TRACK REVIEW: Celeste - Stop This Flame

TRACK REVIEW:

Celeste

PHOTO CREDIT: Matilda Hill-Jenkins

Stop This Flame

9.5/10

The track, Stop This Flame, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGmI8IkiWII&feature=emb_title

GENRES:

British Soul/Alternative R&B

ORIGIN:

California, U.S.A./Brighton, U.K.

RELEASE DATE:

9th January, 2020

LABEL:

Polydor

__________

THIS is my first review of the year…

PHOTO CREDIT: Matilda Hill-Jenkins

and I was waiting for the right moment to launch it. There have been some great songs out this year, but I wanted to feature Celeste because she is a talent everyone needs to check out. I will get to her latest track very soon but, before that, I have a few things I want to investigate and explore. Now is a very good time for Celeste. The BBC has announced their Sound of 2020 winner and, deservedly, it is Celeste who gets that top honour:

“Soul singer Celeste has been named the BBC’s Sound of 2020, the broadcaster’s annual poll to evaluate the year’s brightest new musical hopes. Her win follows her victory in the Brits rising star award in December.

In a statement, the 25-year-old British-Jamaican star reflected on her recent run of success: “I could never have predicted half of the things that happened … I’m so grateful for every opportunity I’ve had so far and am looking forward to what 2020 will bring.”

BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac described Celeste Waite, who grew up in Saltdean, near Brighton, as a “phenomenal” talent: “Her songwriting is personal and poignant but with universal appeal. I think she could easily join the long list of Sound Of winners who went on to be global stars.” Previous winners include Adele, Sam Smith, Haim and Ellie Goulding.

Celeste began writing music and performing in bands as a teenager. At 16, she was discovered by a manager after she posted her first song online. He encouraged her to take writing classes and she started working with writers and producers at Trevor Horn’s Sarm studios.

Lily Allen signed Celeste to her label Bank Holiday Records, an imprint of Warner UK, and released her debut EP, Milk & Honey, in 2017. The following year, Celeste signed to Polydor. Her single Strange made

the BBC Radio 1 playlist, and she was recently named BBC Music Introducing artist of the year”.

I have been familiar with Celeste for a little while, but she is really blossoming into someone who has the promise to be an icon of the future. I do not use those words lightly. You have these artists who produce some good tracks but, honestly, you do not remember them that long after hearing them. In the case of Celeste, she is someone who stuns through her music and can win your heart when you hear her speak.

I think there is a real humbleness and maturity from someone who is relatively new to the industry. Although Celeste has been recording music since she was very young, her path into music was one many can identify with. This BBC article highlights when Celeste was bitten by the muse of music:

“Three years ago, the singer moved to London with just £100 in her pocket; but was fired because she kept skipping work to write songs.

"I'd rather call in sick and go to the studio than have the money for that month," she tells the BBC, "and there was a couple of months where I was like, 'What am I going to do?'"

Luckily, unemployment coincided with Celeste's discovery - first by Lily Allen's label Bank Holiday Records, which released her first EP, and later by Polydor, who signed her in 2018”.

Later in this review, I will discuss Celeste’s roots and family and how, in 2020, she is primed for the biggest year of her professional life. I love the fact Celeste is very much driven by music and it fill her soul. For some, you get the sense music is a way to get famous or, at the very least, give them some sort of meaning. For Celeste, it goes far beyond that. She is someone who wakes and breathes music; it is a way to express herself and make the world beautiful. So many people are reacting to what she is putting out into the world. It is interesting learning how artists get started and how their songs take shape. I fancied myself as a songwriter when I was younger because I was a natural poet – and I knew it! I loved the way one could take language to new places and write in a way that was poetic, beautiful and individual. I do not read or write music, so poetry was a way for me to write like my musical heroes. Celeste has a love of poetry and, when you read her lyrics, one is moved by their depth and passion. There are many reasons why Celeste is being championed and why her music is resonating.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lauren Maccabee

In terms of genres, Celeste blends R&B and Neo Soul with incredible poetry. In this interview, Celeste explained why her particular potion was so potent:

“You blend poetry with soul and R&B. What makes it so powerful in your opinion?

I think the language in poetry can be very powerful and it feels like you can say a lot more. I know a band called Fontaines DC. They’re very inspired by poets and they kind of see themselves in that way. They’re a band I love listening to.

Poetry is a bit closer to the rhythm of your speaking voice, so you can kind of say more and get more words out, whereas singing a melody kind of, sometimes, puts a limit on how much you can say. That’s, for example, why rappers can say so much more, because their rhythm allows them to. I think, when you sometimes write in that form, you can kind of deliver so much more clear narrative that has a story from start to finish. It’s more laid out.

You have the gift to tell a story with your voice. Is it difficult for you to put deep emotions in a song?

When I’m about to write a song, I just let it naturally come out as it wants to. If that’s a day that I might be feeling really empowered, or might feel really sad, I let my body speak for itself. Some days, it’s hard because it doesn’t really want to come to the surface. But most of the time, in the music I’ve written, it all came quite naturally”.

It is the honesty and spontaneity that Celeste puts into her music that makes it so powerful and moving. She can elicit so many different emotions but, more than anything, I think everyone can relate to her songs. You do not have to know her or what she is going through to respect and understand her words.

PHOTO CREDIT: Grace Difford

Celeste was born in the U.S. and, whilst she is up in London now, Brighton was where she was raised. Brighton is my favourite place in this country, so I can understand why it is a place easy to love and settle into. It is a shame people have to move to London to find opportunity, as Brighton is such a haven and safe place. Although, as we all know, it does not take long to get from Brighton to London. I can identify with Celeste, as she is someone who has felt her way into music and was not necessarily a natural performer and writer straight from the off. When she spoke with Dummy last year, she explained how she was a little shy at first:

“Surrounded by musical peers in the English seaside town, she was increasingly reluctant to perform. “I was quite shy about singing when I was a teenager but I think people just knew I could,” she says. A boy approached her in the school corridor, saying, ‘I heard you can sing.’ “It was so silly, I probably denied it,” she says, but ended up going to his house for songwriting sessions. She wrote her first song, ‘Sirens’, about the death of her dad when she was 16, and it caught the attention of a prospective manager after she posted it on YouTube. They met up in a Costa, and Celeste promised to send him some demos. “Four months went by and I hadn’t sent him any demos!” she says. “I was just singing ‘cos I liked singing. I knew I wanted to do it, I just didn’t know how to go about doing everything.”

Eventually he just booked her in for a studio session. “It was only five years ago but mobiles weren’t such a necessity – I remember looking at Google Maps and drawing the route with a pink felt tip,” she says. The people at the famed Sarm Studios – owned and run by Trevor Horn – were so impressed with her writing that they kept giving her more time there. “It was a place that had so much history, you could just feel it in the walls,” she says. “I remember once seeing Seal at the top of the stairs. I need to wear glasses and never wear them, and there are these massive open doors into Studio 1, but I’d never seen it before, so I was peeking in. Then I see him standing outside with a sandwich in cling film, and he’s like, ‘Hello!’ I’m like, ‘Alright mate?’ He found it really funny that I seemed so unfazed by him”.

Maybe Celeste is not at the stage where she could confidentially stride into an arena and play to tens of thousands of people, clearly, she has risen in confidence and this is reflected in her music. She is an extraordinary talent who is blowing people away with her voice. Many have noted influences such as Billie Holiday and Amy Winehouse. These two artists are finding new fans in artists like Celeste and Jorja Smith. There is this corner of British R&B/Soul that is really promising and stuffed with brilliance. I am not sure whether Celeste is acquainted with the work of Fiona Apple, but I wonder whether Celeste might take her music more in that direction or any elements from her. Not that I want to dictate Celeste’s future; it is evident she has an epic voice and grew up around so many great artists. Influences are as important to a musician’s direction and personality as their upbringing and environment. The question regarding influences is one interviews have asked Celeste since the start. Here, she talks about her early life and some of the artists who affected her:

“When [his death] happened I had just started college, so optimistic and thinking I was going to be a fashion designer,” she says. “Until that point my life had been rosy to an extent. It shocked me. Then after that I had so much more drive to do something I cared about. I focused everything on doing music from that point.” She worked in a pub and sang in a band with friends in Brighton, covering classics and writing original songs. They prided themselves on being into music other teens they knew weren’t — jazz, rare groove, old soul. Celeste says that early diet might explain the comparison she hears most frequently, with Amy Winehouse. “We probably grew up listening to a lot of the same music — Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday — and that’s where you’re getting your phrasing. So I understand it. It’s a big comparison for people to make. It’s very sweet and flattering because she’s someone a whole generation love so much. Her music was incredible”

PHOTO CREDIT: Matilda Hill-Jenkins

So much spotlight is shone on Pop and the mainstream whereas it should be aimed at artists like Celeste. Her music is so much more appealing and engaging than most of the Pop crop out there. She is a unique artist, but there are artists, past and present, that inspire her. It seems that Aretha Franklin is someone who is very important to Celeste:

“She's an old-school Aretha fan...

"I remember the first album I ever listened to all the way through was an Aretha Franklin tape. My grandad used to have this cherry red Jaguar that he'd take me everywhere in and he would play it. I remember the first time I heard her voice, my face literally lit up".

There is, I understand, a debut album coming from Celeste very soon. She has already accomplished so much already, and this year looks set to offer more rewards and riches. Many artists wait for many years before they can support huge artists and have that rare moment. Every musician dreams of supporting their favourite artists but, in the case of Celeste, she has already supported some big names:

“The message she tries to convey through music is: “Be true to yourself. If you have something you believe in standby it. Stay in touch with who you are even if people don’t treat you the way you’d hoped. Fight against prejudice and educate people if you’ve got the opportunity, but remain focused on your goal."

Other than supporting the iconic Neneh Cherry in her hometown of Brighton and Janelle Monae in Berlin, the most surreal moment of Waite's career came when she recently performed with legendary British singer-songwriter and musician Paul Weller. Crediting The Jam founder as one of the first people to publicly support her music, and reminiscing about the cover of his song "Wildwood" she did at the age of fifteen, she tells me, “ We performed ‘You Do Something To Me’ together and thinking about the fact that I liked his music - and how it made me feel when I was younger - and now ten years later I’m collaborating with him is unbelievable”.

Although influences and other artists are important to Celeste and her musical determination, family are also vital. I have briefly touched on Celeste’s young life and how she moved from the U.S. to the U.K. but, in this interview from 2017, Celeste discussed her family:

“MUM, NAN, AND GRANDAD: My mum looked after me from three years old by herself. She’s a makeup artist, so she was working away for a few days at a time, then coming back. When she was away, I’d be at my nan and grandad’s house and [theirs] was the first music that I heard, really, from a really young age. Just because of their age, it tended to be those classic singers like Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and things like that. Naturally, then, as I got older, I got used to that music falling upon my ears, and it not really seeming like a thing. When I first heard it, when I was younger, it was amazing to me, but then to grow older, it seemed to me like there’d be no other music that I would like [in that way].

My mum is funny because she’s not musical at all, but she loves music and she’s always singing weird versions of how she thinks the song goes around the house. When I grew up, I found it really interesting, her weird off-kilter, off notes, the way she would sing certain things. The whole thing is unrecognizable! [laughs] I’d be like, “What are you singing?” But I think maybe in my head, it painted this picture of how I could then make my own versions of songs that I really liked. As I got older, I had more time to go and buy my own tapes, then CDs, then all of us would be on iPods. That’s when I started listening to more than just different hip-hop, because I really liked their producers. Then I started collecting quite a lot of vinyl, so I tried to shop at the thrift shops, and that’s an ongoing thing”.

I think Celeste’s background and rise is deeply interesting. You just know music was an essential part of her upbringing and shaped who she is now. Whilst she seems pretty content and happy now, I cannot help but think of the way she talks about her family and the role they have played. It is hard to put into words; I just feel family is something Celeste carried with her and they go into each and every one of her songs. The sad loss of her father, obviously, had a profound impact on Celeste. Early last year, she released Father’s Son, and it spoke of the changes that came with the loss of her dad. In this interview with Wonderland Magazine, she revealed more:

“Her most recent single, January’s “Father’s Son” touches on that coming- of-age and the change that came with the death of her father. “Maybe I’m my father’s son/Or I’m nothing like you” she wonders aloud on the song, over muted instrumentation and echoing organs. Celeste deals primarily in lyrics about heartbreak but is resolutely restraining from writing about its romantic root. The result is an instant connection with Celeste as a listener. By sharing her most vulnerable moments in song, you can’t help but feel close to her.

“I’ve tested myself this year to not put the word ‘love’ into a song,” she explains. “I want it out… It’s such an easy way to make something make sense… It used to be my rule when I first started writing but then I got lazy and slipped back into it.” She laughs, “unless there’s one song that has to have it!” Her next track due for release is called “Love is Back”. She’s allowed a pass to her own rule, after all”.

I have already mentioned how Celeste is a very humbled and rooted artist. She is not one of these ego-driven artists that needs to show off or thinks they are the best thing since…well, themselves! Instead, one sees this young woman who wants to give to the world of music, the same way music has given so much to her. I can only imagine how busy this year will be and where she will head. Celeste has won polls and been heralded as one of the finest new artists in the world. For some, this would be cause for arrogance or resting on their laurels. Celeste is not an artist who takes honours lightly or will be changed by them. I was reading an interview she gave to The Line of Best Fit and that nature of humbleness was addressed:

“While ambitious to succeed Celeste hasn’t let the rising fame and busy schedules dampen her humility. Talking about what she gets up to in her down time, she explains, “Even if I’m not working I’m still trying to stay inspired by simply taking in my surroundings. But more than anything I like watching films and I enjoy conversations with real people - friends, family and even strangers.”

It’s certain she isn’t making up the part about loving conversations, because what one question she wished she was asked in an interview, she’s playful – yet interested-as she laughs and says, “ I’d love to be asked something really obscure that you’d know if you grew up with me.” So she’s posed with the following question: "What were you doing on today’s date in 2010?".

I recent interviews, she has explained how she wants to her music to reach right across England and touch as many people as possible. She does not feel pressure from the BBC Sound of 2020 recognition: this is the time where she is properly excited and can take her music to new audiences. E.P.s such as Lately (released in 2018), show incredible talent, but I think her best days are still ahead.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lauren Maccabee

There is a new single out now, Stop This Flame, that is a great way to kick off Celeste’s 2020 campaign. There is also going to be an album so, if you are wondering which albums are going to be among the most-anticipated of this year, you can add Celeste’s name to the list. This feature from Dummy from early last year showed that an album was already in her mind:

“Having ticked off a few bucket list items throughout her stay, Celeste is now eyeing up an album for 2020 (“it feels like a good number”). She explains how, aged 18, she’d play Kanye’s ‘My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy’ three times each night. “I’d listen to every single part – all of the voices that have their own story on it. It was the first modern album I’d heard where it didn’t stop from track to track – I’d only ever heard that in ‘70s experimental jazz, like Sun Ra or something. It felt very free and experimental, but there were still songs I could play at a party, or on the bus. That’s something that’s stuck in my head for how I would want a body of work.”

With this in mind, her objective is to “be able to make music for a long time, and music that actually matters to people. We’re in a world where there’s so much music, and I think that’s amazing, but it does mean you have to try harder. It’s like what my friend was saying: in Internet years, a year is like ten years!”

I should probably stop rambling and actually get to the business of reviewing Celeste’s new track. We are only a couple of weeks into the new year, but Celeste has produced an absolutely red-hot cut. It is a song, I imagine, will be on her debut album.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lauren Maccabee

There is something delightfully old-school and vintage when you hear the opening to Stop This Flame. The piano rolls and, for a moment, there is a tinge of Dave Brubeck’s Take Five – there is a similar funkiness and sense of the supremely cool! In any case, one transports themselves to a Jazz club back in the 1940s or 1950s; smoke holds ghostly in the air whilst a bartender mixes a cocktail that is full of exotic delight. Songs that draw and drag you into their world – and such a heady one at that! – are the ones I come back time and time again. Soon, percussion rattles and taps as a heavier beat joins the fold. The song’s introduction layers itself and has this great momentum and vivid energy that, as I said, takes one’s mind somewhere else. The piano and beats conspire in a delirious romance as Celeste’s voice arrives. “My heart goes up/My heart goes down/We fall in love” is delivered in such a way that one shivers and feels the promise and candour in her voice. I am not sure who this romance is with, but the heroine is riding the wave of a relationship that burns hot and then slides way. Again, there are no indications in the early phases that indicate why this love has been so unpredictable. Whilst Celeste’s voice begins quite subdued and controlled to start, it becomes more charged and electric as her emotions come fully to the surface. “I’ll give you anything you want” seems to suggest that the other party does not appreciate Celeste or this relationship can be saved – this is just a bad moment. The texture changes from Jazz to a fired R&B sound as the song races and rises. A lot of people in Celeste’s position might want to step back and review the situation, knowing things might fail. Instead, she is fighting for a relationship that means a lot to her. Even though there is a lot of emotion in Celeste’s declarations, there is a sense of melody and movement that gives her words so much relevance and memorability.

This lover, it seems, is a pill and addiction; someone that Celeste needs but, evidentially, they are being foolish. Celeste proclaims that she will never let them go. “You think you’re somebody, don’t you?” is what our heroine says. She follows that by asking if they are scared of commitment and why they want to see this flame die out. When the song calls for something more reflective and deep, Celeste’s voice deeps and she hits those low notes. When she needs to get her message out clear and sharp, the vocal explodes and you feel the effect of her delivery. It is a confusing time, as Celeste asks if things are moving too fast or she gave too much. Whilst there is this need to keep things going, Celeste wonders whether she was crazy to give everything and to commit so hard. There is also a more seductive and racy edge to the song where the heroine is being bold and succumbing to passion. “Tell me to stop but I keep going” is a line repeated, and the words gallop with feverishness and determination. I like a song that keeps some mystery and does not reveal all of the story. We know Celeste and her lover are on different plains, but you are not sure what has created this division. Maybe there has been dishonesty or her sweetheart has strayed; maybe they are taking things for granted. Rather than accusing and scolding the or party, Celeste realises that this bond is important and it cannot be snuffed out so easily. Celeste is a passionate woman, and she warns her lover to stay away if they cannot take the intensity and commitment. In short, Celeste is not interested in flings or somebody who does not value what is in front of them. Stop This Flame is yet enough example of Celeste’s range, confidence and talent. From the opening notes, you are fascinated by the song and where it will lead you. Celeste’s voice is full of life and colour. She can go from the soft and teasing to sky-high without pause for breath! I cannot wait for her album to come out because, on the basis of Stop This Flame, it will be among the very best of the year. Make sure you are familiar with this stunning artist.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bryan Rivera

Although we have just finished with 2019, Celeste has tour dates lined up, so go and see her if you can! She is one of those performers who puts her heart into every moment. I think she is going to get some big festival dates this year and, as we are still wondering why festivals are not booking women as headliners, Celeste is a definite headliner of the future. I am going to wrap up soon but, just before, I want to quote from a live review from NME; they checked out Celeste in London in November and were suitably impressed:

“There are only 48 days until the end of the decade, but it seems that we’ve already been gifted with an artist who could define the next 10 years. Celeste, you see, is a once-in-a-generation talent. With a voice that balances the fragility of Billie Holiday against the sheer power of Aretha Franklin, she’s the finest British soul singer to emerge in years.

The proof of this doesn’t get much clearer than on the second night of a three-show residency in the intimate surroundings of London’s Omeara – an achievement in itself which suggests much bigger things are on the horizon. It begins from the moment when she immediately states her case on the powerful ‘Both Sides Of The Moon’, with her powerhouse vocals effortlessly portraying the pain of being subjected to a cheating lover.

It won’t be the last time she commands this kind of reaction, but certainly the last time that it’s on a level as small as this. Bigger shows will follow (she’s already set to play Shepherds Bush Empire next year), but few will capture the intimate magic of this early showing. If there’s any justice, super-stardom is just around the corner”.

It has been wonderful reviewing Stop This Flame and getting to hear a sensational artist in full flight. There is a lot of expectation on the shoulders of Celeste, but she sees this as a positive thing. People want to hear her music and there is no denying she can live up to the promise set already. I think this is a wonderful time for British music, and strong women like Celeste are leading proudly. I have put her social media links at the bottom of this review, so go and follow Celeste and show some love. This year will very much be hers, and Stop This Flame is a tremendous song. Like moths to a flame, when it comes to the light and heat of Celeste’s music, it is absolutely…