TRACK REVIEW: London Grammar - Baby It’s You

TRACK REVIEW:

London Grammar

Baby It’s You

9.1/10

The track, Baby It’s You, is available here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlK9a-ccrLY

RELEASE DATE:

19th August, 2020

GENRES:

Indie Pop/Dream Pop

ORIGIN:

Nottingham, U.K.

LABELS:

Ministry of Sound Recordings Limited/Metal & Dust

__________

I will end this review…

by talking about the return of London Grammar but, to start, I wanted to go back to the beginning. I have been familiar with the three-piece for a long time, and they have this effortless connection with one another. Even though Hannah Reid’s voice is at the front and gives their music so much atmosphere and beauty, the brilliance of Dominic 'Dot' Major and Dan Rothman cannot be understated. They are an incredible unit and, with a new track out there, it is great to have them back. It begs the question as to whether the Nottingham-formed group will release an album by the end of the year, or whether we will wait until next year. I think we often approach groups and do not really consider how they met and what their early life was like. Maybe it is just me, but I like to hear the origins and see how far they have come. In the case of London Grammar, they met at university. When London Grammar spoke with Interview Magazine, they were asked about their start:

“HOLLY RUBENSTEIN: How did you all meet?

DAN ROTHMAN: I met Hannah in our first year at Nottingham University. We started playing shows together in bars and clubs and met Dot a year later, who was studying in the year below.

RUBENSTEIN: When did you start thinking that music was going to be a viable career option?

HANNAH REID: We were spotted by an A&R at a live show around the time that Dan and I were doing our exams. We’d just met Dot, and we’d been writing our songs for about six months. That was one avenue as to how things kicked off into us getting signed. A couple of months prior to that, Dan was talking about the future and saying he might have to go away, so we were really fortunate.

ROTHMAN: Playing live at that time was always a bit of fun. It was funny that out of that came all of this. I’ve been in bands before where you try really hard to get signed. We were really lucky.

DOT MAJOR: But we did work hard. We’d drive down to London to gig once a week.

REID: We’d made the decision that we wanted to write all the songs and make a body of work that we were happy with. We chose to put “Hey Now” out online, but we didn’t expect it to do what it did”.

I want to take a chronological look at London Grammar, because I think it is important to get background and a better understanding of them before tackling their current song. The timeline will stop at 2017 because, to the best of my recollection, they have not conducted an interview since then! Maybe there are interviews coming after the release of Baby It’s You but, as it is, London Grammar have put a full stop in 2017. I have mentioned how London Grammar, as a unit, are vital, but I have to spend a moment talking about Hannah Reid’s voice. It is a singular and striking instrument, and it gives the songs of the group so much weight and wonder. I am not sure who she takes inspiration from, but one cannot help but hear Reid sing and be completely entranced by her! I want to bring in a feature from The Guardian from 2013, as it mentions Reid’s voice, but there is also a section relating to the band’s appeal and fanbase. As we have seen London Grammar grow and expand their fanbase, it is interesting to see how they were being cast in 2013:

“A lot of the interest in the group is focused on Reid's voice, a chilling soprano with the yearning of Joni Mitchell, the minor tones of Regina Spektor and the enunciation of a public-school teacher. Still, her vocal talents should not distract from the group's knack for simple songwriting: each track on the album is built from only piano, guitar and sparing percussion, almost entirely free from flourish or ostentation.

This attitude to composition brings to mind Coldplay and Adele, which does mean that London Grammar may struggle to remain hip. They do have young fans, and as Reid says, "my hair is quite cool", but mums come to their shows out of choice, rather than obligation. A few years ago they might have been lumped in with singer-songwriters of the Dido ilk, but the legacy of bands such as Alt-J and The XX has meant that middle-class kids singing nice ballads do not have to spend their lifetime stuck in the CD player of a home counties Volvo”.

2013’s If You Wait was their debut album, and it was one of the most impressive debuts of the year. I remember getting that album and thinking that London Grammar sounded like nobody around. I am fascinated by three-pieces and how they deploy their members. With Reid at the front, and Major and Rothman supplying the music – Reid is their lyricist –, it is a terrific system. That sounds quite artificial, but what I mean is that configuration really suits the group, and we saw it bloom on their debut album. As I say, I do just want to bring us forward as much as possible before reviewing their latest track. If You Wait was met with great anticipation and excitement, and a lot of press sources were keen to interview this interesting new group. Returning to that earlier interview from Interview Magazine…the band were asked about If You Wait and how they were feeling:

“RUBENSTEIN: How are you feeling about the imminent album release?

MAJOR: It’s really crept up.

ROTHMAN: The feeling is fear.

REID: I just try and not think about it. We’ve felt so lucky about everything that has come our way so far, and we can’t believe how it’s going. You’ve got to try and be chilled about it, which is quite difficult for me!

ROTHMAN: Once the album was done and we’d signed it all off, it was far easier to relax about it. It was like, whatever happens, happens. But I’m obviously still terrified to hear what people think about it.

RUBENSTEIN: Surely you can’t be that worried? You’ve had such huge support, both from the critics, and the fans.

REID: I think I get used to being in my little nucleus so much that I don’t really have a perspective about what’s going on on the outside”.

Now that I have given a little interview context regarding the debut album, when the band released their second album, Truth Is a Beautiful Thing, in 2017, there was a lot of expectation. It had been four years since they released their debut, so many people were wondering if they had disappeared – such if the impatience of the music media! Although their second album did not quite gain the same praise as their debut, I could see London Gramma evolving, and there is a lot to recommend about it – songs such as Big Picture, and Oh Woman Oh Man are stunning! Of course, as there had been a gap between albums, there were a lot of people at London Grammar’s door. It is interesting reading interviews from 2017, as they provide us a chance to catch up with the guys and learn how the second album came together. In this interview with DuJour, they talked more about Truth Is a Beautiful Thing:

“Generally, with your first album, you never consider the fact that anyone would actually listen to it,” says Dot Major, the trio’s keyboardist and drummer. Adds Rothman, “We’re not the kind of band, unfortunately, that can judge success on where we chart.” At least one fan would say that’s not the worst thing. As Elton John recently commented, “[London Grammar] is not the kind of music that gets in the charts these days, because there’s no room for intelligence in the charts.”

So success must be measured in less quantitative ways. “I’m excited about playing festivals,” Rothman says. “I think that’s the real barometer of whether people have actually been listening to the new album. Either they’ll turn up to see us, or they won’t.” Even in the four years since they arrived on the scene, the music industry has changed dramatically, and the band says that navigating it often feels like a shot in the dark. “The Internet has been amazing for music,” says vocalist Reid. “But it’s changed how young people value it, because it’s so accessible. I hope streaming becomes monetized in a more ethical way for the artist. Especially for independent musicians”.

It is clear that, one of the reasons why there had been a four-year gap between albums, is because London Grammar were moving in different directions and did not want to repeat what they put out on their debut. Maybe the striking change in tone took critics by surprise; perhaps many were expecting the band to duplicate their debut. In any case, Truth Is a Beautiful Thing saw London Grammar experiment more, and I think Hannah Reid’s voice and writing is even stronger on their second outing. The band spoke with Indie Mag to promote their second album, and they were asked about the tonal shift between albums (among other things):

“The songs you’ve released from “Truth is a beautiful thing” are all characteristically dramatic and very in tone with the style we all fell in love with 4 years ago—have you stayed true to your roots or can we expect some serious surprises from the new record?

Hannah: This album is different from our first record. In terms of surprises, I don’t think so. My voice, the lyrics and arrangements, it will always be characteristic and essential to our sound. It will always have these “haunting” elements, I suppose.

Dot: There are artists that are much more “designed”, in a sense. Like, they deliberately create a specific sound, it’s like a set goal. That’s something that we’ve never really put much effort in. When we three, these individuals clash, what happens just happens. We all gravitate naturally to certain fields of interest, certain topics we feel the need to address through our music. Putting all of this into one pot eventually led and still leads to what you know as our music, today.

Dan: Solo artists, in particular, try to experiment with themselves and their product. Whereas bands usually evolve more naturally, as oppose to purposefully adapting new styles. We didn’t go into this saying “We want the record to sound like THIS”, it just happened, you know?”

One of the things that is being talked about more is how success and pressure can have such a draining and damaging affect on an artist/group. Hannah Reid, when you listen to her songs, exerts so much feeling and emotion, but how many of us think about the women behind the songs?! I feel we sort of leave things at the door and do not really wonder about the artists and how they are feeling. That is natural, as we cannot really spend that much time and energy on every act! Regardless, modern music is such a machine and is incredibly demanding. For Hannah Reid, who fronts London Grammar, there is more pressure and expectation on her shoulders. I will talk about Reid’s stage fright, but there was a period when the exhaustion and fatigue got to her. As we learn from this interview the band provided The Guardian in 2017, things sort of ground to a dramatic halt:

“Major was the last to learn about Reid’s decision not to go to Australia. She called Rothman, began sobbing and – amid the commotion – the two forgot to tell their drummer. “I was at Leon in the airport and couldn’t get hold of either of them,” Major remembers. “Eventually I spoke to Dan and he was like: ‘Oh shit, no one’s told Dot.’ I said: ‘I’m getting on the plane.’ And he said: ‘You do that and I’m going to fucking kill you. We’ve got stuff to sort out.’”

The crash had been coming for a while, and the band postponed further dates for reasons publicly announced as “illness” and “vocal fatigue”

“The exhaustion really kicked in for me after a year,” says Reid, a friendly but unshowy frontwoman. Her battle with stage fright has been widely reported, but the effects of success were physical as well as mental. “I spent the second year pretty much just hanging by a thread – I didn’t really know what was wrong with me. Then I just got used to feeling that way and I was like: ‘I must have some kind of illness, I must have chronic fatigue syndrome.’ I got tested for a whole bunch of stuff, it got kind of weird. My liver wasn’t working properly even though I was completely teetotal”.

“The thing about touring is that young artists don’t always have much say or control,” Reid says. “You’re quite naive. You say: ‘Yeah, I want to do everything.’ And you want to please everyone. You’re so grateful, but you get sick at some point because everyone does. You have to cancel stuff, and then that has to get rescheduled. It can very quickly go from being manageable to snowballing into the kind of schedule that can end up wrecking your voice. The worst thing about it is disappointing the fans,” she pauses. “We’re going to do things differently this time”.

One can only imagine how scary it was for Hannah Reid, as there were these commitments but, unable to go on and feeling completely worn, that was it! It is not the fault of the record label or anyone representing London Grammar, but I think there is this assumption that artists can just keep going and everything is okay. Maybe artists themselves feel they can push through, but there has been greater discussion and communication over the past few years regarding mental-health and the wellbeing of artists. I think stage fright is something that afflicts many people in the music industry and, if you live with it, of course that has a really profound effect on you as an artist!

The studio is quite an intimate space where one can make mistakes and come back to a song. When it comes to the stage, there is a huge audience, and the room for error is very slim indeed! Maybe things are slightly improved for Hannah Reid today but, back in 2014, The Independent spoke to London Grammar, and Reid talked about stage fright:

“She doesn’t seem to particularly enjoy playing live at all. The very prospect of it leaves her riddled with nerves, and she is constantly fretful about protecting her voice.

“It’s my instrument, and my instrument is within me, so I do have to take extra care of it,” she explains. She is gluten-intolerant, and in addition to avoiding certain foods, also has to swear off drink during tours. After shows, she says she can’t really talk at all, and so simply retreats to the hotel, and to bed. “Pretty boring, right?” Does she ever enjoy the hour she spends on stage?

“Sometimes, yes, but sometimes the nerves don’t lift at all, and I just feel horrible, and panicky throughout.”

To help combat this, she has recently started practising Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is essentially acupuncture without the needles. You establish “energy meridian points” along the body (these normally cluster around the head and chest), then tap them with your fingertips while simultaneously focusing on the problem and repeating positive affirmations to counteract them. While the average GP may view this with a mixture of ignorance and derision, it is based on Eastern practices dating back thousands of years. And, she says, it works”.

In fact, wind things forward a few years, and this interview from The Skinny saw the subject of stage fright come back up. I guess, with every album and tour, you cannot really avoid the stage, and it does not seem to matter what treatments you use and how you deal with things: stage fright is so tough to handle, and those nerves are always there and waiting to come back. Of course, some artists can defeat this issue but, for Reid, it is something that is always there:

“This might be a notion Reid realised while tackling her well-documented stage fright. “I still have been really, really nervous. It has been hard,” she admits. “It sounds really cliché but breathing exercises are really good and also the biggest thing for me is that I just learn to accept it. That’s kind of my routine – I just have to do it and feel really shit…” Their slot at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull proved especially daunting: “We were, oh my god, so terrified just because that was the first festival back home, it was the BBC and it does really matter. But it was reassuring; we had a really good reaction I think… I hope! Well it was a good enough reaction for us on stage, I was really happy.

“I do think back to what I was like on the first album and I am slightly better. Everything that we’re doing now, the radio sessions and the TV things, we have done before, which does just take some of the stress out of it all”.

If some of London Grammar’s earlier tracks started with moodier compositions, there is definite light and energy emanating from the opening phases of Baby It’s You. I think this is one of the most interesting evolutions from the trio: how they have managed to keep hold of their mystique and that raw emotion, but the music has widened and there is more colour and emotional breadth to be found. The song’s introduction is fantastic, and it really builds so many images. We wait for Hannah Reid to come in and, when her voice enters the scene, it is as affecting and mesmeric as always. “All these lights are changing/See ‘em everywhere/In my veins like lightning, I don’t even care/And the crown is heavy, I don’t wanna move/All these colours in me but all I see is you/And nothing else matters” is the opening verse, and there is plenty of passion and intrigue in equal measures. I love the imagery portrayed, and it clear that there is real emotion and passion in Reid’s heart. Everyone will have their own interpretation of the lyrics, and I like the fact that there is that blend of the literal and oblique. In the verse, Reid’s vocal is slower and there is this pause between lines. There is definite emphasis on the importance and emotion of the lines, and one notices a shift in the chorus. “You, baby, it’s you” is delivered quicker, and the composition accelerates and brightens. I have always loved that combination of Major and Rothman’s composition and production, and the stirring vocals of Reid. There is that dreaminess and etherealness that captures you but, when you hear Reid sing, there is so much depth to her voice, and one drifts away and is helpless to resist its beauty!

There are relatively few lyrics to Baby It’s You. Instead, the words are given time to resonate and embed. I think a song can become too cluttered if there are a lot of lyrics, and it can be difficult getting to the real truth. On Baby It’s You, there is a simplicity and purity that is very striking. The song’s pace continues on a more energetic plain, compared to the opening few moments and the first verse. It is like Reid has been awoken, or there has been this realisation that has opened her eyes and given her the spirit and energy she needs. “All this painted faces, singing back to me/There's an ocean here, but you are all I see/And nothing else matters” is another verse that has this great affection and desire at the centre, but the phrasing is such that one takes their mind in various directions. Again, everyone will have their own view and vantage of the song and what the words are describing. It is clear that there have been challenges in the heroine’s way; there have been obstacles and fake people, but now her mind is clear and her path is set. The more one listens to Baby It’s You, the more the song reveals. It is a terrific track, and, for me, it is the nuances in Reid’s voice that really brings things alive – although Major and Rothman are wonderful as usual. It is great to have London Grammar back, and many people will be looking forward to seeing what is next for them. On the basis of Baby It’s You, they have been in inspired form, so that is tantalising regarding the possibility of a new album!

It is good to have new material from London Grammar. There has not been much word from them since 2017 and, at a time when social media means artists can fill people in with their every breath and thought, it has been a relatively quiet and undramatic past few years from the band. They have done some live dates, and I suspect that a lot of material has been recorded. The first suggestion of a third album has come in the form of Baby It’s You, and it is another step forward for them. It makes me wonder, when there is another album, what we might get. I have talked about the single, but I thought it was also worth bringing in interviews that covered their first two albums, in addition to shining a spotlight on Hannah Reid and explaining that, even though she has this stunning voice and the songs sound completely focused and controlled, she has battled stage fright and exhaustion, and maybe this is something that she still has to shoulder. I think it is good that Reid has spoken about these problems, as it will resonate with other artists, and they will also have the confidence to speak out it. I am not sure what London Grammar have planned in the way of gigs, as they will probably put things on hold until next year like most artists. I am also not too sure whether a third album is coming along soon, or whether this is also something that we will see next year. With every year and album, London Grammar bring in something new, and I think Baby It’s You sound so different to what they were putting out on If You Wait. Even though they have come a long way, London Grammar have retained their key sound, and they sound stronger than ever. I will leave things there, but it is great to hear new music from the trio, and let’s hope that there is more coming along soon. If there is a third album in the works, it will be interesting to see…