FEATURE: Spotlight: Gemma Rogers — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Gemma Rogers

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WE definitely need to hear more…

from Gemma Rogers. An artist who, in interviews, seems to articulate about the Government what many of us feel right now, she is someone whose music has this real power and resonance. I am going to get to a great 2022 she did with CLASH. There are not that many new interviews with her. I hope that more websites and music magazines get behind Gemma Rogers and support what she does. A London-based artist that everyone needs to get involved with, New World Order is her latest track. It is fabulous and compelling! I want to bring in a review for it. First, Right Chord Music asked what the sound of a revolution would be. At a time when more artists should be discussing something deeper, many still focus on the personal:

“What is the soundtrack of the revolution? Is it stirring patriotic songs, people waving flags a la Les Mis? Is it crashing guitars and sneering resistance to the establishment, as we see in punk? Or is it dreamy indie-pop with a ska edge? That’s the interpretation Gemma Rogers has gone for, anyway, and it’s no less valid for it.

Gemma Rogers is a London-based indie pop artist – eagle-eyed readers may remember her critically acclaimed LP ‘No Place Like Home’ and the EP ‘The Great Escape’. She’s going from strength to strength, with radio plays and festival slots aplenty, and now this latest release.

‘New World Order’ is a deceptively light-hearted ode to dystopia and revolution with wry lyrics and a ska influence.

Rogers’ lyrics combine the mundane with the apocalyptic, opening the song with ‘New day’s dawning, Grandpa’s snoring, last night’s embers on tv’. They range between apathy – ‘turn the pages, nothing changes’ – despair – ‘doctor doctor help me please’ – and some sort of nihilistic hope as the chorus welcomes us ‘to the new world order’. But delivered in casually sweet vocals and playful melodies, it retains a dreamy, breezy spirit and doesn’t get heavy.

The instrumentation centres around a skanking guitar, lending the ska influence, and laid-back beats. A moody bass keeps things chugging, alongside synths that swoop and chime and give the track personality. Fans of Lily Allen-style Brit pop will enjoy this, along with any fans of revolutionary lyrics or ska. There’s even a pleasingly nightmarish music video, that flickers through warping images of everything from bread to butterflies. The new world order is definitely memorable”.

I am relatively new to the music of Gemma Rogers. She is someone I am compelled to know more about. Whether she considers herself to be ‘upcoming’ or ‘rising’, or whether she is an established artist, it is clear her fanbase will grow. She had a hectic 2022. This year has been a busy one too. Joy Zine reflect on this in their review of New World Order:

“It’s fair to say that, of late, London-based singer, Gemma Rogers is having a busy time. After a phenomenally hectic 2022 (including the release of her EP, ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ – joyfully covered by Joyzine back in January), 2023 sees Gemma currently touring the UK (including a set at Glastonbury and opening for Paolo Ntini), alongside releasing a new single on July 17th called ‘New World Order’ (available to listen on YouTube from July 21st). According to the official press release, the song covers ‘three and a half minutes of social observation as a sunshine ska tip of the hat to all of London’s political music legends’. Sounds intriguing! We asked Gemma to elaborate further.

Gemma: ‘I wrote it while living as a guardian in a massive, old, dilapidated launderette. Twelve of us lived there and we spent lockdown together. Everyone had a Covid hangover’.

Joyzine: ‘How did some of the lyrics come together?

Gemma: ‘The lyrics came before the music. “Grandpa snoring” means being stuck at home with nothing to do. The “New World Order” refers to a tangible shift in the rules imposed on us by the powers that be. “Voiceless people screaming out”. Bizarrely in a world of unlimited communication, politics feels ever less influenced by the people it’s obligated to serve. “I think about the lies. Who’s telling them?”. There’s a lot of paranoia in the song as there was in the world during lockdown. Do you really know everyone you know, sort of thing. I revisited the lyrics and updated a few of them in view of current legislations “Protests shutdown.”’.

So, onward to the review. We begin with a soft ska rhythm, accompanied by a cool, dreamy synth intro. It’s not long before Gemma’s trademark vocals kick in and her lyrics flow effortlessly with the music. In some ways, this reminds me of listening to Madness, The Specials, Ian Dury, et al, back in the day, when they engaged in delivering inspiring social commentaries upon the world, as they saw it happening around them. Gemma provides exactly that same edge with her words in a contemporary setting. This is music to make you think. Music that asks you to open your eyes and become aware of life going on around you, both locally and globally. Welcome food for the voracious mind and soul.

In terms of musicality, everything is tight and very structured. Production levels are spot on and Gemma’s fabulous vocals are easily heard/understood, helping to express her inner thoughts and feelings with cognitive punchiness.

As Gemma so eloquently puts it, ‘…the difficulties many (not all) of us face with the rising cost of living. As with all the songs, ‘New World Order’ is about trying to make sense of the shape-shifting world we live in’”.

The Great Escape EP came out earlier in the year. Since coming through last year with the first tastes of her incredible music, a lot of ears and eyes have been turning her way. Ear Milk shared their thoughts regarding the magnificent E.P. from earlier in the year. A pretty great way of starting 2023, Rogers has not taken her foot off of the gas:

“Following up on her 2022 debut LP No Place Like Home, Gemma Rogers brings the same sweet and visually telling songwriting on The Great Escape. With only two new songs, accompanied by two remixes of last year's “Tailspin”, Rogers brings forth a short, yet deeply riveting listening experience that not only acts as a conceptual sequel to No Place Like Home but is a warm welcome to new listeners such as myself.

Straight from the jump, Rogers’s creative writing and fluidity with imagery are on full display with the title track. A little bit of surf rock, a little bit of an early alternative groove riddled in the chorus, “The Great Escape” is a whimsical and fun tune that paints the mental image of escaping to the sea while not succumbing to a corny sentiment.

“Ship of Fools” is the moment where the EP really shines. It's where Rogers's musicality meets her talent for writing metaphors. This is the moment where she perfectly encapsulates the spirit of searching for fulfillment; the need for something better, and the sense of positivity.

There's a bountiful energy present throughout the E.P. and despite its four-track run, Rogers demonstrates an open mind to intermix surf rock grooves with themes of escapism, utilizing the ocean and a ship as a clear concept. While No Place Like Home sees Rogers focus on finding the comfort of home in familiar territory, The Great Escape uses the same colorful rifts and chorus to search for something greater”.

Let’s take things back a minute. To 2022. In her biggest spotlight to that point, CLASH spoke with Gemma Rogers about her L.P., No Place Like Home. She discussed motherhood, and why the Tories were screwing over the country. As I say: this is someone who we all need to get behind. Somebody who is speaking for the masses:

“It’s a shitshow. A mockery. A conveyor belt of jokers,” spits Gemma Rogers. The former spoken-word artist has had a busy year giving birth to a daughter and dropping one of the most intriguing punk-pop albums of the century so far. And in the finest punk tradition, she’s also hopping mad about the UK’s dire political situation.

“We don’t need austerity, we need to tax the rich,” Gemma says, warming to her theme. “The only good news, politically, is that there’s no more room for apathy. The Tories have royally fucked us – think about child poverty, fuel prices, the rising cost of living. Normally I can’t be bothered to talk about politics – the songs do that for themselves – but right now you can’t not talk about it. It’s a worrying time.”

Never fear though, Gemma Rogers’ new LP – ’No Place Like Home’ – isn’t all bleak rants about Westminster shenanigans. You’ve likely heard dancey single ‘My Idea Of Fun’, her cheeky ska-inflected paean to rum drinking in the afternoon.

“That was written before a lot of the rest of the tracks,” she tells us. “Before my little girl came along, when day drinking was still a thing. A lot has happened since then! Sometimes I mourn the grot-bag pubs. Meeting randoms, spending my wages on cheap spirits, and kissing the wrong people.”

Championed by 6Music’s Steve Lamacq – who asked Gemma to sit in for him on his New Music Fix show recently – she adores fellow current artists Yard Act and Deadletter. “I’m also super impressed with AGAAMA. I watched her perform with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra the other day on BBC4. Amazing! I asked her to open up my show at Dead Wax in Birmingham and she said yes! I’m well chuffed.”

Gemma rails against the dumbing-down of social media with great style and verve on brilliant album opener ’Stop’. But she isn’t averse to using technology to help with her creative process.

“I write my lyrics, themes, and ideas into Googledocs,” she reveals. “I’ve found it’s the easiest way of sharing ideas.”

Most tracks were recorded at the studio of collaborator Sean Genockey. “Each track required a different style and approach. I think you can hear that.”

“Creativity is a lawless place.”

The tour is going well, despite a bumpy start. “We had to miss Rough Trade in Nottingham because of a bad car crash en route. Then I lost my voice about an hour before I was due on stage at Bedford Esquires. The crowd were amazing though. I think we just about snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Turns out my Barry White-does-punk impersonation was down to a chest infection”.

Gemma Rogers is a really interesting artist who has been championed by the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music. Keep your eyes peeled to see what comes next. There are a few tour dates coming before the end of the year. I know she will have a busy diary next year. Someone who is gaining big traction and is releasing terrific music, I think that she is an artist that…