but it is clear that she is influenced by a wide array of sounds and artists. This comes through in her spectacular debut album, Burning It Feels Like:

“Name, where are you from?

Fran Lobo, East London.

Describe your style in three words?

Whatever I find.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?

The Prodigy, Lowlands Festival 2008. It felt like the pit of hell, and it was completely enveloping. The energy from Keith Flint and the rest of the band together with the set and the lighting was out of this world.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?

Kate Bush and David Bowie. Two absolute legends. It would be amazing to be on such a theatrical and mesmeric lineup. Fabulous songwriters and vocalists. We could all perform a dance montage.

Which subcultures have influenced you?

Garage (2-step rhythms and MC's), punk (scratch/DIY/no rules attitude), dubstep (hip shattering bass and groove) and nu-metal (soulful noise).

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?

Freddie Mercury. To hear all of his crazy stories and to connect with his upbringing in India.

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

Servant Jazz Quarters, Dalston. Such an intimate, soulful space with an incredibly passionate and creative team.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?

I adore the band Smerz from Copenhagen. They should be a lot more well known and celebrated than they are. Two women producing and performing together, music with no rules and with a really strong identity.

The first track you played on repeat?

'Never Ever' by All Saints.

A song that defines the teenage you?

'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus”.

I want to bring in an interview from earlier in the year. Loud and Quiet spoke with Fran Lobo about her career so far, in addition to her (then) forthcoming album. Even though she is not brand-new on the scene, her debut album has definitely put her in many people’s sights. A fascinating artist we are going to hear a lot more from:

“In 2015, she released her first EP, Beautiful Blood, and has been putting music out ever since: at first a slew of self-releases, then two more EPs through tastemaking London label Slow Dance in 2020 and 2021, before being tapped by Heavenly. Her output through the years has been varied in genre, but defined by a unique approach to production, creating bold soundscapes that underpin often quite vulnerable lyrics. “Sometimes when I listen back I think, ‘Oh, poor little Franny’, ’cos every track is like struggling, struggling, struggling… I don’t think I’m doing it intentionally, I’m not like, ‘I’m going to make music  that’s dark,’ it’s just how it comes out. But I think what I try to do a lot with the production is bring it into a different world.”

She still works as an educator, but now does so in a musical context, working to facilitate music workshops and classes for young people as well as adults with cognitive issues such as aphasia or dementia. It’s more than just a side hustle.

“It feeds me a lot actually,” she says. “It’s nice, because that’s the essence of what music is. We’re working with groups that are making music to express themselves, it’s the purest way of making music – that’s been nice to come back to this week, to get away from the music release world.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Gem Harris

I’m reminded of a similar sentiment Lobo expressed earlier in our chat, talking about singing with Chua and Groves, and how working on stuff outside of their artist projects allows them to top up “the good juice. Trying to navigate the industry side of things can get really draining. The joy of making music – it’s not about promoting yourself, it’s about making noise, communicating with each other.”

Despite her acknowledgement of the challenging aspects of commercially releasing music, Fran Lobo is unashamedly ambitious. An album is currently in the works. “It’s always been a goal to see my record in the shops,” she tells me. “My dream when I was a young kid was: I want to be in a band, and I want to have a little van and we just go on tour. That’s my life, and even if I don’t have much money I’m living my dream.”  

Her dream goes well beyond straightforward album campaigns. In the past, Lobo has worked on installations: her piece Voicescolourmotion, a sound and light installation created with the artist Gawain Hewitt, was shown at the V&A and Snapes Maltings in 2019. The piece was a meditation on losing her voice a few years earlier, from pushing herself too hard.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gem Harris

“I was leading two choirs, doing lots of teaching and workshops, and doing gigs all at the same time. And going out all the time,” she recalls, telling me she’d like to make more such work. “In an ideal world when I put out a project, I wanna have a launch show where there are installations and visual art as part of it.”

Another aspiration is to make her own films; she directed the video for ‘All I Want’, as well as doing all her own styling, which she describes as a “crazy experience”. The result is an impressive short which is as much early-2000s MTV as it is gothic thriller – Lobo lists Dario Argento and the Coen Brothers’ Macbeth as influences alongside Madonna, Kate Bush and Björk. Like the track itself, the video takes a drastic turn at the last minute. After four minutes of sultry, eerie balladeering, Lobo cackles and the beat speeds up drastically, turning the song on its head completely for the remaining 40 seconds, as the camera spins and the lighting turns blood red.

This element of surprise and expecting the unexpected is a theme in Lobo’s work, which has never been easy to categorise or define by genre. “I like things where you’re throwing paint at something, it should never be like, ‘This is the song,’” she says with a glint of mischief in her eye. “I like challenging what you think the song should be – I’m not going to do what you think I’m going to do”.

I will end with NME’s take on Fran Lobo’s Burning It Feels Like soon. Prior, I want to drop in a great chat between METAL and the London wonder. I am going to be fascinated to see where she heads next. With an album out there in the world, there is a lot of demand and interest around Fran Lobo. Long may that continue:

“Emphasising community and natural production, Lobo manages to craft a personal treatise through her work, unafraid of difficult themes, her music gives way to emotion, embodying it in a way that is raw and powerful. While her early work brought media acclaim from outlets such as Dazed, The Fader, The Guardian, and BBC Radio 1, Burning It Feels Like is sure to turn heads as her debut album, arriving three years after her last EP. Teased through early singles Tricks and All I Want, accompanied by their respective woozy and aesthetic music videos, it is set to be a deeply personal and poignant release for Lobo.

Honing in on the concept of ‘love addiction,’ the feeling of being enveloped in a heated connection with another person and the highs and lows associated with being hooked on someone in such a way, Lobo picks apart the personal and lays herself bare. Entirely written and produced by Lobo, Burning It Feels Like is an exciting next step for the uncompromising artist.

Hi there Fran, thank you so much for your time. Super excited to listen to your debut album, I read that the inspiration for the title came from a therapy session. This obviously hints at the personal nature of your work, what strengths do you find in being vulnerable?

Hey, thank you! The inspiration for the album title came from the practice of recognising and locating feelings and sensations in the body and sitting with them to understand them – letting them be present and then noticing when they are triggered and when they pass. The title hints at feelings of anxiety, hurt, and addiction as well as a whole host of other feelings which can’t necessarily be named. I wanted the listener to interpret it in their own way.

I feel things very deeply, so showing my vulnerability and being able to express that in my music is my way of processing and expressing these emotions and learning more about myself along the way. I feel that music in essence is an act of vulnerability, pure release and expression, which is a strength as well as a gift.

You did your own production for the album, alongside Andy Ramsay of Stereolab as engineer. What was this process like?

I wrote and produced my album, bringing in trusted collaborators to help bring the vision to life, offer their interpretations and ideas as well as to keep me company during the journey as it gets a little lonely working by yourself and I love being around people in the studio.

I worked with Andy and Jimmy Robertson on my EP Brave, which was released on Slowdance Records in 2021. They both engineered and Jimmy mixed the record. I really enjoyed working with them, so I decided to get them on board for the album too as well as pulling in my earliest collaborator on this project, Pascal Bideau (Akusmi) and composer/producer, Sam Beste (The Vernon Spring) to contribute layers, ideas, co-engineer and co-produce. They are not all on every track, but I brought them in to offer specific things on various pieces. Jimmy Robertson mixed the entire record – he is a very special person and my ride-or-die in the studio!

The process of making this record was quite lengthy. The main task was reimagining and re-producing older songs to fit with the general vision of the newer material. In a sense, this debut record was also a deep process of finding my voice in the fullest way, which was at times a solitary journey working late in the studio on my own, eating hula hoops and trying things, getting stuck, taking long breaks between working and then trying to work things out almost like a puzzle either solo or bringing in other musicians to try ideas and then organising and arranging it all in the mixing process.

 The album is set to be released on Heavenly recordings, what drew you to this label?

The main thing that drew me to Heavenly was the trust and openness they had with me from the beginning. There was no ‘let us know what happens and keep us in the loop… we are interested.’ It was more ‘We love what you do and we want to work with you’ straight after the first meeting! I was taken aback by their belief and passion and the fact that they are really nice and warm people. They don’t feel like ‘music industry’ and they let me get on with my work in my own way.

Initially, you were more drawn to performance rather than writing lyrics, what eventually sparked your transition to writing?

Being drawn to writing was a natural progression from performance as I felt it was a fuller way of telling my story. Growing up, I performed in musicals and loved the theatre, but looking around, everyone looked the same and you had to have a certain look and even personality to fit into these crowds. I was just like, I’m different, I want to say something! And in order to do that I should write my own music.

As a teenager walking around with headphones on at all times, I fell in love with a boy in my theatre group and I wrote my first song, Jamie. I asked my music teacher to help me scribe parts for clarinet and violin and I performed the song on the piano as part of my first-ever gig at the school music concert in Year 10. After that, I was like this is pretty great, I want to keep doing this.

Having overcome a traumatic experience within the music industry, to now be releasing your debut on your own terms is a powerful journey. How did you manage to bridge these experiences?

Support from friends and turning to music to release my emotions has always been a powerful tool for me and having a strong musical community, cultivating relationships with fellow musicians and close friends such as Lucinda Chua and Laura Groves has helped me feel uplifted and loved. My label, Heavenly, has also been very supportive and nurturing to me, letting me do things in my own time.

You are in some ways a performer before you are a musician.  Does your work as an artist who works with installations feel disparate from your work as a singer and songwriter?

All the work that I do is intrinsically linked. The goal is always to express and show vulnerability and to learn about myself. I am very interested in the human voice and in sound design for example, and this comes across in all the work that I have done whether installation, films or music. During the process of making this album I have worked with movement directors and dancers, which is something I have always wanted to do and that I will take forward now across many things I will make.

What are you looking forward to in the coming months, and how do you plan on celebrating the release of your debut?

In the coming months, I’m really looking forward to finishing the final music video, having the album out, and enjoying the summer with my friends. I’m excited about getting back to the studio and doing more music with friends. To celebrate the release, I will be doing a show at Laylow with all my friends as well as celebrating in my own private way with those closest to me”.

There have been positive reviews around Fran Lobo’s Burning It Feels Like. NME were especially impressed and enamoured of an artist who has released a hugely strong debut. There is a lot of emotion in the songs. Lobo keeps everything in her control. Arresting listening from start to finish:

“The title of ‘Burning, It Feels Like’ – Fran Lobo’s debut album – came from a therapy session in which she explained how it feels to be infatuated with someone new. She and her therapist were exploring what she calls “love addiction”; constantly obsessing, idealising, getting lost in fantasy, and inevitably ending up crushed. Across this album, the London singer-songwriter paints that feeling as equal parts intoxicating and dark, using her multifaceted art-pop to sonically illustrate the chaos.

These songs are constantly shifting and often unsettling. Alongside glitchy, skitterish electronics, Lobo uses orchestral elements – strings, brass, choral vocals – to subtly create friction. Elements are often introduced in brief bursts. Listen to ‘Slowly’, a song composed lyrically of real text messages from a past relationship; the violins fade in and out, ambient backing vocals swirl – all serving to envelop and overwhelm the listener.

Lobo often uses the musical directions of the songs cleverly. On the title track, what starts as a piano ballad diverts into a swell of fairytale Hollywood harp flourishes and strings, like those that would accompany a lovestruck Disney princess — but the violins are unsettling and mournful. This fairytale isn’t quite right, it suggests. Then, the song unfolds into something Motown-esque. The words she sings, addressed to a lover, are heartfelt and full of yearning (“I only, only, only wanted you / You’re everywhere, you’re everywhere I go”); yet interspersed with this refrain, a backing choir sings as if they’re addressing Lobo: “Wake up, wake up, little darling.”

Elsewhere, ‘All I Want’ is glitchy and sultry most of the way through, yet at the end, it becomes clubby and confident – the contrast works well to raise the stakes. The song embraces the mess of a toxic situation, giving into the fun that lies in that danger. It’s proof that ‘Burning, It Feels Like’ is three-dimensional; while the title may have been born in a therapist’s office, listening to the album doesn’t feel like being in one.

These tracks are album highlights, as is ‘Armour’, the record’s catchiest song, an agile yet gritty exploration of self-worth which descends into a breakdown of breathless vocals and frenzied saxophones. The songs here aren’t just captivating in their arrangement, but elevated too by Lobo’s skill as a performer – her vocals are alive and expressive. She exudes catharsis but is always in control”.

If you have not discovered Fran Lobo’s music, I would suggest you check it out. She is an incredible artist who I feel will keep on releasing such interesting and instantly memorable music. With the backing of stations like BBC Radio 6 Music, here is someone who has already won the ear of influential broadcasters and listeners. Her distinct sound separates her from a lot of same-sounding newcomers. It is evident that Fran Lobo is someone that…

EVERYONE needs to hear.

____________

Follow Fran Lobo

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/franlobomusic/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/franlobomusic

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tZ2tg01JQDz5vUmKgeaY2

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNjYa_hYPyrRgTo8eK0Yn8g

Bandcamp:

https://franlobo.bandcamp.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/franlobomusic/

INTERVIEW: Max Tundra

INTERVIEW:

PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Barnes

Max Tundra

_________

THE truly brilliant…

Max Tundra (Ben Jacobs) has recently caught my ear and eye with his unique and fantastic cover of Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work (from here 1989 album, The Sensual World) – which is his first single in nearly fifteen years. It’s this beautiful very synth-heavy gem filled to the brim with incredible, rich falsetto! Max Tundra is a pioneer and one of the most influential artists of popular music right now. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with the likes of Arca, Daphne & Celeste and A.G. Cook. A born and natural musical predecessor to PC Music, Jacobs also sports a stocked and phenomenal remix roster which includes Pet Shop Boys, The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand! The release of This Woman’s Work follows the reissues of his first three studio albums (his 2000 debut, Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be, 2002’s breakthrough Mastered by Guy at the Exchange, and 2008’s Parallax Error Beheads You) last year, as well as the must-hear Remixtape E.P. – which featured reinventions from the Max Tundra discography by the likes of Julia Holter, Katie Dey and Kero Kero Bonito. On Max Tundra’s lasting legacy, A. G. Cook commented: “Mastered by Guy at the Exchange’ is a true cult album - a playful monolith that sounds both nothing and everything like the 2000s. Stumbling across it as a teenager, it reinforced a hunch I had: that music is a place where anything could happen, and total chaos could be held together by the lightest of pop hooks. There’s an oddly British quality to Max Tundra’s work, a soft and polite maximalism - pioneering, eccentric and infinitely remixable”. It has been a pleasure speaking with the incredible Max Tundra about his reworking of a Kate Bush classic, why he has reissued his first three albums, and what comes next for him. Take a read below to the answers and thoughts of…

A musical master.

____________

Hi Ben. How has your week been treating you?

Very nicely thanks, Sam!

You have reissued your first three albums, Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be (2000), Mastered by Guy at The Exchange (2002) and Parallax Error Beheads You (2008), plus new remix compilation entitled Remixtape featuring A. G. Cook, Julia Holter, Kero Kero Bonito and others. What was the reason behind that? How do you feel now they are out in the world?

It felt as though the time was right/ripe for these records to make their way back out into the world again, as they seemed to bamboozle quite a few people when they were originally released. It had become apparent that these albums has subsequently influenced quite a few people (or so I am told), so here they are again.

I wanted to talk about your cover of Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work. I know artists like Maxwell have covered it and added a new dimension. Yours does too. What was it about this song that resonated? Is it a favourite Kate Bush song of yours?

I actually chose it because it’s not necessarily one of my favourites of hers - that is to say, it’s still utterly amazing, as are all KB songs, but there are certain of her songs I feel are unimpeachable - but I felt like I could bring something of myself to this one in particular. For one thing, I needed a new track to play at the end of my recent live shows, promoting the reissues - as I hadn’t released any new music in 15 years. So I thought a Max Tundra cover of This Woman’s Work would be a nice surprise at the end of a set of my hectic music.

This is your first single in fifteen years. Obviously, it is quite a big moment. Were you nervous recording the song knowing that, or was it quite freeing and inspiring?

I didn’t originally plan to put it out as a single, but it went down so well at the shows it seemed like a good idea to actually release it. At the time of production all I was thinking of was the live response, and I put it together fairly quickly, which is unusual for me, but maybe that’s something I should try more.

I like the video for the song. It is quite spacey, dayglo, dreamy and cool. What was the concept and direction behind it? What was it like working with James Hankins (director/editor/producer)?

I think this James Hankins quote sums up the whole thing perfectly: "About 10 years ago, I tweeted: 'In 100 years' time, will people look back and realise Max Tundra was actually the ultimate pop star?' I didn't know it then, but it seems like that was the starting point for this video".

“I love it! Always feels great to know I’ve had any impact whatsoever”

You recently spoke with The Quietus and talked about Bush being a hero. You also name-checked songs from The Dreaming. Is this an album of hers that you are especially drawn to and intrigued by?

Yep, that’s my favourite one - her most genre-free exploratory record.

Is there more material coming soon? What does the future hold?

Hopefully. Busy life!

You also mentioned in that Quietus interview that, although you get recognised infrequently, it does make a big impact. You have had a huge effect and influence on artists and fans alike. What is it like knowing your work has touched so many people in different ways?

I love it! Always feels great to know I’ve had any impact whatsoever.

To finish, I will put in here any song from your catalogue that you wish. Which should we go with?

Until We Die, from Parallax Error Beheads You – super proud of this one! Thanks for the chat.

_______________

Follow Max Tundra

 Official:

https://maxtundra.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/maxtundra

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MaxTundra

Bandcamp:

https://maxtundra.bandcamp.com/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/08DpSTsNFBf1PxTm9lwpXb

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCui4Laizud66c4XirWKA0VA

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/maxtundra

BUY:

Remixtape

https://maxtundra.ffm.to/remixtape

Reissues

https://www.dominomusic.com/releases/max-tundra/collection/max-tundra-reissues

FEATURE: Revisiting... Say She She - Prism

FEATURE:

 

 

Revisiting…

Say She She - Prism

_________

WHETHER you constitute this to be…

an album or a long-E.P. (as it is eight tracks long; about half an hour in duration), there is no doubt that the dazzling and wonderful Prism missed some people last year. One of the best releases of 2022, Say She She’s debut album deserved better. I will bring in a couple of reviews that back that theory up. Before getting there – and an interview that Say She She gave last year -, this is from the group’s Bandcamp page:

“The highly anticipated debut LP from Say She She (named as a silent nod to Nile Rodgers, C’est chi-chi!: It's Chic!), the all female discodelic soul band, will transport you with their dreamy harmonies, catchy hooks and up tempo grooves!

The ladies of Say She She deliver a mesmerizing vocal performance, weaving their voices together in an elegant, haunting style that incorporates earworm melodies, lush harmonies, playful adlibs, and climactic hindi riffs accented with operatic cries that will reel you in and lift you into their otherworldly ether.

The band's sound is a hat tip to late 70’s girl groups with the three strong female lead voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and former backing singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham and Nya Gazelle Brown at the epicenter of a roaring roster of musicians including former members of the Dap-Kings, The Extraordinaires, the house band at Ronnie Scotts and members of underground cult-funk band Orgone.

Pulling sounds from every corner of their record collections, Say She She is a multi- dimensional, multicultural, multi-instrumental, collaborative melting pot. Think Donna Summer meets The Rotary Connection with a sprinkling of Asha Puthli backed by members of the Meters.

During the pandemic, the band found themselves making their debut LP- polishing off songs made on old tape machines in the basement studios of friends, and this September will see their much-awaited debut album, to be released via Karma Chief / Colemine Records. The largely self-produced debut album ‘Prism’ features contributions from Dap Kings Joey Crispiano & Victor Axelrod, Max Shrager (The Shacks), Bardo Martinez (Chicano Batman), Nikhil Yearwadekar (former Antibalas), Andy Bauer (Twin Shadow), and Matty McDermot (NYPMH), and is already one of the most anticipated records of the year”.

Before going to a particular interview I was thinking of, here is a great little chat and spotlight of the incredible Say She She. You may not have heard of this incredible trio before (though you really do need them in your regular rotation):

“THERE’S A SYNERGY WHEN THE MEMBERS OF — Say She She get together. Whether they’re performing on stage, rehearsing, or chatting about their work, the seismic chemistry among group leaders Nya Gazelle Brown, Piya Malik, and Sabrina Mileo Cunningham is palpable. Alone, each member is a reputable artist in the music scene and has a myriad of achievements. On Prism, their newly-released debut album, the group has created a tour de force.

“As three women with many different temperaments and moods, why shouldn't our catalog also lean into all those different genres?” Malik shares. “We don't want to be defined by one particular sound.”

Wide-ranging influences meld together, from the funk-infused bass line on “Apple Of My Eye” to the disco sensibilities of “Pink Roses.” Rich harmonies are at the core of the songs, as each member locks into the groove and soars. On the bridge of “Don’t Wait,” their voices syncopate as each singer delivers the line “I wonder what she’s thinking” with intensity.

The album’s title track features lush synth soundscapes and dreamy vocals. To further encapsulate the psychedelic feel, the accompanying music video mixes a kaleidoscope of imagery: grassy fields, swaying dance motions, and water cascading along mossy rocks. “Prism” was the first song they wrote together on the album, and is Malik’s personal favorite. 

“We wrote [“Prism”] in the summer, and it was just this freedom and everything was sweet,” she says. “It felt like the trio was finally together and formed. The song reflects that feeling.”

Malik and Cunningham met through the floorboards of their New York City apartment building, first hearing each other singing and eventually meeting face-to-face. It wasn’t long before they started having writing sessions together, later persuading Brown to join the project. Garnering cosigns from tastemakers at KCRW and BBC, the group soon became a band to watch. Their album release show is set for Nov. 3, followed by tour stops along the West Coast.

“It's so much fun when we step on the stage because everybody is in it to just have the best time, and that's exactly what happens,” Brown explains. “We are so thrilled to be sharing and exchanging that beautiful energy with the audience.”

Cunningham adds, “We sort of feed off of each other's energy. There's this unspoken language that we have with each other. That happened immediately, at least for me.” She goes on to share that connection is also felt during writing sessions. Despite having different backgrounds and life experiences, the group members collaborate to flesh out stories and ideas.

PHOTO CREDIT: Caroline Safran

It’s evident just how much the members of Say She She respect and admire one another when they praise Cunningham’s contributions to the band’s visual assets or when Malik describes how the group supported her idea to sing Hindi verses on the album. They’ve created a welcoming atmosphere that is often hard to find within bands. 

“It's like a family, being in a band, but you have to be careful with who you open yourself up to  sometimes in this city — all of us have been burned in different types of relationships,” Malik describes. “It was really important that we had trust and friendship at the center.”

Malik adds that the group holds the same values: the trio has a connection to activism and sees themselves at the intersection of activism and art. In the past, the group has also been open about working in a predominantly male music space. The early single “Norma” is about the rollback on abortion rights, and “Forget Me Not” was inspired by the feminist group Guerrilla Girls.

“We want to stand for something,” Brown declares. “We want to make people feel something and we want to use the platform that we have.”

The trio has built a space for expression and healing through Say She She. Brown, Malik, and Cunningham hope Prism raises people’s spirits, but for Malik, it already has.

“It was the biggest smile on my face when I realized that no matter how I wanted to express myself, they would always accept me”.

d fell in love with playing music together.

In this insightful interview, Ones to Watch wanted to know more about the wonderful group. Even though we have our trip of leads, Say She She are actually a larger collective – responsible for live shows that are among the most memorable you will ever witness:

“Ones To Watch: Who is Say She She?

Say She She: We are a femme-led eight-piece discodelic soul band that all met in NYC! We write and sing about our lived experience as women in our brand of feminist funk, but we mainly see ourselves as beauticians whose job it is to remind people of the beauty in the world and lift them: by dragging them onto the dancefloor at live shows or soothing them to sleep with the warmth of wax on the decks.

What is Prism all about?

Prism is a collection of our most honest and soulful songs—a lover’s rock delight for the decks—meant to uplift and brighten the spirits.

The title track “Prism” is a song about a mind-opening psychedelic experience of running through the colorful fields of upstate New York in the summertime. The lyrics are meant to encourage you to let go and flow effortlessly alongside nature. Our favorite part of the record? Most definitely the twinkle sprinkles of Victor Axelrod (Dap Kings / Menahan Street Band / The Frightnrs / AKA Tiklah) with his carefree light touch keys and shimmering synths on the title track.

The record was made during the height of COVID and we went into music as a powerful force to soothe and heal those around us and the record is our offering, a presentation of our feminine strength. “Pink Roses” is about riding the waves of grief but somehow people say it always makes them wanna dance. And “Fortune Teller” is a lullaby-like melody, underpinned with a killer bass line that makes you groove. “Apple of My Eye” is a love song to New York City where we all met and fell in love with playing music together.

On Prism retro vibes abound, but the album has a diverse feel. How’d you come up with the sound design?

This was a bit of a piecemeal effort given the lockdown in 2020! We paired the analog instrumental stems with digitally recorded vocals and synth overdubs so it definitely feels like a mix of old and new. The limitations we faced during that time—having to remote produce and remote mix—sort of defined our sound in a way. It was intentional but it’s also a product of the constraints that were in place during 2020 and 2021.

How analog is your approach? Do you try to evade digital production or embrace both?

We’ve definitely taken a hybrid approach to production. We love the warm sounds of the tape machine and recorded all the Prism instrumentals to tape at Joey Crispiano’s studio down in DUMBO in 2019.

We thought we were only going in to record demos but once we made the stems they were so undeniable. A bit later during the distanced days of covid, we were able to get into Atomic Studios in Redhood, Brooklyn— thanks to our dear friend Merle—and safely record vocal overdubs. The studio is incredible with a massive live room and three separate isolated vocal booths so it was the perfect place to lay down our vocals, which were all recorded digitally.

Can we expect more of this style in the future, or is the intention to evolve?

We can’t help but evolve as songwriters, as humans, as friends, and as bandmates. Our personal and professional lives have evolved since writing this album so I think that will and to some extent already has been reflected in what we will and have written since. We also think that things are not always linear and some songs and sounds you can come back to again and again. So while we are always growing and changing I hope that some things also remain integral to our vision as artists”.

Even though Say She She have not yet hit their peak – and they are going to be releasing music for years to come -, they hit the ground running on their debut. This is such a confident and mesmeric start from a trio/collective that should be on your radar. This is what NYS Music noted in their extensive and detailed review:

“Prism is an astonishing debut that I don’t think got as much focus, airplay and media reviews as it should have done. Maybe there is too much great music to hear in a year that some inevitably falls through the cracks. That said, there are plenty of Say She She fans that were and are spreading the good word about the magnificent Prism. I will end with a couple of reviews.

“Take a disco: dark, sweaty, neon pink and electric blue, speakers so loud you can taste it, glitter makeup dripping down your face, sequins scratching your skin, thick air, your platform pumps sticking to the dance floor. Now rip the black-out curtains off windows, knock down the walls — sunlight streams in, grass tickles your ankles, clothes hang loose, you can breathe deeply, clearly. That’s Say She She’s new album Prism. It’s sunlight at the rave, clear vocals over deep funk. Rhythm you want to spread out to, bass that feels like a cool breeze.

Say She She, a seven-piece band led by three female leads, is reminding Brooklyn how to dance Le Freak. The band’s name is a nod to Nile Rogers’ “C’est chic!” lyric, with a modern feminine twist. Et aussi chic is the kismet meeting of Piya Malik, Nya Gazelle Brown and Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, the singers at the heart of Say She She. From disparate sides of Brooklyn, the three ran into each other at a house party in Harlem, as one does, and realized their musical chemistry into a full project soon after.

Malik, a former backing singer for Chicano Batman, is partisan to Turkish funk and Hindi riffs. Brown’s concentration was in R&B, and she was trained in classical and jazz vocals from childhood. Cunningham is partial to 80s eclectic progressive groups like Rotary Connection and Tom Tom Club. These three distinct backgrounds merged to create the singular sound of Say She She; a sound, though only inaugurated this year with their first single “Forget Me Not,” that already feels assured in their first album, Prism, releasing Oct. 7.

If there’s a female gaze, such as in the way films like “The Virgin Suicides” and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” depict love, there’s a female sound in how Say She She describes love and loving in Prism. Their voices are tender and earnest, delicate yet serious; in “Don’t Wait,” even a break-up song is full with solace and healing, wondering about and wanting the best for their ex’s next lover. And all this is set to a rhythmic beat on a funky bassline, making the hips shift, the feet move.

With nature imagery and dreamy vocals, every song on the album evokes the divine feminine.  But  “Fortune Teller” dives deepest, the layered vocals touching on a host of feminine tropes in the chorus:

“I’m not a fortune teller, I can’t read your mind / I’m not a healer, can’t stop you from going blind / I’m not a fortress, but I will try to protect you.”

Tropes aren’t real life. Sometimes these traditionally feminine roles are aspirations – for people of any genders. Ultimately, we can’t tell the future or heal each others’ wounds.  But by interspersing the chorus with beautiful imagery of “the space between the midnight sky,” and “stars that whisper in the night” it feels like all those capabilities might just be possible for anybody and everybody, if only here on the dance floor.

“Better Man,” the album’s closing song, also aims to realize that kind of cosmic love. It’s one of the slower songs on the album, employing strings, muted production and voices layered in complex harmonies. Say She She describes finding a “better man” with the natural imagery of waves rolling in and swimming upstream. Paired with the occasional electronic sparkle, it’s a song Mother Nature would want to dance to”.

I will end up with one of the heartiest recommendations and passionate reviews for Prism. The Guardian awarded it five stars when they sat down with it. This is what Alexis Petridis said in his very glowing and brilliant review. I think that Prism warranted more five star reviews to be honest:

“You can imagine Brooklyn-based trio Say She She’s “discodelic soul” fitting neatly into New York’s early-80s post-punk, post-disco world. That’s not to say that their sound is self-consciously retro – in fact, there’s something very 2022 about its warm, lo-fi, bedroom pop-adjacent production – more to suggest that, as with a lot of artists of the early 80s scene, there’s something appealingly idiosyncratic and boundary-busting about their sound. It stirs together everything from budget electronics to soft Philly soul and the echoing space of dub and tops it off with beautiful vocal harmonies: all three members – London-born Piya Malik and Americans Nya Parker Gazelle and Sabrina Cunningham – started out as classical singers.

A little less spiky than their singles Forget Me Not and Norma, which were inspired by feminist activists the Guerrilla Girls and the overturning of Roe v Wade, respectively, Prism offers an embarrassment of fabulous songs. Pink Roses deals with grief via spindly bargain-basement disco. The title track throws up off-centre, drum-machine-driven funk – if you want a recherché comparison, its rhythm vaguely recalls Voggue’s post-disco hit Dancin’ the Night Away – while the beatless, weightless closer, Better Man, is an exercise in small-hours sublimity.

It’s striking how commercial Say She She’s songwriting could be, at least in theory: it’s easy to picture a more straightforward R&B artist turning the lovely Don’t Wait into a mainstream hit. But the brief Prism is more than good enough as it is: off in its own world, slightly left-of-centre, a delightful place to visit for half an hour”.

Go and listen to the awe-inspiring and hugely immersive Prism. It is an album that you happily lose yourself in. If you want an album that will delve into the heart and soul and get the blood pumping, this is one for you. I think future releases will be a little spikier and similar to their earliest cuts – though new songs like Astral Plane are extraordinary. On their phenomenal debut, Say She She make a bid for recognition and greatness…which they definitely deserve and achieve. I hope more people listen to the album as it is one that should not…

PASS you by.

FEATURE: A New Start; a Lost Ballad: Kate Bush’s Never for Ever at Forty-Three

FEATURE:

 

 

A New Start; a Lost Ballad

Kate Bush’s Never for Ever at Forty-Three

_________

THE forty-third anniversary…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Angelo Deligio/Mondadori via Getty Images

of Kate Bush’s Never for Ever is quite an important one. The album itself is important for a number of reasons. Released on 8th September, 1980, Never For Ever was Bush’s first number one album – though it would not be the last. It was also the first ever album by a British female solo artist to top the album chart in the U.K., in addition to being the first album by any female solo artist to enter the chart at number one. That is a remarkable achievement in itself! There are a couple of elements I want to zone in on for the first – of maybe a few – anniversary features. It is a shame that Never for Ever has not really got the reviews it deserves. Lionheart (released at the end of 1978, that was her second studio album) got some mixed reception. Bush’s debut, The Kick Inside, got positive reviews. If not overlooked, Never for Ever has never got the five-star reviews I feel it is worthy of. Not put up there with the likes of Hounds of Love and Aerial. That is a shame, as this was a real leap in ambition for Bush. I see 1979’s Tour of Life as Bush doing something where she had more control. The Kick Inside and Lionheart saw Andrew Powell produce (Bush assisted on Lionheart). Both albums, I feel, were a little disappointing to her as she did not have production control. With Jon Kelly on Never for Ever, it was the first time Bush had a big say in the sound and direction of the album. As both were similar ages and had a closer bond, Bush felt more pleased with Never for Ever than her previous work. The confidence and acclaim she got for The Tour of Life definitely inspired her songwriting. I feel like Bush wrote this album with a mind to performing it live and making a concept out of it. That never came to pass.

Recorded between September 1979 and May 1980, Bush utilised AIR and Abbey Road Studios to full effect. You can hear more space and atmosphere on the album. Her first clear evolution in terms of content and dynamics, a happy studio environment – where Bush and the musicians would often hang out and record late because it was a relaxed space – and Bush wanting to put a stamp on her music resulted in this underrated classic. Tracks like Babooshka show the first signs of Bush’s fascination with and use of the Fairlight CMI. That discovery – it was Peter Gabriel who introduced Bush to the technology, as he was already using it in his music – came late, but you can feel Bush experimenting more with technology and sounds. This would explode and multiply through her next album, 1982’s The Dreaming. Not having constraints or having to answer to anyone, aged twenty-one, she began to produce this album that would break records and showcase some of her greatest songs. I am going to move on soon. Before that, and thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia, this is what Bush said about her third studio album:

“Now, after all this waiting it is here. It's strange when I think back to the first album. I thought it would never feel as new or as special again. This one has proved me wrong. It's been the most exciting. Its name is Never For Ever, and I've called it this because I've tried to make it reflective of all that happens to you and me. Life, love, hate, we are all transient. All things pass, neither good [n]or evil lasts. So we must tell our hearts that it is "never for ever", and be happy that it's like that!

The album cover has been beautifully created by Nick Price (you may remember that he designed the front of the Tour programme). On the cover of Never For Ever Nick takes us on an intricate journey of our emotions: inside gets outside, as we flood people and things with our desires and problems. These black and white thoughts, these bats and doves, freeze-framed in flight, swoop into the album and out of your hi-fis. Then it's for you to bring them to life. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)

Each song has a very different personality, and so much of the production was allowing the songs to speak with their own voices - not for them to be used purely as objects to decorate with "buttons and bows". Choosing sounds is so like trying to be psychic, seeing into the future, looking in the "crystal ball of arrangements", "scattering a little bit of stardust", to quote the immortal words of the Troggs. Every time a musical vision comes true, it's like having my feet tickled. When it works, it helps me to feel a bit braver. Of course, it doesn't always work, but experiments and ideas in a studio are never wasted; they will always find a place sometime.

I never really felt like a producer, I just felt closer to my loves - felt good, free, although a little raw, and sometimes paranoia would pop up. But when working with emotion, which is what music is, really, it can be so unpredictable - the human element, that fire. But all my friends, the Jons, and now you will make all the pieces of the Never For Ever jigsaw slot together, and It will be born and It will begin Breathing. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, September 1980)

It's difficult to talk about the album without you actually hearing it, I suppose it's more like the first album, The Kick Inside, though, than the second, Lionheart, in that the songs are telling stories. I like to see things with a positive direction, because it makes it so much easier to communicate with the audience of listener. When you see people actually listening to the songs and getting into them, it makes you realise how important it is that they should actually be saying something. (...)

There are a lot of different songs. There's no specific theme, but they're saying a lot about freedom, which is very important to me. (Deanne Pearson, The Me Inside. Smash Hits (UK), May 1980)

For me, this was the first LP I'd made that I could sit back and listen to and really appreciate. I'm especially close to Never For Ever. It was the first step I'd taken in really controlling the sounds and being pleased with what was coming back. I was far more involved with the overall production, and so I had a lot more freedom and control, which was very rewarding. Favourite tracks? I guess I'd have to say 'Breathing' and 'The Infant Kiss'. (Women of Rock, 1984)”.

I think this was a new start for Kate Bush. I love her first two albums, but still a teen for most of that time (she turned twenty on 30th July, 1978), this was a more assured artist having received acclaim for her live tour determined to make an album that was more in her own vision. In addition to successful and timeless singles such as Babooshka and Breathing, the deeper cuts are wonderful! A perfectly sequenced albums in terms of emotion, balance and quality, treats such as Blow Away (For Bill), The Wedding List and All We Ever Look For are not played and talked about enough. If Egypt and Violin are seen as weaker tracks on the album, I actually think they are growers. If you have not heard Never for Ever before or in a while, then do so now. I am going to end thinking about a song that never appeared on her third album, yet it was recorded. Bush usually puts a title track on her albums. Aside from Director’s Cut, the only occasion where she has not had a title track or a song with the title in it – I am counting Oh England My Lionheart in this – is Never for Ever. Intriguing, there was a title track that could have seen the light of day. Recorded during the sessions for Lionheart, it shows that Bush already was working on./thinking about her third album when she was recording of her second. Producer Andrew Powell recalls his memories of the stunning Never for Ever. I wonder whether this song will be remastered and be released or available on YouTube at some point:

“It was a beautiful ballad - Kate sang it at the piano - and was just for Kate with her piano, (no rhythm section) and a large string orchestra. We recorded Kate at Superbear Studios in the South of France, and the orchestra parts at the original AIR studios in Oxford Circus, London. I think it may have been the best arrangement I ever did for Kate - Kate loved it too - so I wish it could be allowed to see the light of day sometime. It was a great, and very intimate, song”.

A number one album here and in France, Never for Ever, was a massive success. Bush was voted Best Female Artist of 1980 in polls taken in Melody Maker, Sounds, The Sunday Telegraph, and Capital Radio. Even though only a few Kate Bush fans rank it as their favourite from her, I think it should be in everyone’s top five at least. It is a remarkably strong album. It would lay the path and forge a clearance for The Dreaming which, in turn, then led to 1985’s Hounds of Love. Rolling Stone included Never for Ever in their 80 Greatest Albums of 1980 list. The songwriting and production is stunning throughout. As Never for Ever turns forty-three on 8th September, I wanted to salute, praise and show my love to…

A remarkable album.

FEATURE: Second Spin: David Bowie - Reality

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

David Bowie - Reality

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THERE are a few reasons…

 IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie in 2003/PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Maxwell

why I wanted to feature David Bowie’s twenty-fourth album, Reality. This would turn out to be his antepenultimate studio album. Reality was released on 15th September, 2003. As it is almost twenty, it deserves to be highlighted. Also, it would be ten years until Bowie followed this album. Many thought he had retired and would not return. He came back with the remarkable The Next Day in 2013. Sadly, we would only get one further album from him: 2016’s Blackstar was released on his sixty-ninth birthday (two days before he died). Also, I think Reality is an underrated album. A year after Heathen was released, maybe the more mixed response to Reality was a reason why Bowie stepped away from the spotlight. Recorded at Looking Glass in New York City between January and May 2003, it was produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti. I am going to end with one of the positive reviews for the album. Whilst many journalists did like the album, they compared Reality negatively when placed against his greatest work. I will end of that review. Before further exploration, Wikipedia have compiled sources and quote that highlight the legacy and retrospective acclaim for Reality:

“Reality has attracted generally positive assessments in subsequent years. In his 2005 book Strange Fascination, Buckley argues the album lacks both a "coherent musical identity" and "any thematic trajectory", furthermore observing a general feeling of "laxity" and underwritten songs, with the songs ranging from "good to merely pleasant", and "around a third" seeing Bowie "near top form". On the other hand, Perone considers it a "strong album" and one that does have consistent themes throughout. Author Paul Trynka writes that the record proves that, with the likes of tracks like "Bring Me the Disco King", Bowie "has the potential to conjure up pleasures as yet unknown". Marc Spitz, writing before the release of The Next Day, found it worthy as a swan song to Bowie's long career. Following that album's release, however, O'Leary argues that Reality reestablished itself as "a minor album whose songs were built to be blasted on stage". The covers have also continued to receive praise.

In The Complete David Bowie, Pegg states that one of the album's successes is that it emerges with a "reinvigorated sense of rock attack" following the "delicate, self-consciously artful[ness]" of its predecessor, equating both records to the relationships between Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, or Outside (1995) and Earthling. Further comparing the two albums, he says Reality offers "less complexity and fewer sonic layers" than Heathen in exchange for "a greater abundance of catchy hooks and buoyant pop-rock atmospherics". He also argues that Reality loses none of its predecessor's "artistic sensibility" and "its lasting value lies not just in its infectious melodies and evocative lyrics, but in the exquisitely judged oddness of its sonic textures". In 2016, Bryan Wawzenek of Ultimate Classic Rock placed Reality at number 16 out of 26 in a list ranking Bowie's studio albums from worst to best, praising Bowie's comfortability on the record. Including Bowie's two albums with Tin Machine, Consequence of Sound ranked Reality number 24 out of 28 in a 2018 list, with Pat Levy calling it "a decent record in the pantheon of Bowie, nothing more, nothing less".

I want to bring in a feature from Classic Rock & Culture from 2013. They looked back a decade at one of Bowie’s most underrated and interesting albums. It came out at a crucial moment in his career. So soon after his previous album and before he would step away for nearly a decade, Reality definitely warrants fresh love and focus:

“It took David Bowie a mere 15 months to write and record his 23rd album, 2003's Reality. While no one could have guessed it at the time, it'd take him another 10 years to finish his 24th.

Released on Sept. 16, 2003, Reality found Bowie working once again with frequent collaborator Tony Visconti, who returned to co-produce 2002's Heathen for the first time since 1980's Scary Monsters. The platinum-selling Heathen brought Bowie some of his best reviews in years, but rather than trying to duplicate that album's heavily layered approach, the duo opted for a more direct, aggressive sound.

"There's a part of David Bowie that definitely does not want to repeat himself, so we were committed to avoiding the Heathen formula," Visconti explained to Sound on Sound. "He wanted to change to something that he and his live band could play onstage with great immediacy, without the need for synthesizer patches and backing tracks. He wanted to make this more of a band album."

While Bowie mildly disputed Visconti's version of events ("it really doesn't work like that"), he admitted to Sound on Sound that "I was looking for something that had a slightly more urgent kind of sound than Heathen."

To Bowie's way of thinking, the change in approach was a byproduct of his surroundings during the writing process. "I think the mainstay of the album is that I was writing it and recording here in downtown New York. It's very much inspired by where I live and how I live and the day-to-day life down here. There is a sense of urgency to this town."

Like a number of Bowie records, Reality incorporates a mixture of material, some of it freshly written ("Fall Dog Bombs the Moon," which was reportedly composed in half an hour) and some drawn from Bowie's back pages ("Bring Me the Disco King," which had been kicking around in various incarnations since the '70s). Ironically, given the decade of silence that was soon to follow, Bowie also told Sound on Sound that the quick downtime between Heathen and Reality reflected a change in his own creative tempo.

"These days, it's great to be able to record more frequently and clear the decks of the songs I'm writing," he mused. "For me, this is a far preferable way to go. ... I think I find an album a year very comfortable. It doesn't faze me at all, and it tends to follow the pattern and the rhythm at which I write."

Reality represented yet another evolution in sound for a performer known for his chameleonic shifts in style, but Bowie insisted all of his music was essentially of a piece. "I don't really think it's going to change very much," Bowie said when asked by the New York Times to describe his creative approach.

"As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left?" he added. "When it's taken that nakedly, these are my subjects. And it's like, well, how many times can you do this? And I tell myself, actually, over and over again. The problem would be if I was too self-confident and actually came up with resolutions for these questions. But I think they're such huge unanswerable questions that it's just me posing them, again and again."

If his songwriting approach remained unchanged, Bowie was perfectly willing to admit that he saw major challenges ahead for the recording industry, then still in the early years of the ugly tailspin it entered at the dawn of the Mp3 era.

"Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity," he predicted to the Times. "So it's like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left. It's terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn't matter if you think it's exciting or not. It's what's going to happen."

But as the business that earned him his livelihood entered a period of turmoil, Bowie told critic Anthony DeCurtis that he found himself mellowing out – and perhaps signaled his pending decade of semi-retirement.

"I've stabilized my life to an extent now over these past 10 years. I'm very at ease, and I like it," Bowie said. "I never thought I would be such a family-oriented guy. I didn't think that was part of my makeup. But somebody said that as you get older you become the person you always should have been, and I feel that's happening to me. I'm rather surprised at who I am, because I'm actually like my dad!".

A lot of the reviews I can see for Reality are three-star. I have seen a few that are more positive, though most give it a middling assessment. I think that Reality is stronger than that. As it is twenty on 15th September, I am keen for people to explore an under-listened gem in the Bowie cannon. Pitchfork provided their thoughts when Reality was released in 2003:

“There is a reason the present begrudges the past," writes Harlan Ellison; I won't pretend to be wise enough to know what that reason is, but I believe that statement to be true, regardless. The evidence is plain in just about anyone beyond a certain age, the all-consuming, epic oldness where a person can say "when I was your age" without a trace of irony. It hits some people as early as twenty or so, when they suddenly find themselves on the downhill side of life, confronted with a bleak realization that things were a whole lot greener back when they were still climbing (or before they knew any better, at least). Some people, they just never stop climbing; it's rare, but it happens.

A great many of David Bowie's fans, with each successive year, slowly but surely creep into the former category even as Bowie himself manages to still act like a card-carrying member of the latter. "I'm never never gonna get old," he proclaims on the Toys 'R' Us-inspired "Never Get Old", and to his credit, he makes yet another convincing argument. With one exception (the hokey, one-foot-in-the-grave Hours), Bowie-- even in his advanced age (by fresh-faced rock standards), even after almost a trillion records-- has never dwelled unduly on his past. If anything, while people will always hold him up to his past accomplishments, his career has floundered more than once out of his desire for self-conscious avant-gardism and an almost schizophrenic need to reinvent his persona. What last year's Heathen implied, and what Reality seems to prove, is that those days are over; never looking back, and no longer focusing ahead, Bowie has finally joined us all in the present, mind-young as ever but old enough not to make a show of it.

And then, if you'll grant this indulgence, there's me, the one who's supposed to be writing about him: "Plain Ol' 'Dave'" baffles me. Bowie's work is traditionally seen in a terrifically damaging binary-- common law states that if his work isn't brilliant, it's terrible; that's obviously wrong, since there're plenty of gray areas to be found in Bowie's oeuvre, but it's easy as hell to fall into the trap. Not much can stack up to Hunky Dory or Scary Monsters, after all. But then he goes and releases, consecutively, the two most earnest, unpretentious albums he's ever dreamed up, and the Pocket Dichotomy that had been used so frequently to dismiss Outside, Earthling, and others, is now terminally, irrevocably broken. Heathen looked like it might've been a holding pattern on the way to greater heights, but only for rising from the ashes of Hours; Reality shows that instead, Bowie is not aiming for an unattainable Ziggy-caliber alien classic, but is simply going to rock like any other human, in a pleasantly mild, non-conformist manner.

This is as close as Bowie has ever come to simply "pretty good" in his storied career. A zealous few will say that he's just further ahead of the curve than anyone can see, but if that's so, then what lies ahead is MOR rock and roll, with producer Tony Visconti's unobtrusive, light-handed electronic flourishes as gloss; no way-- he's too talented to be overtly influenced or obviously faddish, but that doesn't mean he's breaking ground. That's not an insult. I feel the biggest strength of this album is how relaxed it is, how well this anti-pose suits Bowie. It's freed him to craft some of the finest original material he's done in quite a while; Heathen best expressed his singular vision through the compositions of others, but Reality's original material easily overshadows its covers.

In particular, the George Harrison-penned "Try Some, Buy Some", though a kind tribute to Bowie's recently deceased contemporary, might be the album's only real mistake. Sappy, vacant lyrics and plodding, waltz-timed orchestration give a feel similar to a more fleshed-out version of the Morrissey cover "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday", but without any the self-referential poignancy invested in the latter. The deep-space broadcast of "Pablo Picasso" is a substantial improvement, in terms of covers, with its echoing trills and white-funk syncopation and the intense surrealism of hearing the words "Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole/ Not like you," come from Bowie's mouth, but David promised that Reality would "rock", and he proceeds to do so even more effectively elsewhere.

Hard-edged dynamics are supplied to direct, aggressive rhythms on numerous tracks like the supremely nervous, desperate "Looking for Water" and less obviously on the epic jazz kick "Bring Me the Disco King", but only "New Killer Star" feels like more than an exercise with slightly dusty rock standbys. It opens the album with a bassline etched indelibly within our genetic make-up, instantly recognizable and irresistible, and once the hook is set, a deluge of static-hazed background singers, weird robo-choruses, and a shaky treble riff that easily marks the album's finest moment simply spew forth from the speakers, overwhelming all but the most cynical of Bowie's detractors. At least, that's what I predict.

Also worthy of mention is the stark contrast provided by "The Loneliest Guy". It sounds like the title to a forgotten Dudley Moore flick, and may sound somewhat like disingenuous fame lament coming from Bowie, but the song itself will dispel those thoughts. Nearly a cappella, with bare hints of strings and stray piano chords fading in from other rooms, Bowie instead offers that he's "the luckiest guy/ Not the loneliest guy/ In the world/ Not me," but does so with such mournful uncertainty that no easy reading of the song is possible; it seems surprisingly human, bittersweet, and altogether far more real than its name implies. It's startlingly out of place, sandwiched between "Never Get Old" and "Looking for Water", so much so that it almost implies sarcasm, but that's fitting, as this is as eclectic and puzzling album as Bowie's ever made. He's not always at the top of his game, but Bowie's musical ideas, not filtered through any sort of trend-grab, are unfailingly unique, and that alone should cement his continued role as vibrant, modern artist for years to come”.

To mark a great work from David Bowie that should be explored more, I will end things now and urge people to listen through Reality. It does have a few weaker songs, though tracks like New Killer Star and The Loneliest Guy rank alongside his best late-career material. It is well worth your time. It turns twenty next month, so it is a good moment to (re)acquaint yourself with…

A real diamond.

FEATURE: One for the Record Collection! Essential October Releases

FEATURE:

 

 

One for the Record Collection!

IN THIS PHOTO: Jamila Woods/PHOTO CREDIT: Elizabeth De La Piedra

Essential October Releases

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IT is that time again…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Hannah Diamond

when we look ahead to the great albums due next month – as it is a Bank Holiday, I am publishing this earlier than I would so that you get extra notice! These are albums that are worth putting some money aside for. September was a pretty packed and exciting one. October is not going to let us down in that sense. There are more than a few huge albums that are well worth pre-ordering. I will come to those now. Let us begin with a couple of albums that are due out on 6th October. Starting out with Hannah Diamond and her album, Perfect Picture. I am recommending this album, as Diamond is a fantastic London artist with a very bright future. She is someone who has this incredible sound and unique songwriting ability. Go and pre-order the album. Although there is not a lot of detail about the album and its themes, I want to bring in some information regarding Diamond. She has been on the music scene a while now. I think Perfect Picture will take her to a new level. I want to go back to 2016. The earliest days in terms of her music, FADER spoke to an artist who some assumed was a computer voice. Male producers sampling a woman’s voice. This authentic and very real talent was being doubted. From 2016 to now, Diamond has proved any doubters wrong. Fighting back against a sexist industry that was criticising PC Music (a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook):

“Do you think it comes down to presentation? People often assume a guy playing a real instrument is somehow immediately more authentic.

Yes. I personally think sometimes it comes down to being a female in the music industry. There's still this stigma that women are just a voice on a track and there are 10 guys behind her making her the person she is. I wasn't aware of that at all until I got involved in music. There's a real undertone of misogyny in the way people think about women in music.

What did you make of the criticisms of PC Music when it first emerged that the women were being used as decoration?

It's female-fronted in the sense that when we put out [Diamond's debut single] “Pink and Blue,” it got a lot of views and a lot of plays, but it wasn't supposed to be like that. When it started it was really organic and we weren't really concerned with gender. It was me and A. G. Cook and a bunch of friends, and we just thought that if we're all going to make music, then we needed a place where it all could live. But that criticism was so counter-productive; by criticising guys being behind all these girls and pushing them to the front and saying we were just being used as a mascot or whatever, it almost takes any credit away from the roles the women have played in their image, their songwriting, and where they've got to now. A lot of the articles made those assumptions and really played down the parts that we'd played, so it was counter-feminist I guess.

PHOTO CREDIT: Maisie Cousins

The suspicion directed at PC Music is that it's all an inside joke that some people don't feel part of. Can you see that?

I can definitely say I'm not taking the piss out of pop music. I listen to pop music pretty much all day. It's not coming from a place of wanting to take the piss out of it at all. Also the music side of what I do sort of happened by accident. I've been musical my whole life—I used to play instruments at school—but I didn't think to myself, 'oh, you know what, I'm going to set out to be a pop star' or ‘a conceptual artist who criticises pop music.' When I was in my third year at university I was studying Fashion Communication, so I was doing a lot of image-making stuff, and I got friendly with A. G. Cook because we were working on the same magazine. So we started collaborating—he made a mix and I did a photoshoot to accompany it. It went from there. We made some tracks and then we were like, “What can we do with them?” So we uploaded them to Soundcloud. It wasn't like we'd planned anything out.

If you wanted to get your personality across but could only use one medium—either music or photography—which would encapsulate you better?

I think it would be music because you can understand what kind of a person I am. The best track for that is probably “Attachment.” That's the one that speaks to who I am the most. I think a lot of people are confused by the imagery because it's very hyper and shiny and glossed up and fake, but then the songs are more raw and emotional. 

How did the collaboration with Charli XCX on “Paradise” come about?

Quickly [laughs]. Charli basically got in touch and was like, “Oh by the way I'm putting out an EP, there's this song I worked on with SOPHIE, he told me you love it so I really want you to be on it and will you record it this week?” So obviously I said yes. I recorded it and sent it to her all within the space of two weeks. She'd already recorded a demo for it and she'd already written the song so she asked me to do it as a duet with her. SOPHIE's DJed it at quite a few different things, like Field Day and Pop Cube. It was a demo that they'd had for a little while that they both really liked. I loved it as well, so I was so excited when she asked me to be on it because out of all the things I knew they'd been working on I was obsessed with this one.

Charli's got a knack for taking more left-field stuff and trying to squeeze it into a mainstream place. Are you excited about the PC Music sound reaching a bigger audience?

Yeah, definitely. I'm also excited for A. G. [who Charli has also been in the studio with] and SOPHIE from a friend's perspective. It makes me feel really emotional—it's nice when you see your best friends doing really well and becoming successful. I think with Charli she maybe connects with us because she came from a similar place; I remember before she had a chart hit, I went to see her play at XOYO with Brooke Candy, so a lot of people who were into her music were quite underground. It's so nice that she's supportive of other people, I think that's really important.

What's your favourite line in the song?

[Sings] Sweet like a cherry drop, so please don't let it stop. It's so nice. We did some bits where we recorded some harmonies. You know how in my music, we also do a few fuck-y bits with sound or pitch, we've kept a little bit of that in, but in a more traditional pop way. So still a little bit wacky, but done through a harmony so it's a bit more pop-ready.

How do you think your love of pop music filters into your own music?

G. Cook knows the kind of music I love, which is like Mariah Carey and ‘90s and 2000s pop, and so some of the sounds he used were things he knew I really liked in the stuff I listened to. For example, in Mariah Carey's tracks there's like a chime-y twinkle, arpeggios down kind of thing. Little details like that get pulled into it from the pop music I like, and then also stuff from old school garage as well. I really like “Babycakes” by 3 Of A Kind so some of the synth sounds from that I'm really into”.

Moving onto another album from 6th October. The second and final album from this week you need to pre-order is Sufjan Stevens’ Javelin. You can go and pre-order it here. I would suggest people do, as it looks like it will be among the very best albums of the year! Such a prolific artist who has captivated people with his incredible music, his latest work is going to rank alongside his most accomplished and striking:

“Each track on Javelin starts intimately: the trickle of an acoustic guitar, the patter of a lidded piano, and the cascade of a coruscant arpeggio. And then, of course, there is that disarming voice, the throughline in one of the most eclectic catalogs of any songwriter this century - soft but strong, as if the very scenes of hurt and hope it is about to share have only galvanized it through the decades. Javelin pairs musical sweep with emotional breadth, an entire lifetime of feeling woven into 42-minutes. On Javelin, Sufjan, as you may know him best, returns: offering gorgeous if pained glimpses of himself, so that we may see ourselves more fully. This album is classic Sufjan. A must own”.

Let’s move along to a very busy 13th October. There are a few from this week I want to bring to your attention. The astonishing Irish-born CMAT prepares to release her hotly-anticipated second album, Crazymad, For Me. This is one that you really need to pre-order. Her songs are truthful, accessible and very funny. Brimming with charm and passion, this is an artist that is going to be releasing music for a very long time! It is going to be among this year’s most essential albums. CMAT is an extraordinary artist:

“Second album CrazyMad, For Me takes popstar CMAT through a reinvention of what came before: this is the grand statement of an ambitious mature sound, a textured sonic feel and details of a complex emotional and metaphorical landscape. “It’s an abstract break-up album… about what happens when you are still angry about something that happened 10 years ago.” It’s grand, full of hooks and picture-painting lyrics projected by her singular vocals. It’s the mainstream indie that CMAT loved as a teenager, filtered through 20th century country music, amplified by knowledge of 80s and 90s pop hits with a slide guitar and a camp twist. Complex, intimate and with influences far-flung across time and place, CrazyMad, For Me is an instant classic album for the broadest audience”.

Taking things in another direction, I would urge people to seek out is Goat’s Medicine. Pre-order this beauty, as the music of Goat is exotic, mysterious, entrancing, powerful, colourful, strange, beautiful…and everything in between! They are a collective with a distinct aura that every music fan needs to experience. Rough Trade explain what we can expect from their upcoming album:

“It is hard to know how many times the mythology and mystery of Goat’s backstory can be written about, but new release ‘Medicine’ does away with any need to dwell on the past, returning with a more introspective, slightly mellower psych-folk sound that remains recognisably them.

There is a consistently restrained, warm feel across the whole work, and the band suggest that the overall theme of the album is about “the impermanence of life in different ways: sickness, relationships, love, death and how our time is finite”.

At times the album’s sound has nods to classic Swedish 70s psych/prog/folk acts such as Arbete and Fritid, Charlie and Esdor and Träd, Gräs and Stenar. ‘Vakna’ takes on this influence, progressing across nearly six minutes of swaying, warping guitar solos, without ever breaking out into chaos.

The Medicine of the title may refer to a number of salves, or the value of relationships and love: “For our families, friends, society, this could be done through the use of psychedelics, through meditation, through learning from other people, staying curious and never settling for a ‘solid’ identity”.

Flute is foregrounded throughout, threading across several tracks from the opener ‘Impermanence And Death’. It duets elegantly with keening synth lines through the beautiful ‘You’ll Be Alright’, and leads the melody of the closing track ‘Tripping In The Graveyard’. ‘TSOD’, with its backdrop of sitar and acoustic guitar, has an indelible vocal melody that could be a lost George Harrison recording.

The title of the full album version of first single, ‘I Became The Unemployment Office’, comes from an expression for someone taking advantage of you. The joyous, echo-laden groove of penultimate track ‘Join The Resistance’ bursts into life and continues to build to a moment of release with a huge Sabbath-esque riff.

Whatever your dosage, and regardless of your remedy, it is now time to take your medicine”.

An album I really excited about comes from the sensational Holly Humberstone. One of our brightest talents, she releases Paint My Bedroom Black on 13th October. This is her debut album. One that she has poured her heart and soul into. Go and pre-order the album. It is a phenomenal work from an artist who is impossible to ignore. Such a strong and inspiring songwriter. If you have not heard Humberstone’s music before, I would suggest you get her debut album. It will tell you all you need to know about an amazing musician:

“Critically acclaimed and award winning singer songwriter Holly Humberstone releases her highly anticipated debut album Paint My Bedroom Black on Polydor/ Darkroom / Geffen. Always inspired by her environment and how that affects her sense of self andidentity, from her parent’s Haunted House to flatshares in London with The Walls Are Way To Thin, Paint My Bedroom Black represents Holly’s coming of age, growing from unknown singer at her parent’s piano to the most exciting alternative pop stars of her generation. The dark and other worldly space Holly has built and invited fans into, both sonically and visually, has been lucid and visceral, with the camera always on her shoulder, a lens into her chaotic thoughts and deep feelings”.

A couple more to get through for this week. Another stunning artist, Jamila Woods’ Water Made Us is required listening! An artist I have followed for a while now, like Humberstone, an amazing and memorable album cover is the first thing we see. The second sensation is discovering music that is soul-moving and unforgettable. Go and pre-order this wonderful album. It is one that, once heard, you will want to revisit again and again:

“On her expansive new album Water Made Us, Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across Water Made Us, Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love’s wreckage and refuge.

While 2017’s Heavn saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019’s Legacy! Legacy! reframed her life’s experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, Water Made Us is self-revelatory in an entirely new way, making this her most personal album yet. Made together with LA-based producer McClenney, and boasting features from longtime friends and Chicago natives such as Saba and Peter CottonTale, Water Made Us is a sprawling and intimate portrait of self-reflection, cleverly designed to echo the different stages of a relationship: the early days of easy compromising, flirtatiousness, and fun; the careful negotiation through moments of conflict or hurt; the grieving of something lost; and the tender realization at the end of it all that the person who is gone never really leaves, but stays with you as you find yourself ready to try again, refreshed and reassured.

The album’s title - taken from a line in album highlight “Good News” – is a subtle reference to the famous Toni Morrison quote “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” It’s this sentiment – of memory, place, and returning – that acts as a pillar for the album’s arc. Water Made Us reminds us that at its best love is a warm, still ocean. Deep, shimmering, and endless in its wonder. And at its worst love can be a riptide that takes us so far away from ourselves we can hardly find our way back, hardly even remember how to swim. And yet Jamila surrenders to this surf - every wave and undertow – because maybe even the most painful endings can in fact be an invitation that calls her back home, back to shore, back to herself”.

The last album from 13th October that you need to get involved with is Margo Price’s Strays II. Again, you might not know Price’s music, though I give you a gold guarantee. This is an artist that you will need to follow and hear. Go and pre-order Strays II. I have been a fan of Margot Price for a while now, so I know that she is going to deliver something phenomenal with her upcoming album. She is ensuring that October is a wonderful month for new music:

“Strays II expands on Margo Price’s 2023 opus Strays with nine brand new songs, all recorded at Strays producer Jonathan Wilson’s Topanga studio during the same life-changing sessions as the rest of the album– and partially written amidst the formative, six-day psilocybin trip that Margo Price and Jeremy Ivey took the summer prior. On Strays II Margo Price is re-joined by Strays collaborators Jonathan Wilson and Mike Campbell, along with new collaborators Buck Meek of Big Thief, and singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ny Oh.. Together they dive deeper into the sacrifices it takes to find freedom, the grit it takes to make it, and the consequences that come with all of it”.

Let’s move ahead to 20th October. Four albums from this week that you will want to discover and play. The first comes from Bombay Bicycle Club. The established and acclaimed British band release My Big Day then. Go and pre-order this gem. A band who always bring something incredible to the masses, this is going to be another smash. There is not a tonne of information available about it. That said, this is what Rough Trade say:

“Heading back to the band’s studio in London, Bombay Bicycle Club have lovingly crafted album six – My Big Day. It’s a powerful, expansive body of work, replete with an irrepressible dose of joy. My Big Day also found the band’s studio door wedged open for a collaborative experience, inviting the likes of Jay Som, Nilüfer Yanya, and Holly Humberstone and Damon Albarn who all feature. On first listen, Bombay Bicycle Club have opened up the curtains and let this revelatory set of vibrant, joyous compositions bask in the sunshine. It’s an album that means business, sculpted by one of Britain’s best guitar bands”.

The debut album from Lush’s co-found Emma Anderson, Pearlies is intriguingly titled. I am really looking forward to it. Released via Sonic Cathedral, everyone needs to pre-order this album. I am going to be very interested to hear what the amazing Anderson offers on her debut solo outing. It is going to be another album that will nestle among the best of this year:

“Following the news that all three Lush albums are going to be reissued, Emma Anderson, the band’s co-founder, releases her debut solo album, Pearlies, via Sonic Cathedral.

One of the most underrated British songwriters to emerge from the era that encompassed shoegaze and Britpop, she has teamed up with producer James Chapman (aka Maps) for this collection that combines effervescent electronic pop with psych and folk textures with lyrics covering themes such as confronting your fears, embracing independence and moving on in life. It arrives fully formed with a burnished beauty (aided by the mastering skills of Heba Kadry) that belies its somewhat protracted creation, which began with Emma feeling disillusioned after Lush’s 2016 reunion came to an abrupt end. Left with songs and bits of music originally intended for the band, she began working with cellist and string arranger Audrey Riley and Robin Guthrie, formerly of the Cocteau Twins, both of whom encouraged her to sing her own songs. Covid put a temporary halt on proceedings, but the decision had been made.

When Sonic Cathedral introduced her to James Chapman at the start of 2022, Pearlies quickly took shape and blossomed into a masterpiece, the perfect mix of Emma’s incredible, idiosyncratic songwriting and James’ electronic production nous. Plus, a little extra guitar magic on four tracks courtesy of Richard Oakes from Suede. The finished album has somehow written its own narrative. By her own admission, Emma tends to write words and “see what comes out”, but Pearlies seems to tell the story of her decision to go it alone, with opener ‘I Was Miles Away’ posing the question: “See if I make it on my own”. The rest of the album provides the answer as it takes in everything from the unexpectedly funky first single ‘Bend The Round’, to folky finger-picking and film theme references, via psych leaning electronic pop reminiscent of Goldfrapp or Melody’s Echo Chamber. It concludes with ‘Clusters’, a stunning, Stereolab-style groove which begins with the line “and now the party’s over, the music’s at the end”. Thankfully, that is not the case. This incredible album is just the start of Emma’s long-awaited solo journey”.

The fantastic Pip Blom is going to release her new album, Bobbie, on 20th October. This is one you’ll want to pre-order. Definitely an artist who ranks among the best on the scene right now, it doe seem that the latest album was a chance to re-centre and start again. It is going to be a slightly new direction from Pip Blom. I am really interested to hear what Bobbie offers. An album that I guarantee you will like:

“For her third album, Bobbie, Dutch singer-songwriter Pip Blom decided to rip it up and start again. After making her name as one of the brightest indie rock singers around through two albums – 2019 debut Boat and 2021 follow-up Welcome Break – and a lauded live show honed over gruelling years of touring, the new album sees her take a delightful left turn into thumping, carefree synth pop. This 12-track collection features collaborations with Personal Trainer and Alex Kapranos”.

Let’s finish off 20th October with The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light. The new album from The Streets, the Mike Skinner-driven project is going to get plenty of attention. Listening back to his classic 2002 debut, Original Pirate Material, how many people thought that The Streets would be making music over twenty years later?! I guess genius was there from the start, but few would have predicted such a long and rich career. You will want to pre-order an album that is very much business as usual from The Streets:

“The album is a classic Streets album - filled with Skinner’s trademark lyrical wizardry and beats honed over a decade of building his other career as a legitimate bass/rap DJ in clubs - all songs written by Skinner but featuring vocal contributions from longtime collaborators Kevin Mark Trail and Robert Harvey, as well as a track featuring Teef.

The songs on the album soundtrack the film and also play the role of narrator of the film at times - and whilst neither the album or film exist without each other - both can be enjoyed separately”.

Even though 27th October is quite a busy one for albums, there are three that I want to focus on. The first is Angie McMahon’s Light, Dark, Light Again. She is an artist quite new to my ears, though I have heard her music and am now excited for McMahon’s forthcoming album. It is one that many others will want to pre-order. If you need more detail before making your decision, then this is what you can expect from Light, Dark, Light Again:

“To make her new album, Light, Dark, Light Again, Angie McMahon had to walk through the fire. The Melbourne singer-songwriter’s second LP was written from the ashes of a tough but transformative few years of relationship changes, private breakdowns and core-shaking revelations about self. At times, McMahon felt like falling apart. But instead, she pushed through and found that hope, joy and relief lies on the other side of pain. Light, Dark, Light Again is a record about facing the fear and learning it can be a portal to something bigger and better. It finds that the only certainty in life is that everything ends, and everything begins again – that there is life and death and life again, that there is light and dark and light again”.

Two more albums before we wrap up. If you want a sense of what is coming out in October – and I have missed out – then you can see them here. Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is among this year’s most anticipated albums. Go and pre-order a copy. You will want to hear this. Even if you are not a big Swift fan, it is going to be a remarkable album. Re-recording the 2014 album, fans around the world are really pumped about this. The new release of 1989 makes it Swift's fourth re-recorded album. It contains twenty-one, five of which are designated "From the Vault" - indicating unreleased songs that were written for 1989 but did not make the final track list in 2014.

The final album that you need to check out is DJ Shadow’s Action Adventure. The legendary U.S. D.J. not only gives us an album with an amazing cover; he has also put together one that could rank among his best work. For that reason, do make sure you secure your copy of an album that you will not want to pass you by:

“Action Adventure is DJ Shadow's seventh solo LP, an inward-looking project, made for Shadow alone without any collaborators. DJ Shadow explains, “This album is about my relationship to music. My life as a collector and curator. All my records and tapes.”“Ozone Scraper” is the lead single of the album campaign. It represents the feeling of transportation, of jet engines lifting the passenger somewhere impossible. It's one of DJ Shadow's favorites on the album, as it's an invitation to strap in and also sets the table for the kind of deep listening Shadow loves”.

I would normally put this feature out at the start of September but, as I am excited about the albums coming out then, I wanted to get a bit of a head start. I am sure there are some treasures above that you will ant to put some money aside for. From CMAT and Taylor Swift to Bombay Bicycle Club and DJ Shadow, it is an eclectic and quality-laden month! October is shaping up to be a very special one. Of course, more albums might be announced between now and then – so keep your eyes peeled! The albums above are ones that I feel…

YOU can’t go without.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Mnelia

FEATURE:

 

Spotlight

Mnelia

_________

I respect an artist…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Bella Howard

who puts a lot of effort into their social media channels and official website as much as the music. That is the case with Mnelia. The London-based artist has a great and retro homepage, but she is also someone who is shaking up British R&B. There are a few interviews I want to bring into this feature. Going back to 2021, I don’t know if I had heard Mnelia back then. I discovered her music earlier this year I think. I was instantly struck. It compelled me to discover more about an artist who clearly is going to go places. Already seducing and thrilling with the Closure Tapes E.P. released in May, she is primed for big things. I am going to come to some interviews from this year. First, NOTION spotlighted the remarkable Mnelia back in 2021. She was really started to take off after the 2020 release of her E.P., After 6:

“Breaking through the constant churn of new music is Mnelia. The rising artist’s nostalgic, 90s R&B is a welcome oasis in the current music landscape, much of which is inflected with the same sounds. But the North Londoner’s irresistible tunes are pinning her as the next queen of the UK R&B scene.

Sharing her latest single, “Senseless”, takes Mnelia’s R&B vibe and blends it with a pop appeal. It’s hard not to get hooked as she sings about losing her senses when she’s near her lover. “I’m not the type of girl to forget how to act/ But boy you got me losing all of my senses”, she sings coyly.  It’s a seductive, bubbly number that further cements Mnelia as one to watch this year.

“Senseless” is Mnelia’s first single after her debut EP, ‘After 6’, dropped last year. But it was “Say Yeah” that acted as the launchpad for Mnelia. With candyfloss vocals that could make Ariana Grande jealous, it’s a crime that we haven’t been able to get down to the Y2K tune in the club.

Notion caught up with Mnelia to chat about her new single and its accompanying music video, dream collabs, showing people what she’s capable of and much more.

Firstly, congrats on your new single “Senseless”! It’s such a bop. How long had it been in the works before release?

Thank you! It was originally made in November 2019, actually before “Say Yeah”. I wouldn’t really say it was “in the works” though as I made it a while ago and left it to simmer until I felt as though it was the right time to drop it. And thankfully it worked out well, as it’s the reception has been really positive which is always a

The music video is also such a vibe. Where did the idea for the concept come from, and what was it like filming it?

It was lovely filming it! Because I filmed it with TP (Terry Paul) who’s always my go-to guy. Honestly, it’s always a collaborative effort, featuring myself, Terry (Director), Meghan (Producer) & Komali (A&R).

How has the past year been for you creatively?

The past year has been insane! I haven’t really had a past year “creatively” more so I’ve had moments where I’m able to work a lot, and then less so, and vice versa. There’s definitely been a lot of adjusting, but it’s been good.

You had a breakthrough with your song “Say Yeah”, which came out last year. Looking back, did you expect the song to be so successful?

I never expected the track to do so well, but honestly, I feel like I say that all the time with each of my releases! Normally I don’t really have an expectation, I just get on with it. I prefer to make the music and allow the songs to do what they’re destined to do, and hopefully, it resonates with people.

Last year you also dropped the EP ‘After 6’. Can you talk us through the themes and inspirations for the record?

I wanted each song to encompass a different dynamic, especially with what I was going through (pregnancy) at the time. No one knew what was happening behind the scenes, so I wanted to make a 4 track EP and let people know that I’m capable of more than just “Say Yeah”.

If you could collab with any artist – dead or alive – who would it be and why?

Alive would be Lenny Kravitz. Dead would be Duke Ellington. I love Jazz, and specifically his style of Jazz! I wouldn’t collaborate with an artist people expect me to.. as that could happen naturally within the industry. I feel like I would go out of pocket and work with someone I wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to work with. That way I would have a song that’s an “experience” and not just an mp3 file or bounce from a session. – Even though I know my cousin wants me to say Aaliyah!

Where do you find the greatest forms of validation?

My sons smile! And my mum, she tries to act cool and proper chilled at times when I expect her to jump out of her seat. So really, when does get excited and my mum admits she doe like it / something I know it’s sick and is something impressive.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kiran Gidda

If you could rewind to one moment in your life, what would it be?

Hearing my son laugh for the first time! That was a crazy moment and I couldn’t believe it. It instantly became my favourite sound in the world. And also Merky Fest. Being in a place where music, sun and enjoying with my friends was the only concern was a good time.

What would your advice be for artists starting out?

DO IT! Even if it seems scary, just do it, or someone else will. You don’t want to look back on life with any regrets. It’s important to believe in yourself – a lot of your success will come from believing internally that you can get it done.

What can we expect next from Mnelia?

Have some more babies! Joking! More music, more sick music and “experiences”! I intend on being an “experience” to anyone that comes across me. Through my music, brand, live shows, personality and overall human stand point. I’m learning every day and hopefully, I can continue to inspire others to come”.

Mnelia has been on the scene a while now. The north west London artist has a child, and she is making some of the best music around. All of this deserves respect. She wants world domination. Going from strength to strength. I think that she will definitely take over the music world. Someone who knows what she wants and is going after it! Earlier this year, GRM Daily. If you do not follow this incredible artist, then you will want to get your ears around her music. I am a little late to the party, though I am making up for that lost time now:

“What would you say has been the biggest challenge so far in your career? 

“Getting over myself. I’m too conscious of everything I do, from the way I walk to the way I talk, or I was. But I had to really learn how to get over myself. And also, I think, in the middle of that, because I had a child, the identity crisis that I experienced was a bit mad, because before I had my son, I was like, I don’t know what I’m doing. And then I had my son, and I was like, wow, I really don’t know. 

“All I know is that music is a constant, and it’s something that I will wake up every single week I want to know where I’m going studio, so I’m making that song because to me the most rewarding thing I experienced throughout life apart from having a child now, is leaving the session and listening to the bounce and being like rah you made that? like yeah are we going to make something better? 

“So I would say definitely identity crisis and stepping over the obstacle of insecurity, which is something to hard deal with. I think it amplifies itself when you’re in people’s faces, 1000%, but I also just think whether you’re in your bedroom or whether you’re on a TV screen, your insecurities are your insecurities. So having to be like, whoa I’m scared. But it’s a step-by-step thing. I’m starting to realise you’ll never really ever be 100% like, yeah, I’m that person because there are days that are built to knock you. But like on the other side of that day, that I’m starting to get used to that.”

 One of the most interesting collabs on there is the KwengFace collab on “White Lies”, how did that come about?

“It was kind of random, but I don’t believe in random things. I genuinely feel like fate aligns itself. Like, I feel like we were always going to end up crossing paths one way or another. We have too many synchronicities for it to just not have been like that. So, my A&R at the time, she goes around London playing my music essentially, like she’s one of the biggest cheerleaders and she must have gone to a session with his manager, played the song once…and the next thing I knew I just got a bounce, I didn’t hear Kwengface is gonna jump on your song. I didn’t hear anything. There was no prelude. It was straight into it. Kwengface is on your song.

“I listened to it. I was like, is he singing? Like, the man’s singing. I was like, no matter what happens, I have to do something with this. Just because I genuinely feel like for someone who does drill to step so out of pocket on an R&B song, and actually sing with his full chest. I said, you know, big up yourself. Honestly, I have the utmost respect for Kweng. I love him so much. He’s legit my brother. And I feel like it was almost like we made the song like five years prior, had known each other for 10 years, like that was the most effortless collaboration I think I’ve ever had in my life.” 

“He made it so, so smooth. And I never have rocky collaborations. Anytime I ever, always so smooth. But that one, takes the cream, it was just amazing. It’s one for the boys…I make sure that a lot of my music is digestible for them.” 

Sticking on the topic of collabs and stuff, who would you say is your dream collaboration? 

“Lauryn Hill. My answer has changed so many times over the years, but I think I’ve come to realise that so Frank Ocean is the love of my life, like from top to bottom, that man with every single fibre of my being, every single time. He’s so sacred to me that I just wouldn’t even want to, he’s that one person I wouldn’t even meet, like I love you so much that I don’t want to meet and taint any perception. But for me, Lauryn Hill, is legit the epitome of artistry. From her demeanour to the way she articulates herself, her bank of knowledge, the way she conducts herself and makes music.” 

“In the UK, Angel, WSTRN I would love to collab with, Ava would love to collab with, Craig David I’d love to collab with, if I could collab with Sade.”

Who are some of your biggest inspirations in the music industry and music in general?

“Definitely Frank, definitely Brandy, definitely Jasmine Sullivan, definitely Craig David. My dad, though, he’s not in the music industry, but my dad was at the epicentre of my musical influence because he was the first person to introduce me to music, he was the first person to introduce me to singing, he was the first person that mentored me, like my dad would sing in church and I would just copy him. Like, I remember I never used to be able to sing lead. I would always harmonize because my dad would be attached to harmonizing. But like, he is the epitome of my musical influence. That’s one thing that I can never take away from that man. He got me here.” 

What was the process of putting the EP Closure Tapes together like? 

“I’d be lying if I said it was a smooth slope. I had about two projects before I finished. So, 2020, I dropped After 6. And that was kind of like, I’ve been away for a second, only because you guys didn’t know I was pregnant, but here you go. Then early 2021, I went into the studio, and I started constructing a project. But I started to realise that because I had taken so much time out to be pregnant, I hadn’t lived life enough and the project didn’t feel true. It just felt like a cop-out. And one thing I’m never going to do is just give you a result because you want it, or like necessarily be like, people are asking for this, I’m just going to put as much of myself as I can in it as possible.

“So I had a project and I completely scrapped it, threw her in the bin. And then the process of getting back into creating Closure Tapes came at a time where there was like a massive turnaround for me. I had new management, my son was about to turn 1, I’d just split from my partner and it was like, there was so much going on and it was like this is the level of life that I kind of needed to be experiencing in order to put it in the music and finally make music of substance”.

I am going to wrap up now. Closure Tapes has put Mnelia on a new plain. A different level. Her finest and most complete work to date, she grows in confidence and stature with every new release. I cannot wait to see where she goes from here. The E.P. is getting buzz from the likes of CLASH. There are some great and really deep interviews out there. Mnelia talks passionately about her music. Proud of what she has achieved and eager to connect with listeners and for that music to remembered, here is someone who really wants to put her stamp on the music industry – which she has been doing already:

“Starting with the name of the E.P. Closure Tapes, how did that come about?

Everything pertaining to this project was a sequence of gradual revelations, which is funny because the first track on the project is Revelation. It has been quite a full circle because I didn’t look for the name. All I knew about this project was that I wanted it to reflect everything I had gone through. And what I was going through was heartbreak, fresh motherhood, and dealing with the new signee at a major label and all of these things in a pandemic. And the one thing that everyone kept asking me was ‘What do you want?’ And I would have this question asked all the time, and at a point in time, I just said to myself that I want closure. I want to understand why things in my life are happening and how they are happening like this, and I want to have that understanding and just let them be. And then, I realized halfway through the process that it wasn’t closure that I was looking for, but it was closure that I was experiencing. I knew this was a chapter in my life that I would never be able ever to leave behind. It will be something I’m going to revisit in my mind consistently. So, I started to get into the imagery of what that looked like for me, and a massive part of my childhood was that I used to listen to cassettes a lot and would record myself on them. Even with technology now, I’ve carried that on because I use my voice notes as cassettes in the sense that I will voice note everything that I’m going through, which is what I did throughout the entire process of where I was in my life. So my voice memos became my cassette tapes, and then, putting those two things together, I called the project Closure Tapes.

Tell us how and where this production of this EP started for you?

There wasn’t a particular point where I said I was going to do a project. What happened was a sequence of events that led me to a breaking point. And at that breaking point, I was greeted by myself. And it was the part of me that I’d neglected; it was my emotions, my dietary habits at the time. It was every single part of my world that I had allowed to crash. So, I had to reach rock bottom for this project to exist. It started when I had a year, and I didn’t know how I would make it alive out of that year because I didn’t know what I was doing. I was using music to try and soften the blows of what was going on, and it became an escape mechanism in the sense that I wasn’t actually dealing with what was going on, and so even in making music, it wasn’t even something I was necessarily enjoying at the time. So, I had to process that and figure that out, and in doing so, I got new management, and in the process of getting new management, I found a team full of people that understood my vision. I could lean on them and worry about rehabilitating myself for a second. And it was really a thing because there were days when I couldn’t even go to the studio, and everything felt so difficult, and they helped me get through and push it. The first song I wrote was Closure, which ended up being the first single and half of the project title. And all of that came from the process of me finally not running away from myself. The one thing I wanted was to be vulnerable, and that’s what our project allowed me to do. So, it’s been a blessing to be able to make it known.

How has motherhood and being a new mother changed and impacted you as an artist?

A child’s innocence is always the most inspirational thing about them because they’re so naïve that they don’t know a thing. But yet still, they’re just they’re so keen and so eager to live the best life that they know. Ro makes me want to wake up every day and have the best time; it doesn’t matter what we’re doing. He’s just a little hub of love. He reminds me how much love is important to me. He constantly tests my capacity, from patience to happiness, when I feel like I can’t be any prouder. He makes me proud. When I feel like I can’t be tired, he makes me more tired. He is just there just for me to explore all the extremities. He consistently reminds me that I’m not in control and that I have to be accountable, try my hardest, and hold myself responsible for what I’m responsible for. But to be a child is to be free, to be experimental, to be brave, to love without limits. To know, without knowing anything, but to go and act like the world is yours, and I feel like some of these things have translated into how I make music and made this project.

You worked with several people on this E.P. including Bellah, Joyce Wrice, Miraa May and Kwengface. Can you talk us through collaboration process and how you brought them on baord?

Everyone on this project has poured into me one way or another, somebody that was a part of my growth process. I take the process of making music very, very, very, very delicately because music is one thing that my emotions are always so sensitive to. Miraa (May’s) son and Ro are best friends, so it’s effortless for me to be cool. I’m just going to have her be on the project. I didn’t even have to think about it. And Bellah is Ro’s godmother. Those two girls are the two who helped me with my breakup the most, apart from my best friend. But In terms of everyone that I collaborated with, from the girls, even down to Joyce Wrice, who someone that I adore. Some of the people that she frequently collaborates with were the ones that even kickstarted the process of me realizing that I was doing a project. We were in L.A. when we made Lalala, that was a big turnaround moment for me because it was the first time I’d gone to L.A. to work, and I made that song and was so proud of myself. From top to bottom, everybody just came together so well, and all the collaborations they’re just so rife, and they were all well-placed. Ro starts the project and his godmother ends the project. My mom is in the middle of the project.

Ari PenSmith was someone that I was so inspired by when I first started making music. When we made the song Déjà Vu I was crying on his shoulder and I had no clue I was going to be able to relate to the song in the way I did. Working with everybody it was just a spiderweb of beautiful connections and beautiful people that care so much about music that it wasn’t necessarily about what the album became and it was more about being able to have a space for my honesty, transparency, and vulnerability. I was actually able to be in sessions and cry and be with people I’ve cried with because everyone on this project knows me deeply, and they know me well”.

I am going to wrap up now. Go and check out the amazing Mnelia. She has released one of the best E.P.s of the year with Closure Tapes. I would really encourage everyone to support her and check out the music. A gem and star in the British R&B scene, I think that Mnelia is going to be a worldwide name before you know it. Someone who I feel gives her everything to music, this commitment and tireless work deserves reward and long-term success. If you have not found Mnelia and she is a new name to you, do make sure that you…

LISTEN to her now.

_____________

Follow Mnelia

PHOTO CREDIT: Bella Howard

 Official:

https://www.mnelia.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mneliaa/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MNELIAA/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4DDsQzXhKIC2F70cjMP7ec?si=GQOy2TgVTCOFooWZl18DuQ&dl_branch=1&nd=1

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM4xOsQCVOmPIw4wexM08Uw

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/mneliaofficial/

FEATURE: A Time for Change and Activation… Spotlighting a Crucial Event, Overheated II

FEATURE:

 

 

A Time for Change and Activation…

Spotlighting a Crucial Event, Overheated II

_________

FRESH from…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Eilish at Leeds Festival on Friday, 25th August/PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Baker/Getty Images

storming Reading and Leeds Festival over the weekend, a hugely important event next week sees the U.S. genius make an appearance in London. It happens on 30th August. I am gutted that I won’t be able to go. Thanks to Mark White at White Label Media in N.YC. for directing me to this crucial gathering and discussion. Before offering some thoughts, here are some more details about the upcoming event – one that is going to provide a lot of thought-provoking discussion (you can follow Overheated II on Instagram):

“Billie Eilish and Evoca Foundation team up for Overheated II

The all-day event focused on climate change in partnership with FEED + SUPPORT, takes place on August 30th in London’s Flipper’s Roller Boogie Place.  Overheated will be hosted by BBC’s Abbie McCarthy and features special guests such as Alice Eady, Brother Spirit, Dominique Palmer, Liv Simpliciano, Maggie Baird (mother of both Eilish and brother Finneas), Samata Pattinson, and Tori Tsui.

The highly acclaimed documentary Overheated starring Billie Eilish, produced by Evoca Foundation Founder Naza Alakija will be front and center. It tells the story of climate change through the eyes of indigenous people on the frontlines of climate change who make up only 5% of the earth’s population yet protect 80% of its biodiversity.

Ms. Alakija says that since last year’s highly successful Overheated event, “we’ve already seen rising temperatures, more widespread, deadly fires alongside melting ice caps –time isn’t running as we used to say. it’s run out! We have do all we can to try to mitigate the colossal and catastrophic climate mess we are now in”

Running from 10am to 5pm, there will be a special guest appearance from Billie Eilish. In addition, the event will be live-streamed globally via Eilish’s Official YouTube Channel in partnership with Mercury Studios.

If you or your colleagues would like to cover or attend Overheated, please don’t hesitate to reach out”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OVERHEATED (@overheated)

Following last year’s highly coveted, multi-day climate focused event in London, OVERHEATED will return on Wednesday, August 30th to Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace in West London from 10am to 5pm, bringing climate activists, musicians, and other leading voices together for a day filled with discussion, community building and resources to help tackle the climate crisis.

The event will be hosted by BBC’s Abbie McCarthy and will feature panel discussions and special guests Alice Eady, Brother Spirit, Dominique Palmer, Liv Simpliciano, Maggie Baird, Samata Pattinson, Tori Tsui, with more guest to be announced very soon.

One of the OVERHEATED co-founders, Billie Eilish will also be making an appearance and speaking to attending guests. The event will be live-streamed globally via Eilish’s Official YouTube Channel in partnership with Mercury Studios.

Complimentary plant-based meals provided by Neat Burger will be available to all 500 attendees, and skating for all is available to enjoy when panels conclude.

Tickets for OVERHEATED go on-sale Wednesday, August 16th at 10am BST via http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/

For more information go to www.supportandfeed.com

About Support + Feed

Founded by Maggie Baird, mother of Billie Eilish and Finneas, SUPPORT + FEED combats the climate crisis and food insecurity by working toward a global shift to an equitable plant-based food system. Driving culture change through multiple strategies, the program has reached global audience awareness of 95 million, and delivered over 300,000 meals & pantry items through a consistent presence in 11 major US cities, and through partnerships in the EU, UK, and Australia, with a growing footprint in London.
 Learn more at https://supportandfeed.org/

About Flipper’s

Founded in 1979 by Ian ‘Flipper’ Ross, Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace was the stuff of Los Angeles legend. It was reborn in 2022, as a new venture from Liberty Ross and Kevin Wall, in partnership with Usher, not only as an electric place to skate on two continents —but as an entertainment venue, apparel line, pro shop, and beacon for all things roller skating culture. In April 2022, Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace opened at The Rink at Rockefeller Center as a place to celebrate roller skating and the growing subculture dedicated to self-expression and creative movement. Flipper's returned to Rockefeller Center this past April for its second season, to bring roller skating back to the heart of New York City through September 2023. In November 2022, Flipper’s opened a 34,000 sq ft flagship venue in the heart of White City, London, bringing the brand’s “less scroll, more roll” philosophy to new regions around the globe.
For more information: https://www.flippers.world”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Naza Alakja

You can join the watchlist for Wednesday’s event here. It is something that I would urge everyone to do. It is essential viewing. Here is a quote from Naza Alakija.:

“Overheated harnesses the power of art, music, conversation and storytelling to bring the climate crisis to forefront of our shared consciousness, and inspires us to consider the role that each of us plays in the fight against climate change. As a platform that convenes perspectives, experiences, individuals and communities from across the world, Overheated connects us through creativity. Our overheating planet presents the greatest challenge of our time, but we believe that bringing together vision, imagination and resources is a critical step in forging a bright future for all”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OVERHEATED (@overheated)

I have put as much information in here as possible. Go check out as much as you can relating to Overheated II. We are in a situation now where climate change makes the news weekly. Artists such as Billie Eilish, ANOHNI, and Ellie Goulding are compelled to bring attention to a vital cause. Although there are some news outlets stating blaming climate change for so much is lazy, it is clear that abnormal weather, wildfires, floods, natural disasters, droughts and so many catastrophic events we are witnessing around the world is because of global warming. From issue in colder climbs to raging wildfires in Canada, people cannot be ignorant and blind to climate change. I think it is vital that events like Overheated II are supported and shared. It is great that a lot of young people are getting involved! It is also important that more artists and people in the music industry share their voice about climate change. It affects us all. Vinyl pressing plants, international travel and almost everything in the music industry has an impact on the climate. Although there are eco-friendly cassettes and vinyl plants are trying to greener, we all need to discuss ways in which music production and travel can be less harmful. With artists having this huge platform, there needs to be more activation through their music and interviews. Billie Eilish is a worldwide artist whose backing and passion will definitely help change things. We need to ignore disinformation and climate change deniers. Be aware that our planet is struggling – but it is something we can help reverse if we act immediately. Get governments to be more aware of the damage being done. Make them conscious of the devastation that is being wrought. I wanted to spotlight Overheated II as, on 30th August, this incredible coming-together happens in London. I would urge everyone out there to get involved and share the event online. It is crucial that everyone does as much…

AS they can.

FEATURE: Diamonds and Pearls: New Life and Expansion of Prince and The New Power Generation’s Underrated 1991 Gem

FEATURE:

 

 

Diamonds and Pearls

New Life and Expansion of Prince and The New Power Generation’s Underrated 1991 Gem

_________

THE fourteenth studio album from Prince…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Prince performing in Minneapolis, MN in 1991/PHOTO CREDIT: Ken Regan

and the first with his new band The New Power Generation, this never got the credit it deserves. Diamonds and Pearls remains one of the late genius’s most underrated works. Following 1990’s Graffiti Bridge – where there are songs called New Power Generation and Part 1 and New Power Generation, Part 2 -, it started a great run that would then lead to 1992’s immortal Love Symbol. I feel like Diamonds and Pearls has been overlooked and seen as an album with only a couple of great songs. We all know singles like the title track, Gett Off, and Money Don't Matter 2 Night, and yet there are some incredible deep cuts. Prince’s legendary Vault keeps offering an inexplicably large amount of music. You wonder if the man ever took a day off in his life! I will come to my thoughts about an album, why Diamonds and Pearls deserves more attention, and what might come next from the late legend’s archive. A new reissue has been confirmed. It offers a treasure trove of unreleased material and concert footage. You can pre-order it here, but I wanted to drop in some extensive detail about a release every Prince fan should investigate:

“PAISLEY PARK ENTERPRISES, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT AND WARNER RECORDS

ANNOUNCES EXPANDED REISSUE OF

PRINCE & THE NEW POWER GENERATION’S

MULTI-PLATINUM ALBUM DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

SUPER DELUXE FORMATS FEATURE 47 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED AUDIO TRACKS AND OVER TWO HOURS OF LIVE FILMED CONCERT FOOTAGE IN HIGH DEFINITION

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS

“ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS”

“INSATIABLE (EARLY MIX – FULL VERSION)”

AVAILABLE NOW VIA ALL DIGITAL DOWNLOAD / STREAMING PLATFORMS

LISTEN HERE

NEW DOLBY ATMOS MIX OF DIAMONDS AND PEARLS TO BE RELEASED ON

AUDIOPHILE BLU-RAY.

STRICTLY LIMITED EDITION, NUMBERED 7” SINGLES BOXED SET,

AVAILABLE NOW EXCLUSIVELY FROM THE OFFICIAL PRINCE STORE

SUPER DELUXE EDITION / DELUXE EDITION / REMASTERED ALBUM

AVAILABLE ON OCTOBER 27

PRE-ORDER ALBUM HERE

“You have a lot of artists today that have the ability to release four or five albums in the span of 18 months. Prince was already there decades ago.”

Chuck D, 2023

August 24, 2023 (Minneapolis, MN) – Diamonds And Pearls is the thirteenth studio album by Prince, and was the first with his new backing band, The New Power Generation. Featuring six massive international singles, including the hits “Gett Off”, “Cream”, and the iconic title track, the album was a worldwide smash reaching multi-platinum status in the USA and the UK, where it remains his best-selling album.

This October 27, Paisley Park Enterprises, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Records, will reissue Diamonds And Pearls via all physical, digital, and streaming partners, with the classic album remastered for the very first time, and featuring 47 previously unreleased tracks, as well as a previously unreleased 2+ hours of video concert performances from Prince’s legendary vault. Pre-order HERE

The reissue suite will be comprised of the following formats:

Super Deluxe Edition (7CD+Blu-ray / 12LP+Blu-ray / audio-only download and streaming)

Deluxe Edition (2CD / 4LP 180g vinyl)

Remastered album (1CD / 2LP / 2LP 180g clear “Diamond” vinyl / download and streaming)

Following the successful release of the 1999 Super Deluxe Edition (2019), and Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition (2020), the Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition represents the third deep dive into Prince’s vault. It includes a total of 75 audio tracks across 7x CDs and 12x 180g vinyl records.

The set offers a newly remastered version of the album, plus 15 of the incredible remixes and B-sides from the era, including the never commercially released “Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Min.)” mix. The Super Deluxe Edition also features 33 previously unheard studio gems from Prince’s Illustrious vault, ranging from alternate versions of album tracks, to numbers Prince gave away to other artists, and songs recorded while on the road in 1990.

 Prince & The NPG previewed the Diamonds And Pearls Tour at Prince’s Minneapolis club, Glam Slam, on January 11, 1992. The sweaty, sold-out, last-minute show captures the sheer joy and sense of endless possibility that came to define this era. This previously unreleased live concert performance has been mixed from the 24 track master and rounds out the audio content of the 7CD and 12LP sets.

This same previously unreleased concert is also presented in stunning 2K video on the Blu-ray disc that accompanies both Super Deluxe Edition formats, in Stereo, 5.1 Dolby True HD, and Dolby ATMOS audio formats. The Blu-ray also features Prince & The New Power Generation’s performance at The Special Olympics at the Metrodome in Minneapolis in July 1991 (also in Stereo, 5.1, and ATMOS), as well as a previously unseen soundcheck. The Blu-ray is completed by the long out of print Diamonds And Pearls Video Collection, originally released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1993.

The 120-page hardback book which accompanies the SDE set features unseen photos by Randee St. Nicholas, and essays by: author & broadcaster Andrea Swensson; Archivist and Senior Researcher for the Prince Estate Duane Tudahl; British music critic and Prince expert Jason Draper; De Angela L. Duff, an Industry Professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn; Social Media Personality KaNisa Williams; and an introduction from Public Enemy founder, Chuck D.

The Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition holds a magnifying glass to the prolific output of this truly unique musician, songwriter, producer, and performer who started the 1990s writing and recording at such a rapid pace that his next album would be practically complete by the time the Diamonds And Pearls Tour debuted in Tokyo that April.

In addition, there will be a brand-new Dolby ATMOS mix of Diamonds And Pearls. This marks the very first time a Prince studio album has been mixed in ATMOS, and it will feature on an audiophile Blu-ray, featuring the album in Dolby ATMOS and HD Stereo (24bit / 44.1kHz) formats.

As a companion collector piece, fans have the opportunity to order a numbered 7” singles boxed set, strictly limited to 1,991 units. Containing remastered audio for six official singles released in 1991 & 1992, the set contains a brand new 7” single comprising two previously unreleased tracks, “Alice Through The Looking Glass” and “Horny Pony (Version 2)”. The set is available to order now, exclusively via the official Prince Store.

“Alice Through The Looking Glass” is now available on all digital download and streaming platforms. Featured on the Super Deluxe set, the track was recorded on May 28, 1991 at Larrabee Sound Studios, Studio A. Listen HERE

Also available now on all digital download and streaming platforms is “Insatiable (Early Mix – Full Version)”, which also appears on the Diamonds And Pearls Super Deluxe Edition. This previously unreleased 8'02" mix features lyrics that were ultimately edited out and reveals how “Insatiable” originally sounded on its initial mix, since it contains a variety of instruments that were eliminated in the final version. Listen HERE

#PrinceDiamondsAndPearl

Official website: prince.com

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter: @prince

BACKGROUND

Unlike previous Prince albums, the majority of Diamonds And Pearls was recorded with The New Power Generation, a group he had assembled largely from the Twin Cities area. They shared cultural backgrounds and localised experiences, and helped Prince connect his past influences to the present creating a new uplifting blend of hip-hop, dance, gospel, and pop that would bring him to the top of the charts worldwide.

The New Power Generation was a band that Prince believed in so wholeheartedly that he gave them co-credit on the cover of Diamonds And Pearls, something he’d only done previously with one other band, The Revolution. The group consisted of Sonny Thompson (vocals & bass), Damon Dickson (vocals & percussion), Rosie Gaines (vocals & keyboards), Michael Bland (drums), Kirk Johnson (vocals & percussion), Tony M (vocals), Levi Seacer, Jr. (bass, guitar & vocals), and Tommy Barbarella (keyboards).

Diamonds And Pearls was unveiled to the world on October 1, 1991, and it instantly had a huge commercial and cultural impact, becoming the biggest selling non-soundtrack album of Prince’s career. Over the past three decades, the reasons for its enormous success have been discussed extensively. Not least of these was Prince’s decision to finally engage with major television exposure and an extensive tour of Europe, Japan and his first trip to Australia. The album also offered a diverse collection of sounds that could appeal to a wide variety of listeners. Diamonds And Pearls had something for everyone.

PRINCE & THE NEW POWER GENERATION

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

SUPER DELUXE EDITION

(7CD+Blu-ray / 12LP+Blu-ray / Digital *)

CD1 / LP1&2: DIAMONDS AND PEARLS (REMASTERED)

Thunder

Daddy Pop

Diamonds And Pearls

Cream

Strollin’

Willing And Able

Gett Off

Walk Don’t Walk

Jughead

Money Don’t Matter 2 Night

Push

Insatiable

Live 4 Love

CD2 / LP3&4: SINGLE MIXES & EDITS (REMASTERED)

Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Min.)

Gett Off (Houstyle)

Violet The Organ Grinder

Gangster Glam

Horny Pony

Cream (N.P.G. Mix)

Things Have Gotta Change (Tony M Rap)

Do Your Dance (KC’s Remix)

Insatiable (Edit)

 Diamonds And Pearls (Edit)

Money Don’t Matter 2 Night (Edit)

Call The Law

Willing And Able (Edit)

Willing And Able (Video Version)

Thunder (DJ Fade)

CD3-5 / LP5-9: VAULT I, II, III

VAULT I

Schoolyard

My Tender Heart

Pain

Streetwalker

Lauriann

Darkside

Insatiable (Early Mix - Full Version)

Glam Slam ’91

 Live 4 Love (Early Version)

Cream (Take 2)

Skip To My You My Darling

Diamonds And Pearls (Long Version)

All tracks previously unreleased

VAULT II

Daddy Pop (12" Version)

Martika’s Kitchen

Spirit

Open Book

Work That Fat

 Horny Pony (Version 2)

Something Funky (This House Comes) (Band Version)

Hold Me

Blood On The Sheets

The Last Dance (Bang Pow Zoom And The Whole Nine)

Don’t Say U Love Me

All tracks previously unreleased

VAULT III

Get Blue

Tip O’ My Tongue

The Voice

 Trouble

Alice Through The Looking Glass

Standing At The Altar

Hey U

Letter 4 Miles

I Pledge Allegiance To Your Love

Thunder Ballet

All tracks previously unreleased

CD6&7 / LP10-12: LIVE AT GLAM SLAM, 1992

Thunder

Daddy Pop

Diamonds And Pearls

Willing And Able

  Jughead

The Sacrifice Of Victor

Nothing Compares 2 U

 Thieves In The Temple

Sexy M.F.

 Insatiable

Cream/Well Done/I Want U/In The Socket (Medley)

 1999/Baby I’m A Star/Push (Medley)

Gett Off

Gett Off (Houstyle)

All tracks previously unreleased

BLU-RAY

LIVE AT GLAM SLAM, 1992

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, JANUARY 11, 1992

Thunder

Daddy Pop

Diamonds And Pearls

Willing And Able

Jughead

The Sacrifice Of Victor

Nothing Compares 2 U

Sexy M.F.

Insatiable

Cream/Well Done/I Want U/In The Socket (Medley)

1999/Baby I’m A Star/Push (Medley)

Gett Off

Gett Off (Houstyle)

All tracks previously unreleased

SPECIAL OLYMPICS, METRODOME, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, JULY 1991

SOUNDCHECK – JULY 19, 1991:

Let’s Go Crazy/Baby I’m A Star/Push (Medley)

All tracks previously unreleased

SHOW – JULY 20, 1991:

Diamonds And Pearls

Let’s Go Crazy/Baby I’m A Star/Push (Medley)

All tracks previously unreleased

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS VIDEO COLLECTION

Introduction

 Thunder (Live)

Gett Off

 Cream

 Diamonds And Pearls

 Dr. Feelgood (Live)

Call The Law

Willing And Able

Jughead (Live)

Insatiable

Strollin’

 Money Don’t Matter 2 Night

Live 4 Love (Live)

Blu-ray is presented in: Stereo, 5.1 Dolby True HD (Special Olympics show and Glam Slam only) and Dolby ATMOS (Special Olympics show and Glam Slam only).

* N.B. video content is exclusive to the physical Blu-ray and will not appear on digital download or streaming versions of the Super Deluxe Edition set.

PRINCE & THE NEW POWER GENERATION

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

DELUXE EDITION

(2CD / 4LP)

CD1 / LP1&2: DIAMONDS AND PEARLS (REMASTERED)

Thunder

Daddy Pop

 Diamonds And Pearls

 Cream

Strollin’

Willing And Able

 Gett Off

Walk Don’t Walk

Jughead

Money Don’t Matter 2 Night

 Push

 Insatiable

Live 4 Love

CD2 / LP3&4: SINGLE MIXES & EDITS (REMASTERED)

 Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Min.)

Gett Off (Houstyle)

Violet The Organ Grinder

Gangster Glam

Horny Pony

Cream (N.P.G. Mix)

Things Have Gotta Change (Tony M Rap)

Do Your Dance (KC’s Remix)

 Insatiable (Edit)

Diamonds And Pearls (Edit)

 Money Don’t Matter 2 Night (Edit) 

Call The Law

Willing And Able (Edit)

Willing And Able (Video Version)

Thunder (DJ Fade)

PRINCE & THE NEW POWER GENERATION

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

REMASTERED

(1CD / 2LP / 2LP clear “Diamond” 180g vinyl / Audiophile Blu-ray * / Digital Download / Streaming)

CD1 / LP1&2 / Audiophile Blu-ray *: DIAMONDS AND PEARLS (REMASTERED)

 Thunder

Daddy Pop

Diamonds And Pearls

Cream

Strollin’

Willing And Able

 Gett Off

Walk Don’t Walk

Jughead

Money Don’t Matter 2 Night

Push

 Insatiable

Live 4 Love

* Audiophile Blu-ray presented in Dolby ATMOS and HD Stereo (24bit / 44.1kHz) audio formats

PRINCE & THE NEW POWER GENERATION

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

RELEASED OCTOBER 27th

AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW HERE”.

Past Prince’s purple/golden run of the 1980s, not that many people give a lot of love to albums like Diamonds and Pearls and his ‘90s work. I really love the album. On the strength of the singles alone, it is hard to beat! Even taking out the title track, which a lot of people aren’t hot on, there are some awesome classics - which sit alongside some experimental pieces. Pitchfork were positive towards the album, yet so many other reviews are mixed. There is an air of disappointment and a common feeling: Diamonds and Pearls is not up there with the iconic Purple Rain (1984) and Sign ‘o’ the Times (1987). Still early into his career, Diamonds and Pearls showed that Prince still had plenty of golden tunes and innovation in him. With some album packages and merchandise available for Diamonds and Pearls, I hope that it puts a spotlight on a remarkable album. Seven years after his death, and we are still getting music from him. Ensuring that he would have this legacy and relevance after he died – there was never any doubt about that! -, he stored up all this material. Whether he planned to release it all one day or whether it was there in case of his death, there is no telling how much more is in there. We could see Prince music coming for decades more. It leads to that question many might ask after the reissue of Diamonds and Pearls arrives in the autumn: What is next in terms of reissues or unheard material? Purple Rain – perhaps his peak as an artist -  is forty next year. Will there be a new release with demos and unheard songs?! I think we will get some unreleased songs - although something relating to Purple Rain is probably going to come this or next year.

I am going to round up now. I think it is bittersweet that a deluxe and brilliant reissue of Diamonds and Pearls is coming out. It means we have Prince’s music very much in the world. It also highlights an album that has never got its due credit. Hopefully these new tracks will get people to revisit and reassess the 1991 classic. It is sad because it reminds us that this genius and pioneer is not here. What he could have given us. It is also sad that he cannot see how his music is impacting people. I am sure Prince would have released this Diamonds and Pearls material soon enough. Maybe played some of it live. One of my favourite of his studio albums, I know that this is something every Prince fan will want to own. Sometimes, when you get reissues rammed with unheard songs and extras, it can be hard wading through and a bit of a slog! The fact there are different versions available, so that you get everything, a bit extra, and various amounts of new stuff, means there are options (and the prices can vary quite a bit!). In the case of this reissue, it is all really fascinating stuff! I think we will get years more where Prince’s Vault reveals some pure magic and wonder. I predict Purple Rain might get an expanded edition soon. Beyond that, I think his late-period career is worth exploring (rather than exploiting). Some of the songs he was working on before his untimely death in 2016. The great Prince is gifting us with brilliance seven years after he left us. With this reissue of Prince and The New Power Generation’s first album together, this banquet is absolutely…

STUFFED full of diamonds and pearls.