FEATURE: First We Take Berlin… An Idea for My 1,000th Kate Bush Feature

FEATURE:

 

 

First We Take Berlin…

IN THIS PHOTO: A 1985 image of Kate Bush in an on-set promotional photo for Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) with dancer Michael Hervieu

 

An Idea for My 1,000th Kate Bush Feature

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THIS is my 954th Kate Bush feature…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in Holland during spring 1978

so it is not long until I will publish the 1,000th. Although in the grand scheme of things it is not important, I think it would be good to mark the occasion somehow. As the feature will be published in June, that month marks fifty years since Kate Bush stepped into AIR Studios to record three songs. Two of these songs made their way unedited/unchanged onto her debut album, 1978’s The Kick Inside. One of the songs, The Saxophone Song, was called Berlin when Bush recorded it in 1975. Of course, one of the three tracks was the astonishing The Man with the Child in His Eyes. In 1975, AIR Studios was based in Oxford Street. If you stand by Oxford Circus tube station and look at a building with Nike Town written on it, look up to the fourth floor and that is where AIR Studios used to be. I imagine Kate Bush excitedly and nervously hopping off a bus and walking up the stairs to AIR Studios ready to record. There were some quality session musicians booked to play with her (including Alan Parker and Barry De Souza). Recollections from some who played with Kate Bush that day – including saxophonist Alan Skidmore – are blank as to what it was like. At the time it must have seemed like any other session. Bush was a month or so shy of her seventeenth birthday when she recorded at AIR Studios in June 1975. Engineer Geoff Emerick has clearer recollections of the day. As Graeme Thomson writes in his book, Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush, Emerick was blown away. Bush being this breath of fresh air. This sweet girl walked in and said she was thirsty so was brought some water. There was a bit of small talk before producer Andrew Powell met her and recording began. Two three-hour sessions commenced where three songs were recorded. Un updated version of Maybe – which is an overlooked gem -, together with Berlin and The Man with the Child in His Eyes. Even if the later song was recorded in June 1975, it can be traced back to 1973 or earlier.

Some of the poetry that Bush wrote whilst at St. Joseph’s making their way into her music. The Man with the Child in His Eyes had a basic version recorded back in 1973. Bush was backed by players from the London Symphony Orchestra whilst at AIR Studios in 1975. I love to imagine Kate Bush make her first professional recordings in June 1975. I am not sure if Bush was driven to the studios. If she got a bus then she would have gone from Welling maybe up to Greenwich. Maybe then getting the Tube from North Greenwich to Bond Street and then walking from there. Perhaps there was a drive of seventy minutes or so down the A2. She must have had so many conflicting emotions as she made her way there and back. The feeling of anxiety and nervousness but this excitement of going into London. Some of her earliest exposure to the city. The noise and pollution must have been different to what she experienced at East Wickham Farm. However, stepping into AIR Studios – with three other leading record producers, Ron Richards, John Burgess and Peter Sullivan, George Martin established Associated Independent Recordings and opened AIR Studios in 1970 – must have been a thrill! A part of Kate Bush history was captured back in June 1975. I wonder whether anyone will mark that fiftieth anniversary very soon. Maybe there will be some magazine articles, though I am not sure how many people are aware that Bush recorded at AIR Studios in June 1975. It was a historic and seismic moment in my view. The very first professional recordings recorded nearly fifty years ago. It deserves some celebration and commemoration!

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankwoitz

I want to focus on June 1975 for my 1,000th Kate Bush feature. I am not sure whether I should record a podcast and invite people to discuss that important moment. Whether that would engross and intrigue people. Maybe use that as a jumping off point and then talking about Kate Bush more widely. I do know that I can go beyond that and celebrate Kate Bush’s legacy and impact. It is amazing to think that nearly fifty years ago, Kate Bush stepped into AIR Studios as a teenager and that would be the start of a professional recording career that continues to this day. I do want to do something special. This year is one where some special anniversaries are occurring. Hounds of Love is forty in September. There are so many possibilities to explore. My budget is not huge, so I am conscious of spending quite a bit of money on a podcast. Finchley Production Studios offers competitive prices. Even so, for a ninety-minute podcast filming and a decent editing option, the cost would be about £500. As I do not generate any revenue from my website, it would be a loss of £500. It might be worth it for the thrill of recording a podcast and getting to mark a fiftieth anniversary and chat about Kate Bush. However, it will be quite a financial hit! However, I don’t really want to do an ordinary blog feature. For the 1,000th, I do want to go all out and honour Kate Bush. I am conscious about cost and whether I can crowd-fund for a podcast. That might seem a bit unethical. I will have a think. I am conscious there are a couple of huge anniversaries coming up that should be highlighted. Fifty years since Bush stepped into AIR Studios to record songs that would appear on her debut album. Forty years since Hounds of Love was released. I am looking forward to my 1,000th Kate Bush feature. I want to honour this artist that is so important to me. Whether a podcast or something filmed, I am determined to show sufficient love and respect to an artist that has…

CHANGED my life.

FEATURE: Room for the Life, Somewhere in Between: Space for Improvisations and Collaborations in Kate Bush’s Music

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Room for the Life, Somewhere in Between

 

Space for Improvisations and Collaborations in Kate Bush’s Music

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MOST people have this view of Kate Bush’s music…

that has not shifted. I will talk about this is in another feature. How so much of the perception and views around her are guided by the media and their misunderstanding and ignorance. How well do they know Kate Bush?! There is this casual misinformation and misperception of her. When it comes to her music, maybe many think that everything was guided by Kate Bush and there was no space for input. Perhaps others feel that she was being guided by others. Kate Bush is one of the few artists who has ever lived who has written every single one of her album tracks. All songs on her ten studio albums credited to her. For sure, there are other people adding things. Whether it is a string arrangement or guitar part of something else, Bush has had help from those around her. However, when it comes to her music, this is very personal and important to her. Someone who would hate co-writing. How difficult and strange that would be. Few artists who have ever lived have written all their own music. When it comes to their studio albums. Bush has covered artists before but never includes a cover on her own albums. One could say that songs like Flower of the Mountain (from 2011’s Director’s Cut) or In Search of Peter Pan (from 1978’s Lionheart) had some help from distinct sources. It is impressive to consider how Bush’s music has been guided and shaped by her. This is especially true when she became a producer and was more in control of how her songs would sound. Not to say she was controlling and did not allow for flexibility. In fact, on all of her albums, there has been room for improvisation and suggestions.

When it came to the studio, there was this collaborative spirit. Despite the fact Bush was calling the shots, players would definitely be able to have their say. Returning to Aerial briefly. Released in 2005, there was a degree of looseness to some of the songs. Of course, there was also a lot of secrecy. Musicians would be invited in and there was this need to keep things private. However, musicians were invited to improvise on tracks. Steve Sanger, a friend of Bush’s husband, Danny McIntosh, came to Dorset (where Bush lived) to play drums, bells, shakers and percussion. If something worked then that was wonderful. If not, then no harm was done (I am paraphrasing Graeme Thomson’s Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush). Bush would lay down her basic vocals the day before musicians would play on some tracks. They would play along with what they heard through headphones. It gave this natural freedom. Musicians could improve and add things. They were not rigidly being led or having to work with all these strict measures. I think that this is something that was not unique to Aerial. Maybe The Dreaming (1982) was a little more inflexible in terms of how loose and natural the sessions were. However, through nearly all of her albums, there was this sense of Kate Bush being this mother figure. Wanting to nurture the musicians and hear their thoughts. She would veto and pull rank sometimes if she knew best. However, there was space for improvisation and some alternate takes. People who played on a Kate Bush album noted the familial atmosphere. How she would offer them tea and there would be food served and wonderful hospitality.

Aerial is an album that very much strikes me as one that was warm and familial. Bush had this vision for the album but the beauty of it is all the different colours and shades. Various musicians adding their own flavours and suggestions. They could add something to the mix because there was this openness. Bush experimenting but not in a gruelling way. Maybe The Dreaming is a slight anomaly in the sense thar there is a denseness to the sound. Even so, she was this supportive and open-minded producer who would welcome collaborative spirit. As mentioned, if she was determined to have her way or sound on record, she would say so and gently, politely shut the conversation down. I would have loved to have watched her in the studio when recording albums like Never for Ever (1980), The Sensual World (1989) or The Red Shoes (1993). Bush is not really a perfectionist. That is what people say. She is exacting and will spend a while with songs. This does not mean she was writing privately, handing instructions to musicians and that was it. In the studio, there would be various players coming up with things in the moment. Perhaps not what Bush has envisaged, some of this naturally appears on the albums. When Bush started producing her own albums, she understood that there needed to be this blend of leadership and collaboration. I have written before how there was this good vibe and happy environment when she was recording out of Abbey Road. Despite Bush auditioning parts and using several players, part of it was so she could get something unique. Musicians coming in and playing something that may not have been concrete in her head. On her first couple of albums – 1978’s The Kick Inside and Lionheart -, Kate Bush was working with experienced musicians and was fascinated by the studio. She was getting advice from them but she was also making them think and play in a different way. Mutual respect that was hugely beneficial to the overall sound.

It all goes back to the way Bush ran her sessions. So warm and supportive, she genuinely cherished and valued everyone who appeared. Even if it is her at the front, things were never purely professional and there was always communication and exchange. I think there remains this misconception. Bush being slavish in the studio and there not being any space for collaboration and improvisation. Circumstances changes from about 1985. Before that, maybe Bush was aware of how much studio sessions were costing her. Her musicians could add their own interpretations and there was definite flexibility. There would be this clash of wanting to nurture collaboration but Bush being aware of the cost and that niggling – and making sure her voice was the most prominent. However, I feel Hounds of Love, The Sensual World and even The Red Shoes saw a shift. From players on Hounds of Love being given some license to take a song where they wanted to (to an extent). Singers like the Trio Bulgarka improvising and guiding things on The Sensual World and The Red Shoes. Players on Aerial playing different parts and if it didn’t hit the mark there was no real stress. Far from Bush’s recording being tense and honed to within an inch of its life, she was a professional and genius producer but also there was this generosity of spirit. Kate Bush is not done recording. One imagines a new album might be more scaled-back in terms of people who play on it. Even so, Bush will not alter how she approaches sessions and those who work with her. There will be opportunity for some improvisation and feedback. Bush is fascinated by people so it is only natural she welcomes communication and collaboration. This is one of many reasons as to why…

SO respected and admired.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Reel to Reel: Songs from Incredible Film Soundtracks

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The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Olga Shenderova/Pexels

 

Reel to Reel: Songs from Incredible Film Soundtracks

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I have done this before…

PHOTO CREDIT: Donald Tong/Pexels

but I want to return to the idea of film soundtracks. How great they are. I have respect for a soundtrack that perfectly compliments a film. Everyone will have their own favourites and those that they hold dear. From some older ace films to some more modern classics, I have combined some of the best film soundtracks together in a mix. Whether you are a film buff or not, nobody can resist a good film soundtrack! Because of that, I have enjoyed listening through some amazing soundtracks and rediscovering songs that I have not heard for a long time. From some personal favourites to the most acclaimed film soundtracks ever, this is a nice mix that should provide plenty of treats. Some of the songs in the mixtape do not say which film they are from, so you may need to do a bit of digging if you want to pair the track with the film. Regardless, sit back and enjoy a…

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

FILM soundtrack mix.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Lay Bankz

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Spotlight

 

Lay Bankz

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A native of Philadelphia…

that you should definitely know about, Lay Bankz is someone who I am new to but instantly bonded with. There is not a lot of press around her so far this year. I will go back to last year and quote from a few interviews. Her latest album, After 7, was released last May and received a lot of acclaim and love. This year she has already released incredible cuts such as Graveyard. One of the most promising voices in Hip-Hop at the moment, I am going to start with an interview from XXL Mag:

“NOTABLE RELEASES: Songs: “Na Na Na,” “Ick,” “Sloppy Seconds (Ick Pt. 2),” “Tell Ur Girlfriend”; EP: Now You See Me ; Project: After 7 ; Guest Appearances: Ciara’s “Da Girls (Dance Mix),” Kyle’s “Woah,” Bandmanrill’s “Piano”

LABEL: Artist Partner Group

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Untitled project dropping later this year.

WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR'S CLASS: “Karrahbooo. Anycia. I think both of them are really talented. They be on some cool sh*t, and I’ve really been on that chill music vibe, recently. The Detroit chill vibe. So, yeah, I think they should have made it. I think they would have killed sh*t.”

INFLUENCED BY: “Lauryn Hill, if we’re talking about hip-hop music. Lauryn Hill is just amazing. Like, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I’ve been listening to it for, like, two months straight now, back-to-back. Missy Elliott is just dope all across the board. Her music is very artsy, and I feel like I have an artsy style of music. And, yeah, just the crazy ad-libs and the crazy sounds when they come on, it’s just very captivating.

Beyoncé ’cause she’s just an amazing performer. She’s an amazing artist. Just the development of her career. I’ve been a Beyoncé fan since the beginning of my life. Aaliyah. I think her style and just how sweet of a girl she was, just very inspirational.”

AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “I was the cool kid. I was funny. I was quirky. I loved anime. I still do love anime. I skateboarded. I was in musical theater, and I’ve been a singer. The artsy, fun girl. I was just having fun, experimenting, trying sh*t and just being myself.”

TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “I seen me on the fake list and I was like, No, no, no. If I made a fake list, I gotta be on a real list. I called my team and I’m like, ‘Yo, did y’all see this?’ I said to the group chat and like, ‘Is this real?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, no, the list is fake, but you did make it this year.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, that is f**king crazy.’

I started [paying attention to the Freshman Class] probably when I was like 12 or 13. Around that time, Lil Uzi Vert and PnB Rock came out. That class was what really opened me up. Five years ago, I started making music and I started wanting to be a Freshman. If you’re not a Freshman, what are you doing?

It’s time for me to be in people’s faces and show them who I am along with the music. I think that everybody has their own sense of individuality, but mine stands out in my own way because of what I do. I dance, I sing, I rap, I write. And I’m just original with doing it. I freestyle in the booth, I produce.

[When the cover is released, I’ll] probably turn up with my girls, my family. I gotta turn up with my team, too, because I wouldn’t be this far without them. I think [my fans are] gonna be hyped. You come with a look, you take the picture for the cover, then you do the freestyle. And the freestyle is really the build-up moment. But I think the cypher is like, this is how I’m coming. I feel like this is gonna open the door for the hip-hop world for me. I feel like the hip-hop world knows me, but after this, they’re gonna really know me.”—As told to Bianca Torres. 

Lay Bankz is a playful amalgam of what hip-hop looks like in 2024. A confident rapper who sings, dances, and has the kind of zeal that leads to superstardom. She's a bit spicy, too; don't sleep on her clap-back game. And she does it all with that Cheshire Cat-like smile that lights up a room. While TikTok can get a bad rap for making artists popular that don't necessarily deserve the acclaim, the 20-year-old Philadelphia native has used the platform to her advantage by showcasing her personality in myriad ways. The songs that got her noticed—"Left Cheek (Doo Doo Blick)," "Na Na Na" and "Tell Ur Girlfriend"—are full of the lively lyrics and upbeat energy that complement her spirit. But she does things a little differently for her 2024 XXL Freshman freestyle by bringing her serious side to light.

"Lately, it's been a lot on my mind," Lay expresses in the video below. "Fighting battles internal inside/There be some days I can't talk to my mom/’Cause I'm dealing with so many feelings and really I'm feeling like I should unwind/And just speak on the thoughts that I bury, like if I don't make it at least I was trying."

The rising rhymer, whose signed to Artist Partner Group, puts her struggles out in the open. From burying loved ones to pulling back on unfulfilled dreams, Lay keeps it real on what she's going through. "I can't give in, I can't give out/And when the pressure caving in, I make some diamonds out of dirt/Ghetto angels protecting me from sin, but I buried some bodies and it hurt/Have you ever been f**ked up, that's the worst/All the sh*t I'm accomplishin' my first/I was doin' the most to get close to my dreams and abandonin' hope ’cause it don't work."

She even switches up her flow, giving more life to her bars: "Bad grades now they on to me, city hated me now they all proud of me/And the music kept a smile on me/But the industry fake, they lied to me."

Lay Bankz takes a page from one of her inspirations with these rhymes. "Lauryn Hill, if we’re talking about hip-hop music," she shares of artists she's influenced by. "Lauryn Hill is just amazing. Like, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I’ve been listening to it for, like, two months straight now, back-to-back. Missy Elliott is just dope all across the board. Her music is very artsy, and I feel like I have an artsy style of music. And, yeah, just the crazy ad-libs and the crazy sounds when they come on, it’s just very captivating."

Singers also play a part in Lay's artistry. "Beyoncé ’cause she’s just an amazing performer," Lay says. "She's an amazing artist. Just the development of her career. I’ve been a Beyoncé fan since the beginning of my life. Aaliyah. I think her style and just how sweet of a girl she was, just very inspirational."

But don't get it twisted; she's doing it all in her own way. "It's time for me to be in people's faces and show them who I am along with the music," she maintains. "I think that everybody has their own sense of individuality, but mine stands out in my own way because of what I do. I dance, I sing, I rap, I write. And I'm just original with doing it. I freestyle in the booth, I produce”.

I am going to move to Billboard. This phenomenal talent discussed taking notes from Beyoncé and repping Eritrea. She also reflected on the success of Tell Ur Girlfriend and how that has gained this huge traction and loving fanbase. I am new to her music but it has been really interesting finding out more about her. Someone that I hope spends some time in the U.K. soon enough:

“At just 19 years old, the Philly native is part of a generation that’s acutely aware of how they are perceived. Thanks to social media, they hear – and sometimes internalize – every last compliment and piece of criticism. But it takes an artist like Lay Bankz to harness the beast that is the Internet, and transform it into a self-promotional tool to fully realize her childhood dreams.

“I’ve always known this is what I wanted to do since I was a baby, and everybody around me can vouch for that,” she says over Zoom. “I’ve been doing this my whole life. This is nothing new. I played the violin, I played piano, I was in orchestra, I was in vocal [lessons], I did musical theater, I took poem classes and I learned how to write poems and write raps. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”

Before the sugary ‘00s-indebted “Tell Ur Girlfriend” conquered TikTok and became her first Billboard Hot 100 entry (No. 58), Bankz’s “Ick” took the Internet by storm – for better and for worse. Despite vocal critics deriding the lyrics and sound, as well as her hip-rocking Jersey club-inspired dance moves in the accompanying music video, “Ick” became the soundtrack to over 200,000 TikToks, reaching No. 8 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 and earning 73.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate.

“Ick” followed a string of smaller regional hits that flaunted Bankz’s versatility, and its success even landed her a surprise performance at Houston rapper Monaleo’s 2023 tour, during which the headliner brought out Bankz alongside fellow ascendant female rappers Cleotrapa, Maiya the Don and Connie Diiamond to perform their respective hits during her Brooklyn stop. Bankz’s performance of “Ick” was electrifying; if people weren’t convinced of her star power before, her seemingly effortless balance in spitting verses and executing full-body choreography certainly changed their minds.

A gifted rapper and singer, Bankz’s growing catalog pulls from myriad genres and influences, but R&B and hip-hop — by way of ‘00s heavyweights like Beyoncé, Ye (fka Kanye West) and Brandy – reign supreme. Those influences shine through on “Tell Ur Girlfriend,” which leveraged its Timbaland-nodding production to success beyond TikTok, landing on additional Billboard rankings such as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 17), R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs (No. 10) and Hot Rap Songs (No. 14). “Girlfriend” has logged 53.4 million on-demand official U.S. streams since its Feb. 7 release.

Between her live performance abilities, her ear for melody, her innate understanding of how to most effectively use the Internet and a support system in Artist Partner Group (APG) and manager Kenney Blake – whom she connected with after he challenged her to sing on the spot in front of a crowded barbershop — Bankz has collected practically every infinity stone necessary to ensure that she’s “here for a good time and a long time.”

Billboard spoke with May’s R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month about her “messy” relationship with music, putting on for the Eritrean girlies, and her favorite songs from the Kendrick Lamar–Drake beef.

Walk me through how you created “Tell Ur Girlfriend.”

I make songs based off of real-life experiences and “Tell Ur Girlfriend” is truthfully something that I went through. At the time, I knew what I was going through, but I didn’t have a song for it, and I feel like I have a song for everything at this point. Well, at least I’ve made a song for everything. I walked in the studio with Johnny Goldstein and Ink – a dope producer and a dope writer —  and I told both of them, “Yo, I had this idea!” Johnny played me the chords for “Tell Your Girlfriend,” but there weren’t any drums.

I’m like, “I want to talk about how I’m feeling right now, and I basically sat there with Ink and Johnny for two hours before we made the song and I broke down the situation that I was going through. We were sitting there like, Alright bet like this is what we’re going to talk about.

I got on the mic, freestyled some melodies, came up with some things that I liked and then [Ink] helped me write some lyrics and piece together the hook. I freestyled verses, so I just went in and said how I felt. I actually had to re-record [the song] from the first time I recorded it because I felt like some things needed to be changed to make it a little more truthful. It was probably a two-week process to get this song where I really wanted it to be, but I actually recorded [it] two months before I dropped it.

You really do tend to eclipse your big moments with even bigger ones, even when you were gaining traction online as a personality. How do you think you’ve used the Internet to your advantage?

I think the Internet is a playground, and it makes everything easier to market yourself if you use it the right way. [It’s] a gift and a curse, because without it, I think we would be back in the old times where star quality was higher — like Michael Jackson star quality, where people faint when they see artists. Stuff like that doesn’t happen anymore, because if someone wants to see you, they could just see you on their cell phones. And there’s beauty in that. There’s also a downside to it, but it’s really been the easiest way [for me] to promote myself. I control my social media narrative, and nobody could convince me otherwise.

Has your relationship with the Internet evolved in light of your recent success?

Honestly, I don’t find it stressful now. I think when I first started, it was more stressful, because I wasn’t used to all the attention and people commenting on my everyday life, how I look, how I dress and what I do. Then again, I’m from Philly, so people judge you by everything and that’s just how we are here. I got a tougher skin.

The Internet really can’t get to me, because at the end of the day, don’t none of these people know me in real life. All y’all doing is streaming my music and that’s helping me. I learned that [by] being yourself unapologetically, you’re going to be more happy than trying to please a bunch of people on the Internet who don’t know you anyway.

You mentioned growing up in Philly, which, of course, has its own lit music scene. What are your earliest musical memories of your hometown and what from Philly do you want to carry with you throughout your career?

My earliest memory of music is probably being in the car with my mom on our way to daycare. We would listen to albums on top of albums early in the morning because she worked outside of the city. She wanted me to go to this really good daycare, so we used to drive 45 minutes outside the city every morning. I remember her playing a bunch of Beyoncé, and that’s one of the reasons why Beyoncé is one of my favorites. We listened to Keyshia Cole a lot, Sevyn Streeter, a lot of what was popping in the early 2000s.

What I want to take with me from the music scene from Philly is that authenticity, never losing sight of who I truly am. Everybody from Philly is truly unique, and I think growing up in such a nitty-gritty city, if you’re not yourself, they’ll knock you down for not being yourself and they gon’ try and say you trying to be like somebody else. I’d die before I try to be like anybody else and I mean it.

You’re also putting on for the Eritrean girlies. What does it mean to you to be able to pursue your dreams to this extent, while still honoring all the different parts of your identity?

I think it’s amazing because there’s not that many of us — Habesha, Eritrean, Ethiopian people – in the industry. Putting on for Eritrea and letting people know, Hey, this is a country! This is where I’m from, what I grew up eating, what I grew up learning, this is my second language, this is a part of me.

That’s super important to me — because I got family in Eritrea that watch me on their phones, and don’t have half the things that I have, or aren’t as fortunate as a lot of people that I know. I want to let them know that they can do this too, it don’t matter where you’re from, what you look like, or anything. Anybody can do this as long as you believe in yourself!

Your big song before “Tell Ur Girlfriend” was “Ick.” Did you learn anything from that song and its success that you brought to the campaign for “Tell Ur Girlfriend?”

When I first posted “Ick,” nobody liked it! I kind of shied away from it because I was like, Wow, nobody likes it — oh s—t, am I doing something wrong? In reality, I’m just being myself. I didn’t let it get to me, so I’m like, All right, I’m still going to promote, I’m just not going to feed into it. But when I start looking at the bigger picture, I [decided to] start replying to hate comments with videos of myself. When I started doing that, I started controlling the narrative. Whether y’all like me, hate me or whatever, y’all still listening to it.

“Tell Ur Girlfriend” was the same thing. When the song really started blowing up, everybody was making comments like, “Oh, we can’t condone cheating songs.” I’m like, “Whatever, y’all listen to Keyshia Cole’s ‘I Should’ve Cheated’ and y’all listen to ‘Break Up With Your Girlfriend’ by Ariana Grande.” Music is a form of expression. There are people who felt exactly what I said in the song and they’re just afraid to say it. I’m not afraid to say those things. Once I really leaned into not being afraid to say what it is that I felt and stand on it, I think that’s when it really changed for me.

What is it about your relationship with music that gives you that kind of fearlessness to say what you want to say?

Music is my first love. I’ll be mad and I’ll be like, oh my God, I don’t want to do this no more, but, in reality, I wouldn’t want to be anything else. I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. When I cry, I could cry in the booth and cry on the song. When I’m in love, I can be so in love and make a love song so beautiful that every time I listen to the song, I feel the embodiment of that emotion, just from my lyrics. I think that’s powerful. My relationship with music is intricate and it’s messy, but it’s my first love. Music is always going to be that.

What’s the messiest thing about your relationship with music?

I think that it’s not perfect, but nothing is perfect. And I’m not perfect. Sometimes, I might get writer’s block, or I might be so hurt and so mad that I make a song and it feels so good because I’m letting my emotions out… but then I can’t never listen to the song again because it might hurt me too much to listen [it]. At this point, throughout the five years of me making music, I have over 10,000 songs, and all of them are unique and mean something to me. I don’t know what I’m going to wake up and want to talk about. I don’t know [how] I’m going to wake up and feel tomorrow or how I’m going to go in the booth. It’s messy because it’s all over the place.

When it comes to making music, shooting music videos and crafting your live show, who are your biggest influences?

I have to say Beyoncé, 1000%. I love Beyoncé, just from growing up and seeing her artist development from Destiny’s Child to now. I went to the Renaissance Tour, and it was amazing. I literally could not believe it. I was so astonished. I just love Beyoncé! Everything about how she performs and how she gets on the stage is so captivating when you see her. You can’t look at anything else and she makes you believe what she’s saying. You believe how she’s performing and how she’s dancing. That’s really what inspired me to be the performer I am. I’m still growing and I’m still learning, but if I’m going to be like anybody, it’s gon’ be like her.

So what’s next for Lay Bankz? When can we expect your next project?

My project will actually be coming out in a few weeks at the end of the month (May 27). It’s raw and it’s me and it’s uncut. Versus my first project, Now You See Me, I feel like this project is way more innovative. I really sat down and thought about how I wanted my project to sound and how I wanted it to feel. I got the most raw, uncut version of After 7 – that’s the title of my project. This is going to be the project where people really have open ears, and I’m standing on that. People going to really listen to this jawn, and I’m believing in that.

What’s one thing you want to have five years from now?

I want to be able to put the people that I love in a better situation. I think I got a lot of people that rely on and expect a lot from and out of me. Without my people, I’m nothing. I just want to make sure that in the next five years, whether I’m giving them a job or I’m buying a car or a house, it’s all for the people who helped get me where I’m at today”.

I am going to end with an interview from Uproxx.  An artist that definitely wants to grab our attention, I think that this year is going to see her building her fanbase and proving herself to be one of the queens of modern Hip-Hop. A genre still dogged by sexism and misogyny, Lay Bankz is striking hard and paving a way for other women coming through:

“For the past few months, Lay Bankz has been a mainstay on all social media platforms. Whether it be X (formerly known as Twitter) or TikTok, Lay Bankz’s reach continues to grow by the month. The rapper, who hails from Philadelphia and is just 19 years old, follows a simple philosophy: Make good music and make sure it lands in people’s faces. It’s an idea that’s become the status quo in today’s social media era, especially in recent years with the presence of TikTok. It also presents the harder task of not being too much in the faces of the audience where they feel trapped, get annoyed, and run for the fences. There’s a balance to be mastered here.

Time will tell if Lay Bankz masters this, but it’s been so far so good for her. Her rise to fame kicked off last summer with the release of “Ick.” The bass-thumping addresses the “sassy man apocalypse” and begs men to “tighten the f*ck up.” The song went viral thanks to a video of Bankz dancing to it at a gas station. Her moves, which were energetic to say the least, forced you to stop and watch. The same could be said about her latest viral moment, pushed by her new single “Tell Ur Girlfriend.” The hype single is wildly infectious and begs for a few listens before moving on to something else. Both records, as well as her debut EP Now You See Me, are proof that Lay Bankz wants your attention, and she knows just how to get it.

With more music on the way, we caught up with Lay Bankz for the Uproxx Music 20 series. Scroll down to learn more about the rising Philly rapper.

What is your earliest memory of music?

I remember music from the time I was 3 years old. The first song I ever sang was “Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé.

Who inspired you to take music seriously?

Honestly, myself. Music is a form of expression and it’s subjective. Once I learned I could say how I felt in another form of conversation, I took advantage of that.

What is your most prized possession?

My voice. It’s a gift that I can’t see or touch. Intangible, but not unattainable. It’s brought so much to my life and I couldn’t hold anything else to such high value.

What is your biggest fear?

Not being able to sing. Or not being able to take care of the people who rely on me.

Who is on your hip-hop Mt. Rushmore?

Missy Elliott, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, and Jay-Z.

Which celebrity do you admire or respect for their personality, and why?

Beyoncé, the way she controls any narrative placed upon her on any platform is admirable as ever. She always shows a sense of resilience, and she never does too much nor does she try hard to be herself. I love that about her.

Share your opinion on something no one could ever change your mind about.

Black-own everything.

What is the best song you’ve ever heard in your life, and what do you love about it?

That’s hard to say, there are so many songs I love. Doubling down on only one would be unfair because I grew up on so much music that I love for different reasons. Even to this day, I hear new music all the time that I appreciate for different reasons.

If you could see five years into the future or go five years into the past, which one would you pick and why?

The past, just to visit moments and feelings I feel like I didn’t get to feel entirely because of how fast they happened. I experience so much every day and my life moves so fast that it’s easy to not entirely take in what’s happening to me. I wouldn’t want to see the future because I’m gonna always get there. Why rush to see what’s already written?

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Love yourself first, because not everyone will love you how they say they do”.

I am going to wrap things up. If you have not heard and followed Lay Bankz then make sure that you do. She is someone who is a singular voice. I can see her going a long way and achieving a lot in her career. I am sure another album will be on its way soon. Do yourself a favour and endure that you…

KNOW her name.

____________

Follow Lay Bankz:

FEATURE: A Tear That Hangs Inside Our Soul Forever: Inside the New Documentary, It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley

FEATURE:

 

 

A Tear That Hangs Inside Our Soul Forever

IN THIS PHOTO: Jeff Buckley in 1994

 

Inside the New Documentary, It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley

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AS a massive fan…

IN THIS PHOTO: Amy Berg, Mary Guibert (Jeff Buckley’s mother) and Ben Harper/PHOTO CREDIT: Robin Marshall/REX/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival

of Jeff Buckley, any documentary that shines a light on his talent is fascinating to me. Buckley recorded one studio album, Grace, in 1994. He died age thirty in 1997. He was in the process of recording songs for a planned second studio album. To be called My Sweetheart the Drunk, it was an indication of what his next moves would sound like. A staggering talent who left us too soon, a new documentary, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, has won acclaim and praise from fans and the media. Featuring never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from Jeff Buckley's inner circle (including his mother), it got its premiere at Sundance on 24th January. I suspect that it will be released to a streaming site soon enough. I would urge everyone to catch this documentary when they can. Although it has not got a wider release date yet, I wanted to provide an insight into what we could expect. To do that, I have found reviews for It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley. I want to start out with Variety’s assessment of a portrait of a young artist who lived a brief life but has inspired countless artists since his death:

“In “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” Amy Berg’s rapturous documentary about Buckley’s extraordinary rise in the ’90s and his tragically cut-short life, we hear Buckley sing in every conceivable context: in clubs, in stadiums, in the recording studio, and when he’s just sitting around. And as we drink in the majesty of his voice, the film lays bare a paradox about him that isn’t nearly as apparent if you just listen to “Grace” (1994), the only album he ever released.

When you envision the quintessential Jeff Buckley sound, you tend to think of one of his slower, meditative drifting numbers — like, famously, his cover version of “Hallelujah,” which is so spellbinding in its deliberation that he seems to be weighing and burnishing every word. That’s the Buckley who first wowed small audiences at Sin-é, the East Village hole-in-the-wall venue (it sat 30 to 40 people) where he was discovered. Someone recalls that when he was performing at Sin-é, you

But Buckley was as much of a rock ‘n’ roller as he was a hipster chanteuse. In the documentary, there’s a clip where someone asks him what his influences are, and he says, “Love, anger, depression, joy…and Zeppelin.”

He wasn’t kidding. Robert Plant sang way up high because he was following in the tradition of Black blues singers who sang in women’s ranges as a form of empathy and seduction. Of course, Plant also used those keening high notes to express an appetite for destruction. With Buckley, his sound was even more layered. There was a side of him that wanted to sound like a woman — but he also wanted to sing like the ’70s metal god whose voice was a pure assertion of male power. When Buckley sang slow, he was lulling and hypnotic, but when he placed that voice atop an up-tempo rock ‘n’ roll song (like, say, the title track of “Grace”), the result was every bit as transcendent. He came up in the era of grunge, but he expressed something much different: an abandon that was lyrical.

Jeff Buckley, during the time he was alive, was thought of as a cult rocker, a kind of “musician’s musician.” In the movie, there’s a quote from David Bowie saying that he thought “Grace” was the greatest album ever made. We see photos of the time Paul and Linda McCartney went to visit him backstage. And what the documentary captures, I think, is that Buckley was on his way to becoming a staggeringly huge star. I defy you to see “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” and not fall in love with Jeff Buckley’s voice. By the time the film is over, you want to find a way to go back and rescue him to let him live the life he should have.

Buckley’s intense identification with singers like Nina Simone and Edith Piaf — and his ability, almost unheard of in a male singer, to evoke their artistry ­— was about the music he loved, but it also carried a psychological component. He was in thrall to what he saw as the preeminence of women. His every soaring note was an homage to their majesty. On some level, this aspect of him was formed by the father who had abandoned him. He loved women and didn’t trust men.

But what of his own male energy? He was a gorgeous icon of rock stardom, but he had a profound ambivalence about his own male spirit. He grooved on it, but he was also, while not a grunge rocker, part of the Kurt Cobain generation. Cobain, who sometimes wore dresses onstage, had a relationship with his own masculinity that was so self-critical I would argue it bordered on the masochistic.

In many ways, these young male rockers were ahead of their time. They wanted the future to be female. But as we watch the documentary, what happens to Jeff Buckley in the last part of his life is at once mysterious and patterned. He becomes subject to mood swings, and reckless behavior, to the point that the theory is floated that he may have been bipolar, or even had a psychotic break. That’s all conjecture; we’ll never know. But what the film shows us — and this is not conjecture — is that during the weeks before his death, he made a series of phone calls to many of the people he knew, and what he did in those conversations, one after another, was to apologize and seek closure; it sounded like he was saying goodbye. Mary Guibert plays us the last voice-mail message he ever left for her, and there, too, he seems to be paying tribute to his mother with an eerie finality. There’s a clip in the movie of Jeff chatting with his buddies, and when the subject comes up of where he thinks he’ll be in 10 years, he draws a weird kind of blank. He says he can’t imagine it”.

I am going to move to a review from The Guardian. Before I wrap things up, I want people to get an idea of what to expect from this documentary. If you have not heard of Jeff Buckley then you can get an impression of why he was so special. An artist who is one of the most influential and important of his generation. I have been a fan of his for many years now and cannot wait to see It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley:

“The film, executive produced by longtime fan Brad Pitt, attests to Buckley’s fanatic interest in music at an early age; Guibert, the child of Panamanian immigrants to Anaheim, California, who had Buckley at 17, recalls that she first heard him sing while he was still in a bassinet, harmonizing with the radio. His father, avant garde folk rocker Tim Buckley, left when he was six months old.

It’s Never Over evinces Buckley’s fraught relationship with his famous father, with whom he shared a striking resemblance and a four-octave, dextrous voice, yet barely knew. Buckley spent just a few days with him before Tim died at age 28 from a heroin overdose; the young musician was not mentioned in Tim’s many obituaries, yet first gained attention for his talent at a starry 1991 tribute concert in New York.

The comparisons to Tim – which, given his early death, continue to the persist, though multiple close friends remind that Buckley was not an addict and only had one beer in his system when he drowned – irked the singer throughout his career. Asked by an interviewer what he inherited from his father, Buckley visibly bristles before answering: “People who remember my father. Next question.”

As the film illustrates, Buckley’s musical influences were ardent and varied, from Judy Garland to Led Zeppelin, Nina Simone to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Soundgarden to Bill Evans and Shostakovich. Moore, his first girlfriend in New York, and others recall how Buckley’s eclectic taste melded with the eccentric and experimental East Village art scene in the 1990s, leading to a residency at a small cafe, Sin-é, where Buckley would riff and mostly play covers. Word spread quickly, especially once he began performing original music; a record label bidding war ensued. He signed with Columbia, the same label that signed another downtown upstart, Bob Dylan, three decades prior.

It’s Never Over surveys the making of Grace, now widely acclaimed though it performed moderately in the US at the time, as well as his continual discomfort with fame, which impeded his creative process – “Without ordinary life, there is no art,” he says in archival voiceover. Even with commercial success, “that really insecure person was always there”, says Moore.

The pressure to produce a second album was intense, both from himself and from his record label. Several film participants say the stress contributed to his self-diagnosed manic-depressive disorder, which worsened during his late 20s and influenced his move to Memphis.

While numerous loved ones attest to Buckley’s dark moments, they also recall a lighthearted, witty, fun-loving and open soul. His sensitivity, recalls Wasser, “wasn’t crushed like some other men’s had been”.

His death at age 30, just as recording on his second album was set to begin in earnest, left behind a trove of unfinished recordings, a substantial debt to his record company and a few poignant voicemails to loved ones that are played in the film, leading to much sniffling in the Utah crowd. It also left behind the question of how to handle a posthumous career, incalculable broken hearts and an open-ended legacy still in flux. Since his death, eight live albums and multiple compilation albums have been released; Buckley’s transcendent cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah reached No 1 on the Billboard charts in 2008. New listeners born after his death are now discovering Grace on TikTok, ensuring Buckley’s virtuosic singing and poetic vision carry on.

With the film, “I was trying to understand and articulate why I love him so much”, said Berg. But as she noted: “There just aren’t words to explain Jeff Buckley”.

I am finishing off with a review from The Wrap. Everyone who has seen It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley has attested to its power and impact. Although the documentary is fairly straightforward, it does provide plenty of depth into a musician that was among the most captivating of all time:

“Director Amy Berg’s “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” reveals itself as a straightforward documentary, complete with interviews from Columbia music executives, Jeff Buckley’s mom, his ex-girlfriends, friends, contemporaries, and those who knew him best. The film includes archival footage of Alanis Morissette disclosing her appreciation for Buckley’s music and pull quotes from actor Brad Pitt and fellow icon David Bowie sharing that “Grace” is the best album in music history. These interviews and musings are touchstones that provide color to Buckley’s life and influence on other artists, but it’s footage of the man himself that lets the audience in on what makes a man like him tick.

As friend and fellow singer Aimee Mann says at one point in the film, “He has a boundaryless, liquid quality.”

Berg’s fascination with Buckley’s octave range and tumultuous past makes for an electric documentary that harkens back to an era of opposition in the face of pop music. Raised by a teenaged single mother, Buckley’s estranged father, Tim, was a moderately successful singer in his own right but died of a drug overdose early in life. Rather than looking up to his father in a musical sense, the younger Buckley was instead heavily influenced by other artists with seemingly no connection to one another: Nina Simone, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, the Smiths, Led Zeppelin and Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

But fate has a tricky way of catching up with a burgeoning artist, especially one who repeatedly foretold his future demise to his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca (also another major influence in his songwriting). Berg captures Buckley’s fraught relationship with his own mortality, as the singer became irritated with those he admired in the music industry who suddenly admired him back. The idea that the influences in his life were influenced by his work was too much for Buckley to take in, and Berg does a remarkable job of demonstrating the psychological break the musician had toward the tail end of his life as a result.

“It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” doesn’t reinvent the documentary genre, but it does offer a unique perspective on the varying music of the 1990s, an experimental time where lonely artists like Buckley could buck the system and create a new brand of music under the guise of major labels like Columbia.

Sometimes, when a person flies too close to the sun of fame, it’s possible they fall into trouble with drugs and alcohol, a cliche to which Buckley himself was not immune. But his life and career aren’t defined by the extracurricular activities that made him difficult to work with, nor does his untimely death define it”.

I will end things there. An artist I have so much admiration for, I cannot wait to see It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley. It seems like a fitting tribute and salute to an incredible musician. It is clear that, when it comes to Jeff Buckley, we will never see…

ANYONE like him again.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: The Quarter-Century Playlist

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Jorge Fakhouri Filho

 

The Quarter-Century Playlist

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AS we are in 2025…

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

we have reached the quarter-century mark. Because of that, I have been thinking about the best albums from the past twenty-five years. It has been an incredible century so far for music. We have seen so many changes. The Pop scene alone has undergone massive evolution. Genres have come into fashion and fallen back out. One can argue whether the music at the start of this century was better and more consistent than it is now. One cannot argue against the fact that technology has made it easier to discover music. The way we listen to music has drastically altered to how we listened right at the start of this century. I wanted to assemble a mixtape featuring a song from the best albums from each year of the century so far. You may be aware of many of the albums, though there are going to be some you are not familiar with. Below is a mixtape featuring tracks from the best albums of…

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

THE twenty-first century.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Chloe Slater

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning

 

Chloe Slater

_________

IF you get the chance…

PHOTO CREDIT: Hayley Thompson

to see Chloe Slater on tour, I would recommend it. This is a fabulous young artist who is tipped for big things. You can see where she is touring here. I want to come to some interviews so we can get to better know Chloe Slater. To start, I am heading back to May and NME’s chat:

“For all the debate about TikTok’s negative impact on music, sometimes the algorithm does latch onto some jewels. That was the case with Chloe Slater, a Manchester-based indie artist whose videos teasing her buzzing, sprechgesang-style single ‘24 Hours’ were unexpectedly pushed by the platform, her cropping up on For You pages lip-syncing to its addictive first verse that begins: “It’s not clear if I am ripening or rotting.”

‘24 Hours’, which was released in February, wasn’t the 21-year-old’s first experience of sharing her music – that came in 2023 with the downcast whirl of the indie-meets-stormy-electronics ‘Sinking Feeling’ – but it was her first time gaining an audience. “When I put my first single out, no one listened to it,” she tells NME over Zoom from her bedroom, the wall behind her decorated with a Camel cigarette packet, art prints and postcards.

“You’ve said you want to speak about issues that often aren’t spoken about in music – other than influencer culture, what does that include for you?

“Definitely the biggest thing at the moment is class disparities and how massive the gap between the rich and the poor is getting, because it’s actually insane. I was just looking at the Met Gala. I’m seeing it all over my TikTok and it literally looks like the Capitol in The Hunger Games. I found out they all have to pay £75,000 for a ticket, which is insane.

“It just annoys me because I think all these people with this much money, all the things that you could be doing with it – why is it going on stuff like that? But that’s definitely a big one, and then feminist things as well. It’s just mainly all of the things that concern young people today – not necessarily just young people, but it’s from my perspective and all of the things that make me angry about the world and all the things that I wish I could change.”

You have got people debating postcolonial views and misinformation in your TikTok comments. Even if those debates often come from negative intentions, does it feel like your music is starting conversations?

“Yeah, 100 per cent. One of the criticisms I get is ‘you’re not saying anything groundbreaking, this is just the most basic left wing propaganda’. But I think politics can be quite inaccessible in this country and a lot of people were not really taught it in schools – it’s typically private schools that teach politics more.

“So I think it’s also given a view of being a really boring thing – when I was 16, I thought politics was really boring because I didn’t know anything about it or understand that everything is politics. It’s not just like stuffy men in suits,  it’s the whole world and everything that you care about. So if I can make it digestible in my music, it’s like a stepping stone to starting to think more about the world that we live in rather than just having absolutely no idea at all.”

When did you first start getting interested in politics?

“Probably when I was 17. It was when it was Boris Johnson versus Jeremy Corbyn. I wasn’t old enough to vote. I just remember being so angry because there’s so many young people that are so educated on issues – more than a lot of people who can vote. It’s really frustrating for young people sometimes to see people making decisions for the world that they’re gonna grow up in, and they can’t do anything about it.”

Are you hoping you can use your platform to encourage young people of voting age to vote in the next general election, whenever that may be?

“That’s what I want to do with this, so yeah, I’d love to do that. It’s crazy because there were the [local] elections the other day, and none of my friends knew it was happening – they hadn’t registered to vote in time. I think it’s ridiculous how hard it is to actually be aware of these things – it should be on billboards everywhere. The amount of crap that’s on billboards now… why not put actually important things on there? But yeah, I want to be able to really make a difference”

This is an exciting moment for Chloe Slater. She announced a new E.P. last month. Before getting to other interviews, CLASH shared news of the release. Since its release, the E.P. has been getting a lot of love and positive feedback. If you have not heard it yet then I would urge you to listen to it now. It is a phenomenal E.P. from an artist with a bright future ahead:

“Out now, the EP follows a string of ace singles, blending her imperious ambition with unbridled honestly. Making her debut with ‘You Can’t Put A Price On Fun’ last year, Chloe has taken huge strides, and now shares her brand new EP.

‘Love Me Please’ speaks from the heart – ‘Fig Tree’ channels an inspirational reading of Trainspotting, while ‘Imposter’ and ‘We’re Not The Same’ are all-out pleas of independence.

In a note, Chloe Slater calls the EP “amped-up indie music, all centred around love and life in the 21st century…”

The first three singles explore themes like influencer culture, feminism, and social class, while songs like ‘We’re Not the Same’ and ‘Imposter’ reveal a more personal side to my music—one I haven’t shared as much before.

I feel like my sound, as well as my confidence in my own opinions and interests as a young woman, has really grown throughout this project. I’ve poured my heart into every song, and seeing how my audience has grown with me has been incredible. The response to the releases so far has never ceased to amaze me!”.

The penultimate interview is from DORK. They included Chloe Slater on their Hype List. They highlight an artist who is writing about class struggles, crooked landlords and universal themes that are giving voice to these important subjects. Her music connecting hard with people. An artist very much for the people:

“There’s an awful lot to get riled up about these days. A one-second glimpse at the latest news headlines is enough to stoke a fire in many of us, with little sign of it dying out any time soon. Often, we turn to music as a distraction, an escape, a place to find comfort. Chloe Slater offers something completely different – she throws fuel on the fire and dials that anger up to the absolute maximum, and rightly so. Her music is somewhere you can be interrogative and justifiably annoyed without feeling the need to stifle any of it.

She may have only released her first single last year, but Chloe has already created a storm with her incisive, incendiary tracks. Her debut EP, ‘You Can’t Put A Price On Fun’, saw her wittily criticise everyone from influencers doing endless unboxings to the uber-rich unaware of their privilege, pretending all is well. She’s mastered the art of a track that stirs something in you, equally explosive lyrically and sonically.

“A lot of the main stuff people write songs about is love,” Chloe says. “I still write songs about that, but there are so many other things in my brain and in my life that I want to express. When I write a song, it’s usually because I’m angry. That’s the motivating factor, and the stuff I’m angry about is all that weird societal stuff that we experience.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning

From crooked landlords to the gulf between the classes to the capricious beast that is internet fame, they’re the kind of discussions that wouldn’t be amiss in any group of mates, delivered in the pub with an exasperated tone and an eye roll. Granted, Chloe writes them much more eloquently than most, but that sense of frustration is shared.

“I really struggle to write about stuff that isn’t real or stuff that I haven’t felt,” Chloe explains. “It’s always been about my life, and I like to make it fairly obvious. It’s not always super poetic, but I think the truthfulness of it connects with people.”

Whether it’s a conversation that is already being had or a new one being sparked, the unendingly catchy nature of tracks like ’24 Hours’ makes these everyday experiences and injustices that bit easier to swallow. Chloe provides solidarity and space to let your fury rise to the surface, be it at the government or an out-of-touch video on your For You page. Within those few minutes, emotions are validated, and the need to speak up and contribute is more keenly felt.

“Women are socialised to be really agreeable, and nice, and not too angry,” Chloe reflects. “If you are angry, then you’re a bitch. I definitely feel that in my everyday life. I’m quite anxious about speaking out about stuff. I’ve got a lot better, but my music is a place where I feel the freedom to express all of those feelings. It’s helped me become more like that in real life, which is really nice.”

What began as an alter ego of sorts acting as a vehicle for Chloe to express these feelings has become more and more entangled with who she is – her music has been an act of empowerment – for her listeners, too. Having this environment to find yourself in the throes of anger despite being consistently to suppress it is vital, and Chloe encourages that for the young women listening to her. It’s hard not to feel incensed when closely listening to her lyrics, but there is some release in there, too. With each new track, things become heavier and more anthemic – the songs lend themselves increasingly to jumping around and unleashing those emotions in full force rather than bottling them up.

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning

“It’s a good mix of wanting to spread awareness about certain issues and make people feel seen that are struggling with these things, but I want them to come to my show and let it all out in the chorus and know that everything is going to be okay. That’s the kind of vibe.”

She’s already begun curating that atmosphere in her live shows. Across festival season and impressive support slots with the likes of Kings of Leon and The Beaches, the last year has seen Chloe really begin to find her feet onstage and continue to communicate her message. Watching those artists further ahead in their careers perform in front of a crowd has seemingly been a huge source of inspiration for Chloe, too.

“Especially with The Beaches, their show is just so much fun,” Chloe recalls. “They’re all jumping up and down and running around. I think they were even crowd-surfing. I might try and crowdsurf… who knows? I’ve learnt to just have fun and connect with the audience.”

Her music is increasingly written with the crowds in mind. The huge choruses of tracks like ‘Price On Fun’ truly lend themselves to being passionately sung as part of a crowd of similarly-minded people – Chloe has become more and more adept at crafting an infectious but incredibly relevant hook.

“When I’m writing, I always think about how I want a song to be massive in a live setting,” says Chloe. “I love the big choruses and instrumentals. That’s my aim with everything I release, just to be a bigger version of what it was before.”

Her latest single, ‘Tiny Screens’, is exactly that. A formidable look at internet fame with smirking references to “Marilyn Monroe with Turkey teeth”, it’s bold and sardonic, the guitars wilder and more irate than any of her previous releases. It’s a thrilling taste of what’s to come, perfectly at home in a riotous festival set.

Chloe’s origins couldn’t be further from the packed-in crowd of a tent in a field, though, where the masses start to merge together. Moving from Bournemouth to Manchester a few years ago was a major catalyst for Chloe’s foray into music properly, as she crucially found like-minded music lovers and threw herself into the gig-going culture of the city. Even more vital was her experience in Manchester’s open-mic scene.

“It’s been so important,” Chloe explains. “I had never really sang my songs in front of anyone ever, before I moved. Everyone is so welcoming and just sits and watches each other, and you make friends there. It’s a really nice way to build up your confidence in performing in front of people. Performing in those small rooms where everyone is looking straight at you is more scary than playing a gig. I went back and did an open mic a couple of months ago after doing the Kings of Leon show, and found it more scary. Everyone is so focused on you; you can see everyone and look in their eyes. It is almost awkwardly intimate, but I think that’s really good for building my confidence live”.

I am finishing with an interview from DIY. They spoke with her in January. Heralding an artist who is whip-smart and creating these Indie earworms. Marking herself as someone to watch very closely. I do hope that people connect with Chloe Slater’s music. Go and see her live if you can:

“Describe your music to us in the form of a dating app bio.

Feminine, loud, outspoken and always fun on a night out… but might cause an argument with your parents x

What’s your earliest musical memory?

It’s definitely my mum singing, we’ve been singing together my whole life - I think the earliest memories are of us listening to Beyoncé, Rihanna and Katy Perry.

You’re based in Manchester, which obviously has a very rich musical history. What do you think of the city’s scene at the moment? Are there any other artists breaking through at the moment you take inspiration from?
There are loads of really cool acts in Manchester at the moment! I think a lot of people get stuck on the heroes from the ‘90s but there’s loads of cool new stuff: you should listen to my friends, vincent’s last summer, if you haven’t already - they’re the best.

You’re set to embark on your debut headline tour this Spring - congrats! What are you most looking forward to about being on the road? Where are you most excited to play (and why)?

I’m most excited for the Bristol show because it’s my birthday - best party ever! I’m also excited for Sheffield and Brighton because we’ve never played there before :) I think the whole tour is just gonna be the best time ever though.

From anti-capitalism to feminism, your music excels at exploring political topics in the age of internet culture. Why do you think it’s struck such a chord with fans, both online and in person?

I think a lot of people go to music for escapism, which is so important and also something I do, but sometimes that leaves a gap for truly cathartic music that expresses the things that make you angry, or things that impact normal people in their everyday lives. So I think it’s nice that I can make music for people like me, and that we can all connect over the way we feel and our desire to make some change in the world”.

I will leave things there. This is just the beginning for Chloe Slater. You can tell she is someone who has something very special. Music that people need to hear. It won’t be too long until she is commanding massive stages around the world. Although she is a rising artist embarking on her first steps, Chloe Slater is going to be a worldwide name…

VERY soon.

_____________

Follow Chloe Slater

FEATURE: Spotlight: Isabel LaRosa

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 

Isabel LaRosa

_________

HAVING just completed…

some great shows in Australia, she is looking forward to a date in India and then back in the U.S. Isabel LaRosa released the E.P., favourite, last year. I think this year is going to be a big one for LaRosa. She is an inspiring Cuban-American artist who rose to public prominence after her 2022 single, i’m yours, went viral on social media. A big success on TikTok. I want to bring in four interviews that show different sides to Isabel LaRosa. A lot of eyes are trained her way. I will start out with CLASH and their interview from October. They spotlighted an artist who was trying to build a world that people could get lost in:

“Isabel LaRosa – whose dark-pop first blew up on TikTok in 2022 – writes and directs all her music videos. They take place in cars on empty roads lined with ominous woods, at house parties, or on silent, dark suburban streets whose quiet flatness you dream to escape from, but romanticise when you do. “We film almost all my videos in Atlanta or upstate New York because I’m like, this needs to look like where I’m from, and it has to have the east coast woods,” LaRosa laughs. “I was home-schooled for a really long time, and I was the weird, outdoors-y kid, like I would literally sit in trees all day, writing really cryptic stories.”

LaRosa, who turned 20 in September, has been performing since childhood, when her saxophonist father would take her and her brother, Thomas, to “jams and open mic nights”, where she’d sing jazz standards while Thomas played guitar: “I’m very grateful for all the experience I had performing because now it doesn’t feel like a foreign thing.”

But she kind of laughs when she thinks back to those wholesome moments. These days, her show is bathed in blood red light – very Carrie – and spiky with white strobing. Her name fills the wall behind her in an Akira-style font with the final ‘A’ forming an inverted crucifix. It’s just her, a backing track, and Thomas, his guitar riffs slicing through the synths. On record, she has a sensual falsetto but, live, the duo toe the line of a rock show, upping the pace and letting LaRosa dig into her lower vocal register.

Before her 2022 breakthrough track, ‘I’m yours’ (currently sitting on 426 million Spotify streams), LaRosa had released a handful of singles. Some, like ‘Therapy’ and ’16 Candles’, contain faint echoes of the yearning that would become one of her hallmarks, but, for the most part, she was simply experimenting.

“With ‘16 Candles’ and ‘Game Boy’, I was really trying to find the lane that felt right and I didn’t know what it was yet. Then I wrote a song called ‘HAUNTED’ and that matched the vision in my head of what I wanted my visuals to be like. Dark. Moody. That was where it clicked for me.”

Much of LaRosa’s music is built around dreamy choruses that soar, cathedral-like, and evoke the mind-altering, stomach-knotting desire that one feels only a few times in life. It’s no surprise then that her viral tracks – ‘older’, ‘favorite’, ‘i’m yours’ – are beloved of fan editors on TikTok, who use them as soundtracks for artful and incredibly thirsty montages of their favourite singers and actors.

LaRosa laughs. She’s seen plenty of them over the years. “I want my music to feel like it could be in a movie, and that you’re the main character. That’s what I like listening to, you know, it’s the most fun thing. When I lived in my hometown, I’d bike at 3am around the city and blare music in my ears. You want something that makes you feel cinematic.”

This is why her videos are miniature movies and why, for a brief moment (“One month, when I was fifteen,” she laughs), LaRosa considered changing careers from music to film. She created a visual trilogy for ‘HAUNTED’, ‘HELP’ and ‘HEAVEN’, and plugged into her love of horror in “older” where she’s not alone in her secret crush on a teacher as her schoolmates vie for his attention.

“Everyone has [probably] had a crush on a teacher at some point, but I wanted to play on the simplicity of that with a plot twist. In middle school – the worst time to go to school – girl relationships during that time are so insane. It’s brutal. I didn’t go to school for a long time for a reason. I had best friends that hated me. I wanted some relatability [in that video] where she’s your friend but there’s this intense competition under the surface, I feel like a lot of girls can relate to that.”

When meeting LaRosa in the big, shiny London headquarters of her label, she jumps out of her chair, all smiles. She asks each person how their day is going. For someone with over 1.5 billion Spotify streams on a handful of songs, LaRosa is solidly down to earth, but LaRosa doesn’t feel much like a famous person. TikTok’s creation of monster hits is effective but it often comes with a facelessness that makes it increasingly harder for artists to gain traction long-term.

“I always thought if you have a big song, you’ll be more of a celebrity but it doesn’t work like that now. There can be such a disconnect. It takes so much time to build awareness of who you are and your visual world. I just have to remind myself that this is a long game and I’m not doing it for that. The faster you go up, the faster you can go down,” she says. “So I’m trying to slowly build a world that people can get lost in. I want to have a very strong artist image and persona so that it’s easy to understand what that world is besides the music”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sam Monendo

I am going to move to DIY. Their interview with Isabel LaRosa shone a light on her Muse single. Another wonderful song from an artist who is showing that she could be a huge mainstream artist of the future. Surely someone who is going to be headlining festivals stages soon enough. She is going to go a very long way:

“Her ethereal, infatuated new single ‘Muse’ – teased for ten months before its release – did in fact ‘do numbers’. Videos using the track’s snarling riff racked up hundreds of thousands of views, including one sharing photos of LaRosa at this year’s VMAs. That night was her first time on a red carpet; an exciting but daunting early career highlight. “I feel like, in moments like that, my brain shuts off,” she says. “I’ll get off the carpet and I don’t remember anything that just happened.” She did at least remember not to smile (“The most off-brand thing ever”), and came away determined to return as a performer. “It’s cool to have those moments where you’re like, ‘Oh shit, I’m at the VMAs right now!’” she grins. “It’s very inspiring.”

The 20-year-old from Annapolis, Maryland may have mastered the non-smiling, effortless cool girl look online, but behind the spiked boots and sparkly eyeshadow there’s a palpable anxiety about making the most of her ascent. “It sounds grim, but I try to operate like I may never have another song again,” she explains. “I’m always trying to just keep people interested and entertained, while also maintaining what I want to do.”

Away from the internet, she’s currently seeing a far more tangible version of her fanbase in the sold-out rooms of her ‘Heaven Doesn’t Wait’ tour. Last month, she played London’s Heaven: a bucket list gig since she saw Tate McRae perform there last December. But even with her audience physically in front of her, LaRosa feels the same urgency to keep them onside that she does online. Once they start cheering, she needs to make sure they don’t stop.

“I think I have to learn how to relax onstage,” she admits. Last month she shared a bill with McRae and others at the Prudential Center Arena in New Jersey, but the Heaven headliner was still the more nerve-inducing. “It’s less pressure when I’m like, ‘They’re here for Tate McRae, they’re not here for me!” she says. “Sometimes I think, ‘Damn, why do you guys care? I wouldn’t care this much if I were you’. I don’t know what the phrase is… is it imposter syndrome?”

It’s no surprise that life can feel overwhelming for LaRosa given how much her platform has grown in the last few years. She credits the people around her with helping her stay grounded, particularly her brother. Their ‘alternative younger sister, producer older brother’ dynamic has already prompted countless comparisons to Billie Eilish and Finneas; “Oh my God – literally, I can’t escape it!” she laughs. “Sound-wise I feel pretty different from [Billie], but in terms of who I look up to as an artist – and Finneas as a producer and writer – I absolutely am such a huge fan of them.”

Like the O’Connells, the LaRosas were encouraged to pursue music by their parents, armed with jazz standards and taken to open mic nights by their father. When Isabel turned ten, access to YouTube allowed her to expand her musical horizons to the likes of Melanie Martinez, Ariana Grande and The Neighbourhood, leading to her love of alt-leaning pop. “All my stuff is pop hidden with cool production,” she suggests. “They’re all just pop songs — it’s not that alternative.” She did have a few dead-ends on the path to her current sound, which finally “clicked” in 2022 with the eerie, thumping ‘HAUNTED’. She admits she tries not to think about ‘GAMEBOY’, for instance: a bouncing hyperpop track from 2021. “I think it’s a cool song,” she clarifies. “It’s just SO different from what I do now. But I’m very grateful for any step that helped me find what feels like myself”.

A couple more interviews before wrapping up. I am moving to 1883 and their interesting discussion. Isabel LaRosa discussed keeping the momentum going, a big European tour on the horizon and the packed schedule awaiting her. I am new to her music but am really hooked. An artist with her own sound yet one that can translate and cross genres:

“Your music has a very cinematic, darker pop vibe. How did you first get into music, and why did you choose this particular genre?

I’ve always been around music. My dad is a casual jazz musician, and he was big on teaching us jazz standards when we were little. My brother Thomas and I used to jam with him when I was about seven — Thomas on guitar and me singing. But as I got older, I discovered artists like The Neighbourhood, Lady Gaga, and Melanie Martinez on YouTube, and I was hooked on that darker, alternative pop sound. It just felt like home to me, more so than bubblegum pop, even though I’m a huge fan of that genre too. It’s just not what I feel aligns with my own style.

You’ve said in another interview that some shows like Euphoria and Stranger Things inspired the sound and visuals for other songs. What’s the specific influence that comes to you from these shows?

In terms of visuals and shows, they’ve always been something closely intertwined with the music — Euphoria, True Detective are darker shows. There was a second when I was in high school when I was debating on just going into film and directing. Obviously that didn’t happen, but my goal is to make sure my music feels grand and cinematic. That’s the kind of music that I love.

As a Cuban-American, has your heritage influenced your music in any way?

I grew up surrounded by Cuban music, especially salsa, which is such a huge part of my childhood and my life. I’ve always wanted to do something that felt more Latin but I wanted to find a way to incorporate it in a natural way into my sound because my music and traditional salsa are very different. My brother and I are still exploring how to do that in a way that feels authentic to both of us.

Your recent songs — “favorite“, “pretty boy“, “i’m yours“ — have gained a lot of traction on social media, especially TikTok. Do you feel any pressure to keep that momentum going?

Definitely. The great thing about social media and TikTok is that, honestly, I wouldn’t have my career without it. It’s given me so many opportunities, and it’s amazing how quickly things can go viral. You could have something blow up overnight, and suddenly it’s a number-one hit—all from just one video. But the flip side is that everything moves so fast, and you’re always trying to keep that momentum, which can get a little stressful. Still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m so grateful for the platform and the career it’s helped me build.

Fans have been dying for you to release more music, especially songs like Muse and Home which you teased during your tour. And “Evil,“ which you said you wrote for the Wednesday TV show. What can you tell us about them?

See, I love lying on TikTok because I didn’t even write that song for Wednesday. But hey, maybe they’ll see it and actually want to use it, then it could become real! I’m also releasing a new track called Muse, which everyone’s been asking for a while now, and I’m excited to finally get it out there. I do feel a bit bad it took so long, but it’s happening. As for Home, it’s definitely coming out — just not sure when yet, but it’s on the way. All these songs I’ve teased will come out; it’s just a matter of timing.

Since it’s titled Muse, who’s the inspiration behind it? Are you your own muse or is there a different one we don’t know about?

I definitely have a muse who’s inspired the song. He inspires a lot of my songs and my fans know who he is. He’s an artist, so we write songs about each other and it’s great”.

I will end with an interview from Women in Pop. She talked about how she has always been attracted to alternative sounds and sides but is a Pop girl at heart. I am really keen to see what comes next. I think that the rest of this year will see Isabel LaRosa go from strength to strength. This is an artist that you need to keep an eye out for:

“The themes that you explore, both in your music and also visually in the gorgeous music videos you create, is love, but it is a shift on love. You sing about obsession, but from various angles, which I find really interesting, and feeling stuck and having so much time to pour into certain emotions. Are you writing predominantly a from personal experience, or does this all just come from a world you have created?

Honestly, most of it is based on my own life. There are certain songs that I've written from a less honest place, and I can just tell, it's more obvious to me. Me and my brother write everything together, and we tend to write the best stuff when it's closer to home. So honestly, yes, the vast majority of stuff is, my own experiences, and talking about those.

Beautiful, and because you're writing them with someone that knows you so well, you can catch each other up.

Seriously, it's funny because we'll be writing about maybe a situation that's happening in my life, and he'll be writing lyrics too, and it sounds like I would have written them because he knows me and my life so well. I'm so lucky to be able to work with somebody that like, he’s my best friend and we get the best product when we write together. It's just fun, I love it.

I do love that you have this bold and dark pop. I don't like genre because I don't think it's really a thing so much anymore, but you definitely have a signature sound. I'm curious how you feel your sound is evolving as you're navigating this industry, particularly with the single from last year ‘muse’?

The hope is that the sound is always evolving. I feel like it's definitely changed, and the goal has changed since ‘I'm Yours’. Oftentimes we're trying to capture a similar feeling, but just in a different way, but I feel like ‘muse’ is so different feel wise than an ‘I'm Yours’. It’s also fun to incorporate sounds that feel more fitting to our live show, because our live shows are more intense than you think that it would be based on songs like ‘I'm Yours’. So I feel like having songs like ‘muse’ in there is really fun because it adds to the live show when we do play. But honestly, it's just experimenting and always continuing to move forward. It's never good when you're trying to do the same thing over and over and over again, I just like switching it up.

Absolutely, I believe that the world of listeners are much more they're much kinder than my generation were to artists switching it up. They allow room for a shift in sound.

Yeah, it's so interesting. I feel like now the playing field is so even because it's all social media, and so many different things are doing well at the same time. It’s not like there's one sound right now that’s ‘the thing’. It's not like early 2000s pop and that's it. Everything is massive, and I think it's really cool to see.

Speaking of which, your music gives a nod to the darker tinges of beautiful moments. Pulling apart beautiful things and seeing the gray, seeing the bad and the good equally. Was this also present in the kind of music that you listened to and that got you into music in the first place? Music that was a little off kilter?

Yeah, totally. I grew up on a lot of different things, I grew up on a lot of salsa - oddly enough! - and classic rock, because that's what my mom listened to. I also grew up singing jazz standards because that's what my dad listened to. But once I started to get older and was able to understand how to work YouTube, the artists that I gravitated towards were Melanie Martinez, The Neighbourhood, Arctic Monkeys, early Lady Gaga. I've always naturally felt attracted to the alternative, but I still love the songwriting of pop. I love it and I'm a pop girl at my core, but I also love when it has off kilter elements to it too.

Gorgeous. And again, it's the drama. You mentioned your live shows, and you must be absolutely loving it, because they seem to be, just from a viewer's perspective, incredibly physically demanding on you as well, like you really hurl yourself around that stage!

I really do! By the end of it, I'm like, I'm going to pass out. But they’re so much fun. I definitely do a lot of running and a lot of jumping and moving around. I am also such a massive fan of 21 Pilots and I grew up wanting to put on a show like they do, because they were always so high energy and I always admired the fact that it was only two people on stage, and they still put on that intensive show. And I was like, ‘I want to do that’. So it's just [my brother] Thomas and I on stage, and hopefully it's energetic enough. I gotta take up the amount of stage space that a band would take up, so I have to run around”.

If you have not discovered Isabel LaRosa then make sure you follow her on social media. With such a tremendous sound that has won hearts and minds around the world, you will want to check this artist out. There is no telling just how far LaRosa will go. In a competitive Pop market, she has the promise and talent to mix with the very best and brightest. Make sure you do not overlook…

A future icon.

_____________

Follow Isabel LaRosa

FEATURE: Kate Bush: The Tour of Life: Michael Powell, New York, 1989

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Tour of Life

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

 

Michael Powell, New York, 1989

_________

FOR a start…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

I love to picture Kate Bush in America. A country that she visited a few times but never really captured the heart of until recently, there is a whole new chapter to write about Bush’s time in the U.S. From 1978 when she performed on SNL, to promoting Hounds of Love there in 1985 through to her returning in the 1990s when she was doing a brief promotional jaunt for her short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve (and The Red Shoes, I guess), there were mixed fortunes and blessing there. Perhaps it was harder navigating the press in America. They had never experienced anyone like Kate Bush. Some of those interviews in 1985 were excruciating! Bush doing her best to keep it together. At times, you can feel the frustration getting to her. She was in a bad headspace when she visited the U.S. I think there were plans in 1994 for her to tour. The Red Shoes in the spotlight. It was abandoned because of various factors. Bush’s mother died in 1992. She lost friends and was exhausted from work. It wasn’t viable. I think she was out of energy and very much wanted to step back. It is a pity that there was not a tour, as it would have been interesting to think what it would encompass. Even so, Bush did spend a bit of time in America. I do know that she was over there in 1989. The Sensual World was released that year. The Sensual World reached number forty-three on the Billboard 200 in 1989. Quite a big success story! Although Bush was not there for a massive campaign drive and extensive interviews, there was this one meeting that warms my heart and raises a lot of what-ifs! Bush meeting someone that was very important to her. For this Kate Bush: The Tour of Life, a brief little look at an event that could have led to something big. I will also drop in part of an interview from 1989 just to add some context and background.

The event I am referring to occurred in New York. In chapter thirty-four of Tom Doyle’s Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush is about this meeting between Bush and the legendary director Michael Powell. He died on 19th February, 1990. Moments of Pleasure, from The Red Shoes (1993), is in part a documentation of their encounter. In fact, The Red Shoes’ title is inspired by the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger The Red Shoes. That film came out in 1948. The Line, the Cross and the Curve also influenced by that film. I am not sure whether this one meeting alone compelled Bush to title her seventh studio album, The Red Shoes. One of her most beautiful songs, Moments of Pleasure talks about this chilly winter day when she had a brief meeting with a hero. As Tom Doyle writes, Kate Bush stepped out of the lift at “the Royalton, the Philippe Starck-designed New York hotel on Manhattan’s W. 44th Street”. He was waving his cane in the air trying to alert Bush to his presence. Amazing that such a revered filmmaker would recognise Bush and want to meet her. Bush was a fan of the Powell-Pressburger cannon. The fact that there was magic and excitement in their films but they also cast strong female characters. No wonder The Red Shoes was very much in Bush’s mind and would materialise four years after she met Michael Powell. Their films also had great visual effects. All of this ticked boxes for Bush! There is no doubt she embarked on writing, directing and starring in her own short film with the energy and inspiration of Michael Powell in her mind. This was not the first time Bush and Powell had made contact

Before their meeting, Bush wrote to Michael Powell to see whether he’d be interested in working with her. Whether that was a film venture of her music being used in one of Powell’s films, it is a tragedy that this never came to pass. Bush was bowled over by how charming he was. Powell wanted to hear Bush’s music so she sent him cassettes. They exchanged letters several times. This temporary friendship but a lasting legacy. Michael Powell’s spirit and kindness made a lasting impression on Kate Bush. Just after Bush released The Sensual World and would have been thinking of her next project, there is no telling how impactful this chance New York meeting was. When Bush met Powell in a New York lobby, it had begun to snow outside. An older man who was very ill, it must have been quite a struggle for him to navigate the New York cold. However, he was positively warmed when he saw Bush emerge from a lift. The two embraced and there was this last meeting. Bush, back in England, wrote alone at the piano – something she had not done for some time – and saw it snow outside. The song must have come quite freely and easily. Tom Doyle observes how Moments of Pleasure is like a Powell-Pressburger film in song. The fact that the song did not get toured and staged is a shame. To see it come to life as part of a suite.

I do wonder whether Bush considered it for 2014’s Before the Dawn. Bush did revisit the song for 2011’s Director’s Cut. Giving the song an extra dimension of poignancy. Some might hear other emotions. I do love the track and have dissected it before. The song is about the people she loved and touched her. Those who made her laugh. The spirits of friends past are present on Moments of Pleasure. Including her aunt Maureen; her dancer friend, Gary ‘Bubba’ Hurst; Alan Murphy (who, like Hurst, died of AIDS-related complications) and Bill Duffield (who was first immortalised in Never for Ever’s Blow Away (For Bill). Bush gently asking Duffield to light and illuminate the close of the song. In 2011, Bush approached the song in a lower key. A slower version. New depth after the passing of more than twenty years. MOJO’s Keith Cameron interviewed Bush about Director’s Cut and noticed the new version omitted some of the names included in the original. Bush laughed and said it wasn’t deliberate. When she went to redo the piano, she didn’t make it long enough - so some names fell by the wayside. The irony that the song mentions George the Wipe. There is a bit of mystery as to who this person is. Some say it was a man who accidentally erased the master tape of a song (like Steely Dan faced with Gaucho’s The Second Arrangement). Others say Kate Bush and Del Palmer (her boyfriend at the time, engineer and musician) asking him to erase a tape that was not needed and then informing him he'd erased the wrong one. I suspect it might have been the second one. An in-joke/prank that shows Bush could write a song with heavy emotions, departed friends and this sadness but also humour. Bush recalling the tale of George the Wipe. How she cannot stop laughing.

I think about how Michael Powell was also included in Moments of Pleasure. I was eager to explore their meeting and how there was this possibility of the two working together. I did not know that they had exchanged letters prior to meeting in New York in late-1989. Thinking about that meeting, I want to quote from an interview from Pulse!. Included in their December 1989 issue, Pulse! was an in-store magazine of Tower Records in America:

“But it's the overall feeling of sensuality, of Bush's concept of the being and its relationship with the outside world, that underscores the entire album. In particular, it's the way in which the child comes to realize and experience his or her environment. The solo violin of the aforementioned Nigel Kennedy is accompanied by cello, Celtic harp, whistles, the mysterious Dr. Bush, and Kate's manic witch-like laughter on the eerie, "The Fog": "The day I learned to swim/He said, 'Just put your feet down child'. .. . The water is only waist high/I'll let go of you gently/Then you can swim wiht me." [sic]

"I do like the quiet life," she replies almost bashfully. "I do like having privacy; it's incredibly important to me, because I do end up feeling quite probed by the public side of what I have to do. I'm just quite a private person, really. You just end up feeling quite exposed; it's this vulnerability. After I've done the salesman bit, I like to be quiet and retreat, because that's where I write from. I'm a sort of quiet little person."

Which my explain why it's taken so long for this idiosyncratic yet compelling artist to break in the States. "Yes," she says perkily, "I've really had no success in America at all, apart from the Hounds of Love LP. That did quite well, and it was really exciting to think that there were people out there wanting it. But I've never seen it in terms of you make and album and then conquer the world. I must say it's never really worried me that I've not been big in America, but I'm with a new record company over there now, and I really feel good about the people -- they're lovely to talk to and to deal with. It's quite exciting for me. I just hope people out there will have the chance to know that the album's out. Then, if people want to hear it, they can. If they don't, well, that's absolutely fine.

"You know," she continues, "what I like about America is that there's a tremendous sort of hyper energy that I really like. Especially in New York -- there's a much stronger social setup, especially between artists. It's a very isolated setup here, because London's so spread out and everybody's off doing their own thing. You don't seem to bump into people the way you do over there; it's exciting to have that interchanging of ideas, just to talk to people who're going through similar things. It's real modern energy stuff. And also, I really like the positivity of the Americans. I mean here, although I love being here and I love the English, we're very hard on one another, very critical, whilst they have a wonderful willingness to give everyone a chance. We're really hard on people trying to get off the ground -- it's really unfair".

I think about Kate Bush and Michael Powell meeting in New York in 1989. With snow falling, there was this combination of magic and tenderness. Also this sense of sadness as Powell was ill and would die a couple/few months later. That encounter impacted Bush hugely. Just before Kate Bush ends Moments of Pleasure by asking “Hey there Bill/Could you turn the lights up?”, she sings “Hey there Michael/Do you really love me?”. Sweet words. Even if that meeting in New York was short, as Bush also sings on Moments of Pleasure: “And these moments given…

ARE a gift from time”.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Aliyah's Interlude

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Kirt Barnett for Polyesterzine

 

Aliyah's Interlude

_________

AN artist who shone…

PHOTO CREDIT: Kirt Barnett for Polyesterzine

through 2024, I want to spend some time with Aliyah’s Interlude. Aliyah Bah is someone who should be on your radar. Tipped by many as a name to watch this year, I will come to some interviews with her from last year. So that we can learn more about a sensational talent. I will start out with a GQ interview. They spoke with the artist behind the viral #AliyahCore trend on her move into music:

“In 2020, irl subcultures collapsed and were replaced by a deluge of TikTok aesthetics: cottagecore, goblincore, corecore. We -core’d to the point of absurdity, turning anything into a rigid aesthetic templates. One Georgia-based teen, with a penchant for fishnets, moon boots, and fluffy accessories, even -core’d herself. Her name? Aliyah Bah, the 20-year-old inventor of the ultra-viral ‘Aliyahcore’. With a mission to open up the gates for alternative Black girls, and to bring chaos and camp to a global audience, Bah kept blowing up.

After styling the likes of Cupcakke and Lizzo, as well as walking for Mowalola, Bah expanded her Aliyacore empire even further with the release of her first single “IT GIRL” in October of last year. For months, you’d hardly be able to make it through a doomscroll without hearing it. Now, she's looking to repeat that success again with her second single “Fashion Icon”. As Bah says, straight-faced, “it will be the greatest release of all time.”

Ahead of the stalwart MC's new album, On Purpose, with Purpose, he shares his thoughts on the UK rap scene and why there's nothing quite like recording in Gucci slippers

How long have you been making music for, and how long were you working on your sound before you allowed the world to hear the result?

I started like a year and a half, two years ago, but I was trying different things and nothing was really sticking out to me. Once I got into the house genre, dance music, I was like: this is where I need to be. I just loved it.

How did you work our your cadence and flow?

I listen to so much music, from Azealia Banks to Latto to Flo Milli — all of these people inspire me in so many ways. I’ve been studying Nicki [Minaj’s] old videos, her old mixtapes, even before I got into music myself.

What other music did you listen to growing up?

I actually grew up in a very straight Muslim household. My mum never let us listen to the radio or anything. I would just listen to whatever they would listen to, which would be a lot of Michael Jackson, a lot of early 2000 Destiny's Child, African music all day, every day.

Were you named after Aaliyah?

I was, actually.

When did your parents first start noticing that you were an artist?

I feel like ever since I was young, I was extremely fashion inclined. My parents were never the type to take us to the store and let us buy stuff all the time. But I've been thrifting since I was six years old. And a lot of times with thrifting, you have to make do with what you have. So you might find the ugliest material ever, but then if you cut it out, style it, and it can be some real cute shit. My parents probably realised I was this way when I was selling bows or decorating notebooks when I was in middle school. I would just sell them for $1.50, not making no profit, just doing it for fun.

How do you think your music reflects the essence and energy of Aliyahcore?

Aliyahcore and its essence is just not caring about being perceived; being yourself every day, no matter what you're going through in life and loving yourself authentically. The whole purpose of the music is to give off confidence vibes. I hope everyone who listens feels like an IT girl, a fashion icon.

Does ‘not caring about being perceived’ get harder the more eyes are on you?

I've always been the person who didn't fit into any box. I think that helps now that I'm in the public eye. It's something that I’ve always been used to, like, being ostracized or people having an opinion on what I do or wear”.

Apologies if this feature is a little scattershot. I am already a fan of Aliyah’s Interlude. For Polyesterzine, this remarkable artist discussed her personal style, TikTok strategy and #AliyahCore. I think that this year is going to be a breakthrough one for her. Her latest single, Moodboard, was released last September. I think that we will get a lot more material very soon. Exciting to see how she grows and evolves as an artist:

“I’m sorry, I hope you’re not disappointed with my outfit today,” Aliyah Bah tells me when our Zoom call connects. “I didn’t bring too many clothes with me here!”

For almost anyone else, getting glammed up for a Friday afternoon interview might not warrant an apology. But for the 21-year-old Georgia native, fashion has never been merely incidental – it has become a metonym for her brand.

Over the last few years, for anyone in possession of a TikTok account, it has been impossible to escape the mesmerising sartorial world of #AliyahCore. It started during the 2020 Covid lockdown, when Bah was in her freshman year at Georgia State University. Living at home and taking classes online, she started documenting her outfits on TikTok under the soubriquet Aliyah’s Interlude, inviting viewers to get ready with her, and showing off her addictive personality.

The content was fresh and, crucially, the fits were fire – each video brought a new maximalist, pink look inspired by Harajuku and Y2K culture, replete with earmuffs, furry boots, bikini tops, miniskirts, leg warmers and fishnets. Since then, her star has grown exponentially, with a barnstorming foray into the music industry led by her viral 2023 single IT GIRL, and her latest hit Moodboard.

When Bah calls me from a family gathering in Maryland, while her look is markedly more understated, the yellow Harajuku-style beanie and pink hoodie she is sporting still betray a hint of her signature style. Unsurprising, since, while #AliyahCore might seem made-for-TikTok, its genesis was entirely organic.

“While I was growing up, my parents owned a recycling business, like this thrift store where I would get all my clothes,” Bah says. “My mum was always against me buying [new] clothes, so I thrifted from there. But they wouldn't be clothes that kids my age were wearing, it was older stuff that you really had to upcycle and make personal for it to look nice.

“So I think that's kind of how I built my personal style, just by kind of working with nothing and then trying to make it look cute,” she continues. “Also, I was online a lot as a kid, watching Avril Lavigne, Beyonce, Rihanna – just that type of like, miniskirt energy… I used to love all of that shit.”

While Bah’s fashion might not have been contrived, her TikTok strategy was certainly purposeful. The now 2.8 million followers she has accumulated on the platform, and the recognition she has since received from celebrities including Lizzo, Doja Cat and SZA, were not a happy accident. At 21, she is part of a generation preternaturally adept at gaming social media’s sphinxlike algorithms.

“I really put in that work, I figured out the formula for that shit because I understood how the app works,” Bah says, with impressive insouciance. “When I tell you I was posting like up to six times a day when I first started.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Kirt Barnett

As well as her “FaceTime Call Get Ready With Me” videos, Bah’s most popular TikToks were the ones where she was just chatting to the camera, waxing lyrical about her outfits or hyping up her viewers.

“I was finding all these trending audios,” she says. “It took me like a full year to really start getting viral video after viral video. But at the beginning I was like, ‘damn do I even really want to do this shit, because I'm not seeing no results’. Thank God I had nothing to do in the house during the pandemic.”

It was last year that Bah’s aesthetic really began to move beyond the woman herself, and beyond her community of online viewers. In the space of a couple of years, Bah has skyrocketed from college student to influencer — now just as likely to be seen sitting at fashion shows or on a PR invite to Coachella than in her bedroom on TikTok. In October 2023, Doja Cat flew her to LA to appear in her Agora Hills music video – “she was cool as fuck!” Bah quips.

“I was eating it up to be honest, I was loving all of it,” Bah laughs. “I came from a small-ass town – I feel like nobody from my town has ever experienced this shit. I felt real cool, like I was really putting on for girls everywhere.”

It is certainly a far cry from her childhood. Her parents moved from Sierra Leone to Fayetteville, Georgia shortly before she was born, a city she describes as “backwards” – “imagine Atlanta but twenty years ago!”. Not, then, an ideal place for an alternative Black, pansexual girl to experiment with her style.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kirt Barnett

“I did get a lot of mean comments and bullying [at school], but I feel like after a certain point when they realised that I'm not gonna change, they kind of backed off a little bit,” she says. “They were just like, ‘oh this is just a girl who comes to school dressed up everyday, period.’”

Despite growing up in a conservative Muslim household, Bah has been remarkably vocal about LGTBQ+ issues, and her own sexuality, which she sees as one of the defining issues of the upcoming US election. “I feel like my entire life I've always been a black sheep…I didn't really fit into any community,” she says. “It's so fucked up that people can't live in their truth just because of somebody else’s bigoted opinions, like y'all need to grow the fuck up honestly. And we need to elect Kamala, period! If Trump comes into office, this is gonna get so much worse.”

Bah also says offhand that, due to their religious beliefs, her parents didn’t allow her to listen to the radio growing up. “The only thing we could ever listen to was like – what's that shit called? – those kids’ CDs from Wendy’s that they used to put in the Happy Meals,” she laughs. “It was like always Michael Jackson and like Beyonce, that's the only shit they would ever let us listen to because they were like, ‘we don't want y'all listening to profanity!’”

It is somewhat surprising, then, that Bah has, in the last year, ventured into that very industry – and with staggering success. “Bitch — you know I’m sexy / (Ugh) Don’t call, just text me,” opens her breakout viral TikTok hit IT GIRL, released in October last year. Crafted from an Azealia Banks–esque beat Bah found on YouTube by producer LxnleyBeat, it is the sonic version of #AliyahCore – oozing self-confidence, a well-deserved paean of praise to herself.

“It was honestly just some fucking around shit, I'm not even gonna lie,” she laughs when I ask her how the song came about. “I used to find beats on YouTube and I was like, ‘let me get into my rapper bag’”. Unlike her fashion videos, IT GIRL was an instant online hit. “I swear to God,” she says. “I posted it [on TikTok] went to sleep and I woke up and it had like 600,000 views”.

I am going to end with an interview from Ladygunn. They saluted the unstoppable rise of a boundary breaker. Someone who is unmistakably and confidently in her own lane and league. I am excited to see what the next few years hold for this artist. I am new to her but I am committed to following her career closely. Make sure you follow Aliyah’s Interlude on social media:

“You started off making humorous content on TikTok, then switched to more fashion focused content, and now you make a lot of music-related content. At the same time, you still make all three kinds of content. How do you balance and prioritize these three aspects of your social media presence?

Because of the way that I started, it’s not as hard to balance all three because I don’t think people are expecting me to ever do just one thing. That was one of my main goals when I started, to allow myself the freedom to do everything so that people don’t box me into one specific genre. Honestly, the content that I make is always true to myself and how I’m feeling on that particular day. And fashion is something that I’m truly passionate about and I have been passionate about since forever, and a lot of my music talks about that too— so they kind of just intertwine with each other.

With music, my first ever song was “IT GIRL,” and I’ve always said that an It Girl is somebody who is authentically themselves and shows up like that bitch every single time they pop out. That was the entire point of a #Aliyahcore in general. It just made so much sense because I’ve been talking about being an It Girl for so long, which played into fashion as well as music.

What is your musical background like? Was “IT GIRL” your first experience making music?

I played the violin growing up for six years, so I know how to read music, and I’m classically trained. Even when I was younger, I used to be in theater classes; I took acting classes and we would sing. I’ve always done and been around lots and lots of music. But when I started going to the studio, I was actually in Atlanta. I went with some of my friends and we would just play around in the studio and make different songs. But I’ve been writing for so long and I think that’s one of my biggest strengths.

The side of Aliyah we see online is always super high energy and confident. How do you maintain that, and how much of it is a created persona?

I am actually a very high energy person in particular— but I will say that when I make content, it’s when I feel like I have the energy to give my all. I’m not gonna get in front of a camera if I’m feeling horrible. If I’m not feeling [confident] inside, it would be wrong for me to express that on the outside. But I really love this happy, high energy because it makes everything more fun.

PHOTO CREDIT: Shervin Lainez

You often credit your success to your hard work and consistency. What does the daily grind look like for you?

I usually wake up around seven or eight every single day. And I plan out my days, usually before the week even starts. I like to know what I’m doing throughout the week. So this week, for example, I’m filming a lot of content, and then I have to work on some of the performances that I’m doing for Pride. I’m very much a consistent person and I think that consistency is the key to everything that you want in life. If I really want something, it’s gonna happen regardless because I work hard for it, period. And that’s just how I feel about everything. I think that anyone can achieve anything if they truly want it. If they work hard for it, it might take a minute, and it might cause lots of rejection in the process, but you just have to know your end goal and be passionate about the things that you do.

You’ve talked about how “IT GIRL” was a very do-it-yourself endeavor, with you sourcing a beat from YouTube. Now, with so much applause and two songs under your belt, how has your process of making songs changed? How about writing songs— do you still build your songs around an initial vibe or idea, as you did with your first songs?

It’s changed a lot because now I’ve been in the studio with different producers. And now when I make music, it’s a whole collaboration effort. I’ll go to the studio, and we’ll make a beat in a studio with a producer, and I’ll tell him, like, I really want a house beat, or this or that.

The [songs], it’s just like when I wrote my first song. It’s really energy based and how I’m feeling on the day, but there’s a lot of times where I already have an idea of what I want to write down and ideas of what type of music I want to make. And that’s the outline from where I go. Usually I’m like, let me write the hook out. And let’s build a song around this. I’ve been trying so many different things recently.

Could you talk specifically about your process of coming up with and creating “Love Me”?

Oh my gosh, ”Love Me” was a song that really came about because as somebody who was on the internet from 17, that comes with a lot of strength, because you are subjected to people’s opinions 24/7. Within fashion, especially being a black woman, a dark skinned black woman, I feel I was forever and always really, really targeted and there’s been times where people, you could tell, really hated that you loved yourself. And the hook goes, “I really love me, have no doubt they tried to make me hate myself.” But I really love me type shit like, it’s really crazy how people have an issue when you don’t care what people think about you. That’s what the song is about. When I was writing it, I was like, I need to make music about loving myself because that’s the whole point of #Aliyahcore and the whole point of what I do in general.

PHOTO CREDIT: Shervin Lainez

Was your sort of ability to turn painful situations like this into something positive and strengthening intrinsic to you or was it something that you had to develop?

No, it’s definitely something I had to develop. I was a very shy person growing up; I was always the girl who had two friends. I didn’t talk to nobody. I got bullied so much growing up, it was really really sick. But honestly, I think when I got to high school and when I got into fashion— and I think this is why I love fashion so much— it really was like an armor for me. When I started dressing and being and showing up as the person that I wanted to be, people started realizing that I don’t care about what they think. That grew my confidence and it made me realize that no matter what you’re wearing, or what you’re doing, people are gonna have something to say about you. So you might as well just do whatever the fuck you want to do.

Where does your name come from?

I’m actually named after the singer Aliyah. My mom was pregnant with me when she  passed away and they were really, really big fans of hers. And they told me that when they decided to name me, they kind of felt as if Aliyah and the stuff that she did on Earth was something that they would love for me to do too.

And what about “ Aliyah’s interlude”?

It’s really just a username. I actually found it from Snapchat when I was in ninth grade, actually. When I was in ninth grade, I remember this one girl I followed on Snapchat had a playlist on Apple Music, and she would update it weekly. And she would call it, [her name] interludes. I was like, wait, this is fire! I’m gonna use this as my username.

Could you tell me more about how growing up with social media impacted you and your music making?

I think it impacted my music for sure— with YouTube, I’ve always looked at mixes on there like Azealia Banks mixed with Nicki Minaj. I remember when I would look stuff up, all these tight beats would come up, and I would listen to them. I was like, huh, I might need to hop on this real quick, but I used to do it for fun. When the time came to do [make songs], I was already familiar with all of these different things and remixing music, and being online. It was all familiar to me already”.

I will end things here. If you have not checked out Aliyah’s Interlude then please make sure you correct that. I feel this year is going to be her biggest yet. Let’s hope that she is able to play in the U.K. at some point. An artist that deserves to be shared…

WITH the world.

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Follow Aliyah's Interlude

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: A Pre-Spring Assortment

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Esra Korkmaz/Pexels

 

A Pre-Spring Assortment

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THE first day of spring…

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

is 20th March. That is when the spring equinox begins. To beckon that in a little early, I have put together a playlist that is filled with songs that are all about spring, the days getting longer and new bloom. I think everyone is fed up of winter. Its darkness, cold and wetness! It is a horrible season, so it is always wonderful when we can feel spring just around the corner. I think we all need a bit of a boost as the weather has been a bit miserable! It is nice to think that warm weather and more settled conditions will soon be here! To honour that, I have combined some uplifting and feelgood songs with softer and more reflective meditations on the season. A spring bouquet, as it were! I hope that you enjoy this…

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

BEAUTIFUL musical blend.

FEATURE: Goodbye England (Covered in Snow): Laura Marling’s I Speak Because I Can at Fifteen

FEATURE:

 

 

Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)

  

Laura Marling’s I Speak Because I Can at Fifteen

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IN a faultless career…

where she has not put a foot wrong or released an album that is not spectacular, it might seem relative to say her 2010 album, I Speak Because I Can, is not considered to be her peak work. It is still stronger than most other albums released that year. Consider the fact Laura Marling turned thirty-five last month. When I Speak Because I Can was released, she was barely twenty. Astonishing to have released an album as mature, assured and phenomenal! Following her stunning debut of 2008, Alas, I Cannot Swim, I think I Speak Because I Can is among her finest work. Marling’s latest album, 2024’s Patterns in Repeat, is a masterpiece. Possibly her best album yet. It is frightening how brilliant Marling is. Few artists could release eight near-perfect albums and we still think the best is ahead of them. As I Speak Because I Can turns fifteen on 22nd March, I want to spend some time with it. Reaching number four on the U.K. chart, this was a major success in a year that boasted some spectacular albums. I will end with some reviews for a stunningly beautiful and moving album. One where Laura Marling’s lyrical brilliance is near its peak. Some of the reviews for I Speak Because I Can mentioned her age. Marling was a teenager when she was recording the album. It is understandable that her musical palette and lyrical potential was not as realised and full-bodied as it was on future albums.

However, for such a young artist, releasing something as singular and stunning as I Speak Because I Can should not be understated. I will start out with this feature from The Guardian. Written by Laura Barton, they named Laura Marling’s second studio album the eighth-best release of 2010:

“Laura Marling's second album, released earlier this spring, was a breathtaking accomplishment. Though her debut, Alas I Cannot Swim, was a beguiling collection of songs that suggested a rich and distinctive talent, it offered little indication of the furious speed with which her songwriting would mature; I Speak Because I Can is the kind of album musicians spend a lifetime hoping to make.

There is something about Marling's songwriting that is crisp and unflinching, something almost painfully precise. In the album's title track, it's there in the needlepoint sharpness: "I speak because I can, to anyone I trust enough to listen/You speak because you can to anyone who'll hear what you say." But she counterbalances such moments with sudden twists of sentiment, lets the coolness of her voice grow rougher, rawer, and brings a kind of gusty, unleashed quality to lines such as: "Never rode my bike down to the sea, never quite figured out what I could believe, never got up and said anything worthy, for he, for my."

Stand-out tracks include the rollicking Ramblin' Man, the wistful, defiant Goodbye, England and the brief, bittersweet Blackberry Stone, the latter a quiet rumination on death and appreciating the simpler pleasures of life: "I'd be sad that I never held your hand as you were lowered," she sings in one of the album's most devastating lyrics. "But I'd understand that I would never let you go."

This year, Marling stands quite peerless among not only her own generation of songwriters, but also generations before her; a quite extraordinary feat”.

I am going to end with a couple of reviews. Very little is written about I Speak Because I Can. That is a real shame. It is an album worthy of more than it got! I want to drop in bits of interviews from 2010 with Laura Marling. I want to start out with the first of two interviews with The Guardian:

"I'm almost an entirely different person to the one I was when I wrote the first album," says Laura Marling, smoking prodigiously on the patio of a King's Cross pub. Then, the singer-songwriter was a pale-faced, chronically shy 17-year-old keen on grungy T-shirts, mulishly determined not to be gussied up for popular consumption. Her 2008 Mercury-nominated debut, Alas, I Cannot Swim, saw her pushed, blinking, into the full-beam of acclaim. Marling was heralded as a precocious young talent, and her striking lyricism and graceful delivery gave rise to flattering Joni Mitchell comparisons.

The LP was produced by her then-boyfriend Charlie Fink, frontman of the folksy pop group Noah and the Whale, because her lack of confidence meant she couldn't express ideas to a stranger. It speaks volumes that Marling, who has just turned 20, chose to make her new record with Ethan Johns, producer also of the Kings of Leon and Rufus Wainwright. Titled I Speak Because I Can, the 10-song set has a fuller, more robust sound, and sees Marling tenderly trace the arcs of relationships with former lovers, as well as the importance of her Hampshire family roots and the jagged conflicts of womanhood and marriage. There's no breast-beating here, more an exquisite quality of guarded observation that lingers long after the record has finished.

In the flesh, she looks like she's been redrawn with a stronger outline. She has makeup on, for starters, and her hair colour has changed from white blond to a sombre brunette. The intonation of her voice is clear and deliberate but deeper than you'd expect from her crystalline singing. "I didn't want to wear makeup then," she explains, "because I didn't want to give in to that. It was all because I wasn't at ease with myself." But the darker barnet wasn't a premeditated image change, she insists, simply the result of covering up a DIY bleaching that turned her locks blue and crusty.

Marling admits to being an odd kid. The youngest of three sisters, she felt out of place at her Quaker school in Reading. She moved to London aged 16 and befriended "other weirdos who were just like me". This meant a cadre of young musicians including Mumford and Sons and Johnny Flynn who formed a nu-folk scene around a Chelsea pub, Bosun's Locker, where Marling found her home singing with Noah and the Whale before striking out on her own.

Although her reluctance to lead a nine-to-five existence pushed her towards an unconventional lifestyle, endearingly, Marling is very old-fashioned. She is a (her words) "wet blanket" who eschews drugs and clubbing in favour of dinner parties at home in Shepherd's Bush. She abhors our modern-day sexual sensationalism and the media's destructive obsession with kiss-and-tells and, to boot, is an incurable romantic who loves the heroines of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters.

While her two albums evoke an empathy with the lovelorn and spiritually wounded, she doesn't perpetuate the wearisome persona of a musician who's suffered for their art. "I've been very fortunate. My parents bought me a guitar and my dad taught me. I went to a good school where I had a music scholarship and was able to learn music and not much else. I've had a pretty easy ride, I have to say."

If her songs have a tendency to bleakness, Marling says, it's because she's most productive when low. Lyrically, though, they have beguiling layers of subterfuge. "I definitely tell things at arm's length but that is conscious. No part of me wants everybody to know what's going on." Which must have made it all the harder when the wilting of her love affair with Fink was laid bare after Noah and the Whale's lump-in-your-throat break-up album The First Days of Spring came out last summer.

"I had a copy of the album, which was very nice of him to send me, but I just wasn't expecting it [the public dissection of their break-up]". Worse still was the leering, flippant tone that music scribes used to write about it. "When I opened up a magazine it was heartbreaking. I was an 18-year-old when it was written. It made me realise that journalists don't give a shit. Why would they?”

Before coming to a third interview, I have chosen some sections of another interview from The Guardian. Big fans of her music, it is not surprising there was a lot of fascination around Laura Marling. After releasing a Mercury Prize-nominated debut that blew people away, there were a lot of eyes on her in 2010:

“Laura Marling's set at Glastonbury this summer must have been the most serene festival performance of the year. Chatting wryly between song after spine-tinglingly perfect song, she was so composed and quietly assured that, at certain points, you could sense a collective swoon.

When I later walked past her outside some Portaloos, I found myself gauchely telling her she'd been wonderful. Now, as I meet her in her local, a small west London pub, I confess to this previous, brief encounter and watch her blue-green eyes widen in patient surprise. I'd interrupted her eating a bowl of noodles, I add, by way of an apology. "Oh how glamorous," she says dryly.

The truth is that the woman sitting in front of me – sipping black coffee, smoking, clad in a camel coat and exuding a ghostly sort of radiance – is nothing if not glamorous. Soignee to the point of actressy, maintaining eye contact with a coolly intense gaze, she is an entirely different being from the desperately shy teenager that put out Alas I Cannot Swim two years ago.

When she toured that album – a Mercury- nominated debut credited with spear- heading an indie-folk revival, and a bewilderingly precocious achievement considering she wrote it aged 16 – her stare would be resolutely fastened on a spot just in front of her feet. It was often painful to watch, as she readily admits.

So where has her newfound ease come from? Partly from growing up – she's 20 now – but also, "because I really considered the fact that if people have come to see a gig, it's actually part of my… role as an entertainer," she over-enunciates the words parodically, "to show my gratitude to them for being there and to stop making them feel like they're slightly intruding on something."

That sense of intrusion, or at least of acute intimacy, is very much there on her second album, I Speak Because I Can – a bolder and fuller record than the first. Though many of its songs are spun by adopted personae (the title track, for example, is written as Penelope, waiting for Odysseus to return) it has the power, like that searing wintry gaze of hers, to cut right to the core. There are few songwriters around at the moment who can match Marling for emotional intensity.

Unsurprisingly, writing songs ("a mixture of self-flagellation and therapy") comes easiest when she's unhappy. Which must present her with a bit of a paradox. Does it mean that she… "Goes looking for it?" she laughs, finishing the sentence. "It's the same reason I don't take drugs," she says. "Life is hard enough." Does she drink, though? "Oh yeah. Hell, yeah," she gives a low chuckle. "But I don't think you have to look very far to find something to make you feel a bit low. Maybe one day when I'm perfectly happy I won't write another song, but I don't think we're in any danger of that."

If not perfectly happy, she certainly seems extraordinarily comfortable in her skin. She admits "when I started doing this I spent too much time making sure that people didn't make me do things I didn't want to do." She was a contrary teenager, making what she terms "anti-points", the most obvious of which was not ever appearing in make-up – she'd doggedly wipe it all off before she went on stage or TV. "And that's all well and good until you travel loads and get off a plane looking like the back end of a bus." (At this point it's worth saying that she is indeed wearing mascara and a tiny bit of blusher, and very lovely she looks with it, too.)

There's a grander explanation for this concession to cosmetics, though: "Womanhood is something you don't consider until it hits you," she says. "At first I was intimidated by it and then I felt empowered by it." It also found her "going into a shop and picking up a baggy T-shirt in one hand and a dress in the other and going [she puts on a mock-existential-crisis voice] 'Who am I?'" Now, clad in an outfit that falls somewhere between those two ends of the spectrum, she adds: "I definitely know my place in the world a lot better, which makes everything a lot easier”.

I want to get to a couple of reviews for I Speak Because I Can. Before that, there is a great archived interview from the New York Times that caught my eye. American audiences possibly discovering Laura Marling then. Such an exciting and interesting young artist who was showing immense promise even back then. I discovered Marling on her debut album and have followed her since. Such a major talent who is one of our greatest songwriters ever:

“How old were you when you wrote the songs on “I Speak Because I Can”?

From 18 to 19. That year in anybody’s life is very much a transition. I began to feel like an adult for the first time. I think the responsibility of that, and of being a woman — those suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. My priorities changed a little bit, what I cared about and what I didn’t care about.

What things were you caring about and not caring about?

It has to do with what I do. I was so concerned about how I was being presented or projected, and how people would perceive my music because of that. In order to have that much control over yourself, you have to be a very difficult person to be around. Also I was very shy when I first started touring. I feel like I know my place in the world now.

What does that feel like?

You don’t have to charm. You are who you are and you know you’ll be that forever.

Do you write autobiographically or do you create fictional characters?

I think it’s a mix of both. I presume it’s the same when you write a novel. I tried to write some stories not too long ago, and they were so self-indulgent. I suppose that’s what every first novel is like, and yet it’s the thing you have to write. The majority of the songs are sort of semi-self-conscious autobiography, and putting yourself in a character just to make sure it’s at arm’s length.

“I Speak Because I Can,” the title song, is a kind of modern-day retelling of the tale of Penelope and Odysseus. What about their story did you connect with?

I happened to have read “The Odyssey” just before I started writing it. I found it so strange that a female character at the beginning of Western literature was portrayed as strong and independent. Then I read these letters that were reprinted in the newspaper between a chap and his woman during World War II. There were hints of sexuality — they took away all my naïveté about women throughout history.

There are folklorish elements in your songwriting as well.

We recorded the album in such an English place, in the middle of the countryside in the West Country. And it’s just beautiful, the last bit of mid-England that’s untouched. I’m fascinated by pagan history. Old English folk stories are absolutely brilliant. Some of them are so witty, and some are so dark. That’s what folk is, I guess. Maybe I stepped closer to actually calling myself folk.

Have you been reading anything good lately?

I just got into Philip Roth. I read “Everyman” and “The Human Stain” and I got halfway through “Portnoy’s Complaint” and thought, I’m really quite bored of him moaning. I’m reading Hesse’s “Siddhartha” at the moment.

What records did you listen to when you were a kid?

The records that were on in the car. We always had a Stevie Wonder record, we always had a Joni Mitchell record. Those were my childhood soundtracks. I’ll always be a closet Steely Dan fan. But the first album I bought was by Macy Gray”.

I am going to wrap up with a couple of reviews. The first I want to include is from the BBC. Similar to a lot of reviews, they praise her abilities and songwriting but say that her true talents will be revealed later. I think it is a little dismissive and unfair. I Speak Because I Can is a complete work that I cannot find fault with:

“When Laura Marling appeared on the folk scene in 2008, aged 17, there was almost as much anticipation of her promise as praise for the music she produced. This was no bad thing, allowing development as an artist, and crucially not placing too much pressure or expectation on not-as-yet broad shoulders. Her debut, Alas, I Cannot Swim, was delivered to a generous critical reception, but the question asked this time round was always going to be one of progression, and the fulfilment of that abundant early talent.

Listening to Alas and second full-length, I Speak Because I Can, back-to-back, a change in tone – if not direction – is evident from opener and lead single Devil's Spoke. The production here is more deliberate and pored-over, expanding upon the earlier bare-bones approach. A leaf out of the Mumford & Sons school of orchestration has also been taken, with Rambling Man the greatest representation of this. The development in vocal styling is also stark; gone is the wispy, quick-fire phrasing and in walks deeper, slower, huskier proclamations. In many ways darkness has replaced the brightness.

It would, however, be disingenuous to paint this record as a collection of Marling's miserabilism. Despite the downbeat opening tracts, certain songs – Darkness Descends and I Speak Because I Can – abound with optimism and the ultimate, swelling crescendo of the latter displays an impressive mastery of dynamics. Similarly, at least a touch of variation is a necessity in folk, and this is demonstrated frequently, no more noticeably than when the boisterous acceleration of Alpha Shallows falls under a weight of heavy strums and gives way to the subtle, tender love letter to a country that is Goodbye England (Covered In Snow).

There was a justifiable argument to be made that Marling's real talent had to be seen live; the recorded compositions not revealing the entire picture. With I Speak Because I Can, that argument may now end. Though just 20, it doesn't appear within her scope to make an outright bad album, and here we are shown a few more glimpses of her gift, but yet not an overwhelming outpouring of it. It's clear that there has been a progression as a songwriter, with a previously unfound depth apparent on these ten tracks. Though it undoubtedly draws on the travails of the past two-or-so years, there remains, without a doubt, more in the can from young Laura”.

I am ending with a positive review from Pitchfork. With U.S. sources and media maybe fresh to Marling at this point, she did get some commercial success there. The album reached number seven on the Folk Albums chart:

“Reviewing Laura Marling's Mercury Prize-nominated debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, in 2008, I worried that the then-18-year-old might too quickly shed the teenage guilelessness that contributed so greatly to the record's appeal. Marling possessed an undeniable knack for writing about young love with directness and authentic feeling, but at times her pseudo-profound poetics suggested the young folkie was in too much of a hurry to be a serious adult.

Clearly, I significantly underestimated Laura Marling's capabilities. Her sophomore effort, I Speak Because I Can, finds Marling, still only 20, shrugging off virtually all traces of girlishness and wide-eyed charm, instead delving into darkly elemental, frequently morbid folk. And yet, astonishingly, the expected growing pains never come. To say Marling evinces wisdom beyond her years on I Speak would be a criminal understatement, considering she's created a haunting, fully flowered gem of an album despite being younger than two-thirds of the Jonas Brothers.

These are folk-rock songs, but Marling doesn't lazily trade on it like so many other would-be old souls. Instead, like Fairport Convention or Nick Cave or Cat Power, she uses folk as an archetypal form to get at the essential realities of love, sex, heartbreak, and death. Sometimes she does it with heart-stopping quietness, her voice dropping to conversational tones on "Made by Maid" and "What He Wrote". Just as often, Marling sets her allegories to raucous musical accompaniment, an especially impressive feat considering the calm of her debut. The bluesy jig of opener and first single "Devil's Spoke" might elicit a few less-than-ideal comparisons with KT Tunstall, but Marling blows that kind of politely insistent stuff out of the water on the soaring, thunderous "Rambling Man" and the gypsy-ish breakdown of "Alpha Shallows" (which makes up for that song's momentary slip into sub-Dylan poetic doggerel).

It would have been all too easy for an album like this, so grimly fixated and coming from someone of such tender age, to be written off as the work of a morose young Romantic. However, Marling seems to have a great deal of self-awareness of her melancholic bent, lightly skewering herself on "Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)" for writing an "epic letter" to an estranged lover that's "22 pages front and back/ But it's too good to be used." And yet, she's not playing dress-up. She's a wholly developed artist in full command of gifts that may not yet be finished arriving”.

On 22nd March, it will be fifteen years since Laura Marling’s I Speak Because I Can was released. Maybe a fifteenth anniversary is not as special as the twentieth or even the tenth, though I feel this wonderful album deserves some love. Still recording music of the highest order, I can see Marling releasing albums for decades more! Someone who has this golden run of albums that have all been acclaimed, there are few artists that can boast that kind of consistency. Not just one of our very best songwriters. Laura Marling is surely one of…

THE greatest who has ever lived.

FEATURE: Heavy with Seeds: Under the Ivy: Kate Bush and the Personal and Creative Benefits of Gardening

FEATURE:

 

 

Heavy with Seeds

PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

 

Under the Ivy: Kate Bush and the Personal and Creative Benefits of Gardening

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SOME might see it…

PHOTO CREDIT: Alamy

as a sign of retirement or quitting, but that just shows there is ageism when we think of gardening. Maybe once synonymous with the older generation, it is not the case that gardening equates to someone ending a career and giving in. Even if you are older, taking up gardening is not indicative of decline or choosing a different pace of life. In fact, it is frequently done by people who lead a very active life and are still working. Gardening now much more visible among younger generations. In terms of music, you do get artists who mention that they have taken up gardening. When I think of Kate Bush, among the images that spring to mind is the garden. It has been a part of life since she was a child. I have recently written about Bush’s East Wickham Farm childhood home. How there was this beautiful garden and farmhouse. A barn and an outside pool. I can only imagine how intriguing the garden was for this young girl. Not that Bush was too involved with the upkeep of the garden herself. Maybe she helped her parents out or was seen dancing around in the garden as they tended to the flowers. The tactility and colour of flowers and the garden no doubt would have fascinated a very young Kate Bush. I mention it because, in recent years, people have connected Kate Bush gardening with retirement. Bush spoke with Emma Barnett in 2022. Bush was asked what she is doing at the moment. Bush replied ‘gardening’. Maybe a question that was designed to elicit plans of new music, many felt that Bush was now in a stage where she did not want to make music and instead was living a much more normal and non-musical existence. Last year, Bush and Barnett spoke again. This time, Bush revealed she was keen to work on a new album. It goes to show that one cannot associate gardening with retirement. In fact, it has been a source of inspiration and creative motivation throughout Kate Bush’s career!

I will end with Kate Bush gardening in the 2020s and how it could, forgive the pun, plan the seeds for an eleventh studio album. I think that the gardening and that routine of planting seeds and curating a garden has been something stabilising and calming for Bush. Getting out in the open and being influenced by the soil and comfort of a garden. It was very much centre stage for 2005’s Aerial and its second disc, A Sky of Honey. A summer’s day unfolding from the view of an English garden. The sound of blackbirds ringing out. Watching the sun rise and set. The moving and evocative world that one gets from their garden. Let’s move back to 1985’s Hounds of Love. When Bush had a bespoke studio built at East Wickham Farm to record Hounds of Love in, there was this wonderful period where she was making music plans but also relaxing. Not only did her trip to Ireland influence her songwriting and open her mind. Bush and Del Palmer (who were dating during the time) spent the summer gardening. Apart from going to films and Bush driving around and enjoying her freedom, gardening was very much a way for Bush to both unwind but also inspire her creative mind. Hounds of Love is an album awash with the natural world and weather. A track that was recorded too late to be included on Hounds of Love but was the B-side for Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), Under the Ivy very much takes us out to the garden.

One of Bush’s most beautiful songs, its lyrics are so evocative: “Go into the garden/Go under the ivy/Under the leaves/Away from the party/Go right to the rose/Go right to the white rose/(For me)/I sit here in the thunder/The green on the grey/I feel it all around me/And it's not easy for me/To give away a secret/It's not safe”. I love how there is a flower in front of Kate Bush’s mouth for the cover of The Sensual World. This is what Bush said: “The rose on the front cover is real. A lot of people think it was made out of silk…or paper. It’s a rose called Doris Tysterman. I’d planted it in our garden a few years before. Found just before the photo shoot; Doris had produced the perfect bloom”. I know East Wickham Farm had a rose garden, so that would have been spellbinding for a young Kate (Cathy) Bush. I can imagine that her mother was a gifted plantswoman. If Bush stated in 2022 that she was into gardening now, I don’t think it ever left her. Especially when she was at or near East Wickham Farm, she would have been out there gardening. She lived at addresses throughout London during her career – including a time when she lived at Wickham Road in Brockley with her two brothers. Bush took the top floor and lived alone whilst Paddy and John had their own floors. I don’t think she had much access to a garden whilst there. It has become more defined as she moved to larger properties. Bush bought the Grade II-listed Georgian mansion in the mid-1990s in Berkshire. She also used to own a South Hams (Devon) clifftop mansion. I thin Bush currently resides at Clifton Hampden Manor in Clifton Hampden, Oxfordshire. Previously, Bush lived in a property located on the river Kennet, near the village of Theale. The property was built around 1800 as a miller's house for the nearby water mill. Standing in 22.54 acres of grounds, Shenfield Mill was this idyllic paradise.

IN THIS PHOTO: Clifton Hampden Manor, Oxfordshire

In each property, I think the garden and grounds was important. The space and privacy was key. Bush able to build her own studio or have enough room to have a separate studio. If you look at photos of these properties, you can imagine Bush wanting something similar to her childhood home. In the sense she could have this garden that was awash with colour and beauty. Where she could spend time out there relaxing and also working. I think about her now, aged sixty-six. At a time when new music is in her mind, she lives in this wonderful house with beautiful grounds. I think that the gardening she spoke to Emma Barnett about in 2022 led to some songwriting. Bush released the Little Shrew (Snowflake) last year. Whilst in that very busy period of creating and directing the video, I think Bush would have found time to garden. For anyone who thinks that Bush’s love of gardening is her stepping away from music, that is obviously not true! As mentioned, the garden has provided fascination for her since she was a child. One of her earliest songs (around about 1974) was titled In My Garden. Otherwise known as Something Like a Song, these lines strike me: “There's something that sounds like a song/In my garden, by the willow/A piper: "Oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, hoooo"/I see him when I turn the lights down low/In my garden, wading through the pond/Rest and sing: "Lover oooooooh..."/"Oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, oohoo, ahoo, hoooo". In a future featyure, I will look at the properties Bush has lived in through the years. How they were instrumental when it came to her creativity. All providing their own inspiration. For now, my mind is in the garden. Kate Bush among the flowers, under the ivy; the soil heavy with seed(s). A source of joy and comfort for Bush, it has often fuelled her songwriting. I think we will once more see this…

REALISED fairly soon.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Samara Cyn

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 

Samara Cyn

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FOR this Spotlight feature…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Bentley

I am focusing on an artist who is not as well-known in the U.K. as she is in her native U.S. The sensational Samara Cyn is the Tennessee-born, L.A.-based rapper/Neo Soul artist who is being tipped as someone to watch closely this year. Her album, The Drive Home, was released last October and marked her out as a talent who has the potential to endure for years to come. Someone whose music is capturing attention. I am going to move to a couple of interviews from last year. First, this NME feature introduces us to an artist that some of you may not know. An artist that definitely needs to be in your thoughts:

“As I evolved as an artist, I stopped wanting to be just a ‘great rapper’” Samara Cyn tells NME, “I wanted to make really good music.” It’s in part what’s responsible for her melodic delivery and her fluid sound vocally and sonically. In her own words, she’s “a neo-soul hip-hop fusion artist” and while she cites icons Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu as influences, Cyn’s music combines current stars like Doechii’s soul inflection and Tyler, The Creator’s experimentation.

It creates a rich and varied musical landscape to pull from; not surprising since Cyn, born in Tennessee, grew up moving around the US and used these experiences to take note of what she saw. “Writing, for me, has been a constant thing,” she says. “It’s my spark for my music.” She had an early interest in poetry, encouraged by her mother, an English teacher, who introduced her to the youth-focused spoken word poetry festival Brave New Voices, an annual event that tours throughout the US. “It’s these kids that looked like me, and were young and they were doing poetry in a different type of way than Edgar Allan Poe,” she says. To her, spoken word had a similar feel to rap. “After that, it opened my mind up to more slam poetry cadences, talking about societal issues and the things that I was going through and how to express myself.”

It wasn’t until a night out during her second year at university that her interest in poetry transformed into a drive to create music. Her friends were playing beats and rapping over them. “And I was like, ‘Man, I have something in my notes that can go with this,’” she remembers. “I basically rapped one of my poems to the beat.” That was just the beginning. “Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop,” she says. “And I remember we didn’t even sleep that night. We went back up to my apartment and grabbed our backpacks and went straight to class and even in class, I couldn’t not finish the song.”

In 2019 she wrote her first song and, in November of that year, she played her debut live show. In 2020, she performed at speakeasies and open mics and continued gigging in Phoenix, Arizona during her studies at Arizona State University. In November 2021, she opened for fellow ‘Bose x NME: C24’ artist Teddy Swims at his show at her alma mater.

When writing songs, she opts for getting her thoughts down on paper first before a brutal editing process. “It’s like a puzzle. I’m trying to figure out how I can say what I’m trying to say, in the cleverest way possible, in a rhyme scheme and a cadence,” she explains, “and still communicate the message?” Over time, she’s grown into a less-is-more approach to writing. “I think the most beautiful things are very simple, consolidated and precise,” she says. “I’ve definitely tried to refine and figure out how to say what I want to say in fewer words.”

Cyn wrote the vibrant, bouncy track ‘Loop’, her submission for the ‘Bose x NME: C24’ mixtape, in 15 minutes, when a friend of hers joined her in the studio. “We were just talking about being stuck in that same relationship and not being able to get out of it and I feel like I was definitely pulling from situations that I was just coming out of,” she explains.

Cyn and producer Cameron Ellis were struck by a video they’d seen on YouTube that showed Pharrell Williams and Justin Timberlake working on the latter’s 2002 debut solo album ‘Justified’. Cyn and Ellis took influence from the track ‘Señorita’ in particular. “We wanted to make something that was upbeat and sassy… and cool,” she remembers. “So we were like, ‘OK, let’s pull from this, the energy from this and go off of it from there.’”

Cyn likes writing in real time in the studio with her contemporaries. “I really love cook-up sessions, which is basically where everybody makes everything from scratch,” she says. “I like hearing the beat build.” It also makes her process a lot tighter, since it’s often hard to recapture that emotion and headspace. “Normally, I’m writing as the beat is being created,” she explains. “When the beat is done, I try to be done with my lyrics.”

While writing may have been the catalyst, her recording career has expanded from there, including recent single ‘Moving Day’. “There’s so much extra shit that comes with just writing – being an artist and doing the shoots and doing the social media and content creation and the creative direction, and all of these different things,” she explains. But writing is what grounds her and pushes her forward: “This is why I do it”.

Before coming to the final interview, I want to quote from this Uproxx chat from last June. I do hope that Samara Cyn is invited to play in the U.K. this year. Someone who deserves to be better known here. An incredible artist who is going to have a long and successful future. A Rap artist who can shake up the scene:

“Samara Cyn is doing everything right nowadays, but truthfully, you could say she always has. Born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and bouncing around several cities before settling in Pheonix, Arizona in 2017, rapper Samara Cyn is a new lyricist to reckon with today. She constructs 16s and 32s with impressive ease and breezes through them with the Polish of a veteran. There are more than slick rhymes in Cyn’s arsenal, though. Like artists such as JID and Doja Cat, Cyn lays her raps with the backing of soulful beats and soothing singing voice to make her a complete artist worth getting excited about.

Her latest single “Magnolia Rain” makes for three singles in the past year, showing a promising future in rap lies ahead for Cyn. “Magnolia Rain” presents Cyn with the cool, calm, and collected demeanor that takes precedent on most of her tracks. She steers through the record with an introspective take on life, emphasizing her choice to focus on what she can control and take everything else as it comes. “Finding out that letting go give you more control,” she sings on the song’s chorus. “Keep a calm mind, keep a calm soul.” It’s a soothing reminder to find your peace in a world that can be so chaotic.

Together with the new single, we had a moment o catch up with Samara Cyn and find out more about her in this week’s Uproxx Music 20 column. Scroll down to hear some of Cyn’s music and to learn more about her influences, inspirations, and aspirations.

What is your earliest memory of music?

This is hard. I can’t really pinpoint the earliest moment. Maybe getting ready for school to MTV Top 40s. But what’s coming to mind is rapping Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” on karaoke with my dad at my 13th birthday party. Prime childhood memory.

Who inspired you to take music seriously?

My friend Michael Knight was the first person that really had me thinking I could do this for real. I was in college; I was just having my fun with music. It was something to do. But Michael really sat me down, believed in me, and got me set up. I remember sitting in my closet with my basic ass recording set up and him tapping into my computer from NC to teach me how to record on Logic. On some Spy Kids sh*t. He did all of my earliest production, he would mix my records, master them. All off the strength. Believed in it so much, it made me start too.

Do you know how to play an instrument? If so, which one? If not, which instrument do you want to learn how to play?

I can play a few songs on the guitar. Haven’t been able to stay disciplined enough to really learn it yet though. I think it’d be pretty badass to perform one day with an electric guitar though. So that’s the one.

Who is on your R&B/rap/afrobeats Mt. Rushmore?

Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator, Erykah Badu, and Lauryn Hill.

You get 24 hours to yourself to do anything you want, with unlimited resources: What are you doing? And spare no details!

Maldives, massage, good food, clear water. Peace.

Which celebrity do you admire or respect for their personality and why?

Doja Cat. That woman don’t give a f*ck. She gon’ do her regardless and she does her very well, completely unapologetic. I love a “F*CK YOU” attitude for real. I feel like Tyler has that same energy. And Lil Nas X, I love him too.

What is the best song you’ve ever heard in your life and what do you love about it?

“I Don’t Know” by Nick Hakim. That song will put you in a trance! His harmonies are beautiful, his voice is soothing as f*ck, guitar loops are my favorite, and it just calms me every time I listen to it. Really pulls me back into my body when I need that. Go look it up.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform, and what’s a city you’re excited to perform in for the first time?

I don’t have too many cities under my belt yet, but Raleigh, North Carolina has my favorite performance to date. The crowd was energetic and everybody I talked to was so sweet and down to Earth. I’m excited for London.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Don’t wait to tap into your life force. Be yourself, be grateful, be kind, and think a little bit more on that tattoo”.

Whether it is a ten-track album or E.P. - I think she has called it an E.P. -, The Drive Home was an important release from last year. If you have not heard it then take some time to listen to it. CLASH had an in-depth conversation with Samara Cyn in December. This is someone I am very excited about:

“For a 10-track EP, ‘The Drive Home’ is dangerously accessible – mostly because the 26-year-old is as confident as a Jill Scott record. ‘Sinner’ name drops Harbor Freight and “serves face” over Ronson pop ideals because “lil bitch, we mobbin’”. ‘Chrome’ meditates on space whips, sliding on a D’Mile loop that blends ‘telefone’ and ‘CARE FOR ME’. ‘Rolling Stone’ clips insecurities with a rose-colored nod to ‘Innanetape’ and Cyn’s Poetic Soul days while ‘100sqft’ finds her threading heartache like a ‘House Of Balloons’ demo — airing out past wrongs, a desire for affection, and feeling adrift amidst the distortion: “Wasn’t like this ‘fore I’d known you / Maybe I ain’t fall in love, I just tripped and fell up on you”. Even when she’s retracing her deepest anxieties about love, Cyn is audibling cadences, creating liminal spaces for flows, and floating through an appreciation of ‘50s and ‘60s jazz structures to selectively blur limitations and use rap as a form of escapism.

With co-signs from Nas, Doja Cat, Rapsody, and Alicia Keys, we caught up with Samara Cyn to go into detail about ‘The Drive Home’, her obsessions with Erykah Badu and Tyler, The Creator, her upcoming ‘Kountry Kousins’ tour with Smino, and why it’s important to be true to yourself.

In a recent tweet, Doechii addressed the growing importance of hip-hop — noting it has always been deep, complex, and soulful, and that communities ‘use hip-hop to evolve’. How has the genre influenced your own personal evolution in the last two years?

I feel like for a lot of people who get into hip-hop, it’s because they were raised listening to the genre. Hip-hop comes with a culture behind it and just like Doechii said, it’s soulful, it’s real, it’s raw. Hip-hop teaches you how to dress – it teaches you code and morals and stuff like that, and going into my past two years of releasing music, I really wanted to pull from the fact that it’s raw and authentic. All of my messages are about being authentic and they are more of a reminder for myself, you know what I’m saying? It’s definitely pulled from all of the unique styles that are under the umbrella of hip-hop – like how can you forge a way that’s unique but is still raw and still has code and makes you dress nice, but is authentic to you.

I don’t know… it’s just a natural part of cadence and the way that I create. I don’t think I have ever been like, “I’m going to be super hip-hop this year”. It’s a third parent for me; it was literally a part of how I was raised and what I was inspired by growing up.

Was music your first passion project?

Yeah, actually. Honestly, I used to be really sad before I had music. Because I didn’t start making music until I was a sophomore in college and I really struggled with feeling purposeless for a lot of my early college years and especially high school. Like I didn’t have a knack for anything. I had hobbies but they weren’t things I was really passionate about. I just did a lot of separate things. I played a lot of different sports. I really struggled with feeling like “why am I here” – I work and I go to school, and it’s like are these the only things I’m supposed to be doing? When I started making music, it was the first time that I really felt free doing something. Like I could never be bored.

I never felt purposeless after that and even though I didn’t initially recognize that music ‘was my purpose’, it was like “Oh, I have something to do now”. It felt productive and I was feeling better getting my feelings out after making music so I had never felt that before – not with painting or roller skating. I tried so many different hobbies [laughs]. Even going to bible study… I tried religion. It was definitely music that was the first thing to make me go “Oh snap, I really enjoy doing this and I can fill all of my time doing this and I won’t get tired of it”.

Were you ever worried that you wouldn’t be able to find your voice?

Absolutely. Do you know what highlighted that for me? It was music. When I first started creating music, it really, really helped me navigate that feeling and pinpoint that feeling of “This is why this feels bad”. Because even now when I’m in the studio – if I don’t feel good that day or if I don’t feel comfortable that day, even if the record comes out amazing, I won’t like the record. And it’s the same thing when you’re trying to navigate these spaces, like I don’t feel good while in this and so I don’t feel good about the situation. Even looking back on college and high school and while I did have some great times, I don’t have fond memories because I felt shitty the whole way through it.

Music really highlighted that. When I first started off, I was making very ‘rah-rah music’ which is what I thought it was supposed to be based on what my friends were consuming and what I was doing – which was college shit. I was partying and hanging out and drinking, and all that type of stuff, and it didn’t feel like good music. It took me a while to find my true voice and my delivery and even how I approach songs. Because at the same time I’m navigating college and how I feel as a person so for me, it was a lot of “this doesn’t feel good”, “that doesn’t sound like me” and “that outfit… that doesn’t look like me, that’s not my vibe”.

There were times, especially being confronted with music, where identity is such an important thing. I think it’s changing as a lot of people are genre-bending and have stories like ours where they’ve moved around a lot and it’s not just “I’m Atlanta all the way” or “I’m New York all the way” and this is my whole personality, and it’s because I’m from this place and do all these things and sound like this. It’s changing a lot more, but trying to be a serious music artist was the first time where I had to ask myself “Okay dude, what is your style? What’s your identity?”. You didn’t know anything about me from listening to my earlier music and there were definitely times where I was like “I don’t know who I am”. You’re talking to people and you’re trying to convey what your music is and what your style is about, and you can’t do that when you don’t fucking know [laughs].

When did you first fall in love with the neo-soul genre and the concept of writing songs that explore love, relationships, and social consciousness?

It was the first time I heard ‘Mama’s Gun’, which is Erykah Badu’s album. That was the first time I fell in love with neo-soul, and then after that, I became like obsessed with Erykah Badu [laughs]. I loved her but specifically the ‘Mama’s Gun’ album really resonated with me for some reason. It was about authenticity and love and shit like that. With indie pop and other genres, that naturally came out of me in the studio and that just ties back to my childhood as I was raised in different places and there’s just a lot of influence that happens there. Like I listen to all types of music.

Even thinking back, with my dad I listened to a certain type of music and with my mom, I listened to a different type of music. My dad was more old school hip-hop, R&B, and those types of vibes and my mom was into Coldplay, The Fray, and The Script. She had more of an alternative, soft rock-type of situation going on – and I love that music too, like Florence And The Machine, all that type of stuff – so I think naturally, again, it was what I was listening to growing up so when I’m creating music, it’s just the natural different sides that come out of me. I like experimental shit. I like artists that push the boundaries of creativity and aren’t stuck in one style or dimension.

As far as introspection and that type of thing, I don’t know if it’s because I fell in love with it. I think I was trying to heal. Those songs are me talking myself through my own emotions and that’s why I talk about that stuff – it’s more of a reminder to myself instead of me trying to tell everybody else “this is what you should do”. It’s more so this is a reminder to me about the conversation that I’m having with myself this week about pride; this is the conversation I have been having with myself and my friends about fucking ego or how I fucked a situation up because my ego was getting in the way of seeing both sides. Like I feel insecure about this so this week I’m going to talk about insecurity because this is how I’m feeling right now. So I feel like with the introspective stuff, the music is going to reflect what’s going on in my life. It’s the best way for me to do it because it’s the easiest way that I can feel the music and convey it, and it often helps me therapeutically to get out the emotion and the logic behind why it is that I’m feeling the way that I am.

I also feel like genres are kind of pit against each other sometimes, especially in hip-hop. It’s like “conscious music” versus modern rap shit and oftentimes it’s people just saying “I don’t listen to ignorant music” or “I don’t listen to conscious music” and people be trying to think too hard as it’s just music. The reality of it is we have different moods for different vibes and all of hip-hop needs each other in order to convey the messages it needs to convey – like in order for it to be hip-hop, there’s all of that. People forget there was a time when Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill and Goodie Mob, Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye West – where they were at the top of the top of the rappers. And then there was also a time when fucking Juvenile and Too $hort and Three 6 Mafia were at the top of the top of what was going on. It’s just different vibes. Yes, I listen to Glorilla on the way to the club and yeah, I listen to Kendrick Lamar and ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ when I’m in the vibe to listen and receive that music, not when I’m ‘rah rah’ or turnt up right now [laughs].

When I want to feel confident, yes, I’m putting Glorilla on but when I’m feeling introspective, it’s going to be J. Cole, Kendrick, J.I.D. – give me the stuff that’s chill, that I want to think to. We are different all the time. We have so many different roles as people and I question people who listen to one thing all the time, their whole life, whatever mood they are in. Like imagine being sad and throwing on… nah, let me stop [laughs]. But imagine being sad and throwing on Sexyy Red, like let me cry to this real quick. Like no, that’s not what I’m trying to do right now [laughs].

What inspired the title ‘The Drive Home’? And what influenced you to release a new EP and project that symbolizes the journey to self acceptance?

So I can’t even take credit for the name ‘The Drive Home’. My friend Nov, who is a producer and a really good friend of mine, deserves the credit as he’s like a big brother to me and he had been doing music for way longer than I had when I first got the concept to even make an EP. My music reflects what’s going on in my life and at the time the topic was “identity” and learning to accept myself and the place where I was at in life, and trying to find peace within myself and who I was in every situation and in every room, and Nov was like, “Why don’t you call it The Drive Home?”.

And I remember being in those sessions, we would talk for like an hour before we even started the session, which shows how great of a producer he is because he really tries to understand where you’re at in the moment and create music based off of that feeling. They were basically therapy sessions before we even touched the computer. I remember crying in the studio while I was talking about some of the stuff I was going through and how I was feeling, and ‘The Drive Home’ ended up being a reminder that “home” means peace and self-acceptance and feeling comfortable, and ‘the drive’ is just the journey to get there. At the time, I was still in the thick of that journey and ‘The Drive Home’ made me realize that I’m always going to be on that journey.

We always think there’s the ‘other side’ or that I’ll be able to move forward once I’m healed, and I don’t really think that’s a realistic destination as you’re always kind of on this journey to becoming a better person and being more accepting of yourself and not giving a fuck. It takes a while to get there and that’s really where the concept came from. It was Nov’s idea and as time and years went on, the meaning of it changed, and it ended up being what it was. I think it’s perfect that it took three years to mold the idea of it but I’m really proud of it and happy with how it ended up.

One of the more interesting qualities about your energy and artistry is your attention to detail when it comes to writing. When did you first become interested in how cadences and literary devices are used in hip hop and other genres of music?

Oooh… I feel like that’s way earlier than when I started making music. A really well-written song has always piqued my interest in music and being raised on old school hip-hop, it’s very playful and with cadences and rhyme schemes, you kind of realize that everybody has their own style with how they do that. Biggie and Tupac were both great but their music sounded so differently, like with what they talked about and how they expressed the feelings they were trying to get off.

My mom is also an English teacher so I got into poetry before I got into music. I remember my mom would teach a lesson in her class every year that was about Brave New Voices, which is basically a reality show about inner city kids that would do these workshops and spend a whole semester or a whole year or whatever working on a slam poetry piece. They would perform them in these tournaments and these end-of-the-year shows, and I remember being so blown away by the poetry, the messages behind them, and the cadence because poetry comes with cadence. I think poetry as a whole and just getting into poetry first taught me rhythm better than when I first started music and songs because punchlines have to fall a certain way. Like if you’re performing in front of a crowd and you have a punchline or a bar and you don’t give it the space to be a bar or you don’t set it up the right way, people aren’t going to get it. Like your cadence matters.

It’s like a puzzle – how do you get out what you’re trying to say but make it sound cool as shit by using literary devices and trying to figure out how many different clever ways can I say the same thing and have it fit the rhyme scheme that I’m going with. There’s a lot of people that do that so well. Like I was really interested in breaking down Lupe Fiasco’s rhyme schemes when I was in high school and college as he’s one of my favourite artists. If we’re talking about more modern names, there’s also J.I.D – people recognize J.I.D but they don’t give him enough credit for how he’s able to fit certain things in and still make it swaggy with a cadence that’s very percussion-y. He’s really dope and he talks about shit too, which is always a plus. Like when you can have a really dope delivery, a really dope rhyme scheme, and you can also be cool and not too far left like what is this person talking about, and on top of that be saying something that can resonate with people and isn’t just about nothing – that’s talented to me. A really well-written song or a well-conveyed song will pique my interest over melodies and production nine out of ten times”.

If you are new to the brilliance of Samara Cyn then make sure you check her out. I hope to see her live one day, as I can imagine she is a wonderful and powerful performer that gives one hell of a show! This year is going to be a busy one for her. If she is known to some and not all at the moment, then that will…

CHANGE soon enough.

____________

Follow Samara Cyn

FEATURE: New Confessions on a Dance Floor: Madonna in 2025

FEATURE:

 

 

New Confessions on a Dance Floor

PHOTO CREDIT: Madonna

 

Madonna in 2025

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THERE are certain artists…

PHOTO CREDIT: Madonna

that I constantly think about and wonder what is coming. Even though The Beatles are obviously not active, there is always thew possibility that something wonderful from the archives will come. A reissue of one of their classic albums. It is exciting as you know this year is going to bring at least one really cool project. Whether that is a book, documentary or album reissue, fans are never disappointed or left short! Madonna is obviously still recording and touring. Last year was one where she ended her incredible Celebration Tour. One that began in October 2023, it ended in May last year at Copacabana Beach at Rio de Janeiro. It was a record-setting gig where people flocked to see the Queen of Pop show that she is still peerless! At sixty-six, Madonna still is one of the most compelling and relevant artists in the world. I love how she speaks out on issues that are important. Rather than worrying about commercial repercussions or dividing her fans, Madonna says what needs to be said. At the moment, the state of the world. The U.S. particularly. How her country is in a bad place and run by a President whose motives are evil, selfish and very much not good for the people. Madonna also spoke out against the genocide in Palestine. Although she does say some controversial things and is not always right, Madonna is an artist that speaks truth and uses her voice for good. I do hope that there is something happening regarding new music. Recently, Madonna teased that new material is coming. Recording again with Stuart Price (the two collaborated on 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor), it follows 2019’s Madame X. That album was slightly darker than previous or earlier work. I think a new Madonna album might fit into the currently Pop landscape. Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter and Dua Lipa. Like 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor, will Disco and Dance be at its heart? I am looking forward to seeing what comes.

I don’t think Madonna will be touring again soon. Very much focused on a new album. I sort of hope that there are not too many collaborators. An album where Madonna is more at the front. I find some of her more recent albums have relied too much on collaborations. It would be nice if there was one or two collaborations, but the remaining tracks were her alone. It would mean we’d get something purer and more personal. What form her fifteenth studio album will take I am not too sure. There are a couple of big album anniversaries coming later in the year. On 18th September, Music turns twenty-five. On 9th November, Music on a Dance Floor turns twenty. I do hope that something special happens for those anniversaries. More than anything, I hope that 2025 sees movement regarding a long-awaited biopic. There have been attempts. Before Madonna toured, we did think that a film would appear. Julia Garner was cast as Madonna. I think Diablo Cody was co-writing with Madonna but that didn’t actually come to pass. I know Madonna wants to direct a biopic, though I think her acting as a producer and someone else directing might be better. I am not certain if Julia Garner would return or another actor is playing her. So many possibilities. In terms of the time period and plot. I think the aborted recent attempt was focusing on years like 1985 and 1986. Julia Garner looking like Madonna during her True Blue (1986) period. I would love to see the story of Madonna turning up in New York and her getting noticed. Her path to her debut album in 1983. It would be fascinating to see that period brought to the big screen. Maybe Madonna co-writing the script. Perhaps a biopic that goes from the early-1980s through to the end of that decade. Now that she is not touring and is working on new material, there must be part of her that wants to reignite a biopic.

The music biopic is that risky thing. So many pitfalls compared to any other type of film. More attentions paid to the actor playing the artist, whether the story told is truthful and real or it whitewashes a lot of the more controversial aspects. In recent years, the likes of Amy Winehouse and Bob Marley have been brought to life in new films. In those cases, reviews were mixed. I can’t remember the last time we saw a music biopic that did not divide people. Objectively that could happen with any biopic though, for someone like Madonna, if you get the balance right then it could be a success. Making sure it is real and raw. That it is honest and does have a blend of the uplifting and not so. That the version of events is correct and the actor playing Madonna at least sounds like her. Maybe not singing her vocals, getting the look right is important. Maybe Madonna is too subjective to direct a biopic that is objective and balanced. I do think it is possible to produce a Madonna biopic that ticks all the boxes. If not a biopic then a film where her music is the soundtrack. A story around her music and life. Scenes unfolding to the iconic music of Madonna. It would be wonderful to finally see her brought to the big screen. She has appeared in other films through depiction but nothing where she is the subject. Aside from that, we hope that Madonna continues to record and engage with fans. So inspiring and always unvarnished, she is an artist who is as important, inspiring and relevant as ever. A generation of new Pop artist following Madonna. Last year, the Becoming Madonna documentary was released. Whilst not perfect, it did give us a glimpse into Madonna in those earliest years. I hope we get a documentary around the Celebration Tour. New music might arrive before the end of the year. A new chapter for the Queen of Pop. Madonna turns sixty-seven in August. I am excited to see what comes next. This Pop genius still burning bright over four decades…

SINCE her debut album was released.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: BRIT Awards 2025 Nominees

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Nia Archive

 

BRIT Awards 2025 Nominees

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TAKING place…

IN THIS PHOTO: Confidence Man

on Saturday, 1st March at London’s O2 Arena, I have compiled a playlist of BRIT Awards nominees ahead of the ceremony. You can see the nominees here. I have written about it before but, when this year’s nominees were announced, there were those highlighting how more men are nominated than women. Maybe it is going backwards. However, we can see that there are some brilliant women nominated. I do hope that next year’s BRIT Awards redresses its gender imbalance. I will come to a mixtape of BRIT nominees. First, I am once more quoting The Guardian and their reaction to this year’s nominees:

“Charli xcx leads this year’s Brit awards with five nominations for her 2024-dominating record Brat – the Guardian’s album of last year. With four nominations apiece, Dua Lipa, the Last Dinner Party, Ezra Collective and Myles Smith are close on the pop star’s trail.

xcx is nominated for album, artist and song of the year – the latter for the remix of Guess featuring Billie Eilish – and in the dance and pop genre categories.

But despite xcx painting the British music industry’s annual party a violent shade of lime green, women remain underrepresented in this year’s nominations, accounting for 34.7% of the 98 slots. Male acts comprise more than half, at 53%, with mixed-gender acts and collaborations – including the Last Dinner Party – making up the remaining 12.3%.

It’s a noteworthy year for some vintage groups: the Beatles’ AI-abetted Now and Then is up for best song, the group’s first nomination since the very first Brit awards in 1977. (Prior to becoming an annual fixture in 1983, the first Brits marked Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee and 100 years since the invention of the phonograph, and honoured the preceding 25 years in music, seeing the Beatles earn three nominations.) And with three nominations for Songs of a Lost World – their first album since 2008 – the Cure score their first Brit nominations in more than 30 years in the categories for album of the year, group of the year and alt/rock act.

At the newer end of the scale, Stargazing singer Smith is this year’s Rising Star winner, tipped by the industry for major success, and is also nominated for new artist, song and pop act.

The genre categories are assembled by the Brits voting academy and then voted for by members of the public via WhatsApp. Predictably, the category for hip-hop/grime/rap act features just one woman, Little Simz, alongside Central Cee, Dave, Ghetts and Stormzy.

London jazz act Ezra Collective may also be set for a breakthrough year. The five-piece released their third album, Dance, No One’s Watching, in September, after winning the 2023 Mercury prize for their second album. “From a youth club to the Brit awards and beyond,” they said in a statement.

Some may raise eyebrows at a group active since 2016 being up for new artist – alongside last year’s Mercury winners English Teacher, the Last Dinner Party, Myles Smith and former Brit School student Rachel Chinouriri – but the category parameters stipulate that acts must have had one Top 40 album or single in the eligibility period, but can’t have had a Top 10 album or more than one Top 10 single, nor have had prior nominations for best artist, group or album”.

To mark the upcoming (1st March) BRIT Awards ceremony, I wanted to compile and combine songs from the albums and artists nominated. It is an eclectic and strong field this year. We shall see who will walk away with the awards this year. I think that Charli xcx is going to be the big winner and will probably win three awards. I am eager to see which artists…

ARE honoured at this year’s ceremony.

FEATURE: Kings and Queens of the Mountain: Saluting the Kate Bush Experts

FEATURE:

 

 

Kings and Queens of the Mountain

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993

 

Saluting the Kate Bush Experts

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THIS is a big Kate Bush feature…

in terms of its significance. This is the 950th I will publish. I will be shared in March. I am writing this at the start of February. As I type, there has been no update on whether we will get a new Kate Bush album this year. I reckon any possible announcement will happen in the spring or summer. Maybe an album release nearer the end of this year. However, we cannot tell exactly when an album will drop. I am exciting to see what comes this year. Bush will no doubt update fans on what is happening. There are going to be events and anniversaries through the year. For this feature, I want to spend some time saluting the experts. Those who know Kate Bush’s work better than me. I know I have said in the past how I have published more features about her than any other journalist. This is probably true. In the pre-Internet age, there was not the opportunity or desire to write multiple Kate Bush features. Journalists published interviews and features when there was a call for it. There have been some great blogs dedicated to Kate Bush. I am not sure whether any are active now. However, I owe a real debt to the likes of Dreams of Orgonon. In terms of song analysis and giving depth to Kate Bush’s tracks, this website is essential. The way that the songs are deconstructed and analysed is really fascinating. So many interesting perspectives. I am not sure whether I have written more words about Kate Bush than anyone who has ever lived (it is over a million but I have lost count!). There are a couple of contenders. In terms of people who are experts and will always know more than me, one name that springs to mind is Gaffaweb. An invaluable resource for journalists like me and those who have written books about Kate Bush, this is meant to be the ultimate resource about our favourite artist:

“Kate Bush -- singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, actress, and director -- has inspired a devoted following around the world, and in August 1985, Doug Alan created an online discussion group about Kate. At first taking the form of a mailing list called Love-Hounds, it soon grew into a usenet newsgroup called rec.music.gaffa. The name was chosen over "rec.music.katebush" to indicate that discussion would not be limited to Kate Bush alone. Other artists discussed in Love-Hounds / rec.music.gaffa include those who have been involved in Kate's work in some way, such as Peter Gabriel and Roy Harper, as well as those who have been influenced by her or likened to her, such as Tori Amos and Happy Rhodes. Together, the mailing list and the newsgroup form an informal fan club known as "Love-Hounds." More information on all of this is available in the FAQ.

>

There are already a number of sites on the World Wide Web devoted to Kate. Some of these have been incorporated into Gaffaweb itself, and Gaffaweb will ultimately include links to all other Kate Bush sites on the Web. In addition, there are selections from the best of the Love-Hounds archives, a comprehensive FAQ, a vast selection of images, and much original material specially created for Gaffaweb.

Note: Like every other site on the Web, new things are continually being added to Gaffaweb. Still to come are a set of "song story" pages which will offer in-depth discussion and analysis of each of Kate's songs, a fully searchable database of all Kate Bush lyrics, the truly delightful Cloudbusting: Kate Bush In Her Own Words collection, a searchable archive of over a decade's worth of discussion and debate in Love-Hounds, and more. Check back often for new developments.

Gaffaweb is intended as a source of information and entertainment for the devoted fan and the curious newcomer alike. If you're already a fan, you've definitely come to the right place. And if you're not yet familiar with the work of Kate Bush, we hope this is an introduction you'll enjoy”.

There are a wealth of images, interviews, links and other bits of Kate Bush information. I have not counted the number of words published by Gaffaweb, though the interview archives are pretty extensive, so I would imagine that they have outstripped me so far. Although it is an archived website, I believe there are plans to update it. To add interviews with Kate Bush from 2011. For many in the Kate Bush world, Gaffaweb is the ultimate source. The GOAT. I use them all the time and owe a debt of thanks to them!

For anyone who wants to discover more about Kate Bush, Gaffweb is where you should start. It is exhaustive and I hope there are plans to add more information to it. The Kate Bush Encyclopedia is exactly what it says it is. This site that has this broad range of Kate Bush information. Ordered alphabetically, you can find songs, albums, people and places associated with Kate Bush. In terms of resources, this is a perfect companion to Gaffaweb. I don’t know how many words have been published, but again, it is a massive amount. Perhaps not as many as Gaffaweb, one has to give thanks to the dedication and passion of the Kate Bush Encyclopedia. Before coming to a couple of books that I think is the most passionate display of Kate Bush love, I want to mention a few other special people. I have written about these books before but, as it is the 950th Kate Bush feature, I want to return to them. Graeme Thomson’s Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush is one that every Kate Bush fan should own. In terms of books about her, this is perhaps the go-to. I love all the other biographies about Kate Bush, though Thomson’s is the one I have read the most. Someone who knows Kate Bush’s music and career better than most, you need to buy this book. Another great Kate Bush biography is Tom Doyle’s Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush. Here is some more information:

“Featuring details from the author's one-to-one conversations with Kate, as well as vignettes of her key songs, albums, videos and concerts, this artful, candid and often brutally funny portrait introduces the reader to the refreshingly real Kate Bush.

Along the way, the narrative also includes vivid reconstructions of transformative moments in her career and insights from the friends and collaborators closest to Kate, including her photographer brother John Carder Bush and fellow artists David Gilmour, John Lydon and Youth”.

I have been thinking about the possibility of other Kate Bush books. There is definite scope and potential. If you think about a band like The Beatles, there are plenty of books written about them. A tome such as The Beatles: All These Years – Volume 1 – Tune In by the world’s leading expert on The Beatles, Mark Lewishon. That first volume is 1728 pages (The Extended Special Edition at least), and there will be two more volumes. Nobody will ever surpass him in terms of depth and detail. There are also two books about Paul McCartney. The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969 – 73 and The McCartney Legacy: Volume 2: 1974 – 80. In terms of the Kate Bush universe, there is not anything quite like Mark Lewishon’s book. I think there would be potential for something similar to it. Maybe it could not be quite as deep and long, yet there is so much to say about Kate Bush. It would not have to rehash what has already been written. I would love to see a huge book that charts Kate Bush’s life from childhood through to now. Maybe someone is working on a book like this at the moment! When thinking about the two-volume Paul McCartney examination, there is HomeGround. In terms of the most words printed about Kate Bush, these books must be at the top! I would consider these two books to be the most amount of passion and love you can have for one artist. The books are edited by Krystyna Fitzgerald-Morris, Peter Fitzgerald-Morris and Dave Cross. Here is some information about HomeGround. It was originally a fanzine. The books collate all the letters, writings and images that were published through its run:

“Homeground is the longest running Kate Bush fanzine, which started in 1982. The final printed issue, number 79, was published in 2011. It is run by Krystyna Fitzgerald-Morris, Peter Fitzgerald-Morris and Dave Cross from the UK.

The idea for the fanzine was conceived in Dave Cross’s flat on 18 May 1982. 25 copies were run off an office photocopier. Through the years, the fanzine was produced with ever more professionality. In fact, it got the support of Kate and the people around her. Fans contributed stories, artwork and poetry, while the editors followed every detail about Kate in the press worldwide, even during quieter times.

In 2014, two big books summarizing the impressive output of the fanzine were released by Crescent Moon Publishing. They were called HomeGround Anthology volumes 1 and 2. It is a detailed look at Kate’s career through the eyes of fans around the world, along with the aforementioned artwork, poetry and prose from fans.

Since then, two digital publications have been released: Homeground 80 was devoted to the 40th anniversary of the fanzine (Summer 2022), and in January 2024 a special memorial issue after Del Palmer passed away”.

You can get Anthology One here. If you want to know what sort of thing is in this first volume, then there is some background here. It is a book that should be part of every Kate Bush fan’s collection. One that I own and have referenced many times now:

“First book in a two volume set, bringing together articles and insights from the UK fanzine Homeground. Edited by Krystyna Fitzgerald-Morris, Peter Fitzgerald-Morris and Dave Cross. Published by Crescent Moon Publishing on 25 March 2014.

The first book covers Kate Bush’s career from Wuthering Heights to The Sensual World (from the late 1970s to the late 1980s). It is a book about the reaction to her work and how her unique music has touched the lives of so many people.

The book includes an enormous amount of information about Kate Bush, accounts of every release, album, single, pop promo and appearance, as well as memories and accounts of music fandom (such as conventions, meetings, hikes, stage door encounters and video parties). It also includes material on many other pop acts and events. It features poetry, stories, letters, reviews, interviews, memoirs, cartoons, drawings, paintings and photographs. Years before the internet, HomeGround became a place where fans could discuss Bush’s music, and a place where they could publish creative writing and artwork that music inspired”.

Homeground: The Kate Bush Magazine: Anthology Two: 'The Red Shoes' to '50 Words for Snow' can be purchased here. I would like to think that we could see a Kate Bush fanzine or fan club spring back up. Her fanbase is larger than it has ever been. If there is another album coming, then there is fresh impetus and motivation. When it comes to words and information printed about Kate Bush, perhaps HomeGround steals it. In terms of the best website for all things Kate Bush, that would be Kate Bush News. Run by Seán Twomey and his team (including the folks from HomeGround), this is a website that gives us all the latest Kate Bush news. There is this incredible archive. Also, the Kate Bush Fan Podcast. Run by Twomey (and the website has been running since January 1998), one cannot find a bigger Kate Bush fan than him. I wanted to recognise the people who are so valuable. People who I rely on for my features and Kate Bush news. As I publish this and look towards the 1,000th Kate Bush feature, real credit and salutes should be given to the experts. From the HomeGround volumes to Kate Bush News, through to Gaffaweb and books about Kate Bush, I do think there should be some get-together or collaboration. Whether it is a special fan convention or a podcast, getting the Kate Bush experts in the same space would be wonderful! I haven’t even mention Laura Shenton and Leah Kardos and the books they have written about Kate Bush (the former wrote about The Kick Inside and The Dreaming; the latter Hounds of Love). Considering all the time and effort they have put in regarding all things Kate Bush, one is helpless but to…

BOW down to them.

FEATURE: Rose Darling: Steely Dan’s Katy Lied at Fifty

FEATURE:

 

 

Rose Darling

 

Steely Dan’s Katy Lied at Fifty

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THIS is an interesting anniversary…

IN THIS PHOTO: Walter Becker (right) and Donald Fagen photographed on 23rd November, 1975 in Los Angeles, California

to mark, as I am looking back at the original release of Steely Dan’s Katy Lied. Their fourth studio album was released on 1st March, 1975. I wanted to mark its fiftieth anniversary. Even though the 1975 album is extraordinary and features some of Steely Dan’s best songs, there are issues with the sound and mix. Not sounding as even, clean or polished as other albums from them. I shall come to that. A reissued version of the album is available now. You can read more about it here. It is an ultra-high quality version of the album that addresses some of the issues with the original. I hope that it gets more people listening to the album. Even if Walter Becker and Donald Fagen felt that it was one of their least favourite releases, I would suggest that it is not the group’s worst album. With ten tracks that are perfectly sequenced, Katy Lied is this overlooked masterpiece. It was the first album Steely Dan made after they stopped touring, as well as their first to feature backing vocals by Michael McDonald. I want to get to some features and reviews for Katy Lied. The first piece is from Backseat Mafia:

“The general consensus seems to be that Katy Lied is Becker and Fagen’s least favourite Steely Dan album, because it didn’t match their levels of studio perfectionism that they had achieved on their other albums. As it turns out that is exactly the reason that it is my favourite Steely Dan album. I’m a rock fan you see and I’m one of those rock fans that appreciates the feeling of how something is played rather than how well it is played. This is a slightly scruffier and more natural sounding Steely Dan album than the rest, it sounds organic rather than meticulously structured, and as such it seems a little more fallible. A little more human if you like.

Probably the reason that Becker and Fagen are so harsh on Katy Lied is that this was the first time that they had recorded a whole album with a significant amount of support from some of the top session musicians that the 70s had to offer, and so they were probably expecting the most note-perfect and slick Steely Dan album to date. Quite why this wasn’t achieved is anyone’s guess, but I’m glad they didn’t. The songs on Katy Lied are among my personal favourite Steely Dan numbers, particularly “Doctor Wu” and “Any World (That I’m Welcome To)”. I also have a thing for “Bad Sneekers”, though quite why I have never really figured out.

At this point in their career Becker and Fagen were kings of smart-arse smug-bastard songwriting, with only 10cc able to match them when it came smart arrangements and Randy Newman was their only peer when it came intelligent and concise lyrics. Becker and Fagen’s faith in themselves should have been at an all time high, especially as they had abandoned touring and were concentrating all their efforts in the studio, but the comparatively rough-around-the-edges sound of this Steely Dan album just wasn’t what they were looking for, they wanted perfection and from now on nothing short of that would be good enough”.

When people think about Katy Lied, they often talk about the sound quality and its shortcomings – rather than the brilliant songwriting. Denny Dias, who played guitar on the album, wrote about some of the horrors that he witnessed when Katy Lied was being made and mixed. Something that has been addressed with the new vinyl reissue of a classic from 1975:

“Guitarist Denny Dias, writing for an early Steely Dan website, recounted the details of the dread incident, which may or may not have involved a mysterious mist straight out of John Carpenter’s The Fog. “Something happened during the remix of ‘Doctor Wu’ that scared the hell out of us,” Dias recollects in the essay, reproduced here with the author’s permission. It’s the kind of spooky story that will make any audiophile wonder whether ghosts hang around recording studios too.

Happy Halloween!

Katy and the Gremlin

By Denny Dias

She is lovely yes she’s sly, but we were ordinary guys. I still have a 30ips safety (copy made from the master tape) of Katy Lied that Roger Nichols signed in blood! Yes, Katy was a bug. She got to all of us. I remember trying to master the record by myself because no one else wanted to work on it any more. But I’m getting way ahead of myself.

In 1975 we had great expectations and lots of enthusiasm. We had excellent musicians ready to perform in a state-of-the-art recording studio. We had our radical super hi-fi monitor system that consisted of electromagnetic flat panel Magneplanar speakers with three amplifiers and two subwoofers and active crossover tuned to the room with a real-time analyzer. They sounded great. The songs were great. The musicians were grateful. What could go wrong? Well, things happened. Some could be attributed to human error. Others could be blamed on mechanical failure. The rest will never be explained.

Anyone who watches old science fiction movies knows that strange things start to happen when you encounter a mysterious mist. I am thinking of the day that the steam generator went berserk. It was supposed to keep the air in the studio at a perfect 50 percent humidity, but on this day it felt more like Biscayne Bay. The air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The glass was foggy. Everything was damp, including the sound. The drums actually sounded like they were soaking wet even though they had been recorded on a normal day. It was almost funny except that we couldn’t work that day. We all went home, and the steam generator was soon fitted with a new control unit. The studio was given a clean bill of health, but I can’t help thinking that there was some unseen oxidation that caused the studio and even the tapes themselves to fester.

The actual recording went fairly well for the most part. There was, of course, the tambourine fiasco when Roger accidentally erased part of Victor Feldman’s track on “Rose Darling” (Roger had never done anything silly like that before or since), but the worse mistake didn’t become apparent until much later when it was time to transfer the record to vinyl.

Mixing was an absolute nightmare. Every song was mixed at least twice, and not because we were being fussy. In fact, we had mixed the entire record before we realized that there was a problem. We were using the new dbx noise reduction system, which was supposed to give us a better signal-to-noise ratio than Dolby, and for some reason the dbx units could no longer decode the mixes on tape. They sounded dull and lifeless, and no one could explain why. After all, all of the equipment had been properly aligned for each session. This was especially puzzling since each mix was played back immediately upon completion. How could the sound deteriorate so quickly? Even if there had been some awful mistake, it couldn’t have happened the same way twice and certainly not more than twice.

Several of us formed a contingent to storm dbx headquarters. We packed up the tapes and the dbx units, and Gary and Roger (and one or two others) boarded a plane to the East Coast. They confronted dbx and discovered that no one could fix it or explain it. The people at dbx built us a special pair of units with adjusting knobs that could alter the settings that are normally sealed inside at the factory. This too was a miserable failure. Could the tapes have been exposed to gamma rays? Why didn’t any one else using that studio have a problem? And why only the two-track mixes? The two-inch 24-track masters were still sounding good, so we decided to remix the entire record using Dolby.

I just dusted off my copy of the first mixes and gave them another listen. They still sound quite dull as expected, but I wanted to see if there was anything lost in the remix. Let me assure you that the new mixes are better in every case. I’ve heard some people describe the mixing process as a “thankless task,” but I think it’s more like a performance. It’s done with feeling, and depending on the mood of the day the result can vary quite a bit. Here are just a few differences that can be described with words:

• We were so impressed with the performance of Phil Woods on “Doctor Wu” that when it came time to fade out at the end of the song we couldn’t fade Phil. In the first mix, everything fades out except the saxophone!

• On “Daddy Don’t Live in That New York City No More,” there is no special effect on the lead vocal. For the remix Roger implemented a manual phasing technique that required him to stand near a tape machine and slowly turn a dial by hand.

• On “Bad Sneakers” there is a drum bash that happens at least a half dozen times during the guitar solo. In the first mix it sounds kind of ordinary, but in the final mix Roger found a compressor that he could set to make it sound really special.

Something happened during the remix of “Doctor Wu” that scared the hell out of us. I mentioned that we were impressed with the performance of Phil Woods, so you can imagine how we felt when his saxophone suddenly sounded dull and lifeless! This required immediate investigation. The 24-track master was encoded with dbx so there was big tension while Roger did some troubleshooting. When he cleaned the heads on the tape machine the sound cleared up for a while. Then it got dull again. It seems that the tape head developed an irregularity on track 17 and was scraping bits of oxide off the tape! We decided to keep working on the mix, but we would avoid playing any part of the tape containing that saxophone. When everything else was ready, Roger cleaned the head once more, and we recorded the mix on two-track tape.

Then it came time to make master disks. Records that are re-released with the indication “direct from the master tape” are generally disappointing because here is the last chance for the people who made the record to correct any mistakes made during mixing. A little adjusting here and there can really make a record sparkle. “Katy Lied” needed more than a little adjustment. I remember the first time we brought it to Allen Zentz’s mastering facility, it became obvious that there were things on the tape that couldn’t be transferred to vinyl. Roger said, “I’m getting out of here,” and left before we knew what the problem was. Apparently, his use of condenser microphones in close proximity to the cymbals required too much acceleration for the needle to track.

The mastering process now became a desperate attempt to produce a vinyl disk that could be played on an average phonograph. We moved to Kendun Recorders, where they had more processing equipment. The speakers there were foreign to us, and all we could do was look at each other and shrug. The engineer suggested some compression, we shrugged and when we brought the disk to a more familiar setting it was awful. As I said, the job was left to me because no one else wanted to work on it any more. I brought my own speakers to Kendun and, after a week of disappointing attempts, Walter stepped in to produce the final release version. It was still disappointing, but it sounded better on more sound systems, so it was the better choice.

At this point it might be a good idea to read the back cover of the original record. There are some comments about bandwidth and transient response that should have new meaning now. However, the music is still on the tape, and the tape is well preserved. The sound of the digital CD version on Citizen is better than any vinyl by far. It’s interesting that after all these years there is finally a released version that sounds good”.

I am going to end with a review from Pitchfork that was published in 2019. Without a weak moment and some deeper cuts that Dan fans should check out – including Rose Darling, Daddy Don’t Live in That New York City No More and Your Gold Teeth II -, this is an album that still sounds stunning. It turns fifty on 1st March so I wanted to shine a light on it:

“It captures Steely Dan in the thick of it all, still hungry and energized by their early burst of creativity but not taking anything for granted. Before Katy Lied, Steely Dan were a rock band, but this is the record where they became something else.

In 1974, following the shows to support their third album Pretzel Logic, Fagen and Becker decided that they didn’t enjoy touring, didn’t make much money from it, and would prefer to focus on making records. It was like the Beatles after Revolver, except that Steely Dan weren’t especially huge and their lives weren’t especially crazy. More than anything, the shift was an outgrowth of their studio obsession. With no upcoming gigs, they no longer needed a steady band, and Steely Dan became officially what it already kinda was—Becker and Fagen and whatever musicians they deemed good enough to complete their vision.

Katy Lied lives at the midpoint of Steely Dan’s first act. Behind them were three records that were incrementally more sophisticated and less rock-centered. After this one were three increasingly finicky and obsessive albums that would find them reaching for a kind of perfection, albums that found them chronicling the decadence around them from the inside. Where they once wrote about the delightfully sleazy underbelly of life in America from a remove, they started to write more about what they saw around them. Katy Lied is the fulcrum in this progression—it’s messier, less sure of itself, besotted neither with youthful confidence nor veteran polish.

After the departure of Jeff “Skunk” Baxter following the dissolution of their touring unit, guitars moved a half-step into the background. These are songs for piano, jazzier and lighter, and the keyboards are higher in the mix. Listening to it brings to mind nearly-empty cocktail bars after the people with something to live for have all gone home and cabaret shows in seedy theaters. Fagen sings with gusto but if it’s possible for sweat to make a sound, then you could say he sounds a little sweaty. Almost all the drums were played precocious by a 20-year-old genius named Jeff Porcaro, who would become one of the world’s most in-demand session players, and there are many distinctive background vocals from Michael McDonald, who would become one of yacht rock’s most in-demand session singers.

The songs Becker and Fagen came up with are the usual mix of the funny, cynical, and cryptic, but here and there are moments of what seems to be actual sweetness. The brilliance of their songwriting is that they always aimed for complexity and never allowed themselves to be pinned down. Everything was up for negotiation, even when the lyrics were studded with clear meaning. “Black Friday” is a brilliant depiction of chaos, describing what it would be like to make your way out of town and cash your checks when the apocalypse hits. Fagen makes evil sound appealing, suggesting that it might be the only sane response to living in an insane world, but listen with the other ear and you hear the satire and even a kind of yearning from someone who might actually wish for a better world. Meanwhile, Becker plays the best guitar solo on the album, capturing the ragged edge of the moment.

Steely Dan made songs about the destructive force of male vanity that came from two people you knew were speaking from personal experience. They never hold themselves above their characters, but they don’t let them off the hook, either. On “Bad Sneakers,” we see a man bopping around the street near Radio City Music Hall like he owns the place. We feel what he feels but also see how ridiculous he looks, while McDonald’s background vocals suggest grace in his awkwardness, celebrating the energy that powers him even though his actions are laughable. “Rose Darling” is the third track in a row to mention money specifically, but on a more casual listen it sounds something like a pure love song. And then two cuts later, the A-side closes with “Dr. Wu.”

Lodged in the middle of the album that came in the middle of the decade and in the middle of Steely Dan’s decade-long, seven-album run is one of their very best songs, a weary and funny and specific and mysterious ode to longing and loss. “Dr. Wu” gave the album its title (“Katie lies/You can see it in her eyes”) and crystalizes its essential mood. One moment it’s about drugs, the next it’s about a love triangle, and then you’re not sure what’s next or even what’s real, and weaving through it all is the saxophone solo from Phil Woods, connecting dots between musical worlds both corny and elegant, from Billy Joel to Billy Strayhorn.

The characters flailing clumsily throughout Katy Lied are paralyzed by desires they aren’t introspective enough to understand, so all they can do is keep stumbling forward. “I got this thing inside me,” Fagen sings in a bridge on the late album highlight “Any World (That I’m Welcome To)”, “I only know I must obey/This feeling I can't explain away.” Sometimes obeying those desires lead people to something ugly and inexcusable, as on “Everyone’s Gone to the Movies,” a song about a guy who is almost certainly grooming kids for abuse. It’s a Todd Solondz film rendered in sound, and Fagen only shows us the lead-up, forcing us to assemble the pieces in our heads as he hides the crime behind the album’s cheeriest arrangement.

This collision between word and sound—in which the precise moral takeaway and is obscured even as the music makes it go down easy—made the band hard to trust. “The words, while frequently not easy to get the definite drift of, are almost always intriguing and often witty,” John Mendelsohn wrote in a review of Katy Lied in Rolling Stone. But a few paragraphs later he concluded: “Steely Dan’s music continues to strike me essentially as exemplarily well-crafted and uncommonly intelligent schlock.”

It sounds harsh but Mendelsohn captured how a lot of people think about Steely Dan, then and now. This band was always about asking questions instead of giving answers, and Katy Lied came out in a particular moment of uncertainty and confusion. The fact that Becker and Fagen themselves couldn’t bear to hear their own creation only deepens the mystery. They wanted desperately to render their tragically amusing scenes just so, and the sonic purity they’d been chasing would soon be theirs. But here they give failure a kind of twisted majesty”.

The incredible Katy Lied is fifty on 1st March. Steely Dan’s fourth studio album might not be viewed as highly as Pretzel Logic (1974) or Aja (1977), though it does deserve more love and attention than it has received through the years. In 2023, Far Out Magazine placed it third (out of nine studio albums). They said it is a “grand celebration of everything Steely Dan, even if it’s not the band in true innovation mode”. In 2022, Classic Rock ranked it in seventh. In 2015, Stereogum ranked Katy Lied fifth. This is what they noted: “The ways in which they seethed were rangy, often drenched in wit and charisma and disguised as paeans to self-reinvention and/or self-negation: the speculator in "Black Friday" who sees the next big imminent calamity as a good excuse to fuck around on some lost-weekend tomfoolery; the farewell to the presence of a career dirtbag booze-and-guns aficionado in "Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More"; the roamer of "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)" who, amidst his optimistic daydreaming, lets slip the despair of "the one I come from.” But now-what ambivalence isn't exactly a grand step up from cynicism, and the seediness is hard to shake, with the predatory con-job m.o.s of teen-luring skin-flick screeners ("Everyone's Gone to The Movies") and outsiders playing undercover for cryptic rewards -- drugs? women? live gigs? ("Throw Back The Little Ones") -- all calling the shots. As for fan-favorite "Doctor Wu," an existential gem about friendship in the face of relationship woes, Fagen eventually revealed that the song was really about a love triangle -- between a woman, a man, and heroin”. With a new version of Katy Lied out on vinyl, it is the perfect time to embrace and digest a Steely Dan work of brilliance. One that turns fifty on 1st March. I really hope that it endures and it is discussed…

THROUGH the generations.

FEATURE: Never Be Mine: Kate Bush and the Art of Not Listening to Other Artists

FEATURE:

 

 

Never Be Mine

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

 

Kate Bush and the Art of Not Listening to Other Artists

_________

THAT title may be misleading…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush on set of the Dr. Hook T.V. special on 20th March, 1980, where she performed Babooshka

however, when it comes to Kate Bush, less is more. That is the case when creating her own sound. I guess one of the most-asked questions of any artist is what their influences are. I guess it is a little reductive and cliche, though the media always needs to label and compare artists. How an artist got to sound like they are. I suppose it is curiosity at worst. At best, we can paint a wider and deeper picture of an artist. No artist is unique in the sense they have no influences or are complete originals. Every artist takes some form of guidance or inspiration from others. Maybe their reason to get into music in the first place. Kate Bush’s motivation for getting into music was not fame or success. It was not driven by another artist. She was not watching T.V. or listening to the radio and thought that she should take up music to be like that artist. Sure, Bush did listen to artists like Elton John and David Bowie and saw something in them that she wanted for her. Something about the way they wrote and dressed that resonated in her. That opened up something that she could not get from people around her. As a hugely creative and curious person, Bush was drawn to these more unusual figures. Music would allow her to explore her love of dance. To adopt different looks and characters. To transform her early poetry and songs intro something bigger and real. This might suggest that Bush was listening to a lot of different music and then taking bits from each to use on her albums. This might have been true for the first few albums. Taking influence from artists like Peter Gabriel and The Beatles. I think that was less apparent from The Dreaming onwards. I could not envisage Bush listening to out-there or less commercial albums and being motivated to write The Dreaming. The same with Hounds of Love. One might hear shades of other albums in her work, though I think Bush was more influenced and connected to people and her own imagination. Not wanting to be compared to anyone else.

I know Kate Bush was asked about her influence in various interviews. She has shared her own loves and musical favourites. However, one of the most interesting takeaways connected to this subject is when Bush is asked about the kind of music she listens to when writing. There is this interesting switch between Bush’s creative process earlier in her career and later. I think a lot of what she listened to as a child and teenager went into The Kick Inside and Lionheart (both released in 1978). Maybe not obviously running through the songs, no doubt there was a case of Bush listening to some of her favourite artists and them providing inspiration for songs and ideas. If the influences were less obvious or less conventional for Never for Ever (1980), The Dreaming (1982) or Hounds of Love (1985), Bush was still listening to quite a bit of music and getting ideas from it. I think her creative process was different mind. I know the Trio Bulgarka featured on The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993). Their music was in her mind when she was writing those albums. However, you can’t really hear too many obvious touchstones. Other artists’ impact making their way into Kate Bush’s albums. I do feel that she would have still listened to quite a bit of other music when creating those early.mid-career albums, to get the creative juices flowing. Things did sort of shift for her more recent album. I have heard interviews for Aerial (2005) and 50 Words for Snow (2011) when Kate Bush was asked what she was listening to. If she had bought any new albums. Though she did drop in Gorillaz and Elton John/Leon Russell – to show she was not out of touch and still kept up with current music -, this was more out of curiosity. These artists not necessarily influencing her.

IN THIS PHOTO: Björk in New York in October 2001

It is amazing how Bush is quite rare in the fact she does not listen to a lot of other artists’ music when writing her own. This gives the impression Bush does not buy albums and mainly leans on older artists. I suspect, if we saw her vinyl/C.D. collection today – I can’t see Bush having many Spotify playlists and downloading albums! -, there would be some contemporary stuff in there. It might seem like a minor point, yet I have always been interested by that question and response. Someone asking if Bush has bought any albums or listening to other albums. Her saying she hadn’t. I think about it a lot. What music Bush listens to and how often she allowed other artists’ sounds into her mind. I guess her songwriting is unique because she does not write why listening to other artists. I am intrigued whether any future Kate Bush albums might take a particular direction because she is connecting with modern artists. Even if a legion of artists – from Big Boi to St. Vincent to Björk – have spoken about Kate Bush and her impact on them, Bush has not really engaged or reached out to these artists. It is not strange for someone in their fifties or sixties to rely on older alums and not buy as much new music as they would when they were younger. I would like to think there is a Björk, Radiohead, Tricky or Big Boi album in her collection. I would love it if Björk’s Vespertine (2001) was there and had some impact on Aerial (2005) or 50 Words for Snow (2011). Some 1990s Radiohead nestling with other C.Ds. Maybe Bush taking bits of OK Computer (1997) or even a later work like Kid A (2000) and getting some inspiration from them. Bush does love Hip-Hop, so it would not be a shock of Tricky’s Maxinquaye (1995) or OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) was in her C.D. rack. These albums might be there for pleasure or occasional indulge.

However, there are signs to suggest that Bush is working on an eleventh studio album. No doubt, when interviews are conducted around that, she will be asked if she listens to much new music or has bought any albums. I can imagine Bush is invested in physical music now more than she was in 2011 or even 2005. This being Kate Bush, one cannot imagine any new albums directing her sound. Could we imagine Bush buying The Last Dinner Party’s debut album (Prelude to Ecstasy)? Was she one of the many who bought Charli xcx’s BRAT? It is unlikely that Bush will collaborate with any of these artists, though I do think she is more open to new music. Will this change the way she writes and how she sounds? I would not imagine so. Bush will continue to write from her own mind and imagination and not really let anyone else’s work direct even. It was a thought that hooked me. There is a lot of great new music. Artists inspired by Kate Bush. I wonder if any of this will see Bush parting ways with some cash and checking it out. Perhaps her creative process is at its best and purest when she is not listening to other artists and new albums. This point warrants greater discussion. It is still humbling how many artists emerging credit Kate Bush. Say that she has inspired them. Bush is no doubt aware of this. She is still this innovator and true original. Perhaps not someone who digests a lot of albums. That said, I have a hunch that Bush at least keeps her ear to the ground in case something of interest emerges! Bush not buying albums or name-checking other artists is not her being dismissive or not recognising others. When you think of Kate Bush’s writing and work, it is very much her own. Bush is at her very best when her…

MIND clear and her voice is her own.

FEATURE: The Home in Which I Live: The Transformation from Cathy to Kate Bush

FEATURE:

 

 

The Home in Which I Live

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

 

The Transformation from Cathy to Kate Bush

_________

WHEN writing about Kate Bush’s…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush standing outside of her family home at East Wickham Farm, Welling

early life and the first songs she composed, I have taken us inside the walls of East Wickham Farm. I have written a bit about her home recently as I have looked back at her debut album, The Kick Inside, and penned some features around that. Released on 17th February, 1978 when Kate Bush was nineteen, it has just turned forty-seven. It still sounds amazingly relevant, urgent and astonishing. Keeping on revealing layers and new gems. There is a certain amount of destiny and inevitability when we think about the crystallisation of Bush’s ambitions to be a songwriter. Her transformation and blossoming. Born Catherine Bush, that name was shortened to Cathy. Her brothers Paddy and John (Jay). I often wonder what it would be like having Catherine Bush or Cathy Bush recording music and releasing it under that name. We know her as Kate Bush. However, in the 1960s and early-1970s, she was still very much the girl she was born. Someone finding their way into music. Experimenting and honing her passion. The stability and influence of her home. Her mother Hannah and father Robert were married in Epsom during World War II. Born Hannah Daly, the farmer’s daughter from County Waterford, Ireland married her love in Surrey. They moved to the nearby Welling in Kent, where Catherine Bush and her family resided for many years. Catherine Bush was born in Bexleyheath on 30th July, 1958. Her father studied for a mathematics degree. As WWII broke out, his path changed and he eventually became a doctor. It is amazing to think about the struggles and warfare breaking out when Kate Bush’s parents married! Hannah was a nurse at Epsom Long Grove Hospital. That medical profession bond between her parents. I think this care for humans and compassion was evident at East Wickham Farm. A lot of the perspectives in Kate Bush writing enforced by her parents’ professions. Kate Bush considering going into psychology at one point when she was a girl (or maybe psychiatry).

I have recently published a feature looking inside Kate Bush’s childhood home and some of the music posters that would have been attached to her bedroom walls. I wanted to take a different approach here. I did not know that Dr. Robert Bush sold the publishing rights for one of his songs to buy an engagement ring for Hannah! It was after Kate Bush’s two brothers were born that the family located to Welling. Maybe needing somewhere bigger and more settled then where they started out, it was a perfect nest and haven for creativity for Kate Bush. Her earliest years surrounded by art and culture. Two parents who were working in medicine/hospitals and also loved music. Apart from her dad writing music and teaching her piano, her mother, a skilled folk dancer by all accounts, would also have given her daughter this impetus to explore dance and music. Welling was just far enough away from London but also close enough to intrigue and entice a girl who aspired to go beyond the walls of her family home. The seventeenth-century farmhouse the Bush family moved to offered sanctuary and inspiration. The outbuildings and a barn (as Rob Jovanovic writes in his Kate Bush biography, it was quite mouse-infested!). An outdoor swimming pool that replaced a pond. The beautiful and spacious garden would have given Catherine/Cathy/Kate Bush this combination of peace and influence. Able to relax but also find wonder in the flowers and shrubbery around her. I look at some of the photos from the Cathy book (her brother John’s photos of his sister from her earliest years) and can imagine what it was like being there! The kitchen was the heart of the home. Family and friends sat around the table debating for hours. When Catherine was born, she was protected by her parents, older brothers and her paternal grandfather (who resided there until the 1960s).

Even if Bush was raised in a Catholic household and went to a Catholic school, it did not really make much of an impact on her. The suffering rife. The fact that she was someone born of love and was attracted to kindness. A religion where a lot of violent imagery is taught, that would not have attracted her at all. Bush was in this comforting bosom. Music was all around her. No doubt moved and intrigued by her mother’s dancing and connection to Ireland, this exposure to various cultures and artforms directly influenced Bush’s music. I have talked about this before, but one of the most striking images from those early years is Bush’s dad playing piano and teaching his daughter. Teaching her how to play in C, she would spend a lot of times in the barn at East Wickham Farm playing the harmonium. An instrument that was subject to the interest of mice and was probably not at its best, Bush was studious and attentive. Dedicating many hours to playing. Bush mastered the basics of a keyboard and would be heard belting out hymns. She loved their melodies and harmonies. She figured that a chord was made up of three or more notes and by changing one of these notes, you could create a whole new chord. Bush probably wrote her first song aged eleven. Her father was always willing to listen to his daughter play. His playing gave her enthusiasm and something to aspire to. She would soon overtake her dad’s playing ability. Bush was so prolific and was compelled to write so many songs. Not just her mother and father providing this motivation. Her brothers’ interest in music and poetry was important to their sister. Not just traditional Folk or Rock of the day. Some more esoteric and unusual sounds undoubtably can account for the original nature of Bush’s music. How she started out writing in such a different way to her peers due to the music she was introduced to by her brothers. I do love that Bush’s parents listened to her sing and hear her compositions. Even if they thought that their daughter’s voice was terrible to start with, they sent Cathy for some vocal training and she soon strengthened her vocals and improved her range. Her parents were open and honest, though they were also encouraging. I don’t know how many parents of the 1960s would support their child’s dreams of going into music. Bands like The Beatles breaking through when Cathy was very small. It would have seemed like another world. A very scary one too!

 PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

In future features, I am going to go and focus on Kate Bush’s career in the 1980s and 1990s as I have focused a lot on her earliest work. I have also spent some time in 2005. I wanted to take another trip back to East Wickham Farm. One of my favourite images connected to Kate Bush is imagining all the sights and sounds through East Wickham Farm. I might not visit this subject for a while. Building from a feature I published last year, I wanted to once more be within the walls and in the grounds of East Wickham Farm. More than that, I was interested to talk about Kate Bush’s parents and brothers. The love and support that was there in the family home. The way they encouraged this girl who clearly had desires to turn her fascination around music into a career. There is no telling how important those early years were. Not only in driving Kate Bush to music. The mix of the orthodox and unorthodox sounds. If she only listened to the popular music of the 1960s and 1970s, would she have written and sung in a different way? Would she have lasted as long and been as revered? Perhaps not. It was the eclectic nature of the culture she grew up around that helped shape her into this singular artist. Someone whose voice, both literal and lyrics, created different worlds and emotions. So much more interesting and original compared to her peers. The fact her parents worked in the medical profession and they showed so much love and faith. That can be heard in her lyrics. The positive nature. The fascination with people but the affection and trust she has in them. A gentle but strong spirit. I am bidding farewell to East Wickham Farm for a little bit now, though I am sure that I will return to it…

AT some point next year.