FEATURE:
Spotlight
Lola Kirke
___________
I am really excited…
PHOTO CREDIT: Silvia Draz
about the fantastic Lola Kirke. She is an artist who has been playing and recording for a while, though the upcoming arrival of her album, Lady for Sale, will cement her as a serious and extraordinary talent to watch. The London-born, New York-raised Kirke is an actor (she is the sister of Jemima Kirke) who brings a lot of that discipline and talent to her music. I wonder whether her sister has ever thought of putting out music, as I can imagine she has an incredible voice. That is a tangent. Before getting to some interviews – some will be a bit older, as Kirke has been on many people’s radar for a few years now -, I want to draw you to a pre-order link for Lady for Sale. The album arrives on 29th April:
“Lola Kirke stands out like a flash of neon magenta in this nostalgic landscape of Americana tin-types. While many of her singing, songwriting peers look further back for inspiration, Kirke’s sweet spot is decidedly in the excess of the 80’s. Anyone only familiar with Kirke through her on-screen performances (Mistress America, Gone Girl, or Mozart in the Jungle) may be surprised by just how dazzling Lola-playing-Lola can be. Just a few lines into “Better than Any Drug,“ it’s clear no written role could reveal more of Kirke’s wit, lust for life, and sense of humor than this record captures with the help of producer Austin Jenkins (White Denim, Leon Bridges).
Scheduled for release in April 2022, the 10-song sophomore full-length album showcases Kirke’s unselfconscious, country-twinged vocals alongside a brightly colored candy shop of glam-twang guitar riffs, department store tv commercial synth stylings, and swooping, lilting, unabashedly feminine background vocals. Lady For Sale channels a high-spirited insouciance that feels invigorating and familiar, decidedly more easy-going and fun-loving than what we’ve come to expect from its genre (and the world in general) in recent years. This is a party you’ll want to attend”.
Signed to Third Man and with a lot of exciting tour dates ahead of her, there is no telling just how successful and busy this year will be for her. Having released her 2018 debut, Heart Head West, Kirke has established a large and dedicated fanbase. That album was terrific, but I think Lady for Sale may shape up to be her strongest work. Before coming up to date, there are a couple of 2019 interviews that I want to bring in. The Independent spoke to Kirke, where we discover about her musical heritage and how she got into the industry:
“Kirke is the youngest of four intensely creative siblings: her eldest sister is Jemima Kirke, the visual artist-turned-actor best known for her role as Jessa in Lena Dunham’s Girls; her second sister, Domino, is a musician; and her brother, Greg, is a photographer. A career in the arts was, she says “predestined”.
She was galvanised into songwriting by “having my heart broken by a s***ty musician dude who I wanted to one-up”. Country music was “a natural fit, not least because it was easy for me as someone who wasn’t a prolific guitar player – all the songs typically have three chords,” she says. “But there’s also a simplicity to the subject matter that has always been intriguing to me. I love the storytelling and the way it talks about intense feelings like jealousy or birth control or murder. It’s edgy like that.”
Her father is Simon Kirke, drummer in Bad Company and Free – a fact that contributed to her impression as a child that being in a band was “something that men did”. “In the world of rock’n’roll, as I perceived it from a young age, women were relegated to the roles of wife or groupie.” Still, these days she is electrified by the scores of smart and brilliant women making music: “The change even from five years ago is huge. So much so that when I see a group of five straight white dudes in a band together, I’m, like, how are you still doing that? It’s 2019.”
She wonders if she was drawn to music through a subconscious desire to be more connected to her father. “My dad was the most absent in our house because he was on tour a lot of the time. I think there must have been a part of me that thought I could get his attention if I played more music.” Her father’s job also meant that she mixed with a lot of well-known musicians as a child. She won’t name names but she will say “there were a lot of weirdos passing through my living room”.
Did the weirdos put her off the lifestyle? “Not really, but it did give me a certain insight,” she replies. “I’ve seen a lot of people get a taste of success or fame and abandon any kind of groundedness. In a world consumed by capitalism, we imagine that once we attain this thing that we don’t already have, that we’ll be rendered perfect. A great gift of growing up in the world I grew up in was seeing how untrue that is, and how the people that we think of as being the most secure because they have the most things are actually the least secure. I like to think that’s always helped me stay a good person”.
Discussing the new song, Mama (from the E.P., Friends and Foes and Friends Again), Kirke was asked by TEETH about balancing the disciplines of acting and music. She also revealed who her musical influences are:
“How do you feel about self-promotion?
It can feel terrible but I’m grateful it’s been a helpful tool for getting my work to reach people. It will probably kill us all, though.
Can you tell me about the creative process behind the video “Mama”?
We wanted to create an aesthetic that worked with the song but wasn’t predictable and I think Jemima [Kirke’s sister] did an excellent job with that. I also loved being aged and working with her as a director.
What are some things that are important to you that you like to address through your music?
Pain and confusion. I typically like to work things out through songwriting.
As a means of expressions, how do you compare or contrast your work as an actor?
It’s all drawing from the same well, just a different means of expression, and of course, musicians are typically more fun.
Who would you most like to collaborate with and why?
I think me and The Band would’ve had a lot of fun. I also love Courtney Marie Andrews and Sturgill Simpson.
What are your interests and passions outside of music?
I love writing and travelling, staying home, and cooking. Also eating and drinking. My friends and the world.
What’s your favourite book, film, and music right now?
My boyfriend’s [WYNDHAM] record A Fistful of Stars. I had a ball watching Mary Queen of Scots and I’m reading Loretta Lynn’s memoirs, which are very fun.
Who are your musical influences?
George Jones, Roseanne Cash, Mary Wells, Bonnie Guitar, and Joni Mitchell”.
Signing to a great label like Third Man will take Kirke’s music to a wider audience. Jack White’s label is a growing and golden stable of some of the best young artists around. I know that it meant a lot to Kirke to sign to such a prestigious label. In this Yahoo interview from last month, Kirke discussed Country music (as her music mixes the genre together with 1980s sounds) and Lady for Sale:
“We say this for two reasons. First of all, the musician and actress' upcoming album – “Lady For Sale,” her debut on Jack White’s Third Man Records – is an inspired winner, pairing a honest love for classic country songcraft with a unique, unflinching embrace of vintage synthesizers and other ‘80s-rooted production choices.
But that statement is also rooted in fact, strangely enough. The album opens with the standout “Broken Families,” a duet with indie-folk favorite Courtney Marie Andrews. When the two sat down to write the song – intending to pitch it to a country artist – Kirke had an idea.
“Let's pick the most annoying melody to put this to,” she recalls saying with a laugh.
In that regard, they failed miserably. We’d bet you won’t mind at all if “Broken Families’” time-tested country tune takes up residence in your head. The album treads familiar territory, but with a distinct sonic stamp – one that Kirke found, in part, by being an open book about her influences.
“’It’s gonna be like Stevie Nicks meets ‘80s Dolly Parton,’” she remembers telling her manager. The pitch bewildered several people in her orbit – but they’ve only confessed that to her after being won over by the results.
PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Laney
The album’s first single, “Better Than Any Drug” might be Kirke’s boldest move. The song wraps musical nods to Madonna and Prince in a blanket of steel guitars – while Kirke, in a rich, expressive voice, details how a love interest is more compelling than any illicit substance you can name (and she names quite a few).
That’s all the public has heard so far ahead of “Lady For Sale’s” April 29 release, but Nashville fans can get a fuller picture this Saturday when Kirke plays a concert at Third Man’s “Blue Room” venue. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $15 in advance, $17 day of show.
Kirke has also just announced that Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins will be her special guests on Saturday night.
That news came after her interview with The Tennessean, but Kirke still had plenty to share. Don't assume her mission to write an "annoying" melody means she isn't into modern, mainstream country — that couldn't be further from the truth.
She also discussed the classic singers she's discovered, why she's happy to find a home at Third Man and the many, many acting projects on the horizon.
Inspiration from athletes: "This is really only my second time playing in Nashville, so I'm kind of nervous. But I've been reading all these articles...The New York Times published this big piece about how Olympians manage fear. And I was like, 'Okay, if they can manage fear about going down the world's craziest mountain, I can play the Blue Room.'"
What first drew her to country music? The "drama": "It's like the original podcast (laughs). If you turn on older country music, it's like a story...I started getting into country when I saw a kind of intersection between performance, acting and playing music. Country music gives the illusion of being quite easy to play, because it's just three chords and the truth. And when you're just picking up the guitar, that sounds quite appealing.
Then, when Austin Jenkins — who produced this record — and I started talking about this record, he really showed me a lot of country that I had overlooked, or just that really hadn't come into my consciousness as somebody who grew up in New York City. I mean, I think in New York, I remember hearing about Garth Brooks and Chris Gaines, and the Shania crossover stuff. It was very specific like that. But a lot of the other country music that now I really love was not really on my radar until Austin and I started talking about this record. At first it was Gary Stewart, who's less kind of represented in this aesthetic, but then Pam Tillis, Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina and some earlier Shania/Mutt Lange stuff. That became really exciting. And then Leona Williams, Janie Fricke and these amazing honky tonk singers. I just got really excited about a lot of that music, and wanted to explore it and incorporate it."
On signing with Third Man: "Of all the independent labels that I have known about since I was a kid, that's really the big one to me. I had thought when we made the record, 'This feels like it would be such a good fit over at Third Man.' Because I know that they have so much investment in making things that sound nostalgic, but also with a kind of more modern twist on it. I hoped that that would work out, and I'm so glad it did."
Her new music "feels so much more like me": “The music I had been making prior to this, I look back on it, and it feels like it kind of lacked a lot of signature, and something really personal. I mean, I'm not the happiest person in the world — but I enjoy joy (laughs). It's so kind of dour. I think Austin just kind of helped bring to life what was already there, which is a warmth, a sense of fun, and obscure references that I'm already always thinking about anyway, This just feels so much more like me than what I did before”.
A tremendous and hugely endearing artist whose career will be very long and interesting, I cannot wait for Lady for Sale. In a busy and competitive music scene, Lola Kirke definitely stands out. She has a tremendous talent and passion for music. As an acclaimed actor, she brings some of that skill and experience into making her music as memorable and nuanced as possible. If you are not au fait with the marvellous music of Lola Kirke, then make sure you rectify that. Lady for Sale is an album that you will definitely want to…
ADD to your regular rotation from April.
______________
Follow Lola Kirke
