FEATURE: Our Lady the Divine: Madonna’s Like a Prayer at Thirty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Our Lady the Divine

Madonna’s Like a Prayer at Thirty-Five

_________

MAYBE not as significant…

as a thirtieth or fortieth anniversary, I think that a thirty-fifth anniversary is still important and big. Madonna’s seminal album, Like a Prayer, turns thirty-five on 21st March. One of the defining albums from the Queen of Pop, it topped the charts in the U.S. and the U.K. With timeless singles such as Like a Prayer and Express Yourself on the album, there are few who can argue against the majesty of this 1989 work of genius. I want to explore it further now. I am going to come to some reviews for Like a Prayer. First, in 2019, Vice marked thirty years of a classic. An album where Madonna truly established herself as a serious and meaningful artist:

“Madonna was already a superstar before she released Like a Prayer, which turns 30 years old this week. She had produced at least half-a-dozen era-defining hits (“Holiday,” “Like a Virgin,” “Material Girl,” “Into the Groove,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” and “La Isla Bonita”), and her previous album, 1986’s True Blue, had sold more than 25 million copies. But, in a way, she was also strangely underrated. When Like a Prayer came out in 1989, six years after she hit the ground running with her infectious debut single, “Everybody,” critics lauded Madonna for changing our conceptions around how a female pop singer could present herself and conduct her career. But they didn’t necessarily regard her as a “great artist.”

"Critics flock to her uneven product the way liberal arts magnas flock to investment banking," Robert Christgau, the self-styled “Dean of American Rock Critics,” wrote in his review of True Blue. "So desperate are they to connect to a zeitgeist that has nothing to do with them that they decide a little glamour and the right numbers add up to meaningful work, or at least 'fun.’”

Like a Prayer certainly confirmed Madonna’s flair for fun; with its kindergarten-friendly lyrics about “pink elephants and lemonade” and treacle-sweet, Beatles-y psychedelia, “Dear Jessie” remains one of her most charming singles. But the album as a whole, Madonna’s first undisputed masterpiece, also proved once and for all that she was a meaningful artist, not just an uncommonly savvy and driven pop star. She bared her navel on the album’s cover, and her soul in its songs.

Even three decades later, it’s difficult to separate the album from the scandal that surrounded its release. When the brilliantly provocative “Like a Prayer” video debuted in February 1989, just a day after the release of a high-profile Pepsi commercial starring Madonna, the Vatican and various religious groups condemned the clip for including allegedly blasphemous imagery. Here was Madonna dancing in front of burning crosses, kissing a Black Saint, and displaying what looked like stigmata on her palms.

As the video continued causin’ a commotion, Madonna stood by it, telling the New York Times that “Art should be controversial, and that's all there is to it.” Pepsi bosses were so keen to distance themselves from the button-pushing singer that they pulled the commercial without trying to take back her $5 million fee.

Today, Madonna still seems fabulously unbothered by the whole thing. She breezily celebrated the anniversary of the “Like a Prayer” furor on Instagram earlier this month, writing: “Happy birthday to me and controversy.” Atta girl!

But where the “Like a Prayer” video controversy captured Madonna at her most bullish and brazen, the album that followed a few weeks later revealed new depths of honesty, vulnerability, and cathartic emotion. “Oh Father,” one of eight Like a Prayer tracks that she co-wrote with regular collaborator Patrick Leonard, is a glorious, classic-sounding ballad about taking back control from male authority figures, including her father. "I lay down next to your boots and I prayed for your anger to end / Oh father, I have sinned," she sings, extending the title track’s conflation of religion and real-life experience.

Funk workout “Keep it Together,” one of two tracks she co-wrote with another frequent collaborator, Stephen Bray, explores how family ties can feel suffocating and comforting at the same time. “Promise to Try,” another stellar ballad, finds Madonna grappling with the memory of her mother, who died when she was just five years old. "She's a faded smile frozen in time," she sings achingly. "I'm still hanging on, but I'm doing it wrong."

Meanwhile, the sad and aromatic “Pray for Spanish Eyes” is a seeming eulogy for lives lost to America’s worsening AIDS crisis. The man Madonna still describes as her BFF, former Studio 54 bartender Martin Burgoyne, had succumbed to the disease in 1986. “How many lives will they have to take? How much heartache?” Madonna sings, pleadingly. It’s certainly worth remembering that Madonna included an AIDS fact sheet with Like a Prayer in a bid to reduce the stigma and ignorance surrounding the disease, one the recently departed President Ronald Reagan had ignored for as long as possible. "People with AIDS—regardless of their sexual orientation—deserve compassion and support, not violence and bigotry," the sheet stated matter-of-factly.

But the album’s most shocking track is probably “Till Death Do Us Part.” Underpinned by a deceptively perky keyboard riff, the lyrics hint at domestic abuse ("The bruises they will fade away / You hit so hard with the things you say") and violent rows ("He starts to scream, the vases fly"), offering a devastating summary of a dysfunctional relationship: "You're not in love with someone else / You don't even love yourself / Still I wish you'd ask me not to go." Coinciding with the end of Madonna’s first marriage to Sean Penn (she’d filed for divorce in January 1989), it’s one of the most affecting moments in Madonna's discography, though she’d later go on the record denying allegations that she had experienced physical abuse during their relationship.

Still, the album never becomes too introspective to work as stadium-ready pop. The Romeo and Juliet-referencing “Cherish” is a retro melodic gem in the vein of “True Blue.” The Sly and the Family Stoinspired funk missile “Express Yourself' offers a feminist rallying cry that would inspire generations to come: Christina Aguilera and the Spice Girls have both hailed it as influence. When Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” debuted in 2011, many pop fans and music critics noted its distinct resemblance to “Express Yourself.” Madonna said Gaga's song sounded "familiar" and felt “reductive,” but Gaga insisted she didn't intentionally reference the Madonna anthem, telling NME in 2011: “If you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progressions. It’s the same one that’s been in disco music for the last 50 years."

The accompanying video is a queer classic that's been likened to "Tom of Finland meets Fritz Lang's Metropolis," with Madonna presiding over a futuristic city fueled by shirtless male workers. And the immortal title track mixes religious and sexual ecstasy so thrillingly, it could make a celibate atheist want to dance.

Then again, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that Like a Prayer's most heavyweight track on paper turns out to be its frothiest in practice. Like a Prayer is a rare beast: an iconic pop album that retains its ability to surprise you, using richly evocative songcraft to explore deeply personal themes—sometimes spiritual, sometimes socially conscious—from a woman’s perspective. With it, Madonna had once again remodeled people's expectations of what a female pop singer could achieve. Decades before Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next, it laid the foundation for the deeply persona pop blockbuster, auteured by a strong woman at the peak of her creative powers”.

It is interesting reading these deep features. Ones which provide us with context and background. How Like a Prayer fits into her discography. How it defines Madonna. Even if some would say 1998’s Ray of Light is her greatest work, there are many more who argue that this honour should go to 1989’s Like a Prayer. There was a lot of retrospection around Like a Prayer on its thirtieth in 2019. People keen to mark such an important album. Albumism did so in a fascinating feature:

“Madonna’s Like A Prayer is “as close to art as pop gets,” Rolling Stone’s J.D. Considine opined in his review of her fourth studio album published nearly thirty years ago in April of 1989. Though I don’t doubt that Mr. Considine likely meant well, his declaration is borderline asinine, if you ask me. His insinuation is that pop music can never actually be considered art and is forever destined to fall short of warranting this qualification. That pop music is somehow inherently less than other musical forms. Um, yeah, I’m calling bullshit.

Indeed, it is precisely this type of myopic perspective and critical snobbery that has plagued Madonna since she first emerged on the public stage back in 1982. Despite her millions upon millions of loyalists worldwide, and arguably due in large part to their preoccupation with her unabashedly iconoclastic persona, a sizeable contingency of critics and listeners still refuse to take her seriously as an artist and songwriter. But let’s not waste any more time lamenting the naysayers, shall we? Like A Prayer is, in fact, art. And arguably matched only by Ray of Light (1998) released nearly a decade later, it remains her artistic pinnacle to date, in my opinion.

Other more discerning interpreters of Madonna’s musical repertoire often cite Like A Prayer as her first serious album, following the more whimsical fare—or “brassy dance-pop” as the New York Times’ Stephen Holden likened it—found on her first three studio albums: Madonna (1983), Like A Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986). “Serious” is a relative term, open to interpretation, mind you. For I know I took Madonna very seriously when I first heard “Everybody” back in ’82. I was five years old. But I knew a perfect pop song when I heard it, even then.

Perhaps more accurately, Like A Prayer is Madonna’s first personal album, throughout which she balances the fictional with the autobiographical more than she ever had up until that point. Joined once again by True Blue co-producers and fellow Michigan natives Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, she began recording the album in September 1988. One month prior, she had turned 30, the same age her mother—to whom Like A Prayer is dedicated—had been when she succumbed to breast cancer in 1963, when Madonna was just five years old. The following year, her four-year marriage with Sean Penn—to whom she dedicated True Blue—dissolved and ended in divorce. Meanwhile, Madonna’s attempt to cross over to film and seize upon the modest success of Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) hadn’t gone too well, with two back-to-back box office mishaps in Shanghai Surprise (1986) and Who’s That Girl (1987).

So, suffice to say, Madonna was in a particularly reflective state of mind when recording sessions commenced. Hence it’s no great surprise that amidst all of the other turmoil in her life, she also reawakened all of her conflicted feelings about her Catholic upbringing. These sentiments ultimately informed the title of the album and the controversial, gospel-tinged title track and lead single “Like A Prayer,” the video for which caused an irrationally disproportionate amount of attention and rebuke by more rigid segments of the American populace. It also ruffled the robes of the Vatican brass, due to its religious and racial imagery, coupled with the song’s perceived sexual double entendres.

“It's me struggling with the mystery and magic that surrounds it,” she confided to the New York Times around the time of the album’s release. “My own Catholicism is in constant upheaval. When I left home at 17 and went to New York, which is the city with the most sinners, I renounced the traditional meaning of Catholicism in terms of how I would live my life. But I never stopped feeling the guilt and shame that are ingrained in you if you are brought up Catholic.''

When the dogmatic dust finally settled from the bombastic, bible-thumping brouhaha over the video, listeners were able to devote more of their attention toward the ten other songs that comprise Like A Prayer. The next two official singles lifted from the album reinforced Madonna’s penchant for pop perfectionism, beginning with the anthemic “Express Yourself.” Echoing the clarion call tone heard on the Staple Singers’ 1971 black empowerment mantra “Respect Yourself,” the kinetically crafted song finds Madonna encouraging women to affirm and articulate their own needs, while deconstructing the superficial dependence on materialism in relationships. The buoyant, wistful love song and third single “Cherish” bears the closest resemblance to her radio-friendly fare of previous albums, introducing some warmer, winsome fare to the otherwise ruminative affair.

For my money, the album’s most powerful and memorable moments can be found in its more understated and introspective moments. The plaintive, piano-driven “Promise to Try” revisits the emotional impact of her mother’s death, while the symphonic, strings-laden swell of “Oh Father” is one of the most stirring moments, as Madonna examines her fractured relationship with her father in the wake of the loss they’ve shared. While she harbors resentment toward him for unspecified discretions, she also expresses empathy and understanding, reflecting, “Maybe someday / When I look back, I'll be able to say / You didn't mean to be cruel / Somebody hurt you too.” It’s a refreshingly candid and compassionate moment for Madonna, who has remained relatively taciturn when it comes to discussing her father publicly.

The sobering “Till Death Do Us Part” explores the dissolution of her marriage to Penn, with Madonna fluctuating between playing the real-life role of the victim (“I think I interrupt your life / When you laugh, it cuts me just like a knife / I'm not your friend, I'm just your little wife”) and assuming the voice of the observer (“They never laugh, not like before / She takes the keys, he breaks the door / She cannot stay here anymore / He's not in love with her anymore”). Her second verse is a particularly brutal reproach of her ex-husband, as she declares, “The bruises they will fade away / You hit so hard with the things you say / I will not stay to watch your hate as it grows / You're not in love with someone else / You don't even love yourself,” while her conflicted, vulnerable heart surfaces in the verse’s closing line, “Still I wish you'd ask me not to go.”

Other standout moments include “Keep It Together,” an upbeat ode to family solidarity that lobs another presumed dig in Penn’s direction: “blood is thicker than any other circumstance.” And of course, the lush, leftfield soul of “Love Song”—co-written and co-produced by Prince (whose uncredited guitar work also appears on “Like A Prayer,” “Keep It Together” and “Act of Contrition”)—is notable for being a once-in-a-lifetime songwriting collaboration between two of the most influential figures in the past 40 years of popular music.

"If it had not been clear with True Blue, Like A Prayer staked Madonna's motive to master the album format,” Quentin Harrison, Albumism contributor and author of Record Redux: Madonna, explains. In retrospect three decades on, the album signaled not just Madonna’s emboldened commitment to crafting cohesive albums, but also a pivotal, transitional point in Madonna’s recording career.

As the new decade arrived, and with the expansive, career-to-date compendium The Immaculate Collection (1990) neatly synthesizing her most popular songs to date, Madonna turned to exercising more creative freedom than ever before. In the ensuing years, she continually redefined and reinvigorated her musical footprint, beginning with 1992’s Erotica, which found her exploring not only new and bold thematic territory, but previously untrodden sonic paths as well. She moved on from her longtime partnership with producers Bray and Leonard, and gradually forged stronger connections with dancefloor-friendly collaborators like Shep Pettibone (Erotica), Nellee Hooper (1994’s Bedtime Stories) and William Orbit (Ray of Light). And together with these and other musical kindred spirits along the way, Madonna created art—yes, art—of the most thrilling caliber”.

I am going to end with a couple of reviews for Like a Prayer. I am going to start with a Rolling Stone review from 1989. They were extremely positive about Like a Prayer. One couldn’t deny the power and importance of Madonna then. Climbing to heights few other artists ever have, Like a Prayer is an album that still sounds so compelling and accomplished. The Queen of Pop hitting a peak and standing out as one of music’s greatest ever artists:

“Ever since Madonna‘s bellybutton first undulated its way into mass consciousness, her fame has been more a matter of image than artistry. Never mind whether there was any depth or resonance behind it; for many of her fans, the image alone — Madonna as wily, wanton boy toy, gleefully manipulating the material world — was resonant enough. For others, it was just an act, a coolly calculated pop ploy designed to sell records.

With Like a Prayer, Madonna doesn’t just ask to be taken seriously, she insists on it. Daring in its lyrics, ambitious in its sonics, this is far and away the most self-consciously serious album she’s made. There are no punches pulled, anywhere; Madonna is brutally frank about the dissolution of her marriage (“Till Death Do Us Part”), her ambivalence toward her father (“Oh Father”) and even her feelings of loss about her mother (“Promise to Try”). Yet as intensely personal as these songs are, the underlying themes are universal enough to move almost any listener. Likewise, the music, though clearly a step beyond the pop confections that earned the singer her place on the charts, remains as accessible as ever.

Don’t expect to be won over instantly, though, for Like a Prayer is more interested in exorcising demons than entertaining fans. The album is in large part about growing up and dealing with such ghosts from the past as parents, religion and the promises of love. At times, the album can be heartbreaking in its honesty — read through the lyrics to “Till Death Do Us Part,” and you’ll feel guilty for ever having glanced at a tabloid with a Madonna & Sean Wedding Shocker headline.

This is serious stuff, and nowhere is that more apparent than on the title tune. Opening with a sudden blast of stun-gun guitar, “Like a Prayer” seems at first like a struggle between the sacred and the profane as Madonna’s voice is alternately driven by a jangling, bass-heavy funk riff and framed by an angelic aura of backing voices. Madonna stokes the spiritual fires with a potent, high-gloss groove that eventually surrenders to gospel abandon.

The tracks that Madonna coproduced with Patrick Leonard — which include “Like a Prayer” — are stunning in their breadth and achievement. “Cherish,” which manages a nod to the Association song of the same title, makes savvy retro-rock references, and “Dear Jessie” boasts kaleidoscopic Sgt. Pepper-isms. When Stephen Bray replaces Leonard as coproducer, even an unabashed groove tune like “Express Yourself” seems smart and sassy, right down to Madonna’s soul-style testimony on the intro: “Come on, girls, do you believe in love?”

Believing in love doesn’t seem as easy for Madonna as it once did, though. “Till Death Do Us Part” takes its wedding-vow title almost mockingly, as the singer contemplates all the ways her marriage seems to be killing her. “The bruises, they will fade away/You hit so hard with the things you say,” goes one verse, and it’s hard not to be shocked. But the saddest thing about the song isn’t the abuse endured by Madonna (for this hardly seems a fictional “I”); it’s her helplessness in the face of her husband’s self-loathing: “You’re not in love with someone else/You don’t even love yourself/Still I wish you’d ask me not to go.”

But difficult love seems a familiar refrain in this collection of songs. “Oh Father” mirrors many of the horrors hinted at by “Till Death Do Us Part” (which provides plenty of material for armchair psychiatrists), and despite the song’s lush string arrangement, there’s still a disturbing amount of ache in lines like “You can’t hurt me now/I got away from you, I never thought I would.” Not that it’s all bad love and childhood trauma. “Promise to Try,” for instance, is about gathering a certain strength from feelings of loss and abandonment, as Madonna tries to live up to the memories she holds so dear.

The worst that can be said of the album’s obviously confessional numbers is that they engender such powerful emotions that an admirable pop song like “Keep It Together” seems almost trivial by comparison (when in fact it’s a rather impressive invocation of the importance of family). Fortunately, Madonna maintains an impressive sense of balance throughout the album, leavening the pain of “Till Death Do Us Part” with the lighthearted love of “Cherish,” contrasting the trauma of “Oh Father” with the libidinal power games of “Love Song” (a coy, musically adventurous duel-duet with Prince) and juxtaposing the ecstatic fervor of “Like a Prayer” with the Catholic injoking of “Act of Contrition.”

As for her image, well, you may see her navel on the inner sleeve, but what you hear once you get inside the package is as close to art as pop music gets. Like a Prayer is proof not only that Madonna should be taken seriously as an artist but that hers is one of the most compelling voices of the Eighties. And if you have trouble accepting that, maybe it’s time for a little image adjustment of your own”.

I am going to end with Consequence’s 2019 review of Like a Prayer. If you have not heard this album in a while, then make sure that you do spend time with it. Such a powerful and moving listen from start to finish, we mark its thirty-fifth anniversary on 21st March:

“It helps that Like a Prayer is a masterpiece, representing real growth for the former material girl. It opens with a musical thesis statement: an aggressive, rebellious guitar that’s instantly replaced by a heavenly choir. This is the tension at the heart of the album, and it makes the song, “Like a Prayer”, an electrifying listen. Those gospel-tinged choruses are part of the fun, but the real joy is in the transgression. Madonna grew up in a deeply religious household and is purposefully blurring the lines between sexual and religious euphorias. It means more than it would coming from a born atheist. It’s more wrong. Some — perhaps even Madonna — might call it naughty.

The album starts with a powerhouse 1-2 punch of “Like  Prayer” and “Express Yourself”. “Express Yourself” is probably the single most joyful-sounding track on the album, and it comes from a place of anxiety. Madonna is urging a friend in an uncertain relationship to have a talk with their boyfriend. “Make him express how he feels,” she urges.

Listeners of a certain age might hear the chord progression and expect Lady Gaga to belt out, “Born This Way”. The similarities between the two songs was enough to cause a feud between Madonna and Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga’s defense is that the chord progression goes back to the ’70s, and Madonna told Rolling Stone that “Express Yourself” was “my tribute to Sly and the Family Stone.” Now, we could raise a polite eyebrow at her calling it a “tribute,” or we could just agree that all three artists are great and more people should listen to Sly and The Family Stone.

Most of Like a Prayer was co-written with Patrick Leonard. Two songs, “Express Yourself” and “Keep It Together”, were co-written with Stephen Bray. The only other collaborator is Prince. “Love Song” is a slinky duet with His Purpleness, with Prince’s signature guitar flirting with Madonna’s synths. It’s a drunken first date of a song, where they alternate assuring each other that “this is not a love song,” before asking, “Are you just being kind?”

There are a few purely positive moments on the album. There’s the bubblegum “Cherish” and the bedtime psychedelia of “Dear Jessie”. These are unambiguously happy. But Like a Prayer is Madonna’s best album because it is her most personal album. And a lot of her personal life is dark. “Till Death Do Us Part” deals with the dissolution of her marriage to Sean Penn. “Promise to Try” is a heartbreaking song about the death of her mother. “Oh Father” is all defiance and hurt, addressed to a father who is only half-forgiven. As a group, these songs make a mini-arc within the broader album, and the climax is “Keep It Together”: “Keep it together in the family/ They’re a reminder of your history.”

Does that sound less than enthusiastic? The beat is bright, disco, jaunty. The lyrics are more reserved. This is the same tension in the album from the beginning — the tension between the thing that is fun and the thing that is true, the guitar and the choir.

The final track of Like a Prayer begins how the album begins: with a raucous, muscular guitar. But this time, the church choir doesn’t cut it off. Instead, the choir hollers their approval and begins clapping along. In a solemn voice, sometimes reciting and sometimes singing, Madonna performs a Catholic prayer of contrition. “Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee.” For a moment, it seems that the tension has been resolved. Guitar and choir can coexist. As the prayer concludes, Madonna seems to find herself at a reservation desk — the front desk of Heaven, probably. “I have a reservation,” she says confidently. “I have a reservation,” she repeats. And how does the album end? With Madonna belligerently bellowing, “Whaddya mean it’s not in the computer!”

Ah well, perhaps she won’t get into Heaven after all. Perhaps that tension between guitar and choir cannot be resolved. Madonna’s priorities were never really in doubt, anyway. By mixing the sacred and the profane in a way sure to draw attention, Madonna went from being a regular old star to one of the most famous people on the planet. Of course, courting controversy for profit is as old as profit. But the way Madonna manipulated the media provided a blueprint for generations of the scandal-inclined.

More importantly, the music was fresh, honest, and real: a bubblegum pop exorcism. By making her music more personal, Madonna did more than improve on her earlier records. She stretched the boundaries of popular music and cemented her place as one of the greatest artists of our time”.

One of the greatest albums ever released, Like a Prayer was Madonna’s first real masterpiece – though not her last. Moving to 1992’s Erotica, 1994’s Bedtime Stories and 1998’s Ray of Light, Madonna would keep pushing boundaries and evolving as an artist. At the end of the 1980s, she showed why she was an artist with no peers! Reshaping the idea of what a Pop artist was and showing that she was not to be dismissed or seen as merely a Pop artist, this was an icon in full bloom. Touring at the moment, Madonna is still out there and bringing songs from Like a Prayer to the people. I know she will look back on this album when it turns thirty-five on 21st March. It is an album that is…

TRULY like no other.

FEATURE: Mellow Song: Blur’s 13 at Twenty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Mellow Song

Blur’s 13 at Twenty-Five

_________

THE amazing sixth…

studio album from Blur arrived on 15th March, 1999. 13 is an album that sort of signalled the end of Blur as we would know them. It may sound dark, though it was a period where relationships between the band members were strained; members frequently missing from the sessions. In terms of the lyrics, 13 is darker than Blur's previous albums. Inspired by Damon Albarn's breakup with long-term girlfriend, Justine Frischmann, that followed an increasingly strained relationship. 13 was the last for over a decade to feature the original line-up as Graham Coxon left the band during the sessions of their next album, Think Tank (2003), before returning for The Magic Whip (2015). Blur have since got back together again and released The Ballad of Darren last year. They are back on hiatus now. Even if 13 and the end of the 1990s was a struggling and tense period for the band, the album that came from that time is among their best. It contains two of their best-loved songs, Tender and Coffee + TV. I shall get to some reviews to end this feature. Almost twenty-five years after the release of 13, I think the album more than stands out. It is worth of a lot of love and celebration. In 2022, Dig! looked inside Blur’s end-of-a-century masterpiece:

“Released two years earlier, in 1997, Blur’s self-titled album had forced a rethink of everything the group had become known for: Albarn’s lyrics took a more introspective turn, and the band’s music expanded to encompass influences from US alt-rock while also incorporating new working practices that found them recording songs piecemeal in the studio. Shaped by two external factors – a relationship breakup and a cutting-edge new producer – 13 would double down on this new creative process.

Like the music they would record over the latter half of 1998, Blur themselves had been pulling in different directions, with guitarist Graham Coxon’s debut solo album, The Sky Is Too High, further embracing his love of US indie-rock, and Albarn working in secret on a dubby mash-up of styles that would soon emerge as Gorillaz’s debut album.

The latter came together in Albarn’s new flat – a place he shared with illustrator Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz’s visual foil. Albarn had moved in with Hewlett since breaking up with Justine Frischmann, his longtime girlfriend and then lead singer with Elastica. “A lot of 13 stems from that period,” the singer told Blur biographer Stuart Maconie. “My life was not right. Not in harmony. Everything stems from your emotional life, and mine just wasn’t working at all. It was really dysfunctional. So I was misfiring everywhere.” Suffering from panic attacks, Albarn began working on a song whose lyrics would serve as a salve: “Tender is the day/The demons go away/Lord, I need to find/Someone who can heal my mind.”

Titled Tender, the finished version of the song would be as startling an album opener to 13 as Beetlebum had been to Blur: Coxon’s opening lo-fi guitar melody sounded all the more fragile for having been recorded through a Dictaphone, while the band created a beat by dropping planks of wood on the floor. Realising he needed to bring something entirely new, bassist Alex James swapped his patented pop bounce for a more sensitive bassline played on a double bass, while Albarn – having reportedly immersed himself in Otis Redding’s music – delivered a devastating vocal. Bringing the song’s soulful undertones to the fore, the group topped it off with a guest turn from the London Community Choir, whose repeated encouragement, “Come on, come on, come on/Get through it,” added to the fervour of a song Albarn described as “a celebration of love found and lost but not forgotten”.

“As soon as they started singing, it was instantly and obviously a No.1 record,” James wrote in his memoir, Bit Of A Blur, rightly clocking Tender as one of the best Blur songs of all time. “I’d never been so certain of anything.”

Released as 13’s lead single in February 1999, just three weeks ahead of its parent album, Tender was kept off the top spot by Britney Spears’ … Baby One More Time. But, having nailed the song early in the album sessions, it gave Blur the confidence to keep pushing forward.

Further encouragement came from their new producer, William Orbit. Fresh off the back of his work with Madonna on the all-conquering Ray Of Light album, and delivering what Blur felt were the standout moments on their then recent remix collection, Bustin’ + Dronin’, Orbit’s background in electronica helped take the group’s new material far beyond anything they had released before.

Though there was some trepidation about leaving their longtime producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Morrissey) after a career-defining five-album run together, Blur also knew their new material needed an outsider’s ear. “It was such a personal thing going on, we needed to have someone who didn’t really know us,” Albarn said at the time. “William was a bit like a psychiatrist through all of this. Everyone encouraged the emotional blood-letting.”

If 13’s penultimate song, No Distance Left To Run, distilled those emotions into the most fragile-sounding Blur song to date, the album’s more uncompromising moments came out of hours’ worth of lengthy jams worked up in a drab warehouse in West London (the specific room they’d hired, Unit 13, gave the record its name) and the group’s adopted safe haven of Reykjavík, in Iceland. With Orbit then editing the recordings into something more closely resembling structured songs, the band were, Coxon realised, hearing their music “as someone else would hear it”. The experience was “a revelation”.

Under the strain of such emotional intensity and the demands of trying to keep their music unified amid an increasing number of new influences, experimental recording techniques and disparate individual interests all jostling for space on one record, Blur’s interpersonal relationships began to suffer. But while all involved have agreed that 13 was a challenge to complete, a decade together as a band had honed their musicianship to near-perfection. When they all plugged in, they managed a unity rare in even the most road-hardened of groups. Alex James recalled Orbit’s later admission that “the way we were able instantly to conjure an arrangement without talking about it had completely knocked him out. It had taken us a long time to be able to do that.”

One of a clutch of songs to look to faraway horizons, Battle sounds like a missive from an interplanetary craft, circling around a looped drum beat, mumbled lyrics and Coxon seemingly running a one-man insurgency with an array of combative guitar noises. Floating up from the melee, Albarn repeats the title word in falsetto, giving way to the suggestion – or perhaps decision, or capitulation – “Battle someone, ooh.” Elsewhere, Caramel takes Battle’s space-rock into zero gravity and Trimm Trabb lays these excursions on top of a mournful melody in which Albarn, though namechecking a pair of “flash boys” vintage Adidas trainers in the title, concludes, with bereft lethargy, “I’ve got no style/I’ll take my time/All those losers on the piss again/I doze, doze away/That’s just the way it is”.

In 2019, Stereogum commemorated twenty years of Blur’s 13. If it was a frazzled album in some ways that was signalling an end, it is also an apex. One of the great albums from the end of the Britpop era. The band and lead, Damon Albarn, broken down but set free:

“Of course, there was a plot to 13 — or, rather, a great deal of narrative surrounding it, which two decades on still makes it a crucial entry in Blur’s timeline and in the life of their frontman Damon Albarn. The album, famously, stemmed primarily from the end of Albarn’s relationship with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann. For much of the decade, they’d been a Britpop celeb couple, and the final disintegration of their relationship left Albarn wounded and searching. What came out of him and Blur next was a strange mixture, an album that’s often downtrodden and defeated emotionally but liberated creatively.

Blur had rendered melancholy beautifully before, especially on career highlights like Parklife’s “This Is A Low” and The Great Escape’s “The Universal.” But those had been installments in greater tapestries, Albarn’s kaleidoscopic character studies of British life at the end of a century. He had never written from an explicitly personal place before, and 13 entirely changed this. Reeling from the loss of his relationship with Frischmann, he channeled longing and confusion and pain into songs that themselves were often breaking apart, or into songs that stand as some of the band’s most beautiful and heartrending compositions. The band’s visual language changed accordingly, too, as they fully abandoned the Technicolor Pop Art vibes of their previous albums for an oil painting done by guitarist Graham Coxon, a painting that communicated the dirty and inward-looking sounds of the album as much as it communicated its blend of physical and emotional hurt.

The whole thing, of course, opens with “Tender.” A totemic introduction, “Tender” remains not quite like anything else in Blur’s diverse catalog — a towering Britpop anthem aided by gospel, a lachrymose exorcism that can sound like the lowest point in your life at the same time as it can sound like a true salve. “Tender is the night” are the first lyrics Albarn sings on the album, sharing words with the title of a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, tapping into the desperate romanticism of another artist with an infamously fractious and public relationship. The song’s power is in how Albarn begins alone, remembering a partner who’s no longer there and singing paeans to love, and how the instrumentation continues to grow around him so that he is far from alone by its finale. Without any grand sweeping changes, the song gently climbs upwards, the chorus of voices by the end playing out like the healing Albarn pleads for in the lyrics.

If only the journey was that simple. “Tender” is one of the only moments on 13 that approaches true release. From there, 13 fires off in a lot of directions, almost all of them leading towards bleakness. There’s the caustic “Bugman,” the numbed routine of “Coffee & TV” grasping for the promise of “We can start over again,” the throbbing haze of “1992,” the spare loneliness of “No Distance Left To Run,” effectively the album’s closing statement. Perhaps the most striking tracks are “Battle” and “Caramel.” Both of them are haunting, spaced-out sagas, perfect representations of Blur’s experimental ambitions for 13 and the meditative headspace of the album thematically.

Those latter examples came from another of 13’s defining stories, that of heroin use. Hinted at throughout the years, and more explicitly discussed by Albarn earlier this decade, this was an era in which a lot of people in the scene were falling deeper into heroin use. Though Blur had offered narcotic odes before — like the self-titled’s opener “Beetlebum” — 13 is heroin music almost across the board.

Albarn’s been careful when approaching the subject. The creative exploration, the unlocking of a whole new vein of his songwriting at this juncture, he’ll credit that to heroin. But it’s also a wildly destructive force, one that lends 13 a depressive zone-out sound that once more aligned it with all the great comedown albums in Britpop’s final stretch. Like Be Here Now, Ladies And Gentlemen, and This Is Hardcore all did in their own ways, 13 combined a kind of unsexy hedonism with drained emotional landscapes. In the end it proved to be one of the band’s more difficult listens, but also perhaps their most rewarding, enduring, and evocative.

13 was, in many ways, the apex of Blur. The band had already restlessly sought out new sounds and ideas in the five albums they’d released in the preceding eight years. And the Britpop albums remain pivotal to the story of ’90s England and its music scene. Many fans might still identify one of those as their favorites, and Blur’s best songs are fairly evenly distributed throughout.

The nature of 13 demands a stronger connection. British listeners may have related to the scenery of the “Life” trilogy, but 13 is the sort of album that ingrains itself in a person’s life, that is there in our own darkest moments. Many of its songs, from “Tender” to “Trimm Trabb” to “No Distance Left To Run,” remain amongst Blur’s most beloved. And all of these existed on an album that should have sounded scattered and damaged and yet came together into such a moving whole that it seemed, definitively, to solidify the notion of Blur as true artists”.

I am going to end with a couple of reviews. A number one album in the U.K., 13 was definitely commercially successful. Produced alongside William Orbit, Blur created something meaningful. This is what Pitchfork said in 2012 when reviewing Blur 21 (a compilation of seven Blur studio albums):

"Graham used to say that he wanted to make an album that nobody would want to listen to," says drummer Dave Rowntree in the box's liner notes, "But you can't do that in a band with Damon." 13, their second masterpiece, finds Albarn and Coxon's opposing sensibilities bleeding into each other like a muddy watercolor. Both were hurting. Coxon was depressed and still at odds with the rest of the band, and Albarn's long relationship with Elastica's Justine Frischmann had just ended. A coping method he'd picked up from blues and DIY alike, Coxon knew how to translate personal pathos into Blur's music. Both the Blur songs on which he sings lead, "You're So Great" and 13's "Coffee and TV", are candidly about his drinking, and on 13, he guided Albarn toward confessional songwriting, too. Albarn had always used character songs to express emotion, but his songs on 13 strip away the protective covering of wit. "I hope you're with someone who makes you feel safe in your sleep," he croaks on the gorgeous closing lament "No Distance Left to Run", while the wounded pop-spiritual "Tender" is an obvious career highlight. William Orbit's brilliant, painstaking production pushes Albarn's ever-present pop sensibility to the brink of dissolve. The Third/Sister Lovers comparison feels more apt here: 13 is a record in a sustained state of elegant unravel, full of the unexpectedly beautiful sounds that pop songs (and people) make while they're falling apart”.

I am going to round up in a second. In 2019, XS Noize revisiting a classic album twenty years later. It is one I would urge people to listen back to as it approaches its twenty-fifth anniversary. An underrated and strong effort from Blur. An album that still reveals layers to this day:

“Wondering what direction the next Blur album was going to take was something that brought up many possibilities. Would they decide the experimenting was out of their system and return to writing catchy pop anthems again? After 'Song 2's success would this be their lo-fi grunge punk album? It was confirmed that the record would be produced by William Orbit, a dance musician who had previously worked with Madonna on her 'Ray Of Light' album. Would this be Blur's dance album? Far from being littered with club anthems and trance beats, '13' would turn out to be a brave, dense, ambitious, weird, noisy and emotionally fragile piece of work that sounds even more incredible 20 years on than it did back then. Before its release, the music press was alive with speculation about what the album, and when I first read about the album's first single, the band described it as a country-gospel song. When I first heard 'Tender' I realised that while it was indeed that, it was also a whole lot more.

I bought the single on its day on release from a record shop in Bath called Rival Records, and a few weeks later excitedly purchased '13' on the day it hit the shops. I recall hearing a few of the tracks previewed on Radio One in the week leading up to the album's release, but hearing the album in full was an utter revelation. I also instantly found it to be even more of a challenging listen than its predecessor, but after a while, every single moment of '13' grew on me in a most rewarding way. With its gospel choir and inventive percussion (made up from planks of wood being banged against the studio floor), it's hard to imagine anything more uplifting than the joyously soulful 'Tender'. But this glorious opener was something of a red herring when it came to what the rest of the LP would sound like.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is the blistering 'Bugman' with its brutal guitar fuzz and pneumatic drill noise that descends into utter chaos before a stinging bassline and raucous riffage take things to a new level. 'Coffee And TV' was noticeably more pop than anything else but even the album's most accessible moment had an off-kilter quality and a slightly weird feel to it, topped off with Graham Coxon's squealing, shredding guitar towards the end. Back then it sounded almost throwaway. Now, it's an essential part of '13' that adds some much-needed light relief and a great deal of charm. It's ironic that Coxon should pen the album's most melodic and accessible track since his fondness for blistering guitar noise was key in the transformation of Blur's sound on '13' and the self-titled album released two years earlier. 'Coffee and TV' was written while Graham was struggling with his alcoholism, which had increased throughout the hedonistic 90s, with the guitarist reflecting on how he would unwind by watching television over a cup of coffee to take his mind off the booze.

'Swamp Song' is a sludgy monster, covered in heavy, muddy riffage, and indulging in the sort of reckless, chaotic fun that went on at the "party pad" that Damon Albarn and his Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett shared during the late 90s. It's The Fall doing Bowie doing Elvis, and it's a total blast. It'll also destroy your brain when played at top volume. Much was said of the personal nature of the lyrics throughout the record, and revelatory they are indeed. Damon had been in a relationship with Elastica vocalist Justine Frischmann throughout the Britpop years, and the couple's break-up in late 1997 hit him hard. "That relationship just absolutely crashed. I mean, it really was a spectacularly sad end" he remembered. "It was the first time in my life that I'd been knocked for six emotionally. I'd been very lucky up to that point and had no real reason to explore that, so that's why it's happened now."

What wasn't so public at the time was Albarn's use of heroin. Suede and Elastica's problems with the drug were well-documented, yet people only found out years later that Damon was a regular heroin user from 1996 up until some point in the 2000s. In hindsight, the clues are all there: 'Bugman' refers to "the nodding dogs", with "chasing the bug" being slang for smoking the drug in tin foil. 'Caramel' is said to hint at the colour of heroin, the "I dose away" lyric in Trimm Trabb could be about a different kind of "hit" than the ones Blur were previously known for, and theories that the Damon-Justine break-up was down to heroin use are fuelled by 'Trailerpark's refrain "I lost my girl to the Rolling Stones". Those who did notice the drug references at the time assumed that they were all pointing to Frischmann when it's very likely that Albarn was opening up about his own state of mind.

Discovered as a demo on a cassette seven years after it was recorded, the solemn, unsettling '1992' is a musical relative of 'Sing' from their debut album 'Leisure', which seems to lyrically address themes of infidelity, while the dark, sombre music aches with shattered emotions and torn hearts as anguished guitars scratch and tear away at the surface. Meanwhile, blazing rave-up 'B.L.U.R.E.M.I' goes truly berserk with its punk riffs, deranged helium voices and some wild, bizarrely-placed melodica. Following one of the short instrumental segues that are found on a few occasions throughout '13', the album's magnificent centrepiece 'Battle' arrives. 7 minutes 42 seconds of extraordinary music that showcases the four members of Blur reaching a technical peak. It's the sound of beauty and decay, pulling off the feat of being both noisy and relaxing at the same time, pairing blissful ambience with more of the incredible sounds that emerge from Coxon's distorted guitar, as fluid keys ring out to create an otherworldly atmosphere. It's a fine example of the layered sound William Orbit brings to the record, and if you play it through a good pair of headphones, you'll experience something that words cannot describe.

Many of the songs were pieced together from jam sessions, and the four members of the band were rarely in the studio together at the same time. The tension in the group was running high during the recording sessions, with Orbit recalling "There was a battle between Damon's more experimental direction, and Graham's punk one and Graham prevailed. If that tension had been growing on previous LPs, it came to a head here." Meanwhile, drummer Dave Rowntree later revealed "Things were starting to fall apart between the four of us. It was quite a sad process making it. People were not turning up to the sessions, or turning up drunk, being abusive and storming off." Coxon admitted later "I was really out there around 13, which made for some pretty great noise but I was probably a bit of a crap to be around."

The mesmerising 'Mellow Song' switches from bare voice and acoustic guitar to a slow, humpy rhythm topped off with an addictive bassline and more of that melodica, an instrument that Albarn makes superb use of on '13'. The middle part turns into a magnificent psychedelic circus but plays well with the moody acoustic grunge verses. 'Trailerpark' instantly conjures up images of dirty ghetto streets with its tone of squalor. It was originally premiered a year previously at the band's 1998 headline set at Glastonbury. The half-rapped delivery is again highly reminiscent of The Fall's Mark E. Smith, especially so in its live incarnation, while his deepest and most solemn tone is saved for the chorus. Style-wise its a clear precursor to the hip-hop flavours of Albarn's hugely successful Gorillaz.

However, the vocalist's most emotional performance is reserved for the desolate ambience of 'Caramel'. It almost feels like you shouldn't be hearing something so personal, but clearly, this song couldn't have existed any other way. Ambient textures flow into one another dramatically as the overwhelming heartbreak is exhibited so openly and sincerely. 'Trimm Trabb' is made up of another rhythm formed from odd percussion sounds and a rather grungy acoustic riff, before exploding like a nail bomb at the end as Coxon unleashes a torrent of devastating guitar. The candid, spacious 'No Distance Left To Run' again finds Damon at his most fragile and soulful, complimented by an effectively minimal arrangement. '13' concludes with the lovely oddity 'Optigan 1, a short Joe Meek-esque instrumental with a nod to some of the fairground and end-of-pier vibes that featured on a few 'Parklife' tracks, but this time far more grainy, sounding like some long lost 78 record from the past.

When '13' was released I had been a Blur fan for five years and was always pleased to see them taking new directions, but this album did take a while to sound like the seminal piece of work that it represents today. 20 years later '13' is a record that resonates even more now than it did back then, and stands as perhaps the most essential Blur album. It cemented Blur's legacy and reputation as one of Britain's all-time greatest musical exports. The LP scored Blur their fourth consecutive Number 1 album in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Years later, it's regarded as one of the group's finest works”.

On 15th March, Blur’s 13 turns twenty-five. Even though the band were dislocated and falling apart, we all know that they came back together. We can look at 13 now with less anxiety. At the time, it was quite tough for fans of the band; perhaps not realising that they were having real struggles behind the scenes. Even so, 13 stands as one of the best albums from the band. Beautiful, honest and hugely varied, its odder deep cuts stand alongside classic singles such as Tender. In ending the century, Blur put out an incredible artistic statement. The mighty and magnificent 13 is…

A tremendous album.

FEATURE: Mr. Self Destruct: Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Mr. Self Destruct

Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral at Thirty

_________

I will come to…

IN THIS PHOTO: Nine Inch Nails captured in 1994/PHOTO CREDIT: Albert Watson

a review for Nine Inch Nails’ second studio album, The Downward Spiral. Released on the same day as Soundgarden’s Superunknown - 8th March, 1994 -, this album was perhaps even less conventional and uncommercial. In the sense that it does not instantly sound radio-friendly and bound for the charts. A concept cycle about a man who goes to a downward spiral to the point of suicide, one might wonder why it his album remains so popular and ensuring. If some critics in 1994 found the music too abrasive and off-putting, The Downward Spiral has received retrospective correction and much more praise. Due to the delayed release of the album – because of the time it took to record -, maybe there was a sense of disappointment after hype and wait. Even so, The Downward Spiral reached number two in the U.S. It has sold over four million copies. If small faction did see this as career suicide for Nine Inch Nails, there are more than that who view The Downward Spiral as a compelling classic. The Nine Inch Nails lead, Trent Reznor, had moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles - the site of the murder of actress Sharon Tate by members of the Manson Family in 1969 - to record. It was transformed into a studio for the band’s 1992 Broken EP and The Downward Spiral. Maybe helping the sound and tone of the album, it is a very strange and dark settings to record anything! Maybe indicative of the mindset of Reznor at the time, it is a hard listen for anyone not familiar with Nine Inch Nails. Reznor has said how The Downward Spiral was an extension of his own personal struggles, as he was dealing social anxiety disorder and depression and he had started his abuse of narcotics. A perfectionist in the studio, he was dealing with alcohol binges and writer's block.

I want to come to some features about The Downward Spiral. Last year, Kerrang! talked about the cultural impact of Nine Inch Nails’ 1994 masterpiece. Within the darkness and despair is something that has endured and survived. A brilliance and work that so many people have taken to heart. Perhaps the most revealing and raw album from the U.S. band:

“I really like The Downward Spiral,” the band’s fearsome, then 29-year-old Trent Reznor said upon completion of a second album that’s become a byword for singular, uncompromising excellence. “There aren’t any obvious radio and MTV songs.”

At that point Trent was right, of course. The Downward Spiral seemed entirely alien and far from chart fodder. One of its singles was a relentless, throbbing, structurally unusual assault called March Of The Pigs. Closer featured the lyric, ‘I want to fuck you like an animal,’ against a hissing disco beat. Elsewhere, on Heresy, Trent spits, ‘God is dead and no-one cares.’ Even the album’s most accessible track, the piano-driven closer Hurt, was about self-harm and heroin addiction. In fact, that such a stark, nakedly vulnerable offering could, by contrast, appear so welcoming, is testament to the sense of pervading despair.

Despite The Downward Spiral seeming so unpalatable – the sound, as Trent put it in 1998, of “shedding skin, taking a layer off and analysing it” – the album became an unprecedented success. Upon its release, it reached Number Two in the Billboard 200.

“All I hope is that there are a few people who’ll think, ‘Wow, I’m not the only person who thought those things,’” Trent said upon its release. The album has since sold a remarkable 3.7 million copies in the U.S. alone.

“I made a small-scale, personal, potentially ugly record that reflected how I felt,” was Trent’s understated appraisal. Showcasing a complicated relationship with his responsibilities as an artist that continues to this day, he added, “Some of those ugly things are things you wouldn’t want to tell your mom, your friends or even your lover. But it’s no public fucking service either. It’s just what I felt.”…

Two rock classics were also looming large over his creative thoughts: David Bowie’s 1977 album Low, and Pink Floyd’s 1979 release The Wall. Both featured artists making drastic left turns during fraught periods in their lives. In Bowie’s case, it was his struggle with cocaine, coupled with a sense of dislocation after moving from Los Angeles to Berlin. Pink Floyd, meanwhile, had grown disillusioned with the scale of their shows during 1977’s In The Flesh tour, not to mention the way their audience interacted with them. This culminated in an incident during a show at Montreal Olympic Stadium, when bassist and songwriter Roger Waters spat in the face of one rowdy fan. The Wall was Roger’s exploration of his own horror and the self-imposed isolation it inspired.

PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Harries

The Downward Spiral clearly pulled on threads from both albums. From Low, as illustrated by a largely instrumental second half created with ambient supremo Brian Eno, was the use of synthesisers to build soundscapes that conveyed an atmosphere of disquiet (NIN would, of course, end up supporting David Bowie on his Outside Tour in 1995). From The Wall, The Downward Spiral took the idea of having an overarching concept in which to articulate a sense of frustration and alienation. Trent Reznor, like Roger Waters, had felt the deep undercurrent of negativity that can envelope a rock star on a big stage. And, as Roger Waters had done on The Wall, Trent built an album around a wounded central figure to help him navigate it.

At that point in his life, Trent’s wounds had numerous sources. His relationship with bandmate Richard Patrick had become so fractious that Richard would quit in the midst of recording The Downward Spiral, and form new band Filter soon afterwards. As one source of anxiety disappeared, however, another took its place, as Trent’s relationship with drugs intensified during the 18-month recording.

Despite his struggles, NIN had no trouble recruiting formidable talent to bring this bleak vision to life, with the legendary Flood (aka Mark Ellis) co-producing, and contributions from the likes of Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew. The latter, who would play on three more NIN albums, is on particularly searing form during opener Mr. Self-Destruct. Trent has since described him as “the most awesome musician in the world”.

The after effects of The Downward Spiral, however, were destructive.

“I wound up distorted, someone I didn’t know,” Trent would say of the aftermath to K! in 1999. The Downward Spiral had an effect on the wider world, as well. Upon its release, the Republican Party took issue with the lyrics from the track Big Man With A Gun, suggesting that they attacked American conservatives. Trent later clarified that the song satirised gangsta rap. The greater storm came in 1999, however, when it was revealed Dylan Klebold, one of the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre, had made diary references to The Downward Spiral in the years before he and classmate Eric Harris murdered 13 people”.

There are a few more pieces I want to source before I finish off. The Quietus looked at The Downward Spiral in 2014. Twenty years after its release, Nine Inch Nails’ second album sounded even more like the future then. Perhaps just as relevant today, it is a big reason why The Downward Spiral has this endurance and popularity:

“What is easily forgotten here is that Reznor was really pushing the boundaries, he was creating new sounds that would not fit into recognized emotional associations and he was doing this before the days when any floppy-haired goth could punch it out on their iPad. It does seem almost a shame that these effects are so easily reproduced these days, leading to legions of diluted and passionless NIN imitators.

Beneath all the noise, however, are some excellently crafted pop tunes. 'Piggy' and album single 'March Of The Pigs' are, for different reasons, both proof of Reznor's gift for a tasty hook. He showed this off on Pretty Hate Machine as well, but here he seems to have taken the pop sensibilities from influences like Depeche Mode and turned them into something darker and dirtier and, most of all, wrenched right out of the 80s. An incredible thing about listening to this album in context is how well it holds up in comparison to its contemporaries. Also celebrating a twentieth anniversary currently is Soundgarden's Superunknown, which happened to be the only record that kept Downward Spiral off the top of the U.S. charts when they were both released twenty years ago. Possibly owing to the clarity of Reznor's production, it's mind-blowing that these are from the same decade, let alone the same month – Superunknown sounds so 'retro' in comparison. It's no wonder that David Bowie took a shine to young Trent and his groundbreaking, obnoxious noise.

The recording process itself was also notable because at the time Reznor was renting 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles, where the most famous of the Manson Family murders took place. Though it was over twenty years since Sharon Tate and her house guests were so brutally slaughtered, it was still quite a big talking point when Reznor took up residence and built Le Pig studio inside it. He later admitted that naming the studio after the word once scrawled in blood on the front door was in particularly bad taste, but would also take said door as a souvenir with him after leaving the property.

It's hard to say why he would do such a thing without much consideration over why taking up residence there was a controversial move. I do believe that Reznor was genuine in saying that it wasn't for press, but rather out of simple curiosity about 'American folklore'. Pretty Hate Machine had seen the band getting big in a "strange way" according to Reznor. And always much more the anti-star than any others at the time, he was all about satisfying himself over anyone else. In fact, Reznor went about creating angrier and angrier music with noise of escalating, clanging terror and bitter dirge. He seemed bent on creating something totally non-commercial and even went so far as taking the catchiest song on the record, 'Closer', and turning it into something nigh on impossible to get on the radio. He also accompanied it with a disturbing video showing bondage, nudity, a monkey tied to a cross and various bloody and disembodied animal parts. But to his own detriment/fortune, Reznor couldn't hide his own melodic skills and 'Closer' became his biggest hit up to that point (not to mention the heaps of praise that the video has received over the years). With this in mind, it's actually quite comical to watch him lament in interviews about 'not doing enough' to keep from getting so big.

But if I were Reznor I wouldn't regret a thing – except maybe the whole Tate house fiasco – as The Downward Spiral remains a dynamic and layered work that offers more at every listen. Though it takes time for some to fully appreciate it, its varied textures and moods make it both a staple and subverter of industrial music. The melodies are actually very accessible, once accessed; you just have to wade through and learn to appreciate the noise, distractions and overall dirt around them. Just because something jars your senses, be that thundering dissonance or the smell of 70,000 kids not giving a shit, it doesn't mean there's no poignancy and meaning behind it”.

I am going to end soon. I am interested in the LoudWire retrospective from 2023. Noticing how different The Downward Spiral is from Nine Inch Nails’ 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine, it was a long creative process making the album happen:

“By March 8, 1994, Reznor and his Nine Inch Nails cohorts finally released The Downward Spiral. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, bested only by Soundgarden's Superunkown in its opening week. But it didn't have a hot song right out of the gate.

The thrashy industrial rocker "March of the Pigs" was released a week ahead of the album's street date, but only managed to climb to No. 59 on the charts. It wasn't a natural song for radio play, but was definitely embraced by fans of the band in the live setting who loved the high energy BPMs that bridged the song's piano breakdowns. Adding to the song's legacy was the single-camera video for the track, which simply had the band rambunctiously performing on a white soundstage, with no mic stand in site safe. While the track set things in motion for the album, no one could have predicted what would come next.

In May of 1994, Nine Inch Nails released a funky single called "Closer" that needed major edits in order to be aired both on MTV and radio. But there was no denying the infectious nature of the song. With the memorable NSFW line, "I want to f--k you like an animal," Nine Inch Nails had a hit on their hands. "The song started with that line. Everything else kind of got pieced around that," said Reznor. "I was trying to get a vibe something like the song 'Nightclubbing' from Iggy Pop's album The Idiot. I don't know what it sounded like when it came out. But now it sounds like a real obvious, cheesy, almost disco, song--but in a cool way."

And while the song needed edits to cover the curse words, the video needed much more work before it could air. The singer told Spin, "I thought, f--k it, instead of the Super 8 video directors we've used in the past, underground people, let's go with Mr. F--king Gloss, Mark Romanek, who just did that Michael Jackson piece of s--t. But he could do a beautiful shot, Stanley Kubrick-like in its attention to detail. So we decided to spend some money and go to ridiculous lengths to recreate some works of artists that we liked, from Joel-Peter Witkin to Man Ray, Brothers Quay, this hodgepodge of stuff. The video was great. It was cool as f--k looking. Right away, MTV said, 'Can't have that, can't have that.' Now okay, there was naked p--sy. We knew that was going to get cut. And then we got complaints that people still found the video disturbing. 'Well why?' 'Well, we don't know why, but it seems satanic and evil.' And then I thought, 'Great, we did it.'" "Closer would fall just shy of breaking the Top 40 on Billboard's Hot 100, but did climb to No. 11 at Alternative Radio”.

I will end with Rolling Stone’s review from 1994. In a year of such diversity and brilliance, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral definitely sat alongside the best. During a year where Britpop was starting to really take shape in the U.K., U.S. albums like The Downward Spiral and Soundgarden’s Superunknown offered something opposite. A much darker and inward-looking sound to the more jubilant and bombastic British alternative:

“NINE INCH NAILS achieve a new kind of loud on The Downward Spiral: accessible hard-rock moves overlaid with a scrim of electronic racket, white noise, screams, the kind of blown-speaker rattle that seems to use the limitations of crappy stereo equipment the way that Hendrix riffed on the distortion that howled from overdriven Marshall stacks. It’s a new frontier in rock & roll: music that pins playback levels far into the red. You have only two options with this album: Play it too softly, or play it too loud.

When you slap on “Mr. Self-Destruct,” for example, the first song on the CD, the soft passages are soft chiefly in the sense of not being loud, as if there were a really great party down the street that you were wimping out on, pumped guitars and cranking boom-thwack drum machines and whatnot. But almost as soon as you rush to your pre-amp and squeeze in more juice, the loud comes back in, but so unimaginably loud this time that you think your speaker coils might melt, and old man Reilly in the next apartment has already started to bang his broomstick on the wall.

Then you turn it down and start the cycle again. Sure, bands like Nirvana play the soft-loud game, too, but Nine Inch Nails auteur Trent Reznor takes it to sadistic extremes, especially since the song — without the power riffing and the howl, the distortion and the infinite layering — would essentially be as melodic as a late Beatles tune.

What Robert Plant was to the post-blues screech and Kurt Cobain is to Northwest grunge, Reznor is to tortured death-disco howl — existential pain expressed as rock & roll. His 1990 anthem, “Head Like a Hole,” from Pretty Hate Machine, came this close to becoming what “Smells Like Teen Spirit” became — the theme song of smart misfits everywhere. Then Nine Inch Nails stole the show from Jane’s Addiction on the first Lollapalooza tour — and sold more T-shirts, too. And when the steel-edged dance-punk hybrid known as industrial finally became popular, a lot of people were betting that Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, the two most important bands associated with the genre, had the potential to redefine rock in their own image.

Ministry, of course, did kind of redefine rock, with an awe-inspiring speedmetal/disco blend that delighted Beavis and Butthead even as it failed to win many converts from fans of less extreme music. Nine Inch Nails came out with Broken at the end of ’92, an intriguingly unlistenable meditation on how much Reznor hated his old record company. While the EP didn’t really break new ground, it did get that second-album thing out of the way.

“March of the Pigs,” the first single from Spiral, alternates purest torment — the anguish of swine before the slaughter — with a piano hook saccharine enough to sell pre-sweetened cereal to toddlers. “Piggy” is an affectionately whispered, almost-tender lost-love song that carries the emotional weight of a George Jones ballad. There’s a lot of pig imagery in the song, perhaps inspired by the nihilist legend carved into slain actress Sharon Tate’s pregnant belly, but the LP is less nihilistic than you might expect.

Recorded not incidentally in the Beverly Hills living room where Tate was murdered (the living room, also not incidentally, of Reznor’s home), The Downward Spiral explores Reznor’s No. 1 subject — control — in a thousand different guises. Paranoia, predation and acceptance, sex power and religious power and gun power, the power of the suffering over the guilty and the consumer over the consumed are all blasted out with the kind of overwhelming presence Baudelaire might have had if he’d had access to a battery of Macintoshes, a MIDI hookup and a Strat.

Reznor’s voice seduces and insinuates where it previously expressed itself only in animal screams; it slithers into your ears and curls up somewhere near the medulla oblongata. He sometimes even expresses an emotion that isn’t anger, which throws the full-on assault of his catch phrases — “Don’t you tell me how I feel”; “Your God is dead, and no one cares” — into brilliant relief.

The Downward Spiral is music the blade runner might throw down to: low-tech futurism that rocks”.

Turning thirty on 8th March, I do hope there is new inspection of Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral. Viewed as one of the most important albums of the 1990s and some of Trent Reznor’s best work, it is an album that everybody needs to hear – even if it is quite challenging and dark. Out on the same day as the quite bleak and anxious Superunknown, it was an interesting day for releases. Regardless, that day – 8th March, 1994 – gave us two classics from two remarkable bands. The tremendous The Downward Spiral is definitely…

WORTHY of respect and applause.

FEATURE: Won't You Come, and Wash Away the Rain? Soundgarden’s Superunknown at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Won't You Come, and Wash Away the Rain?

Soundgarden’s Superunknown at Thirty

_________

IT will be an emotional day…

PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Harries

when 8th March arrives. It is a time to celebrate thirty years since the release of Soundgarden’s Superunknown. No doubt one of the best albums of the 1990s, it is also sad that the band’s lead, Chris Cornell, is no longer with us (he died by suicide in 2017). His voice and lyrics are so crucial to the success and brilliance of the album. So poetic and intelligent as a songwriter, his awesome vocal power and range makes each of the fifteen tracks so compelling. Even though the album is seventy minutes and is quite sprawling, there seems to be no waste or bloat on Soundgarden’s fourth studio album. In fact, the international version of the album have sixteen tracks – ending on She Likes Surprises rather than Like Suicide. Less than a month before Grunge godfather Kurt Cobain died (5th April, 1994), we got an album that seemed to predict something terrible. Black Hole Sun, the best-known track from Superunknown, has that feeling of needing something to wash away pain and darkness. Produced with Michael Beinhorn, Soundgarden released a timeless album. One that seemed to capture a mood perfectly in 1994. In perhaps music’s greatest-ever year, Superunknown stands alongside the greatest albums from the year. I will end with some reviews of Superunknown. Prior to that, there are features about the album that are worth bringing in. Whilst many have seen the 1994 album as harrowing, alienating and tortured, there is so much richness and range on the album. Rather than seeing it as an insight into Chris Cornell’s psyche at the time, I feel it is a testament to the remarkable talent of this man. Words that can resonate with many people but also offer hope and depth. It is hard to explain. I feel many paint Superunknown as bleak. That is not how I see it.

In 2022, Kerrang! discussed how Superunknown was a breakthrough for Soundgarden. A legacy that has lasted all of this time, there is no doubt that this album – released on 8th March, 1994 – is a masterpiece. Even stronger than the remarkable Badmotorfinger of 1991:

“Soundgarden were the first of the big grunge acts to sprout and yet the last to bloom. At least commercially. Long before Nirvana and Pearl Jam struck gold with Nevermind and Ten respectively, Soundgarden had impressed with their staggering musical intelligence – fusing punk, metal and rock with an array of bewildering time signatures and dynamics. And that was to say nothing of Chris’ voice: both sky-scraping and inimitable.

By 1991 they were drowning in critical acclaim following classic third album Badmotorfinger, but they weren’t smashing charts. Moreover, when Soundgarden toured that album supporting Guns N’ Roses, they soon found the rock world to be a divided nation. When Kerrang! interviewed them in Australia on their headline tour ahead of Superunknown’s release, they were ecstatic simply to be playing to their own fans.

“We went to Europe with Guns N’ Roses playing in front of 60,000 people who didn’t give a shit about us,” Chris reflected.

At the time of recording Superunknown in 1993, Soundgarden were a band searching for individuation: not just to distinguish themselves from every other band, but also from what they had done previously. First, they changed the way they worked.

“Someone would bring in a demo of a song they wrote, and as opposed to really concentrating on why we liked it and what it was about the original idea, we’d just sort of Soundgarden-ise it,” Chris told K! about their old method. “That can make an album sound a little more sterile.”

Their new material would be different and their musical remit would have to expand to accommodate it. Twenty tracks in total were made at Seattle’s legendary Bad Animals studio with producer Michael Beinhorn, before whittling that number down to 15.

Chris Cornell delivered big moments aplenty, including the classic singles The Day I Tried To Live and Fell On Black Days, plus frenetic opener Let Me Drown. But one of his songs would, of course, go on to eclipse the rest, at least in terms of mainstream attention. Even in the present day, the disenchanted psychedelia of Black Hole Sun remains extraordinary. Chris told Rolling Stone he saw it as a “surreal, esoteric word painting”.

Indeed, the whole album painted with an unrestricted palette. Keyboards, alternative tunings, viola, cello, spoons and, in the case of My Wave, even a nod to surf-rock were all introduced. It is, in the words of guitarist Kim Thayil speaking for a Spotify commentary on the 20th anniversary reissue, a “perfect headphones album”.

Each member made big contributions. Some of the most arresting riffs belong neither to Chris nor Kim but rather drummer Matt Cameron, who not only conceived of the central riff for Mailman but also played mellotron on it. Fresh Tendrils was another Matt composition (made even more atypical by including clavinet), and so was the rising guitar of Limo Wreck. “Our drummer came up with that,” gushed Kim.

Two of the album’s most unique songs came courtesy of bassist Ben Shepherd. The disembodied, twisting strains of Head Down was his creation, as was the Indian music-influenced Half. Chris even refused to sing on the latter, insisting that it would lose its character without Ben’s voice.

Kim Thayil not only served up the surging, punky Kickstand, as you would expect, he augmented songs brilliantly, adding compelling layers and riffs. Most stunning of all was his standout solo on Like Suicide.

Soundgarden didn’t shy away from the molten noise that had defined them, either. On 4th Of July – inspired by Chris’ LSD trip on an Indian reservation – they arguably delivered their heaviest moment.

When all of the above was put together in the studio, Soundgarden had recorded an album that fit their own adventurous brief and was set to confound expectations. “There has been much rumour about Superunknown… the dreaded word ‘commercial’ has been bandied about,” reported K! ahead of its release. “It’s far from commercial, but it’s not Badmotorfinger 2.”

As its legacy would attest, this was something else entirely.

Soundgarden soon unravelled after their mainstream breakthrough. They would release one more (excellent) album, 1996’s Down On The Upside, before imploding. Though it took 16 years before they would release 2012’s King Animal, even in that protracted absence, Superunknown remained omnipresent in rock’s collective conscience.

Much of it was dark, articulating themes of loss, depression and isolation with unflinching grace and a searing poetic edge. Reflecting with Rolling Stone in 2012, Chris – who had always been so allergic to nostalgia – reappraised their masterpiece.

“There’s an eeriness in there, a kind of unresolvable sadness or indescribable longing that I’ve never really tried to isolate and define and fully understand,” he said. “But it’s always there. It’s like a haunted thing.”

In light of the tragedy of his passing in 2017, it is perhaps now more haunting than ever. The loss of Chris Cornell – and, indeed, of Soundgarden – is one rock fans will mourn greatly. But such grief should also be tempered by the undiminished power of their music. ‘Alive in the Superunknown,’ Chris bellowed on the title-track’s chorus. So he was then. So he shall remain”.

Before coming to a couple of reviews, there is an interesting feature from Consequence of Sound. Marking the twentieth anniversary of Superunknown in 2014, their colleagues Matt Melis and Henry Hauser discussed the album’s place in both the band’s history and the legacy of the Grunge movement. There are some interesting exchanges and observations. I never thought about the track sequencing and, if you had to, would you cut a song from this classic?! There is no doubt everyone has their own favourite tracks from Superunknown:

“MM: What’s your favorite cut off the record?

HH: That would be “Head Down”. The track kicks off with Cornell’s soft whisper lulling us into a numb calm. Complex time signature shifts come into play once again, really showcasing Cameron’s impeccable timing. The drummer takes a 20-second victory lap as the track fades, almost like a curtain call after a Herculean effort. Fully deserved.

Is there a track you would drop?

MM: It’s bordering on sacrilege, but I never understood the hysteria over “Black Hole Sun”, even though that song blew Soundgarden up. And do you remember the video? Christ, that gave me nightmares. All those Enzyte commercial smiles and morphing, impish faces. But it plays so long and always struck me as a bizarre take on an old-timey song like “You Are My Sunshine”. It’s the only track I routinely skip over. I’m guessing you and the 19 million YouTubers who’ve watched it don’t agree.

HH: I agree in part and dissent in part. I find the melodic guitar and cold, distant harmonies to be really compelling. But for all this catchy, cosmic, psychedelic pop, it’s a self-obsessed song and goes on for way too long. Plus, it’s been playing in select coffee shops for two decades straight. Tons of overplayed songs become parodies of themselves; it’s unavoidable.

MM: Or become part of Weird Al polka medleys.

So, Soundgarden announced that they’ll be playing Superunknown in its entirety next week down in Austin as part of the iTunes Festival. Is this something to get excited about attending or streaming?

HH: I think Superunknown deserves the spotlight, but I hope this doesn’t mean they’re going to exclude material from the first three albums. That would be unfortunate.

MM: Would you want a second set that delved into the rest of their discography?

HH: Yeah, I’d be hoping for a second set. And I’d also advise them to shuffle up the order.

MM: Abandon the original sequence?

HH: I would. I think it works well in an album context, but a lot of the most visceral cuts are towards the front of the LP. In terms of playing a live set, if they stick to the original order they’re going to get through all the singles relatively early. That doesn’t make for a grand climax, which is what they ought to be going for.

What do you think?

MM: It’s like a movie you love. You know every scene, beat, and twist, and there’s an emotional and psychological payoff when you can anticipate what’s coming and it still delivers when it arrives. So, I do think there’s something to seeing the journey through from opener to closer, never being surprised but also never being bored by knowing what’s coming. So, the original sequence would be my preference”

I would urge anyone who does not own Superunknown to go and buy it. In 2014, to mark its twentieth anniversary, there were reissues. Depending on your budget, there was a two or five-disc set. Soundgarden’s magnum opus was reviewed by Pitchfork in 2014. They were hugely positive about this incredible and epic album:

“Usually, it’s a bad sign when the wild-child frontman of your favorite group cuts his hair and starts wearing shirts. But the clean-cut Cornell that emerged with Superunknown was emblematic of the album’s mission to deliver maximal effect with minimal histrionics. With its despairing worldview, gold-plated production, and CD-stuffing 71-minute running time, Superunknown is a quintessential ’90s artifact. But thanks to its still-formidable high-wire balance of hooks and heft, the album nonetheless represents, some 20 years later, the platonic ideal of what a mainstream hard rock record should be. And even if that’s an ideal to which few contemporary bands aspire (aside from, say, Queens of the Stone Age), Superunknown remains a useful model for any left-of-center artist hoping to achieve accessibility without sacrificing identity.

For Soundgarden, the push toward pop was the result of incremental evolutions rather than a spectacular leap. Where Badmotorfinger introduced flashes of psychedelia and paisley-patterned melody amid Kim Thayil’s pulverizing riffage, on Superunknown, these elements become featured attractions. The once-oblique John Lennon references gave way to unabashed homage—centerpiece power ballad “Black Hole Sun” is pretty much “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” turned upside down and dropped in a heap of soot and coal. That song counts as Superunknown’s most wanton act of subversion—setting its apocalyptic imagery to a tune so pretty, even Paul Anka can dig it—but if that element of surprise has been diluted by two decades of perpetual rock-radio rotation, the album boasts a wealth of less celebrated deep cuts (the queasy psych-folk of “Head Down,” the dread-ridden doom of “4th of July”) that retain a palpable sense of unease.

Even the album’s eternal fist-pump anthems—“The Day I Tried to Live”, “Fell on Black Days”, “My Wave”—are infected with misanthropy and malaise, making Superunknown the rare arena-rock album that makes just as much sense in blacked-out bedroom. (And yet, despite the junkie intimations of its title, “Spoonman” is really just about a man who plays with spoons.) That said, if you don’t hate the world now quite as much as did when you were 18, you may find yourself skipping over the leaden likes of “Mailman” and “Limo Wreck,” while developing a newfound appreciation for how bassist Ben Shepherd’s India-inspired oddity, “Half”, injects a welcome dose of absurdity into the mix.

By fortuitous coincidence, Superunknown hit stores the same day as Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, an album boasting a similarly expansive scope and thematic framework, albeit approached from a drastically different set of influences (’80s new wave, goth, and electro as opposed to ’60s classic rock). The connection between the two albums is strong enough that the two bands toured together in 1994 and—despite some shit-talkin’ in the interim—are reuniting once again this summer for a joint-20th-anniversary jaunt. For casual Soundgarden fans who still own the record, a concert ticket may ultimately be a more efficient way of celebrating Superunknown’s birthday than by shelling out for this reissue (available in two-and five-CD box set iterations), whose bonus material mostly amounts to demos and rehearsal tapes that cast this epic album in a more normalizing light. However, you do develop a greater appreciation for the final product when you hear the ideas that got scrapped along the away or relegated to B-sides, like the dirgey embryonic arrangement of “Fell on Black Days” (a.k.a. “Black Days III”), the free-form ambient stew of “Jerry Garcia’s Finger”, and a club-friendly industrial funk mix of “Spoonman” by Steve Fisk that sounds like a test run for his beat-driven project Pigeonhed.

You also get a glimpse of the band’s future course with a beautifully spare acoustic treatment of “Like Suicide” that points the way to 1996’s more temperate Down on the Upside, the album that effectively triggered Soundgarden’s subsequent 13-year break-up. But then the go-for-broke, peak-conquering triumphalism of Superunknown was itself a harbinger that the writing was on the wall for this band at the time. When Cornell sings, “Alive in the superunknown” on the album’s acid-swirled title track, it’s both a valorous testament to Soundgarden’s last-gang-in-town fortitude and a telling prophecy of the uncertainty to come, with grunge’s early ’90s stranglehold on alt-rock radio soon to be loosened by the emergence of pop-punk, Britpop, electronica, and nu-metal. But amid a musical landscape now splintered into infinite subgenres, Superunknown remains the very definition of no-qualifiers-required rock—a tombstone for a once-dominant aesthetic, perhaps, but also a solid, immovable mass that endures no matter how dramatically its surroundings have changed”.

I am going to round up with a review from AllMusic. If some find Superunknown too dark or heavy a listen, there are those that can appreciate the range and depth of the album. The smarts, the anxiety, the measured moments, the anthems and surprise moments. Taking Metal and Grunge to new places, there is no doubt that Superunknown inspired so many other artists. It was a huge statement. Seen as one of the best albums ever, Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron delivered a masterpiece on 8th March, 1994:

“Soundgarden's finest hour, Superunknown is a sprawling, 70-minute magnum opus that pushes beyond any previous boundaries. Soundgarden had always loved replicating Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath riffs, but Superunknown's debt is more to mid-period Zep's layered arrangements and sweeping epics. Their earlier punk influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop and psychedelia. Badmotorfinger boasted more than its fair share of indelible riffs, but here the main hooks reside mostly in Chris Cornell's vocals; accordingly, he's mixed right up front, floating over the band instead of cutting through it. The rest of the production is just as crisp, with the band achieving a huge, robust sound that makes even the heaviest songs sound deceptively bright.

But the most important reason Superunknown is such a rich listen is twofold: the band's embrace of psychedelia, and their rapidly progressing mastery of songcraft. Soundgarden had always been a little mind-bending, but the full-on experiments with psychedelia give them a much wider sonic palette, paving the way for less metallic sounds and instruments, more detailed arrangements, and a bridge into pop (which made the eerie ballad "Black Hole Sun" an inescapable hit). That blossoming melodic skill is apparent on most of the record, not just the poppier songs and Cornell-penned hits; though a couple of drummer Matt Cameron's contributions are pretty undistinguished, they're easy to overlook, given the overall consistency. The focused songwriting allows the band to stretch material out for grander effect, without sinking into the pointlessly drawn-out muck that cluttered their early records. The dissonance and odd time signatures are still in force, though not as jarring or immediately obvious, which means that the album reveals more subtleties with each listen. It's obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition”.

Even though there has been an anniversary reissue, I hope that many revisit Superunknown ahead of its thirtieth anniversary. So many classics from 1994 have anniversaries coming up. Without doubt one of the finest albums of that incredible year, I remember when it came out. Watching the video for Black Hole Sun for the first time when I was ten. Listening to the album years later – maybe in the late-1990s – and being blown away by it. Even though Chris Cornell is no longer with us, we remember him through albums like this. Such a compelling and amazing songwriter and singer. Someone who can never be replaced or forgotten. We will definitely remember the phenomenal Superunknown…

FOR decades to come.

FEATURE: Heart Is a Drum: Beck’s Morning Phase at Ten

FEATURE:

Heart Is a Drum

Beck’s Morning Phase at Ten

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ON 21st February…

we mark ten years of Beck’s Morning Phase. One of his most underrated albums, Morning Phase acts as a companion piece to 2002’s Sea Change. Almost every credited musician who was involved with Sea Change returned to record for Morning Phase (with the sole exception being Sea Change producer Nigel Godrich). I am going to end with some reviews for Morning Phase. Six years after Modern Guilt, Beck changed sonic tact. Modern Guilt is a fantastic album, though it is very different compared to Morning Phase. Producing alongside Dangermouse, it is a short album. One filled with paranoia and some drum loops and chunky guitars. It has a Hip-Hop feel in some respects. An album that has this special type of energy and anxiety. Morning Phase was a flip. Much more mellow and contemplative, it is a classic example of Beck being able to shift tone and sound between albums and creating something cohesive and natural. A top-five album here and in the U.S. – and other nations -, Morning Phase won the GRAMMY for Album of the Year. It also won for Best Rock Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Acclaimed and hugely successful, I wanted to look back a decade at this incredible work. Prior to getting to some reviews for Morning Phase, there are a few interviews I want to bring in. The Guardian spoke with Beck in 2014 about one of the most important and stunning albums of his career:

“Beck's new album, Morning Phase, is his 12th studio album but only his first in six years. Inspired variously by 70s LA rock and Nashville country, it's a reunion with the band with which he made 2002's Sea Change. It's a slow, almost ethereal affair, a far remove from his more rambunctious records like Odelay or Midnite Vultures. It's also, in places at least, a melancholic album, one whose centrepiece – the eerie, reverberating Wave – climaxes in a howled one-word refrain of "Isolation".

If you were to try to pinpoint a reason for this dark mood, there's one obvious candidate. Before Christmas, Beck revealed to an Argentinian newspaper that he had in recent years suffered "severe damage" to his spine and that throughout his "long, long recovery" he had been unable to play music. He gave no more details than that and doesn't address the subject directly with me either. It seems fairly certain that for someone whose life has been built around musical performance, such an injury would leave a deep mark. But when it comes to Morning Phase, there is a sense that Beck is channelling more than just that experience; a broader, more universal disappointment.

"I was thinking about it the other day," he says, "this idea of… how everyone has a different experience in life. Some just blow through things and keep on an even keel, others have these ups and downs, but almost everybody goes through a point that could lead to a bitterness or a cynicism. It's not what you set out for, hopefully things go well… but there's a point where some people don't believe in anything. I had run-ins with older musicians when I was starting out who were very bitter. At the time my attitude was like, 'Wow, I get to put out a record, this is the greatest thing ever!' But then, as time goes on, you realise what they're talking about. Some brutal shit. Some people don't make it, some artists get destroyed by it, you can really do your head in.

"There's a reason why I made these songs and this record. It felt very personal and direct and uninhibited. At the same time I'd hate to say it sums up some kind of mood or something because I'm now working on another record that's the opposite of this. I was trying to express things in a way that… like a lot of songwriters… in a way that might speak to or resonate with somebody else. Can you make [things] good again even when it's all been ruined and you need to start over? Can you find that again? I think that's what I was trying to reach for on this record."

Reaching seems an appropriate word, in the sense that things still stay outside the listener's grasp. As an artist, Beck has always veered towards ambiguity – not just in blending musical genres but in his lyrics, which rarely offer up direct meaning (and sometimes offer the direct opposite). A typical pattern can be observed in Blue Moon, a song on Morning Phase where the opening line sets out a theme – "I'm so tired of being alone" – but refuses to elaborate on it, in favour of veering into enigmatic imagery: "See that turncoat on his knees/ Vagabond that no one sees".

"It makes it more interesting if there's a little bit of the elliptical happening," Beck says of that particular habit. "Hopefully some of it translates. Perhaps it won't literally translate from the lyrics but somehow from the feel of the music. Even in the music, it's iffy you know, but it's a good attempt."

Morning Phase came together over a lengthy period and in uncertain fashion. Wave was the first song to be recorded – at Capitol Studios in 2009. Three other songs were salvaged from an abandoned project that had taken place in a flash in Nashville in 2010. His reunion with the five-piece Sea Change band came just last year but was similarly brief, totalling just two days. ("Getting all those individuals in the same room is like the aligning of nine planets," Beck says.)

Those final sessions form the core of the record and were characterised by a particular technique. "Everything is exceedingly slow," says Beck. "Almost impossible-to-play slow, you know? When a lot of the songs were being tracked we were always 'Slower, let's get slower'. Because the slower it gets, the harder it is to play. They get harder to sing. But suddenly these songs that could be just simple singer-songwriter songs, everything elongates and they become something else. It just has a spell to it, this suspended feeling, and I wanted a lot of the sounds to feel familiar, but also to have something a little bit haunting and strange about them. I don't know why I just thought it might make it a little more interesting." 

During his convalescence Beck had been developing his skills as a producer, working on projects with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stephen Malkmus (a little randomly, he also chipped in on the Scott Pilgrim Vs The World soundtrack). He did all the production on Morning Phase himself, but unlike the lightning bursts of recording, it was something he laboured over for months. "I was replacing things, rewriting," he says of the process. "I have some records like that, where you write the thing about 30 times until you get something that you feel is OK; it isn't just trite or something you've heard before. This record was supposed to come out in October so I was working all spring, no sleep. Working 10 weeks, seven days a week, no breaks, working till three in the morning every day just trying to get the record done by July so it could come out in October. We got the record done and then it ended up coming out later. I wish I had known, I would have slept more."

The result is an album that strikes a tender balance between angst and hope, between something beautiful and something just a little discomfiting. Another outcome, though, is that Beck appears to have rediscovered his enthusiasm for making and listening to music. This at a time when the crushing together of genres that he pioneered has become increasingly the norm.

"That's gratifying for me," he says, "because I feel like I had a lot of bottles thrown at me over the years for attempting to do that." He talks up the work of Diplo and Kanye, but also Dirty Projectors and Ariel Pink ("LA art-pop-punk performance weirdo music that is, to me, just something that I grew up around")”.

I am not sure whether there are any plans for the tenth anniversary of Morning Phase. I have not heard of any reissues or anything special taking place. It is a shame, as Morning Phase is a tremendous album that warrants celebration and fuss. One that I would urge people to check out. I am going to bring in some sections of a Billboard interview. One of the most standout sections of the interview is where Beck says he doesn’t trust his instincts anymore:

“Morning Phase” started with a shared revelation of sorts, onstage, in May 2012. Beck and “Sea Change”‘s four-man backing band – bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, guitarist Smokey Hormel, keyboard player Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and drummer Joey Waronker – had reunited to play a last-minute gig at the relatively intimate El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. It was a warm-up for a few bigger shows to follow, and it was a hot ticket: Beck hadn’t played his hometown since shortly after his 2008 album, “Modern Guilt.” And, though that stellar supporting band had been with him for a few albums in a row when they made “Sea Change,” they hadn’t all played together since. “In the interim, a lot of life has happened,” says Beck. “It had a huge impact on all of us, to revisit those songs. I think we were all feeling them in a different, maybe deeper way.”

Meldal-Johnsen later says: “It was pretty intense. I knew it would be like that. Something about the music we created together being the only thing that’s permanent during that duration of time is a heavy concept, but it was also joyous and rambunctious at the same time.”

“Morning Phase,” Beck’s 12th studio album, evolved naturally from there, picking up where “Sea Change” left off: the aftermath of the aftermath, the morning phase. Although he’d already started piecing together another new album with a series of high-profile collaborators, including Pharrell Williams – possibly due out later this year, “time willing” – Beck set those tracks aside to focus on “Morning Phase,” recorded at studios in Nashville, London, Los Angeles and New York over the course of several months in 2013. “I had some old songs, and I found the ones that fit together the best, and then I worked on building it, stripping it back, rewriting it and just kept going until I felt like it was getting better and better.”

Meldal-Johnsen says Beck and the band never explicitly discussed what type of sound they were going for, but it was inevitable: “It’s the same room with the same guys, with the same microphones and a lot of the same equipment and the same engineer. We don’t even talk when we start these songs; we just listen and respond. These are the tones and sounds and approaches that come forth from that recipe and these five guys. I think Beck responds to music in that trusting way, where he lets things unfold without judgment.” As Beck puts it: “Something just happens when you’re making a record, where certain things start to come out. It’s just something in the air. I might have been shooting for Royal Trux, and it came out Lynyrd Skynyrd, but it’s working, so…” He trails off.

I suggest that he obviously has confidence in his own instincts, but Beck quickly demurs, “My instinct has definitely gone awry; I could give you many examples.” He laughs and tells me about how, several years ago, he turned down repeated requests to write the theme song for a new cable TV series. “It’s about ad executives in the ’60s? They’re going to make a show about that? Really? Um, I don’t think so,” he remembers saying. “Yeah, just like the best show ever made!”

“I wish I had more confidence,” he adds. “I think that’s probably my Achilles’ heel. If I had more, I probably would have felt emboldened to make more interesting music earlier on, or really go for it in an artistic or songwriting sense. I’ve seen that kind of confidence serve other people really well. I really admire it. Like, I hope my kids have some of that kind of confidence that enables you to take risks”.

I will come to some reviews soon. Before that, The Quietus’ interview is worth highlighting. It is interesting how Beck’s colour and sonic palette changed between albums. After an album like 2008’s Modern Guilt, few were expecting an album like Morning Phase in 2014:

“At what point did it became apparent that this was a companion piece to Sea Change?

BH: I really wasn't telling myself that. It was more about doing a kind of record with songs based on acoustic guitar, piano... quieter, slower, as opposed to Modern Guilt, which was a collaboration with Danger Mouse, and the previous album [The Information] which had all these breakbeats that we'd created - we cut all the tracks live, and then remixed the whole thing, y'know? Those are completely different projects, there's a different orientation to those records. I feel like because there are different kinds of records that I make, that Morning Phase ends up being a bookend by default, because there's another five albums in between that are in a similar vein [to each other]. If I were allowed to make more records, I think, creatively, I would have more records like Morning Phase.

You lost a potential follow-up to Sea Change, didn't you?

BH: Yeah. I had a bunch of songs that I'd written over a two-year period after the Sea Change songs, which I felt were gonna be the next record in that vein. Then when I was on tour, the tapes were in a suitcase that was left behind at a venue. When we went to look for them, they had been taken. I think that partially had something to do with not making another record in the vein of Sea Change, because that was really heartbreaking to me. I was really proud of those songs, and I felt like they were building on the shoulders of Sea Change. I thought the songs were a lot better. It was a real step up. Unfortunately I hadn't memorised most of those songs. I'd recorded them on tapes as a reference, and I had them on tour with me so that I could work on them. But they were gone. It was sort of a shock that you could have a whole body of work and then the next day, completely gone. So I think for several years I was just a little bit frustrated and didn't want to have anything to do with writing a song on an acoustic guitar. [laughs] I ended up making another record with the Dust Brothers [Guero] because we had a lot of unfinished material. Then I did another record with Nigel [The Information] where we did the opposite of Sea Change. He wanted to do a kind of beat-driven hip hop record.

Godrich has since started the electronically-orientated Ultraista (with frequent Beck collaborator Joey Waronker) but The Information must have been quite a departure for him at the time?

BH: I think that was a real laboratory, and a bit of school, those sessions. Because I had been working with songs that had beats and that sort of production for years, but doing it with him, y'know, we were starting from scratch. There were no samples or programming, it was just all live. So I think for him, it was like beat school. It was kind of an experiment. It felt like we were sixteen year olds let loose, it had that kind of energy to it. A lot of discovery. It's a little rough around the edges, which was how we approached it, wanting to make it not so polished. Something you would make when you're just still trying to figure it all out. Because as time goes on, you learn how to do certain things properly, and I think with the nature of the songs we were trying to do, the production needed to be a little bit raw for it have that kind of energy.

In contrast to The Information, Morning Phase is an exceedingly lush and 'produced' album. Do you think this quality, along with the recurrent images of sun and sea, derives from a uniquely Californian outlook?

BH: I'm so bad at that. I'm not sure what a Californian outlook is. Because I grew up in California, but in East LA. I never saw the sea. All we saw was smog and urban blight! The palm trees had rats the size of cats, the public transportation - it could take two to three hours to get from one side of the town to the other. I only partially relate to that view of California. But y'know, I spent a number of years living in the country and in the mountains, in the elements, so I think some of that came through in the songs on this record. Maybe some of the other material that I've worked on over the last five years, but particularly this record.

Do you miss the time when fewer people were paying attention? When you wouldn't get instant feedback via the internet?

BH: I think most musicians in the last ten or fifteen years have been making a massive adjustment to that. This kind of seemingly consensus opinion that you get through the internet, through blogs, and comments and feedback from social media, all these things present musicians, filmmakers, any creative person with this kind of instant feedback that is intense, a little bit intimidating. Sometimes I think it can warp your sense of what you're doing. And I think that it has warped people's perspectives. It's messed with mine a bit and with other musicians I know. I've talked with friends of mine, they've had this discussion with a lot of other musicians, there have been these sort of growing pains to becoming accustomed to that kind of feedback. And possibly a period of time where there's been some self-consciousness. For myself, I feel like I've come out of [that] for the most part, because I'm used to it, but I would say that it was a little bit… it has taken some adjustment, and maybe I think differently about things I'm doing, question things in a way that I never would have in the 90s, when I was starting out”.

I am going to wrap things up with a couple of positive reviews. NME were among those to provide their spin on an amazing album. From an artist many might assume to be nothing but craziness and oddity, there is something deeper, more grounded and personal working through Morning Phase. I have been revisiting the album a bit ahead of the tenth anniversary. It still elicits emotions and response after every visit:

“At some point in the six years that have elapsed since the release of Beck’s 2008 album ‘Modern Guilt’, the inveterate musical shape-shifter has finally relaxed into a stereotype. The Los Angeles native has long flirted with the idea of the hippyish singer-songwriter, the long-haired troubadour penning harmony-laden folk-rock tunes from his house in Laurel Canyon. On this, his 12th album, he finally succumbs wholly to that soaring, swooning late ’60s and early ’70s sound, as typified by The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas and Neil Young. But Beck being Beck, he adds an idiosyncratic twist in the shape of a majestic bleakness that hangs over the album’s portentous 13 tracks like a funeral veil. That’s not to say there aren’t optimistic moments, but if you feel like locking yourself in a dark room and sobbing at any point during your listening experience, well, no-one would blame you.

Touted as his ‘acoustic’ album, ‘Morning Phase’ is rather more symphonic than such a reductive description would have you believe. After the sweet orchestral swell of the 39-second opener ‘Cycle’, we drift into the lush ‘Morning’. With simple strumming laid over delicate drums that roll like Pacific waves, it’s a breezy, slow-paced nod to the oceanic swells of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson’s all too brief solo career. Here the sadness comes as subtle shoreside melancholy, with Beck plaintively cooing, “This morning/I let down all my defences”.

With his emotions on the line, in comes the softly psychedelic ‘Heart Is A Drum’, its shimmering instrumentation and heartworn harmonies straight from the lungs of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Twanging California guitars and a Gram Parsons lilt briefly lift the mood for ‘Say Goodbye’ and ‘Country Down’. Lead single ‘Blue Moon’ could be one of the most captivating things Beck has ever composed – a woozy bluegrass lament, spiralling around desperate calls of “Don’t leave me on my own”. The glumness is almost transcendental by the time we reach the orchestral misery of ‘Wave’, his echo-chamber vocals now intoning the word “isolation” over and over.

This isn’t LA in the blazing sunshine, as seen from a classic car cruising through Beverly Hills. This is the seedier fringes of the city just around twilight; Bukowski-like tales that feel warm with the afterglow of a party, but with a hangover on the way. It couples a moody sort of glamour with a concrete feeling of loneliness, and it makes for some of the most affecting comedown folk you’re likely to hear all year”.

I will end with Rolling Stone and their review of the majestic and stirring Morning Phase. Even though Beck has not really released an album like this since, I do feel we will get a Morning Phase/Sea Change-like album soon enough:

“ON HIS REMARKABLE 2002 album, Sea Change, Beck ditched his signature irony, break beats and jump cuts to vibe on the country-tinged singer-songwriter tradition of his L.A. hometown. Since then, the album’s stature has only grown – even as Beck left his fringed-suede jacket tucked away in a closet. He has finally put it back on for Morning Phase, which features many of the same players and themes as Sea Change. The result is a set that feels like an instant folk-rock classic.

The paired openers here, “Cycle” and “Morning,” set the tone. The first is a daybreak-conjuring string overture, conducted by Beck’s father, David Campbell, which introduces the LP’s musical themes. The second is a great early-hours song in the tradition of the Velvet Underground‘s kindred album opener “Sunday Morning.” Around bright acoustic guitar and chiming percussion, ripples of reverb and synthesizers blur Beck’s layered vocals and Stanley Clarke’s acoustic bass into a gorgeous watercolor-hangover haze. It echoes a lot of what Beck’s been up to lately – the lean formalism of his sheet-music Song Reader, the psychedelia of 2008’s Modern Guilt, the crate-digging of his online Record Club covers project, and the orchestral experiments of Rework, his Philip Glass collaboration.

At its core, Morning Phase is a record about what to do when the world seems totally fucked. Irony doesn’t cut it anymore; truth, beauty and resolve are the best weapons. “Looked up this morning/Saw the roses full of thorns/Mountains are falling,” Beck croons with falsetto swoops on “Morning,” then asks, “Can we start it all over again?” He could be referring to a crashed relationship, or a trashed ecosystem. On “Heart Is a Drum,” which radiates the cocooned warmth of Nick Drake‘s Bryter Layter, he asks, “Why does it hurt this way?/To come so far to find they’ve closed the gates.” Coming in the wake of a back injury so severe Beck couldn’t pick up a guitar for a number of years, Morning Phase‘s struggle toward the light feels as personal as it does universal.

Beck remains a master of pastiche, and trainspotters can have a field day mapping reference points: “Blue Moon” shares a name with the Rodgers-Hart and Alex Chilton songs, but more closely resembles Bob Seger’s “Mainstreet” getting abstracted by Brian Eno in a Laurel Canyon time share. The strings from “Cycle” resurface in “Wave,” a lovely voice-and-orchestra meditation that could almost be a Björk cover. On “Country Down,” reminiscent of Harvest-era Neil Young, he sings about a man in a lifeboat while Greg Leisz’s pedal steel draws chem trails across the sky.

The album ends with another aching morning song, “Waking Light.” But the line that persists comes a few tracks earlier, on “Don’t Let It Go.” “In the crossfire, there’s a story,” Beck offers, “how it ends, we do not know.” With lyrical nods to Bob Dylan‘s “I’ll Keep It With Mine” and the crossfi rehurricane birth in the Stones‘ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” the song is in effect about how musical storytelling helps us push through terrible times. Morning Phase aspires to no less”.

On 21st February, Beck’s Morning Phase turns ten. One of the best albums of his career, everyone needs to hear it. I know that there will be celebration on the day. Hopefully, songs from the album will be played on some radio stations. After a decade, Morning Phase still holds such power and emotion. Go and take some time out and listen to this…

WORK of brilliance.

FEATURE: A Live Phenomenon: Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life at Forty-Five: Marking the Anniversary

FEATURE:

 

 

A Live Phenomenon

IN THIS PHOTO: Cowgirl with Pistol: Kate Bush captured during the warm-up gig of The Tour of Life at the Poole Arts Centre on 2nd April, 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Aris

Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life at Forty-Five: Marking the Anniversary

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THERE is a lot to unpick…

PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne

when it comes to Kate Bush’s 1979 The Tour of Life. I am going to finish off by marking the fact that we need something to mark the forty-fifth anniversary. Whether that is a podcast, documentary or issue of a live album, the fact is that The Tour of Life was hugely important. The warm-up date happened in Poole on 2nd April, 1979. It is a really important moment in Kate Bush’s career. Where she embarked upon her only tour. Many might not know that Bush’s stage sound engineer Gordon Paterson developed the wireless headset microphone using a wire clothes hanger. Kate Bush was the first artist to use that. Also, in terms of this huge live spectacle selling out and extra dates being added. There are artists who experience this now. If you think about some of the huge live sets and concepts from female artists of today, you can trace many back to Kate Bush and The Tour of Life. I don’t think there has really been a substantial release from the tour in terms of recordings. EMI Records released the On Stage E.P. on 31st August, 1979. It featured Them Heavy People, Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake, James and the Cold Gun and L'Amour Looks Something Like You as recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on 13th May, 1979. An hour-long video of aspects of the concert was released as a home video, Live at Hammersmith Odeon, in 1981. The video featured twelve performances. In 1994, the video got a re-issue as a box-set, including a C.D. of the broadcast plus the video. Neither the E.P. or video make reference to The Tour of Life – a name used after the tour’s completion. Maybe better known as The Lionheart Tour or The Kate Bush Tour, I think there should be a cleaned up video of one of the sets. I think fans have tried to make HD videos of various sets, though there has been no official release. Many would love to get an album of The Tour of Life. As we are approaching the forty-fifth anniversary, I am thinking about that moment. When Kate Bush stepped onto the stage at Poole Arts Centre on 2nd April, 1979.

In terms of her band, we had Preston Heyman (drums), Paddy Bush (mandolin. various instruments and vocal harmonies), Del Palmer (bass), Brian Bath (electric guitar,-acoustic mandolin and vocal harmonies), Kevin McAlea (piano, keyboards, saxophone, 12-string guitar), Ben Barson (synthesizer and acoustic guitar), Al Murphy (electric guitar and whistles) and backing vocalists Liz Pearson and Glenys Groves. The Tour of Life did begin with tragedy. After that warm-up date in Poole, lighting director Bill Duffield fell through an open panel high on the lighting gallery when performing an ‘idiot check’ – looking around the venue to make sure there were no left belongings or anything that needed taking away. He would die of his injuries a week later. Mostly consisting of songs from 1978’s The Kick Inside and Lionheart (the two albums she released to that point), there was also some material from 1980’s Never for Ever – these amazing songs getting a premiere. Divided into three acts plus an encore of Oh England My Lionheart and Wuthering Heights, it was this epic set that saw Bush move from the U.K. into Europe – the first date there was 24th April at Konserthuset, Stockholm -, before coming back to London on 12th May. Aside from reduced sets on 24th, 26th, 28th and 29th April because Bush was suffering from a throat infection, she undertook these twenty-eight dates. In 2010, Graeme Thomson (who wrote the brilliant Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush) wrote a feature for The Guardian about The Tour of Life. The question remained as to why Bush decided not to tour again after 1979. Her 2014 residency saw her based in London:

“An independently creative woman in what was still a very male world, Bush battled against a widely held prejudice that she was little more than a novelty puppet whose strings were being pulled by some unseen svengali. As such, the tour came to be seen as a testing ground for her talent. It sold out well in advance and the BBC's early-evening magazine show Nationwide sent a film crew to cover the build-up to the opening show on 3 April at the Liverpool Empire.

Brian Southall, then head of artist development at EMI, was also there to "fly the flag" for the company. He recalls Bush being "terribly, terribly nervous, but the show was just extraordinary. We didn't quite know what we were letting ourselves in for, this extraordinary presentation of her music."

Few other artists had taken the pop concert into quite such daring territory; its only serious precedent was David Bowie's 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. There were 13 people on stage, 17 costume changes and 24 songs – primarily from her first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart – scattered over three distinctly theatrical acts. Her brother John declaimed poetry, Simon Drake performed illusions and magic tricks, and at the centre was a barefoot Bush, still only 20 years old.

For Them Heavy People she was a trench-coated, trilby-hatted gangster. On the heartbreaking Oh England, My Lionheart, she became a dying second world war fighter pilot, a flying jacket for a shroud and a Biggles helmet for a burial crown. Every song offered something new: she moved from Lolita, winking outrageously from behind the piano, to a top-hatted magician's apprentice ; from a soul siren singing of her "pussy queen" to a leather-clad refugee from West Side Story. The erotically charged denouement of James and the Cold Gun depicted her as a murderous gunslinger, spraying gunfire – actually ribbons of red satin – over the stage. There was no room for improvisation. The band was drilled to within an inch of its life and Bush never spoke to the audience, refusing to come out of character. "She was faultless," says set designer David Jackson. "I don't remember her ever fluffing a line or hitting a bum note on the piano."

As the tour rolled out around the UK the reviews were euphoric: Melody Maker called the Birmingham show "the most magnificent spectacle ever encountered in the world of rock", and most critics broadly concurred. Only NME remained sceptical, dismissing Bush as "condescending" and, with the kind of proud and rather wonderful perversity that once defined the British rock press, praising only the magician.

However, the mood of the tour had been struck a terrible blow early on, after a low-key warm-up concert on 2 April at Poole Arts Centre in Dorset. While scouring the darkened venue to ensure nothing had been forgotten, the lighting engineer Bill Duffield fell 20 feet through a cavity to his death. He was just 21. Bush was shattered, and contemplated cancelling the tour. "It was terrible for her," says Brian Bath. "Kate knew everyone by name, right down to the cleaner, she was so like that, she'd speak to everyone. It's something you wouldn't forget, but we just carried through it."

Owing to demand, the tour ended with three additional London concerts at Hammersmith Odeon, following 10 shows in mainland Europe. The first night became a fundraising benefit for Duffield's family and featured Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley, for whom Duffield had also worked. They joined Bush on several songs, ending with a spirited, if rather ramshackle rendition of the Beatles' Let It Be. The second night was filmed for the Live at Hammersmith Odeon video release, which most involved agree never quite captured the essence of the Tour of Life, and the way in which it rejected the orthodoxy of the typical rock concert while simultaneously suggesting a template for its future.

Looking back, the most striking aspect is how ahead of its time the Tour of Life seemed. With its projections, its pioneering use of the head-mic, its multimedia leanings and its creation of a narrative beyond the immediate context of the songs, it was a significant step forward in the evolution of live performance. On Hammer Horror, Bush even performed to playback, an unheard-of conceit at the time but nowadays almost the norm for any show with significant visual stimuli.

PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne

Bush seemed born to play live, but the third night at Hammersmith Odeon now appears to have been a final curtain call. Despite the very occasional cameo – her last live appearance was in 2002 with David Gilmour at the Royal Festival Hall, singing the part of the "Evil Doctor" on a version of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb – she hasn't toured or played a headline concert since. She came closest in the early 1990s, announcing at a fan convention her intention to play gigs in 1991; Bush is a longtime fan of The Muppet Show, and there were rumours she had contacted Jim Henson's company to discuss working with her on a new stage show.

However, the plans came to naught. Instead, her innate gift for performing was channelled into lavish videos and one patchy short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve.

The draining experience of conceiving, organising, rehearsing, performing and overseeing the Tour of Life may have outweighed any desire Bush had to repeat the experience. "I think it was just too hard," said the late Bob Mercer, the man who signed her to EMI in 1976. "I think she liked it but the equation didn't work. These are not conversations I recall ever having with her, but I went to a lot of the shows in Britain and in Europe and I could see at the end of the show that she was completely wiped out."

The mechanics of touring certainly didn't appeal. Bush's dislike of flying has been an active ingredient in her decision not to perform on a global stage, and having endured a promotional whirlwind throughout 1978 and 1979 she found that the lifestyle – airports, hotels, press calls, itineraries, entourages and precious little solitude – sabotaged the way she wanted to live her life and conduct her career.

Others suggest that Duffield's death weighed heavily; or that the tour, which was largely self-financed, was too expensive; or that, having shown her hand so impressively, she felt no need to do it again. "People said I couldn't gig, and I proved them wrong," she said. And as Brian Southall points out, "It did pose the problem: follow that”.

It is a shame that Bush did not tour again after 1979. Even though she disliked flying, I think maybe Del Palmer was less keen on flying. Bush found travelling tiring and was aware she was out of the studio and not creating new music. In 2020, Louder told the story of The Tour of Life. It is worth reading as they discuss the preparation involved in putting it together. It is clear that this was like no other live experience:

“But that was where any similarity with a standard rock show began and ended. On an ever-shifting stage of which only a central ramp was the sole constant physical factor, Bush was a human conductor’s baton leading the entire show. As the scenery shifted through the opening Moving, Room For The Life and Them Heavy People, so did the costumes – and the atmosphere.

“I saw our show as not just people on stage playing the music, but as a complete experience,” she later explained. “A lot of people would say ‘Pooah!’ but for me that’s what it was. Like a play.”

Indeed it was – or perhaps several plays in one. On Egypt, she emerged dressed as a seductive Cleopatra. On Strange Phenomena, she was a magician in top hat and tails, dancing with a pair of spacemen. Former single Hammer Horror replicated the video, with a black-clad Bush dancing with a sinister, black-masked figure behind her, while Oh England My Lionheart cast her as a World War II pilot.

Like every actor, she was surrounded by a cast of strong supporting characters. As well as dancers Stewart Avon Arnold and Gary Hurst, several songs featured magician Simon Drake, who performed his signature ‘floating cane’ trick during L’Amour Looks Something Like You. And then there was her brother, John Carder Bush, who recited his own poetry before The Kick Inside, Symphony In Blue (fused with elements of experimental composer Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie 1) and the inevitable encore, Wuthering Heights.

But at the heart of it all was Bush, whirling and waving, reaching for the sky one moment, swooping to the floor the next. Occasionally she looked like she was concentrating on what was coming next. More often, she looked lost in the moment.

“When I perform, that’s just something that happens in me,” she later said. “It just takes over, you know. It’s like suddenly feeling that you’ve leapt into another structure, almost like another person, and you just do it.”

Brian Southall was in the audience at the Liverpool Empire. Despite the fact he worked for EMI, he had no idea what to expect. “You just sat in the audience and went, ‘Wow’. It was extraordinary. Bands didn’t take a dancer onstage, they didn’t take a magician onstage, even Queen at their most lavish or Floyd at their most extravangant. They might have used tricks and props in videos, but not other people onstage.

“That was the most interesting thing about it – her handing it over to other people, who became the focus of attention. That’s something that never bothered Kate – that ‘I will be onstage all the time and you will only see me.’ It was like a concept album, except it was a concept show.”

Two and a quarter hours later, this ‘concept show’ was done and the real world intruded once again. If there was any sense of celebration afterwards, then the main attraction was keeping it to herself. “I remember sitting in the bar after the show at Liverpool and Kate wasn’t there. She was with Del,” says Southall. “She wasn’t an extrovert offstage. There were two people. There was that person you saw onstage, in that extraordinary performance, and then offstage there was this fairly shy, reserved person.”

“I need five months to prepare a show and build up my strength for it, and in those five months I can’t be writing new songs and I can’t be promoting the album,” she once said, the closest approximation to a reason she has ever offered. “The problem is time… and money.”

Not that there wasn’t a call for it, especially overseas. America was one of the few countries where she didn’t sell records, and the idea was floated that she play a show at New York’s prestigious Radio City Music Hall so that her US label, Capitol, could bring all the important media and retail contacts to the show to see what the fuss was about. “She’s not a great flier,” says Southall. “And she wouldn’t do it.”

Even more tantalising was an offer to support Fleetwood Mac in the US in late ’79. A high-profile slot opening for one of the most successful bands in the world would was an open goal for most artists. But Bush wasn’t most artists.

“Like most support acts, she was going to get half an hour, no dancers and no magicians, so just going up there with four musicians and banging out a couple of hits,” says Brian Southall. “And she wasn’t prepared to do that”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne

I am going to wrap up in a minute. Before that, this feature from Dreams of Orgonon looked inside The Tour of Life. The reaction and reception that afforded it was ecstatic. Proof that Kate Bush was a superstar. After two albums where she felt like a cog or not someone in control, this tour was an opportunity for her to add her stamp and create something that was meaningful and true to her:

“Every night of the show got stark raving reviews from the British press. Mike Davies of Melody Maker admitted going to see Bush “more as a pilgrim than a critic,” John Coldstream of the Daily Telegraph praised her “balance between the vivid and the simple,” and former Bush naysayer Sandy Robertson of Sounds announced she had “seen the light.” There were a couple reviews from more negative quarters, mostly notably by Charles Shaar Murray in NME, who opined that “her songwriting hints that it means more than it says and in fact it means less” and “her shrill self-satisfied whine is unmistakable.” One could smugly grin at Murray for panning a critically praised and influential tour in 1979, but why do that when he invented every sexist whinge about Lauren Mayberry more than three decades early? It’s a break from the orthodoxy of Bush’s tour reviews, and thus in keeping with Bush’s ethos.

An oft-commented on aspect of Bush’s shows in reviews was its synthesis of theater and rock. This is a glib and useless description are there were many “extravaganzas” in rock music at the time, but even among them the Tour of Life broke rank. Bush had more planned for her debut concerts than simply playing her new album — she was producing a stage show, a colorful spectacle with extensive costuming, mime routines, dancers, act breaks, poetry, and elaborate set design. “I think the most important thing about choosing the songs is that the whole show will be sustained,” said Bush later. “…the songs must adapt well visually: a show is visual as well as audial, so there must hopefully be a good blend of the two.” As per usual, Bush’s way of proving herself was unorthodox. While there were other especially theatrical rock acts performing at the time (glam was the world’s loudest costume drama, and prog acts like Genesis and Pink Floyd thrived on massive setpieces, and disco and ABBA were more theatrical than they were credited for), they were mostly playing their songs live with different arrangements and more props. Bush was staging a long play, with dance acts, characters, and spoken word segments. The concerts were made by small flourishes: “The Kick Inside” got a spoken prelude by John Carder Bush with a foreboding call-and-response (Kate hauntingly shouts “two in one coffin!”), “Saxophone Song” has a saxophonist projected onto the stage, and mime Simon Drake appears decked out in white make-up as Charlie Daniels’ devil channeled through Iggy Pop. A classic component of the shows is, bizarrely, from the “Room for the Life” performances, in which Bush is rolled around in a velvet cylindrical egg (get it? It’s a uterus). She eventually departs the egg and frolics with her band during the song’s outro, giving way to Bush’s greatest performance ever as she enthusiastically calls “a-woom-pa-woom-pa-woom-pa-woom-pa-woom-pa!”, elevating the worst song on her debut album to a highlight of her career.

It was a wild time for Bush. “It’s like I’m seeing God, man!” she said enthusiastically. When she’s onstage in a black-and-gold bodysuit and blasting her bandmates with a golden, it’s easy to believe she made that comment while looking in a mirror. It takes a shot of the divine (or perhaps a deal with it?) to stage a tour of this magnitude and success while dealing with such severe drama behind the scenes? It’s no wonder Bush stayed in the studio after this, recording closer to home all the time until she set up a studio in her backyard. Even when she finally returned to the stage thirty-five years later, she made sure her venue was in nearby London. 1979 was a different time. A Labour government was feasible, and Kate Bush was regularly on TV. She plays things close to the chest now, never retiring from music but often looking infuriatingly close to it. In a way, she retired in 1979. Kate Bush the media sensation was a spectacle of the Seventies. She cordoned herself off afterwards, becoming Kate Bush the Artist. Next week we’ll look at Never for Ever, the first post-tour Kate Bush album where she unleashes a flood of ideas into the world. What does one do after the Tour of Life? In Bush’s words: “everything”.

I do wonder whether there is going to be some retrospection and celebration ahead of the forty-fifth anniversary of The Tour of Life. Ahead of 2nd April and that first date, it would be amazing to see a video release or one of the sets coming to a streaming service or physical formats. A chance to hear something truly spectacular! There was nothing like this incredible live concept. Kate Bush’s studio songs given new life and scope. Even though people have discussed The Tour of Life and given it love through the years, there is opportunity to go further. As bootlegs of the show had poor audio, something that is cleaned-up and clear should come out. There are some okay-quality videos of the sets and various performances. Nothing really that is as sharp as it could be. Such an important moment in Kate Bush’s career, we do need to celebrate The Tour of Life. Such a remarkable, dizzying and spectacular thing, The Tour of Life still hold so much power…

AFTER forty-five. years

FEATURE: Bring Me Your Loves: The Magnificent St. Vincent at Ten

FEATURE:

 

 

Bring Me Your Loves

The Magnificent St. Vincent at Ten

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AN album that you…

PHOTO CREDIT: Winnie Au

should buy if you have not done so already, St. Vincent came out on 24th February, 2014. A wonderful eponymous album from the alias of Annie Clark, I am going to come to some interviews and reviews around a truly staggering album. One that I love very much. Featuring standout tracks such as Digital Witness and Birth in Reverse, it is one of the best albums of the 2010s. Her fourth studio album, I think that St. Vincent might be one of her best and most important. Released on 24th February, 2014 in the United Kingdom and a day later in the United States, it was produced by the legendary John Congleton. Highly critically acclaimed on its release, St. Vincent won a 2015 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album - making St. Vincent only the second female solo artist to win the award since its inception in 1991 (when it was awarded to Sinéad O'Connor). I am going to start off with an interview from The Guardian. They spotlighted an artist who admitted that she is always on the intersection of accessible and lunatic. We got an insight into her remarkable 2014 eponymous album:

“She named herself St Vincent after a line in a Nick Cave song that referred to the famous Manhattan hospital, St Vincent's, where Dylan Thomas died in 1953. (At one point in our conversation, she segues into a highly entertaining anecdote about how, a couple of years ago, terrified of what she assumed was a rat running from room to room in her apartment, she picked up a volume of Thomas's poetry and threw it at the creature, killing it on impact, "even though I don't like any cruelty being done to living things".)

Clark's fourth album goes right through the emotional wringer: one song, Psychopath, is about a date she once had with someone who is now a friend; other titles include Regret, Severed Crossed Fingers, Bring Me Your Loves and Every Tear Disappears. In person, though, she is less agonised than ethereal and sprite-like (last week, the online teen magazine Rookie posted a charming video of her showing off her mean soccer skills). "I have a sneaking suspicion that everybody has dark thoughts, but maybe doesn't say them," she says.

As she polishes off a plate of eggs and spinach, Clark, who lives in the East Village, says that she has just arrived home from Christmas with her family in Texas. "In New York, I have to repress the urge to call men 'sir' and women 'ma'am'." (She smiles, then shivers. "I don't want to be 'ma'am' to anyone.")

At school, Clark admits people may have found her "a little odd", but that she was not "a figure of derision. I was always trying to get my sister to do fun, mischievous adventures, like to tip over the porta-potties (portable lavatories) at school or steal candy". She liked drawing and at five made her first guitar from cardboard and rubber bands. She made up songs and listened to classic rock and Led Zeppelin. Music "obsessed" her.

"When I was nine, Nirvana's Nevermind came out and that was a sea change across the world," Clark recalls, sipping her cafe au lait. "One day everyone was in polo shirts, the next in flannel. Suddenly my heroes were not C+C Music Factory, it was Kurt Cobain." She wonders, given how fragmented music distribution is now, and the proliferation of so much, so fast by the internet, whether something as culture-shifting as Nirvana could have the same profound and prolonged impact today.

Clark always wanted to be a solo artist. "My uncle told me when I was a teenager that if you want to be a person with confidence just pretend you are a person with confidence and eventually you will have confidence, so I did that. There's a fair amount of self-delusion involved. I never envisioned a Plan B. I'm almost immune to the idea of failure; it never occurred to me." She remains wary of working with others, though made an exception to collaborate last year with David Byrne on the much-praised album Love This Giant and subsequent tour.

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With so many complex layers of instrumentation in her songs, is she a perfectionist? "There's a difference between perfection and being detail-oriented. Perfection is everything on time, in tune, not a hair out of place. That's vanilla. Detail-oriented is different: some songs are puzzles sonically. The producer and I slightly recontextualise sounds. We manipulate guitar sounds to sound like [other] instruments.

"I try to live at the intersection of accessible and lunatic. As far out as David Byrne and I go, we counterbalance that with a memorable melody or something for people to latch on to. I try not to put songs into ill-fitting clothes." And does her labyrinthine style owe anything to a love of classical music? "Stravinsky is my all-time favourite, his shit bangs," she assents heartily. "Like heavy metal and hip-hop, it grooves really hard."

She insists that however fraught her songs sound they are in fact "quite literal." Rattlesnake, on the new album, is about a walk she took by herself on a friend's ranch in west Texas. "It was a beautiful day and no one was around, so I thought, 'I'm going to take all my clothes off to fully experience this'. I was having this communion with nature when I saw this rattlesnake. I took off running and when I got home had a shot of tequila."

Another song, Huey Newton, named after the co-founder of the Black Panther party, relates what happened after she took a sedative to relieve jetlag while on tour in Helsinki. "If you take one and go to sleep, you sleep for 12 hours. If you take one and don't fall asleep, you're high. It's bananas. You're in that high state between sleepfulness and wakefulness. I had this hallucination that Huey Newton was in the room with me. We didn't talk about the Black Panther party. We just kind of communicated. We understood each other. I was as high as a kite."

She says she has been listening to Beyoncé's latest album. "What I love about it is that she's the biggest star in the pop world, where there is a lot of focus on youth, especially for the hot new female-whatever. And here is Beyoncé singing about basically loving her husband, having a baby and being a fabulous woman. She didn't come pouting with a lollipop and pigtails and be something she's not. I think that's very helpful for people to see."

Clark thinks "being a feminist by action speaks louder than arguing about semantics. Being a strong woman in the world is a feminist act. It's impossible to be a woman and not see misogyny, but I don't walk through life feeling like a victim. I've been very lucky. The strongest thing a woman can do is be successful, powerful and excel at whatever they choose to excel at."

While her songs are drenched in the trials of love and relationships, Clark is single. "I live an absolutely unconventional life where I travel 10 months a year, so it's not always the easiest to hold a relationship together. I didn't ever imagine my wedding day. Someday I'd like to have kids, but I don't have that burning desire to."

Abruptly, eggs and spinach polished off, she removes the beanie to reveal a surprising large, tangled mass of grey hair, totally different to her usual brunette style. She says was inspired by old footage of David Bowie "who had tried to dye his hair blond but it had gone orange and was awesome", and also by a blonde contestant on the last series of TV show The Bachelor, in which a group of women compete for a man's romantic attention. One of the women had one arm "and was understandably horrified to learn that as part of their date she had to jump off the side of the building". It's comforting to know that Clark, cool as she is, can be caught in the headlights of trashy reality TV just like the rest of us”.

Prior to getting to some reviews of the astonishing St. Vincent, I want to include a Brooklyn interview from July 2014. Two years after her collaborative album with David Byrne, Love This Giant, and three years after her solo album, Strange Mercy, St. Vincent was a big step forward. Her most confident and compelling work to date:

“Clark began writing the songs that would comprise St. Vincent almost immediately after the tour for Love This Giant—her 2012 collaboration with David Byrne—ended. “I got a good night’s sleep and laid around on the couch, and then the next day I was writing again,” she says. “I didn’t have a big plan. I started just taking things out of my little idea-chest and without any judgment going, ‘Oh, what’s this? What’s this? Can these go together?’ and just writing pretty furiously.”

Clark doesn’t separate well from the work—it sustains her; it’s a source of nourishment—and she tells me that she spent her first few weeks back trying to ease into a more banal existence by “partying—just going crazy to feel anything.” The transition was challenging. “I was going a little crazy because I didn’t have the adrenaline and release of a show every night,” she says. “I’ve spent my whole adult life on the road, and in my mind I thought that someday I’d want to take a big break. But what I realized is that’s not who I am at all. I love working. I love being creative. I think I’ve just made peace with the idea that there’s not some other way I ought to be living.”

If Clark is an inscrutable presence, her songs, at least, offer a little more insight. “I think you can’t write about things you don’t know, or don’t [at least] know on some kind of intuitive, emotional level,” she says. For St. Vincent, Clark says she mined her most formative relationships for fodder— “I was looking around, looking at my friends and my family and myself, and being like, ‘What are we doing?’”—but her presence in these songs is still tough, self-assured, and nearly anonymous. If anything, Clark’s reluctance to perform a certain kind of intimacy—to sound vulnerable, to equate emotion with weakness—is a subtle condemnation of our expectations of her.

PHOTO CREDIT: Winnie Au

Still, there are glimpses of a very raw place. “I Prefer Your Love,” a stark, loping ballad in which Clark insists “All the good in me is because of you,” was written shortly after her mother recovered from some unnamed but grave illness. Even now, listening to Clark talk about it, I can hear the tiniest shift in her voice, a crack—then a hardening, a recomposition. “She’s doing great now, but she almost died, which was the scariest thing ever,” she says.

Clark was born in Tulsa but raised in Dallas—her parents split when she was young and her mom remarried; with all the attending step- and half-siblings, she grew up as one of nine children—and she still spends some of her downtime in Texas. “My mom is a really sweet person to bring out [on tour] because she thinks everything is great. I’ll come into a hotel room or a city and be like, ‘Ugh, I’ve been here seven times and it’s cool, but I’m gonna take a nap.’ And she’ll go and find the smallest thing that she just thinks is so interesting and fascinating,” she says. “You know, I’ll never forget being on the Byrne tour and bringing her along to Louisville. We were walking downtown, which is fine and cute, and she saw this green painted wall, and she was like, ‘That is the most beautiful color.’ And I was just like, ‘Oh my god, I wish I had your brain.’ I never would have noticed that in a million years.”

Her mother’s illness is present on St. Vincent, if never explicitly addressed. “I started writing this record right after the coast was clear, so in that way I was really checked in with myself and my senses of empathy and compassion,” Clark says. “I don’t mean it arrogantly, but the music part is very easy for me. I could write music all day, but having a song where it feels like a ghost is walking through the room…” She pauses. “I sang it in one take and just cried a lot and then it was done. I wasn’t in such dire straits, by any means, making this record. But I wanted to make sure everything had heart. Making music’s easy. I could come up with some crazy arrangement for you in five minutes, but that doesn’t make a song. A song is something else.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Winnie Au

We talk for a while about aspirational jams, all the songs and genres (gangsta rap, arena rock, commercial country) that are rarely relatable in a literal way but become anthems nonetheless. By the time we get to Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded”— “Is that a pedophile song?” Clark asks—we’re both snickering. “I’ve never felt like that,” she says. “I’ve never felt that whole rocky strut. I can’t even meet you halfway. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Or even the stuff that’s like, ‘We’ll be together forever!’ I’m like, ‘Really? You won’t! That’s not how life works. I hate to break it to you and I wish you all the best, but—you know what I mean?’”

Clark, for her part, isn’t one to indulge romantic fantasies, and she’s adopted a similarly hard line about her career. “If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in this position, you better play till your hands bleed and just give it all you have,” she says. Ultimately, work is the only thing she’s willing to submit to, and she’s made her peace with that. “It’s so liberating to be in a place where you don’t really give a fuck,” she says. “Where you can look back and say, ok, my instincts got me to here, so why in the world would I second-guess my instincts now?”.

I am going to start off with a short review from Rolling Stone.. They were full of praise for the songwriting brilliance of Annie Clark and the potency of St. Vincent. No doubt one of the very best albums of 2014, I would advise anyone who has not heard it to go and listen to it now. St. Vincent is one of the greatest artists of her generation:

“Annie Clark (a.k.a. St. Vincent) isn’t just a great songwriter. She’s a great song dissector, breaking down pop’s essential rhythmic, melodic and emotional components, retooling every impulse. No wonder her fourth album has a lushly distracted jam where she and a boy smash up and snort a hunk of the Berlin Wall (“Prince Johnny”) – finding new uses for old structures is kind of her thing.

St. Vincent is her tightest, tensest, best set of songs to date, with wry, twisty beats pushing her lovably ornery melodies toward grueling revelations. On the spring-grooved “Rattlesnake,” a clothes-free walk turns dangerous; the poetic, personal “Huey Newton,” named after the assassinated Black Panther, starts out shyly and explodes into mordant sludge rock; “Psychopath” is where her Kate Bush side and her David Byrne side (see their 2012 collaboration, Love This Giant) come together for a white-knuckled road anthem. Two live drummers – Homer Steinweiss of Brooklyn funk troupe the Dap-Kings and Midlake’s McKenzie Smith – help give the music a propulsive snap that plays perfectly off Clark’s chunky guitar noise. This album is haunted by isolation, dark hungers, regret and even death. But the playful way these songs contort makes pain feel like a party”.

Prior to coming to a feature from The Guardian – who named St. Vincent as the best album of 2014 -, I will bring in an extensive review from Pitchfork. It is amazing though not surprising reading all the positive words about St. Vincent. I am surprised that there has not been a tenth anniversary reissue of a hugely important and impressive work. It is one that everyone needs to hear:

“Annie Clark's bold and almost jarringly confident fourth record, St. Vincent, does not sound like it was recorded here on Earth. Its songs sprout with their own strange, squiggly lifeforms and are governed by unfamiliar laws of gravity. Check out the first one, "Rattlesnake", a song that's bare, Kraftwerky, and full of imagery that is somehow both Edenic and post-apocalyptic. Clark glances around: "Am I the only one in the only world?" She spots the title creature, gasps, and then comes this song's idea of a chorus, like melodic gagging, or distress expressed in an 8-bit video game: "AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH AHH AHH/ AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH AHH AHH." You often get the sense in a St. Vincent song that Clark has touched down on a desolate, previously unexplored planet without an air supply and is showing off the fact that—for the moment at least—she can still breathe.

Given the fangs she bares on St. Vincent, it seems like Clark could take that snake, easily. Over the course of four albums, many early-career guest spots, and a 2012 collaboration with David Byrne, Clark has been focusing her vision and sharpening her music's edges; were it not for Google image search, it would be easy to convince yourself that you merely dreamed those days when she wore butterfly wings with Sufjan Stevens and blithely flowing robes with the Polyphonic Spree. With each release, Clark sounds less like anybody but herself, and more forcefully embraces a darkness that was quietly stirring in even her earliest songs. "You don't mean that, say you're sorry," she chimed in a creepy, Bride of Chucky voice on her still-magnificent debut single, "Now, Now". But the smirking overlord that stares out from the cover of St. Vincent does not apologize, not for any of the unpleasantries she utters through gritted teeth, nor the much nastier things she blurts out her fingers.

St. Vincent continues Clark's run as one of the past decade's most distinct and innovative guitarists, though she's never one to showboat. Her harmonic-filled style bears the influence of jazz (she picked up a lot of her signature tricks from her uncle, the jazz guitarist Tuck Andress) and prog rock, two genres known to embrace sprawl. But Clark's freak-outs are tidy, modular and architecturally compact—like King Crimson rewritten by Le Corbusier. Even at its most spazzy, there's always something efficient about St. Vincent. The stark, spring-wound single "Birth in Reverse" doesn't waste a second on superfluous sounds, and the same goes for the corrosive crunch of "Regret", which sounds like a classic rock song pared down to its most essential elements. All the negative space in that last one makes Clark's riffs hit that much harder, especially when—in one of the most thrilling moments on the album—a solo strikes down out of nowhere like a cartoon lightning bolt.

Critics of St. Vincent call her pretentious. Fair enough—these are the sorts of songs that dare take themselves seriously and tack on easy suffixes like "in America" when they want to let you know they are Making a Statement. But there's an under-appreciated playfulness about Clark's music that balances this out. I can't think of much contemporary guitar-based music that has this much fun with texture—the rubbery whiplash percussion on "Prince Johnny", the stretched-taffy vocals on "Bring Me Your Loves", the gleefully synthetic-on-purpose sheen of "Digital Witness". At best, St. Vincent has a mischievous curiosity about texture (and explosions) that feels almost childlike. Recently my 8 year-old cousin asked me, with a wicked twinkle in his eye, if I'd ever microwaved a banana. I'm terrified to try, but I'm sure whatever happens—splattering, abrupt, radioactive—sounds exactly like an Annie Clark guitar solo.

"What's the point in even sleeping/ If I can't show, if you can't see me?" Clark asks on the single "Digital Witness", a rather on-the-nose critique of our hyper-transparent, Instagram-your-every-meal culture. It's tempting to label St. Vincent Clark's anti-internet album, but that wouldn't be quite right—it knows too well what a life mediated through screens feels and sounds like to be sending it up entirely. (In fact, digital life may have influenced her concise, anti-jam style: "I have some restless ears, and I now have a fractured attention span because I'm like living in the modern world," she said in a recent interview. "So I'm like, how do I make this sound interesting to myself?") "Huey Newton" is maybe one of the best songs ever written about falling down a late-night, vaguely depressive internet k-hole ("Pleasure dot loathing dot Huey dot Newton/ Oh, it was a lonely, lonely winter"); seemingly stream-of-conscious references to Black Panthers, Byzantine architecture, and the Heaven's Gate cult flicker by like puzzlingly connected Wikipedia pages. The common threads emerge if you look closely. From the self-coronated Prince Johnny to the "near-future cult leader" Clark has fashioned herself on the album cover, there's a fascination with power, faith, and mind-control running through these songs—learning how to sell yourself your own lines well enough to sell them back to other people, too.

"I was reading Miles Davis' biography," Clark says of her Beyoncé-like decision to self-title a record this late in her career, "and he says that the hardest thing for a musician to do is sound like yourself." In that sense, it's a perfect title. St. Vincent is the Platonic ideal of a St. Vincent record, executing with perfect poise everything we already know she can do. But this also is why it falls just short of being her best. That honor still goes to Strange Mercy, which had a capacity to surprise and defy expectations in a way that this record does not. Strange Mercy was easier to connect to emotionally ("If I ever meet the dirty police man who roughed you up," she cooed on the title track, a line that was as jarring for its tenderness as it was for its violence) and gave Clark a little more room to stretch her legs in the grooves. The pixelated shredding on "Huey Newton" and "Regret" are great, but nothing here feels as unhinged as the borealis chaos of at the end of "Northern Lights" or the razor-sharp coda of "Surgeon". The Bowie-esque metamorphosis suggested by the cover image doesn’t mean she’s reinvented her sound. Of course it's not the worst problem for an artist to have, but Clark's become so good at being St. Vincent that, on future releases, she risks boxing herself in. You hope the next album finds her coloring outside the lines she's so meticulously drawn for herself.

Still, it’s hard to ask too much more from an album that boasts melodies as lovely as  "Prince Johnny" and "Severed Crossed Fingers". That last one is the best closing song on a St. Vincent album yet—a self-deprecating, slow-motion parade of a ballad that sounds like if Lorrie Moore had written the non-existent lyrics to “Here Come the Warm Jets”. (This song and “Birth in Reverse” both take their wry titles from Moore’s great short story collection Birds of America.) It’s a moment of vulnerability and bleak hope rounding out Clark’s hardest, tightest, and most confident record to date—a vaguely ominous promise of better days ahead. "We’ll be heroes on every bar stool," she vows, sounding so sure of herself that you’re liable to follow her to whatever planet she’s headed”.

At the end of 2014, The Guardian crowned St. Vincent as the best album of the year. With many of her fans wondering if there will be a follow-up to 2021’s Daddy’s Home, I would urge people to check out, perhaps, her finest work. An eponymous album that has no weak moments. St. Vincent is worthy of every impassioned review that it has received:

“There’s a sense in which Annie Clark’s career to date feels like a process of refinement, gradually paring down the clutter of fascinating ideas found on her early albums until she arrived at the music on St Vincent: self-titled, she claimed, after reading a quote from Miles Davis in which he said the hardest thing to sound like was yourself.

There’s a certain swagger about that explanation. Actually, there was a certain swagger about everything Annie Clark did in 2014: the album’s cover, on which she stared impassively while seated on what looked like a throne; the interviews in which, a discombobulated Guardian correspondent noted, she engaged in “flirtation as a kind of deliberate power-play”; her Twitter-trending choreographed appearance on Saturday Night Live; the clip on teen website Rookie where she demonstrated her “sweet soccer moves” while wearing a ridiculous pair of shoes. It would have been a bit annoying if she hadn’t had a point, but her confidence didn’t seem misplaced: on St Vincent, Annie Clark sounded suspiciously like an artist reaching the top of her game, capable of doing it all. She could write beautiful, crystalline melodies – the woozy swoon of I Prefer Your Love, Prince Johnny’s astonishing octave-leaping chorus, the warped power ballad Severed Crossed Fingers – then arrange them in a way that made them sound more astonishing still.

From Digital Witness’s claustrophobic electronic funk of to the stutter and buzz of Bring Me Your Loves, the sound of St Vincent owed nothing to rock cliches, and didn’t bother with the comfort blanket of familiarity: it never sounded like Clarke was trying to sound like someone else, which is a rare thing in rock music these days. She could play guitar in a way that made you gawp, shoehorning tricksy prog-rock runs, the angular influence of out-there jazz and splurges of noise into Rattlesnake and Birth in Reverse, but there was no showboating about her solos: not a moment of St Vincent felt self-indulgent or superfluous.

Similarly, it was smart enough to wear its intelligence lightly: however many intriguing sonic ideas it bore, however meticulous it all sounded, however many references to Seurat or Hagia Sophia the lyrics dropped, however many allusions to the short stories of Lorrie Moore the titles carried, St Vincent never sounded like a dry scientific experiment or a smartarse intellectual exercise. Clarke’s lyrics pack a genuine emotional punch. She’s brilliant on human beings’ increasingly complex and fraught relationship with social media (“pleasure dot loathing” as she puts it on Huey Newton), and capable of making a song as oblique as Prince Johnny – during which you’re never really sure if the protagonist is a man or a woman, a lover or an errant friend – remarkably moving.

If you saw Annie Clark perform the latter song live this year, or watched her performance of it on Letterman, you’ll have seen her end the performance with a bizarre, heavily stylised piece of choreography. She plays the kind of guitar solo that you suspect Robert Fripp would approve of, then stagily crumples to the floor, before very slowly rolling down a flight of stairs and ending up in an inverted crucifix position. It’s simultaneously ridiculous and hypnotising: it seems to have come from a completely different, more intriguing world to most rock music in 2014. You could say the same thing about the album the track’s taken from”.

On 24th February, we will mark ten years of an utterly wonderful album. St. Vincent reached twelve in the U.S. and twenty-one in the U.K. It has lost none of its brilliance and genius after a decade. Speaking to Uncut in 2015, St. Vincent discussed her eponymous album:

“This is a more primary colour record than I've done in the past. It's generally a bit brighter. It was less emotionally fraught than when I was writing Strange Mercy. There's an exuberance in Love This Giant, and maybe some of that carried on into this record. It's entertainment. It's fun… I did a lot of sketching for St Vincent in GarageBand before going into the studio. The process of actually recording it was less about discovery and putting the Frankenstein's monster together, and a bit more about execution. There were a lot of things that had already been decided long before I walked into the studio. It was a different experience than Strange Mercy or Actor. Recording took about six months all in, around May 2013. John and I usually work every day and take maybe one day off every ten or twelve days”.

On its tenth anniversary, I know there will be a lot of fresh attention on St. Vincent’s eponymous album. A masterful work from one of music’s true originals, I am glad I have had opportunity to revisit such a wonderful album. There are truly no other albums quite like…

THE phenomenal St. Vincent.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Yasmin Hass

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Yasmin Hass

_________

THIS is a truly wonderful artist….

that everyone needs to hear! Yasmin Hass is someone I only recently discovered, though she is somebody I am now very much invested in. Born in Melbourne, Yasmin Hass-Sinclair was raised in London by her German mother and Jamaican father. The stunning Yasmin Hass is influenced by powerful, beautiful and eclectic sounds she was experiencing growing up. From Luther Vandross and Angie Stone to Eva Cassidy and Leonard Cohen, you can feel shades and elements of them in her musical blood and DNA. With a unique sound, Hass also has real affection in the important artists that she was exposed to when she was younger. With her debut E.P., Worst of Me, recently out, there are a lot of new eyes and ears on this phenomenal artist. I am going to get to some interviews with this very special artist. I want to head back to August. That is when oyuna interviewed an artist that, once heard, can never be forgotten:

“You have a rich cultural background. Do you draw upon this in your songwriting, and, if so, how?

It‘s definitely influenced my music taste and songwriting. For me it’s important I draw on the eclectic genres I listened to growing up, weaving them into one another, to hopefully create my own sound. As culturally, the music from both sides of my background are quite different, but I think they compliment each other in the best ways.

What are your "desert island discs" (pick 3, and tell us how they've influenced your life / music / style and why!)

Resolution - by Matt Corby: I listened to it with two of my best friends pretty much on repeat for 2 hours, when we were on holiday. After that, anytime I needed to escape on my own and not be able to physically, I’d play that song on repeat for a while.

Something’s Coming - West Side Story: Stephen Sondheim is my favourite lyricist. This song represents that thrilling feeling, when you know something is about to change in your life for the better, or you’re on the brink of something creatively/personally that you know has exciting potential.

Tonight - West Side Story: It has to be from West Side Story twice for me. This is one of my favourite love songs of all time!

What inspired your hit song, “Goodbye”, which has over 1MM streams?

I wrote Goodbye at a time when I knew I needed to end a relationship, as it was no longer serving either of us in the way that it should’ve been, or had been in the beginning. So eventually I had to face the confrontation I’d been avoiding and set a boundary, by putting myself first, whilst knowing I was nervous of the change it would bring.

We know you take a hand in your own creative direction, eg. your album covers and photoshoots. As a model, you've been on many, and as a singer you can now have more of a voice in your own direction. Tell us about what inspires you visually, during this process?

It can be anything from overhearing a conversation on the tube one morning, from a painting in a gallery, a character in a book, or a lightbulb moment as I’m drifting off to sleep. Film and theatre I also find helpful to spark something visually inspiring. And then of course, Pinterest. Slightly addicted to pinning things I find!

How is your "on stage" style different from your everyday style? Or is it not?

To be honest I haven’t quite figured out my style on stage yet. I go with how I’m feeling on the day, but so far it’s been very relaxed and similar to my day to day wear. But I definitely want to experiment some more, as I love fashion.

What artists have personally influenced you recently? List some of your favourites, and why?

Paolo Nutini’s a big inspiration of mine. I absolutely love everything about his music. And Leif Vollebekk’s another one. His melody’s and piano playing I could listen to for hours.

Yasmin wrapped in a SEREN Throw in pumpkin.

When do you feel most authentically yourself?

Definitely when I’m making music. It forces me to think about my truths and what I have/want to say”.

I am going to get to a couple of recent feature/interviews around Yasmin Hass. DIY spoke with Yasmin Hass back in November. Speaking with an artist who recently signed to the Cool Online label, they were intrigued by as-yet-unreleased E.P., Worst of Me. It was fascinating discovering more about Hass’ early music memories and some of her influences:

“Yasmin Hass isn’t a complete newbie to the industry, having put out a run of singles between 2021 and 2022. Feeling frustrated by her then-management’s push to pigeonhole her into a stereotypical R&B box, she took some time off releasing before returning in stunning fashion with instant earworm ‘Cleo’. Drawing on childhood influences as diverse as Nina Simone, Nick Cave, and musical theatre (not to mention her family connections to gospel and Bob Marley), she’s primed to enter a new era with the arrival of her forthcoming debut EP ‘Worst Of Me’ - a project which encompasses indie pop, soulful lyricism and electronic flourishes to examine the insecurities and uncertainties of your early twenties. We caught up with Yasmin ahead of its release to find out more…

What's your earliest musical memory?

Listening to my Mum practicing singing at the piano, then my sister and I always joining in. We’d request a Disney song every time, without fail.

What's the first song you developed an obsession for, and why?

‘Colours of the Wind’ from Pocahontas. I loved everything about the lyrics and melody. When I was younger I wouldn’t have thought about the message it portrays, but it is such an important one.

You'll be putting out your debut EP 'Worst Of Me' via the soon-to-be-announced label Cool Online. Can you tell us a bit more about the recording process?

Ah, I’ve had such a fun time recording this EP! I wrote both ‘Cleo’ and ‘Alexander’ with Ed Thomas (Jorja Smith, Stormzy), Ross MacDonald (The 1975) and Ed Allen. ‘Cleo’ was our first session together and it’s inspired by one of my best friends, who I grew up with. I debriefed them on what was going on in my life, which involved me feeling quite stuck in London at the time and Cleo’s decision to move to Lisbon after a break up. Then we got down to writing it! Oh, and a pizza break was crucial before I started recording the vocals.

Alexander’ was a similar process and I remember thinking about early on in a relationship, when you start to trust one another enough to begin unveiling parts of yourself you’re scared of showing. Then I actually wrote ‘Maybe’ with Jonah Summerfield (Dylan Fraser, Holly Humberstone) before lockdown. I’d come out of a relationship and was so unsure on what I wanted, as my ex had come crawling back a few months later (a classic), so I decided to write the second half of the song from his perspective. And when Ross produced it, it took on this new energy that I just loved.

You've got familial connections to Australia, London, Jamaica, and Germany. How do you think these different cultures and identities inform your work?

Being born into these cultures and backgrounds means I’m lucky enough to have been influenced by so many different musical styles growing up. I think this is why I found it challenging at first, in my musical journey, figuring out what kind of music I wanted to create in terms of genre, as I’m influenced by so many. But I’ve realised I can use it to my advantage, as one's artist project doesn’t have to be as black and white as sometimes I feel the industry wants it to be. As long as I’m proud of what I’ve written, that’s enough. I can have a level of playfulness and fluidity in my music, which I think only adds to the allure.

Are there any other artists breaking through at the moment that you take inspiration from?

Olivia Dean! I love her voice and music so much. During lockdown she saved my sister and me - we’d have her music on repeat. I also love that she’s constantly smiling on her social media, it’s so refreshing”.

I am going to end with a feature from CLASH. They saluted Yasmin Hass as a next wave artist who is going to have a long future. With Worst of Me out in the world, it is a very exciting time for the Australian-born artist. If you have not heard her music yet then do make sure that you check her out:

“If there’s an element of theatre in new EP ‘Worst Of Me’, she argues, then that’s all the better. She’s continually absorbing new influences, continually learning, and sharpening her skills. “I feel so lucky to live in London, to be around so many different cultures, people, food, art. The more I explore, the more I immerse myself, the more it rubs off, in the best way. Lots of my lyrics I’ve written on the tube, or walking to the studio, I seem to love writing on the move. My surroundings and this city definitely inspire me and act as a catalyst to my ideas.”

Sitting down with not one but two powerhouse producers, the sessions behind the EP hinged on pure enjoyment. Taking it in her stride, Ross MacDonald and Ed Thomas augmented her vision, but never interfered. “We’d write, chat for ages and mess around with different ideas. They made me feel incredibly comfortable and it’s always such a joy to bounce ideas back and forth. I love how collaborative our sessions are and there’s always so much to learn from the both of them.

With her new EP out now, most artists could be excused from putting themselves through the creative process for a while. Not so with Yasmin Hass, however – more work is in the pipeline, including live shows and a follow-up EP. “There’s a second EP on its way,” she gushes, “with the first single out in March. I’ve written so much music over the years, which is finally coming out. I’m so excited to share it! It’s been such a humbling experience to see my music being streamed and I’m grateful to all of my listeners, thank you for the support. Hopefully I’ll see you all at my first headline show in June! Can’t wait”.

Go and spend some time with the brilliant music of Yasmin Hass. I am sure there will be an album coming out in the next year or two. If you are new to her music, then it is a perfect time to dive into the Worst of Me E.P. I hope that there are tour dates later in the year, as I would love to catch her in London. There is no doubt that Yasmin Hass is one to watch. A phenomenal talent that is going to very far, make sure that her music…

IS in your ears.

_________

Follow Yasmin Hass

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/yasminhasss/reels/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/yasminhasss

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1ngeTsUw6Wo2W4TTgTSCcC?si=TvRjrO-qTCOZJYWazyo9Xg

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvAZICeK_lsbfDLxhfYvC1w

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/yasminhasss/

FEATURE: When I'm Home, Everything Seems to Be Right: The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night at Sixty, and a Desire for a New Documentary or Biopic

FEATURE:

 

 

When I'm Home, Everything Seems to Be Right

IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles (left to right: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon) in a scene from 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night (directed by Richard Lester)/PHOTO CREDIT: United Artists/Getty Images

The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night at Sixty, and a Desire for a New Documentary or Biopic

_________

THERE has recently been….

IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles posed in a portrait on a black backdrop in January 1964/PHOTO CREDIT: John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

a lot of talk about and remembrance of The Beatles arriving in America for the first time and them playing for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show. That first appearance happened on 9th February, 1964. Sixty years of a T.V. performance that changed popular culture and made history. Maybe gaining more popularity in the U.S. sooner – in the sense Beatlemania seemed to have started with the band’s first visit to the country – than here in the U.K., when they arrived back from the U.S. in February 1964, Beatlemania firmly was waiting for them at the airport. They could not escape the screams and fame. Their lives would never be the same again. From then, George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney could not perform live or go anywhere without there being this huge roar and attention. Maybe not all bad, I wanted to think and cast back to 1964. It is a year when they released the film and album, A Hard Day’s Night. I am know there will be celebrations around the sixtieth anniversary. The album came out on 26th June, 1964 in the U.S. (10th July in the U.K.); the film on 6th July. Of course, one would hope they’ll be screenings of the film in cinemas. As this studio album has not been reissued and given the Giles Martin treatment – where we get demos and outtakes -, I hope that this will be the next project. I wonder whether anyone has written a book about The Beatles’ 1964. Paul McCartney’s photobook gives first-hand insight into the whirlwind year. It really was a storm! Like nothing we have ever seen and will never see again, The Beatles were world-famous and the most sought-after band in the world less than a year after their amazing debut album, Please Please Me, was released. I often feel like the title track from A Hard Day’s Night was John Lennon and Paul McCartney reacting to their lives. The fact they have been working like dogs and wanted to sleep like logs – yet the schedule and fame will never allow that! The opening credits and that famous scene from the film is as close to their real life as imaginable.

The band running through the streets of London and being chased by hordes of fans. Having to hide and disguise themselves so they are not caught and, potentially, piled-on by thousands of screaming girls and women! I am going to come onto thoughts about the sixtieth anniversary of The Beatles arriving in America, conquering the globe, releasing a successful album and film of the same name – and plenty more besides! Has there been a recent documentary about this time and new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr? It is amazing to think that this band that put out their first album in 1963, by the following year, had risen to levels not seen before. This astonishing success. In 2014, USA Today talked about the relevance and freshness of The Beatles’ first feature film, A Hard Day’s Night, fifty years later:

“Hard Day's Night is that rare film that brilliantly captures a specific phenomenon and is also timeless.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were much more than mods, rockers or mockers. Audiences first met the film-star Beatles in A Hard Day's Night in 1964 as they mischievously navigated the insanity of screaming fans, neurotic producers and voracious press. From the first frame, who didn't yearn to be immersed in their madcap world eight days a week?

"You don't just want to watch it; you want to be in it," says director Steven Soderbergh, who co-wrote Getting Away With It with Hard Day's Night director Richard Lester. "You want to be one of them. You want to climb inside of it and be surrounded by that kind of energy."

From all accounts, the filmed ebullience of the four lads from Liverpool captured their real-life charisma.

"That specific kind of exuberance is very difficult, if not impossible, to fake," Soderbergh says. He ought to know: He says his 1998 fast-paced Out of Sight was inspired by it.

The film's blend of indelibly engaging Beatles music, wacky shenanigans and anarchic humor made it thoroughly infectious.

Nothing like the films of Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard or other music stars before The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night was so witty, stylish and joyously unrestrained that it influenced a spate of later comedies and created a template for contemporary music videos. Its style of rapid pacing, zig-zag cutting and playful one-liners remains inventive today.

"It's still fresh because it was done with so much energy," says Giles Martin, who produced Paul McCartney's 2013 album New and collaborated with his father, longtime Beatles producer George Martin, on the soundscape of Love, the Cirque du Soleil show that incorporates Beatles music. "They were parodying themselves in a tongue-in-cheek way. They had a huge ability to be irreverent and flippant, but with meaning."

Lester conveyed the magic and mystery of a rare phenomenon when he re-created what it was like to be one of the Fab Four at that seminal moment.

"It was sort of happenstance, the planets lining up with the perfect filmmaker to capture it," Soderbergh says. "That's really what's happening: He's capturing something as opposed to staging it."

As the black-and-white film celebrates its 50th anniversary with Criterion Collection's release of the Blu-Ray and DVD versions, and opens for a special summer engagement starting Friday at more than 100 theaters nationwide, it's an optimum time to examine the massive cinematic contribution of The Beatles and the filmmakers involved in A Hard Day's Night.

The quartet began working on the film just a month after their legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. The movie opened on July 6, 1964.

Lester let The Beatles' youthful irreverence shine through and raucously communicated the whirlwind of being the world's biggest musical stars.

Not only was it massively entertaining and brilliantly directed, the movie hugely expanded The Beatles' fan base in the United States and spread across the universe in a big way.

"At the time the film was contracted, The Beatles had not yet broken America," says biographer Mark Lewisohn, who wrote Tune In: The Beatles: All these Years. "It was made with the hope that it might help their popularity in America, but it was made pretty much on their strength in Britain. ... It was made to amuse but was also made as a vehicle for a pop group.

"Those kinds of films hadn't always been comedies. They'd been light with maybe funny moments, or attempts to be funny. It was a complete send-up of all the pop musicals before. The jukebox musical was the genre they were mining. And they just completely revolutionized it."

Lester intrinsically understood what an extraordinary phenomenon he was depicting.

"The Beatles knew Lester and he knew them," Soderbergh says. "They roped in (screenwriter) Alun Owen, who had an incredible ear for the kind of one-liners they were pretty good at coming up with on their own. Lester has such a great visual sense of humor and was able to put visual jokes on top of the verbal jokes."

Lester has said there was never any discussion about an alternative way of approaching the film.

"They were almost entirely asked to do what they normally did: to go to a club, to go to a rehearsal room," Lester, 82, said in a previously published interview included in a booklet that accompanies the anniversary collection DVD. He was not available to be interviewed for this story.

Lester cleverly incorporated improvisation. The memorable scene in which the four moptops attend a news conference and give hilariously goofy responses to journalists was unscripted, developed as they filmed.

"They couldn't shoot on the street anymore," Soderbergh says. "They were creating so much chaos because crowds were showing up. So Lester said, 'Get me a room and get me a bunch of journalists and they started writing up these questions.' "

Viewers gets a mounting sense of four musician pals held captive — or at least hemmed in — by their escalating fame. When they run onto an empty field (and sing Can't Buy Me Love), their sense of release is palpable.

Deftly conveying the surrealistic adventure of the Liverpool lads (without ever mentioning the name The Beatles in the film), Lester juxtaposed their impudence with the taciturn weirdness of veteran British actor Wilfrid Brambell, who played Paul's oh-so-clean grandfather. Lester has said he capitalized on the four pals' "private idiom" along with a faux sense of cinema verité, heightened in black and white. Flourishes of the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, Jacques Tati and Britain's The Goon Show infuse the film.

The blend of fast-paced visual antics and witty wordplay in A Hard Day's Night left a legacy evident in the Monty Python movies and mockumentaries like This is Spinal Tap, and it still resonates in comedies today.

As Soderbergh puts it: "Even for all its frantic feeling, it's still a beautifully crafted movie. Prior to that, films with music in them tended to be more staged and much more formal in their cinematic approach. This thing looks like it was shot tomorrow”.

IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles during filming of A Hard Day’s Night in London, 1964. The Beatles’ film was primarily shot on a moving train/PHOTO CREDIT: David Hurn/Magnum Photos

I think, as 1964 was such an important year for The Beatles, whether there will be sixtieth anniversary reissues and celebration. Their iconic appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show would perfectly be marked by documentary including that footage. Maybe a special album or release around those performances. A Hard Day’s Night - the film and the album - are sixty soon. I know there were events around the fiftieth anniversary. As it has been a decade, many will be discovering that album and film for the first time. What about the studio album?! Are we going to get a reissue with some demos and extras?! Maybe a film release with behind the scenes, interviews or people discussing the impact of the film and The Beatles’ impact. I guess many would say a biopic is sacrilege. Committing that year and period of The Beatles’ career to film with actors playing them. I do think that, if there were no plans for a documentary or special, having a film looking inside such a hectic and history-making period would be amazing. Not having actors sing the songs themselves, you could use actual recordings but have the actors do the speaking parts. I don’t know. I do think that really getting a view into their world and what they experienced sixty years ago would prove hugely popular. There is a lot to mark and focus on. Go and check out all the videos you can on YouTube. You can watch A Hard Day’s Night here, buy the album of the same name here. I think it is also worth watching videos like this that give an impression of how nuts things were in 1964. The reaction they got from every note and move! I do hope, at least, sixty years after the release of A Hard Day’s Night film and album, that they are given…

SPECIAL treatment.

FEATURE: Innovation, Colour and Form: Forty-Five Years of Sony’s Walkman and Forty Years of the Discman – and Why We Need Modern Updates

FEATURE:

 

 

Innovation, Colour and Form

PHOTO CREDIT: mymind

Forty-Five Years of Sony’s Walkman and Forty Years of the Discman – and Why We Need Modern Updates

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THIS year is quite a big one…

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Ricard Jorge

when it comes to anniversaries of important music technology. I want to talk about Sony and them launching the Walkman and Discman. The Discman was launched in November 1984. We will mark forty years of its release later in the year. Even though some deride its lack of stability and the fact CDs would skip, it was a revolutionary and important breakthrough. The Walkman arrived on 1st July, 1979. It turns forty-five in the summer. It should be celebrated and compel makers to come up with a modern version. I know there are modern equivalents of the Discman, though there are few modern-day portable cassette players. Even the modern technology that is on the market lacks the personality, coolness and colour of Sony’s products. The photo I have included at the top was taken from Twitter. Someone discussing how cool Sony’s technology is in terms of the design and look. Before thinking about why we need a modern-day equivalent, I want to bring in some articles about the iconic Sony Walkman. The Design Museum give us some history about a device that, in 1979, allowed people access to music on the go:

“An Accidental Success

The Walkman was first created because Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka wanted to be able to listen to music on long flights. The first model of Sony Walkman, the TPS-L2, was released in 1979, and it proved to be a huge hit.

Small and Sturdy

The original Walkman was created from aluminium, and the later models were made from plastic. Amazingly, the Walkman wasn't much bigger than the cassette tape itself! And it wasn't just the player that was tiny. Before the Walkman, there hadn't been any need for headphones that you could wear whilst you were walking; they were all designed to be worn whilst stationary. Headphones made before the Walkman were very heavy, but Sony managed to produce a lightweight set that weighed just 45 grams.

A bit too nifty?

The inventor of the Walkman thought people would want to listen to music together, so he put two headphone jacks on the player (remember that the headphones went over your head instead of the earphones most of us use today, where you can share one pair between two people). The Walkman TPS-L2 also had a HOT LINE button, which when pressed, muted the music on the Walkman and turned on an inbuilt microphone. This meant you could talk to someone without having to take your headphones off. Both of these features were later removed from the Walkman because people didn't use them. This is important as it shows a change in what was considered the norm. Previously, walking around with headphones would have been seen as rude and antisocial, but it soon became accepted behaviour.

Paving the Way to Bigger and Better

The Sony Walkman cassette player revolutionised the way that we listen to music. It enabled people to create soundtracks to their lives in ways that hadn't been possible before. The fact that you could use your Walkman anywhere changed that; music had never been so personal.

It was the first in a long line of portable audio players, and without it, we might not have the same objects such as iPods and MP3 players that we do today”.

I do think that there is a lack of consideration for portable devices today. At a time when physical formats like CDs and cassettes are coming back and demanded, there is not this sense of supply and urgency from manufacturers. In 2024, in a year when we mark at least two big Sony anniversaries, why is there not more of an effort to create something iconic for the modern consumer?! A range of portable devices for cassettes and CDs that would not price people out. As they are not revolutionary and new anymore, you can afford to charge between £50-£100 for a modern Walkman or Discman. The New Yorker discussed the significance of the Sony Walkman in a feature from 2020. Over forty years after it came out, I don’t think we have seen anything as groundbreaking in terms of music-playing devices:

“The Walkman instantly entrenched itself in daily life as a convenient personal music-delivery device; within a few years of its global launch, it emerged as a status symbol and fashion statement in and of itself. “We just got back from Paris and everybody’s wearing them,” Andy Warhol enthused to the Post. Boutiques like Bloomingdale’s had months-long waiting lists of eager customers. Paul Simon ostentatiously wore his onstage at the 1981 Grammys; by Christmas, they were de-rigueur celebrity gifts, with leading lights like Donna Summer dispensing them by the dozens. There had been popular electronic gadgets before, such as the pocket-sized transistor radios of the fifties, sixties, and seventies. But the Walkman was in another league. Until this point, earphones had been associated with hearing impairment, geeky technicians manning sonar stations, or basement-dwelling hi-fi fanatics. Somehow, a Japanese company had made the high-tech headgear cool.

Steve Jobs, then the young C.E.O. of a fledgling Silicon Valley startup called Apple Computer, had personally received a Walkman from Morita on a business trip to Japan, where Jobs went in search of disk-drive suppliers in the early nineteen-eighties. When Jobs returned home, he didn’t even bother listening to a cassette on the Walkman; instead, he opened and dissected the machinery piece by piece, reading tiny gears, drive belts, and capstans like tea leaves, to divine how he might, someday, make something so epically world-changing himself. “Steve’s point of reference was Sony at the time,” his successor at Apple, John Sculley, recalled. “He really wanted to be Sony. He didn’t want to be IBM. He didn’t want to be Microsoft. He wanted to be Sony.”

Jobs would get his wish with the début of the iPod, in 2001. It wasn’t the first digital-music player—a South Korean firm had introduced one back in 1998. (That Sony failed to exploit the niche, in spite of having created listening-on-the-go and even owning its own record label, was a testament to how Morita’s unexpected retirement after a stroke, in 1993, hobbled the corporation.) But Apple’s was the most stylish to date, bereft of the complicated and button-festooned interfaces of its competitors, finished in sleek pearlescent plastic and with a satisfying heft that hinted at powerful technologies churning inside. Apple also introduced a tantalizing new method of serving up music: the shuffle, which let listeners remix entire musical libraries into never-ending audio backdrops for their lives. Once again, city streets were the proving ground for this evolution of portable listening technology. “I was on Madison [Ave],” Jobs told Newsweek, in 2004, “and it was, like, on every block, there was someone with white headphones, and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, it’s starting to happen.’ ”

That happening never really stopped, even after the advent, in 2007, of the iPhone—a direct descendant of the iPod and Walkman—made stand-alone portable music players obsolete. The iPhone added the intraocular drip of always accessible Internet, a new way of escaping the cacophonies that surround us. But the headphones were here to stay. iPod sales have dwindled to the point that Apple stopped reporting them in 2014, but, that very same year, the company purchased the headphones company Beats by Dre for more than three billion dollars. At the time, this marked the single biggest acquisition in Apple’s history—proof of Sony’s prescience in discovering and stoking an incandescent hunger for auditory escapes in our daily lives. The Walkman wasn’t the end of meeting people, but it paved the way for surviving an unthinkable era in which we would find ourselves unable to meet at all”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Retrospekt

Most modern-day music-playing devices from Sony are functional and sleek rather than interesting. They rely more on digital music rather than the physical. As the physical market is growing, the selection of players we have out there are probably not enough. Very few are particularly interesting. By introducing a range of contemporary Walkman and Discmans in a range of colours and designs, it would definitely appeal to people now. Not just a younger demographic. For people like me who had a Discman and a Walkman when I was a child, it would be great to own something to play CDs and cassettes on. It is clear that Sony particularly had an eye for appealing designs. Even if some of the devices were not durable and had their faults, they were definitely innovative and convenient. I recall having a Walkman for a very long time. My Discman had its moments, yet I owned it for years and got a  great deal of value from it. This year marks forty-five years of the Walkman. It is also forty years since the Discman was released. Even if the oriignal versions were a little bland, through the years, Sony evolved in a sense. More eye-catching and attractive, they did not skimp on functionality and durability. Always with one eye on the look and the other with endurance. When we are seeing CD and cassette sales rise, why are we not seeing new models come out?! I guess some would say there is not enough demand. I would argue against this. If the price was reasonable and we could keep CD and cassette prices reasonable, it would mean a lot more people bought them and devices on which to play them. I hope that one day soon we see a company realise that the Discman and Walkman should not be…

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Society6

CONFINED to the past.

FEATURE: When I Was a Child, Running in the Night…. Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love at Thirty-Eight

FEATURE:

 

 

When I Was a Child, Running in the Night….

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Louise Patricia Crane

Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love at Thirty-Eight

_________

IT does seem strange…

that any song from Hounds of Love would get a mixed reaction. That is the case with the title track. Released on 17th February, 1986, I wanted to look ahead to the thirty-eighth anniversary of one of Kate Bush’s most celebrated and best tracks. Kate Bush’s fifth studio album was released in September 1985. The sublime title track saw Kate Bush step behind the camera to direct her first video. She had assisted and co-directed other videos, yet this was her first sole direct. I am going to go a bit deeper into one of the most iconic songs in Kate Bush’s catalogue. Thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for bringing in interview archive of Bush discussing Hounds of Love. A song that is still widely played and loved to this day:

“[‘Hounds Of Love’] is really about someone who is afraid of being caught by the hounds that are chasing him. I wonder if everyone is perhaps ruled by fear, and afraid of getting into relationships on some level or another. They can involve pain, confusion and responsibilities, and I think a lot of people are particularly scared of responsibility. Maybe the being involved isn’t as horrific as your imagination can build it up to being – perhaps these baying hounds are really friendly.

KATE BUSH CLUB NEWSLETTER, 1985

The ideas for ‘Hounds Of Love’, the title track, are very much to do with love itself and people being afraid of it, the idea of wanting to run away from love, not to let love catch them, and trap them, in case th hounds might want to tear them to pieces and it’s very much using the imagery of love as something coming to get you and you’ve got to run away from it or you won’t survive.

CONVERSATION DISC SERIES, ABCD012, 1985

When I was writing the song I sorta started coming across this line about hounds and I thought ‘Hounds Of Love’ and the whole idea of being chasing by this love that actually gonna… when it get you it just going to rip you to pieces, (Raises voice) you know, and have your guts all over the floor! So this very sort of… being hunted by love, I liked the imagery, I thought it was really good.

RICHARD SKINNER, ‘CLASSIC ALBUMS INTERVIEW: HOUNDS OF LOVE’. BBC RADIO 1 (UK), 26 JANUARY 1992”.

There is not much written about the title track from Hounds of Love. Reaching number eighteen in the U.K. chart, I am always surprised that the song did not get higher. I am going to give my thoughts on it, in addition to considering its importance and influence. With B-sides, The Handsome Cabin Boy, Jig of Life, Burning Bridge and My Lagan Love (depending on the country the song was released in), it is wonderful that we are still listening to and celebrating such a hugely powerful song. I always associate Hounds of Love with its ambition and incredible production. On the second side of the album is the magnificent suite, The Ninth Wave. The first side is where the more conventional songs are. Four out of five songs from that first side were released as singles (Mother Stands for Comfort was not). Hounds of Love is often ranked as one of Kate Bush’s best songs. The Guardian ranked Hounds of Love fifth in the best Kate Bush songs in 2018. Back in November, MOJO ranked Kate Bush’s fifty best songs. Hounds of Love came out first:

“Kate runs headlong from love and right into its clutches.

No matter how refined the circumstances of its creation – built at leisure in Bush’s new 48-track studio – or how newfangled its production – still tangible in the hi-tech stabs and pads of Fairlight, and the crispness of Jonathan Williams’ cello – Hounds Of Love is red in tooth and claw, its breathless, atavistic fear of capture mixed with almost supernatural rapture. Love is thundering through the psychosexual woods, hunting down somebody terrified of what it means to surrender to another person. The song opens with a quote from British horror film Night Of The Demon but that’s the only moment it feels like theatre. From then on, Hounds Of Love maintains a dizzying emotional velocity, the relentless double drumming of Charlie Morgan and Stuart Elliott stamping down on the accelerator. Bush’s voice might dip and soften, but those drums are merciless, while the strident backing vocals, like a hunting horn call, goad her on if introspection threatens to slow her down. It never lets up, every line heightening the pitch, closing the distance between song and listener. It ends with a suddenness that makes it seem like she’s hit the ground and you’ve hit it with her, breathlessly waiting for an answer to the question: “Do you know what I really need?” The uncertainty, however, is not reflected in the confidence – the perfect, dazzling completeness – of the song’s execution. On Hounds Of Love, Kate Bush is going at full pelt, chasing the horizon, running her vision to ground. Not really the hunted, but the hunter all along”.

There is some debate around the release date of Hounds of Love. Some say that it is 24th February, 1986, though the vinyl 12” single was released on 17th February, 1986. It is amazing to consider what was happening around the time of the single’s release. On 17th February, 1986, Bush was extremely busy! This website documents how busy things were for Kate Bush on 17th February, 1986 and the month that followed. The fact that she was recording with Peter Gabriel on the same day. I have always felt a film version of The Ninth Wave should be released. We can see that it was planned and discussed, though Bush abandoned that as I feel album promotion would have been too pressing and time-consuming:

“February 17, 1986

The third single, Hounds of Love, is released in seven- and twelve-inch formats.

Kate records a duet with Peter Gabriel for his fifth solo album. The track is called Don't Give Up.

Kate abandons the plan to make a film version of The Ninth Wave side of the new album.

March 6, 1986

Kate appears on Top of the Pops to perform Hounds of Love.

March 19, 1986

For the making of the video for The Big Sky Kate assembles over one hundred fans on the sound stage of Elstree Studios.

Kate records a live performance of Under the Ivy at Abbey Road Studios for the 100th edition of the Tyne Tees TV programme The Tube”.

Although it is played quite a lot on the radio, I still think there is not enough attention given to Hounds of Love and its themes. As it is Valentine’s Day today (14th February), there is something both appropriate and ironic focusing on a song released a few days after Valentine’s Day in 1986. There is a lot of passion and desire in the song, yet it is a young Kate Bush fearful of love chasing her down and attacking her. Bush opening up and being very open. Confessing to cowardice. Such a mature and intriguing song from a genius songwriter, this beautiful moment from Hounds of Love still makes such an impact thirty-eight after its release. After successful singles in the form of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and Cloudbusting, the fact that a supreme song like Hounds of Love barely got into the top-twenty in the U.K. seems very frustrating. Why people thought there were any better songs out, let alone nearly twenty! Despite the fact I have written about Hounds of Love a lot and explored this track thoroughly, I wanted to spend more time with it. I think it is one of the most powerful and beautiful songs she ever released. As a first-time director, the video is really accomplished and memorable. Stirring, cinematic and with a wonderful colour palette and composition, I am sad I have never seen Kate Bush play this song live. Those lucky enough to see her live in Hammersmith in 2014 would have done. Turning thirty-eight on 17th February, go and listen to Hounds of Love’s mesmeric title track. Seen by many as her greatest achievement, I think there are…

FEW can have any argument about that.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Infinity Song

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Infinity Song

_________

DESPITE being on the scene a long time now…

PHOTO CREDIT: Roc Nation Records

I am not sure how many people in the U.K. know about the wonderful Infinity Song. The U.S. quartet consists of two sets of siblings. They are a remarkable group that everyone needs to know about. I shall come to some interviews with them. First, here is some biography about an act that will blow you away the moment that you hear them:

“Infinity Song is a Soft Rock band based in New York City comprised of 4 siblings, Abraham, Angel, Israel, and Momo Boyd. With a blend of tight vocal harmonies, dreamy lyricism and sublime guitar riffs, the band creates a transcendent experience for the audience on every stage and in their recorded music.

Homeschooled academically and musically, along with their 5 other brothers and sisters, by parents who founded the Boys & Girls Choirs of Detroit, the siblings have performed in front of audiences since Pre-K. They were raised on classical, gospel and jazz, like Pat Methany, Marvin Gaye, The Winans Family and many others.

Infinity Song’s journey was a labored yet adventurous climb. In 2006, the Boyd patriarch, John Boyd, relocated the entire family from Detroit to New York and they began performing publicly all around the city. Singing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

in the morning, on 5th Avenue in the afternoon and Times Square at night, eventually Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain became a permanent stage for the next 12 years of their lives. After several years of developing a following and turning casual park visitors into loyal fans, the group was introduced to Jay-Z.

In 2016, the band was signed to Roc Nation by Jay-Z, who advised them to not conform to the label’s artistic culture, but rather allow Roc Nation’s artistic culture to catch up to them. 4 years later in 2020, the siblings made a giant splash with their debut album

“Mad Love” and several viral videos that amassed millions of views across all social media sites, garnering attention and support from some of Hollywood’s biggest names.

Infinity Song is currently reeling from the reception of their now viral single, Haters Anthem, that is being released ahead of their next project. With over 200 million people having heard the song, an endorsement by popstar Doja Cat, and a number of press write ups, the catchy single is making waves all around the world. Even leading many listeners to compare the band to legendary 70s groups such as Fifth Dimension, The Mamas and The Papas, and ABBA.

With this amount of excitement surrounding their next project, Infinity Song is ready to continue to solidify their place in the space where great music is being created in today’s culture”.

PHOTO CREDIT: John N. Adams III

They release a limited edition vinyl of their 2023 acclaimed album, Metamophsis, on 29th March. It is available to pre-order here. I would advise people to do that. I shall come to a review of that. First, some interviews with the group. In December, The Aquarian spoke with Infinity Song. At the end of a successful year – and one where they released an amazing album -, there was a lot to reflect on:

“The Boyd Family make up Infinity Song, a band of shining stars who mesh their heavenly voices together to create their own type of Motown and modern soul. Those lush harmonies are what created one of the most refreshing EPs of 2023: Metamorphosis. The brother-sister quartet started making music when they were young. As Abraham, the oldest of the bunch, told us, “Music is our family tradition. Our father was a choir director and there was no escaping it. It was a natural progression of our lives since we grew up. It’s a way of life.”

Alongside Abraham are the talents of Angel, Israel, and Momo. They each make up the heart and soul of this band, and their story begins in Detroit, Michigan right before the 2008 financial crisis. This was a city that felt the effects of the recession and saw the struggle earlier than most. “The recession started in 2006 for us. The automotive industry collapsed, so there was no space for artists when everyone is just trying to survive and figure out where their next meal is coming from,” said Abraham.

This was a musical household, though, so the family sang in music festivals and parks around Detroit until the public started taking notice. The Boyds soon chose to uproot themselves and move to New York City where they continued harmonizing in the subways, on the streets, and in Central Park. “It’s still difficult to be discovered by the music industry,” the oldest sibling added. “We have been signed for seven years and new people are discovering us every day. That journey of discovery is a lifetime battle.”

Angel jumped in to voice more about the band’s growth. “What we’ve learned –and what has been the easiest – is accepting the reality that the most effective way to be an artist is to divert your path being discovered by the industry that you are in by [going] directly to the people. When you are not relying on the gatekeeper to introduce you or place you on a platform and go directly to the people, that’s what works. TikTok is a great example.”

The foursome met so many folks during their course of their 16-year hustle. “Someone took a video of our sister Victory singing in Central Park. They sent it out to director James Samuel and that was our connection to Jay-Z,” Abraham explained. It was the start of something new.

Initially, the soulful family were not invited to the record label’s office, but their father wanted to make an official introduction of Infinity Song… and Jay-Z wanted to see them sing. “It was truly a surreal moment getting off the elevator and seeing Jay-Z smile at us. We sang [Aerosmith’s] ‘Dream On’ and another pop song by Tori Kelly. It was such an emotional time. Our father was choked up with tears in that moment. To be in the skyscraper looking down on Times Square with the king of the Big Apple was a moment to be made in a movie. We spoke with Jay and we shared stories about the grind of our music careers,” says Momo. Two years later, the group was signed to the hip-hop legend’s just as legendary label: Roc Nation.

Infinity Song has grown from there. Jay Z’s words of wisdom has helped them along the way. “I’m appreciative of Jay Z’s instincts to stay true to ourselves like a prophet that we needed to hear in order to stay true to ourselves.” Abraham described. It’s not a transferrable message that is really based on instinct, and all these years later for us to have those words resonate deeply in us and be empowered by those words is quite special.”

Empowerment comes from everywhere – not just experiencing the hustle or connecting with Jay-Z. The group’s name is spiritually based, Israel told The Aquarian. “Infinity is another name for God. Infinity Song basically means living life as instruments of God.”

The last 12 months have been otherworldly, as well. One of Infinity Song’s most popular tracks is off of this year’s Metamorphosis EP. Already a staple for them, “Hater’s Anthem,” is a cathartic breakthrough. “I feel like it’s not only ironic but also very literal. I wrote the song as a a comparison to my peers on the internet,” Momo shared. “It was an ugly space internally and it was festering and making me feel very dissatisfied with my life. Before I wrote the song, I wanted to be honest about what I was feeling. It’s probably the ugliest things that I felt, but I knew that I was not the only one feeling dissatisfied with life. I knew I could do better but didn’t know where to start. This song was a confessional, but I love to write in a satirical way.”

Infinity Song created something truly special for 2023 and is sure to continue to for years to come thanks to everything from the instruments they use to their amazing vocals. Looking towards the future, the band wants to get back in the studio and make more music, but there could possibly be a tour in the works, as well. The possibilities seemed endless as we brought our conversation with Infinity Song to a close. “Next year we are going to be some kind of tour. We don’t really know exactly what’s going to be next,” Abraham said”.

PHOTO CREDIT: John N. Adams III

Let’s move to this year. In an exclusive interview with BET, Infinity Song chatted about their Roc Nation journey and proving that Black artists thrive in the evolving landscape of mainstream and Indie Rock. I am excited to see where they head this year and how far they can go. They are a phenomenal musical force. They do have a lot of fans here in the U.K., though they are not played as much as they should be. Hater’s Anthem was a huge song from them last year:

“Black Gen-Z youth are more musically agnostic than ever. They aren’t trapped enjoying or creating art in music genres considered “Urban.” There isn’t a better example than the rise of popular Black artists in contemporary rock stateside. Rock music may have once historically marginalized the ethnicities that originated the genre. In recent times, contemporary artists leaning towards mainstream and indie rock have gained unprecedented popularity. Acts including Steve Lacy, Meet Me At The Altar, Hemlock Springs, and many more have proven that Blacks can succeed within the genre over the past few years. More recently, the Roc Nation signed group Infinity Song proved that point through genre-busting rock fusion.

“I think right now people are looking for something special, something unique, looking for alternative ways of thinking and alternative ways of creating,” said Thalia “Momo” Boyd, who makes up the group alongside siblings Victory, Abraham, Angel, and Israel. “We have things like AfroPunk and we have Black people feeling more and more comfortable with expressing themselves in ways that were considered a little bit weird growing up or ways that weren’t necessarily represented.”

Based out of New York by way of Detroit, Infinity Song spent years in the Big Apple hustling and performing. The group would get their big break when someone sent a video of Victory singing in Central Park to The Book of Clarence writer/director Jaymes Samuel, who connected Infinity Song to Roc Nation head Sean Carter, a.k.a. Jay-Z. Following an audition with the rap icon/mega mogul, the rest was history.

“One of the first things Jay Z ever told us was to be ourselves and let the world catch up,” explained Israel about the group that signed with Roc Nation in 2016. “I think that’s really indicative of his heart with us and what our relationship has been; especially in the most formative stages in the beginning. It was really just him wanting us to be authentic and our own individuals while expressing ourselves genuinely.”

The first release from Infinity Song under their deal with Roc Nation would be 2020’s Mad Love, which included standouts like the titular song and “Far Away.” A band full of musicians, it’s easy to see how much music they’re influenced by, from Fleetwood Mac to Tame Impala and Lil Yachty. According to Abraham, Infinity Song has deep roots in understanding history by growing up in the church alongside being exposed to gospel, classical, and jazz music. Their musical background primarily revolved around choral music due to their sheltered upbringing. More contemporary styles like hip-hop and R&B came as they got older, giving them a musical advantage.

“That delayed gratification helped because that music becomes secondary to your creative process,” explained Abraham. “Gospel, jazz and classical are foundational genres. When you come to understand those, then you get to understand the overarching genres of pop, rock and hip hop.”

Around the release of Mad Love, Infinity Song began releasing covers of classic songs from Fred Hampton, The Beatles, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, and Tracy Chapman, among others, through various social media platforms. However, their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 song “Dreams” became their most popular cover then.

“It wasn’t the only catalyst that pointed us toward soft rock but it was one of those things that affirmed that the genre could be an avenue for us,” Israel said. “So “Dreams” is just a really special song for us all around. It means a lot to us.”

The cover is also featured on their latest EP, Metamorphosis, which dropped in October 2023. However, the album’s most popular single, released months prior, “Hater’s Anthem,” has become viral gold across social media. Featuring hilarious tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “And when I'm ninety-nine and wasted time / And you lived out a happy life / I still will have the peace of mind / To know if I wanted to try / I could have left you all behind / I could've crossed the finish line” felt incredibly fresh.

“Hater’s Anthem”'s insightful message of insecurity and jealousy makes sense in a social media-driven society where judgment is everywhere. It led to a huge moment, with the song and accompanying video reaching 7 million views on TikTok alone. Meanwhile, the romance-influenced track from the EP “Slow Burn” is growing at around 9.6 plus views on Instagram. For Infinity Song, they haven’t even scratched the surface of the success they’re aiming for.

“We’ve always loved these songs and we’ve always had the highest amount of faith in them,” explained Israel. “They’re always a pleasant moment when these things happen but, we’re not always completely shocked.”

The lack of surprise in the overall success of Infinity Song displays a level of faith in themselves as a collective and what they represent. It’s why they’ve been granted high-profile performances on major television shows like The View and The Today Show. Their music serves as a guiding light that reassures themselves and their fans that embracing uniqueness is acceptable but also enjoyable and desirable.

“It really strikes a chord with my heart when I see Black people,  Black teenagers or older Black people of any age message us and say that this is something that they’ve been looking for and that they have not seen this until now,” explained Momo. “I feel very successful when all people message us with those sentiments but it just hits harder when somebody who looks like my 15-year-old self says that because I think I would’ve needed somebody like me when I was 15”.

If you are unaware of the magnificent Infinity Song, then do make sure that they are on your radar. I am going to end with Soul Bounce and their review of Metamorphosis. One of those albums from last year that stuck in the mind the first time you heard it, for anyone who has not played the album yet, do spend some time with it. This is a group that I really love and feel have many more years ahead of them:

“The wait is over for Infinity Song’s sophomore project Metamorphosis. Led by the title track, their viral single “Hater’s Anthem” and a fresh cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic “Dreams,” the talented siblings make their mark in the soft rock space.

Metamorphosis follows their debut album Mad Love, which was released in 2020 and introduced audiences to their smooth harmonies and strong vocals. At that time, the family act had five members – Abraham Boyd, Angel Boyd, Israel Boyd, Momo Boyd and Victory Boyd, who also has a solo career. For this new collection, Victory steps aside to let her brothers and sisters shine.

The project is sonically reminiscent of iconic groups like The 5th Dimension and The Mamas & The Papas with tracks like “Metamorphosis,” “Slow Burn” and “No One Comes Close.” The guitar riffs and kick and snare drum-driven melodies on “Pink Sky” and “Hater’s Anthem” channel the vibes of ’60s and ’70s light rock.

The group’s distinctive harmonies and captivating vocals lend themselves beautifully to an impressive cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” They own the remake with their bass guitar-driven a cappella harmonies on an added outro. If you’re going to tackle a beloved classic, you’d better bring it, which Infinity Song does.

The Boyd sibs round out the new project with another remake of a classic with their version of gospel great James Cleveland’s “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.” It is a clean rendition that gives a nod to their gospel music influences and their Christian faith.

Metamorphosis expands Infinity Song’s catalog with a solid effort that shows their range. Anchored in soft rock, it’s also giving folk, pop and inspirational music. Regardless of genre, Infinity Song is here to simply soothe souls”.

Go and follow Infinity Song. They should be heard by everyone. Go and investigate their music. A truly sensational sound that is like nothing else. I hope that they get the opportunity to tour in the U.K. at some point. There are a lot of people over here that would love to see. Nobody should miss out on the beautiful music that Infinity Song…

PUT out into the world.

____________

Follow Infinity Song

PHOTO CREDIT: @yourpillowbook 

Official:

https://infinitysongmusic.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/infinitysong

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@infinitysongofficial

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/infinityssong

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2PZThLYBW7XtcYVzQms8oM?si=w6xuk5VRQvuBGnykFfRNuw

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NHF6qpTaC0SbEqgV56BEg

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/infinityssong/

FEATURE: Spotlight: Abby Sage

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Abby Sage

_________

I am going to bring us…

PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Alexander for 1883 Magazine

more up to date when it comes to Abby Sage. The Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based artist is someone you should know about. I will come to an interview from 2022, as it makes for interesting reading. We also get to learn more about this amazing rising artist. I will end with news that Abby Sage has announced a debut album. One that you will certainly want to look out for. First, here is some background from Primary Talent that takes us up to 2022:

“Abby Sage has a voice that demands attention. A tender soul with an observational eye, this pop artist seems able to tap into her innermost feelings, all while helping to express the lives of those around her. An empathetic spirit, she recalls the flamboyant theatre of Florence + The Machine, as well as the hushed intimacy of Clairo. Someone who is rapidly making waves on both sides of the Atlantic, she remains humble and softly spoken, burning with a subtle intensity.

Brought up in Toronto, Abby Sage was obsessed with music as a kid. Memorizing Disney themes and staying hooked to the radio, she started writing cute little ditties as a pre-teen. Indeed, her first song was about falling for Harry Potter’s schoolyard nemesis, the blonde-haired bad-boy Draco Malfoy. “Music was always the dominating factor in my life,” she says, “I just didn’t really realize it was an actual thing I could do, necessarily.”

As she grew, Abby continued to write. Few outside her closest friends had any idea of her talents, initially refusing to let people hear her sing. “The turning point was meeting new friends in Toronto. I began to record things, and make new songs, and gradually I began to recognize that this would be something I could take out of my room and pursue.”

The sessions continued, with Abby honing and refining her skills. Moving to LA, debut EP Fears Of Yours & Mine arrived in 2021, an incredible six-tracker brimming with potential. Hushed opener “Smoke Break” gives way to the pop potency of “Fever Dream,” while “Wasting Away” shows astonishing maturity. “I wanted to write about my own experiences,” she says. “That project was really cathartic, and I got a lot out of it.”

But now she’s ready to switch it up. Abby’s mother is British, and a visit to London saw her encounter the production team MyRiot. Real names Roy Kerr and Tim Bran, they immediately saw Abby’s incredible potential, and used their experience – garnered from smash hit sessions alongside the likes of Aurora, Halsey, IDER, and Rae Morris – to help her.

Relocating to London solely to focus on the project, she would travel on the tube into the studio each day, watching the crowds rush on and off the carriages, wondering where their lives were leading them. “I love music that dives into other people’s minds. Often, it’s only after writing those songs, that I’ve realized how closely connected to me they were. Everything you create is somehow connected to you.”

All of this culminated in her most recent offering, 2022’s The Florist EP, a project that represents a real shift, an evolution in her artistry. Moving away from the first-person perspective of Fears Of Yours & Mine, Abby instead drew from her unfamiliar surroundings opting for a more observational writing style. “I feel like a lot of my favourite artists move from project to project. It’s cool to move between those spaces, so you can compare and contrast as you evolve.”

Focusing intensely on her future, Abby Sage is ready to speak directly and eloquently to her audience. A rare, rare talent, she’s the quiet voice that speaks an undiluted truth. “Everyone is in motion, whether they know it or not,” she says. “It’s always there, deep inside of us”.

Promoting the exceptional E.P., The Florist, Sheesh got to know Abby Sage better. I do think that this year is going to be one where she truly breaks out and reaches around the world. This is an artist that needs to be on everyone’s radar. Such a huge talent with a distinct talent. She has some incredible tour dates set out already. Heading across North America and Europe, Sage plays London at The Lower Third on 24th May. If you get the opportunity to go and see her than make sure that you do:

“Abby Sage has a ruthless authenticity. As a fellow brit-music obsessed anemic, talking with her was one of the most seamlessly genuine and fun interviews I’ve had. Her latest release, “Backwards Directions,” follows Abby Sage’s two previous singles “The Florist” and “Pool Party.”  “Backwards Directions” sees Abby Sage continuing to amaze with sheer sonic beauty alongside an earnest vision that draws listeners deeply in.

With her highly trusted team of creatives, Sage has crafted an art that beams originality, both visually and musically. Alongside London-based producers Roy Kerr and Tim Bran, Abby Sage is ready to speak directly and eloquently to her audience. A rare, rare talent, she’s the quiet voice that speaks an undiluted truth. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to speak with her about creative intimacy, the youthful angst of suburbia, and Scandinavian children. Get to know Abby Sage below:

Let's just dive into where you started roots-wise. Where are you from?

I'm from Toronto originally, but didn't really grow up there. My family moved when I was pretty young to the Bay Area, but we would go back to Toronto, Canada every summer (which I always thought was lovely). That is where I technically started with music, mainly because my dad played in a bunch of bands there when I was growing up and I was always curious. Before that point, I was putting out little snippets on SoundCloud, as one does.

Toronto and the Bay Area are relatively different culturally, would you say your influence is from Canada or more California?

That’s interesting because when I was in Toronto, we were pretty much in the thick of the city, whereas in the Bay Area, very suburbs. So I did have the youthful angst of a suburban child. My mom is from the UK, so I spent a lot of time there too. I feel music-wise, I pull a lot more from the UK style.

Who are your favorite UK inspired artists?

This is a recent one, Her name's Nilüfer Yanya. I think she's so sick, super super sick. She does things that are a little bit darker, and I love that. Of course, Amy Winehouse is my got-to as well. Last time I was there I met with someone who worked on a lot of her early stuff with her, and I just picked his brain for the whole hour. It was insane.

I would have lost my mind for sure.

I really did.

With this new album, did you find yourself branching out from your current style? Are you still looking for your sound? Tell me more about that.

It's definitely different in that I’ve genuinely figured myself out more. The first project was very telling of situations that I was currently in and the reflection on that. Whereas the new project is more observational in a way. I did this one in London, spending a month there in January, and finishing it there. I was just on my own for a while, and I feel as though you listen a lot better when you're really on your own. During that process, I did find a sound that I love so much; it feels really good to find.

Live music-wise, do you have any plans? What’s your gauge on performing?

I love it. We just played a show with Suki Waterhouse a few months ago in San Francisco, which was insanely cool. I do love playing live, and definitely want to do more of it. It really is the most immediate way to connect, and my biggest enjoyment of it all is seeing people face-to-face and their response.

And what are you excited for in the future?

I'm just excited to build a visual brand on top of everything. It feels really special when you hone into exactly how you want to present your music, whether that's on stage or just a video or something else. Aidan Dick (who does all the visuals with me) and I are in the midst of creating a little short film as well. On top of that, I've also been drawing my own merch line, and it helps that I have a heat press and a screen printer to actually make it too. I feel like that's a cool way to represent your music as well, through personalized merch”.

There are a few more interviews and features I want to check off and include before wrapping up. Vents Magazine chatted with Abby sage in November about the new single, Milk, and news of her debut album. This year is going to be a very exciting one for this simply tremendous artist:

“Word ‘round industry campfire has it that you’re gearing up for the 2024 premiere of your debut album – Yet another big congrats! Can you give fans a hint or three as to what they can expect with your debut LP?

Thank you! It’s far more reflective and vulnerable than my previous work. While The Florist was observational work, everything I’ve written in the last year feels so much more introspective and about me. And part of that too was keeping the body of work I was trying to create in mind. To me, a debut album feels like a true introduction to ‘you’ as an artist, and I wanted to introduce myself properly through these songs.

What does your touring/performing dance card look like in the coming weeks and months?

I just finished a lovely run with Gus Dapperton. I spent a few days in New York to relax and now I’m at the airport ready to go home and rot in my bed for a while.

Who inspires you musically?

Feist, Portishead, Nico to name a few.

You were born in Toronto and are now based out of Los Angeles. How do those seemingly disparate roots inform you as an artist and as a person?

I don’t feel a deep closeness to LA but have loved my years here, but I don’t necessarily feel that with Toronto either since I didn’t spend much of my life there. I’ve lived in a few different places so far but I’m very much still figuring out where I want to plant my roots for the next little while.

How is Milk similar to some of your past music? How is it different?

I think in general my writing always has a through line. I like to deliver messages in my music in subtle ways. I like the idea of an audience interpreting these songs in a way that feels true to them without needing to come back to me to find the meaning. That said, with “Milk” being one of my more introspective tracks I wanted to make sure I was able to show some more of ‘me’ than usual in a way that was comfortable for me, and I think we did that really well with the music video”.

Back in November, Abby Sage was interviewed by Her Campus. Having released the amazing single, Hunger, Sage talked about the songwriting process for it. She also revealed the hardest part of being an artist. And what it is like being a woman in the music industry. I would advise anyone who has not heard Abby Sage and her music to give her a listen as soon as possible:

“HC: Can you describe the creative aspect a little more?

AS: I love being very hands on with it, so me and a friend have been making a lot of papier-mâché for this project. We kind of view the period of this project as a theater kid resurrection. It’s a lot of breaking the fourth wall and showing the process behind the visuals and how things move behind the scenes a bit more.

HC: Could you describe your songwriting process for “Hunger” and how it has been different from previous songs?

AS: I think with “Hunger,” I definitely knew I wanted to write for a while, but I never had the nerves. I think the big difference is that this year, I felt brave enough to write a song like this and it just felt like a good time to be honest and make that introduction. It’s definitely one of the more personal songs I’ve released.

HC: What message are you trying to express through the song?

AS: I think a lot of it is how, in a lot of people’s lives, sex kind of gets dumbed down to something that is shameful. I think that the big message of [the song] is removing that shame because sex is such a natural and beautiful thing. So I think that the message is just to treat everyone as a beginner in some capacity and not be afraid of something that is beautiful. The visuals behind the music video have a message as well, with my journey of sex with others and then the respect I have for myself.

HC: How does your personal experience from your life drive your music?

AS: I think, especially this year, just spending a lot more time on my own, I felt a little bit more introspective. I think that for this project, specifically, I definitely looked at a lot of instances in my life and kind of built the songs around those.

HC: Can you describe this new project a little bit more?

AS: I think it took me a while to realize that all the songs were connected. But once I did, it just made so much sense to me where a lot of it follows. What I learned throughout my life, within childhood, and up until now in this point, this project basically just deconstructs a lot of the knowledge that has been passed down to me and what I choose to take away and what I choose to ignore. So yeah, it’s just about learning and growing and everything just piecing together during those very developmental stages.

HC: What do you think is the hardest thing about making it as a musician, especially being a woman in the industry?

AS: I think there’s a lot of expectation on artists to wear so many hats these days. It’s not necessarily just about the music anymore, but I feel lucky that I love to do a lot of the visual side of it too. But I think that it is quite a different landscape now where there is more expectation on artists to do everything. As for being a woman, it’s kind of just more of a respect thing. I think that it’s maybe a little bit harder to make that space for yourself. But, I think if you lead with honesty and truthfulness in everything you do, then there isn’t a massive difference”.

Abby Sage’s The Rot is out on 1st March. You can pre-order it here. The Los Angeles-based artist is taking her music on the road. An artist you simply cannot miss out on, it is going to be well worth getting her debut album. It will showcase her incredible gift. I will try and catch Sage when she comes to London. I can imagine that her live performances are sensational. The Line of Best Fit spotlighted Abby Sage’s new single, Obstruction, last month. They gave us some more information about The Rot:

“The track, along with the rest of her debut album, was produced by MyRiot (Halsey, London Grammar, AURORA).

When asked about the inspiration behind the single, Sage shared, “In "Obstruction", I wanted to personify a pestering thought. I think it was an important song for me to release a memory I had been holding on to for a while. It’s a thought that doesn’t leave you no matter how hard you try. It shows up in your living room, in your day-to-day tasks. I wanted to use very literal and realised language to describe the process of getting rid of it, ‘cut it out with a knife’… That felt like such a beautiful visual to me, physically cutting out a memory with a sharp knife.”

The accompanying music video echoes the sentiment, as the conflicting duality of the push and pull between holding onto a memory or killing it off comes to life. She explains, “When I tried to picture what a video for "Obstruction" would look like, I always imagined the setting of me having dinner with a personified version of the memory, the puppet, and going through those inner monologue motions. We dance, we fight, but ultimately I kill it off and mourn the memory but finally learn to let it go.”

Tracklist:

1. Milk

2. Three Floors, Three Doors

3. Jude

4. Phantom Arm

5. Hunger

6. Soak

7. Obstruction

8. Little Dove (interlude)

9. Back & Bone

10. The Rot”.

If you are new to Abby Sage, go and check her out. She is a phenomenal artist that has a long future ahead. I have recently discovered her work, though I am now compelled to follow her further. Go connect with Abby Sage on social media and check out The Rot when it arrives. It is clear that this amazing artist is going to go…

VERY far.

____________

Follow Abby Sage

PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Alexander for 1883 Magazine

Official:

https://abbysage.komi.io/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/applesage/

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@applesage

Bandcamp:

https://abbysage.bandcamp.com/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4aej3kKLxSLM0WauTSfZ7k?si=tGvfbLYeReKeLzm3EReHvw

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7X2fnJzFD1glW5cLfBG67Q

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AbbySageMusic/

FEATURE: Between Hounds of Love and The Sensual World… Kate Bush’s 1987

FEATURE:

 

Between Hounds of Love and The Sensual World…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush being presented with the Best British Female Artist award by Ray Davies at the 1987 BPI (BRIT) Awards/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Kate Bush’s 1987

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EVEN though there are…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with David Gilmour and Peter Gabriel at Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman's Third Ball at the Palladium on 26th March, 1987/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Rapport

not many photos of Kate Bush from 1987, it is a year that is pretty interesting. She released her fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, in 1985. The Sensual World arrived in 1989. Between then, apart from recording a new album, there were things happening. It was a period of transition for Kate Bush. 1987 was the final full year she was in her twenties. I guess, in terms of activity, there was a mix of post-Hounds of Love success and this new chapter with her sixth studio album. Thanks to this invaluable website for providing timeline around Kate Bush. Specifically in this case, what she was doing in 1987. I know that the greatest hits collection, The Whole Story, came out in 1986. The following year was when the VHS version arrived. That was my first exposure to Bush and her first single, Wuthering Heights. It seemed that 1987 was one of moving on but also recognition:

“Despite reservations by Kate herself, EMI resolves to release a video compilation of The Whole Story. Again, sales are enormous. The worldwide commercial success of the album is greater than that of any of her earlier albums.

Meanwhile, Kate dives into the recording of a new studio album.

To date, the main part of Kate's creative activity since the middle of 1986 remains a mystery.

February 1987

Kate appears at the 1987 British Phonographic Industry Awards, and this time wins the competition for Best Female Singer, despite the fact that the album for which she won was released more than a year earlier.

Kate also wins in the same category of the U.S. College Music Awards, and accepts the award in a brief comic film shot at her home in England.

Kate records an original song for the Nicholas Roeg film Castaway, called Be Kind to My Mistakes.

Bush must have been doing something through 1986. She was releasing singles still, though how much of The Sensual World was written and recorded is unknown. I can imagine a tour might have been speculated. There was a bit of success in the U.S. 1986 – which I shall cover in another feature soon –, which was quite interesting. Some personal appearances, involvement with Comic Relief, plus promotion around Hounds of Love. I suppose there was that transition from one album and the next. Rather than leap straight into her next album from 1986, it was a moment for a bit of calm. This being Kate Bush, she was still pretty busy! That British Phonographic Industry Awards win is both strange and deserved. Hounds of Love came out in 1985, so it is a bit odd that it gets recognised all that time later. That said, you still get that sort of delay at award shows now. Albums and songs out for a long time get rewarded. Kate Bush was also involved in the charity single, Let It Be. As part of the Ferry Aid group (a collection of artists from the U.K. and U.S.), I wrote about this before. The single was released following the Zeebrugge Disaster. On 6th March, 1987 the ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise had capsized, killing 193 passengers and crew. It was a strange charity cause. It involved The Sun newspaper and a strange cover version choice! Even so, Kate Bush got involved!

That song for Castaway, Be Kind to My Mistakes, came after Bush turned down a role in the film. It starred Oliver Reed. The role eventually went to Amanda Donohoe. Given the nature of the role (which was quite sexual) and appearing opposite Oliver Reed, it was probably a smart idea that Kate Bush refused! Despite there not being new music and lots of activity through 1987, there was this continuation of charity work. As you can see below, Bush made this iconic appearance with David Gilmour:

March 28/29, 1987

Kate performs Running Up That Hill and Let It Be live with David Gilmour at Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Third Ball concerts.

March 1987

Kate does some session work for the second album by Go West, called Dancing on the Couch: she sings backing vocals on the track The Kind is Dead.

Kate also writes and records a song called This Woman's Work for the John Hughes film She's Having a Baby, which is finally released in February 1988.

late 1987

Kate agrees to lend her name to a new vegetarian campaign launched by the Vegetarian Society to publicise excessive cruelties within specific areas of the meat trade”.

Kate Bush News recently reported on there being a new version of the Go West song being released. Featuring Kate Bush on backing vocals, many fans might not know about it. Whether it was Peter Gabriel, Roy Harper or Go West, Bush did make some appearances as a backing singer (I forgot to mention Prince too):

“In 1987, English pop duo, Go West, issued their second studio album which featured the single The King is Dead with Kate on backing vocals. The story goes that Kate’s guitarist, Alan Murphy, was working on the album with the band in Denmark and asked Kate if she could do some vocals on the track. Kate obliged by sending tapes over to them to work with. Apart from her repeatedly singing the song title behind much of the second half of the track, at 1 minute 45 seconds Kate belts out:

“You let me in behind the lies, but you’re no use to me life size…”

This month, Chrysalis Records have reissued the album in a deluxe package on CD/DVD and on vinyl record and it features a new previously unreleased version of the song, The King Is Dead (12″ Long Vibe Piano Mix). We can hear more Kate backing vocals, in particular a striking moment at the 4 minute 37 seconds mark!

From vocalist Peter Cox on the band’s official site: “At one point Richard said that it would be great if we could get a female backing vocal on the song ..someone like Kate Bush’. Al (Murphy, guitarist) had played in Kate’s band for many years and said, ‘Why not just ask Kate?’ He called her – she graciously agreed, and we sent her the multitrack tape. It was quite the moment when we heard what she had done – we hadn’t given her any notes or guidance, just let her do her fabulous thing.” Richard Drummie of the band continues: “This song is about meeting a hero and your established perception of them being different from the reality. That’s not their fault.. ‘no one’s to blame.. but it immediately appeared as a poignant situation we could write about. We wrote the song really quickly”.

That pivotal moment of Kate Bush writing This Woman’s Work happened in 1987. After turning down a film role, this was a case of her giving her music to film once more. Perhaps more keen to be the other side of the camera, again, many may not know that This Woman’s Work was in a film before it turned up on The Sensual World. Kate Bush also allowing her name to be used for the Vegetarian Society campaign. If we had to sum up 1987, it is very much one of Kate Bush giving. A lot of charity work. Some interesting songs and creative bits. I remember the VHS for The Whole Story coming out. It was sort of the start of a very fascinating year. There was award recognition and some great little things she was involved with. After a hectic year in 1986 promoting Hounds of Love and finishing that off, there was this bridge before hew new album, 1988 would see her more immersed in The Sensual World. Kate Bush turned thirty in July 1988. I suppose there was thins feeling that, in the last year of her twenties, she would give as much back as possible. Bush was always charitable, yet it seemed 1987 was as much about giving something back. After enjoying so much success, we got to see this very benevolent and caring side. It was an interesting year to go into. Things would ramp up from 1988 and into 1989. Some real variety and standout moments, Kate Bush’s 1987 definitely…

HAD its highlights.

FEATURE: Revisiting… Lola Kirke – Lady for Sale

FEATURE:

 

 

Revisiting…

Lola Kirke – Lady for Sale

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AS her new E.P…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ward & Kweskin

comes out soon, I wanted to look back at Lola Kirke’s 2022 album, Lady for Sale. Country Curious is going to be an exiting new project from an artist not known and played as much. Released in April 2022, Lady for Sale is a terrific album that more people should know about. Before ending with a review for the amazing Lady for Sale, there are a couple of interviews that I want to come to. Rolling Stone spoke with an artist embracing and utilising the drama of Country for her 2022 album. An acclaimed actor herself, Lola Kirke employs and deploys her incredible talents and emotional range through the album. It is a remarkable work that more people should listen to:

“WHEN SHE WAS an infant, Lola Kirke had a nurse who would sing Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” to her as a soothing gesture. She would later encounter the song in a new way in Jumpin’ Jim’s Ukulele Country music book, which she received as a teenager learning to play the ukulele.

“It was my first instrument, because I’m a white girl who grew up in the mid-2000s — we all got ukuleles,” Kirke jokes during a Zoom call with Rolling Stone. The singer-actress, who’s starred in Mozart in the Jungle and Gone Girl, is currently in New York, but has also been spending long stretches in Nashville over the last couple of years.

Kirke’s time in Nashville and deepening interest in country music is reflected in her new album Lady for Sale, which arrives this week via Third Man Records. Rather than a slick country-pop affair or sparse singer-songwriter project, Lady for Sale finds a third path, one where the aesthetics of Eighties country and synth-pop collide in tightly written, clever songs. There is the icy melodic flourish in the chorus of “Broken Families,” which features Courtney Marie Andrews, and the softer palette of steel and guitar that undergirds “Pink Sky,” and then there’s the Madonna-meets-the-Judds bounce of “Better than Any Drug.” Keen music listeners will recognize some of the reference points, but they’re also employed as ways for Kirke to frame her smart examinations of unhealthy relationships and show-business pitfalls.

“We wanted to make archetypal Eighties, Nineties country music,” says Kirke, the daughter of Free and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke. “Through that, you would be like, ‘Oh, that’s what I’m entering into,’ and then get to these more complex ideas through what might seem like a simple exterior.”

You grew up in a family of musicians. Your dad is a well-known rock drummer. What spurred your interest in country music?

I think I was just drawn to how easy the songs were initially because there were three chords or whatever. Literally, I was like, “Oh, I can play these.” And through that ease, discovered a deeper love of country music. Also, there’s a lot of parallels with being an actress and being a country singer or singing country. So many of the women in country music, they’re telling these stories and embodying characters and also wearing costumes in a really incredible way. There was all this room for drama within country that was really exciting to me as an actor.

It’s almost like doing drag in some instances, when you think about Dolly Parton or Reba McEntire. The presentation is very dramatic and campy.

It’s great! And that is actually a greater way that you can be truthful. It’s this concept of, through the mask, you can reveal the truth. And I think that there’s something so earnest and authentic about the songs that these women who are in drag, as we’re saying, I’m so moved by so much of this music. That really appealed to me.

Your new album Lady for Sale nods to the neon hues and synth sounds of the Eighties, with touches of disco in the mix. It’s very different than your previous album Heart Head West, which had a dreamy, shimmering quality. When did the transition start to happen between those sounds?

A lot of it really started with Austin Jenkins [White Denim], who produced and co-wrote the record with me. He reflected that I’m actually a lot more fun than I’ve ever really let myself be in music, and I was like, “Huh, that’s true.” I spent a lot of time at the beginning of my music career trying to appear cool to other women, my peers — earnest and cool and serious and I’m just really not that. It wasn’t authentic to me. I also, over the course of the pandemic, really got interested in the Judds and Tanya Tucker and that period of music, which I really wasn’t familiar with prior to then, because growing up in New York City, that’s not really what I heard. I think Faith Hill and Shania made it onto the radio where I grew up, but country radio other than that was just nonexistent to me. So hearing Rosanne Cash’s Seven Year Ache and a bunch of other music of that time, I was just opened up to a new world.

Many people have an idealized version of what it’s like coming to Nashville. How did your experience compare to what you imagined?

I had kind of first gotten to know Nashville through the movie Nashville, the Robert Altman film, which was one of my favorite movies growing up. And then The Thing Called Love, the Peter Bogdanovich movie that was River Phoenix’s last, which is all about songwriters. And when I moved to Nashville, I fell in love with the show Nashville, became so obsessed I would have dreams about the characters, which was funny because I was very much watching it during lockdown. I’ve heard people say “Oh, people started moving here because they loved that show so much.” And now it’s not as local as it once was. But it comes pretty close to what I dreamed of it being. I also think that as I get older, I see that the world as I imagined it would be when I was older just doesn’t exist. I remember going to San Francisco and being like, “And at any moment Jerry Garcia will round the corner,” and it was actually “there’s a Google Bus.” I don’t think this local quality that the world once had exists in quite the same way. But I do think that Nashville, as a smaller city, kind of keeps that alive”.

1883 Magazine spoke with the British-born, U.S.-based actor-musician in 2022. I first heard Lady for Sale then. I was instantly struck by it. I am dipping into the album now, excited to hear new music from Lola Kirke. Her latest single, My House, is among her best releases. This is a tremendous artist that you need to get behind and listen to. Such a remarkable talent:

“It might seem surprising for a New Yorker born in England to turn to country music to express herself, but the longer you talk to Kirke, the more it makes sense. The Mistress America and Mozart in the Jungle actress grew up in a household full to bursting with creatives (her father is a drummer, her siblings are painters, actors and musicians), and her family relocated to the States when she was five years of age. She grew up in “the wild West Village” of Manhattan, she jokes, and as the only person in the family with an American accent, Kirke always felt somewhat of a comfortable outsider. “I think there was a great safety for me in having an American accent when everyone else in my family didn’t,” she says.

She went through a brief punk phase in her teens in an attempt to carve out more of her own identity, but evidently, it didn’t stick. “I could have played punk music, because it’s kind of easy, but I was not cool enough to play punk,” she laughs.

“My sister (Jemima, a visual artist and actress known for her work in Lena Dunham’s Girls), used to dress me for school. Her best friend at the time was this actress Paz de la Huerta, and Paz was a real punk ― she had those Sid Vicious creeper shoes,” Kirke recalls. “I wanted to be one because I thought it was colourful and pretty. When I reflect back on how I felt in high school, I think I was very easy to make fun of, and I think that because nobody else really liked it, punk felt like a safe place for me to live and something to call my own.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Sara-Anne Waggoner

Kirke was raised on rock and roll — the first song she remembers loving is Led Zeppelin’s ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’. “I was asleep in the backseat of my parents’ car, and the song actually woke me up. It sounded like somebody had broken something open,” she recalls. But, at least for now, Kirke’s home is pedal steels, slide guitars, three chords and the truth. Even if she invokes the latter cliché with more than a hint of self-deprecation. “Actually, I saw this meme the other day that was like, ‘three chords and fucking lies!,’” she says.

“There’s an earnestness about country music that I really connect to. The country music I’m listening to now, the 80s and 90s stuff that is so referenced on this record, is so exciting to me. I feel glad I discovered it when I did, because if I had listened to it growing up, I maybe wouldn’t be so impressed. There’s something about the slickness, and expertise. The other thing about country music,” she adds, “is that you can’t just make a country song. It’s so structured! Your choruses better fucking pay off, and your verses had better support them in the most cheeky, witty, concise way. It’s funny to me when people put a pedal steel on a track and are like ‘it’s a country song!’ It’s not.”

She talks about country music like a kid in a candy store, all wide eyes and wonder, marveling at every detail. She talks about acting that way, too, and there’s a huge parallel between her choices as a musician and an actor. “When I look at the women in country, there’s a real space for performance in the genre. Those women ― the Loretta Lynns and Tammy Wynettes ― are such great actresses. There’s a lot of story-telling in country,” she says, adding: “Or Dolly Parton! You don’t know anything about her home life! She wears a wig!”

PHOTO CREDIT: Sara-Anne Waggoner

Lady For Sale is certainly a partial experiment in persona for Kirke. It’s hyper-stylized, and each song seems to have a distinct character ― so much so that one could almost call it a concept album. “There’s definitely a mask element to it,” Kirke explains. “I am able to live more truthfully through the mask, and I really appreciated finding the character of Lola.” Whiplashing between untethered, fun country-pop and mournful modern melodies, Kirke explores everything from loving and longing to feminine sexuality and desire, with a breathy voice and absolutely no restraint.

Despite all the characters that Kirke brings to the album, Lady For Sale has also been a vehicle for self-discovery for her. It’s Lola, playing versions of herself. She’s still acting, but she’s using a different medium, and she’s certainly no longer interested in succumbing to the pressure of conformity, though it took writing this record for her to understand that. “There’s been a tremendous amount of getting to know myself and my instrument, so to speak. I’m typically quite a warm, earnest and jovial person. I mean, I’m also a crazy bitch,” she smirks. “But I’m not a sad person. And I think there was a trend with girls my age to be really sad with a guitar.”

Does she ever see herself prioritizing one career over another?

“This album cycle has really been eye-opening, in terms of choosing to involve myself in two of the most toxic industries that exist,” Kirke says. “I have a true passion for both of these crafts. I love singing, and writing songs, but I also love acting, and being on set. There was a spiritual beatdown that certainly happened while putting this record out. When I get out of touch with whatever it is I really love about the record, performing and touring, it can feel really confusing.” The expectation that artists should be offering themselves up as commodities over social media is a bitter pill”.

There were some really positive reviews for Lady for Sale. One of those albums I think passed some by, do take some time and revisit this gem from Lola Kirke. In their impassioned review, The Line of Best Fit noted how Lady for Sale is a confident follow-up from her 2019 debut, Heart Head West. Produced by Austin Jenkins, Lady for Sale is a wonderful listen. You can buy the album. It is an album released whilst we were still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, Lady for Sale provided a lot of comfort and release. With some incredible tour dates around the U.S., there are going to be fans that hope Lola Kirke comes to the U.K. at some point to play. She is a magnificent artist who has this very loyal and loving fanbase:

“This rebrand away from her excellent 2019 debut Heart Head West – which presented itself as more subdued with a rocking ’n’ rolling tint – is in the name of embracing self and allowing it to shine bright.

Amongst her fresh recipe of syrupy country come tales of romance lost and found. It’s undeniable that Kirke is here to have fun with her second outing Lady For Sale, yet roots it deep in the sticky feelings which come with relationships and life.

Throughout, she's toying vibrantly with empowerment be it through its exterior world in the form a workout video (“Lady For Sale”) to just embracing being unashamedly human. Kirke is pulling no punches in living life in the creative arts (Kirke also acts), including references to the OnlyFans business model being akin to the music industry and joining the content churn to be a musician.

Delectable chorus after delectable chorus soars above all else. With the melodies doing their best to push their luck – toeing the line between infectious and abrasive, it's this swinging energy under which Lady For Sale thrives. Indeed, this isn’t an album created to lay low, it begs for attention, and once you’re in its sights, it’s impossible not to do so.

Not only embracing herself but all the joy of life, each gem in the Nudie suit Lady For Sale shines bright with a different message, some darker than others. Opener “Broken Families”, featuring Courtney Marie Andrews, breaks down the familial toxicity that leads to troubled relationships. The titular track opens with the bar-room toilet graffiti influenced lyrical A-bomb “Weed is proof of God” before winding its way through the lacking respect and putting on fronts to get by in order to achieve dreams. The lushly subdued “Pink Sky”, which promises “there’s no rush / no rush / he’s howling at the moon", proves it doesn’t have to be all bright and shiny – sometimes, things need to get real for a second to make sure the train stays on the tracks.

Lyrically, Kirke moves into the top tier of writers. Even references to alien conspiracy theories from questionable lovers who take the nihilistic quote "fuck the world" a little too seriously on "The Crime" deliver a kick and punch before a kiss and a wink.

“Stay Drunk” avoids dealing with the consequences of actions, while the ‘80s call-back “Better Than Any Drug” ensures those actions keep you coming back for more with an exhaustive lyrical wink-and-smile run the Class-A list. Undoubtedly life is about seizing the day, and in the trickles of pedal steel and glowing synths, on Lady For Sale Lola Kirke encourages the exploration of mistakes while knowing that you only live once, so have some fun with it, yeah?”.

An album that I feel did not get all of the attention and focus it warranted back in 2022, Lady for Sale is the latest album from the stunning Lola Kirke. The Country Curious E.P. has been announced. It will be another important chapter from one of the music world’s most distinct talents. I really love Lady for Sale, so I wanted to recommend it here. If you have not heard the album, I would suggest you take a little time out and…

DIVE right in.

FEATURE: Turning of the Tide: Is An Historic Night at the GRAMMYs a Sign Female Dominance and Progression Will Continue Through This Year?

FEATURE:

 

 

Turning of the Tide

IN THIS PHOTO: Kylie Minogue won the Best Pop Dance Recording GRAMMY for Padam Padam on 4th February, 2024 in Los Angeles, California/PHOTO CREDIT: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Is An Historic Night at the GRAMMYs a Sign Female Dominance and Progression Will Continue Through This Year?

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THE music has a long way to go…

IMAGE CREDIT: Beth Garrabrant

when it comes to making women equal and ensuring they are heard. In terms of misogyny and sexism, this is something worryingly rife through the industry. Festival headliners are still largely male. There are a lot of issues to sort out. When it comes to award ceremonies and rewarding women for their achievements, this is something that is changing. Maybe this is the first sign that female dominance is going to define this year. It is a shame reward representation does not mirror necessarily into festivals and even radio playlists. I shall come to an article from The Guardian who recently discussed women dominating music and how there has been this incredible shift. Last night’s GRAMMYs saw women taken home awards in many of the biggest categories. Aside from Taylor Swift setting records and also announcing a new album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, it was a great night for women in musi!. Showing that male bias cannot continue. That they are dominating and, more than likely, this is going to continue for years more:

“Album of the year

Jon Batiste – World Music Radio
boygenius – The Record
Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation
Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure
Olivia Rodrigo – Guts
Taylor Swift – Midnights – WINNER
SZA – SOS

Record of the year

Jon Batiste – Worship
boygenius – Not Strong Enough
Miley Cyrus – Flowers – WINNER
Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For? from Barbie: The Album
Victoria Monét – On My Mama
Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire
Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
SZA – Kill Bill

Best new artist

Gracie Abrams
Fred again..
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monét – WINNER
The War and Treaty

Song of the year

Lana Del Rey – A&W
Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
Jon Batiste – Butterfly
Dua Lipa – Dance the Night from Barbie
Miley Cyrus – Flowers
SZA – Kill Bill
Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire
Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For? from Barbie – WINNER

Best pop vocal album

Kelly Clarkson – Chemistry
Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation
Olivia Rodrigo – Guts
Ed Sheeran – “-” (Subtract)
Taylor Swift – Midnights – WINNER

Best R&B song

Halle – Angel
Robert Glasper featuring SiR and Alex Isley – Back to Love
Coco Jones – ICU
Victoria Monét – On My Mama
SZA – Snooze – WINNER

Best música urbana album

Rauw Alejandro – Saturno
Karol G – Mañana Será Bonito – WINNER
Tainy – Data

Best pop solo performance

Miley Cyrus – Flowers – WINNER
Doja Cat – Paint the Town Red
Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For? from Barbie
Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire
Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero

Best progressive R&B album

6lack – Since I Have a Lover
Diddy – The Love Album: Off the Grid
Terrace Martin and James Fauntleroy – Nova
Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure
SZA – SOS – WINNER

Best R&B performance

Chris Brown – Summer Too Hot
Robert Glasper featuring SiR and Alex Isley – Back to Love
Coco Jones – ICU – WINNER
Victoria Monét – How Does It Make You Feel
SZA – Kill Bill

Best folk album

Dom Flemons – Traveling Wildfire
The Milk Carton Kids – I Only See the Moon
Joni Mitchell – Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live) – WINNER
Nickel Creek – Celebrants
Old Crow Medicine Show – Jubilee
Paul Simon – Seven Psalms
Rufus Wainwright – Folkocracy

Best pop duo/group performance

Miley Cyrus featuring Brandi Carlile – Thousand Miles
Lana Del Rey featuring Jon Batiste – Candy Necklace
Labrinth featuring Billie Eilish – Never Felt So Alone
Taylor Swift featuring Ice Spice – Karma
SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers – Ghost in the Machine – WINNER

Best pop dance recording

David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray – Baby Don’t Hurt Me
Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding – Miracle
Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam – WINNER
Bebe Rexha and David Guetta – One in a Million
Troye Sivan – Rush

Best R&B album

Babyface – Girls Night Out
Coco Jones – What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe)
Emily King – Special Occasion
Victoria Monét – Jaguar II – WINNER
Summer Walker – Clear 2: Soft Life EP

Best song written for visual media

Barbie World from Barbie the Album, Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. and Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice featuring Aqua)
Dance the Night from “Barbie the Album, Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
I’m Just Ken from Barbie the Album, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Ryan Gosling)
Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Music From and Inspired By, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Robyn Fenty and Temilade Openiyi, songwriters (Rihanna)
What Was I Made For? from Barbie the Album, Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish) — WINNER

Best African music performance

Asake and Olamide – Amapiano
Burna Boy – City Boys
Davido featuring Musa Keys – Unavailable
Ayra Starr – Rush
Tyla – Water – WINNER

Best alternative music album

Arctic Monkeys – The Car
boygenius – The Record – WINNER
Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Gorillaz – Cracker Island
PJ Harvey – I Inside the Old Year Dying

Best alternative music performance

Alvvays – Belinda Says
Arctic Monkeys – Body Paint
boygenius – Cool About It
Lana Del Rey – A&W
Paramore – This Is Why – WINNER

Best rock album

Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
Greta Van Fleet – Starcatcher
Metallica – 72 Seasons
Paramore – This Is Why – WINNER
Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman…

Best rock song

The Rolling Stones – Angry
Olivia Rodrigo – Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl
Queens of the Stone Age – Emotion Sickness
boygenius – Not Strong Enough – WINNER
Foo Fighters – Rescued

Best rock performance

Arctic Monkeys – Sculptures of Anything Goes
Black Pumas – More Than a Love Song
boygenius – Not Strong Enough – WINNER
Foo Fighters – Rescued
Metallica – Lux Æterna”.

I do think that the tide is turning. Normally, award ceremonies struggle to acknowledge and celebrate women. After years of such fantastic music from them, there have been no excuses anymore. The GRAMMYs is the latest example of how women are ruling across so many genres and areas. If there are some genres where they are under-represented and nominated – Rap being one; female producers not being nominated -, then that is going to change before too long. Things are not rosy and celebration across the board. Whilst the GRAMMYs showed that some of music’s biggest and most successful queens have been recognised, that is not to say that things are fixed. In fact, rather than the GRAMMYs being a major shift towards equality and women feeling seen in the industry, it is at least a moment that will start to turn the tide. A knock-on affect that hopefully will spread through all levels of music. The Guardian recently wrote how there is this hopeful new era for women in music – against a backdrop of a recent parliamentary report in the U.K. that makes for disturbing reading:

“Gaining greater stature and confidence in the industry, the story is not repeated at either the very bottom or the very top of the business. Female recording studio technicians and session musicians still have harrowing accounts of the obstacles and insults they have faced at work, while the most influential labels and music publishing companies are top-heavy with men.

An oppressive emphasis on the physical appearance of female artists made their life particularly hard, the parliamentary committee report found, analysing evidence gathered by a parliamentary inquiry that began last summer.

Limited opportunities to advance in the industry and persistently lower levels of pay are also hurdles, while racial discrimination holds back many black women from taking up influential roles in the music business, the findings suggested.

Most worrying was testimony about an enduring “culture of silence” that means women are often expected to sit next to known abusers at industry events. The only alternative is a potentially career-ending showdown. “Much of the evidence we received has had to remain confidential, including commentary on television shows and household names,” the report read. “That is highly regrettable but demonstrates the extent of the use of NDAs [non-disclosure agreements].”

IN THIS PHOTO: Ellie Goulding

Goulding is one of the prominent performers to use her secure position to speak out. Explaining the unpleasant environment that female artists can encounter, she recalled “a slight feeling of discomfort” whenever she walked into a studio to find she was alone with “one or two men”.

“There are still few women in really powerful positions in the record companies, considering at least half the consumers of music are women,” said Smith, “There used to be a teaboy route up through to the top of a record company, but if you were a 17-year-old girl, would you really want to be there with no status and all that male banter? It’s good that the music schools are now training women for these roles, because it would be hard for a young woman to put up with all that male stupidity. You can see why so many of them say ‘I’m out.’”

And the numbers don’t lie. There has been a huge surge up the charts. In 2022 only two female musicians cracked the top 10 of biggest songs, with Kate Bush reprising the success of her 1985 single Running Up That Hill, on the back of television’s Stranger Things, and pop singer Cat Burns making an impact with Go.

It is the same heartening story in America. A study by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that the share of women involved in last year’s hits in the US had increased to 35%. The number of female artists has reached the highest since 2012.

“Whilst work continues towards achieving full representation for women across the music industry, 2023 has been a brilliant year for women in the Official Charts,” said the BPI’s Twist. “There is a more diverse range of recording artists than ever achieving great success with the backing of their labels. This should be celebrated, but without complacency, and our work in the music industry continues to ensure that this becomes the norm”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Coco Jones won the GRAMMY for Best R&B Performance for ICU/PHOTO CREDIT: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

It has been wonderful seeing all the reaction to the GRAMMY wins. This sign that music from women is dominating. I guess it only tells some of the story. Some of the more commercial women are rightly being acknowledged. If you look at the wave of other female artists across music who struggle to get headline slots and festival places; those who have to struggle to get onto radio or to be taken seriously; those who feel safe and secure in the industry, it is evident that we have a long way to go. The music industry still has a big problem with misogyny and inequality. This is not going to be corrected anytime soon. What high-profile ceremonies like the GRAMMYs show is that women near the very top are ruling. I hope this is a sign that women throughout music should be respected and given more opportunity. You can feel things starting to change. Going through this year, we need to call to account any incident where women are being overlooked. Tackle misogyny and abuse through this industry. Ensure that pay is levelled and that more women are given roles in executive positions – especially for Black women, who are a group vastly under-represented. If now has never been a better time for women in the industry in terms of recognition – though the bar has been extremely low for decades now -, that is going to increase and build. There does need to be an industry-wide trickle-down where every issue and inequality is tackled. Ensuring that it is not only elite female artists getting credit and reward: this kudos and celebration needs to extend much more extensively. I am hopeful. The GRAMMYs shows that the tide is turning now. It will be a long time before we can truly say that sexism and misogyny has been eradicated, yet every bit of good news is reason for encouragement. We definitely need to see more of this…

THROUGHOUT this year

FEATURE: Spotlight: The War and Treaty

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

The War and Treaty

_________

A GRAMMY-nominated duo who…

PHOTO CREDIT: Alysse Gafkjen for Rolling Stone 

have been on the scene for a while but are getting a lot of spotlight and buzz now, The War and Treaty should be on your radar. Their latest album, Lover’s Game, was released last March. They are a terrific husband-and-wife duo consisting of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter. I guarantee you will love what they are doing. I want to come to a few interview from The War and Treaty from last year. To give you some depth and background about this amazing musical force. I will start with some biography from their website:

“Founded in 2014 by the husband-and-wife duo Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, The War And Treaty has emerged as one of the most electrifying new acts in American music. Recently earning their first ever GRAMMY nominations for Best New Artist and Best American Roots Song for “Blank Page,” they also received this year their first ever Duo of the Year nomination from the Country Music Association, Vocal Duo nomination from the Academy of Country Music, plus recognition by the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Americana Music Association including earning AMA Duo/Group of the Year for the second straight year. 

With a lionhearted sonic blend, both roaring with passion and tender to the touch, The Tennessean notes, “they are unlike any other act in music.” The War And Treaty’s major label debut album Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville), was met with critical praise with Associated Press claiming, “The colossally talented pair continue their commando, no-limits journey to the top of the music world.” Drawing respect across the board, they have gone on to appear as top-flight collaborators including the latest “Hey Driver” with Zach Bryan.  

The War And Treaty has captivated audiences across the globe from North America to Europe, Australia and beyond, while headlining their own shows and opening for a diverse group of living legends: Al Green, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, John Legend, Lauren Daigle, and Van Morrison among them”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Austin Hargrave

I am going to move onto an interview from The Guardian. The story of how Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter found one another and started making music together is amazing:

“He was a wounded Army veteran, she was a failed R&B star. Together they’ve transmuted trauma into powerfully uplifting gospel and country music – and John Legend is set to film their love story

Michael Trotter did his very best to stop Tanya from falling for him. I’m a screwup, he told her. I’ve already got a divorce in my 20s, I’ve been to war twice, I’m wounded. I am not a catch. “She just looked at me and said, ‘Are you done?’” says Michael. “‘Because I’m going to tell you what I see. I see a king. You just need the right kind of queen.’”

The resulting partnership, both marital and musical, has proven her right. See the Trotters in a room together and you almost feel sorry for other couples. Watch them on stage, as the War and Treaty, and you’re transported into the heart of their relationship. Their Glastonbury debut last year had the devotional fervour of a revival meeting, and their fourth album, Lover’s Game, released this month, bursts with emotion, inspired by the gospel and country sounds they have both loved since childhood.

It is a creation of great experience and even greater joy. Last year they opened for John Legend’s tour; their own love story is so epic that Legend is now making it into a movie.

Michael is an army veteran who suffers with depression and PTSD and for whom music is therapy. Sometimes he will sit and write several songs a day just to process his feelings. “I’m thinking of one right now,” he says. The US had just invaded Iraq when he enlisted at 21; he was stationed in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces in Baghdad. When fellow soldiers died, he sang tributes to them on a piano he found there. “I was very blessed in the leaders I had,” he says. “They all encouraged me in my music-making. They saw I had a different calling.”

His service completed, he met Tanya Blount in August 2010, when they played the same festival in Maryland. Tanya was on her second musical career – her first had peaked in her teens, when she appeared opposite Lauryn Hill and Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2 and signed a deal with Sean Combs’s record label to become an R&B star at 16. “I knew at eight that this was what I wanted to do,” says Tanya.

But she took a break from the business after an unsatisfactory experience with Bad Boy Records. “I’d been in a pretentious world for pretty much most of my teens and 20s,” says Tanya. “In R&B, hip-hop, nothing’s what they say it is. The car’s not theirs, the chain’s not theirs. Everything is rented.”

Michael, by comparison, was candid to a fault. They fell for each other at first sight. “I remember her saying: ‘I’m not looking for a bank account, I’m not looking for a six pack,” says Michael. “And I jumped for joy because I don’t have neither.”

The sound they arrived at as a duo is the product of relentless work and ruthless honesty. “We’d be doing eight hours of rehearsal at home, and if the song didn’t move us we’d trash it,” says Michael. “If we’re not feeling teary, or some emotional connection, it’s not worth it.” Some of their most upbeat choruses hide the couple’s trauma in plain sight. Five More Minutes was named for the day in 2017 that Michael had decided to end his life and Tanya asked him to stay with her just a little longer”.

Maybe now only starting to get the credit they fully deserve, The War and Treaty will find a whole new wave of fans this year. I hope that they manage to come to the U.K. and Europe to tour. Holler caught up with The War and Treaty last year. With Michael and Tanya coming from very different backgrounds/paths but having this instant connection, harmony and incredible talent, this Gospel-Country-Soul duo are going to making music for many years to come. I think that they warrant a lot more exposure on radio and in the music media:

“Though the pair hadn’t yet met, Michael had already spotted Tanya in the movie and, rather fortuitously, her head was turned when she heard him perform at a local festival.

By 2014 the new couple had formed The War and Treaty and started to experience the highs and lows of a music career. Over the years, their sound evolved, carrying them through to recognition worthy of securing great opening slots for the likes of John Legend, Al Green and Brandi Carlile.

Despite the pandemic pausing their progress, Michael still suffering from PTSD and Tanya getting heavily ill from Covid - which continues to affect her vision and energy – the War and Treaty are anything but quitters. Instead they became stronger, lauded by the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Americana Music Association, who made The War and Treaty their 2022 Duo/Group of the Year.

Now they have a new, major label album, Lover’s Game, produced by none other than Dave Cobb, a headlining tour and plans to conquer the world with buckets of charm and harmonies. Just listen to the hugely soulful ‘Have You A Heart’ and the sweeping drama of ‘Blank Page’. Or hear their country side on ‘Yesterday’s Burn’ where Michael channels his idol, Kenny Rogers, and ‘That’s How Love Is Made’ which they’d have loved Dottie West and Kenny to have duetted on.

We spoke to the genial and self-deprecating Tanya and Michael from their Tennessee home, and on the eve of this latest part of their journey, to delve deep into how they work, why they’ve chosen this genre, and what makes them tick…

How did you get paired with the amazing Dave Cobb as your producer on your new album?

Michael: We’ve known each other since about 2017. We’ve always threatened to work together, and Universal provided the opportunity to make that threat a reality. I’m so grateful that they did. To work with Dave is so much fun, and we actually ate more than we worked. That’s the honest to God truth. His wife is a wonderful cook and we ate tapas one night and spaghetti another night. We just ate a lot of food and really enjoyed each other’s company.

Aside from that, we were there for him. Dave lost his mom last year and we didn’t care any more about the music. It was all about Dave Cobb the person and not the producer. We were able to see another side of him, and that allowed Tanya and I to fall more in love with Dave and vice versa for him. We are friends and we take care of one another.

Tanya: Dave encouraged us to trust ourselves; that what we already were doing is what we should do in the studio. We try not to make things perfect because nothing is perfect, no-one’s perfect and he kind of had the same approach. He just said get in there and do what you guys gotta do, then walked out the room.

‘Angel’ is a song about love entwined with religion, and I wonder if you’re both at the same place in your faith?

Tanya: We are on the same wavelength of what we believe. Our faith is the compass to take us where we go, we pray together, cry together, we have dreams together, manifest things together. So we believe the same things and that’s a big part of why we’re able to move forward as a couple and a unit. People see the unity first and feel our faith.

What were your roles in writing the songs on this album, like ‘Ain’t No Harmin’ Me’?

Tanya: Michael is definitely better with melody and lyrics, because he gets everything at the same time. I’m inspired much slower than Michael – for every song I write he’s already written 10. Then he comes to me and says what you think about this song I wrote? And I hear something that needs to change and we’ll come to an agreement to keep it like it is or change it.

He’s prolific. He probably wrote more than 100 songs during the pandemic. I stopped counting! Our music director was laughing the other day because he has over 750 songs in his database from Michael, and only he’s been our music director for five years. We’ve been married for 12 years so just imagine the songs I have in my head!

What’s been your biggest challenge, personally and as a duo?

Tanya: Early on we had to get on the same page about where we wanted to go musically. Then we somehow just stumbled into Americana – we didn’t even know it was a genre, we were trying out different things we loved and hearing our voices on different things.

The challenge – the beauty of what we do – is where I feel limited with my vocals and my voice, Michael picks up and takes it even further. It’s the same with him, and we finish each other’s sentences for lack of a better way of explaining it, that’s what we’ve done for each other.

Maybe Americana was tailor-made for you – this all-encompassing, multi-style genre?

Michael: I prefer to not be boxed in! I love being all over the place, I’m all over the place anyway. I’m all over the place in my marriage, in my finances. One day I’m broke, the next day I’ve got money. As long as they get my name right I don’t care!”.

I will come to a review of Lover’s Game soon. Before that, there is another interview worth bringing in. Country Now spoke with The War and Treaty about their journey to their new album. Not only is their music career extraordinary and inspiring. Where Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter started and how they found one another. It is no wonder there is something cinematic about their finding one another. You can feel and hear their experiences, struggle and sense of discovery through their music. Putting so much of their own story and lives into every note. Such power and beauty from their voices:

“Lover’s Game was produced by Dave Cobb in his Savannah home studio and marks their first major-label release under Mercury Nashville. The War and Treaty spent time sifting through over 100 songs that they had written within the last two years, before landing on the final 10-song track listing for Lover’s Game.

Bottom of Form

Ahead of the official release, fans got a glimpse into the project with songs like “That’s How Love Is Made,” “Ain’t No Harmin’ Me,” “Blank Page,” “Dumb Luck,” and the soaring title track, “Lover’s Game.”

The infectious melody of the title track sets the tone for the authenticity that follows in the rest of the chapters. The couple revealed that the inspiration for the beginning line of the chorus actually stems from an essential part of their recording process.

“Margarita, hot chicken, strawberry wine / Looking for your lovin’ to be mine, all mine,” they sing.

“We recorded the record in Savannah, Georgia, and we didn’t have like that ‘margarita hot chicken, strawberry wine’ line. So Dave Cobb, who fed us to death while we recorded this record, he threw that in there,” Tanya explained. “I never had hot chicken before, so when we were doing it, I was like, I gotta be authentic. I need to go and find a place with some hot chicken. So, you know, I went and got some hot chicken and it’s just an ode to Nashville and our experience here. It was just a lot of fun recording that record, too.”

While discussing their path in life that led them to create such a stunning list of new songs to add to their catalog, the pair opened up about the beginnings of their love story. When they first met, they were both homeless and jumping from place to place among many different people until they landed in Richmond, VA.

“We were living in a transitional house. We didn’t realize that next door, it was a transitional house that we were sharing and we were on food stamps, you know, we had our little baby with us and this is probably not even five years ago…maybe seven years ago,” Tanya explained. “So when I think about it, it doesn’t seem that far removed, you know, from my thinking now. I get up every morning when I’m home and I go out on the back of our porch and I’m just reminded of how good God is, how good it is to be able to have the strength to get up every day and be resilient and just be reminded of this gift that we have. It’s a gift, and it’s not for us, you know, it’s to be given to everyone that listens to it”.

I will finish off with Saving Country Music’s review of the extraordinary Lover’s Game. It is an album from last year that got a love of love, yet I don’t think it was shared and discussed as much as it should be. If you have not heard the album then make sure you do. I guarantee that it will stay in your mind long after you have heard the final song:

“Though well-beloved by elements of the Americana community for years, and the Opry faithful from having proven their prowess in the circle so many times, The War and Treaty has heretofore struggled to find an audience beyond niche programming. The hope was pairing the duo with producer Dave Cobb and exploring all of their influences in a more diverse and robust manner may result in the wider audience The War and Treaty’s talent undeniable deserves by capturing the electricity of what they do live. Lover’s Game just might pull that off.

The album starts off with the braying guitars and upbeat tempo of “Lover’s Game,” which gives the album an immediacy and Southern rock flair to suck you right in. “Ain’t No Harmin’ Me” is one of a host of Gospel entries from the album, but one that is far from preachy, and combines the spirit of blues and Rick Rubin-era Johnny Cash for an enthralling experience. If you want to hear what The War and Treaty are capable of when they let their country influences come to the forefront, get a load of “Yesterday’s Burn”—a song that went viral when they first performed it on the Opry.

One challenge for really all married singing duos is how sometimes songs where they stare lovingly into each other’s eyes and coo affectionately can take on a very sappy, Captain & Tennille vibe if you’re not careful. There are a couple of moments like that on this album, like the falsetto-laden “The Best That I Have” with its mom rock vibes, complete with a Golden Girls reference. Where the first half of the album shows a lot of great energy and diversity in sound, the second half defaults into the duo’s comfort zone, and may challenge the attentiveness of the audience.

What never gives out though, and makes Lover’s Game engaging throughout is the personal nature of the material. This album feels like the lives of Michael and Tanya Trotter set to music. This even includes “Dumb Luck,” which surprisingly is one of the few tracks not written by the duo, but by producer/songwriter Beau Bedford, despite feeling outright autobiographical to them, making references to Opry performances.

And most importantly of course, The War and Treaty is one of those duos that could sing the phone book, and blow the crowd out of their seats. But in this day an age of ever-present singing competitions and Chris Stapleton, this isn’t entirely novel. Marrying their voices with songs that can resonate beyond the enchantment of the performances themselves and appeal to broader parts of the country and roots world is what makes Lover’s Game feel like such an important work.

Country music has always been, and will always be a push and pull of both yearning for purity in the genre, while also wanting to be inviting to a wide sphere of influences and perspectives. The War and Treaty is just the kind of diversity country music needs—one with roots in the genre from the Gospel and blues influences in their sound, respect for country’s origins and institutions, while also instilling a level of talent that is frankly unparalleled by peers, and perfect for proving why being too rigid with genre borders can result in the loss of valuable voices.

No matter what you call them, The War & Treaty belong. And if the rest of the musical world is too busy to invite them into the fold, country music should be more than happy to have them”.

I am going to finish up now. The incredible The War and Treaty have just received GRAMMY acknowledgment and are set to have one of their biggest years yet. Go and follow this amazing duo. Last year, The War and Treaty became the first Black duo to be nominated for the Country Music Association Award for Duo of the Year. They were also the first bBlack duo to be nominated for the Academy of Country Music Award for Duo of the Year. I am looking forward to seeing the upcoming biopic about the GRAMMY-nominated duo’s story. If you are not following them already, do make sure that you add this wonderful name…

TO your playlist.

___________

Follow The War and Treaty

Official:

https://www.thewarandtreaty.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/thewarandtreaty/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/warandtreaty

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@thewarandtreaty

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6HhV0jtMMK5HYnYgG0xgtz

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5csm28Wss38xCghjzUhj9g

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TheWarandTreaty

FEATURE: New Waves: The Use of AI Compositional Tools That Reduce Studio Costs and Foster Creativity

FEATURE:

 

 

New Waves

IMAGE CREDIT: Irenebination

The Use of AI Compositional Tools That Reduce Studio Costs and Foster Creativity

_________

I have published features…

 PHOTO CREDIT: ThisIsEngineering/Pexels

in the past that talk about various styles of music we do not hear anymore. Certain sounds that are rare for various reasons. One of the most recent features discussed Steely Dan and Donald Fagen. How there are hardly any artists today where you can hear their influence. Not such an obscure artist(s), why do we not hear anything Dan/Fagen-esque in modern music?! Some suggested the sheer studio costs put people off. Maybe the creative and intellectual levels needed to write such music. I would argue people could pen something similar to a Donald Fagen song that was really great without having to be exactly as good. In terms of composition, I feel that people could have ideas and starting blocks that could form into these fully-formed songs. Maybe time in the studio experimenting would take a lot of money and time. Is the sheer cost of recording at professional studios with musicians limiting creativity?! Not that there is anything wrong with small studios or D.I.Y. recording. Indeed, some of the very best albums can be made for very little. In terms of doing something bigger and more involved, I guess you need quite a few musicians. If you had to do fewer takes and had the compositions fully realised before they get to the studios, then that would help creativity and future inspiration. Rather than using AI to completely replace artists, one of its benefits is that there are algorithms and options where you could put together notes, lines and full compositions into a demo and then present to musicians. This is nothing new you’ll say, yet AI offers something more detailed and comprehensive. Rather than it being mere building blocks, you could work together these compositions that just need to be repeated in the studio – still costing a little but not as much as doing endless takes.

IN THIS PHOTO: Steely Dan’s Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1977/PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Walter/WireImage/Getty Images

There are programmes and software like AIVA, that allow anyone of any level to create songs in a variety of styles. There has been a lot of discussion about AI in music over the past year or so. We have seen entire songs and albums generated by AI. There are definite disadvantages of AI in music around authenticity and quality. Songs through AI that do not sound that good or lack the human depth and nuance. I think we are a very long way away from AI being able to replicate musicians or replace them. Artists fear they can have their voices used without permission. That we will have a scene of AI music. This real nervousness around technology in music. There are benefits to AI. Think about The Beatles’ final song, Now and Then, which was released last year. That was a John Lennon demo that featured the other three Beatles. AI was used and made it sound like a full and proper band collaboration. AI can give you tools to produce like a professional. Rather than replace those essential people, it allows options for artists who want to self-produce or do not have the budget for a producer. Thinking about the fact that some bands and sounds should have modern-day torch-carriers but do not. I wonder whether studio fees and a daunting hill to climb puts people off. AI does make it more likely that artists today can create quite layered songs with incredible musicianship. They do not need to spend weeks in the studio. This LinkedIn feature discusses AI-composed music and its benefits:

“Introduction

The fact that artificial intelligence can produce music is exciting and scary at the right time for many people. With technological advancement, AI has left no stone unturned and is now doing wonders in the music industry. AI has significantly grown in music composition! Thanks to the development of sophisticated algorithms and the rising availability of large datasets. The algorithms use machine learning techniques to analyze unique music patterns and generate new compositions.

Through this newsletter, let us explore how these algorithms work in a symphony to hit the right notes of the music.

PHOTO CREDIT: Blaz Erzetic/Pexels

AI Algorithms Composing Tunes

Data Collection:  The process starts by collecting massive amounts of music data, including audio recordings and user-generated compositions. This data gives the algorithm a diverse range of musical styles and genres to learn from.

Machine Learning Models: Deep learning is the most common machine learning approach in music composition. These are designed to process sequential data and learn temporal dependencies, making them suitable for capturing musical patterns over time.

Model Training:  The algorithm is trained on the collected music data to analyze the patterns and structures in the music. The model learns the relationship between notes, chords, rhythms, melodies, and other musical elements.

Creativity and Generation: The trained model can generate new musical compositions, take input in melodies or notes, and use this knowledge to develop music further. The generation process is often guided by specific parameters or constraints set by the composer or the user, such as genre, mood, tempo, or musical motifs.

Evaluation and refinement: Not all generated compositions will be musically appealing. Therefore, AI composers often use evaluation metrics or feedback mechanisms to check the quality of the generated music. They may compare the AI-generated music against a large corpus of existing human-created music to ensure that the generated output aligns with established musical norms.

Repetitive Improvement: The AI algorithms meticulously improve by analyzing feedback and user interactions and refining their output over time. This process of continuous learning enables the algorithm to produce increasingly better compositions.

Collaborative tools: Some AI music composition tools are designed to assist human composers rather than replace them entirely. These tools can provide suggestions, harmonizations, or variations based on the composer's input, helping to speed up the creative process and inspire new ideas.

Conclusion

While technology is continuously evolving, AI is becoming an essential tool in the creative process for musicians and composers worldwide. However, it's important to note that while AI in music composition has demonstrated impressive capabilities, it still faces challenges in fully understanding and replicating the complexities of human musical creativity and emotion”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wallace Chuck/Pexels

It is important to make a distinction. I do think that AI creating entire albums and tracks seems rather pointless. I would not want to buy any albums where all the music was made by AI. I know that there are plenty of albums that are made digitally. Electronic albums that have been created by machines. I mean AI replacing instruments and voices. This attempt to replace humans. With some saying they cannot write and record certain types of music because of the incredible studio costs and time to get the sound write. AI tools and algorithms can allow composers and artists to exactly hear what is in their heads. In terms of incurring studio costs, when musicians know that what a composer wants, they can record their part remotely. I favour musicians in the studio though, rather than having AI replace their parts, a remotely-recorded take would be fine. It takes me back to my concern that there are certain groups and artists (like Steely Dan or even The Beatles) where you cannot really hear their influence today. Not the more experimental side of them anyway. This valuable and hugely rich sound of music that is stuck in the past and is begging for modern-day revival. I can understand that there are limited budgets. I don’t feel a lack of talent is the reason for an absence of certain sounds and updates on older artists who should be adopted by new artists. AI is a way of inspiring melodies and harmonies. A way of building compositions and cutting costs because of the reduced studio hours. Then, once a composition or song is worked up by AI, it can then by played by real musicians. Rather than AI being used to replace existing artists or revive deceased ones, the technology is so useful as a way of working up demos and almost-realised full features before working them in a studio. Even for non-musicians like me, is makes compositions and songwriting a lot easier and more intuitive. Let’s hope more and more artists do use AI this way and we will see a revival of older and wonderful sounds…

PHOTO CREDIT: Thapelo Boateng/Pexels

MISSING in the present day.

FEATURE: Definitely/Maybe: Potentially Great ‘Lost’ Album Title Tracks

FEATURE:

 

 

Definitely/Maybe

IN THIS PHOTO: An outtake from the cover shoot of Oasis’ 1994 debut album, Definitely Maybe/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Spencer Jones 

Potentially Great ‘Lost’ Album Title Tracks

_________

I was recently thinking about…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Mirrorpix

Kate Bush’s second studio album, Lionheart, and how there was a track recorded during the sessions that was called Never for Ever. Producer Andrew Powell confirmed that the track was recorded but never used, as Bush felt that her vocal was not great. This terrific and beautiful song that never made it onto the album of the same name – Never for Ever was released in 1980 and co-produced by Kate Bush -; I wonder why it was recorded for the session of Lionheart. Whether it was going to be a Lionheart song or Bush was already thinking to her third album and wanted this title track. In any case, the fact that Never for Ever is the only Kate Bush studio album without a title track seems like this gap. A great what-if regarding Never for Ever and what a title track would have sounded like. It got me thinking about other amazing albums that could have had potentially epic title tracks. It is good when an album has a title but no title track. It seems disconnected, though that sense of detachment is something I love. Even so, there are some classic albums that never had title tracks that I feel could have been something awesome. One turns thirty later this year. Oasis’ Definitely Maybe was a classic of 1994. Whereas future albums had title tracks, their genius debut album did not. I often think of that album title as a throwaway. Maybe a response to a question. It seems very Beatle-esque. More on that band later. Oasis, unashamedly indebted to The Beatles in a huge way could have penned something Beatles-like with a Definitely Maybe title track. A big anthem that could have opened the second side of the album – expand the album from eleven to twelve tracks and have Definitely Maybe nestled between Supersonic and Bring It on Down – and added yet another gem to one of the best albums of the 1990s.

In terms of women in music and female-fronted bands, there are some examples that spring to mind. Even though more quite a few Björk albums do not have title tracks, I feel that 2004’s Medúlla befitted one. That word is Latin for ‘marrow’. That may not seem like fertile ground for lyrical and musical inspiration, though Björk could have used that word to refer to the marrow of the planet. Of plants and living things. A sweeping and fascinating track that could have closed the album. I know that Medúlla is a long album as it stands. However, I often think of her album titles and the potential title cuts that could have been written. A couple of music queens have album titles begging for title tracks. Tori Amos’ Under the Pink recently turned thirty. That title could refer to sexuality. Femininity and womanhood. I am not exactly sure why the album was called Under the Pink, yet there is that tantalising what-if regarding a title track. Again, at nearly an hour and thirteen tracks, would it be excessive or bloated having another track in there?! I think an Under the Pink track would have been really interesting. I guess that Beyoncé’s Lemonade is explained and explored through the album. Its title referring to making something good out of a bad situation. That struggle in terms of race and gender. Identity and political struggle. Rather than it being too revealing, an extra track on her 2016 masterpiece would be wonderful. A song called Lemonade could have various meanings and, as such, her lyrics could dig into a variety of subjects and avenues. The acidic lemon sting or the heroine making lemonade out of lemons. Mixing childhood metaphors and taking that word in other directions, I did half-expect Lemonade to have a title track when the album was annoucned.

I will come onto The Beatles and some other classic albums. First, there are some other older and newer classic albums I muse as to what a title track would have sounded like. Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks is his 1975 classic that could have increased its tracklisting to eleven and had a powerful and stirring title track. What about Joni Mitchell and her 1979 album, Mingus? There is Nirvana’s Nevermind (1991), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (1977) and Radiohead’s Amnesiac (2001). I know some albums without a title track do mention the title in another song. It is a subjective thing, though most of us listen to classic albums that do not have a title cut. Why do artists not include one?! Maybe the title doesn’t suggest anything good. There may be that thing of the album being non-thematic. The title track might make the album narrative too limited or defined. It is pretty curious. I think that The Beatles’ Revolver is an album that begged a title track. Most of their albums had title tracks, though perhaps their first never did. I suppose the gun-themed word might be too violent or restrictive. I feel a Revolver track could have sounded perfect on the album. Thinking about it, the album’s predecessor, Rubber Soul (1965) is without a title track.

Whilst there have been discussions and features about this very subject before, it is something not as dissected as I’d imagine. The fact Oasis’ Definitely Maybe turning thirty is one of the biggest anniversaries of this year got me thinking about what a title track could have consisted of. How epic would it have been. My mind also went to other albums from 1994 without title tracks: Pulp’s Different Class (1995); Beck’s Odelay (1996) – though the word is repeated through the album song, Lord Only Knows -; The Chemical Brothers’ Dig Your Own Hole (1997) and R.E.M.’s Out of Time (1991). Looking at some suggestions online and more modern albums like Britney Spears’ Blackout (2007), Billie Eilish’s debut album, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? (2019) had potential title tracks (or at least in fans’ minds). There is no title track on Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) (an album, annoyingly, that most shortened to ‘Dark Side of the Moon’!). There are ample examples of albums where the title is mentioned in other songs, thus people feel that that is an adequate connection. The Corrs’ Talk on Corners ( 1997) is mentioned in the track, Queen of Hollywood. There is actually an album by The Title Trackers called Lost Title Tracks that mentions a few. The inclusion of The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. (1972) made me realise that this album, plus 1968’s Beggars Banquet, 1971’s Sticky Fingers and even their Beatles rip-off, 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request (pretty much their version of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from the same year) does not have a title track! If you have any suggestions or ideas of title tracks that could have slotted onto classic albums currently without them then let me know. Sadly, in the days of A.I., that sort of request can be fulfilled pretty quickly. It is best kept in the imagination. It takes me back to Oasis’ Definitely Maybe and whether the band had a title track in mind. Would it have been any good?! I guess we will never know. Do have a think about missing title tracks from classic albums and let your…

IMAGINATION run wild!

FEATURE: Without You Without Them: Reacting to the News of boygenius’ Indefinite Hiatus

FEATURE:

 

 

Without You Without Them

IN THIS PHOTO: Phoebe Bridgers (left), Lucy Dacus (right) and Julien Baker (bottom) have announced that boygenius is going on an indefinite hiatus/PHOTO CREDIT: Hobbes Ginsberg for The New York Times

Reacting to the News of boygenius’ Indefinite Hiatus

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YOU get bands who go on hiatus…

and artists that step away and take time out for various reasons. One of my favourite groups out there, boygenius, have announced they are to go on hiatus for the foreseeable future. Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus have their own solo careers, but they are at their best when together. Because last year’s the record was such a brilliant album (and one of my favourite from 2023), it is quite sad that the supergroup are taking some time away. I think many were looking forward to a second studio album from them this year maybe. Pitchfork reported on the news that the beloved trio are on hiatus for the foreseeable future:

“Boygenius played two acoustic sets last night at the Smell in downtown Los Angeles. During the shows, they said, “We’re going away for the foreseeable future,” and Boygenius’ representatives confirmed to Pitchfork that the group is going hiatus.

Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus formed Boygenius in 2018, sharing their self-titled debut EP that year. The trio was relatively inactive in the years that followed, with each member releasing a solo album of her own: Bridgers issued Punisher in 2020; Baker released Little Oblivions in February 2021; and Dacus shared Home Video in June 2021.

Boygenius made their triumphant return last year with their debut album, The Record, and a companion EP, The Rest. The full-length got nominated for Album of the Year, Best Alternative Music Album, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, at the 2024 Grammy Awards. In addition, the single “Not Strong Enough” got nods for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance, while “Cool About It” is up for Best Alternative Music Performance. The Grammys take place on Sunday, February 4, in Los Angeles.

I am going to finish off with a playlist of boygenius’ best songs and deep cuts. I can understand why boygenius might want some time away and are keeping the reason a bit secret. They have their own solo careers to think about, though we hope this is not the end. So incredible is their connection and live performances, fans of the trio hope that they come back together again. Tomorrow in Los Angeles, we will discover if they walk away with a GRAMMY. That might be one of the final public outings for them as a trio for a long time. Though the boys are going to be, as many have punned, out of town for a while, let’s hope that they will be roaring back, Thin Lizzy-style, very soon. Their political and social awareness. How they stand up for the lights of others (especially the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community) and their conscientiousness is much needed. Their sisterhood and strength! Together with their combined musical brilliance makes them such a standout act. I have loved them since they released their self-titled E.P. in 2018. Their latest E.P., the rest, came out late last year. I think a lot of people that after the record came out, that there would be extensive touring and follow-up. I predicted they would be at Glastonbury this year – which I guess can’t possibly happen now. With such an amazing album up there, maybe many were looking ahead to future music. They could well be back but, as boygenius have been together for a long time, it is understandable they will want to do their own thing for a bit.

I am a particular big fan of Phoebe Bridgers, so it would be great to see a follow-up to 2020’s remarkable Punisher. Lucy Dacus put Home Video out on 2021. Julien Baker put out Little Oblivions in 2021. All three albums possibly rank as their best solo efforts. When combined for boygenius, something even more remarkable was released last year. There is no denying that Baker, Dacus and Bridgers are among the best and most consistent songwriters of their generation. Artists who are hugely important and have their own fanbases. I will look to see how they progress and move through this year. Everyone hopes that boygenius can come back together in the coming years. It is clear that there is a love of love between them, so there is no sense of them breaking up or wanting to go in different directions. It is fantastic to have had them in music. The best modern-day supergroup and, more than that, three like-minded but different artists who work together beautifully and harmoniously. If it is the end for boygenuius, we can cherish the peerless music they have given us. If there is more sometime in the future, it is definitely something to hold onto. It is clear that the music scene will never be quite as special and distinct…

WITHOUT them.