FEATURE: Strings and Keys: Why Putting Music Back on All Schools’ Curriculum Is Essential for the Future of the Industry

FEATURE:

 

 

Strings and Keys

PHOTO CREDIT: Mazhar Soldan/Pexels

Why Putting Music Back on All Schools’ Curriculum Is Essential for the Future of the Industry

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NOT to be too dramatic.…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Marta Wave/Pexels

but there is something worrying happening across schools. Hardly surprising under this Government; it seems music, not a huge part of the curriculum anymore, is starting to disappear altogether. There are inalienable and essential courses and subjects that need to be taught at every school. I think that, as the world becomes more difficult to navigate and politics is making its way to the forefront, this is something that needs to be taught. A basic political course that discusses everything from climate change and protecting the environment, through to poverty and the wealth divide, would be useful. I am not sure whether there is a course like this at primary schools and above (maybe a General Studies thing?!), but you feel like the young of today need to be prepared and educated to thing sort of thing. More equipped and informed about the wider world than I was when I was at school in the 1990s. I was reading the Big Issue . Clare Sawers was arguing why music needs to be part of the solution – the Big Issue did a wider set of features stating why this generation is getting a raw deal when it comes to education. When I was at school, there was an option to take music. It was always part of the curriculum. Rather than it being an optional course, we had access to music and instruments from primary school onward. By the time I got to high school, it was still part of my regular lessons.

IMAGE CREDIT: macrovector via Freepik

It was only when getting to sixth-form college that it became an option. Even then, it would have been free education. University would have been the first time I’d have to pay for music education (I didn’t take it at university; I started at university in 2001). Having always grown up around music and knowing that it was available at my school, it is shocking to discover that it is being phased out from many. Sawers wrote how playing an instrument could soon become a hobby for the rich. Think about piano or violin lessons. Once part of my education, we will see a day when this sort of access will be available to privately-educated students. That, or children/parents will have to pay for lessons. Something as fundamental and common as the guitar or drums. Unless kids get lessons or they are bought the instruments, then they will not have any option or access. A study from Birmingham City University found that fewer people are taking Music as an A-level course. Whether it is a subject that is being offered to people or whether there is a lack of interest. They found that “The key finding from our research is that A-level music is continuing to decline in terms of numbers of entries and that, if the trend continues at the same rate, there won’t be any more entries for A-level music by 2033”. The fact is that, when you look around the music industry now, there is that divide. So many younger artists have had to take private music lessons. They also may be the last generation of people who have had easy access to music.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Rochak Shukla via Freepik

I know that there are online courses and it is not budget-breaking to study an instrument. The fact is, because music was part of the curriculum and was a social thing where kids had easy access from a very young age, means we get to see these great artists come through. Would The Beatles, as working-class people, have made music and got where they were if they could not study it at school and have affordable access?! It would be devastating to think about the consequences! I fear now we are living in a time when potential and promising musicians are either not going to be able to afford to follow their passion; there may be a reduction in working-class artists emerging. A music scene that thrives on diversity and mix will soon be homogenised and exclusive. Potential artists might not take up an instrument and rely on technology. That lack of organic instrumentation and kids applying themselves to an instrument is horrifying! It is a skill and discipline that is so impressive. If we get rid of that, I do fear modern music will become driven by technology to an extent where it is lifeless. Budgets are being slashed around the country. Once considered essential or a key part of education, Music as a course is now more of a luxury. When subjects have to be cut, The arts are the first to suffer. I would argue that there are subjects far less worthy and important than Music that is not even considered for cuts. I shan’t name them!

 PHOTO CREDIT: master1305 via Freepik

Suffice to say, a musical education does a lot more than teaches you have to play an instrument or sing. It is a cultural window into the past and future. By studying music, you are also getting taught about history, geography and other subjects - most of which are seen as mandatory. The music industry now still has an issue when it comes to gender imbalance. I think it is also still imbalanced when it comes to social classes. Fewer working-class artists at the forefront than there has been for decades. Fairly recently, there were plans in Scotland to cut music spending by 60%. This was met with uproar. Luckily, a Musicians Union-backed initiative forced them to reconsider! Also, in 2021, a study by the Society of Musicians founds that 61% of respondents’; music budgets were ‘insufficient’. Teachers topping up budgets through their own pockets or holding songwriters. As the piece from the Big Issue explains, a homogenisation or exclusivity would make the music landscape very boring indeed. The music budget in independent schools is massive compared to state schools. Yearly budgets for authority schools is £1,865, compared with £9,917 for those at independent schools. There are organisations and bodies working hard to ensure that the next generation have access to music without huge cost or discrimination! The likes of World Heart Beat are crucial. They provide free music tuition ands live performances. They have seen kids from deprived backgrounds with broken phones and not much to their name not going to school; they still show up to do music. They may have lost parents recently, or they are torn as to what careers are open to them.

 PHOTO CREDIT: RDNE Stock project/Pexels

Music and organisations like World Heart Beat offer a nurturing and safe space. That offers more than education. There are so many skills one can pick up unconnected to music by being around like-minded people who want to pursue music. Music, unlike other subjects taught at schools and colleges, is not restricted and quite niche. There is this higher variation and ripple that one gets when they learn an instrument or bond with music. It influences one’s behaviour and their social outlook. That sense of community and self-belief is key. It seems that there are purse strings being tightened because music is seen as a hobby or something that won’t be beneficial. Maybe the feeling a career in music is rare and it is hard to make a living from it (maybe governments wonder why encourage children to learn music when they can’t do anything without that skill?!). Creative industries make up 12.6% of London’s economy – where it brings in £13 billion a year. The narrowing of the curriculum means we lose the joy and importance of music. You do not have to look too far back to see a time when music was seen as natural and an unquestioned part of education. This caviller approach to cutting budgets and threatening music’s future is worrying! If it is not an A-level subject or something that is reserved for the wealthier, then this will have a knock-on effect throughout the music industry and culture in general.

IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles performing at the London Palladium in 1963/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The only reason we have legendary artists and bands who changed the world is because music was available to them. Whether a free lesson and part of their education, or they had easier access to instruments and a like-minded group, if we threatened and shrink that, what are we left with?! It is a worrying state of affairs with only small glimmer of hope. It should not be down to charities and organisations to ensure that young people have access to music education and resources. In the same way as English and Mathematics are core to the school curriculum, so too should music. I wonder what the history of music would have been if we rewrote the narrative so that young people had to pay to get access to music education and instruments. The bands and artists we would have lost. The Government’s seemingly uninformed and reckless rationing of funds towards music, coupled with their view that it is a subject that should be nixed from the curriculum, is very infuriating! The only way for the music industry to diversify and spotlight amazing voices from all backgrounds is through consistent funding and ensuring music is left on the curriculum through schools and colleges. Let’s hope that this undeniable and essential fact…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels

STRIKES a chord.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Amplified: The Queens Who Rock

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

 IN THIS PHOTO: Panic Shack/PHOTO CREDIT: Sian Adler via NME

Amplified: The Queens Who Rock

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I may have done something similar before.…

IN THIS PHOTO: Nova Twins/PHOTO CREDIT: Corinne Cumming

but, as Indie, Rock and ‘harder-sounding’ genres are still viewed by some as male-led and dominated, I wanted to shine a light on the queens who are proving that wrong. Looking at festival line-ups, I guess some are doing better at integrating more female-led Rock, Post-Punk and Indie Rock bands. We shouldn’t even need to use terms like ‘female-led’ or ‘female’, as there should be this recognition and equality already! Regardless, as there is an issue with gender disparity and a failure from festivals to balance things, I did want to focus on women specifically and highlight gender – plus, as a music journalist with a feminist bent and preference, it is part of what I do already. Below is a playlist of great bands comprised of or led by amazing women. Maybe some have played bigger festivals already - though I feel these must-hear groups should be headlining soon. From bands like The Last Dinner Party and Panic Shack, through to the likes of Nova Twins and Amyl and the Sniffers, there is a great mix of the upcoming and must-watch bands, through to the legends who have been on the scene for a little while now. Here are some terrific queens who need to be…

 IN THIS PHOTO: The Last Dinner Party/PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning for DORK

IN your sights and ears.

FEATURE: Myths and Monsters: Cowedbusting: Kate Bush’s ‘Big Return’, Hounds of Love, at Thirty-Eight

FEATURE:

 

 

Myths and Monsters

Cowedbusting: Kate Bush’s ‘Big Return’, Hounds of Love, at Thirty-Eight

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I have titled this feature as such…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

as there was a lot of rumour and controversy surrounding Kate Bush in 1985. Interestingly, I am reading a Classic Pop special where they chart Madonna’s entire career. At the time of Like a Prayer (1989), where she signed an unprecedented $5 million deal with Pepsi, she did a commercial that was watched by millions. The next day, her Like a Prayer video came out and was met with huge backlash. Seen as blasphemous, sacrilege, and offensive, its depiction of burning crosses and Madonna kissing a Black man meant that she was vilified by many. Interestingly and pleasingly, that sort of controversy had the opposite impact on the record buyers. The album sold massively and was a chart-topper. Not that she planned it that way, yet the controversy seemed to compel people to buy Like a Prayer almost in rebellion! In the case of Kate Bush in 1985 – a year when Madonna’s Like a Virgin (1984) album was on fire and she was confirmed as the Queen of Pop -, the rumours painted Bush to be somewhere between a beast and a recluse. Because she had not dared to put an album out in three years – heaven forefend! -, many thought she was either on drugs, massively overweight, involved in some scandal, or she had been dropped by her label – or perhaps all of those! The truth was simple: Kate Bush, practically days after the tabloids started going into a hysteria about this once-famed singer disappearing, released her fifth studio album. In fact, a lot of that speculation started just before Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) came out on 5th August, 1985. As it was, the years between 1982 and 1985 had been very busy for Kate Bush. Hounds of Love’s release on 16th September, 1985 was the culmination. You do not get an album that good from rushing!

She was finishing up The Dreaming’s promotion. Still releasing singles and music for a lot of that in between period, there was a tonne going on. In 1983, as I have written many times, Bush was starting demos of songs (most of that was productive in 1984, yet Bush had songs brewing and in some form), getting a home studio started, and really laying all the groundwork for her fifth studio album. If producing The Dreaming was a slightly tormenting and exhausting process, Bush was not going to quit producing. She knew her production voice was the only that should be heard, though recording at multiple studios and taking on so much, she built a bespoke studio by her family home and would allow herself some time before recording the album to be normal – to kick back for a second and get some energy back. Recommitting to dance and eating more healthily, that led to incredible inspiration. Surrounding by nature and something less foreboding as London, Bush was merely giving herself enough time to compose and record an album that many consider to be one of the best of all time. In future Hounds of Love features, I will look at different elements of the album, in addition to focusing on a few songs that do not get as much coverage as the singles. It is interesting how the tabloids focused on Bush and felt that she was some mythical beats almost. Hidden away or depressed after The Dreaming. As PROG noted in 2021, there was a lot of writing Bush off before she retorted with one of her very best songs:

“On August 5 1985, Kate Bush made an appearance on Terry Wogan’s early evening BBC1 chat show. Introduced by the avuncular host, the singer lip-synced her way through her new single, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God). Standing at a wooden podium while clad in what looked like a monk’s cowl, and backed by a group of similarly-attired musicians, she looked like a cross between a politician and a 16th century religious leader.

Her presence on prime time TV was something of a surprise. Just a few days earlier, the NME had mentioned Bush in a piece headlined ‘Where Are They Now?’. Unfortunate timing aside, you could see their point. It had been three years since the singer had last released an album, and she’d been largely absent from the spotlight since then – a lifetime away in those pre-internet days. Rumours swirled that she’d ballooned to 18 stone, or was living as a recluse in the French countryside, or both.

As the Wogan appearance proved, the rumour about her weight wasn’t true. And while she had retreated from public view, it was to Kent rather than France, and she certainly hadn’t been idle. What she had been doing was working on her fifth album, away from the eyes of the media and her own record label.

That record, which would hit the shelves a month after her TV reappearance, was Hounds Of Love. Her fifth album, it retained the progressive spirit of her earlier career while bringing both a new maturity and a wild sense of anything-goes abandon to her work. It would be a watershed for Bush, ushering in the second act of her career, and influencing such disparate talents as Within Temptation, Bjork, and The Futureheads. At the time, it sounded like nothing else around. Today, almost 30 years on, it stands as one of the most visionary records ever made”.

Those who felt Bush was retired and retreated didn’t realise just how hard Bush was working. A different approach and line-up to the one on The Dreaming, these songs were very different. The singles, more commercial, were designed more to impact. Rather than deliberately trying to write singles, Bush balanced the accessible with the extraordinary. The album’s second side, The Ninth Wave, was her first conceptual suite. Few female artists have written anything like this. It remains many people’s favourite aspects of Hounds of Love. It makes it all the more laughable anyone dared to think Kate Bush was done. The hateful and insulting rumours about her weight or drug use. In fact, healthier and happier than she had been in a while, the twenty-seven-year-old released a masterpiece. Thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for sourcing interviews where Bush discussed making a mighty and unbeatable album:

“Many hours were spent on tiny vocal ideas that perhaps only last half a minute. Many hours went on writing lyrics - one of the most difficult parts in the process for me, in that it's so time-consuming and so frustrating, and it just always seems to take far too long for something that seems as though it should come so naturally. One of the difficult things about the lyrics is that when I initially write the song, perhaps half of the lyrics come with it but it's almost more difficult fitting in the other half to make it match than it would be perhaps to start from scratch, where, for instance, you might have just hummed the tune; or where, in some cases, I wrote them as instrumentals, and then the tunes were written over the top of this. Many times I ring up Paddy and ask him to come over to the studio immediately, to bring in that string-driven thing - to hit that note and let it float.

One of the most positive things is now having our own recording studio where we can experiment freely, and it's definitely one of the best decisions I've made since I've been recording albums. We've put a lot of hard work into this album, so we've been waiting for it to be finished and ready, and I know you've been waiting. I hope that after this time, and after all the snippets of information we've been giving you, you don't find it disappointing, but that you enjoy it, and that you enjoy listening to it in different ways again and again.

This album could never have happened without some very special people. Many thanks to Julian Mendelsohn, and especially Haydn Bendall and Brian Tench, who put a lot of hard work into this project, to all the musicians, who are a constant inspiration, to Ma who helps with every little thing, to Paddy and Jay for all their inspiration and influences, and again to Del for all those moments we've captured on tape together. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, 1985)

On this album I wanted to get away from the energy of the last one - at the time I was very unhappy, I felt that mankind was really screwing things up. Having expressed all that, I wanted this album to be different - a positive album, just as personal but more about the good things. A lot depends on how you feel at any given time - it all comes out in the music. (James Marck, 'Kate Bush Breaks Out: Bush's Bridges'. Now - Toronto Weekly, 28 November 1985)

The first in my own studio. Another step closer to getting the work as direct as possible. You cut all the crap, don't have all these people around and don't have expensive studio time mounting up. A clean way of working. ('Love, Trust and Hitler'. Tracks (UK), November 1989)

I never was so pleased to finish anything if my life. There were times I never thought it would be finished. It was just such a lot of work, all of it was so much work, you know, the lyrics, trying to piece the thing together. But I did love it, I did enjoy it and everyone that worked on the album was wonderful. And it was really, in some ways, I think, the happiest I've been when I'd been writing and making an album. And I know there's a big theory that goes 'round that you must suffer for your art, you know, ``it's not real art unless you suffer.'' And I don't believe this, because I think in some ways this is the most complete work that I've done, in some ways it is the best and I was the happiest that I'd been compared to making other albums. ('Classic Albums interview: Hounds Of Love, with Richard Skinner. BBC Radio 1 (UK), 26 January 1992)”.

Even though fans knew that Kate Bush would never spiral or quit, it seemed like there was cynicism from the press. If an artist doesn’t get albums out quickly and keep in the spotlight, they are subjected to being forgotten or scandalised! I would have loved to have been Kate Bush reading the tabloids or NME and knowing, very soon, she would unveil an album that would shut everyone up! If some felt that 1985 was a year when Kate Bush was almost done in the music industry, Hounds of Love proved that this assumption…

COULDN’T be further from the truth.

FEATURE: Spotlights and Highlights: Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty-One

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlights and Highlights

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982

Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty-One

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IN this anniversary feature…

for Kate Bush’s The Dreaming – which turns forty-one on 13th September -, I wanted to highlight tracks that were not singles but deserve attention. I did the same for Never for Ever. If the singles from that 1980 album are played more than any other, then it is especially true of The Dreaming. In fact, you only really hear Sat in Your Lap (the first single) played. There are four especially strong and interesting songs either not released as a single or was not released as one in the U.K. I am also going to end with a playlist that ranks the album tracks. I will reorder The Dreaming so that my favourite is at the top; the least favourite (I love all the songs but some more than ever) at the end. Number three in the U.K., prior to getting to specific songs, I want to reuse an interview snippet from 1986 where Bush quite rightly says that The Dreaming is more of a suite and single piece than individual songs. It is ironic that I am pulling apart the album, but it is interesting highlighting excellent moments:

“I have no doubt that those who buy singles because they like my hits, are completely mystified upon hearing the albums. But if it comes to that, they should listen to it loudly! If a single theme linked The Dreaming, which is quite varied, it would be human relationships and emotional problems. Every being responds principally to emotions. Some people are very cool, but they are silenced by their emotions, whatever they might be. To write a song, it's necessary that I be completely steeped in my environment, in my subject. Sometimes the original idea is maintained, but as it takes form, it possesses me. One of the best examples would be this song that I wrote on 'Houdini': I knew every one of the things that I wanted to say, and it was necessary that I find new ways that would allow me to say them; the hardest thing, is when you have so many things to fit into so short a space of time. You have to be concise and at the same time not remain vague, or obscure. The Dreaming was a decisive album for me. I hadn't recorded in a very long time until I undertook it, and that was the first time that I'd had such liberty. It was intoxicating and frightening at the same time. I could fail at everything and ruin my career at one fell swoop. All this energy, my frustrations, my fears, my wish to succeed, all that went into the record. That's the principle of music: to liberate all the tensions that exist inside you. I tried to give free rein to all my fantasies. Although all of the songs do not talk about me, they represent all the facets of my personality, all my different attitudes in relation to the world. In growing older, I see more and more clearly that I am crippled in facing the things that really count, and that I can do nothing about it, just as most people can do nothing. Making an album is insignificant in comparison with that, but it's my only defense. (Yves Bigot, 'Englishwoman is crossing the continents'. Guitares et Claviers (France), February 1986)”.

There are four tracks from The Dreaming that are deeper cuts I wanted to highlight. Thanks hugely to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia who are a resource I could not be without! I am going to donate to them as a thanks. They have collated interviews where Bush spoke about various songs. The first I want to highlight is the amazing Suspended in Gaffa. I think this should have been a U.K. single. The brilliant There Goes a Tenner was released instead. Suspended in Gaffa was released in mainland Europe. It did okay in France and Spain, though not a lot else. I think it could have been top forty in the U.K. There Goes a Tenner was distinctly not in the top forty. Here is what Bush said about Suspended in Gaffa:

“I could explain some of it, if you want me to: Suspended in Gaffa is reasonably autobiographical, which most of my songs aren’t.  It’s about seeing something that you want–on any level–and not being able to get that thing unless you work hard and in the right way towards it. When I do that I become aware of so many obstacles, and then I want the thing without the work. And then when you achieve it you enter…a different level–everything will slightly change. It’s like going into a time warp which otherwise wouldn’t have existed. (Richard Cook, 'My music sophisticated?...'. NME (UK), October 1982)

'Suspended In Gaffa' is, I suppose, similar in some ways to 'Sat In Your Lap' - the idea of someone seeking something, wanting something. I was brought up as a Roman Catholic and had the imagery of purgatory and of the idea that when you were taken there that you would be given a glimpse of God and then you wouldn't see him again until you were let into heaven. And we were told that in Hell it was even worse because you got to see God but then you knew that you would never see him again. And it's sorta using that as the parallel. And the idea of seeing something incredibly beautiful, having a religious experience as such, but not being able to get back there. And it was playing musically with the idea of the verses being sorta real time and someone happily jumping through life [Makes happy motion with head] and then you hit the chorus and it like everything sorta goes into slow mo and they're reaching [Makes slow reaching motion with arm] for that thing that they want and they can't get there. [Laughs] (Interview for MTV, November 1985)”.

One track that is especially strong that people might not know about is Leave It Open. The end of side one, it is an eccentric, deep and brilliant song that warrants far greater attention and respect. I love the interviews available, where Bush discussed one of The Dreaming’s most memorable songs.

“Leave It Open' is the idea of human beings being like cups - like receptive vessels. We open and shut ourselves at different times. It's very easy to let you ego go "nag nag nag" when you should shut it. Or when you're very narrow-minded and you should be open. Finally you should be able to control your levels of receptivity to a productive end. (Richard Cook, 'My Music Sophisticated? I'd Rather You Said That Than Turdlike!'. NME (UK), October 1982)

Talking about "guessing", at last someone has discovered what's being said at the end of ``Leave It Open'' - well done! But let me tell you about some of the fascinating encounters I've had. There is a Mr. John Reimers from the U.S.A. who has rung up once a week with his new version:

"Is it...?"

"Nope!"

"Well, is it...?"

"Nope!"

"Tell me! Tell me!"

John, you're terrific!

But I'm afraid this is just a mild case. One night I woke up to a tapping on the window. It was someone hanging from a nearby tree by their feet. In their hands was a card, and written on it was: "Is it 'We paint the penguins pink?'" I'm afraid I had to laugh, and shook my head. They burst into tears and ran off into the moonlight. But I think the cleverest was a phone call I had the other week.

"Hello, Kate?"

"Hello?"

"It's Jay here, how are you doing?"

He sounded a little squeaky to me. Then he said: "You know, it's ridiculous. I was sitting here listening to the end of 'Leave It Open' the other day, and I just couldn't remember what you said - I know it's crazy but -"

I interrupted.

"'We paint the penguins pink.'"

"Oh, yeah! Of course, how could I forget? See you soon - bye!"

Hmmm... see what I mean?... C-lever!

But seriously, I have enjoyed your guesses tremendously, but I have terrible dreams about your reactions now that the answer has been revealed. Do I hear cries of "You're kidding! But that's stupid!" or "Cor, that's pathetic - all our efforts over that?"

Well, I hope not... And remember to let the weirdness in. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, 1984)”.

There are a few tracks on the second side that are worthy of love. I feel two in particular could have been singles and were not. They are the final two songs on the album. I am starting with a song that is actually my favourite from Kate Bush. Houdini, in addition to being underplayed, is one that you sort of see played out on The Dreaming cover. We see Bush, as Harry Houdini’s wife, Bess, go to pass Houdini (played by Del Palmer) a golden key. As the song explains, this kiss would mask the key, so when Houdini did an underwater trick or needed to escape, he would have the key there and be able to sort of hoodwink in that sense. It is a remarkable song with some extraordinary production from Bush. It is also one of her finest vocals. The rawness you hear was achieved by her drinking milk and eating chocolate to get more mucus and gravel. It worked wonders! This is a song that Bush seems very fond of. One that is distinctly her. Here, Bush explains more about the wonderous and epic Houdini:

“The side most people know of Houdini is that of the escapologist, but he spent many years of his life exposing mediums and seances as frauds. His mother had died, and in trying to make contact through such spiritual people, he realized how much pain was being inflicted on people already in sorrow, people who would part with money just for the chance of a few words from a past loved one. I feel he must have believed in the possibility of contact after death, and perhaps in his own way, by weeding out the frauds, he hoped to find just one that could not be proven to be a fake. He and his wife made a decision that if one of them should die and try to make contact, the other would know it was truly them through a code that only the two of them knew.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in album cover outtake for The Dreaming/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

His wife would often help him with his escapes. Before he was bound up and sealed away inside a tank or some dark box, she would give him a parting kiss, and as their lips met, she would pass him the key which he would later use to unlock the padlocks that chained him. After he died, Mrs. Houdini did visit many mediums, and tried to make contact for years, with no luck - until one day a medium called Mr. Ford informed her that Houdini had come through. She visited him and he told her that he had a message for her from Houdini, and he spoke the only words that meant for her the proof of her husband's presence. She was so convinced that she released an official statement to the fact that he had made contact with her through the medium, Ford.

It is such a beautiful and strange story that I thought I had very little to do, other than tell it like it was. But in fact it proved to be the most difficult lyric of all the songs and the most emotionally demanding. I was so aware of trying to do justice to the beauty of the subject, and trying to understand what it must have been like to have been in love with such an extraordinary man, and to have been loved by him. I worked for two or three nights just to find one line that was right. There were so many alternatives, but only a few were right for the song. Gradually it grew and began to piece together, and I found myself wrapped up in the feelings of the song - almost pining for Houdini. Singing the lead vocal was a matter of conjuring up that feeling again and as the clock whirrs and the song flashes back in time to when she watched him through the glass, he's on the other side under water, and she hangs on to his every breath. We both wait. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)”.

Many albums finish with the most personal track. Perhaps the one that is most representative of the album. I feel this has been the case with Kate Bush quite a lot. Get Out of My House, with its visions of paranoia and a possessed house, seems to be an insight into some of her feelings producing The Dreaming. Maybe feeling enclosed and tired. Working manically and all hours, it is only natural that she would feel strung out and a little paranoid! She explains more here:

“The song is called 'Get Out Of My House', and it's all about the human as a house. The idea is that as more experiences actually get to you, you start learning how to defend yourself from them. The human can be seen as a house where you start putting up shutters at the windows and locking the doors - not letting in certain things. I think a lot of people are like this - they don't hear what they don't want to hear, don't see what they don't want to see. It is like a house, where the windows are the eyes and the ears, and you don't let people in. That's sad because as they grow older people should open up more. But they do the opposite because, I suppose, they do get bruised and cluttered. Which brings me back to myself; yes, I have had to decide what I will let in and what I'll have to exclude. (Rosie Boycott, 'The Discreet Charm Of Kate Bush'. Company (UK), 1982).

It's meant to be a bit scary. It's just the idea of someone being in this place and there's something else there... You don't know what it is. The track kept changing in the studio. This is something that's never happened before on an album. That one was maybe half the length it is now. The guitarist got this really nice riff going, and I got this idea of two voices - a person in the house, trying to get away from this thing, but it's still there. So in order to get away, they change their form - first into a bird trying to fly away from it. The thing can change as well, so that changes into this wind, and starts blowing all icy. The idea is to turn around and face it. You've got this image of something turning round and going "Aah!"' just to try and scare it away.  (Kris Needs, 'Dream Time In The Bush'. ZIgZag (UK), 1982)”.

As it is forty-one on 13th September, I wanted to spend time with The Dreaming. Highlighting songs that should be given more focus. In fact, the whole album should be played more than it is. I am going to include the album here but, underneath it, is my ‘reordered’ version. Taking the best track in my view; going down to one that, whilst magnificent, I maybe play a little less. See what other people think. As Bush has said, it is not really a singles album and one that you can pull apart. You need to listen to the whole thing and…

LET the weirdness in!

FEATURE: All They Ever Look For: Kate Bush’s Never for Ever at Forty-Three: The Interviews

FEATURE:

 

 

All They Ever Look For

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Lichfield

Kate Bush’s Never for Ever at Forty-Three: The Interviews

_________

THIS is the final feature…

about Kate Bush’s Never for Ever, as it turns forty-three on 8th September. Produced by Kate Bush and Jon Kelly, it was a number one success and it spawned successful singles, Breathing, Babooshka and Army Dreamers. Even though it is one of Kate Bush’s most successful albums, it is still not as discussed and celebrated as it should be. Many of its songs have not been played on the radio - including the sublime All We Ever Look For and Blow Away (For Bill). This final feature is going to be bringing in a few interviews from 1980. Promoting the album and showcasing a newer direction and sound, it did fascinate critics. There are a few interviews I want to quote from. The first, from Sounds on 30th August, 1980 found Phil Sutcliffe probe the extraordinary Kate Bush:

“WHAT THEY say about Kate Bush is that she's a lisping innocent, a born-with-a-silver-spoon, a too-good-to-be-true, a safe and uncontroversial, soppy, record industry banker.

What l reckon is she's brave and honest, the most sensual writer/performer around. For her, forget politico-socio-economics (which is crucial but not the only crux). Just feel her. She's very tactile, music you can touch, sometimes smell and taste too. All the senses embraced, like making love -- not as complete as experience by any means, sure, but . . . reminiscent.

As she wrote in 'Symphony In Blue': 'The more I think about sex/ The better it gets/ here we have a purpose in life/ Good for the blood circulation/ Good for releasing the tension'.

Doubters should see the front cover of her new LP, 'Never For Ever', out next week. Then they might recognize her. There's a painting of a cartoon Kate on a hill, the wind blowing her skirt and hem beneath it issues a billowing spume of people, devils, animals, monsters, birds, fish, butterflies --- the raw material of her songs intact, spreading and curving like the cornucopia, horn of plenty. The message is sensually true (hear, see, feel, taste, smell). Kate Bush's music flows like love juice.

'Breathing

Breathing my mother in,

Breathing, my beloved in,

Breathing, breathing her nicotine,

Breathing,

Breathing the fall-out, out in'

This is how the readers of teeny girl's magazine Look In were told to think about Kate Bush: 'To every young girl working hard at dance classes and learning music, the story of Kate Bush's rise to fame must seem like the ultimate fairy story. Few may look as striking as Kate, and it's unlikely that many have her incredible vocal range, but her rise to acclaim gives us all a model to aspire to -- showing just how much sheer hard work is involved in reaching the top.'

Arsenic and old lace, slow-poisoning gentility. Encouraging aspiration, encouraging hard work, while quietly easing the rug from under you. It's nice to dream, but honestly you don't have the looks or the talent or the determination, do you dears? What you're really rehearsing for, when these childish games are over, is a long stint behind me cheese counter and in front of the kitchen sink. Your only chance is no chance.

Or, as Kate said when I'd finished quoting it at her: "If I was still at school and I read that I'd think 'Christ, I'll just give up and work in Woolworth then'. It would scare me life out of me."

She becomes ever more aware of the difference between Kate Bush the public image and Kate Bush the self she knows (which includes the artist). How could she be anything but bemused to find herself described in the Sun as 'top sexpot of the year' -- what's that? --and in Sounds voted Number 2 'Sex Object (Female)' -- what's that?

The ephemeral quality of celebrity had just reached a new level in fact, she said: "A couple of weeks ago I read the first interview with me I've seen which was entirely made up. I had never spoken to this magazine and there I was talking about my life and fame and so on."

For the past two years she's been coming to terms with the half-truth. Now it seems she will have to develop her acceptance of the complete lie. She's working on it: "It does still worry me that people read things and take it as gospel. So much of what you read is propaganda whether it's political or show biz."

She's been taken advantage of by people striding in with an 'I'm your greatest fan' smile, then tearing her apart in print. Very nasty, but she insist to herself that "they are all forgivable", even the ones who go away and give her a hard time for being too nice to them.

"What do they expect? Do they want me to rip the place apart? The thing is when I'm on stage I can do anything. I have a role to play. Off-stage it's hard for me to be anyone but myself which is a rather shy, philosophical...little thing."

'Little thing'! In moments like that you can see how she has set some people's teeth on edge with a mawkish word and a flash of the dimple high on her left cheek. We were setting out on a five-hour interview. If the schoolgirl coquette had struck the keynote it would have been unbearable. But Kate Bush was 22 on July 30. She's not like that anymore. The jokes about her saying amazing' and 'wow' all the time have worn thin.

Her own genuine fear that she is boring when she doesn't have a role to play is quite wrong now, if i twas ever true except in the self-fulfiling anticipations of many journalists. The feat itself may still be hampering her though. For instance, she invariably chooses the matt-finish neutral territory of the EMI office for interviews: she takes her self out of context. So I can offer you no significant details, no atmosphere. We were plonked down among someone else's business clutter with sandwiches wrapped in plastic and drinks from the tin.

Kate was wearing a lot of red and a lot of make-up -- one rough soul in the vicinity remarked that she seemed to have 'tarted herself up' way beyond her usual daily casualness, probably because she knew Mike Laye would be sitting in (although he didn't take any pictures as it happened). Later she did say she had been nervous because we had both deliberately built it up to her as 'a big one'.

'My radar sends me danger

But my instincts tell me to

Keep breathing'

So let me introduce you first to Kate Bush the professional. Of course, there are many in her position who, if they were worried enough by an interview to be nervious, wouldn't do it. She does have the power to decide not to be bothered with any of the show biz process apart from the music. Instead she quotes from whoever-it-was and steps out saying "As long as they spell my name right!"

She's the girl who goes along to pick up the awards in person when others send their fridges to take delivery. She's the one you see in the papers the next morning pulling silly faces and pointing at Alan Freeman who's pointing at her, or standing with her arm matily round fellow EMI earner Cliff Richard's shoulder, or scrunched between Bob Geldof, Paul McCartney and an armful of shields and plaques. Usually at these moments she looks quite barmy, but at least a hundred percent more alive than the company she's keeping.

Why?

"I'll always play up for photographers. I can't stand there looking miserable, it'll get printed anyway. To cope I have to play the complete loon, I do have to keep my face in the papers you know. I need the publicity."

She meant it, although the last couple of phrases did come out rather as if they'd been learnt by rote from 'Teach Yourself Show Biz'. Tactically it seemed to me she was underrating herself again. On the other hand the bare-faced, uncool honesty of her was more than striking.

"I don't like show biz. I very rarely go to parties. If I go to one of these dos it's because people have been good to make the effort for vote for me and I think I should say 'Thank you' rather than 'I can't be bothered to come, send it round.' "

The choking unctuousness and obsequious gluttony of those affairs is enough to turn your stomach and I dragged up a quote from Kate's past which suggested she had been suckered into the rotten opulence of it. According to another of those teen'n'weens mags she had spouted on about what 'a great honour it is to be part of this business'.

"If I said it I didn't mean exactly that. The honour is to know that people like me to be here and make my music and explore. Behind the business propaganda there is a connection between the artist and the public which is real. Take these Personal Appearances ('PAs' they say in the trade). You go to a shop and you're like some kind of royal person put on a pedestal and the people are led to you as if it was to kiss your feet. They're forced to buy an album to get your autograph.

"That part of it is horrible, but I like them because I meet all these faces full of therir own lives. It's really special to me. I do it because there's something human and good in it rather than refusing because it's not perfect.

"But if it wasn't for my music I wouldn't come near a situation like this (a glance took in our little room and its large implications). It would scare the shit out of me. There was a time when I would never have signed myself away to any record company. But what I wanted more than anything else was to get my songs on to an album. EMI were interested and there were willing to wait (giving her a few thousand pounds and a couple of years to 'grow up' with).

"Everyone's doing everyone up and you have to minimise that. My way isn't one of forcefulness, I like to talk to people on a mutual level. I've had to work and prove myself to people which I find a great challenge. There are so many aspects to people...Fred isn't just nice Fred, he's bad Fred, Fred that's cuddly, Fred when he's been drinking. It does get terrifying."

When her name, demos and pictures were first introduced to the majority of the EMI staff at an annual convention, the mainly male gathering nudged, winked and said "Wor, I wouldn't mind handling her, boss!" Some also noticed that 'Wuthering Heights' was a smash hit waiting to be pressed. If it had failed she would have been crushed in the cogs of the corporation. As it is, success is her passport through the long corridors. In this sense her greatest step forward on 'Never For Ever' is that she moved up to co-production with her everpresent engineer Jon Kelly.

"I'm free in lots of ways and I'm getting more free, more artistic control. The first two albums were a matter of proving I was a reasonably intelligent and creative human being who could produce their own project. A great deal of artists aren't capable of being objective enough. To be close with everyone involved and though their respect and enthusiasm create what you have been thinking about for over a year is a beautiful experience.

'Out-in, out-in, out-in...'.

There are two more than I want to highlight. It gives us an idea of how Bush was being perceived by the press - and, indeed, how she described her music and career. I think a lot of the questions asked of Bush were either too personal or not relating to her music. She always handles that with decorum and patience! Although we can’t be 100% sure the interview is from 1980, I want to bring in one that I have sourced before. ZigZag’s Kris Needs chatted with Kate Bush about her progress and remarkable new album:

“Kate had to be persuaded to do this interview. She didn't believe we wanted to talk to her! Thought we'd come in and stitch her up, I s'pose. However, once she'd perused a stack of old ZigZags, a meeting with a still-rather-puzzled Kate took place on a Friday afternoon at EMI.

Kate Bush has just done the Daily Express. Now it's me...But no way does she just press her nose and gush out the conveyor-belt niceties. We talk for over 90 minutes, touching all manner of subjects in an enthusiastic flow. Quite deep at times--"It's like two psychiatrists talking," she said after. I left impressed with her honesty and sense of awe, which, in the wrong hands, could be the reasons detractors have a field day. She don't deserve it, even if you can't stick her music. And I'm warning you, don't just take my word on Kate Bush, then say I wasted your fiver -- it is down to taste, but if you've got any feelings, or just like music, have a go. It's about the only music I like that I can't dance to.

So, Kate, do you think your audience is restricted by these prejudices against you?

"Yeah, I think I'm conscious of people doing that in certain areas, because of the way they've seen me, and I think that's inevitable. I don't blame them. It's really good for me to speak to other magazines."

It'd be good if people could see that you're doing stuff that's pretty new, too. You could never mistake Kate Bush for anyone else.

"Oh, great. I'd like to think that, but it's not for me to say. When you first come out, people say you're the new thing. then when you've been around for two or three years you become old hat, and they want to sweep you under the carpet as being MOR, which I don't feel I am from the artistic point of view. It doesn't feel like MOR to me at all, although I wouldn't call it Punk! Sometimes it's not even rock...I don't know, I think it's wrong to put labels on music. Even Punk, that's really just a label for convenience--it covers so many areas. I think sometimes it can actually kill people, being put under labels. I think it's something that shouldn't be encouraged. If people could just accept music as music and people as people, without having to compare them to other things...which is something we instinctively try to do."

The way you're presented in the press could alienate some people, I s'pose.

"Don't you think any form of publicity alienates the person who is not involved in it? I think that's part of the whole process. That's why I feel that the good thing about albums and gigs and even radio is that you are directly communicating with your audience, but with papers and appearances on TV you're not really relating directly."

Does the bad criticism hurt you?

"No, I don't get hurt. I've read a few reviews of the album, an some of them really couldn't stand me, probably much more than the album. In fact, one guy didn't like me so much, he had to write four columns of 'I can't stand Bush!' That's cool. Sometimes I find it funny. I think a bad review is a good omen in some papers."

At least that's a positive reaction.

"Yeah, if they really hate you, it's just as good as really liking you. You're really getting under their skin so much that they've got to speak about it. That's great!"

And the album still came in at number one.

"I can't believe it, still. Every time I tell someone I feel like I'm lying. I couldn't have asked more for such an important step in what I'm doing, because I feel that this album is a new step for me. The other two albums are so far away that they're not true. They really aren't me anymore. I think this is something the public could try and open up about. When you stereotype artists you always expect a certain kind of sound.

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

"I'd really like to be able to leave myself open to any form of music, so if I wanted to, I could do funk tracks on the next album, I could do classical, I could do bossa novas. I think it's best to stay as open as you can. As a person I'm changing all the time, and the first album is very much like a diary of me at that time--I was into a very high range. The same with the second album, and I feel this is perhaps why this one is like starting again. It's like the first album on a new level. It's much more under control."

You took a long time doing it. [You think that one took a long time!]

"Yeah, it did. It took a lot of work, but it was very beautiful work because it's so involving and it's so like emotions. It's totally unpredictable and you can fall in love with it or you can hate it or if you want to you can ignore it: you know, all the things that you can do with people."

That's one of the main things I like about the music--the emotions running around.

"I think everyone is emotional, and I think a lot of people are afraid of being so. They feel that it's vulnerable. Myself, I feel that it's the key to everything, and that the more you can find out about your emotions the better. Some of the things that come into your head can be a surprise when you're thinking."

The next single is Army Dreamers, which sounds like a wistful little waltz-time ditty on first hearing, though a bit sombre. Kate adopts a lilting Irish accent--all very nice. But listen to the words and she's mourning her dead son, killed in the army. I thought Kate was singing about Northern Ireland, but not necessarily...

"It's not actually directed at Ireland. It's included, but it's much more embracing the whole European thing. That's why it says BFPO in the first chorus, to try and broaden it away from Ireland."

What about the Irish accent?

"The Irish accent was important because the treatment of the song is very traditional, and the Irish would always use their songs to tell stories, it's the traditional way. There's something about an Irish accent that's very vulnerable, very poetic, and so by singing it in an Irish accent it comes across in a different way. But the song was meant to cover areas like Germany, especially with the kids that get killed in manoeuvres, not even in action. It doesn't get brought out much, but it happens a lot. I'm not slagging off the Army, it's just so sad that there are kids who have no O-levels and nothing to do but become soldiers, and it's not really what they want. That's what frightens me”.

The final interview I will source from is from Record Mirror. Mike Nicholls spoke with Bush. This interview is interesting, as it is more about her work and career. It was conducted around the time of Never for Ever, but this deep chat gives us a wider look at Bush’s work ethic and career:

“And work is your God?

"It is, really, yes, as everything in my life goes into my music. Everything that happens to me affects me, and it comes out in my music. If I did become perfect, and was no longer vulnerable, perhaps I wouldn't get the same shocks of emotion that make me want to write."

So while philosophers and related beings have for centuries been ruminating about how to attain perfectability, Kate Bush, still a baby at twenty-two, has decided this is the very thing that ought to be bypassed. Heavy stuff, huh? Then again, she wasn't exactly brought up in a lightweight atmosphere.

Since our last rendezvous at the beginning of the year, I'd heard that her father and brothers, ostensibly the greatest influences in her family-orientated life, were great believers in the Russian "magician" George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. Thinking it might assist our dialogue, I spent some time before the interview swotting up on the guy, who in the early part of this century ran a school for wealthy mystics, that preached stuff like "We had better torture our own spirit than suffer the inanities of calm," and "Any unusual effort has the effect of shaking the mind awake."

Now there seems to be a certain amout of overlap between these observations and Kate's remarks about "shocks of emotion", but, perhaps fortunately for your good selves, she didn't seem into having a protracted natter about G. I. Gurdjieff (classic initials, what?)

Besides, it wouldn't entirely have suited the circumstances of our discourse. On a marginally sunny day, it seemed absurd to be cooped up inside some dusty office at EMI, particularly when outside their West One premises there is a little park. Now you might think that in talking to Kate Busdh in central London one runs the risk of attracting inquisitive stares from God knows how many passersby--especially when, during a photo-session on the same piece of greenery last year, Cliff Richard was besieged by scores of drooling school-kids.

But rate-payers (no quips about EMI's ability to retain this status, thank you very much) are allocated a key to the gardens, so Kate and I spent a chatty couple of hours locked within these leavy confines, and I was too much a gentleman to throw away the key.

Since the interview was for promotional purposes, it was hardly surprising that she was happiest talking about the new songs. And because these are the latest instalment of her life, questions were answered conscientiously and, of course, enthusiastically. With promotion being an extension of her work and hence her life, etc., it was illuminating to see how she handled interruptions to it. These came first from a couple of scruffy pubescents who athletically scaled the spiky railings to see if she really was who they thought she was, and then from a slightly lunched-looking gardener who reckoned it was us that had done the climbing.

Kate dealt with both in untypically peremptory fashion, even though in retrospect the distractions added a little light to the generally serious, if nonetheless enjoyable, shade of the proceedings.

Light and dark, good and bad. Both types of emotions flow out of Kate Bush and into her songs. Visually, it's all there on the sleeve of Never For Ever. Nick Price's Hieronymus Bosch-style cover shows a confused mass of bats and swans. The latter symbolise good, and on their backs ride the bad--all of them billowing out of Kate's dress, which is handsomely decorated with the clouds of her imagination.

The good emotions have produced songs like All We Ever Look For and Blow Away-- the one about liveing for music and being naively optimistic about death. The idea is that when she (or the musician she is purportedly singing about) dies, he will go and join all the other musicians in the sky. Hence, references to Keith Moon, Sid, Buddy Holly and even Minnie Riperton, who died around the time the song was being conceived.

It was based on an article she read in the Observer about people who had temporarily "died" through cardiac arrests. Apparently several members of the public interviewed about this experience reckoned they felt their spirits leave their bodies and go through a door, where they were re-acquainted with dead friends and relatives. When their hearts were resuscitated, it was almost with reluctance that they stepped back out of the room and returned to their bodies.

"So there's comfort for the guy in my band," Kate explains, "as when he dies, he'll go 'Hi, Jimi!' It's very tongue-in-cheek, but it's a great thought that if a musician dies, his soul will join all the other musicians' and a poet will join all the Dylan Thomases and all that."

Hmmmm. The darker side of her emotions shows the lady as down-to-earth as her surname befits. In fact, it's more than realistic: it's downright sinister. Hence The Wedding List and its obsession with revenge.

What happens here is that at the point two people are about to be married, the bridegroom gets shot. Who by is irrelevant, but the bride's need for vengeance is so powerful that all she thinks about is getting even with the villain. Since his death is the best wedding gift she could have, he goes right to the top of the (wedding) list. 

"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 evey time a mugger got shot? Terrible--though I cheered, myself."

Another film Kate saw recently was the highly publicised Elephant Man, which, though directed by loony humourist Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, and History of the World Part I), is ultimately a tragic movie. [Both Nicholls and Kate were mistaken on this point. The film was directed by David Lynch (Eraserhead, Dune, Blue Velvet). Mel Brooks merely produced Elephant Man, mainly because he was able to cast his wife, Anne Bancroft,in a leading role. Given Kate' increasing involvement in the craft and business of film direction since the time of this interview, however, it's unlikely that she still retains this misconception.] Ever ready to seek out the introspective angle, she philosophises as follows:

"I thought, 'How weird for a comedian to do such a serious film,' but if you think of the syndrome of the comedian who is hilarious onstage but really manic-depressive at home, it figures."

Of the few artists in her field whom she has met [Few?], she cites Peter Gabriel as one who is able to separate his public and private personas.

"Offstage he's very normal, and that's the kind of thing I believe in." Kate helped out with the backing vocals on his excellent recent album, and describes the experience of walking into someone else's work as "lovely--especially after the pressure of going out under your own name.

"I was thrilled to do it, and it's not often that I meet people in the same position that I can relate to. It' not like relating to people at EMI, as they're on a completely different side of the fence".

Because the wonderful Never for Ever is forty-three on 8th September, I am wrapping up my Kate Bush feature with a few great interviews. I hope that people explore the album and spend some time with it. The first time Bush had real input into the production, you can hear develop musically and lyrically (and vocally) from Lionheart and The Kick Inside (1978). From the weird and wonderful to the political, right through to impassioned and heart-stopping, Never for Ever is…

A wonderful thing to behold.

FEATURE: Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle: Nirvana’s In Utero at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle

Nirvana’s In Utero at Thirty

_________

ARGUABLY the greatest album from…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Nirvana pictured in 1993 (from left): Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl./PHOTO CREDT: Anton Corbijn

the legendary Nirvana, their third and final studio album was released on 21st September, 1993. In Utero was the Washington icons returning to a more lo-fi and rawer sound following the more commercial tones of Nevermind. Not that the seminal Nevermind lacked grit and Grunge roots. It was very much that…but I think Nirvana were keen to have a more abrasive sound. One that was similar to their 1989 debut, Bleach. Released under a year before Kurt Cobain took his own life, you can feel a combination of that debut urgency with Cobain’s scars all over the album. There is some melody and moments of relative quiet on the album, though it is those captivatingly raw moments. Cobain claimed that the album was impersonal – though one cannot help reading into the lyrics and applying them to him. Alongside bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, In Utero was recorded with producer Steve Albini over two weeks in February 1993 at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. A major commercial success, that combination between complex songs but a direct and potent sound meant that it resonate with diehards and newer fans alike. One might have suspected those who loved Nevermind to balk at the idea that an anticipated follow-up would keep very few elements from that album. Maybe annoyed and tired of the exposure and new fame, In Utero seems like a very deliberate attempt to make something non-commercial. Few radio-friendly single options. Although nothing as masterful and iconic as Smells Like Teen Spirit exists on In Utero, there are more than a few Nirvana classics on 1993’s In Utero – including Heart-Shaped Box, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle and Pennyroyal Tea.

To mark thirty years of a classic, there is an anniversary release coming. The Line of Best Fit provide details of an exciting release that is going to be a must for all Nirvana fans!

“In Utero went on to mark Nirvana’s first number debut on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified 6x platinum in the United States. Geffen/UMe commemorates the 30th anniversary of the album with several multi-format reissues.

The three Super Deluxe Edition releases comprise a total of 72 tracks with 53 previously unreleased tracks. Among the unreleased material, two full In Utero-era concerts, namely Live In Los Angeles (1993) and the band’s final Seattle performance, Live In Seattle (1994), are included in addition to six bonus live tracks from Rome, Springfield, and New York.

Seattle producer and engineer Jack Endino — who helmed the band’s 1988 debut Bleach —reconstructed the live tracks from stereo soundboard tapes for this year’s reissue. Additionally, In Utero’s original twelve songs, along with five bonus tracks and B-sides, have been newly remastered from the original analog master stereo tapes by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Services, who assisted Albini as the only other engineer at the original sessions.

The physical Super Deluxe Edition box sets also boast a removable front-cover acrylic panel with the album’s iconic Angel; a 48-page hardcover book with unreleased photos; a 20-page newly designed fanzine; a Los Angeles tour poster lithograph by hot rod artist Coop; replicas of the 1993 record store promo Angel mobile, three gig fliers, two ticket stubs for Los Angeles and Seattle, an All-Access tour laminate, and four cloth sticky tour backstage passes: Press, Photo, After Show, and Local Crew.

JUST ANNOUNCED | Nirvana - In Utero (30th Anniversary): Super Deluxe Editions

Celebrating 30 years of Nirvana's final studio album In Utero. Newly remastered and now available on a range of super deluxe editions!

Pre-order now >> https://t.co/bfLhrQG5O6@Nirvana | @Polydor pic.twitter.com/DAMcNsQetW

— Recordstore.co.uk (@recordstore) September 5, 2023

Originally released September 21, 1993, the band recorded the album over the course of six days in February 1993 at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN with Steve Albini. In Utero's unadorned sonic rawness was received by critics and fans with equal measures of shock and elation, as Albini's recording laid bare every primal nuance of the most confrontational yet vulnerable material Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl would ever record.

With its 1991 predecessor Nevermind having sold some 30 million copies and causing a seismic pop cultural shift, In Utero was essentially the first record Nirvana would make with any expectations from the public.

In Utero: 30th Anniversary is set for release on 27 October via Geffen/UMe Records, and is available to pre-order now”.

I am going to end with a couple of reviews for the album. The second concerns the twentieth anniversary edition of In Utero. There is a great track by track guide that is worth checking out. I wanted to start out with an article from The Guardian. Looking back at In Utero in 2013, they highlighted how it was so influential still after twenty years. The band’s legacy is huge. I can hear many artists in 2023 taking to heart the sounds and reverberations of Nirvana’s 1993 masterpiece:

“Nirvana never set out to change the world. In 1991, they were a promising punk-rock band from Washington State with a debut major-label album that might, with luck, sell in the six figures. Then MTV started rinsing Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nevermind unseated Michael Jackson's Dangerous from the top of the Billboard chart, and Kurt Cobain became the reluctant poster boy of a new sound – grunge. "The first thing we did when Nevermind went huge is cancel everything and go into hiding," recalls Grohl. "U2 and Guns N' Roses wanted us to tour with them, Lollapalooza wanted us to headline. All these offers, and we thought, 'Let's just go home and take the ball with us.' Like, game over."

Nirvana's musical response was In Utero. In defiance of their label, Geffen, they called upon the production talents of Steve Albini, alternative rock firebrand behind acerbic noise groups Big Black and Rapeman. Instead of radio-friendly unit shifters, there was a song sarcastically titled Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, smothered in squalling feedback. Cobain's songs touched on fatherhood (Milk It, Scentless Apprentice) and feminism (Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle, a fantasy of cosmic vengeance for a 1940s actress subjected to brutal mistreatment while incarcerated in an asylum). But it also dwelt on the gynaecological and the diseased: see the sickly-sweet Heart-Shaped Box, with its cancerous growths, carnivorous orchids and "umbilical noose". Occasionally, the album's bluntness still alarms.

It's hard to draw much holy wisdom from In Utero's tumult of anger, black humour, principle, guilt and confusion. "Nirvana were conflicted," says Novoselic. "We cut our teeth on 1980s American hardcore – intense and political music about independence from the state, independence from corporations. We were appalled by the first Iraq war, the jingoism, the petty nationalism. But at the same time we signed a record deal with Geffen, a subsidiary of this Japanese industrial electronics company. Bands like Pavement and Fugazi remained fiercely independent. We had punk-rock values, but we signed those papers. I can't sit here and give you the spiel about independence, especially knowing [Fugazi's] Ian MacKaye. I could never face them again."

From their major label vantage point, though, Nirvana reached an audience their indie peers could only dream of. "We meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people," says Grohl. "That's one of the great things about music. You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they'll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons." Ever upbeat, Grohl is optimistic about the current state of rock, thrilled to hear young bands still cite Nirvana as an influence. "We were real and visceral, fucked-up and ugly. That was what people were craving. And that will never go away. There's a band in a garage right now writing songs for an album that will do the same thing Nevermind did some 20 years ago. We don't know who and where, but it will fucking happen again. All it takes is for that storm to break."

More so than Nevermind, In Utero pointed underground – to alternative rock and the punk feminism of riot grrrl. But its influence spread outwards, too. Liam Howlett heard the gnarly riff of Very Ape, the two-minute blast that kicked off side two, and sampled it for the Prodigy's 1994 single Voodoo People. Following his death, Kurt became a lyrical namedrop for rappers from 2Pac to 50 Cent to Jay-Z, who evidently found something relatable in this nihilistic rock star and his tale of drugs, guns and untimely death. Grunge was supplanted in the marketplace by nu-metal, but Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst described Kurt as "an inspiration". And when the next Voice Of A Generation came along, you couldn't help but look at Marshall Mathers, a bleach-blond Molotov of rage, and spy something faintly familiar”.

There are a lot of other features about the album. Some dislike it because they feel it is inaccessible and far too hit and miss. Others expecting something similar to the sound of Nevermind were never accepting of something that is nothing like it. Regardless of personal feelings, one cannot deny that In Utero was a massive critical and commercial success. One of the greatest albums ever (from a band who managed to release two classics in their brief careers). I want to go to The Boar, as they wrote a retrospective last month. Thirty years on, and In Utero remains such a powerful statement:

“But to look back at In Utero, whether after three or thirty years, one can’t help but see the eerie disconnect between the album’s name and the tragedy that transpired shortly after the album’s release. In Utero seems to foreshadow that tragedy. Yet, that story has been told, its sombre light cast again and again upon those events of the early Nineties – in short, it is far too easy to employ this form of historical revisionism. Thirty years ago, Cobain was alive, his artistry evolving, and Nirvana were the mainstream (whether they liked it or not). In Utero was the product of this, and now, thirty years later, it is an artefact of its time, hailed for its vision and authenticity.

But the legacy of In Utero can only be understood in relation to its predecessors.

If Bleach, Nirvana’s 1989 debut LP by independent champions Sub Pop, was just a drop in the ocean of music success, with its sludgy Seattle sound tapping almost exclusively into the underground punk scene to which Nirvana was adjacent, then 1991’s Nevermind was a tidal wave.

Chewing up and spitting out the status quo, leaving it unrecognisable, is a feat that very few albums have achieved. But Nevermind, with all of its contradictory prowess, as an album that is equal parts Beatles as it is Black Flag, made by a DIY band with the backing of major label DGC, did just that. Selling more than 30 million copies worldwide, Nirvana were no longer toeing the line between the underground and the mainstream – they had stormed straight across it. Nevermind had made them icons, and in doing so a grunge gold rush had begun as record labels turned over every stone in Seattle seeking their own musical goldmines. Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam – the underground had been unearthed.

But for righteous punk rockers, this was not a good thing. To them, Nirvana had ‘sold out.’ After all, Nevermind was a polished record, produced with the help of a major label, and promoted by the mainstream’s weapon of choice: MTV. Aware of this, Cobain sought to fortify his punk-rock credentials and from out of this storm, In Utero was born.

In recruiting the producer, Steve Albini (Pixies, The Breeders), the very DNA of In Utero was determined to be read as both punk and entirely distinct from the bubble-gum-sweet sounds of Nevermind. Working quickly, recording was completed in six days, with most tracks recorded live. Mixing took a further five days – quick by Nirvana’s standards, slow by Albini’s. The result? A raw record that was almost the antithesis of Nevermind – leaving DGC Records with a slightly sour taste in their mouths.

Although a compromise was forced between the band and DGC, with Scott Litt (R.E.M) being bought on board to remix the record in a more radio-friendly way, it is within the authentic producing and mixing process that the artistic charm of In Utero resides. ‘Of course,’ said Cobain, ‘they want another Nevermind, but I’d rather die than do that.’

Of frenzied intensity yet understated fragility, art and aggression, In Utero is a lesson in true disorder. Rockstar angst replaces teenage angst, and the mainstream is met with a sardonic grin as Cobain pushes against their mild inclinations. ‘Scentless Apprentice’ frames the abrasive direction the band had been moving towards, as visceral screams are aggravated by disturbing lyrics and darker basslines. Grohl is animalistic and, in parts, apoplectic, exhibiting his deftness behind the drum kit. ‘Rape Me,’ controversial for its fiercely feminist overtones, channels authentic rage, while ‘Pennyroyal Tea’ crescendos into choral fury in essential Nirvana fashion.

But buried inside this hysteria is soft reflection. There is almost a brittleness to the record, like glass, or old bones; with no way of relieving the intense pressure of some tracks, others show the cracks. ‘I’m not like them, but I can pretend,’ ‘Dumb’ is a bleak lullaby. ‘All Apologies’ is confession. By providing listeners with a place of refuge, with more soothing rhythms, the discomfort of the record can be keenly felt. Although docile in comparison, and considered to be ‘gateways’ to the more alternative sounds on the record by bassist Novoselic, these songs are no less dark.

In fact, no song is devoid of the themes of sickness and care, life and death. From the umbilical nooses of ‘Heart Shaped Box,’ to the parasitical pets of ‘Milk It,’ unease is the primary essence of In Utero. While this feeling is worsened retrospectively, with our knowledge of Cobain’s death just months later, not even Cobain’s claim that the record is impersonal, nor the fact that several songs were written as early as 1990, is able to dispel such discomfort. The songs, at best, are unsettling, at worst, plain ugly.

But in spite of this ugliness, or rather because of it, In Utero, thirty years on, is hauntingly beautiful. ‘This is exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan, that I would enjoy owning,’ said Cobain. Millions agree: In Utero debuted at number one in the UK and the US. In 2011, a poll run by The Guardian saw In Utero ranked as Nirvana’s greatest album. Through its corrosive authenticity, In Utero exists as pure art. Through its unsettling essence, In Utero captivates.

Bleach is a diamond in the rough, Nevermind the crown jewel. As for In Utero? Well, take the crown jewel and smash it into smithereens. While for some the remaining crystallites will be invisible and invaluable, for those that know where to look, they will be cherished for their beauty amidst the destruction”.

I am going to end with some reviews. The first one, from Kerrang!, was a 2020 article where they revisited their original 1993 review. Epochal, epic and hugely moving, I don’t think anyone was quite expecting In Utero or knew how it could possible follow Nevermind:

“You can almost taste it. The anticipation. Another Nevermind? Kurt Cobain's descent into fear, self-loathing and unholy noise? Neither, really.

The title says a lot. Nirvana have withdrawn and headed womb-ward to dodge the general bullshit that's tracked ’em ever since they hit multi-Platinum pay-dirt.

A couple more spins of In Utero, and it becomes even clearer: this ain't no piece-o’-shit stab at punk rock non-conformity. This is Nirvana making the kind of record they want to make. On their own terms.

Following the controversy of Albini-gate – the bizarre episode where producer Steve Albini's kiss-and-tell confessions suggested that the band were bowing to record company pressure – In Utero emerges as a subtly ironic and cathartic record, shaving the territory between the band's formative Bleach platter and its groundbreaking successor, Nevermind.

The rougher, Bleach-styled material is the most vitriolic, with Kurt's fuzzbox set on stun, his lyrical barbs personalised and sharpened. When he chortles 'One more solo?' on album closer Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip, the track and the album implode in a two-fingered salute of defiance. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter further sums up Kurt's challenging mood as he snarls, 'I love you for what I am not, I do not want what I have got', swiping at the bitter irony of multi-Platinum success against a backdrop of Sonic Youth-styled six-string abuse.

Despite the twists of gratuitous Punk-oid anger that Kurt inflicts throughout the 13 tracks on offer, on the current single Heart-Shaped Box, the sublime All Apologies (a likely candidate for a 45), and the convalescent croon of Penny Royal Tea, he re-stakes his claim as one of his generation's most absorbing songsmiths. The former pair (which benefit from additional engineering from Scott Litt) are Nirvana’s most commercial moments, with all three hinting at the possibilities that lie ahead.

Elsewhere, the triumvirate of Kurt, bass lank Krist Novoselic and traps-tapper Dave Grohl nod ironically at their unwitting former glories. Kurt kickstarts Rape Me with a familiar and doubtlessly intended …Teen Spirit shuffle, while Dumb has an infectious Come As You Are feel. Both ripple with Kurt's poignant observations, allowing fleeting glimpses at his anger and frustration without ever resorting to the trite and obvious.

The heaviest moments bubble up on the metallised canter of Tourette's, the searing Milk It, and the winsome Frances Farmer…, all of which have a familiar, lived-in feel. In fact, it's this kind of immediate intimacy which makes In Utero such a passion-filled ride.

If anything, after all the irritating speculation, the whole affair hollers defiantly. You can almost sense the relief at the band's discovery that they can still pick up the tools of their trade and play. Sure, it won't reach the heady heights of its predecessor, but who gives a shit about sinful sales figures? This is the sound of absolution”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Nirvana in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Renaud Monfourny

I will end with Pitchfork and their 2013 review. With the twentieth anniversary release out there, they had a perfect opportunity to give a perfect score to an album that shook the world when it came out on 21st  September, 1993. In Utero still moves me now (and I have heard it so many times):

“For the past two decades, we've essentially been living with two versions of I**n Utero. The first was officially released Sept. 21, 1993, though its legend was established several months prior. As the intensely anticipated follow-up to the most transformative rock album of the 1990s, Nirvana’s third record was pre-destined to become a battlefield in the heightening clash between indie and corporate culture, as mediated by a band that was philosophically faithful to the former but contractually beholden to the latter.

While Kurt Cobain famously used the liner notes for 1992 rarities compilation Incesticide to call out the jocks, racists, and homophobes in Nirvana’s ever-expanding audience, In Utero promised a more aggressively hands-on process of weeding out the mooks, a concerted effort to realign Nirvana with the artists they actually listened to and away from those they were credited with spawning. And where the album’s title would reflect Cobain’s lyrical yearning for a back-to-the-womb retreat from celebrity scrutiny, it also proved emblematic of the record's messy birth: A by-all-reports harmonious two-week quickie session with recording engineer Steve Albini in a rural Minnesota studio would lead to months of acrimonious exchanges in the press among the band, DGC, and Albini over the purportedly unlistenable nature of the results, requests for cleaner mixes, and cruddy cassette copies leaked to radio that falsely reinforced the label’s misgivings. (The second-guessing circumstances were not that dissimilar to those of the preceding Nevermind-- wherein Butch Vig's original recordings were eventually handed over to Andy Wallace for a platinum-plated finish-- only this time, the outcome had the potential to affect Geffen's share price.)

Upon release, In Utero may have debuted at number one, but initially it was something of a pyrrhic victory: Rather than lead a wave of Jesus Lizard-inspired noise bands to the top of the Billboard charts, In Utero would send millions of Nirvana’s more casual crossover fans scurrying into the warm embrace of Pearl Jam’s record-setting October '93 release Vs., an album that, from a music-biz perspective, was the true blockbuster sequel to Nevermind. In that sense, this first version of In Utero resonates as much today as a symbolic gesture as a collection of 12 unrelentingly visceral rock songs, a how-to manual for any artist at the top of their game-- from Kid A-era Radiohead to Kanye West circa Yeezus-- that would rather use their elevated position to provoke their audience than pander to it.

The second version of In Utero came to be on April 8, 1994, from which point the album would be forever known as the rough draft for rock‘n’roll’s most famous suicide note. In the wake of Cobain’s shotgunned sign-off, it became nigh impossible to hear In Utero in any other context. The infamous album-opening lyric that once dripped with sarcasm-- “Teenage angst has paid off well/ Now I’m bored and old”-- now sounded coldly nihilistic. Where the seismic stomper “Scentless Apprentice” invoked Patrick Süskind’s novel Perfume as metaphor for Cobain’s festering disgust with the music press and industry, the song’s grueling shriek of “get awwwwwaaaayyyy” suddenly seemed to be directed at humanity itself. The “Leonard Cohen after-world” fantasy of “Pennyroyal Tea” turned into wish fulfillment; “All Apologies” ceased to be an innocently plaintive pop song and was instead permanently etched into its writer's epitaph.

But with this two-disc 20th-anniversary reissue, we now have a third version of In Utero, and I’m not just referring to the newly remixed iteration of the album. Taken as a whole, the package-- which also includes a remastered version of the original mix, B-sides, outtakes, a slew of embryonic demos, and a cheeky but affecting liner-note essay by comedian/tourmate Bobcat Goldthwait-- puts lie to the notion that In Utero is the soundtrack to a suicide, commercial or otherwise. In charting the songs’ evolution from rough instrumentals to the militaristic blasts of fury heard on the album proper, and through the outré experiments scrapped along the way, we hear a band that was on the cusp of an intriguing new phase.

In a surprisingly conciliatory Musique Plus interview conducted just prior to the album’s release, Cobain stated that In Utero would mark the end of Nirvana as grunge torchbearers and, throughout the record, the band screech and howl like they're skinning themselves alive to expedite their reinvention. But not a lyric goes by on the album where Cobain doesn’t sound conflicted between what he wants to do and what he feels he has to do. The scowling verses of “Serve the Servants” are countered by the chorus’ soothing incantation of the song’s title, as if Cobain had to anesthetize himself in order to answer his audience’s populist demands. You didn’t need to hear the feedback assault of “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” to sense the irony reeking from its title, while the sludgy savagery of “Milk It” deploys Cobain’s fascinations with bodily fluids and birthing to depict a soul being run through the music-industry wringer. Though Cobain claimed in the aforementioned interview that the deliberately bald language of “Rape Me” was his response to misinterpretations of Nirvana’s more ambiguous portraits of sexual/power dynamics (“Polly”, “About a Girl”), the fact that it cops the riff to his most famous song unsubtly directs the titular demand to his hit-seeking minders; when he answers his request by repeating “I’m not the only one,” he seems to be placating himself with the knowledge that he’s not the first punk-rocker caught in a boardroom power play. (And, in light of Cobain’s mounting disdain for the media, I can’t be the only person who’s always heard that line in “All Apologies” as “choking on the ashes of her NME”.

On 21st September, we will mark thirty years of Nirvana’s In Utero. Sadly the final album from the band, it cemented their place as Grunge godfathers and legends. The fact that, as we can see on Wikipedia, In Utero has been placed so high on critical lists speaks for itself:

“In 2004, Blender named In Utero the 94th greatest American album, and in 2005, Spin named it the 51st best album of the previous 20 years. In 2005, In Utero was ranked number 358 in Rock Hard's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. In 2013, Diffuser.fm named In Utero the fourth best album of 1993, while NME ranked it at number 35 on its list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In May 2017, Loudwire ranked it at number six on its list "The 30 Best Grunge Albums of All Time". In April 2019, Rolling Stone placed it at number eight on its 50 Greatest Grunge Albums list”.

In 1993, In Utero caused a major stir and reaction. Nirvana returning to a rawer musical aesthetic. Wanting to go back to the start. Kurt Cobain’s lyrics were at their very peak. Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota had not heard or seen anything like Nirvana in 1993. Maybe they didn’t after. It is an album that will be discussed for decades to come. I was keen, thirty years on, to show my respect and love to…

A truly remarkable album.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Laufey

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Laufey

_________

A must-hear artist…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Burak Cingi for The Line of Best Fit

who is busy with tour commitments for the rest of the year, I would advise everyone to check out Laufey. She is amazing. Her debut album, Everything I Know About Love, was released last year to critical acclaim. Her new E.P., California and Me, came out last month. I want to bring together a few interviews – starting from 2021 and working to a very recent one – so that we can get a better impression of Laufey. I am going to start with an interview from 2021. The Line of Best Fit highlighted an artist who was on the rise and being talked about as a sensational artist to watch closely:

“Since releasing her debut single “Street By Street” - as the world went into lockdown in the spring of 2020 - rising musician Laufey Lin has amassed a vast following on social media and already collaborated with some bucket-list musical heroes through official releases and videos online.

“I need seasons,” she laughs as she tells me about her recent move to LA. We catch up over coffee in London while she’s in town to perform a mesmerising set at the Southbank Centre as part of London’s Jazz Festival, which she’s anticipating to be a career high. “It definitely feels like a big moment, I got to go to my first fitting for a show, with Paul Smith, which was a really surreal movie moment. I felt like the whole time there was montage music playing and I felt like I was having a makeover in a film.”

Between rehearsals, fittings and promo, 21-year old Laufey’s been hanging out with her twin sister, who’s been studying in Scotland, and her mother who joined them from Washington D.C. “I feel so comfortable here and when I’m walking around London,” she tells me.

Laufey’s journey to the Jazz Festival stage and beyond begins at home in Iceland with a gift: “One of my earliest memories is receiving a violin for the first time, from my grandfather, who was a violin professor,” she recalls, “it was basically like a toy instrument but I remember my mom teaching me the simplest things, and practising with my sister.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Burak Cingi

Music is in her blood – Laufey's mother is a classical musician who performed with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. “Iceland is really cool because the music scene is so small, everything kind of mixes together,” she explains. “The classical musicians are playing and the pop gigs and pop musicians are doing things with classical musicians, so I grew up going to classical symphony concerts, but then I'd also go to rock gigs where my mom was playing violin.”

Seeing this free-form musicality inspired Laufey to not put limits on her own exploration of sound, when she first came to realise “it’s a very cool thing to mix genres,” and that’s her vision for the future too. “That's how music is going to move forward, especially classical and jazz,” she adds, how “these styles that are kind of at risk of being extinct” need to develop and evolve.

Picking up the piano at four years old, before falling in love with the cello at eight she was on the classical, pre-professional track to a conservatory education before she decided to take a step back and really think about which path to take. Raised on Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole, thanks to her father’s love of jazz, Laufey remembers listening to it growing up and loving how these artists combined elements of jazz with classical and pop too.

“I think growing up in Iceland, it was secluded and you kind of grow up as a dreamer with this idea for wanderlust… Dreaming of life in a different country or whatnot and I think that all went along with this magical music, so I started singing and teaching myself jazz piano and I found myself instead of going to classical conservatory, I ended up going to Berkeley, which is primarily a jazz school.”

This was by no means an easy decision to make, Laufey describes the process like an ultimatum, “it really felt like I was choosing whether I was going to be a classical musician for the rest of my life, or if I was going to try my hand at pop music.”

Offering the best of both worlds Berkeley gave her the opportunity to not only study from all factions of music which she adored, so naturally she started making her own, ‘I found that I could bring all these worlds together on my own with my own songwriting,” she says and in her second year she shared her first single with the world.

“Something had clicked for the first time and I’d found my producer, he just lived across from my dorm, he was in a barbershop quartet so I knew he liked harmonies and understood what I wanted to do,” she explains. There was only one thing which almost stood in her way, the pandemic. Racing to get “Street By Street” recorded before there was a mass exodus off campus Laufey left it until the very final moment. “I was like if I don’t record this now, I never will, so on literally the last day on campus while my mom and sister were packing up my dorm room, I was in Davin’s room [producer Davin Kingston] recording this song and thank god we did it because it started this magical journey.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Burak Cingi

With school moving online, Laufey was able to power through classes at an extremely efficient pace so after some extra summer classes, she graduated early and to spend more time focusing on her snowballing music career. Her debut EP Typical Of Me followed a year later, in spring 2021, with seven delicately crafted songs. While Laufey’s sound includes elements of classical, jazz, pop and R&B, there are moments where it’s so compellingly vintage that on tracks like the sumptuous “Someone New” it’s only when her lyrics mention Instagram that you’re reminded this isn’t a decades-old classic.

Even her nonchalant admittance about a bad hair day (“it's not your fault it looks like shit”) on the refreshingly honest “Best Friend” barely breaks the cinematic allure especially when she begins scatting over the wistful production. This song made for a very special moment during her London Jazz Festival set as she brought out her twin sister Junia for a violin solo. “I swear I’m living in a movie at this point,” she mused in a TikTok caption for the performance.

At the end of this exciting year at the top of Laufey’s list of highlights is releasing a track with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. “Being in classical music growing up, I've always sought that validation and then to have them reach out to me after the music I've been releasing has not been directly classical music,” she pauses to compose herself, “just being able to collaborate with an orchestra that I've like watched and followed growing up was just really really crazy”.

There is no doubt that Everything I Know About Love was one of the mist impressive debut albums of 2022. It was a remarkable release that introduced me to Laufey. There was a lot of interest around her. I want to come to METAL’s interview with this amazing artist. Someone who is definitely primed for worldwide domination:

“Your music itself is already quite intimate, and with social media, we get to see the behind-the-scenes process of your songs. How do you think social media adds to that intimacy between you and your fans?

I think that social media is such a blessing in the way that I get to connect to my fans directly. I love answering messages and comments and giving advice and receiving advice from them. I share a lot of my life on social media in hopes that it brings visual context to my music and writing!

Now, let’s dive into your music. You draw inspiration from jazz, pop and classical music, which are all very different genres. How do you navigate these three very distinct sounds in your own work? Do you ever feel pressure to conform to one genre of music?

I’m not even sure how to navigate them! (laughs). I think they’re all woven so deeply into my musical subconscious that it just comes out somehow. Some days I’ll lean more towards one genre and other days I’ll be more inspired by another – it really depends on what I’m feeling. I don’t feel too much pressure to comfort to any certain style. My fans are so kind and open to whatever I do. It always ends up sounding like a Laufey song because it’s my voice and writing!

On the flip side, do you feel a sense of responsibility to bridge the gap between these genres?

I do feel a sense of responsibility, but I also enjoy it so much. I think that these older styles of music are so beautiful, and I don’t see many young people advocating for them and I have an audience of young people that are willing to listen!

PHOTO CREDIT: Gemma Warren

Recently, you released your debut album, Everything I Know About Love. While each song explores a different sound, from mellow cello features to groovy bossa nova, something that they have in common is they all sound quite mesmerising and dreamy. How do you go about creating these sounds?

I think what gives these songs a dreamy quality is the instrumentation and arrangements that are borrowed from jazz and classical music that aren’t as common in contemporary music. We layered a lot of strings and fun instruments such as harp, bassoon and celesta, and experimented with different textures to create a timeless, cinematic experience

One reason why your music is so attractive is because of how relatable it is. For example, Beautiful Stranger is about developing a crush on a stranger on the train, which I’m sure we’ve all experienced. Where do you draw inspiration from?

I draw all of my inspiration from my own life and experiences! I love to journal about my thoughts, so a lot of my songs are born out of journal entries.

Something I love about your lyricism is that it really situates the listener as the protagonist of a story, bringing us through the ups and downs of romance. What does your writing process look like?

Thank you! That’s truly what I’m trying to do. Before I even write the first lyric, I always know what the song is going to be about – what the message or the title of the song is going to be. That way, I always have a sense of direction.

Your songs are a very honest show of emotion. For example, Fragile really delves into how it feels to miss someone and Falling Behind, while more upbeat, talks about the inevitable feeling of falling behind when everyone around you is getting into relationships. Is it difficult to put yourself out there like that? Or is it liberating?

I’ve always been a very open book and expressive about my thoughts and feelings. I think it’s quite liberating to put my thoughts out there and if anything, it’s quite validating when somebody hears one of my songs and says that they’ve felt the same way before”.

Let’s move things on a little bit. I was interested by an interview from NOTION published in April 2022. They compared Laufey to Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. The Gen-Z equivalent, such is the power of her voice. It is like a rich and classical instrument. There are a few portion of the interview that caught my eye:

“You released your EP, ‘Typical of Me’ last year. What was the inspiration behind this title?

It’s a phrase I say a lot. ‘Oh, that’s so typical of me,’ you know? Growing up, if I did something that was so typical of me, my mother would say, ‘oh that’s so typical of you, that’s so typical of Laufey.’ It was my first EP, and I was thinking about what all these songs represent. It’s all very honest song-writing, and the way I write is very much the way I talk. I don’t take things too seriously. There is a little bit of humour in everything.

Which song on the EP was the hardest to finish?

It took a while to nail “Magnolia”. Sonically, I wanted it to sound different from the other songs. The other songs were almost like a bedroom sound, but very jazzy. With “Magnolia”, even though it has many jazzy progressions, I wanted it to have a lighter touch. I toyed around with that one for a while, trying to perfect it.

You were raised between two different worlds, Reykjavik and Washington, DC. How would you say your cultural heritage has shaped who you are and the kind of music you create?

I grew up in a world where I would listen to my mother play violin in a classical Iceland symphony concert one day, and then the next day she would be playing a pop concert in a Church. The day after she would be playing in a death-metal group. There is so much mixing of genres. The pop musicians help on classical projects, the classical musicians work on the rock projects. There is so much mixing and matching and genre-bending, which is one of the reasons why I feel like I mix styles so much. I want to take down the walls of genre, because I didn’t grow up in a world where the walls of genre were that high. That’s culturally impacted me –  the mixing of styles and mixing of cultures. I’m half-Chinese, half-Icelandic. Grew up partially in the US. Everything is just mixed up. My music is too.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Williams

Do you find that different cities and cultures bring out different creative sides of you?

Definitely. I stay true to myself, but with every place I travel to, I experience different things, therefore I write about different things. There are people in every city to write about and experience things with.

At what point in your life did you realise that music could be a means of expressing yourself out in the world?

My mother is a classical violinist, so I don’t remember a time without music. I was given a violin when I was two, I started taking piano lessons when I was four, then cello lessons when I was eight. Music was always something I heard around the house. There was always someone practising, or I was backstage at the orchestra at the Iceland Symphony. It was something that was very much in my nature, but in the beginning it was school. It was another class that I took. I finished school, came back home, and practised for an hour or two. It was around the time that I was thirteen or fourteen that I started singing and found that it was a way of expressing myself. It felt really natural to me. I didn’t have to practise it as much as the other instruments.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Williams

What did you learn from your mother as a musician?

Everything. She taught me all of the basics, both on piano and on cello. I have a Chinese mother. She’s a strict musician mom. She instilled in me so much discipline and appreciation for the art. I think that’s what it is – appreciation for music. No matter how hard we practised or drilled, at the end of the night you’d put your instruments away and you’d just enjoy the music. That’s the biggest lesson that my mother taught me.

What do you think you taught her?

I’ve taught her a lot of niche TikTok humour. I’ve taught her a lot of jazz. I’ve taught her to let go of classical rules. That music can be created. The player can also create. That’s the idea.

Are there any classical traditions that you dislike or that you choose to reinvent in your own music?

It’s less so about tradition, but one thing I’m passionate about is changing the snobby air around classical music. There is a certain academic approach to these forms of music which I grew up around and honestly studied within the walls of, which I think are to the detriment of the art”.

I am going to bring things right up to date. NME spotlighted the incredible and incomparable Laufey. This is a name that needs to be on everyone’s radar. Music that, once heard, buckles the knees. Such a stunning and beautiful artist whose music will endure for years to come:

“Last year, she performed with a 55-piece orchestra at Reykjavík’s prestigious Harpa concert hall, the heart of the city’s cultural scene that’s home to the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and has previously hosted fellow Icelandic natives like Björk and Of Monsters and Men.

Laufey sold out two nights there, performing to crowds that ranged from traditional jazz aficionados to old schoolmates and devoted ‘Lauvers’, as she recently branded her fanbase. She’s since immortalised the career-highlight performances on her recent live album ‘A Night At The Symphony’.

In the online world, meanwhile, she’s built impressive social followings of 2.5 million and 1.1million on TikTok and Instagram, respectively, where she’s caught the eye of the likes of BTS’s V and Billie Eilish, the latter having reposted Laufey’s jazzy spin on her ‘Happier Than Ever’ song ‘My Future’.

Still, it’s her own music that’s generated the biggest buzz, with recent runaway hit ‘From The Start’ blowing up on TikTok and entering Spotify’s Top 50 chart in the US, racking up over 80 million streams on the platform since its May release.

PHOTO CREDIT: Eva Pentel

But it’s not difficult to see why Laufey has attracted so much good fortune on her swift ascent these past few years. One would only have to watch the music video for the title track of her new album to understand her deep commitment to modern-day storytelling that has left so many spellbound. ‘Bewitched’ – which opens with a twinkling classical arrangement courtesy of the London-based Philharmonia Orchestra, and sounds like it’s been plucked right out of the Golden Age of Hollywood – depicts a love story set in London, in which she swoons: “You bewitched me from the first time that you kissed me.”

Like so many of her songs, it bottles up the dizzying feeling of being head over heels for someone. Whether she’s romanticising a fleeting interaction with a stranger on the tube or wistfully reflecting on a past love, Laufey seamlessly blends jazz instrumentals with the kind of diaristic pop lyrics that you might expect to hear from artists like Gracie Abrams or Lizzy McAlpine. These vignettes of her real life are unsurprisingly resonating with listeners at a time where popular social media self-love mantras encourage young people to “be the main character” and “romanticise your life”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Eva Pentel

“I think love makes everyone really silly,” Laufey says. “I remember the first time I went on a date, we had a glass of wine and we kissed and then I left in the rain, and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my god, it’s really like the movies!’”

The simplicity of the timeless sentiment paired with the nostalgic romanticism of her musical roots has attracted a hugely intergenerational pool of listeners. Her younger fans are swept up by the Disney-esque magic of the songs – music to waltz around the living room on a lazy Sunday morning or plod about a drizzly Notting Hill pretending you’re in a Nora Ephron film. At the same time, older fans are intrigued by a fresh new voice that resembles the music of times gone by.

Much of the charm, though, can be pinpointed to Laufey’s exquisite technical brilliance. Inspired by jazz music legends like Chet Baker and Billie Holiday, Laufey can serenade an audience with deep, pitch perfect vocals while effortlessly rotating between cello, piano and guitar, countless hours of practice stored in her nimble hands.

It’s a unique position to be in for a rising artist – one who looks right at home amongst a grand orchestra, and can also post TikToks with Gen Z-coded captions like: “I made the song ur [sic] going to play at your imaginary wedding to the person you don’t even dare talk to”. For Laufey, that simply underlines the universality of the classical and vocal jazz that she has loved “blindly” for her whole life. “I think it’s this really beautiful middle ground that can bring generations together,” she says.

Laufey, a self-described “huge Swiftie”, also looked to the global pop sensation’s example to help refine her own lyrical fluency. “I think she’s one of my biggest songwriting inspirations, and the way that she’s managed to reinvent herself, and stay relevant, and still so poised and speak her mind, is really just remarkable,” Laufey says.

It’s also helpful that she has plenty of musical peers to inspire her, too, having bonded with NME’s inaugural The Cover star D4vd over their similar music tastes. “I had heard his music all over TikTok, and I was like, ‘This kid is so talented’,” she recalls. She reached out online only to find that he had already messaged her a few months prior, which led to their cinematic duet on ‘This Is How It Feels’ from D4vd’s recent EP ‘Petals To Thorns’”.

If you have not checked out the amazing music of Laufey, then make sure that you do. Such a phenomenal artist who is quite rightly being tipped as a future star – although she is one already -, I do hope that she gets to do tour dates in the U.K. It may still be quite early on her career; you can tell nobody in music quite sounds like her. A sound that is  vintage, modern, distinct yet easily accessible, Laufey has crafted and created…

A rare thing.

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Follow Laufey

PHOTO CREDIT: Gemma Warren

Official:

https://www.laufeymusic.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/laufey

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/laufey

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7gW0r5CkdEUMm42w9XpyZO

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChpKl3waLmccNeYH9LGYjUQ

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Huey Lewis & The News’ Sports at Forty: ‘Sport’ Songs

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

Huey Lewis & The News’ Sports at Forty: ‘Sport’ Songs

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I am using an upcoming album anniversary…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels

to come up with a playlist. The album in question is Huey Lewis & The News’ Sports. Released on 15th September, 1983, I wanted to mark that fortieth anniversary and also use it as an opportunity to compile a sports-themed playlist. I was going to write a feature about the album, as it is definitely one that should be celebrated. Even if you are not a fan of Huey Lewis & The News, you are sure to know one or two songs from the album – Heart and Soul and I Want a New Drug are quire recognisable. Before getting to the playlist, this is what AllMusic said about the classic Sports:

“Picture This found Huey Lewis and the News developing a signature sound, but they truly came into their own on their third album, Sports. It's true that the record holds together better than its predecessors because it has a clear, professional production, but the real key is the songs. Where their previous albums were cluttered with generic filler, nearly every song on Sports has a huge hook. And even if the News aren't bothered by breaking new ground, there's no denying that the craftmanship on Sports is pretty infectious. There's a reason why well over half of the album ("The Heart of Rock & Roll," "Heart and Soul," "I Want a New Drug," "Walking on a Thin Line," "If This Is It") were huge American hit singles -- they have instantly memorable hooks, driven home with economical precision by a tight bar band, who are given just enough polish to make them sound like superstars. And that's just what Sports made them”.

As Sports turns forty on 15th September, below are a selection of songs from artists who mention a sport in the title, or sports-named, or there is a connection to a sports star or athlete (if that is a brief name-check or a song about them). I would encourage people who have not heard the album to give it a listen. As it is coming up for forty, some of the production sounds dated, yet the songs are still fantastic and recognisably the work of Huey Lewis & The News. There is an anniversary release coming too. To honour Sports turning forty, below is a playlist of songs with…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels

SPORT at their heart.

FEATURE: Revolutions and Resolutions: Saluting Sound on Sound’s ‘Change Makers’

FEATURE:

 

 

Revolutions and Resolutions

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Phoebe Fox/GRAPHICS: Andreia Lemos

Saluting Sound on Sound’s ‘Change Makers’

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I wanted to briefly…

feature Sound on Sound’s September issue. There are a few reasons why I want to come back to it. For a start, it is an issue that features ‘The Change Makers’. These are women and non-binary talent that are bringing about change and pushing the industry forward. At a time when we are still struggling to see gender parity in professional studio and more women listed as songwriters in the charts and among the most popular singles of the year, here are people who are highlighting their amazing work and inspiring others. Many of them I know already. A super producer and engineer who is right at the middle of this incredible group is Catherine Marks. As someone who has produced some incredible albums – including boygenius’ the record –, she is sone of the most renowned and talented in the industry. In regards the Sound on Sound celebration and its mission statement, Marks highlights those that she stands alongside. Those who are bringing about change and balance. Marks also provides Instagram tags of the brilliant songwriters, producers, engineers and artists who should be on your radar. This is what she said:

“In association with @musicproducersguild we are so excited to have partnered with @soundonsoundmag in this iconic issue to celebrate, highlight and represent those who are pushing things forward in the industry!

@martasalogni @grandjeanmanon @olga.fitzroy @mikasellens @eve_horne @charlieeeeesworld @steph.marziano @rameraaa @katietavini @grace_banks_music @dani_rbs @alexhopemusic @annalaverty @leslie.gaston @anntasticlv @halinarice_music @emilylazarlodge @jenndecilveo @reallindaperry @hannahvofficial @fionatron @isabelgracefield”.

I am including photos from the Sound on Sound issue where we get interviews from and spotlight of some major talent. Those who are bringing about change in male-dominated fields. Apologies for putting these photos and pages in the wrong order, but I want to cover off a lot and bring in some thoughts of what happens now – in terms of the industry reacting and more magazine issues and highlighting of women and non-binary people who are pushing hard and campaigning for the industry to do better. Who are a group united whose work is among the most impressive and important out there. In terms of those who feature in the new edition, here are the illustrious game changers:

“1. Anna Laverty

Anna Laverty is a producer, engineer, mixer and co‑writer whose credits include Camp Cope, Stella Donnelly, Amanda Palmer, Pinch Points and Courtney Barnett. Anna is also founder of the Music Producer and Engineers’ Guild of Australia.

2. Jennifer Decilveo

Jennifer Decilveo is a Grammy Award‑winning producer, songwriter and multi‑instrumentalist who has played a pivotal role in numerous projects across multiple genres.

3. Marta Salogni

Italian‑born, Grammy‑nominated recording engineer, producer and mixer Marta Salogni works from her own Studio Zona, in London. Some of the artists she’s worked with include Björk, Depeche Mode, Sampha, MIA, Bon Iver, Black Midi, Animal Collective and Holly Herndon.

4. Manon Grandjean

Based in London, Manon Grandjean worked for award‑winning songwriter and producer Fraser T Smith before becoming a freelance mix and mastering engineer in 2020. She has worked with a wide range of artists including Stormzy, Nao, Flo, Cat Burns and many more, and has been involved in six UK number ones and 18 top 10s.

IN THIS PHOTO: Halina Rice/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Robert Williams

5. Halina Rice

Halina Rice is an electronic music producer and AV artist working at the intersection of music, art and technology: her sold‑out live shows have been described as “part rave, part art‑happening”. Her performances and installations are frequently presented in spatial sound, both in physical venues as well as metaverse and VR environments.

6. Linda Perry

Beginning her musical journey as the lead singer of 4 Non Blondes, Linda Perry has profoundly impacted pop culture through her work as a producer and songwriter, helping shape the sounds of Pink, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Adele, Arianna Grande, Celine Dion, Miley Cyrus, James Blunt and many more.

7. Eve Horne

Award‑winning creative mentor and advisor Eve Horne has over 20 years’ experience in the music industry as a singer, songwriter and producer. She is founder of PeakMusicUK and the UNHEARD Campaign, and recently become an Ivors Academy Senator and a Board Director at the MPG.

8. Grace Banks

Grace Banks is a mixer and producer with a background in writing. She has engineered for Robyn, Jamie T, D Double E, Omar Apollo, Hozier, Jockstrap, Black Midi, Kelsey Lu and the Blessed Madonna, and has worked with producers and mixers such as Kid Harpoon, Inflo, Jim Abbiss, Alan Moulder, Catherine Marks, Markus Dravs and Marta Salogni.

9. Katie Tavini

Katie Tavini is a mastering engineer with a rich and diverse client list that is not limited to a particular sound or scene. Her recent credits include Bloc Party, Arlo Parks, Fatherson, Nadine Shah, Hundred Reasons, Emeli Sandé and Ash.

10. Emily Lazar

Grammy Award winner and eight‑time nominee Emily Lazar has mastered more than 4000 albums for the world’s leading artists, from the Beatles to David Bowie. Her studio, The Lodge, offers state‑of‑the‑art mixing, mastering and specialised recording, as well as immersive mixing and mastering for Dolby Atmos. A proponent for gender equity and inclusivity, Lazar founded nonprofit organisation We Are Moving The Needle to help shape the future of the recording industry.

IN THIS PHOTO: Katie Tavini

11. Catherine Marks

Producer and mix engineer Catherine Marks produced and mixed Wolf Alice’s Grammy‑nominated ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’, mixed the Grammy Award‑winning album Masseduction by St Vincent and has production or mix credits on six top‑10 UK albums, including boygenius’ recent number one album the record. Catherine is an Executive Director of the Music Producers Guild.

12. Ramera Abraham

Ramera Abraham is a London‑based vocal producer, recording engineer and songwriter. She frequently works with music distribution and artist services company Platoon across their artist roster. Ramera was also included in SheSaidSo’s Alternative Power 100 List 2021 as one to watch, and is the Music Producers Guild’s Vocal Producer of the Year 2023.

13. Hannah V

Jumping from the Royal Academy of Music into playing stadiums with stars such as Rihanna, Jessie J, Jason Derulo and Taio Cruz, Hannah V soon found her true vocation in production and songwriting, working with artists such as Yola, Stormzy, JP Cooper, Lalah Hathaway and TOBi. In 2018 she scored her first gold‑certified album from producing and co‑writing on JP Cooper’s Raised Under Grey Skies, and in 2021 was part of the writing team for Yola’s Grammy‑nominated album Stand For Myself.

14. Olga FitzRoy

Olga FitzRoy is an award‑winning recording engineer and mixer with credits including Coldplay, The Crown and the London 2012 Olympics. Recording Engineer of the Year in 2016, she served on the board of the Music Producers Guild from 2019‑2022 and has previously stood for the UK parliament for the Labour party in Croydon, South London.

15. Leslie Gaston‑Bird

Leslie Gaston‑Bird began her term as President‑Elect of the Audio Engineering Society in 2023. She is founder and director of Immersive and Inclusive Audio, CIC, which provides training in Avid Pro Tools and Dolby Atmos certification for underrepresented groups. Author of Women In Audio and Math Fundamentals For Audio, Leslie is Lecturer in Sound Recording & Music Production at City University in London.

16. Ann Mincieli

Ann Mincieli is a recording and mix engineer best known for her work with Alicia Keys. Mincieli has three Grammy Awards and five nominations. Ann and Alicia are co‑founders of Jungle City Studios in New York, and partners in She Is the Music, a non‑profit organisation aiming to increase the number of women in the music industry.

17. Steph Marziano

Philadelphia‑born, London‑based Steph Marziano moved to the UK to study at LIPA and later cut her teeth as an engineer recording Kasabian’s UK number one ‘For Crying Out Loud’. She now works as a producer, songwriter and engineer, and her co‑writing credits include Hayley Williams (of Paramore), ODESZA and Bartees Strange.

18. Dani Bennett Spragg

Dani Bennett Spragg is a recording engineer and mixer who started her career as an assistant at Assault & Battery Studios, the home of Flood and Alan Moulder, in 2016. Dani is now freelance and works mainly from her mix room in West London. She was voted Recording Engineer of the Year at the 2021 MPG Awards.

IN THIS PHOTO: Charlie Deakin Davies

19. Mika Sellens

Mika Sellens is a producer, writer, mixer and engineer from London with a background in electroacoustic music and sound art. Mika is a professor of Electronic and Produced Music at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, a Senator for the Ivors Academy, and an Executive Director of the Music Producers Guild.

20. Charlie Deakin‑Davis

Charlie Deakin‑Davies, aka charlieeeee, is a songwriter, producer and artist based at Ten87 Studios in Tottenham Hale. Having been in‑house writer/producer for Gary Barlow, Charlie has gone on to work with Laura Marling, dodie, MNEK, FRED, James Bay, RAYE, KAMILLE, GIRLI, Ellie Dixon, venbee, piri & tommy and more, and was twice voted NMG’s Producer of the Year.

21. Fiona Cruickshank

Award‑winning engineer, producer and film music editor Fiona Cruickshank has a portfolio that spans film, music and performance arts. In recent months, Fiona has worked with Alicia Keys and Keaton Henson, as well as with the National on their acclaimed album First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, while her film credits include The Little Mermaid, Greatest Days and The Whale.

22. Isabel Gracefield

Isabel is an engineer and mixer based at London’s RAK Studios. She worked on Dua Lipa’s multi‑platinum, Grammy Award‑winning album Future Nostalgia, and other high‑profile credits include PJ Harvey, Razorlight, Jim Abbiss, Lionel Richie and sessions for Hans Zimmer at British Grove.

23. Gili Portal & Stephanie De Angelis

Gili and Stephanie are assistant engineers at RAK Studios in London. Sound On Sound would like to thank RAK and Emma Townsend for making the studio available for our cover photo shoot”.

There are a couple of reasons why Sound and Sound has brought together. Rather than highlighting the fact that they are women/non-binary rather than men is a good step. It is less about gender and highlighting how there are plenty of great women who are killing it in male-focused fields. Less about tackling the gender gap and taking aim at the industry in general: it is a general salute and spotlighting of those making real change and beautiful work in studios and behind the microphone. Also, it is rare that you get magazines or podcasts putting the focus on women/non-binary people. Even in 2023, there is still this massive gulf in terms of gender of those in professional studios and writing those chart-dominated tracks. Many might assume that is because of a lack of talent. Maybe that there is a pipeline problem or some other issue. Whilst it may be true that it is vital that more is done to encourage women especially into the industry and make it a more inclusive environment, then the better. There is still quite a hostile environment in some studios. Comparative little attention given to women and non-binary artists. Look at the amazing female producers like Catherine Marks. Rather than wanting special attention, it is more about giving them their dues. Realising that there is this diversity and incredible wave of studio innovators and exceptional songwriters and pioneers.

It is distressing that so many areas of the music industry accommodates men and spends very little effort to ensure that there is balance and awareness. From festival bills to studio – as I keep saying – there is this division. Those who are united in the Sound on Sound latest edition are trailblazing and showing that there are these phenomenal people in the industry. From amazing women in studios and non-binary artists breaking barriers and showing this immense talent, it is up to the industry to respond to this and recognise. For more money to be made available for education. From grassroot level through to smaller venues, there needs to opportunities for school-aged girls to know that there are options and they can make it in the industry. To redline studios so they are not boys’ clubs. Making it easier for the pool of talent ready to progress to festivals. Ensuring that more female songwriters appear on chart hits and it is not so male-heavy. There is that passion, potential and pool out there. It seems like there are still too many barriers in place. We know the figures regarding songwriters and producers. How the gender breakdown works, and what work still needs to be done. There is still so much misogyny and sexism in the industry.

The narrative has not shifted far. That idea women need to work and compete against each other rather than together. The latest Sound on Sound edition made it very clear that there was this collaborative and supportive crew who wanted to join their voices to show the sheer talent and innovation out there. Going forward, a couple of things need to happen. There do need to be more features that showcase the voices and work of phenomenal and hugely talent women and non-binary people. Rather than making it about gender, it would be another celebration. It is also inspiring for those who want to go into studios or songwriting. Informative and eye-opening getting perspective from the likes of Catherine Marks and Halina Rice. From self-producing artists, incredible engineers, venues bosses and producers, I think it is very much needed. More column inches dedicated to change makers! So much division still persists through the industry. Going forward, there should be more of a concerted effort in light of statistics and the relative lack of opportunity afforded in the industry to women and non-binary people. Ensuring that the likes of The Change Makers we see above lead a revolution of awareness and progression. Recognition of theirs and so many others’ work that might be overlooked. Dedication to tackling gender bias and imbalance. Ensuring we recognise these amazing humans pushing things forward and…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Catherine Marks (@cjmarks)

PUTTING them squarely in the frame.

FEATURE: My Fairlight CMI and I: Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty-One

FEATURE:

 

 

My Fairlight CMI and I

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Rapport Photography

Kate Bush’s The Dreaming at Forty-One

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IN my final one or two…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush and the Fairlight CMI

features, I might rank the songs that appear on The Dreaming. I have shifted opinion since I last did that: some songs that were placed quite low and now high, and vice versa. Bush’s fourth studio album turns forty-one on 13th September. For this piece about The Dreaming, I want to talk about an invaluable tool at Kate Bush’s disposal. As solo producer, Bush had free reign when it came to what sounds she wanted on her album. Although her band have a wide range of duties and sounds, their brilliant input sits alongside a piece of technology that took Bush’s music to a new plain. If her first couple of albums were more piano-driven; Never for Ever hinted at what the Fairlight CMI would offer. She discovered that later into the recording process, so you hear it appear here and there. Most notably, it adds texture and sounds to All We Ever Look For. Seemingly impressive and maybe obsessed with the capabilities of this new piece of tech - she was introduced to it by Peter Gabriel when she was recording with him; there is a photo of the two of them out Fairlight CMI shopping -, it is used quite liberally through The Dreaming. That is not to say that it is defining elements and dominant sound through the album. Bush’s songwriting is magnificent. Her production is sensational. Her vocals are at their peak. Because of the fact she was now independent producing and had little interference from EMI or anyone outside her inner circle, she required some kit that could realise many of the sounds and sensations in her head. In addition to being able to produce instrumental sounds, sound effects – the gun cock on Never for Ever’s Army Dreamers was sampled through the Fairlight CMI -, there was this whole library to be explored.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush alongside Peter Gabriel (right) at a Fairlight CMI demonstration

Many might be interested knowing the background of the Fairlight CMI – well, tough, you’re stuck with me -, and how Bush used it through The Dreaming. Thanks to this excellent Reverb article, they show how it was used across Never for Ever, The Dreaming and, perhaps most memorable, Hounds of Love:

“Origin Stories

Appropriately enough, the story begins Down Under in Sydney, 1975: recent high school graduates Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie had recently discovered Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos, that 1968 classic of early synthesizer music in which Bach inventions and fugues are performed on a Moog. As Vogel tells it on his personal website, "Kim was very keen to develop a better synthesizer, and knowing my interest in electronics, he suggested we join forces… it was obvious that combining digital technology with music synthesis was the way to go."

The pair would soon start a home business to manufacture synthesizers, naming it after the Fairlight ferry that passed on the Sydney Harbor which the home of Ryrie's grandmother overlooked. The following year, they would join forces with the engineer and Motorola consultant Tony Furse, who introduced them to microprocessor technology.

After months of trial-and-error experiments, Vogel made a breakthrough in 1978 as he studied the harmonics of acoustic instruments. He recorded a split-second of piano from a radio broadcast, and discovered that playing said recording back at different pitches delivered a realism that differed from the piano presets of that era's synthesizers. Soon after, sampling as we know today was born.

"After four years of working around the clock," Vogel wrote, "we had the first working prototype of what was to revolutionize the music industry." That product would be the Fairlight CMI, introduced in 1979: an early sampling synthesizer and DAW complete with computer display, a QWERTY-style keyboard, floppy disk functionality, and a "light pen" stylus.

That summer, Vogel found himself in England demonstrating the machine for Peter Gabriel while he was at work on his third self-titled solo album at his home near Bath. Much like the cover of that 1980 record, it was a facemelting experience for everyone in the studio that day. "The idea of recording a sound into solid-state memory and having real-time pitch control over it appeared incredibly exciting," said Gabriel's cousin Stephen Paine, who was in the room. "Peter was completely thrilled, and instantly put the machine to use during the week that Peter Vogel stayed at his house."

Indeed, Gabriel would use a microphone plugged into the Fairlight's sampler to capture everyday sounds such as glass bottles breaking that would end up on the record—by the end of Vogel's visit, he convinced the former Genesis frontman not only to buy the first CMI, but to also act as UK's de facto importer and distributor for Fairlight”.

The Dreaming

While Never for Ever was a collaborative production with Jon Kelly—who would later go on to produce work for other seminal synth-focused British bands like Prefab Sprout and Deacon Blue—Kate decided over the course of The Dreaming's demo process to go it alone behind the boards this time. Perhaps this newfound sense of freedom was catalyzed by further familiarity with her workstation of choice.

Though the Fairlight is capable of modifying waveforms on top of sampling at separate frequencies, Kate more often than not deferred to working with the natural envelope to emulate other instruments. "Quite often there's very little that needs doing to it," Kate admitted in an interview with Electronic Soundmaker in 1983. "Occasionally I quite like reversing [the samples]."

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush (accompanied by Del Palmer) at a Fairlight CMI demonstration

She cited the production of the title track of The Dreaming as an example: "I wanted a didgeridoo, and as the Fairlight is an Australian instrument, it happened to have a didgeridoo as one of its present samples." Kate turned said preset into a loop which lingers throughout.

Kate was also fascinated by the instrument's computer display, which allowed users to view waveforms while they worked. "That's something that's very useful: you can actually see a sound. Incredibly ugly sounds can look really beautiful. It's really like another dimension: visual interpretation of the world rather than audial."

Though The Dreaming was met with divided critical reception at the time of its release in 1982, it developed a reputation as Bush's most daring and experimental release, influencing a wide range of disciples from Björk to Big Boi. This is surely partly to do with what Bush referred to as the "human element" of the Fairlight: "I'm very into natural sounds—particularly taking them out of their range. I suppose I like the distortion of natural things”.

It is clear that Kate Bush wanted to utilise the effects and huge range that The Fairlight CMI offered. Rather than it being like 1986 when there was synth sounds on everything and Pop music became quite homogenised, there was not a tonne of music with the Fairlight CMI in 1982. Before moving on, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia provides a couple of interview segment where Bush explained why she bonded with the Fairlight CMI:

“Kate about the Fairlight CMI

As we have a Fairlight, it tends to negate us getting in other sampling gear. We're pretty well covered with the Fairlight and the DX7 for keyboard and the quality of the Fairlight is much better, though so difficult to use. Everyone says that. I used to programme it myself, but since the new software... I can't keep up. They keep changing it as soon as I learn to programme it. (What Katie did next. International Musician, 1989)

I'm not sure it really made me more in control, but it introduced a whole new library of sounds that I was able to access. And the Fairlight had a very specific quality to its sound which I really liked, so it was very much a sort of atmospheric tool for me. (Kate Bush Speaks. The Fader, 23 November 2016)”.

I want to get to Classic Pop and a feature from 2022. They discussed Bush making the album and how, with this new technology at her fingertips, new fruits and unusual sounds with born. It is interesting thinking about balance. If you do discover technology that allows for so much diversity and expansion of your sound, that will push you as a songwriter. That also means you might be spending more time playing around and living in different worlds. Inhabiting different characters and sonic lakes, it must have been quite confusing and exhausting for Bush! How did she adapt to the real world and detach from this seemingly alluring and demanding mistress? The album was something she threw herself into. The Fairlight CMI was a definite advantage, but maybe it became too much of a crutch. If you can feel it in a lighter and airy sense on Hounds of Love, there is something jittery, darker and more haunted on The Dreaming:

“Two works-in-progress, The Dreaming’s title track and Houdini were ideas she’d had on Never For Ever. The new approach was to go “all the way”; be more “experimental and cinematic” than before.

This cutting-edge technology would rub shoulders with the arcane and ethnic, hinted at by the folk and world music she’d played on Paul Gambaccini’s BBC radio show. Another selection, Lennon’s No.9 Dream, reflected a growing Beatles influence. Broadcast December 1980, the month of Lennon’s assassination, much of Bush’s new music seemed cast in the tragedy’s shadow.

She opted to self-produce, (Tony Visconti, who’d written her a Lionheart-inspired fan letter during Bowie’s Lodger, was briefly considered). In a Denmark Street demo studio, drummer Preston Heyman was introduced to Bush’s new methods. Sat In Your Lap’s piano riff reminded him of Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, he played along accordingly. She then removed his cymbals, then his snare.

It morphed into a tom-tom pattern more akin to the Warrior Drums of Burundi (used on Joni Mitchell’s The Hissing Of Summer Lawns). Eager to get the tribal, drum-heavy sound onto tape she headed to Townhouse Studios, specifically it’s ‘stone’ room. This was where engineer Hugh Padgham had created the colossal ‘gated reverb’ drums on PG3 with drummer Phil Collins.

Bush had been equally impressed with In The Air Tonight (a ‘masterpiece’). Padgham worked on Sat In Your Lap, Leave It Open and Get Out Of My House, giving Bush the rhythmic oomph she required, aided by the studio’s Solid State Logic console with its gates and compressors.

A hard, driving core aside (Rainbow’s Jimmy Bain played bass), these tracks weren’t ‘rock’ or ‘normal’ and Padgham was bewildered by Bush’s unorthodoxy. For Heyman, though, it was exactly this “weirdness that we rejoiced in”. For Sat In Your Lap, the drummer and brother Paddy Bush stood ten feet apart, swooshing bamboo sticks (a cracked one stayed in the mix too).

Space was found for one Chinese opera cymbal suspended from a rope, “throttled” periodically by Heyman. Struggling to replicate the demo’s CS80 parts, Buggles’ Geoff Downes supplied a Fairlight brass section (he was busy working at Townhouse on Asia’s debut).

In June 1981 Sat In Your Lap hit the shelves, unveiling Bush’s new direction in a white sleeve, ballet-dunce Bush glancing quizzically at a globe. Inside was a torrent of avant-garde pop; rumbling rhythms, philosophical head-scratching and a startling vocal ferocity.

Bush fretted, initial feedback was dumbstruck silence. But critics raved (“a superb blast of energy”), as did BBC’s Roundtable guest reviewers, Linx’s David Grant, and Rick Wakeman. It climbed to No.11, a year later it sat atop Trevor Horn’s all-time top ten, one of three Bush selections.

Meanwhile, The Dreaming’s sessions had steamed ahead. The in-demand Padgham left for Genesis’ Abacab, replaced by Nick Launay. His CV, including PIL’s The Flowers Of Romance, aligned the young engineer with Bush’s new almost post-punk edge.

With a seemingly limitless budget and new gadgetry, he was a more willing accomplice in what he calls the ‘toy shop’ of Bush’s experiments. Corrugated iron wrapped around drums became ‘canons firing across a valley’ for Leave It Open’s climax. Bass player and then-boyfriend Del Palmer sampled aerosols to replace those forbidden cymbals.

If a song suggested a “flood imagery to be painted in”, everything was attempted. To bring the Australian outback to life on the title track there were smashed marble, crowd noises from the Gosfield Goers, and Percy Edwards’ wildlife impressions.

Supplying the didgeridoo’s circular drone was Rolf Harris, whose 1960 Sun Arise had been The Dreaming’s inspiration. Amid the Fairlight skids and thuds there were real accidents too; Paddy Bush’s bullroarer broke, frantically spun wood dislodged from cord, hitting the studio’s soundproof screen. Bush’s next location was Abbey Road, with engineer Haydn Bendall.

Taking up all three studios for Night Of The Swallow, Stuart Elliot’s drums fed from one to the next. For the chorus, a ceilidh band was required. Bill Whelan provided the searing Irish folk arrangement, played by members of his band Planxty and The Chieftans, captured in an all-night Bush-attended Guiness-soaked session at Dublin’s Windmill Lane.

At some point, Bush says “the spontaneity evaporated”. Studio-hopping with an ever-expanding cast, while the songs “kept changing shape” became “hard work”. The endless mind-voyaging from the Outback to the East Asian jungle for Pull Out The Pin required searching for right sonic mise-en-scene.

Bush’s role-playing was intensely demanding, becoming a bank robber, a Vietcong soldier, Mrs. Houdini. Often switching character within one song, her vocals (usually recorded at night), needed an array of effects to distinguish them. She was like an actor-director placing huge demands on herself from either side of the camera.

Conjuring “distorted emotional states” left her drained, even frightened. And through the masks, autobiography flickered, the music’s mad ambition offset by nagging self-doubt, as in There Goes A Tenner: “the sense of adventure is changing to danger”.

If the Fairlight CMI did almost shackle Bush to a sense of ambition and a wide sonic palette, it was definitely a real boon for her. Something that was a highlight on Never for Ever was not very much a driving force on The Dreaming. Even though Bush and her incredible musicians did a lot of excellent work, the Fairlight CMI separated Bush from this notion her songs were piano-led. Maybe wanting to be seen more as a serious artist who was as experimental and bold as her peers, this first solo producing experience was exceptional but draining. Feeling exhausted and in need of a break, she did holiday in Barbados. She hated it there because it was too quite and tranquil. That sense of the silence being deafening! Going between different studio, working with a large array of musicians and spending most of her day immersed in these songs, the psychological impact of stepping away and trying to relax was impossible – lessons learned that meant Hounds of Love was a healthier and more independent album (in the sense she had her own studio and was not especially limited in terms of budget and time). I am making it sounds negative, yet I did want to discuss the Fairlight CMI and bring together articles that explored it. A key ingredient in the strange and beautiful brew of The Dreaming. In the next one or two features about the album, I am going to look more at the songs; maybe nod and highlight Kate Bush’s exceptional production. If Never for Ever gave a taste and tease of what the Fairlight CMI could do, it is opened wide and running throughout The Dreaming. Seduced by its charms, power and possibilities, it was clear that there was…

NO going back.

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

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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

_________

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.