FEATURE: Queens of Pop: Why the Dominance of Female Artists Should Tip the Industry Scales

FEATURE:

 

 

Queens of Pop

IN THIS PHOTO: RAYE

 

Why the Dominance of Female Artists Should Tip the Industry Scales

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THE start of this year…

IN THIS PHOTO: PinkPantheress/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

has already seen women very much front and centre of critical attention. BBC’s Sound of 2024 was dominated by women. So many of the best new acts to watch are women or bands fronted by women. This year is clearly one where music’s queens will rule. I think this has been the case for years but, especially right now, there is proof that they are owning the airwaves and making the best music around. Even if attention and appreciation is being paid, will the industry reverse gender bias in regards festival spaces? Many women in the industry feel objectified. That labels and the industry treats them as toys or puppets. Not being treated fairly and given much dignity. This all needs to change. We are seeing a new Pop revolution that is fronted by women. Reacting to news that female artists had a huge year across commercial radio in the U.K. last year, The Guardian wrote why the best Pop stars are women. That being said, the industry needs to endure that women are given their dues - and we no longer have to talk about imbalance and inequality through an industry they are defining:

“Madonna, Beyoncé, Britney, Whitney: if you think about the most iconic names in mainstream pop history, you’ll probably come up with a list of women. And this week, we have solid confirmation of female artists’ dominance. British audiences listen to more female musicians than male, according to the latest industry figures for 2023.

It was the most successful performance for women on the UK singles chart since it began in 1952, the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) found. This included artists such as Raye and PinkPantheress, both of whom saw their music proliferate on TikTok this year, and those global heavy hitters you’d probably expect: Miley Cyrus – whose single Flowers stayed at No 1 for 10 weeks on the UK chart – Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo et al.

And yet, despite this, unbalanced festival line-ups and award ceremonies dominated by men do little to reflect the cultural weight that woman artists carry. The music business has always been deeply sexist. It is only in very recent years that female pop artists in general have been taken seriously by the music press and listeners at large. But the latest figures do show some signs of change.

First, the figures offer confirmation and recognition that a large majority of the biggest names in mainstream music are now women. And second, they show that the commercial heft of female musicians now matches their societal impact.

Throughout the decades, women have always made the best pop stars, in my view (consider all of those I mentioned above for proof), through a unique mix of sexuality and magnetism and the fact that pop music itself has long been coded culturally as feminine. A “poptimist” shift in the last couple of decades seems to finally have decreed pop music and, perhaps, the women who make it, as worthy of genuine critical attention. Lana Del Rey, for instance – now widely considered America’s greatest living songwriter – was famously dismissed as unserious at her 2012 debut.

Also worth considering is the simple fact that there aren’t really as many male pop juggernauts as there used to be, despite the perma-popularity of artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi and Harry Styles. Where we had the charisma machine that was George Michael in the 1980s and, in the 1990s and 2000s, Robbie Williams – whose historic 2003 Knebworth concerts still hold the record for the most people an artist has ever played to in Britain – there are few solo male pop artists who, today, feel as if they come close.

The pipeline of female solo artists about to come into the mainstream, too, is in rude health: the most exciting “rising” pop acts in the world now tend to be young women. The coming year, for instance, looks to be dominated by a 20-year-old Canadian named Tate McRae, whose stage presence and physical precision call to mind Britney Spears in the early 2000s. On their way to household name status, too, are Sexyy Red, Sabrina Carpenter, Reneé Rapp and a host of others”.

It is about the industry not only acknowledging the raft of varied and hugely strong female talent defining and evolving Pop. They are creating so much for the industry. Doing so much fantastic work, in the past, that has not been reflected in fairness. Festivals still hiding behind excuses. A lack of appropriate artists to fill the biggest slots. Award ceremonies struggling to nominated women in various categories. Young artists speaking about being used as a prop or disrespected. A very challenging industry that is hard for any artist, this is especially true for young women. There needs to be this respect and understanding that the tide has turned. With women very much at the forefront, how can the music industry have imbalance and still play more male artists?! Festival still overrun with male artists. So many of them are very tired and predictable, whereas there are women who are fresh and oriignal being overlooked. The Pop queens who are getting this amazing press right now are ready to step up. Line-ups for big festivals will be announced soon. We will see truly whether the balance shifts at all. I hope so. We are still in a position where we have to challenge festivals, radio stations and labels regarding the visibility of women and how they are treated. We should not need to have these conversations in 2024!

It is not just ‘Pop’ where women are making their mark. Across so many genres and corners of music, women are very much producing the best work. It is hard to overcome and reverse decades of bias and the norm. The industry naturally and lazily favouring male artists and seeing them as the driving force. Treating them better and given them more opportunities. Although not everything will be eradicated this year, this exposure of female artists and their success should force the industry to address the past and help create a more equal future. The queens of music are not asking for a lot. Only what is owed and rightly earned! With so many natural festival headliners already out there, together with a wave of new artists who mean we are spoiled for choice, we cannot ignore the fact. An industry often accused of sexism and misogyny needs to change! Women need to be properly respected. Many might say they are already though, when we hear stories of imbalance and male artists still being the go-to, this does not really ring true. This year should be one for positive change. It not only gives hope for women coming through that they have a place. It means the industry is much more interesting and varied. Not having to feature the same artists and repeat mistakes. There is hope at least! If we are in the same position this time next year, then we really have to ask serious questions. The news that women dominated the U.K. singles market last year is another sign that things are changing. The industry needs to react. In the coming weeks and months, we will see if…

THEY truly step up.

FEATURE: To Watch in 2024: Tyla

FEATURE:

 

 

To Watch in 2024

PHOTO CREDIT: Epic/Fax Records

 

Tyla

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THIS year is going to see some…

truly awesome artists make their mark on the scene. Someone I have written about before but feel compelled to revisit just came in fourth in the BBC Sound of 2024 list. I will come to the corresponding interview at the end. First, there are a few more that I want to come to. Tyla is someone who is going to make big strides this year. I am going to bring in a few interview so that we can get a fuller impression of an artist who is going to conquer the globe before too long. She is someone I have loved for a long time. Such a fresh and exciting voice in music. Do make sure you check Tyla out and what she is doing. Born and raised in Johannesburg, Tyla hails from a multiracial ethnic group in South Africa with the highest levels of mixed ancestry in the world - and a rich history and cultural identity. Back in October, Wonderland. spoke with the twenty-one-year-old superstar-in-the-making. In their words, Tyla was “Championing the Johannesburg music scene with her ethereal flow and Pop-tinged take on the rapidly rising South African dance genre, Amapiano, the music riser is making her presence known”. This is someone who is going to rise to the highest levels. Such is her talent and passion she has:

“Introducing a rising genre to new audiences is no easy feat. But 21-year-old Tyla – aka Tyla Laura Seethal – is giving it a try. “So I do make Amapiano music, but I wouldn’t say I’m an Amapiano artist,” contemplates the artist as she reflects on the South African music genre that she is bringing to promi-nence. Growing roots in South Africa during the mid 2010s, the genre is a melting pot of Deep House, Jazz and Lounge, which marry in symphonic har-mony, characterised by distinctive sounds packed with signature vibrating synths and wide percussive baselines. “It’s definitely new for the Western world. But I mean, it’s been around for so long in South Af-rica. We’ve been partying to this genre. It’s been a part of our culture for a long time. So naturally, I fell into it. I wanted to explore it as well as put my own spin on it. That’s why I make it a bit more Pop-y.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Wonderland.

The Pop-infused sound in question first graced our ears when the songstress made her debut two years ago, with the uptempo tune “Getting Late” ft. Kooldrink. Amassing 6.2M YouTube views since its release, the internet embraced Tyla with arms wide open and her debut was hailed a success. But, a quick scroll to the depths of her YouTube channel – which hosts archival gems of an infant Tyla bellowing Justin Bieber covers at the camera – is all it takes to confirm that her love affair with music has been nurtured since infancy. “My family is very mu-sical,” the artist confirms as she reminisces on her childhood spent in Johannesburg. “My family sings and plays instruments. My parents cannot sing, but they love music. My gran can sing, she would do it a lot when we were growing up. She’d do competi-tions and that’s how she would get money. She al-ways says I got [my talent] from her, and I probably did.” With her gran’s influence guiding her, a young Tyla began putting pen to paper – well, pen to diary. Filling a journal with her first scrawling of lyrics and song ideas, along with the detailing of boy crushes, the making of Tyla was underway. Will the musings of the young artist ever see the light of day? “There was a song that I recorded that had something that was similar to what I’ve written in that diary. It’s not out, but it was something that was recorded.

With confirmation that there will “definitely be Amapiano songs on the EP,” and her recently-released summer anthem “Water” giving listeners a scintillating hint at what is to come, South Africa’s global musical revolution is in motion. And, Tyla is sure she is the right person to spearhead the move-ment. “Firstly, being from South Africa, I’m from a completely different place. Not many Pop stars are emerging from where I’m coming from. So that is already exciting. I think I have a new sound and I’m also a performer. I dance, I sing, I do it all. And I genuinely have so much passion and love for what I do. I just see the potential and how far I could go not only with music but also outside of music in the industry.” Self-assured she may be, but Tyla is not the only person invested in her success – the social me-dia-crazed TikTokers are also backing her. “I was just seeing people from everywhere making videos to “Getting Late”,” she says of her viral reception on the app. “From places I had never heard about ever in my life. Places that I’ve always dreamed of going to; that was very exciting for me around that time”.

Tyla was featured by Cosmopolitan in October. Someone who was introducing and exposing South African culture to a global stage, there was this growing excitement and anticipation. Songs such as Water have demonstrated why she is so heralded. The latest BBC Sound of 2024 honour shows that her music is spreading worldwide. I predict that she will feature at some massive festivals in the summer:

“Water” has positioned the 21-year-old South African star in a league of popular artists solidifying Afrobeats music in the mainstream (see: Tems and Tiwa Savage). And Tyla is already making history. She became the first South African solo artist to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 55 years since Hugh Masekela did it. (That was back in 1968 if math’s not your thing.)

So how does a girl who hadn’t left South Africa before signing to her label adjust to global spotlight? Cosmopolitan sat down with Tyla—fresh off her U.S. TV debut performance on The Tonight Show—for a check-in...and some tips on how not to look ridiculous while attempting the “Water” dance.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ruben Chamorro

Congrats on “Water” going viral! You’re blowing up. I know you wanted to put out a smaller project before your debut album—how is the development process going? Where are you on that journey?

I have a lot of amazing songs. I’ve been recording for basically two years trying to make the project that I’m happy with. My mini one is just a little taste, you know, so people have more things to listen to other than “Water” and people can get to know my sound and who Tyla is as an artist. Then the debut album, mmm! That’s gonna be a moment. I really love how artists used to break back in the day, so I try to bring that back with the things I do. I really liked that time.

Which era are you most drawn to when you look at different times in music history?

The 2000s for sure. When Rihanna was coming up, and Aaliyah was doing her thing. Beyoncé, that era.

I can see a lot of that influence in your fashion too. What type of things are on your mood board when you’re curating a look?

I just like feeling a certain way, you know? When I put on something, it has to make me feel something. In general, the easy island type of vibe has always been mine. A very sweaty, ripped look.

Is there an essential piece that’s best to wear during the “Water” dance? What do you suggest to get the most movement going?

Girl, definitely a skirt. Not a tight one. It can be a little tight by the waist, but your bum needs to be free. That’s the trick. Like, your bum can’t be tense in the outfit.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ruben Chamorro

What type of music were you listening to when you were growing up? Were they into pop culture?

My parents listen to everything. My house was always playing music every day. We’d wake up to music, we’d come home to music. Rap, R&B, pop, our type of House in South Africa—not the oontz-oontz type. Jazz, literally almost everything. So I had a wide variety, and I fell in love with it all. I think that’s why my sound is a fusion of a lot of different things—because I don’t like just one sound.

What would you consider your career high so far?

Oh my gosh, there have been so many moments, especially this year. I feel like this was my year in general. “Water” has made my life. Everything that’s happening is crazy, and it doesn’t feel real yet. Being from where I’m from, this thing doesn’t happen all the time. I’m happy that I’m able to do that not only for myself and my music but also for South Africa and African music as a whole.

There’s so much precision. I think that’s something people respect about you as well—it seems like you have a real respect for your craft. What is your rehearsal process like when you’re getting a performance together? Are you a perfectionist?

I’m definitely a perfectionist. When things are just “eh,” it’s like, what’s the point? But I also have people around me that I trust, so we work very well together to create something beautiful. There’s also the fact that my creative team is from South Africa. So everything I do is South African and close to home and constantly pushing the culture and who I am in general, you know? I love to rehearse. I love to get things right. But there are times when I leave it to God, and it always comes back the way it’s supposed to.

Thinking about your career specifically, if you were able to sit down with the version of yourself that exists 10 years from now, what would you hope she’d have to report back to you?

I would just want her to say that Tyla is the biggest pop star of my time. Because I want that pop star to be from Africa. That’s really something that I want in general and for myself”.

Harper’s Bazzar spotlighted the remarkable Tyla at the end of last year. With a debut album being worked on and new music coming pretty soon, there are going to be more and more eyes on this astonishing artist. I have not heard anyone quite like her. This all means that 2024 is a year where Tyla will dominate. I have no doubt about that. A hugely important name in modern music. If you are not aware of her then do make sure that you check her out as soon as possible:

“Portions of her debut LP have been recorded in multiple countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Ghana, and the United States. That global influence permeates her upcoming album, set for release in 2024. Tyla’s new songs—“On and On,” “Truth or Dare,” “Butterflies,” and the “Water (Remix)” with Travis Scott—are available now for fans who preorder her upcoming self-titled album. Her airy voice floats above melodies, detailing how love went wrong and the joy of finding someone new. She is clearly well on her way to the global stardom she’s striving for.

Her diverse approach to production and choice of collaborators ultimately fuel what she considers her “popiano” sound, a fusion of pop and amapiano influences, such as kwaito music. “I just love mixing R&B and pop with African production. That is my favorite type of music,” Tyla says.

Though celebrated for her bubbly persona on social media, there is greater depth to her budding talent—this musical moment has been years in the making. Tyla scripts her videos’ storyboards, is hands-on with her stylist, pens songs from personal experiences, and more importantly, understands the value of teamwork. “Obviously, I enjoy doing things by myself. But I always find that I enjoy collaborating with people. I enjoy those sessions more. It is more creative. I am able to bounce [ideas] off of people. Then, people can bounce off of me,” she says. “I love getting inspiration and sharing where I am from and things about my life and culture.”

The person most responsible for instilling these values in her also helped establish the breezy style that launched Tyla’s career—it was her mother. The singer would raid her mom’s closet as a tyke, hoping to emulate her beauty. “I love fashion … I would wear all my mother’s clothes, heels, shoes, and everything. I would model for my family … I really grew up looking up to my mother and loving the way she carried herself,” she says. While brand names are not yet a major focal point for her at this stage, being put together is. As with her music, Tyla’s style is more concentrated on execution than anything else. So far, the performer has worn looks from Gen Z–adored brands Di Petsa and Blumarine, which have caught fans’ attention. As we have learned over the years, fashion is nearly as vital in building a superstar as music.

That sentiment was showcased on social media recently through a snippet of her video for “Truth or Dare,” filmed in Jamaica, with creative direction from Thato Nzimande. The single’s emphasis on how exes play themselves only to regret it later carries weight with Tyla’s audiences. The lyrics (“So, let’s play truth or dare / Dare you to forget / That you used to treat me just like anyone”) remind listeners that women with their own things going on are at liberty to hold romantic partners accountable.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy Soma

Tyla confirms that she writes about what she is familiar with. “A lot of the new songs I relate to,” she says. “With my songs, I just do storytelling … I do find myself in all the music that I make.” Her eyes are set on having it all, and why not?

She is not afraid to voice what she wants out of fame. “I want to become the biggest pop star and to advocate for Africa and African music wherever I go. That would make me feel like I have made it,” she says. Among her dream collaborators are Rihanna, PartyNextDoor, Drake, and Blackpink, to name a few. Her passion and purpose have led her this far, and will continue propelling her forward.

As she puts it: “I am so ready for everything that is to come”.

I shall come to that new interview from the BBC. After being placed fourth in their annual competition to decide which artists will define the year, she reflected on her upbringing and path into music. Even if people define her with a song like Water, there is a lot more music to come. Her debut album is going to be among the most anticipated of this year. Someone who is rightly earning a lot of praise and celebration at the moment. An artist far too special and strong to overlook:

“I really looked up to Rihanna, because she came from outside America and just dominated the industry," she says. And if a girl from Barbados could do it, why not her?

After "a lot of convincing and a lot of crying", her parents gave her a year to break into the industry. If she didn't succeed, she had to go back to school.

"And I'm still on my gap year now!"

Tyla released her debut single, Getting Late, in 2019, casually creating a new genre in the process.

Called Popiano, it's essentially a more streamlined, hook-heavy variant of Amapiano - the popular South African sound that blends house music with reggae, jazz and trunk-rattling kwaito bass lines.

"Amapiano really felt like me, being a South African girl," she explains. "But I also love pop and R&B so I wanted to mix that influence with sounds from home. It came together very naturally."

PHOTO CREDIT: Epic/Fax Records

Showcasing her soulful, intimate delivery over a shimmering shaker-and-snare groove, Getting Late put Tyla on an upward trajectory in South Africa - but the song lacked a music video, and Tyla lacked the resources to shoot one.

On the boisterous Overdue, she's harbouring a secret crush. The agitated beats of Been Thinking capture the anxious moment where she confesses her feelings.

"I read a lot of teen romance when I was younger, and I love those type of stories," she explains. "It's all very fun and young."

Water is where the passion boils over, as she guides a man back to her bedroom and instructs: "Make me sweat, make me hotter / Make me lose my breath, make me water."

The lyrics were inspired by Aaliyah's Rock The Boat - another bedroom anthem with an aquatic double-entendre - but the sound is all hers, with rattling log drums and South African slang phrases like Hayibo.

It became a phenomenon on TikTok, where million of fans copied Tyla's steamy Bacardi-style dance moves, which she accentuates by pouring a bottle of water down her back.

That trend spawned a craze of its own - where women would sit next to their boyfriends and play the song's opening bars. If they leaned in to catch a glimpse of Tyla's video, they faced all manner of shame and scorn.

The singer takes no responsibility for any subsequent break-ups.

"I'm not a part of all of this!" she laughs.

The song has taken her around the world, onto the stages and TV shows she dreamt of as a child. She made her live debut at Milan fashion week, and sat next to Kim Kardashian at Dolce and Gabbana's Fall/Winter show.

Ciara, Normani, Jack Harlow and BTS member Kim Tae-hyung (aka V) have all been in touch - but her mind was truly blown when Janet Jackson started performing Water as a mash-up with What Have You Done For Me Lately on her US tour.

"I was like, 'What the heck!' And then she DM'd me and she was like, 'Congratulations, stay blessed'," Tyla says.

"I was just star-struck. I couldn't believe Janet Jackson took the time to even say anything, you know? It's crazy."

Tyla's bid for world domination is going to plan, then. And she's ready to follow up Water with her self-titled debut album in March.

"I feel like people are going to be so surprised, like, 'Where did this girl come from?'," she says,

"So I'm very excited because when I listen back to the album, I'm like, the people are not ready!".

A beautiful and wonderful talent that is going to grow through this year, everyone needs to tune into Tyla. Someone who I genuinely think can rank alongside some of the biggest artists of the modern age, there will be a lot of eyes and ears on her debut album. One that is going to introduce her to a whole new wave of fans. When it comes to Tyla, she is well and truly…

A global sensation.

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Follow Tyla

FEATURE: Spotlight: Gia Ford

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Melanie Lehmann

 

Gia Ford

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AN artist I have admired…

for a long time now, Gia Ford is someone to look out for this year. A tremendous artist whose is truly distinct and instantly memorable, I think that she will have a huge career. Hailing from Sheffield, I would advise everyone to follow her. I am going to get to some interviews with her. So that we can discover more about this tremendous talent. I will start out with this Fred Perry interview:

“Name, where are you from?

Gia Ford, I’m from Sheffield North England!

Describe your style in three words?

Androgyny, drama, prep.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?

Probably Sevdaliza at the Barbican in 2018. She has some of the most immersive music/performances I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Her integrity is also really inspiring to me, she does what she has to do for the music and nothing comes between her and her art.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?

Portishead and Pink Floyd. Both probably extremely exciting and inspiring to watch on the same stage you’re on. They’ve been two of the most daring artists I’ve taken inspiration from.

Which subcultures have influenced you?

I’d say the queer community (which I am a part of) and the drag world has influenced me more than I’ve thought about before. The freedom of gender expression, the fantasy, the alter egos.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?

Grace Jones. Just to be in her presence.

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?

I enjoyed watching Kelela at The Roundhouse - I’d never been before but it was such a beautiful space.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?

Jeff Lynn of ELO. He’s a genius and not many people knew he wrote so much of the music, including music for the strings.

The first track you played on repeat?

That I can remember… 'Dance In The Dark' by Lady Gaga. There was probably an earlier one but my memory is terrible”.

A song you wished you had written?

'This Woman’s Work' by Kate Bush :'(

Best song to turn up loud?

'Tear You Apart' by She Wants Revenge.

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?

'Halo' by Machine Head”.

Among a sea of amazing artists out there, Gia Ford really stands out. I am interested to see what comes from her this year. I know that a debut album is coming soon. That will be really great to hear. Her name is definitely highlighted as a truly essential one. I am going to move to an interview from Mancunion. Signed to Chrysalis, they were keen to speak with an artist who was building on her early promise and brilliance. Last year was a great one for Ford. I think that this one is going to be the very best of her career so far. Someone who is primed for huge things very soon:

“Few artists today truly manage to capture a sense of the poetic drama of everyday life quite like Gia Ford. A rising starlet from Sheffield, Ford has recently signed to reborn label Chrysalis – of previous Blondie fame – and is set to play Camden’s famous Jazz Café this Valentine’s Day for the charity Choose Love.

As all good artists are, Ford is a musical magpie, taking influence all the way from golden 70s pop to Shade and Lana Del Rey. Her previously released material – put out by the 1975’s label Dirty Hit – samples an entirely different sonic palette of dark, fuzzy guitars and murky synths. While still expressing a pride she feels over the work, it is a musical direction she has definitely shifted away from. Explaining how she felt about that earlier work: “I was trying to second guess the industry a little bit”.

Now, her music has an Americana twang of a different era. “The new stuff is more of my childhood inspirations … the Fleetwood Macs, the Nick Caves … even the Dusty Springfields … that’s always been my favourite stuff”. A return to old loves. She remarked of the change: “I think I’ve gone back to all of my original inspirations that I never felt confident enough to pay homage to”. “Part of me just wants a complete rebirth… to start again”. 

With potent lyrics full of embedded meaning, Ford is a focused lyricist, with an eye for an unusual image. One song she recalled references the urban grit of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, while she also pointed to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History as a key literary influence (“the descriptions take you into another world. That’s something I try to do”). “I live my life trying to absorb things that go unnoticed usually … like that classic thing with newspaper articles; there are songs in everything if you keep your eye out”.

As an artist from Sheffield and having went to school in Wilmslow, Ford has recently returned to the North after a spate in the capital. Keen to emphasise the cultural differences, she remarked: “Pandemic London was not fun”.

“London is a very soul-stripping place unless you’re having a lot of fun all the time … I’m not really that kind of person … I’m more of an introspective person. I like space”. Referring to the differences in the scene up here, she was eager to make clear how the North generally is “less ‘industry’ and less pretentious” as well as “less cutthroat … it feels more genuine”. Ironically, it seems the distinct lack of industry presence in the North influences music even at a very granular level, something Ford knows all too well.

The lack of a present music business outside of London does increase the challenge of getting music out there however, a fact felt all too easily by artist attempting to get their foot in the door. We discussed the plans to regionalise BBC Introducing – in part due to dwindling radio listenership. As Ford’s most recent single – the beautifully fatal ‘Car Crash for Two’ – has been championed by Sheffield’s own Introducing DJ, Christian Carlisle, there is a clear fondness for the radio promotion young artists receive through the programme.

“Even when I lived in London I was in touch with him [Christian Carlisle] quite a lot”, she explained, keenly emphasising the ‘do-it-yourself’ grit necessary to break through outside of Britain’s musical centre. With no alternatives provided, the worry among artists such as Ford – in a tender part of their career – is that most support for up-and-comers will dry up. “There is no support really in that sense… you have to try a lot harder”.

Artists such as Ford also find themselves in a drastically different environment to that of the music that inspires them. In an age where even the most controversial or rebellious bands have an Instagram account, we discussed the pressures of social media and the incessant marketing drive behind it. “People think that you have to be TikTok savvy or Instagram savvy … I understand [it] as a great tool, but I think it does fall on the artist’s shoulders so much to get yourself out there”.

Like most artists, Ford releases regular content to keep people engaged, but she was keen to stress how the social-media storm mounts on the pressure: “When I first started releasing music there was a lot less pressure around it”. “My girlfriend does all of my imagery… we used to just have fun and take some amazing photos and post them… creating the world whenever we felt like it”

I will end with a recent interview from Rolling Stone. Previously an artist who made darker, more Pop-driven sounds, Americana is where Gia Ford has her home. Someone who much prefers to write about other people – as she finds writing about herself boring -, there is this small wave of British artists creating wonderful modern Americana. It is always fascinating and different. Against the backdrop of modern Pop, there is something deeper in the music of Gia Ford and like-minded contemporaries:

“On recent singles from her debut album, due out in mid-2024, she uses literature as a springboard from which to explore others’ stories. This is best shown on new single ‘Falling in Love Again’, which tells the story of her friend’s father, who mourned the death of his wife by asking his new partner to dress up in her clothes. “That’s so uncomfortable, but also really beautiful and sad,” she reflects of the story. “It’s about those strange ways that people grieve, and how they aren’t often very comfortable to talk about [them]. He was trying to express something, and he didn’t know how to do it. It just leaked out into life the way these things do.”

This bold and multi-faceted world that Ford creates is also enriched by her co-writers, who bring different perspectives to the stories. “I wish I could just write something completely alone,” she says, “but I think there’s something really amazing about writing with other people because you have so many different perspectives on something. We learn about life through writing songs with other people as well. It’s not just about the song, it’s about the relationship that you have with those people.”

This songwriting style is intimately linked to — and significantly enhanced by — the sonic direction she is now travelling in. On ‘Falling in Love Again’, the story of the grieving widower is given space to make its impact accompanied by sparse and luscious piano licks and woozy guitar. “A lot of the stories that I’m drawn to require a big open sky and big open space,” she says of her new sonic palette, which recalls Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell and her new labelmate on Chrysalis Records, Laura Marling. “It’s hard to describe, but it’s that vastness of sound that I like.”

This particular sound was enhanced by recording her album in Los Angeles at the famous Sound City Studios, where Fleetwood Mac first met. “It felt like I was surrounded by the spirits of all these people,” says Ford, smiling. While there she also visited Laurel Canyon, a place with a distinctive and legendary musical vibe that Ford taps into on her new material.

Her upcoming debut album, though not written as such, has ended up as something of a concept album, as Ford explains. “Every song is about an outsider of some kind. Every character is an outsider. If it’s a song about me, it’s because I also felt separate from something. I haven’t even fully deciphered it for myself yet, but there’s a reason why I’m drawn to that theme. Everyone feels separate from something, don’t they? You live life in your own head, even though we’re all living the same thing. You do feel inherently separate from the world. You’re the main character because you’re the only one that can experience your consciousness.”

If Ford does sing of her own life, it’s through heavy metaphor, such as on new single ‘Alligator’, a driving soft rock hit which sees her refer to herself through parallel beings in the animal kingdom. “I wanted to embody them, so I didn’t talk directly about myself. That song’s about trying really hard to get my music noticed on TikTok and just generally in the world. I was getting frustrated at how difficult it was. I felt like I was doing everything correctly, but no one was noticing it or recognising all the work that I had put in.” In keeping with her distinct and unique lyrical expression, she chose to approach the topic from a metaphorical perspective.

This personal detachment and character-led style is also seen in the singer’s — real name Molly McCormick — artist moniker. “To me, Gia Ford is a narrator. Maybe that will change and maybe she’ll be just me, but I’m an observer. It’s from my perspective, but I’m telling everyone else’s stories.” She then pauses for a second, before deciding: “I think I’m afraid of writing about myself. I’m more comfortable pretending to be other people”.

Such a tremendous and fascinating artist who is going to be in the industry for many years to come, I am excited to hear a Gia Ford debut album. It is going to be a very busy year for her. If you have not discovered Ford and her music then make sure that you do. I have loved her music for a while now. Growing stronger by the year, here is a tremendous British talent who is going to take her music internationally. Even though we have a lot of wonderful artists out there, when it comes to Gia Ford, there are…

FEW like her.

____________

Follow Gia Ford

FEATURE: A Running Start... Kate Bush’s Albums Ranked: The Best Opening Trio of Tracks

FEATURE:

 

 

A Running Start…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a publicity photo for 2011’s 50 Words for Snow

 

Kate Bush’s Albums Ranked: The Best Opening Trio of Tracks

_________

ONE of the most important things about an…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

album and its track sequencing is making the opening few songs as strong as possible. There have been polls in the past asking which album has the best opening-three songs ever. It is hooking the listener in and keeping their attention. I don’t think I have discussed it regarding Kate Bush and her albums (I will include all her studio albums all bar Director’s Cut). She always puts strong opening tracks on her albums. She is great at making sure the first few tracks are interesting and among the best. I wanted to rank the albums with the best three tracks on. In order of merit regarding the strength of that vital trio of songs. Many might feel it is obvious which albums would be in the medal positions…though everyone has their own opinions. There are artists who put a lot of thought into getting that sequencing right and making sure they do not drop a step when it comes to one-two-three. In terms of creating brilliant opening tracks, this is something Kate Bush…

DOES especially well..

___________

NINE: Aerial

Album Release Date: 7th November, 2005

Producer: Kate Bush

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: King of the Mountain/Pi/Bertie

Best of the Trio: King of the Mountain

EIGHT: The Red Shoes

Album Release Date: 1st November, 1993

Producer: Kate Bush

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: Rubberband Girl/And So Is Love/Eat the Music

Best of the Trio: Rubberband Girl

SEVEN: The Sensual World

Album Release Date: 16th October, 1989

Producer: Kate Bush

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: The Sensual World/Love and Anger/The Fog

Best of the Trio: The Fog

SIX: The Dreaming

Album Release Date: 13th September, 1982

Producer: Kate Bush

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: Sat in Your Lap/There Goes a Tenner/Pull Out the Pin

Best of the Trio: Sat in Your Lap

FIVE: The Kick Inside

Album Release Date: 17th February, 1978

Producer: Andrew Powell

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: Moving/The Saxophone Song/Strange Phenomena

Best of the Trio: Moving

FOUR: Never for Ever

Album Release Date: 8th September, 1980

Producers: Kate Bush/Jon Kelly

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: Babooshka/Delius (Song of Summer)/Blow Away (For Bill)

Best of the Trio: Babooshka

THREE: Lionheart

Album Release Date: 13th November, 1978

Producer: Andrew Powell (assisted by Kate Bush)

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: Symphony in Blue/In Search of Peter Pan/Wow

Best of the Trio: Symphony in Blue

TWO: Hounds of Love

Album Release Date: 16th September, 1985

Producer: Kate Bush

Label: EMI

Opening Three Songs: Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)/Hounds of Love/The Big Sky

Best of the Trio: The Big Sky

ONE: 50 Words for Snow

Album Release Date: 21st November, 2011

Producer: Kate Bush

Label: Fish People

Opening Three Songs: Snowflake/Lake Tahoe/Misty

Best of the Trio: Misty

FEATURE: Queens’ Gambit: As Women Dominated Music Last Year, Why Now is a Moment for No More Excuses or Lack of Opportunities

FEATURE:

 

 

Queens’ Gambit

IN THIS PHOTO: Miley Cyrus

  

As Women Dominated Music Last Year, Why Now is a Moment for No More Excuses or Lack of Opportunities

_________

SOMETHING that many already knew…

IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift

but it has now been confirmed that women dominated the U.K. Pop charts last year. Even though it is one sector of the music industry, this dominance spreads throughout music. One cannot say that women are in the minority anymore. I am going to go on to write why, given the fact female artists ruled the Pop charts last year, how there are no more excuses left when it comes to booking female headliners and ensuring they are represented across award ceremonies. An industry that cannot justify imbalance and a lack of awareness. The time for parity is right now. The Independent explained how last year was a big one for Pop’s queens. Something that is more than likely to be mirrored as we go through this year:

“Women dominated the UK pop charts in 2023, even as festivals struggled to improve representation and female musicians were shut out of a number of major awards ceremonies.

British stars including PinkPantheress and RAYE spent a record-breaking 31 out of 52 weeks at No 1 on the Official Singles Chart in 2023, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) trade group. This is the highest figure since the countdown launched in 1952.

Based on combined figures from streaming and physical sales, seven of the year’s top 10 singles were by women, including Miley Cyrus’s hit song “Flowers”, Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero”, and Cameroonian-American singer Libianca’s “People”.

RAYE’s viral song “Escapism”, a collaboration with US rapper 070 Shake (real name Danielle Balbuena), was a No 1 hit that also reached No 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, while PinkPantheress’s “Boy’s a Liar” peaked at No 2 in the UK. The remix, featuring Ice Spice, also marked PinkPantheress’s debut on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No 3.

“Escapism” and “Boy’s a Liar” were the third and eighth biggest singles of 2023, respectively.

The numbers are in stark contrast to 2022 when just two female musicians cracked the top 10 biggest songs: Kate Bush, with her 1985 single “Running Up That Hill”, and pop singer Cat Burns with “Go”.

Ed Sheeran, meanwhile, managed to get three of his songs in the top 10, including “Shivers” and “Bad Habits” from his fourth studio album, = (Equals).

BPI’s chief executive Dr Jo Twist said in a statement: “While work continues towards achieving full representation for women across the music industry, 2023 has been a brilliant year for women in the Official Charts.

“There is a more diverse range of recording artists than ever achieving great success with the backing of their labels. Women spent more weeks at No 1 on the Official Singles Chart than in any previous year, while seven of the 10 biggest tracks were by women.

“This should be celebrated, but without complacency, and our work in the music industry continues to ensure that this becomes the norm.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa/PHOTO CREDIT: Thibaut Grevet for DAZED

Despite pop dominance from megastars including Swift, Cyrus and Dua Lipa, 2023 proved to be a mixed year when it came to acknowledging the talent and success of female artists. 

In January, the Brit Awards came under fire for failing to recognise a single woman in its Artist of the Year category, after it abandoned gendered categories in 2022.

Instead, an all-male shortlist was nominated, comprising pop singers Harry Styles and George Ezra, producer Fred Again, and rappers Stormzy and Central Cee.

Meanwhile, Glastonbury Festival faced its own backlash when it was announced that three male acts – Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John – would headline the main stage in 2023.

Co-organiser Emily Eavis – who was defended as a vocal supporter of women in music by a number of prominent female artists – said that the industry was failing to generate enough viable female headliners.”.

I am writing this on 3rd January. Later today, we find out whether mainstream U.K. radio stations have managed to move towards gender equality. That was not the case last year. Even though one or two are an exception, most have struggled to move towards balance. I am cautiously optimistic there will be some positive signs. If we acknowledge the fact that Pop’s queens are dominating and making huge waves, how can any festival now say there are a lack of women to headline festivals?! I don’t buy there was an absence last year. Now, as we look towards this summer’s festivals, there is a raft of wonderful women who can headline. No festival has an excuse for imbalanced bills and a lack of headliners. There is this disparity between the chart success and playlisting of female Pop artists and a seeming ignorance from those who can reward this with award nominations, festival recognition and general respect (from the industry). It is not only major artists like Miley Cyrus that this applies to. So many wonderful young and fresh Pop artists coming through are also showing that they are festival-ready. To start this year, we get some positive findings regarding Pop’s queens. I think that there will be changes and moves towards equality this year. Whether there is a rapid reaction from the industry when it comes to ensuring there is a lack of female headliners I am not sure. Let’s hope so.

IN THIS PHOTO: Victoria Monét

In terms of immediate recognition and potential reversal when it comes to award ceremonies is the GRAMMYs. Next month, Taylor Swift, SZA, Victoria Monét and boygenius are leading nominations. The Song and Record of the Year categories are dominated by female artists. I think that award ceremonies here will move towards a more female-inclusive feel. It is down to festivals to see whether they can match that commitment. If last year was one for missed opportunities and excuses, there can be none of that in 2024. We see the figures and can see all the talent out there. Women not only storming Pop charts; there is also the end-of-year lists of the best albums that are defined by women. As they are bringing so much to the industry, it is incumbent on the industry now to reward that and erase the bias that has been evident for decades. Not just a one-year reversal. This needs to be something that is sustained going forward! We need festivals to do more to not only ensure that the bills are balanced. There are more than enough women who can be selected as headliners. If we go through another summer where we see no female headliners at particular festivals, then that is going to cause a lot of anger! Given the fact music’s Pop queens have made big moves and are dominating, festivals and award bodies need to…

CHOOSE their next move wisely.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Cristale

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

  

Cristale

_________

THIS is a phenomenal artist…

PHOTO CREDIT: Shane Anthony Sinclair for Wordplay

who has already been tipped for big things this year by The Guardian. They were full of praise (“Without wanting to stoke the hype fires too carelessly, this Brixton MC has one of the keenest minds and sharpest tongues in rap music today, not just in the UK but across the world. Moment to moment, her flows are astonishing technical accomplishments, with words fiendishly darting into rhythmic space”). Cristale is a spellbinding rapper, poet and voice that is going to be among those at the forefront of new music this year. I am going to get to some interviews with this stunning talent. First, here is some background to the London-based artist:

“Cristale was born in Brixton around the turn of the millennium . She was raised by an incredibly strong family unit to which all  members supported her hard work and dedication associated with but not restricted to Academia, Football, Spoken Word and Poetry. While at primary school, she would compete against her peers in bantering rap battles, with lyrics she and her uncle had written together. Invariably she would win. In year seven, aged 1, she won the first slam poetry competition at her school, beating kids from all other year groups. From there she went on to compete against kids from other schools.

Growing up in a Caribbean household, dancehall artists like Buju Banton and Tony Matterhorn were on regular rotation on Cristale’s family stereo. As she grew up she took a liking to grime rappers like Chip, Stormzy and Wretch 32, as well as funky house acts like T2 and Sweet Female Attitude. Beginning her rap career at 19, her first four mainstream releases were freestyles, Cristale remixed Poundz’s ‘Opp Thot’, Pa Salieu’s ‘Frontline’ and Unknown T and Crazy Cousinz’ ‘Throwback’. She can write lyrics to any type of instrumental, with a vocal style defined by sharp attentive lyricism.

Having grown up writing poetry, her natural talent is as a wordsmith- a trait that aligns her with legendary artists like Lauryn Hill, who carries an essence of realism that Cristale is inspired by. She has a similarly striking attitude on the mic as well, adept at riding any beat and effortlessly likeable. Her competitive spirit is perhaps a legacy of a childhood spent playing football, first at school, where she learned, then she was scouted at 14 to play and train with U16s and U18s at Crystal Palace FC . She is a very non- controversial individual- but she is not afraid of any competition she may face in the UK rap scene.

As a product of south London, she kick started her career by recording at Digital holdings studios, which also gave rise to successful British rap artists like Dot Rotten, Harlem Spartans and SL – Cristale is one of UK music’s hottest prospects. She has singles in the pipeline and a treasure chest of unreleased music on her hard drive. Her latest release “BOOTH (Part 2)” a freestyle over Ruff Sqwad’s classic grime instrumental ‘Together’, is a nod to Chip – a formative influence on Cristale who used the same beat on ‘Coward’ – and an unerring statement of intent.

She is ready for anything the music industry has in store for her”.

There is not a lot of interview material from last year. I am going to go back to a 2022 interview. She spoke with gal-dem about her heritage and why storytelling matters when it comes to her music. Even back then, there was this sense that Cristale was very special indeed. Since, she has stepped up and grown stronger with every release. In 2022, Cristale released the long-E.P., What It’s Like to Be Young:

“Growing up, Cristale would constantly hear people talking about the hardships and struggles of where she lived, especially in the news, “I was told [by] a lot of people – whether I knew them or not –that ‘you’re not gonna make it out’,” Cristale tells gal-dem. But she refused to let the sceptics curtail her rise.

This year she released her debut EP What It’s Like To Be Young, a collection of gritty coming-of-age tales that she uses to open the door for empathy. Tucking clever wordplay into the pockets of unflinching drill beats, Cristale gives a voice to the young people she sees in her neighbourhood and whose backstories are sometimes dismissed.

On lead single ‘13 Going On 30’ she explores her childhood and overcoming obstacles: ‘Started secondary school / Mum said, “Learn your book, don’t turn to no bad girl” (Behave, Cris)” and later “Teach’ said I got so much potential / “Cristale, you don’t know how much you have, girl”

Cristale is quick to credit her matrifocal Caribbean household for keeping her grounded and backing her career. “I had a big support system of women; my aunty, grandma, great-grandma, great-aunt and cousins,” she says, careful not to forget a family member.

Her family has strongly influenced her music. Between the buzz of familial chit-chatter and Jamaican records on loop, she has developed a strong enough accent to confuse fans she met in Jamaica while shooting the video for her hit song ‘Bong Bing’ earlier this year. Her first foray into dancehall, ‘Bong Bing’ saw her team up with Jamaican artist Laa Lee, and became a viral hit on TikTok, being used in over 788,000 videos.

The overwhelming response to ‘Bong Bing’ left Cristale reflecting on her heritage and the kind of artist she wants to be, whether that would mean honing in on dancehall or continuing to experiment with fresh Caribbean sounds. Her mum is mixed Jamaican and Montserratian and her dad is Guyanese: “[I’m] only one-quarter Jamaican,” she says. “I feel like I’ve been served an injustice because I feel more Jamaican than I actually am. But it is what it is, I am fully Caribbean,” she adds. Her heritage is the base from which she constructs her identity, with music melding into the mix. When contemplating the type of artist or person she is, she responds with one clear-cut answer: “I like to tell stories”.

She’s thrilled to find herself part of a new generation making dancehall their own, a musical shift that’s been recognised and celebrated by legend Sean Paul – who happens to be a Cristale fan, too. “After ‘Bong Bing’ blew up, [Sean Paul] followed me on Insta. That was a big shock to me,” she exclaims. “I am an example of the new generation of dancehall even though I’ve only got one track out. I’ve got unreleased tunes with Klassik Frescobar, Roze Don and Noah Powa.”

Cristale is just as keen to bring the moves off TikTok and onto the streets, as seen at this year’s Carnival, where she performed with Jamaican and Guyanese flags hanging from her pockets at the Rampage Sound stage. “You haffi bring yuh flag,” she says, adding that it was a “blessing” to come back to the first Carnival in three years as an artist. “Carnival is about letting your hair down and indulging in culture, not exploiting it but being a part of it,” she beams. “It’s the one day, besides Jamaican Independence, where I feel like people can give back to the culture rather than just taking from it”.

I am going to wrap up in a second. I hope we get some new interviews with Cristale, as quite a lot has happened since 2022. She has put out some of her best music and got onto the radar of some big names’ websites. I know that she will continue to grow and perform on some incredible stages. Before rounding up, there is one more interview that I want to get to. GRM Daily spoke with Cristale about releasing an E.P. and balancing that with her being at university and having to cope with anxiety. It is always fascinating reading Cristale’s words:

“So when did your interest in music start taking shape?

“I know it probably sounds ridiculous to say since I was born, but literally, growing up with my mum raising me, the type of music she would play like Teedra Moses, TLC, Ashanti, that genre.  I’ve always grown up on soulful music, I was kind of born into it in a sense.”

When do you think that started turning into realising that you had a talent for it?

“When I was younger my uncle and I wrote my first bars together, when I was about three. I spat the same ones throughout the whole of primary school and used them for everything and everyone would be astonished, but I was just saying them for the sake of saying them. I’ve only genuinely realised that I have a talent recently. As in the last few months. From me actually developing a fan base and understanding that people listen to me, relate to me and want to hear what I have to say and want to keep track of my life and what I’m doing. That’s made me realise I must have talent.

“Obviously, I don’t have any clout and this industry is based on clout. Thank God, I also don’t have any negative clout around my name or anything like that. I’m not in the blogs, I’m not in anything. So I know that the following is genuine. If it’s genuine, that must mean that people actually respect my art. They must actually believe that I have a talent.  I’m not saying I only realise this because I have fans. Because aside from that, I make music for myself. I don’t make music for anyone else. I think about how I feel, what I’m going to do, what I’ve done, the people around me and the different things that we’ve been through. So I make music for myself.

“Some days I’ll just sit and I’ll go through what I’ve already done. There are loads of songs in the locker that you won’t hear for a while, but they’re there. When I’m sitting down, I kind of have to occupy the space of a consumer and listen to myself like it’s not me. And if I detach myself from myself, and I still like the song that’s how I know like, cool, you’re doing something right.”

Watching your videos, it feels like things come naturally to you. Is it important for you to be seen in the space as a musician, as opposed to a media personality who makes music

“I feel that everything in this life is down to perception which is subjective. Who am I to say how I want people to view me? The most I can do is present myself in a way that is natural. That won’t get received in a negative way, but it’s down to the person. I can’t say I want you to look at me as an artist because you might go from my Instagram and realise that I can play football. You might follow me on Snapchat and see that I’m funny or TikTok and see that I’m creative.

“So for you, I’m just someone that you like to pay attention to. Then you discover oh she makes music. I like to listen to her music, I feel like I know her as a person because I follow her on social media. But then, there’s another set of people that just heard my song on the radio. This is Cristale. I’m going to look through all of her music now. Cool, I  am a fan… oh what and she plays football, she’s got a personality too.  It’s a catch 22 Yeah, and I’m not in control of that.

“I can’t really say I care if people view me like this or view me like that. As long as I’m not viewed in a negative light then I’m good. You can view me as a media personality, an entertainer, an actress, footballer, musician,  poet, orange, apple, whatever you want! Just as long as my general presence isn’t inflicting any negativity on them, I’m calm. You can look at me as whatever you want. Just as long as even though I’ve never met you, the relationship that we have between the phone is good. My music, my personality or my influence makes you feel happy then I’m good.”

That is such a grounded and well-rounded answer and there is such a sense of contentment and freedom in your sound. Where does your inspiration come from and how do you approach your creative process?

“My inspiration comes from life. I do my day by day and when it hits me that this is something, then it becomes something. I could go into the fridge and go to get an orange. Then the orange drops on the floor, but because I’m overwhelmed with uni stuff I’ll start talking about the fact that I was actually holding out very well until I peeled my orange and it just ended up on the floor. And then literally I’ll just write a song about eating food from off the floor and make a metaphor for people that are above you but instead of helping they make you beg.

“It’s literally whatever comes to mind at any given time, and this is all based on experience. Nothing that I come up with or that I say, none of it’s a lie. None of it is fake. Even some of the road stuff that I talk about. Yeah, fair enough, I’ve been through certain things and experienced certain things or seen certain things, but I pray to God every day, and I’m thankful that I haven’t had to experience anything mad like that. That’s why you hear me talking in the songs about the fact that I’m telling a story. And I’m clearly telling them that it is not me that went through it. But right now, I’m the voice for people that can’t speak on what they’ve done. But they’re going through trauma because of it.”

Now I know that visual art and music often go hand in hand. So with covers, photography, videos, the things that accompany a release are you very hands-on in those aspects?

“Very. For the “Militant” artwork, I drew the sketch of what I wanted it to look like, I found the font and everything. Then I just gave it to the graphic designer and he changed the colouring of it officially. But I’m very hands-on with everything. All the concepts for the music video, come from me. It’s why a lot of people say to me now Cristale you’ve got to start having your name as co-director on the music video. It’s like you see the directors have done a very good job, but that doesn’t come from nowhere. I create a very clear blueprint, and then we bring it to life through film.”

You get those credits. It’s worthwhile that people know they are witnessing your creative vision…

“Yeah. Look at someone like Teyana Taylor who does and directs videos for other people. She’s an artist herself, she’s been able to do that through people knowing that she does her own. So no one’s going to know that unless I talk or other people ask. Yeah,I’m gonna start putting it on the video still. Really I should have been doing that since the first one. The old schools “Whites” ,”See Myself” then “Morgan” “Merryland” , “Militant”, they’re all me and the next ones will be me.

“I don’t really go into a situation without knowing what I want. By the time I finished a song in the studio, I can already see what I want the video to look like and I write it down and the video will be like that. I create mood boards, I give a rough treatment. I send it off to the director and then the director sends me their version of the treatment that I’ve done. That basically tells me everything that’s going to happen, how I want it to happen. It’s more detailed and the order is broken down”.

Rightly tipped as a name that we all need to watch this year, Cristale is a sensational rapper, artist and voice that is impossible to ignore. Such a compelling performer and songwriter, we are going to hear her name a lot more this year. Go and follow her across social media and check out her music. Even though this year is going to be one where we see so many artists emerge across multiple genres, you just know that the magnificent Cristale will be…

AMONG the very best.

_____________

Follow Cristale

FEATURE: Spotlight: SPRINTS

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 

SPRINTS

_________

DESCRIBING themselves…

as “Garage Punk from Dublin, Ireland”, there is a lot of excitement around the mighty SPRINTS. They releasee their debut album, Letter to Self, on Friday (5th January). It is winning some huge reviews. I will end with one (others include DIY’s and NME’s). Tipped as a debut album to watch this year by Rough Trade, SPRINTS play Rough Trade East on Friday. They then have a series of dates around the country and beyond. An exciting start for a band. Not many artists put out albums in January. It is credit to SPRINTS that they ensure they make their mark early. In the process, we get a potential year-best album right from the off! I will come to some interviews from the band. One from 2022 and a few from last year. First, here are some more details about a wonderful and hugely promising band from Dublin. One that is primed and destined for headline slots:

“Formed in 2019 when Karla, guitarist Colm O’Reilly and drummer Jack Callan - already playing together under a slowly-dwindling former guise - had the lightbulb moment at a Savages gig that they too could play the music they actually listened to and loved, SPRINTS have barely paused for breath since. Recruiting bassist Sam McCann, for their first show back in February of that year, the difference from day one was tangible. “Our only ethos in music is to write something that matters and that means something,” says Karla. “It’s all about expressing our identities, and injecting our personalities into it.”

Often labelled a political band, even the way they inhabit that idea feels refreshing. “I don’t have to know everything to be able to tell you that something’s shit. I understand that women should have access to abortion, and I understand that mental health services are not adequate to stop people from committing suicide, so yeah, I don’t know exactly how much money is being spent on it but I don’t need to in order to tell you that it’s not enough,” Karla stresses. “It’s just a class barrier to make people feel like, if they’re not educated enough, then they can’t be involved in the conversation. But you don’t have to be Usain Bolt to run a race, and you don’t have to understand the theory of everything to understand that, morally, someone’s an asshole.”

SPRINTS have received a wealth of press support (The Guardian, Dork, DIY, NME, Loud & Quiet, Clash, Gigwise and others). They've also received an abundance of support at Radio 1 and BBC 6Music.

“On course towards future raucous, beer-soaked headline festival sets.” NME
“Screw-you power, relentless motorik rhythms and impressively large choruses.” The Guardian
"The Dublin gang neatly package existential panic into a buzzy, punchy musical box – DIY”.

Karla Chubb, SPRINTS’ lead, spoke with God Is in the TV in 2022. With some E.P.s under their belt and people tipping them for big things, it was an exciting time for SPRINTS. Coming out of the pandemic and maybe not being as gig-active as they would have liked the past two years, there was a sense of looking ahead to brighter times – which certainly came true for them last year!

“Dublin noise-makers Sprints have released two EPs to date, last year’s debut Manifesto and A Modern Job released this spring. The 4-piece comprising Karla Chubb (lead singer/guitar), Colm O’Reilly (guitar), Jack Callan (drums) and Sam McCann (bass guitar) are signed to Nice Swan Records. 2022 has been a pivotal year for the band and I caught up with Karla to learn more.

I read that you were inspired to form a band by seeing Savages and Jehnny Beth. Is that true, or was the seed already there?

I think the seed was always there. I think all of us always wanted to be musicians. Myself, Jack and Colm played in bands previously and the guys have played together for years. And with that band we weren’t really fulfilled, and it was at a Savages gig that myself Jack, and Colm were at and she was performing and going into the crowd, and we love their albums. That is when it really kind of hit us that’s the kind of music we want to make, why aren’t we making it, I want to be that visceral and almost like wild. So Savages from the start were a major major inspiration and when we first got into the shed with Sam and we were jamming, I think the only thing I said let’s try jams. Idles and Savages were the main music we were listening to then so we’ll see how it goes. When he plugged his bass in and turned the noise up as he always does, it kinda clicked immediately. And ever since Jehnny Beth has been a massive influence, particularly for Jack and myself, as a writer, as a feminist, everything she stands for, the people who she collaborates with she is just one of the underrated artists.

She comes across as comfortable in her own skin

Yeah and whenever I listen to her on 6Music she was really soft spoken and very gentle and very French, but you see her live and that is something I really resonated with. When I tell people I am a very shy person and not an extrovert in any sense naturally, and that alter ego she has onstage has really spoken to me, I can almost pretend I’m someone else. When you listen to her on 6Music she is not the Jehnny Beth that you see in Savages onstage. It’s amazing to see that come out.

In terms of song-writing are you the main lyricist?

What we say is that I put the bones of everything together and the guys add the meat and the spice and everything else. I would be the song-writer and the only one involved in lyrics, except for Sam. Generally when he’s singing he would write his own parts and I would help sometimes.

And how did you come to the attention of Nice Swan Records?

To be honest, we still don’t really know! We’ve asked them before and they said they saw ‘The Cheek‘ on some random Irish playlist, I think they may have been scouting Irish music. That was before Fontaines D.C. had really exploded and Pillow Queens were around obviously. Their whole ethos is to focus on music outside of the hotbed cities, essentially outside of London where bands may not have the same access to exposure. I remember the day they reached out so clearly. This was during lockdown again. I got the email and I quite literally started shaking. It was from Alex saying “Hey lads we really like your music, what’s your plans?” and I’m like “This is it! This is it!”. To be completely honest they have changed our lives, they are amazing. They are just two really passionate music fans. They’re our managers now as well. They came to Glastonbury with us and they are coming over to Ireland soon to come to gigs. They really know their stuff. And its clear from working with them that they are in it for the music They are not shy to tell us not to take certain opportunities even if it would have meant a percentage for them. They are trying to help us to make the best moves.

You have talked in the past about a feeling of Imposter Syndrome. Has that shifted with experience and more exposure?

I think parts of it have. Performing live I don’t get as many nerves, I still get nervous but its definitely more manageable. I think in terms of writing, I don’t think its gone, I don’t know if it will ever fully fade. I don’t know if I want it to. But even just watching people like Sam and Colm and Jack. Sam can play way more instruments than me. But it keeps you motivated, keeps you pushing.

You are such a central part of the live performance, and you look like you’re having an absolute blast.

We have a lot of fun, I love playing with the guys. I think it just comes down to being a girl in a heavy rock band, and not really having had that much training. Maybe technically not being as good as other people, then maybe there’s the idea I should be extra good, that women often have to try ten times as hard to be given half the respect. That’s very ingrained in me, it’ll never go, I try not to let that hold me back. There are definitely days when I think I’m not that good. But at the end of the day if we’re playing life and performing then maybe that’s my skill, maybe that’s what I have that other people don’t. Its one thing to be able to play Bohemian Rhapsody but its another to be able to write a song”.

I have written features about modern music and whether artists are being personal rather than tackling bigger themes. Hatred, homophobia, issues around climate change etc. With SPRINTS, here is a band that are tackling some big themes and doing so in a really direct, interesting and memorable way. Karla Chubb spoke with DIY in November about the upcoming debut album and how the public part of her being out in the music also will resonate with many others. Messages and lyrics that go beyond her own door:

“With ‘Letter To Self’, she’s “putting this very personal part of [her] life out in the public”, and while its writing was hugely challenging, it was also hugely cathartic. “There was so much weight on my shoulders my whole life, and now I feel like a little bit of it is gone,” she says, her voice thick with emotion. “All these stories are like stones weighing me down, and now I’ve shed a few of them.”

These aren’t mere pebbles, either. Lyrically, the album explores mental ill-health (‘Ticking’ and ‘Heavy’); internalised homophobia (‘Cathedral’); suicidal ideation (‘Shadow Of A Doubt’) and more. But none of these are crosses Karla has had to bear alone. Born, like so many other bands, out of the pandemic, Sprints was “such a positive thing to turn to in such a dark time,” and the relationship between the four band members quickly flourished into something approaching familia

“We’ve all got so much better at knowing how each other works,” adds drummer Jack Callan, “so you know when to leave someone alone, or when someone needs a bit of extra support.” In conversation, this almost intuitive bond is self-evident. When Karla compliments guitarist Colm O’Reilly’s playing, Jack leads us all in an impromptu round of applause; when she mentions her anxieties over reading the album’s reviews, bassist Sam McCann gives her a steadying smile - “We’ll take them as they come”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Miles

These moments, though seemingly inconsequential, capture the band fairly succinctly: a united front that deals in humour and compassion, but with an underlying steely resolve. Take the show they perform just a few hours later. Karla leaves the stage momentarily to don a Taylor Swift ‘Reputation’ t-shirt, before pronouncing: “Support the strikes and fuck the Tories. We’re Irish, what did you think we were gonna say?” They’ve had this keen political edge since their inception (over which time they’ve released two EPs, 2021’s ‘Manifesto’ and 2022’s ‘A Modern Job’), but never has it been more apparent - or more important - than right now.

Karla and Sam have both just quit their jobs - “We can’t physically or mentally manage the balance of them and music anymore” - which, while daunting, is a prospect that’s only become feasible thanks to the notable success of Irish artists in the past few years. “If you see people doing what you want to do, it obviously increases the chances of you actually thinking it’s a possibility, tenfold,” Karla states. “You have to acknowledge the cultural significance of bands like Fontaines DC and Pillow Queens. There are so few acts who managed to break out of Ireland and make careers abroad until recently, but if they’ve done it, we can do it.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Miles

There is, of course, still a long way to go, however. Karla references a recent interview that Rolling Stone and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame co-founder Jann Wenner conducted with the New York Times, in which he commented that no women are included in his new book - “the Mount Olympus of rock and roll history” - because “none of them were articulate enough on this intellectual level” (there are also, astoundingly, no Black musicians included - but there is Bono). “[Wenner] said that Mick Jagger was ‘a philosopher of rock and roll’,” Karla says incredulously, “and that Janis Joplin or Patti Smith or Stevie Nicks - some of the greatest songwriters in the world - were…” she trails off and shrugs. “I might appear one day on a list of the ‘best female punk bands’ or ‘best female guitarists’, but I’ll never appear on a list of all-time great guitarists, whereas Colm probably will.”

Self-doubt doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and Karla’s proclaimed imposter syndrome - tackled on incendiary single ‘Up and Comer’ - is closely tied to her identity as a queer woman in a male-dominated space. While being part of Sprints hasn’t necessarily helped quash her insecurities, it has given her a medium through which to rally against the social structures that supported them in the first place. “Sometimes I think, ‘Am I talking too much about being angry?’” she says. “There is a part of you - a very dark part of you - that thinks, ‘Would my life be easier if I just shut up?’

“There’s always been this idea of the angry woman, or the angry gays, or the angry trans people,” Karla continues. “But anger doesn’t mean bad. Anger means you’re standing up for something; anger means you’re addressing an issue; anger also means collectiveness”.

It has been remarkable learning about SPRINTS and what has gone into Letter to Self. Their phenomenal debut definitely marks them out as a band to watch very closely. Once more showing the quality and variety of music coming out of Ireland. Karla Chubb chatted with Stereogum a couple of months ago about the album and some of the more technical/sonic details that went in. How they achieved a very distinct sound and feel:

“There’s only so much you can do with vocals. [But] when we put the hi-hat on the snare, or Sam puts his bass through like four terrifying pedals and you get that literal screech in your ear that you couldn’t replicate with anything else, not even a synth — I think it’s those elements that actually make the music anxious,” Chubb says. “For one tiny guitar lick, we used four different Vox amps at the same time running through like five different distortion pedals. So there was that level of granularity in it.”

This suffocating sound was the band’s attempt at matching the purgative songs Chubb was bringing to them. Her lyrics came from a time in her life where self-destructive habits were coming to a head. “I realized I saw patterns in my behavior; I would get angry at friends or have relationships break down because I was so angry in myself. I was like, ‘I need to process whatever is inside of me and get it out,’ because it almost felt like there was a poison in [me] and [I] couldn’t breathe until it was all released,” Chubb says.

PHOTO CREDIT: Niamh Barry

The album’s opening track, “Ticking”, is supposed to be a representation of pure anxiety and panic, both lyrically and musically — from the heartbeat-esque kick drum intro to Chubb’s scattered lyrics to the simultaneous descending and ascending riffs in the outro part. It takes the majority of the song’s runtime to kick into the album’s first big rock-out moment; this slow-bubbling dynamic is the most essential part of Sprints’ toolbox. “It’s almost like, again, horror movie-esque, where there’s quiet parts where you wanna lean closer and then it punches you in the face because of that jump in volume,” says Chubb. Elsewhere on the album, Chubb’s dry, seething voice grapples with the music industry’s fickle sexism on “Adore Adore Adore” and “Up & Comer,” the enduring echoes of trauma on “Can’t Get Enough Of It” and finding the will to resist oppressive societal pressures on the title track “Letter To Self.

Before she used the catharsis of songwriting to expel those feelings, it often came out in more destructive ways, says Chubb. “Definitely substance abuse. I think it’s very Irish to turn to alcohol to solve our problems. I became so good at masking, I often still don’t know when I’m doing it myself. And I think that led to an incredible amount of self-consciousness, self-hate and also internalised homophobia. I think I really started to just believe I wasn’t worth being happy, like I didn’t deserve it. It’s through building really solid relationships with the guys in the band and having music and exploring those things really honestly that I’ve started to come out of the other side of that”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ste Murray

Before coming onto a review, Irish Times interviewed Karla Chubb recently. The Dublin singer and musician discussed identity issues and why Punk resonates to this day. It is always fascinating reading what she has to say. Someone who is always so compelling and honest. You can hear and feel that go into the music. You just know that SPRINTS are going to go a very long way. You wouldn’t bet against them conquering the globe:

“Karla Chubb, the lead singer/co-songwriter of Dublin band Sprints is responding to the fact that, despite some groaning and aching from various quarters of the pop culture multiverse, guitar bands and guitar-based music are not going away anytime soon.

It is, she agrees, a cyclical beast, but being at the coal face, she senses that “alternative music, punk, in particular, is definitely on the rise. You see artists like slowthai and PinkPantheress, who are very mainstream, sampling it [punk], referencing it and using it as an influence. Grime and punk share in their respective birth a lot of idealistic issues and struggles, and because we’re living through turbulent times economically, politically and socially, that’s always going to lead to a rise in more empowered music.”

There are very few female artists that have been allowed to break through, Chubb adds, so, in that sense, Patti, Siouxsie and PJ remain central and influential figures. “The people who troll Sprints on YouTube and Instagram leave comments about our videos along the lines of ‘what is this shit, it’s just ‘90s music again, so why regurgitate it, do something fresh’, and the like, but what we try to do is to take those struggles that are still prevalent today and give it a bit of a refresh, a more authentic touch with a ‘90s-inspired sound.”

Sprints have been in the refreshing business for more than four years, although all four members have been involved in music for longer. Initially influenced by bands such as UK’s Savages and Irish band Bitch Falcon (RIP), the band’s sonic baseline is fast and loud (Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox locates the sweet spot between out-and-out shredding and textured sheer art attack) while the songs are largely based on Chubb’s personal experiences. Assertive music, unambiguous words, live shows that pivot on drama and thrills, a lead singer that gets into the zone song after song with a vocals style that blends rhythm with intonation – what gives?

“Cathartic is the best word. With punk music, you can get pigeonholed as being just aggressive; the nature of it is that because it’s loud and fast it’s perceived as angry, but anger isn’t always bad, it’s also a way of healing. As for personal experience, yes, the music we have already put out and what we will be releasing over the next while is definitely chaptering a part of my life where I have struggled a lot with identity, sexuality and just not knowing what the right place for me in the world is – if there was a place at all, to be quite dark and honest.

“I think processing that is difficult, whether you’re in your 20s, 30s or whatever age you are. The boys give me the open floor with the lyrics and the music reflects that. The anxiety-inducing bass, the snarling guitar, the music build-up – they are supposed to represent the internal struggle and the spiral that many of us suffer from.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Ste Murray

The subject matter for Chubb’s lyrics includes misogyny and sexual harassment (The Cheek), fragmenting relationships (Pathetic) and emigration (How Does the Story Go?). She says figuring out “what I wanted to say and how to say it became a barrier, so what I’ve tried to do is just not to think about it too much. I pick up the guitar and play around with it, and the music evokes an emotion; whatever is in my head is the topic and I’ll just splurge it out. I have found that if I’m not too worried about coming off poetic or well-written then it’s more honest. I have a lot of emotions – I’m Cancer, so I’m very sensitive – so I process a lot but the subject matter comes down to honesty… me figuring out what I should do with my life.”

That shouldn’t be an issue this year or next. Sprints’ recent signing to highly regarded Berlin-based indie label City Slang has presented to the band members (all of whom are in full-time jobs – “we’re very fortunate that the people we work with are kind enough to allow us to balance work with the band for so long”) a projected level of stability.

“What you have to do as a musician – and this is the worst for me as someone with ADHD, who is a complete overthinker and constantly overactive – is that you just have to take it day by day. As much as that means there are big, scary things possibly coming down the timeline – pensions, marriage, houses – you just have to live on a day-by-day basis, take everything as it comes”.

I am going to finish with one of the many incredibly positive reviews for Letter to Self. Even though it is early-January, we have an album that is going to be hard to beat! CLASH were among the first to have their say about SPRINTS’ terrific debut album. One that is going to sound amazing when they take it to venues around the country. Go and buy a copy of an album that everyone needs to hear. It really is going to be among this year’s most important and impressive debuts:

“Dublin four-piece Sprints signed to City Slang in 2023, and blast into the New Year with debut album ‘Letter To Self’. Opening with the brooding beats of ‘Ticking’, the vocals of Karla Chubb begin low, full of foreboding. Questioning and self-doubt are apparent from the very beginning, an uncertainty about oneself. The instrumentation builds into an all-encompassing soundscape – a thrilling start which sets the scene for what is to follow. And to hear lyrics in German, the guttural nature of the language fitting perfectly with the atmosphere of the track. Although born in Dublin, Karla Chubb spent part of her early childhood in Germany, initially turning to music as a consequence of feeling out-of-step with the world.

It’s then straight into the scuzzy static-fuelled guitars of ‘Heavy’.  The external questions continue: “Do you ever feel like the room is heavy?” they ask. The energy and passion evoked here are raw and true. The lyrics build, eventually exploding in an air of frustration “watching the world go around the window”.

‘Cathedral’ is in a similar vein. There is a darkness here; “Maybe living’s easy / Maybe dying’s the same.”  The emotional intensity continues to seep through the music. The combination of Sam McCann’s bass and the guitars of Chubb and Colm O’Reilly combine to create a cacophony of sound, fast and furious.  

‘Shaking Their Hands’ takes us to a different place, with its weariness with life.  More contemplative, witnesses Chubb deliver a softer vocal.  The theme is more thoughtful with the singer “counting the minutes until the clock strikes six” – a sentiment most can connect with.  However it’s an intriguing song as the question is inevitably “whose hands?”.  ‘Adore, Adore, Adore’ was released as a single and projects the idea of being judged with its question “Do you adore me?” The pace rattles along and its chorus of “they never call me beautiful, they only call me insane” suggests a desire to fit in, to be accepted.

‘Shadow Of A Doubt’ has an eerie start with its haunting plucking guitar chords.  Again there is a atmosphere of foreboding, a lack of belonging.  The repetition of “I am lost” is gut-wrenching and Chubb builds the tension until the frustration boils over “can you hear me calling?” The sentiment is heart-breaking as it seems to be a call for help, and that wavering guitar chord perfectly evokes the anxiety.  Likewise with ‘Can’t Get Enough Of It’, the agitation remains. The inevitable ear-worm of the repeating “This is a living nightmare” is breath-taking, as it combines with the soaring soundscape. The mid-track key change takes the listener by surprise as it punches at the very core with its emotional impact. Perhaps there is a sense here of not being able to be oneself, a lack of self-belief, of security in ones own self-worth.  And goodness do those guitar parts add to the overall sense of anxiety.

The sign of a great song is that it still elicits an emotional response long after its initial release. And so it is with the 2022 single ‘Literary Mind’. Re-recorded for ‘Letter To Self’, Sprints have shared that this track has evolved over time. It is pacier than the original single version and is all the better for it. A love song, it relieves the tension felt so far on the album. It’s a song to belt out at the top of your voice, and is thus cathartic for us all. And just listen to McCann’s vocal on the outro, you know Sprints love playing this track. ‘A Wreck (A Mess)’ opens with electrifying guitar riffs and the percussive beats of Jack Callan.  The lighter tone set by ‘Literary Mind’ continues. Again lyrically reflective ‘A Wreck (A Mess)’ is delivered with wild abandon, all scuzzy guitars and thunderous drums. The ebb and flow of the pace keeps the listener on their toes, plus lyrics that will live long in the memory including: “is everyone a wreck, is everyone stressed?”

Latest single ‘Up And Comer’ reached the dizzy heights of the 6Music A-list. The opening guitar riffs stops the listener in their tracks every time.  And then the full force of ‘Up And Comer’ kicks in and once it reaches top speed you just know it’s not stopping with its full-frontal assault. The chorus is simply electrifying.

The title track closes out ‘Letter To Self’ and it takes a stand against the internal turmoil. “I’ll give as good as I get”.  Here there is defiance. The expression is one of hope, of possibility, of coming out from under the weight of expectation, of fighting back. It sees the journey through the album reach its conclusion.  Now the lyrics question those who criticise, those whose behaviour is inappropriate.  ‘Letter To Self’ states confidently “I am alive” compared to the questioning “am I alive?” from opener ‘Ticking’.  It’s a thunderous end, the theme of the track completely different from the rest of the album.

With ‘Letter To Self’ Sprints have produced an album brutally honest and personal. They have not been afraid to express the feeling of being an outsider, of looking for validation, of attempting to overcome self-doubt. The human condition and thus society is complex and difficult to navigate but Sprints have not been afraid to express uncertainty and vulnerability. And all the while they have enveloped these themes in the most glorious noise for us all to find comfort and lose ourselves in.

Is it possible to have an album of the year contender on only the first week in? Of course it is. 9/10” 

Follow SPRINTS and support their terrific work. They have some U.K. dates before heading to Dublin. They then have European dates too. There are also U.S. dates in their diary. A band that will go down a storm there. In fact, they are pretty solidly booked through a large chunk of this year. Don’t bet against them being included at Glastonbury and other big festivals. Letter to Self shows that they are a band we cannot ignore. Another wonderfully original and impressive band to behold! From a country supplying other musical greats like CMAT. It is amazing, though not surprising, discovering all the wonderful music…

COMING from Ireland.

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Follow SPRINTS

FEATURE: My Back Pages: The Wonder and Importance of Music Books

FEATURE:

 

 

My Back Pages

 PHOTO CREDIT: Yuliia Tretynychenko/Pexels

 

The Wonder and Importance of Music Books

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I think here are few finer things…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ricky Esquivel/Pexels

than walking into the Music section of a bookstore! For example, I live quite close to Waterstones in Piccadilly, London. Last year saw some fantastic music books released. Rolling Stone, CLASH, Pitchfork, and The Guardian had their say about the very best of the year. You walk into a bookshop and head towards shelves lined with paperbacks and hardbacks. I love the biographies and reference books. There are also the artist-specific books too. Ones about particular album and genres. Time periods in music that are engrossing and full of detail! My particular favourite section is the coffee table books. Those big hardbacks that are either music photography or a biography. The smell and sensation of approaching those books and having something so impressive there to read. Like record shops where they can cover the albums so they are not damaged and feel new when you buy them, you do not get that all the time with bookshops. People can read the books and, sometimes, you are buying one that other people have leafed through. Regardless, that experience of searching through music books is a very different one to vinyl shopping. Perhaps more sedate and a little different in terms of energy, I find that we do not talk about music books as much as vinyl. The Penderyn Music Book Prize has just its shortlist. Recognising the very best music books from last year. An example of an organisation/body who are taking time t highlight how important music books are!

I wonder whether there are music book clubs. Where people can discuss great music books. Also, music book subscription services where you can get a new one sent to you each month. It can be quite expensive when you have your eyes on really great music books. Like vinyl, these books are an investment. You take days and weeks to read them and can keep coming back. With so much focus being on actual music and physical sales there, we do ignore slightly the literature that is just as important. Some of the best books I have read the past few years have been music books So much passion and research goes into them. As much as I do love a great coffee table book or something like a comprehensive Madonna biography there is a lot to be said about a paperback. Even the slim and essential 33 1/3 series. Option for every music lover. We should be encouraging music fans to buy books in addition to the music. You can learn just as much from a book about an artist as their albums reveal. I was compelled to write as, when I walk into Waterstones, Piccadilly and see the glorious shelves of music books staring back at me, I want to own so many of them! Buying the books new is great through, considering budget, it makes me think about a book club or exchange where you can get your favourite music books and swap them.

PHOTO CREDIT: No Depression

In any case, we do undervalue and under-discuss the wonder and tactile power of music books. Whether you prefer text and the detail you get from biographies or reference guides or the mesmeric nature of iconic music photography, there is that excitement of getting the book. The same sense of anticipation when you see that vinyl album and know it will soon be in your collection! I was really fascinated by all of the great music books that came out last year. There will be loads coming this year. Whilst publications and websites have been busy collating their choices of last year’s best albums, there is far less emphasis and acknowledgement of all the important and must-read music books. Seen as inferior to albums perhaps. I hope this changes soon. There is nothing quite like owning a great book about an artist or a music scene and devoting time to it. You do see music books reviewed but, again, fewer than albums. I think all forms of music-related media and content is vital. Shining more of a light on these is paramount. Also, it would be great to see more people in bookstores and chains perusing music books. They are always quieter than record shops. Maybe that will always be the way. So many people missing out. Just like a wonderful album, discovering a music book can change your life. Last year was one where I bought a few exceptional music books and they are still in my mind now. Putting them on the same level as albums is justifiable. One only needs to read and discover the sheer effort and love that goes into writing them to realise that they are…

PHOTO CREDIT: Min An/Pexels

A thing of joyful discovery and wonder.

FEATURE: Blueprints of the Masterpiece: Kate Bush’s January 1984

FEATURE:

 

 

Blueprints of the Masterpiece

  

Kate Bush’s January 1984

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FOR a few early features this year…

I am going to go to this website and pick some periods in her career and dissect them. I am going back forty years. There are a few events from January 1984 that caught my eye. In terms of where Kate Bush was in her career, she was in-between The Dreaming and Hounds of Love. The former arrived in 1982. In the period between 1982 and the start of 1984, there has been quite a bit of activity. It is important to look at the year before to see why 1984 was a pivotal one. Where Bush made real strides laying the groundwork for her masterpiece, Hounds of Love. At the start of 1983, Bush was under pressure to tour because of the relative lack of commercial success for The Dreaming. The singles not doing well. There was definitely plans for Bush to do something new after The Dreaming. In May 1983, a couple of months before her twenty-fifth birthday, a book/memoir, Leaving My Tracks, was shelved. One of those great what-ifs! Fans would definitely have loved to read an autobiography or book from Kate Bush. In the middle of 1983, there was some U.S. activity. The Kate Bush five-track mini-album was released in the U.S. and Canada (the Canadian release contained six tracks). Importantly, whilst there were movements towards greater U.S. awareness and impetus to get her commercial stock rising, Bush was in England planning and construction a bespoke home studio. One that would be the centre of one of the greatest albums ever released.

By September 1983, Bush was writing for Hounds of Love. A year after her previous album, there was this shift in terms of her sound and creative vision. A summer where she had time to be with family and relax, Bush was keen to move away from The Dreaming in terms of the recording and tone. Whilst, in November 1983 EMI conceive the idea of touring the Live at Hammersmith Odeon video around the American colleges – another grab at trying to get U.S. audiences interested in her music more -, Kate Bush was more interested in ensuring that her fifth studio album was done very much in her own vision. Rounding up 1983, The Single File video compilation is released. Bush makes personal appearances in Kingston and Holborn. More a year of promoting The Dreaming, some retrospection and U.S. plans. 1984 was one where Bush was much more interested in pushing forward. That said, as we can see below, the first month of that new year saw a couple of interesting moments:

“January 1984

The new studio being more or less ready, Kate begins work on her fifth album, directly demoing the songs and building on the original demo rather than re-recording.

January 16, 1984

Kate helps launch the Sky Channel, the first satellite TV station in the U.K.

January 23, 1984

The Single File box set of singles is released, further fuelling rumours that Kate is to leave EMI.

EMI-America release Lionheart and Never For Ever, begin a heavy back-catalogue promotion under the theme Looking Back to See Ahead”.

The studio completion and demo work is what I am interested in. Even so, I do love the fact that Kate Bush helped launch the Sky Channel. It is one of those weird and wonderful aspects of her career. Also, that detail regarding The Single File box set being released. I think that the release was timed at a great moment. Six years after her debut single came out, it was perhaps overdue that there would be some retrospection. A couple of years after that was released, The Whole Story came out. Capitalising on big moments in Bush’s career. At the start of 1984, there had been this gap since her fourth studio album. Not only an opportunity to keep her music at the forefront, it is a nice bridge between two albums. I can understand why some might feel she wanted to leave EMI. Given the lack of single commercial success from The Dreaming, an artist might feel like the label was not behind them. Instead, rather than it being about dissatisfaction and a way to clear the decks, this was a chance for fans to get the singles in one place. It has not really been done before that. Of course, between 1984 and now, Bush has released old material quite a few times – though only one greatest hits collection (that stops at 1986). There was this period, forty years ago, when there was the final stage between The Dreaming and Hounds of Love. In the same month that there was this collection of singles – perhaps to stoke interest internationally -, Bush was starting to put together songs for Hounds of Love. That idea of the studio having been built and her being inspired to write. I can imagine what an exciting and fertile period it was.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in the studio in 1984 recording Hounds of Love/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

I like the fact that Bush did not demo a song and then re-record it. Most artists do that, where you get this basic and sketch of a song before they go back and then re-record with extra elements and layers. Instead, what we hear on Hounds of Love is Bush’s original demos. Only with her going back and adding to them. Classic songs like Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and Cloudbusting starting life quite differently. She then played the demos back and then was compelled to add to that mix. I wonder if that is a reason why Hounds of Love is a classic and so loved. A different sound and feel to other albums. Over a year later, Kate Bush would release her most acclaimed album. Thinking back to January 1984 when these songs were taking place. It was a definite moment when she moved from professional studios and an old way of working to this autonomy and home comforts. The fact that she had her own studio and it was by the family home meant that there was less stress and pressure. Able to take her time and work in the same spot – even though there was some recording Windmill Lane (Dublin) and Abbey Road (London). At the start of 1984, Kate Bush was ready to begin work on her masterpiece. Before too long…

SOMETHING wonderful would follow.

FEATURE: I Don't Owe You Anything: Will The Smiths’ Eponymous Debut Album Get a Fortieth Anniversary Reissue?

FEATURE:

 

 

I Don't Owe You Anything

  

Will The Smiths’ Eponymous Debut Album Get a Fortieth Anniversary Reissue?

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AMONG all of the albums…

IN THIS PHOTO: The Smiths in 1984/PHOTO CREDIT: Chalkie Davies

celebrating big anniversaries in 2024, there is no doubt that The Smiths is one of the biggest. The debut by the legendary group, it was released on 20th February, 1984. Its fortieth anniversary is nearing. It made me wonder whether there will be a special reissue for an album that is enormously influential. Arriving into the world where Synth-Pop was ruling and the music mainstream was a very different make-up, along came a band who started something fresh and urgent. Intelligent, melodic and nuanced songwriting. Morrissey’s intelligent and standout lyrics tied to that distinct tone his voice carries. Johnny Marr’s phenomenal and genius guitar work, together with Andy Rourke’s bass and Mike Joyce’s drums. A terrific band came onto the scene. Sadly, we lost Andy Rourke last year. He knows how much The Smiths’ debut album means to people. I hope that there is appropriate fanfare and celebration around its upcoming fortieth anniversary. The single from the album, What Difference Does It Make?, was released on 16th January, 1984. Even if fans choose later albums like The Queen Is Dead (1986) as the best album from The Smiths, is there a more important one than their eponymous debut? One that changed music and heralded this new sound.

What is quite annoying and baffling is how little has been written about their debut. It is more straightforward than their following albums, though the significance and quality of the 1984 debut cannot be overstated! Why have more features about its value not been written?! It is a strange thing. Plenty of press about the band in general, though not their magnificent debut. An album that does not sound dated at all. The song still shine and sparkle. Classics and standouts like This Charming Man and Reel Around the Fountain played to this day. I will come to a feature where figures in the music industry discussed the influence of The Smiths on them. It all began with their phenomenal 1984 debut. Rolling Stone reviewed The Smiths in June 1984:

“WHEN TOM ROBINSON sang “Glad to Be Gay” back in 1978, he did it as a dirge — the irony, while bracing, was entirely obvious. Six years later, the singer and lyricist of the Smiths — a man called Morrissey — has little use for the ironic mode: His memories of heterosexual rejection and homosexual isolation seem too persistently painful to be dealt with obliquely. Morrissey’s songs probe the daily ache of life in a gay-baiting world, but the bitterness and bewilderment he’s felt will be familiar to anyone who’s ever sought social connection without personal compromise. Whether recalling the confusion of early heterosexual encounters (“I’m not the man you think I am”) or the sometimes heartless reality of the gay scene, Morrissey lays out his life like a shoebox full of faded snapshots.

Given Morrissey’s rather somber poetic stance, The Smiths is surprisingly warm and entertaining. Though Morrissey’s voice — a sometimes toneless drone that can squeal off without warning into an eerie falsetto — takes some getting used to, it soon comes to seem quite charming, set as it is amid the delicately chiming guitars of cocomposer Johnny Marr. And the eleven songs here are so rhythmically insinuating that the persistent listener is likely to find himself won over almost without warning. From “What Difference Does It Make?,” a clever reprise of a venerable garage-punk riff, to the striking opener, “Reel around the Fountain,” and the U.K. hits “Hand in Glove” and “This Charming Man,” this record repays close listening”.

What comparatively little is written about The Smiths is perspective and interesting. In a year (1984) where Pop queens like Madonna were dominating the mainstream, The Smiths’ music seemed so vastly alternative. I know the legacy of the band and their debut is somewhat marred by Morrissey. Even if his lyrics and vocals are wonderful and help make The Smiths what it is, controversy surrounding him in years since makes some feel guilty about embracing the band. I get that. It would be unfair to ignore an album as crucial and iconic as The Smiths because of a quarter of the band. Consequence shared their thoughts in a 2019 feature:

“With its release on February 20, 1984,The Smiths was an instant game-changer. There was nothing like it just yet; it wasn’t as heavy as Joy Division or as rock and roll as Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It didn’t have the elaborate gossamer of The Cure or Siouxsie Sioux’s cathedral wailings. Instead, Morrissey’s drab voice soars and sours in contrast to Johnny Marr’s majestic guitar work, full of mystery and sorrow.

This album opens with a song about child abuse, and it’s not the only one. “Suffer Little Children” is about the five children murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in what would become known as the Moors Murders. The song was so shocking that the album was removed from several shops, but Morrissey struck up a friendship with Ann West, the mother of Moors victim Lesley Ann Downey, who agreed that the song was written with only the best intentions.

But there have always been songs about crime and hurt. What makes The Smiths so unique is that so much of it revolves around both homosexual and asexual longing — the desire to be desired even if that desire must never or will never be consummated — rather than the traditional love songs or breakup anthems that make up so much of music. “I am sorrow’s native son/ He will not rise for anyone,” he moans on “Pretty Girls Make Graves”. It’s all daring subject matter, even now, to sing about the complex nature of lust, of wanting to be desired without the trappings of sex.

The Smiths even has a lullaby. On a pop album by four childless twentysomething lads. It’s a bold choice for any musician, but “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” is a distinctly Smiths lullaby, full of ominous threats — “There’ll be blood on the cleaver tonight” is gore that would fit right into Grimm’s Fairy Tales — but ultimately brimming with the sort of aching tenderness that Morrissey, with flowers in his back pocket, would make his signature. Perhaps that’s why Morrissey’s descent into curmudgeon hurts so badly — because his lyrics rip apart love into all of the complicated and often contradictory pieces that make it up. Anger and pleasure, need and desire, sexual and familial, Morrissey explores all of these, even when they hurt. Even when they don’t make sense.

“Hand in Glove” is perhaps the best example of this strictly Moz phenomenon. Hailed by the band, at the time, as the best song they’d written, it is The Smiths at their purest, Morrissey with his heart bare and bruised, Mike Joyce keeping everyone steady on the drums, Andy Rourke’s bass warm and inspired, while Johnny Marr’s guitars rain down a sun-drenched melancholy. “No it’s not like any other love,” Morrissey bleats. “This one is different because it’s ours.” It encapsulated what it was like to be a Smiths fan, that there was no other band like it in the world. It says, it’s okay to be tender. It’s okay to be witty. It is love unadulterated by money or sex or gossipy friends, and as such, Morrissey knows it cannot last. That innate understanding of human nature, the ugly pieces we hide from ourselves, is the DNA of every Smiths song, put on full display as though in a lit glass case.

Though “You’ve Got Everything Now” was the debut single, it’s “This Charming Man” that steals the show. It is as perfect a fusion of Morrissey and Marr as there ever was, elaborate, poppy guitars play with, not against, Morrissey’s coy, lilting vocals. “I would go out tonight,” he teases this song’s subject. “But I haven’t got a stitch to wear.”

Listening to any Smiths record is a life-changing experience, whether in 1984 or 2018. No one has been able to match Morrissey’s exact blend of wit and melancholy, the uniquely British charm that cannot be put on or manufactured. It’s a shame of the highest disappointment that Morrissey is such a trash bag, but not even he can ruin what we all once had.

“It just wasn’t like the old days anymore,” he sings on “Still Ill”. We cannot hear The Smiths again for the first time, and we cannot listen to them without thinking, Fuck, man, Morrissey is such a toolbox. But I invite you to put on The Smiths in a quiet room, perhaps with headphones, perhaps in the dark. Listen in full as though it was the first time, recalling who you were and who you are now and how you got to be there. Imagine Morrissey isn’t The Absolute Worst. Chances are you will fall in love with this album all over again in that pure way that you can only love The Smiths, even if just for that moment”.

I will end with thoughts around the fortieth and whether we will get an anniversary reissue. I hope so! First, last year, The Guardian celebrated forty years of The Smiths’ existence. The fact that their debut single, Hand in Glove, was released in May 1983. It is interesting that a track many associate as being on The Smiths, This Charming Man, did not appear on the original U.K. L.P. release. It appears as the first song on side B of the original U.S. L.P. release. The first U.K. C.D. release in 1986 did not include the song; all UK C.D. re-releases since 1993 include it:

“The interplay of gloom and light, of Morrissey’s biting lyrics and Marr’s bright guitars, are what has made the band so enduring for successive generations of British indie musicians, says Connie Constance. The 28-year-old Watford musician counts the Smiths as one of her biggest reference points when it comes to guitar sounds, along with the Clash. “The sound has all the negativity that I think Brits just naturally have,” she says. “It has this gritty, I’m not bothered, moany thing, while having this beautiful layer on top that makes everything feel like it’s gonna be all right.”

Although Constance first engaged with the Smiths as a child, she didn’t realise until later the impact they had on all the other bands she had grown up listening to. “I was listening to their back catalogue and being like, ‘Oh my gosh, this sound is so laced into all of British indie rock,’ from that moment onwards.”

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, a longtime Smiths fan, remembers that the band “came along at a time when the north-west of England was probably at its lowest ever ebb in recent history. It seemed to me to be a recurrent theme in Morrissey’s lyrics that you can kind of aspire to be more than this. You don’t have to be dragged down by your situation or circumstances.” In Burnham’s eyes, the band gave the region a rare sense of cachet. “When I got to university, people would ask, ‘You’ve seen the Smiths?’ and it was like, OK, I’ve got something that you want – that was important, in terms of building a sense of confidence and ambition.”

Richard King, author of the book How Soon Is Now: The Mavericks and Madmen Who Made Independent Music 1975-2005, says the Smiths created a give and take with their fans that felt fresh. “Morrissey wasn’t an adolescent, but he did seem to know how to articulate the extremes of adolescence, and there were very few people who did,” he says. “There was a sense of generosity and value in every release – the picture sleeves, the tone they used, the B-sides: everything they did had this value that you couldn’t find anywhere else – and it felt like it was coming directly from the band. It meant that the emotional investment that you put in as an adolescent, into the songs and their meaning, you felt like that investment was returned by the band in their quality control and their look.”

Although it had been common to pledge sartorial fealty to a genre or subculture – such as punk or goth – Smiths fans, even before they had released an album, dressed like the Smiths. Although other artists had developed a similar aesthetic sensibility previously, most of them, such as Orange Juice’s Edwyn Collins, took their cues from 1950s Americana, with leather jackets, sunglasses and immaculate quiffs. Morrissey combined the 50s hair with what Reed calls a “studenty” look – raincoats bought from charity shops and vintage stores. That look, now, has calcified into what might be termed the classic indie boy aesthetic: T-shirts and shirts tucked into 501 jeans, thick-rimmed glasses, mismatched or ill-fitting outerwear.

Fletcher saw the band in late 1983, and remembers seeing that “fans were already dressed like them – in London, people were carrying flowers in their back pockets. From 1984, Morrissey had the big overcoat thing, and suddenly you just started seeing people like that. It was like some of them were just coming out of their shell – they were very bookish people who suddenly realised that bookish was fashionable, and they didn’t have to apologise for their NHS specs and being a bit dishevelled and literate and into pop music.”

Burnham remembers Manchester’s Affleck’s Palace as being a centre of the Morrissey aesthetic. “Morrissey created it, but people would go there to replicate it,” he says. “It was vintage 501 jeans before they were as ubiquitous as they became, cardigans, stuff that was deliberately old-school looking. It was kind of an outsider look – it became anti-cool fashion before that existed in our heads.”

He recalls the Smiths acting as a kind of codex for broader culture. When the band performed on the South Bank Show, for example: “I remember everyone videotaping it, and it really laid out a hinterland of references. People started reading Oscar Wilde – it kind of did broaden your horizons, liking the Smiths.” The band’s iconography and music was so strong that despite’s Morrissey’s aesthetic and political shifts after he went solo – on 1988’s Bengali in Platforms he suggested south Asian migrants didn’t belong in the UK, and by 1992 he was draping himself in the union jack – many fans can easily separate the Smiths off in their minds.

The freedom that the band seemed to offer their audience – to remove themselves from staid ideas of how to look, dress or think – was revolutionary at the time. King remembers the way Marr and Morrissey interacted on stage, and the amount of fun they seemed to be having, feeling radically new. “The two of them dancing together as men, but both being very feminine and, in Johnny’s case, quite androgynous, was incredibly powerful,” he says. “It felt to an adolescent audience that it was giving them agency to act differently – two men dancing together not in an overtly homoerotic or political way, but just having fun together in their own unique way.”

Moreover, Morrissey pioneered a musical expression that wasn’t geared towards heterosexual romance – or even romance in general. “To have somebody that wasn’t singing either, ‘I’m in love with you,’ or, ‘You broke up with me,’ but singing, ‘I’m not really sure if I want love, I don’t know if I want romance’ – he managed to encapsulate feelings that so many people had,” says Fletcher. “I don’t think anybody had come along with that.”

Constance says that Morrissey’s less explicitly masculine presentation has “allowed a softer side of men in indie bands to come through” in the years since. “I feel like men can share a bit more in the indie world, and they can sing and get things off their chest a bit more, rather than being just this like brutal anarchist punk or superstar over-sexual glam-rock male,” she says. “Someone like [the 1975’s] Matty Healy – Morrissey was the first of that [archetype]”.

There deserves to be a wave of new features written about The Smiths ahead of its fortieth anniversary on 20th February. There is shockingly little out there right now! Undoubtably one of the most significant debut albums ever, it one that inspired legions of bands. I hope that there is a reissue where we get some extras and demos. The oriignal album either released in a range of coloured vinyl, or perhaps one where we get some remixes. Maybe it is too late to do anything if there are no planned released. I suspect that something has been organised. Look at the legacy of The Smiths:

“Slant Magazine listed the album at 51 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" saying "There's no reason why a mordant, sexually frustrated disciple of Oscar Wilde who loved punk but crooned like a malfunctioning Sinatra should've teamed up with a fabulously inventive guitarist whose influences were so diffuse that it could be hard to hear them at all and formed one of the greatest songwriting duos of the '80s." PopMatters included the album on their list of "12 Essential Alternative Rock Albums from the 1980s" saying: "Morrissey's career are fully accounted for on The Smiths, where they are rendered all the more piercing by Johnny Marr's delicate guitar-picking and John Porter's stark production".

In 1989, the album was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was #481 on that magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The magazine ranked it at #473 on an updated list in 2012, calling it "a showcase for Morrissey's morose wit and Johnny Marr's guitar chime". The album was ranked number 51 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time. It placed at number 73 in The Guardian's list of the 100 Best Albums Ever in 1997”.

Perhaps their most underrated albums, they would produce more complex and ambitious work from 1985’s Meat Is Murder on. Produced by John Porter, The Smiths was recorded in a piecemeal nature because of The Smiths’ touring commitments. Morrissey felt the finished album was not good enough. He is wrong. There is no doubt how wonderful The Smiths’ 1984 debut album. I just regret it has not been praised and dissected more. I hope that at least a few people share some words ahead of its…

FORTIETH anniversary.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Australia’s First Nations Queens

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Australian rapper Barkaa (who is a Malyangapa and Barkindji woman) photographed for GQ in 2020

 

Australia’s First Nations Queens

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I came across an article…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Miss Kaninna/PHOTO CREDIT: Tristan Stefan Edouard

from the end of December from The Guardian that discussed Indigenous women from Australia merging the world’s oldest living cultures together with Hip-Hop whilst also wrestling with racism and social injustice. I was not aware of some of the queens of Australian Indigenous Hip-Hop and whether more is known and explored around the world. How many of these artists get played and celebrated in the U.K. for example? It made me want to dive more into that world and highlight that clash of these amazing artists fighting against racism and injustice whilst also producing the most amazing and powerful music. I am going to end with a playlist feature music from Indigenous queens. There are these incredible First Nations women who are releasing music that is moving and important. Malyangapa Barkindji rapper Barkaa is one example. There are these empowered and inspiring Indigenous artists who have found a way to weaponise their voice:

“When the Indigenous hip-hop artist Charmaine Jasmine Armstrong – also known as Dizzy Doolan – started spitting rhymes 22 years ago she was one of a handful of women in Australia’s rap scene.

There was no one to teach her how to put songs together, promote herself, apply for grants or even upload music. In the early 2000s the Australian scene was dominated by white men – groups like the Hilltop Hoods.

“There was no other female rappers that I knew of really doing their thing,” Dizzy says. “There was no one to look up to, apart from your American groups.”

Two decades later Dizzy is part of a growing number of Indigenous female artists across Australia. They are merging the world’s oldest living cultures with a comparatively new genre of music: rap. They’re also ushering in a new wave of hip-hop that wrestles with racial politics, Australia’s bloody past and social injustice.

In far north Queensland, Dizzy, a Takalak, Agwamin, Gureng Gureng and Wokka Wokka woman, grew up listening to jazz and blues. At 16 she released her first rap song, No Shame – a message about not letting that feeling hold you back.

“My mum’s sister passed away, so I was at a very down point,” she says. “When I discovered songwriting and rap, I was like, ‘Oh, I can put on my pain and struggle and make it sound cool.’ Turning your pain to power.”

At 18 she recorded her first song on to CDs and would walk the streets of Brisbane, putting them into letterboxes.

“I was like, ‘How can we get this music out?’ I had no iTunes, there was nothing like that – we barely had access to the internet.

“But the beauty about hip-hop is you only need a pen and paper. I started with no beat, just banging on the table.”

As mainstream Australia’s taste for rap developed, so did Dizzy’s career. From chasing small gigs in Brisbane she went on to support huge international artists including Fatman Scoop, T-Pain and Akon. Now 38, Dizzy has just released her first full album.

“I wasn’t valued as much as a male would be in the industry,” she says. “But then, you use that, you take that and you use that as power, and prove them wrong.

“Nowadays there’s a big movement of more female artists in the scene, which I’m so excited to see.”

Struggling with backlash

Many female hip-hop artists have found their success has been tainted by racism. Miss Kaninna, who is of Yorta Yorta, Djadja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali heritage, knows this well.

The artist was crowned the 2023 Unearthed artist of the year for her single Blak Britney, which shot to number one on Triple J within a fortnight of its release.

“I’ve had so many positive things birthed out of releasing Blak Britney, but I’ve also experienced more racism in the past eight months than I ever have in almost my entire life,” she says.

Miss Kaninna says the backlash is exhausting – but it drives her to make more music.

“Indigenous people have found a way to weaponise their voice that can reach farther,” she says. “Like, if you thought the Blak Britney or Pinnacle Bitch was hectic, like these motherfuckers aren’t even ready”.

Maybe not artists or a genre/scene that has yet to gain exposure wider around the world, I thought it was interesting reading about Australia’s female First Nations rappers and their work. Articles like this and this also expand on the great names changing Australian Hip-Hop. The struggles they have faced and how they are turning that backlash and prejudice into something constructive and compelling. Below are just a few examples of the amazing rappers who warrant greater attention and spotlight. As we head through this year, different genres and styles of music will come to the forefront. It would be good, if in years to come, the music of Australia’s First Nations queens…

IS better known.

FEATURE: Tomorrow’s Pearls and New Frontiers: Saluting Donald Fagen, His Songwriting Genius with ‘The Dan’, and How His Music Inspires Me – and Why Its Influence Is Rare to Detect Wider Afield

FEATURE:

 

 

Tomorrow’s Pearls and New Frontiers

IN THIS PHOTO: Donald Fagen shot in London, 1991/PHOTO CREDIT: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

 

Saluting Donald Fagen, His Songwriting Genius with ‘The Dan’, and How His Music Inspires Me – and Why Its Influence Is Rare to Detect Wider Afield

_________

MAYBE 10th January…

PHOTO CREDIT: ALTEREDSNAPS/Pexels

will see more people remember the life – on the date of his death – of a mainstream music icon, rather than the seventy-sixth birthday of a more ‘underground’ musical figure. The former is David Bowie, who died on 10th January, 2016; the latter is one Donald Fagen. One of the founders of Steely Dan (co-founder Walter Becker died in 2017) should be celebrated. I am going to talk more about his solo work, why it impacts me, and how it is unusual we have not seen many modern artists imbue that incredible sound and sonic aesthetic. I want to talk about Steely Dan, as that was my first exposure to the New Jersey-born genius that is Donald Fagen. I would suggest y’all check out Good Steely Dan Takes on Twitter and the podcast, Gaucho Amigos. A go-to and well of Steely Dan archives, takes and knowledge, I am sort of aiming this partially in their direction. I am also nodding again to the sublime and phenomenal writer and journalist Alex Pappademas, and illustrator and artist Joan LeMay. They published a book last year, Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan. It is a stunning and gorgeously written and illustrated book where Pappademas and LeMay look at the characters on Steely Dan songs, rather than do a standard biography about Steely Dan. I wrote about the book several times (including here), and I was lucky enough to get a couple of copies of it signed by Joan LeMay at an event in London near where I live (she did at the time; she has moved to New York now I understand). Such a really cool and lovely person, it is a shame I did not get more time to chat (shyness on my part), as she helped create an essential Steely Dan guide.

IN THIS ILLUSTRATION: Aja’s eponymous heroine and cover figure (on the album, there is a photo of Japanese model and actress Sayoko Yamaguchi)/ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Joan LeMay/Courtesy of the University of Texas Press

When I finished reading the book – which now I have read several times -, it made me realise how special Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were as writers. Not only did these songs I first heard in childhood take on new meaning. The characters dropped into verses and choruses are now coming to life. Their importance. The way the duo could write these amazingly vivid people. Even if they have an unnamed character (Deacon Blue’s ‘The Expanding Man’ or the semi-anonymous ‘Peg’ from the song of the same name), you feel like you can see them. Identify with their story. Donald Fagen brought this writing vividness and wonder into his solo material. He has released four solo albums: 1982’s The Nightfly; 1993 Kamakiriad; 2006’s Morph the Cat; 2012’s Sunken Condos. Fagen suggested in this interview that he is working on new material. That was in September 2022. I would be surprised if we went through this year without the announcement of a fifth solo studio album. If many go for his 1982 debut as his best solo work, to me it is his most recent album, Sunken Condos, that is king. I think that there is a real desire for something from Donald Fagen. He still tours with Steely Dan. Even though he was briefly hospitalised last year, he is okay now and will no doubt by touring throughout this year. He is a few days shy of turning seventy-six. It made me think how there is this gap that needs filling by him. Nobody else sounds like him. Even if Steely Dan are hugely popular – if slightly niche and underground still; not as shared and played widely by mainstream radio stations -, it has not been reflected in terms of other musicians’ output. Who could help but be inspired to write their own version of Peg (Aja) or Hey Nineteen (Gaucho)?! What about Donald Fagen’s solo work like New Frontier (The Nightfly)?! Also, perhaps take a cue from the alluringly brilliant Florida Room (Kamakiriad)?!

Even though artists such as Kate Bush have name-checked them a few times in the distant past – and her song, James and the Cold Gun starts with a piano riff very much inspired by The Dan -, you can’t hear Steely Dan or Donald Fagen that overtly and obviously in many artists’ work today. I have written about this before. How come modern artists are not emulating Donald Fagen and Steely Dan?! I posed that on Twitter a while ago and Nerina Pallot – who covered Peg in 2009 - suggested that the studio-craft and sheer hours of recording needed to do so would be expensive and draining. True in a way. Yes, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker spent so much time drilling musicians and seeking that perfect sound. The fact Donald Fagen obsessively worked to get the ‘right mix’ and fade out for Gaucho’s Babylon Sisters means any modern artists trying to do that might be bankrupted very soon! I am not suggesting artists hire Electric Lady Studios in New York for three months and try to release their version of Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic or Katy Lied. At a time when technology can provide a recording base or crutch at least, I suppose hiring musicians would be costly enough. There are artists who could afford it. It is not the case of needing an army of session players for an album. I mean just the vibe and mood of a Steely Dan or Donald Fagen album. The dreamy and lush harmony vocals. Cutting and clever lyrics, together with the richness of sumptuous brass, standout percussion and wonderfully inventive guitar lines. These arresting characters and situations. Maybe any project without Donald Fagen’s vocal might suffer, though I cannot think of any band/artist since Steely Dan who can readily been compared to them.

IMAGE/PHOTO CREDIT: Canva/Pexels

To me, someone like Donald Fagen is so important. Unique too. Reviews around his solo albums, especially Sunken Condos, have sort of had the same thought: he is in a league of his own and superb, though he doesn’t go beyond his comfort zone much; though it is looser than his previous solo records. They are positive reviews, yet most sort of are comparing it to past work and are not entirely surprised. Suggesting the sound doesn’t alter much between albums. Are they expecting a Jazz odyssey or Fagen to go Pop?! If there is nobody like him in music, do you want him to stray too far from what he is best at – and who else will fill that void he leaves?! The clear reality of his music should overshadow critical dubiousness: if it ain’t broke then why the hell fix it?! Rather than this being pure self-indulgence (though there is some of that in there!), I have been inspired to think of my own Fagen-inspired album. Whilst we await a fifth solo outing from the master, his music has compelled me to dream. An album, The Maris Crane Exposé – the juxtaposition and mystery of an unseen and fabled sitcom character and this major scandal -, would feature thirteen songs very much inspired by Donald Fagen. I have put a hypothetical back cover above. The text does blend into/clash with the background at the times, so the tracklisting is: Local Celebrity; Can’t Buy a Thrill; Coco Chanel in Blue (ft. Margaret Atwood); Winters by the Sea; Put It All on Red; Southside (ft. Lana Del Rey); Katy’s Switch; Stuck in the Middle with Me; For Those in the Back Rows; David Has a Masterplan; Hipsterlooza; Control, Alt, Repeat; I’ll Get to New York City One Day Soon (ft. Donald Fagen and Rachel Brosnahan). Of course, it is a dream and something I will not realise! The frustration with this absence of artists bringing Donald Fagen’s sound more obviously into their own music.

That said, I would love to make the album happen, albeit with someone else singing the songs. With topics covered – alongside traditional love and the sort of wise-cracking and sardonic stuff you’d find on Donald Fagen’s albums – would be climate change, transgender rights, gender equality in music, gun violence in the U.S., women’s rights and autonomy, old minds and bodies keeping track of modern music, and the idolisation of TikTok and social media artists. That sounds like a heavy and serious album! As it is very much channelling Donald Fagen, it would mix clever and important lyrics with wit and wordplay. Whilst nearly every major and acclaimed songwriter or artist has someone in music today that contains some of their DNA, I struggle to find where Donald Fagen’s successors are. Maybe it is a case of him being untouchable and that studio process being too intense. Regardless, as Fagen is seventy-six on 10th January, it should also act as an opportunity for people to seek his music out. I hope it inspires artists enough so they can create something very much with him in mind. Perhaps some important Steely Dan anniversaries – Pretzel Logic is fifty this year – might provoke some movement. Artists like Lou Hayter have covered Steely Dan and are massive fans. In fact, she may be the closest to a Steely Dan mega-fan who is bringing some of their genius into her own work. She is someone I admire hugely and feel will inspire other artists to check out Steely Dan/Donald Fagen - and, who knows, become compelled to follow them sonically and lyrically.

IN THIS PHOTO: Lou Hayter

I was excited about Donald Fagen’s upcoming birthday and the fact solo album number five might not be too far away. With him being the only one making this type of wonderful music, should it be left that way?! I, as a non-musician – though I write lyrics and have aspiration to assemble artists together -, have been influenced to think about my own Fagen/Dan-inspired album. I even got a front cover. A beautiful woman in rollerskates with a spot of blood on one cheek. A seductive look where she bites her lip. A gun in one hand. The backdrop seems like a 1950s milkshake or cola bar in California. You see patrons behind her. An old-style journalist taking a photo with a woman next to him weeping. In her other hand she holds down a newspaper where the headline reads “The Maris Crane Expose’”. The backdrop has a sign for Strawberry Kiss (the fictional milkshake-type bar). Pinks, pastel colours and something that would grab the eye, I got all of that by listening to one Donald Fagen song along: Planet D’Rhonda from Sunken Condos (don’t ask how, I just did!). That fantasy of musicians coming in New York and recording this amazing album influenced by him. One where he could take a vocal turn (I paired him with actor Rachel Brosnahan as a couple (friends/lovers) squabbling in a New York diner who eventually cool off and laugh; a backdrop to the closing track). Without it being too much like Donald Fagen, it does owe a debt to him. One cannot have too much Fagen-influenced magic in the world! Maybe Lou Hayter singing. Or someone else I guess. I don’t know! What I do know is that I am almost as excited by the prospect of a Donald Fagen album as anyone else this year (The Last Dinner Party being high up there; Kate Bush, let’s hope, will drop an eleventh studio album soon). His music is part of my childhood…though it sounds so relevant and original today. Both singular and also waiting for someone to adopt, adapt and personalise. There is nobody quite like The Don (of The Dan). As Fagen sings on Morph the Cat’s What I Do: “It's what I do/I'm specially qualified/To keep 'em satisfied/It's what I do”. Weighing up those words, looking at his impact, and seeing the opportunity for artists to learn from this master…

AIN’T that the truth, brother!

FEATURE: Whole Lotta Love: Jimmy Page at Eighty: His Finest Riffs and Examples of Guitar Genius

FEATURE:

 

 

Whole Lotta Love

PHOTO CREDIT: Ross Halfin

 

Jimmy Page at Eighty: His Finest Riffs and Examples of Guitar Genius

_________

ON 9th January…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Jimmy Page (bottom left) alongside his Led Zeppelin bandmates, John Bonham (top left), Robert Plant (top right) and John Paul Jones (bottom right)/PHOTO CREDIT: Rex

the iconic Jimmy Page turns eighty. Born James Patrick Page in Middlesex, he has gone down in music history as one of the most influential musicians ever. A genius guitarist who ranks alongside the very best of all time, he was a quarter of the legendary Led Zeppelin – alongside lead Robert Plant, bass player John Paul Jones, and the late drummer John Bonham. To mark a huge birthday for a musician who has influenced so many others, I am going to end with a playlist demonstrating his phenomenal guitar skills. Some of his best riffs and exceptional musicianship. You can buy books about Jimmy Page if you want to know more about this pioneer. Also, Led Zeppelin’s eponymous debut album turns fifty-five on 12th January. It was released on 12th January, 1969 in the U.S. Even though Page has recorded albums with other artists, it is his work with Led Zeppelin that we know him for best. I will come to that playlist. First, AllMusic provide some biography about a true great:

“Unquestionably one of the all-time most influential, important, and versatile guitarists and songwriters in rock history is Jimmy Page. Just about every rock guitarist from the late '60s/early '70s to the present day has been influenced by Page's work with Led Zeppelin -- his monolithic riffs served as a blueprint for what would eventually become heavy metal, yet he refused to be pigeonholed to any single musical style (touching upon folk, country, funk, blues, and other genres). Page also lent a hand in writing (or co-writing) Zeppelin's vast array of classic songs and produced all their albums. Born on January 9, 1944, in Heston, Middlesex, England, Page picked up the guitar at age 13 after being inspired by the Elvis Presley tune "Baby Let's Play House," and while he took several lessons, was mostly self-taught. Instead of attending college right after high school, Page decided to join his first real rock band, Neil Christian & the Crusaders, whom he toured England with. But Page fell seriously ill (with glandular fever) and was forced to quit and recuperate. Dejected, Page pondered giving up music and focusing on another interest, painting, as he enrolled at an art college in Sutton, Surrey.

With the emergence of such bands as the Rolling Stones in the early '60s and their gritty blues-rock, Page's interest in music perked up once again -- but instead of forming a band right away, he decided to hone his craft by becoming one of England's top session guitarists and producers. Although the exact specifics of which sessions he was involved with have become hazy over time, it's confirmed that he worked with many of the day's top acts, including the Who, Them, Donovan, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones, among others. By 1966, Page was looking to put his session work on hold and join a full-time band; he accepted an offer to play with the Yardbirds (initially as a bassist, then shortly thereafter as a guitarist), as he was paired up with another one of rock's all-time guitar greats, Jeff Beck. Although the Yardbirds began as a straight-ahead blues-rock band, with the inclusion of Page in the lineup, the group began experimenting with psychedelic and hard rock styles.

Despite it being obvious that the Yardbirds were on the downside of their career (Beck left shortly after Page came onboard), Page appeared on the album Little Games and several tours before the band finally called it a day in 1968. With a string of tour dates still set up throughout Europe, Page decided to go through with the shows and put together a new band that was dubbed the New Yardbirds -- including longtime session bassist John Paul Jones, plus newcomers Robert Plant on vocals and John Bonham on drums. After the completion of their initial tour, the band changed its name to Led Zeppelin and explored the still largely uncharted territory of hard rock/heavy metal. The band immediately became one of rock's most successful and enduring bands, issuing a string of classic albums from 1969 through 1975 -- Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti -- which spawned such classic rock radio standards as "Dazed and Confused," "Whole Lotta Love," "Immigrant Song," "Black Dog," "Stairway to Heaven," and "Kashmir," as the band also became a must-see live act in the process. Page also found the time to work with folk artist Roy Harper (most notably his 1971 release, Stormcock, under the alias S. Flavius Mercurius). Zeppelin was arguably the biggest rock band in the world by the mid-'70s (their influence on other rock bands following in their wake cannot be stressed enough) as they launched their own record company, Swan Song, but it was around this time that Page began dabbling with heroin and other substances, eventually leading to him becoming a full-blown addict by the late '70s/early '80s (as a result, his playing began to suffer). Also, Page's interest in the occult became a concern to those around him (he went as far as purchasing a mansion on the Loch Ness in Scotland that was once owned by renowned Satanist Aleister Crowley).

Zeppelin continued issuing albums until the dawn of the '80s (1976's concert movie/soundtrack The Song Remains the Same and Presence, 1979's In Through the Out Door), but tragedy ultimately derailed the quartet -- the death of Plant's young son in 1977 and Bonham's alcohol-related death in 1980. After Led Zeppelin decided to call it quits in late 1980, Page disappeared from sight (it became known later on that he hardly touched his instrument for a long time afterward). It wasn't until 1982 that Page began to emerge from his self-imposed exile, as he composed and played on the motion picture soundtrack to Death Wish III, compiled the Zeppelin outtakes collection Coda, and took part in the 1983 star-studded A.R.M.S. tour, which saw Page unite with Beck and Eric Clapton for a series of shows that raised money for multiple sclerosis research. In 1984, Page guested alongside Plant, Beck, and Nile Rodgers on the hit EP of rock & roll oldies The Honeydrippers, and formed his first band since the demise of Zeppelin, dubbed the Firm. The group featured former Free/Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers, and despite the fact that their self-titled debut was a sizable hit, the band decided to call it a day shortly after the release of its lukewarm-received sophomore effort, Mean Business.

Led Zeppelin fans were given a rare treat when Zeppelin's surviving three members reunited (with drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins) for the mammoth Live Aid at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium in July 1985 -- unfortunately handing in an incredibly under-rehearsed, sloppy performance. Zeppelin reunited again in 1988 for the Atlantic Records 25th anniversary concert at New York's Madison Square Garden (this time Bonham's son, Jason, filled in for his late father behind the kit), and yet again performed another mistake-filled mini set. The same year Page guested on Plant's solo release Now & Zen, as well as issuing his first ever solo recording, Outrider, following it up with a tour that touched upon tracks from all eras of his career. By the early '90s, further rumors of an impending Zeppelin reunion continued to circulate, and after Plant declined an invitation from Page to join forces once again, Page decided to collaborate with former Deep Purple/Whitesnake vocalist David Coverdale, whose vocal style was often compared to Plant's over the years. Page's latest project only lasted a single album, 1993's heavily Zep-like Coverdale/Page, as a proposed world tour was scrapped in favor of just a few select dates in Japan.

In 1994, Plant and Page finally agreed to collaborate once again (although Jones wasn't invited this time), leading to the release of the acoustic set No Quarter the same year, plus a highly popular MTV Unplugged special and sold-out world tour. A year later, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, this being the second time a Page-related band got the nod from the Hall (in 1992, the Yardbirds were honored). The year 1998 saw Plant and Page issue an album of all-new material, Walking into Clarksdale, which was surprisingly not well received by the public, sinking from sight shortly after its release. The duo went their separate ways by the late '90s, as Page joined the Black Crowes for a tour and live album (2000's Live at the Greek). The same year as the album's release, another Crowes/Page tour was cut short due to a back injury Page suffered. But in June of 2001, Page took to the concert stage alongside Plant to celebrate the 60th birthday of Roy Harper.

In 2005 Page was appointed Office of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his charity work, and the following year he was inducted, along with the rest of Led Zeppelin, into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame. A one-off charity concert with all of the surviving Led Zeppelin members, with Jason Bonham on drums, occurred in 2007 at the O2 Arena in London, and in 2008 Page appeared in and co-produced the guitar documentary It Might Get Loud, which focused on the careers and playing styles of Page, Jack White, and U2's the Edge. In 2012 Page, Plant, and Jones received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony amidst rumors circulating about a possible Led Zeppelin reunion in anticipation of the forthcoming deluxe reissues of the band's first three studio albums. By 2014 those rumors had mostly abated, and Page announced that he was going to put together a band and tour as a solo act for the first time since 1988”.

Many happy returns to Jimmy Page for 9th January. A guitar God who is in the music history books, you can tell his work a mile away. Such a distinct player and composer, he is responsible for co-writing (mostly with Robert Plant) some of the greatest songs ever. From Whole Lotta Love, Stairway to Heaven and Black Dog, there is nobody out there like him. As he turns eighty very soon, below is a playlist of songs showcasing his guitar chops. You can hear and tell why he is…

SO respected and loved.

FEATURE: Possibly, Definitely Maybe: The Beginning of Recording on a Classic Album Approaching Its Thirtieth Anniversary

FEATURE:

 

 

Possibly, Definitely Maybe

  

The Beginning of Recording on a Classic Album Approaching Its Thirtieth Anniversary

_________

I have it on…

good authority (well, a few websites!) that Oasis began recording their seminal debut album, Definitely Maybe, on 7th January, 1994. Camping out in Monnow Valley Studio in South Wales, the embryonic touches happened. Those early discussions and noodling. The infant notes that would start the process of a masterpiece. Definitely Maybe turns thirty on 29th August. There will be celebrations around the album’s thirtieth anniversary closer to the time. The first single, Supersonic, is thirty on 11th April. Oasis’ lead, Liam Gallagher, has said he will tour the album this year to mark its thirtieth. I am going to bring in some features around a seismic album from one of our greatest bands. Produced by Owen Morris, Oasis, Mark Coyle and David Batchelor, Definitely Maybe was released through the Creation label. A number one success in the U.K., you can read more about the recording and aftermath here. No doubt one of the biggest and most important albums of the 1990s, I often think of it in context of the ensuring Britpop battle that would form between Oasis and Blur. Blur released their debut in 1991. Their third, Parklife, came out on 25th April, 1994. That album too will get a load of love on its thirtieth. There was this media-stoked rivalry between the band. The truth is that they both released their genius albums in 1994. A brilliant time to be alive! If Cigarettes & Alcohol, Slide Away, and Supersonic were not enough, the album starts with one of the best trios of songs ever: Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, Shakemaker and Live Forever. The band meant business and came swaggering onto the scene.

There are a few interesting articles and bits I want to bring in. I will celebrate Definitely Maybe again closer to its thirtieth anniversary in August. As the band started work and were in the studio in January 1994, it is a good time to look back and how those shoots and early ideas led to something supermassive. TIDAL paid tribute to Definitely Maybe on its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2019. The album still sound so vibrant and essential:

“Just a few months after Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994, Oasis released its debut album, Definitely Maybe, and offered up a no-holds-barred slice of good, old-fashioned rock & roll that changed the face of music almost immediately.

“People always go on and on about the past being this magical, wonderful thing, but that early period really does seem like the last golden period for music,” Noel Gallagher, the former leader of Oasis, says of the earliest days of his band.

The Oasis formula — adding a large dash of the Sex Pistols and T. Rex to the obvious Beatles/Stones/Kinks influences that most British bands wear as a badge of honor — created a turbo-charged sound that’s as urgent today as it was in 1994. But the album had a difficult birth.

Demoed and recorded multiple times over the course of 1993 and 1994 at no less than two major recording studios — and under the tutelage of two producers — Definitely Maybe is a lesson in perseverance and artistic self-assuredness, even as it stands as one of the last great moments from a bygone era in the music business.

According to Oasis’ original drummer, Tony McCarroll, English rock band the Real People initially invited the band in 1992 to record a demo at the group’s Liverpool studio as bait for the record companies. And the demo worked; Alan McGee of Creation Records signed Oasis soon after, sending them back to the Real People to record what was going to be their first single, “Bring it on Down.”

“For whatever reason, it wasn’t coming together,” McCarroll recalls. “I was doing a sound check with the bass drum, snare drum, hi-hat, over and over, and the doors kicked open, and Noel said, ‘Keep that going, keep that going.’ That night he wrote ‘Supersonic.’”

The band went on to tussle with the likes of Dave Batchelor, who’d worked with legendary groups like the Kinks, but their styles didn’t mesh. “He had us all separated, when we were used to being in a small rehearsal space, looking in each other’s eyes,” McCarroll says.

“It’s just wasn’t sounding right,” agrees Oasis founder and guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs. “So we had to have a rethink.” The band then decamped to Sawmills Studio down in Cornwall, England, to work with producer Mark Coyle, the man responsible for their live sound. He recorded the band together, in the same room — and the result was electric.

Noel Gallagher was also on a serious songwriting roll. McCarroll and Bonehead recall that he was writing at a furious pace, with each song seemingly better than the last. “At first a lot of them were just long jams that turned into songs,” McCarroll says. “But there were fully formed songs, too. And they were all amazing.”

“I’ve said this before, but the day he brought in ‘Live Forever,’ I didn’t believe he’d written it,” Bonehead recalls. “I was sure it was some obscure ‘60s B-side. It was just so good, and fully formed. But he just kept churning them out, one after the other, and they were all priceless.”

For his part, Gallagher recalls those early days fondly. “You’re only in that position once,” he says. “You’ve had your whole life to get to that point, and the only expectation people have is that you’re going to have a good time and maybe make a single. But by the time I’d written ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ and ‘Supersonic,’ I did feel a bit unstoppable.”

Oasis had cut its teeth on gigs to small, rowdy crowds on the relatively quiet early ‘90s Northern England music scene, honing their individual skills, and working the kinks out of Gallagher’s already formidable songs. But without a great front man, they would have been nothing, says Bonehead. For that, he turned to Noel’s brother, Liam.

“Even when we were teenagers, and he was passing us by on the football pitch, Liam had the swagger and look,” Bonehead says. “It almost didn’t matter what he sounded like, because he was just born a front man.”

“I have fond memories, because that’s when we started out, when you don’t know which way it’s going to go, even though you think you’re the balls,” Liam Gallagher recalls. “You don’t know how people are going to take you. And then it takes off! So those are fond memories.”

By the spring of 1994, when Oasis made its first rumblings on the U.K. music scene, guitar bands seemed to be becoming a thing of the past. The Smiths and the Stone Roses had both called it a day, Cobain had killed himself, and Primal Scream was struggling to replicate their landmark achievement, 1991’s Screamadelica. Oasis stepped into that breach with big plans.

“I could tell right away that they weren’t aiming to be some little-known indie band,” says Gary Crowley, the legendary UK DJ. “They had tunes and charisma, sure, but they were really funny and enjoying themselves at a time when most other bands seemed to hate being interviewed. Noel wanted them to be the biggest band in the world”.

In 2019, Rock Cellar got together those involved in making Definitely Maybe. Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, original drummer Tony McCarroll, plus the man who signed Oasis, Creation Records’ head Alan McGee, the legendary D.J. Gary Crowley, and host of The Oasis Podcast, James Corcoran, told the story and shared their memories of the mighty Definitely Maybe:

“25 years after Oasis announced its arrival to the world, Noel and Liam Gallagher, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Tony McCarroll, plus Creation Records head Alan McGee, DJ Gary Crowley and the Oasis Podcast host James Corcoran, tell the origin story of the band’s groundbreaking debut album.

The Oasis formula — adding a large dash of the Sex Pistols and T. Rex to the obvious Beatles/Stones/Kinks influences — created a turbo-charged sound that’s as urgent today as it was in 1994, twenty-five years ago, when Definitely Maybe, Oasis’ debut album, hit record store shelves.

Rock Cellar gathered together interviews with lead singer Liam Gallagher, guitarist and principal songwriter Noel Gallagher, guitarist and Oasis founder Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, original drummer Tony McCarroll, plus the man who signed Oasis, Creation Records head Alan McGee, the legendary DJ Gary Crowley, and host of The Oasis Podcast James Corcoran, and the end result is the story about the greatest debut album ever made, and what it still means, all these years later, a key part of Oasis’ impact on the world.

Liam Gallagher: It was the beginning, and all that, that was obviously exciting.

Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs: It doesn’t feel like twenty-five years ago. That’s the scary fucking thing. Twenty-five years in anyone’s life is a long time!

Liam Gallagher: Yeah, our goal was getting a record deal. Then having the fucking brains to go into a studio and put my fucking life on hold to go and make some music. Not getting into a silly 9 to 5 job like all the other dickheads there. And not be caught wearing leather trousers.

If I get out of this life without turning into a knob head and being photographed with leather trousers on I think that would have been a bit of a success.

Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs: We started off as the Rain, but that was just a bit of fun. I’d always played guitar. I had a drum machine. I had a bass guitar. And it was just a case of not having much mood to go out and drink every night. I was friends with Guigs, and it was just a case of us chatting and me saying, “You know what, Guigs, why don’t we start a band?” And Guigs was like, “Well, I can’t play an instrument.” And I said, “Well, you know what, I’ve got a bass guitar, and a bass guitar, all you’ve got to do is hit one note. I’ll show you.” So that was it, really.

Then we had a drum machine, and Chris Hutton, who’d sing, but he wasn’t the best singer in the world. And we didn’t have the best songs in the world. But it was a bit of fun, playing and making noise with the drum machine in the garage. That’s how that started.

Tony McCarroll: We were well aware of each other from 10, 11 upwards. I was invited down to watch them one night, he they a drum machine in the corner. They were good. Bonehead was always impressive on an instrument, whatever it was, whatever he played. I joined Rain that night, probably early nineties; 1991.

Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs: The Stone Roses were the big influence. That was in the late eighties. We used to go to Hacienda. On a Tuesday night, they used to have what was called the “local band night.” I think it was a one-pound in then. There’d be eight bands. So we used to rehearse and then after rehearsals we’d go to Hacienda for local band night. It was fucking brilliant, because you’d see these bands and it was cool and retro. We saw Nico playing there, she was living in Manchester at the time.

Tony McCarroll: We definitely had a Manchester vibe. But we had aspirations from that point on. Yes, we want to be famous. Yes, we want to be successful in the music business. We put our hearts into it from that point. I do credit Bonehead. That big wall of sound? That beefy, big, dangerous wall of sound? That carried over to Oasis.

Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs: Liam was always that kid that you’d see on the street. He always had the coolest clothes. He always had the coolest haircut. He always had the coolest walk. If you didn’t know him, you’d take one look at him and think, “That guy’s got to be in a band. He’s definitely in a band. I’ve just got to find out what band he’s in.”

He just looked the part. He didn’t look like a footballer. He didn’t look like a guy who worked in an office. He looked like a guy who was made to be in a band. He just had that whole charisma about him, which he still does. So Liam had never sung before, but he was inspired by the Roses, and that’s what he wanted to do. He came over to mine and sat on the floor and played along to a couple of demos I’d made. His voice came out and it was like, wow. It’s nothing like the Liam we know now. He was a lot more angelic. Melodic. I don’t know how to describe his voice. Upbeat. But he certainly had “that” voice.

Tony McCarroll: The sound was always getting better and crisper. Everyone bang on the notes. We free-formed band songs.

Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs: As soon as Liam came in, we got really going with the singing. We were like, “We’ve got to change the mood of the tunes. We can’t stay as the Rain.”

Tony McCarroll: I was unaware of what he could do. Obviously, his voice has had a battering since then, but he had very clean-cut, high notes, and he was hitting those high notes. You’d never believe Liam Gallagher could do it like that, but yeah, he was there. And I do remember, because I worked with him when he was 16, 17, and he was always saying, “I am going to be famous. I am going to be famous.”

Lo and behold, he kept to his word and made it happen.

Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs: Noel came back off tour with Inspiral Carpets, and asked, “What’s new?” We said, “Liam’s in the band.” He said, “What? Liam’s what? Doing what?” We said, “We’ve got a band, we’re playing down at the boardwalk.” Noel went, “I’ve got to come down to see this.”

Noel came down to see us. And I think he thought, yeah, there’s something there. You look like a band. The songs aren’t there, but you look like a band doing it on the stage. And he was like, “What about if I come down to the rehearsal room where you rehearse? I’ll come down and bring my guitar and bring my amp and we can have a jam.” And we were like, “Yeah, cool.” Which he did. He came down and that extra guitar,

Noel’s guitar, lead guitar, just jamming, had an immediate effect. We knew we had to bring Noel in. But then of course, Noel being Noel, while he was on tour with the Inspiral Carpets, he’d been writing songs. We all knew he wrote songs, but he started playing these songs that he’d written, and it was just like, wow, fucking hell. We were like, this guy’s got to be in the band. “Noel, you’ve got to be in the band and write the songs.” And he joined.

Tony McCarroll: Noel came down to check out what was going on. And I asked him to join, in front of Liam. At first, I believe he wanted to play bass. Or I think Liam wanted him to play bass. That was uncomfortable.

Alan McGee (Creation Records): They played four songs the night I saw them for the first time, and signed them: “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” “Up In The Sky,” “Bring It On Down” and a Beatles cover. They played great. Liam sang great. Noel played great guitar.

Liam Gallagher: I just remember just being, like, alright, cool we got a deal. It’s our chance to fucking make it happen and sort it out, you know what I mean? You know, let’s not fucking blow it. Fuck Knebworth. Fuck Maine Road. Fuck all that. The best part of it was getting a deal, getting in the studio, and getting out of shitty little venues.

Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs: When McGee signed us, then we got a manager. We didn’t have a manager at the time. We found Marcus Russell, because Johnny Marr recommended him. And we just went out. We gigged and gigged and gigged. Every night. I was driving the van, and the band were in the back of the van, and we just went out and we gigged, and we gigged. We were so fucking tight”.

I am going to finish up with some reviews. The final one related to a reissued version of the album, complete with demos. The sort of sketches that were being made around this time thirty years ago. They would form into their timeless songs that soundtracked a generation. The BBC reviewed Definitely Maybe in 2007. I think that this is an album that will be talked about for generations. You can see the legacy of Definitely Maybe. It inspired a legion of bands. It continues to influence and compel artists to write and pick up guitars:

“In August 1994, just a few months after Kurt Cobain killed himself (and the grunge movement that he'd become the reluctant figurehead of), Oasis’ debut Definitely Maybe was released.

To put this seismic attitude shift into perspective: Kurt’s working title for the final Nirvana album, In Utero, was I Hate Myself And I Want To Die. Definitely Maybe’s most popular song is called Live Forever.

So how did two punters from Burnage, an unremarkable area of Manchester, become so famous? Despite the fact that the second album, (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory, sold more copies and propelled them to tabloid superstardom and 10 Downing Street, the answers are all here.

The album kicks off with Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, which Noel has since said was the end of everything he wanted to say as a songwriter. He’s right in a sense, as it’s easily one of the greatest songs about being up on stage ever written. On arguably Liam’s greatest ever vocal performance he goads all-comers with: "You’re not down with who I am / Look at you now you’re all in my hands tonight." And that’s without even considering the attendant guitar riffs that snag your brain like barbed wire on your best jumper. If you’ve got a mate or relative who’s having a bad time of it, play them this, then watch them grow 10 feet tall and walk down the street like they rule the whole world.

Although at this point it’s easy to imagine the faces of every other British band of the time sadly searching the classifieds for a new vocation, there are still 10 more tracks left. How about Supersonic, a sky-scraping anthem about individuality adopted by the masses? Or Cigarettes and Alcohol, a brash T Rex paean to hedonism? Or Bring It On Down, a non-stop, no-messing punk stomp to certain death or glory?

It’s easy to trot out the tired argument that these Mancs don’t have the power of The Stone Roses or The Smiths because the songs don’t have the wistful, melancholic air that one comes to expect from songs emerging from that rainy Lancashire city. Is it true to say "It’s just Beatles songwriting with Sex Pistols attitude"? Maybe. But have these songs transcended the Conservative-greyed and Britpop-glossed years in which they became public property to become heroic, gigantic pop monuments in their own right? Definitely”.

In 2014, TIME reviewed the twentieth anniversary edition of Definitely Maybe. I remember when the album came out in 1994 and the excitement in the air. It was the year I started high school. In fact, I started in September 1994, so it was this transition period where I was being kept up and positive by music. Definitely Maybe was a huge revelation:

“When Definitely Maybe dropped in August of 1994, it wasn’t out of the blue. Oasis had steadily been releasing singles for a few months prior, beginning with “Supersonic” on April 11, 1994, six days after Cobain’s suicide. Though “Supersonic” was the first official single released by Oasis (and it even charted in the UK Top 40), the group had been passing around a ‘white label’ demo of their track “Columbia” for a few months prior, but with little interest generated. With the deluxe reissue of Definitely Maybe, that white label demo version has been included, as well as an alternate mix of “Columbia”. Not only does it show that the band was on to something, but also how easily the band could have been written off (especially when listening to the third version of the song included on disc three).

Usually I am not a fan of overloaded box sets with all sorts of multiple versions of songs that barely differ, but in this case I actually find it somewhat interesting to go back and hear what Oasis sounded like before they got a proper producer. For the most part, the demos represent a band that had good ideas and were on the right path, but that something was just not quite all the way there. In John Harris’ book Britpop!, Creation Records label head Tim Abbott summed it up perfectly: “[We] had a great sesh, and we listened to it over and over again. And all I could think was, ‘It ain’t got the attack.’ There was no immediacy.” Consider the two versions of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”, the album version and the demo. Though it is still filled with swagger, the demo lacks the braggadocio of the finalized product, yet in a weird twist, actually highlights Liam Gallagher’s voice better. I have never been one to idolize Liam or his style. In fact, I think his voice is rather lackluster, minimal in range; and though he has been heralded as a cross between John Lennon and John Lydon, he’s far more nasally than either (and when you consider how Noel stood in successfully for his brother during the group’s Unplugged performance, it almost relegates Liam to desired but not necessary for the band’s success). But listening to Liam on these demos, dare I say that there is a bit of range in his singing? It almost begs the question as to what happened to it in mixing.

The most obvious thing taken away from the demo versions of these songs is that though Noel had the songwriting chops and vision, he was missing the objectivity that comes with an outside producer, in this case Mark Coyle, Dave Batchelor (a friend of Noel’s from his days working with Inspiral Carpets), and Owen Morris, an associate of Johnny Marr and an engineer-turned-producer trained in the ways of Phil Spector and Tony Visconti. It was Morris who would be instrumental in putting the balls on Definitely Maybe. In fact, it would be fair to say that without Morris, there would be no Definitely Maybe; at least not in the way we’ve come to know. One of the first things he did was effectively ego-check Noel when he stripped off all the guitar overdubs that Gallagher had layered over the album’s material, and as John Harris stated, “remoulded [the album] into something positively pile-driving.” Morris would go on to produce the first four Oasis albums.

Think about the band’s third single, a song described by Noel as “the tune that changed everything,” and the first that really woke people up to Oasis’ potential: “Live Forever”. In addition to cutting out part of Noel’s guitar solo to tighten things up and make it sound less like what he described as “Slash from Guns n’ Roses,” Morris excised the demo’s acoustic guitar intro to give the song a bit more weight, and instead had drummer Tony McCarroll play a beat that not only solidifies the song but helps give it a boost in becoming the monumental track it would eventually become known as. It’s almost a twisted irony that McCarroll played a part that almost immediately identifies the song but was later fired from the band by Noel for not having the skills to do the job.

In spite of Noel’s objections to an album having five singles, if one were to include both the white label release of “Columbia” and the US single for “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”, Oasis plucked six songs out of 11 from their debut album, four of which were released before the album, and three rather successfully. And that certainly does not suggest that the non-singles were not worthy of release. “Slide Away”, the last rocker on the album, and a love song on par with “Wonderwall” but with more “grr” and less “ahh,” was originally slated for release until Noel objected. Easily one of the strongest tracks on the album, it has gone on to become a fan favorite and I can only imagine that it’s amazing live. Every time I hear Liam wail that refrain, I see pyrotechnics going off all around.

In spite of everything that Oasis would become on record, on stage, in the tabloids, Definitely Maybe stands above it all. It came before the drama and the bullshit that fed into the media’s desire for conflict. Be it the interpersonal conflict between the brothers Gallagher or the inter-band conflicts with Blur and others, this album remains unscathed. Yes, the brothers fought prior to and during this album’s creation, release, and tour, but not to the point that it was overwhelming or distracting to the fans. That would come later. As would the “Battle of Britpop,” so labeled by the press when Blur’s label intentionally released their single “Country House” the same day as Oasis was set to release “Roll With It”. (Blur may have won the battle, but Oasis most certainly won the war.) And of course, the press’ obsession with the band’s antics, especially Liam’s, rather than the group’s music, wouldn’t overtake everything for another couple of albums. At the time of Definitely Maybe, there was nothing but hope and promise for Oasis. For a band that set out to take over the world and be the greatest rock and roll group since the Beatles, they were well on their way”.

Go and get Definitely Maybe if you can. You can also read about the creation of Definitely Maybe and why it is such an important album. When Oasis were at Monnow Valley Studio and started work on their debut album on 7th January, 1994, could they have known what would come?! How it would be received and how their career would take off?! In one of music’s best years, Oasis’ debut album might be the defining statement and biggest event. They would follow it a year later with an album perhaps even better regarded: (What's the Story) Morning Glory? It all started with the epic Definitely Maybe. If the title hints at uncertainty and modesty, Oasis’ debut album made a confident and emphatic statement about their quality and importance. Absolutely no…

QUESTION about it!

FEATURE: Groovelines: The Bangles – Eternal Flame

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

  

The Bangles – Eternal Flame

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THERE is a good reason…

IN THIS PHOTO: Susanna Hoffs

why I am spotlighting the amazing Eternal Flame by The Bangles. Not only is it a song very dear to me. One of its writers, and a member of The Bangles, Susanna Hoffs, celebrates her sixty-fifth birthday on 17th January. One of my favourite artists, I wanted to salute her. Go deep with an amazing song. Released on 23rd January, 1989, Eternal Flame soon celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary. That is the U.K. release at least, as the song started at eighty-one in the singles chart of 29th January to 4th February, 1989. It is a song that is very important to me. One I remember coming out and blowing me away. From the arresting, beautiful and emotional vocal from Susanna Hoffs, through to the video – one that I saw played on VH1 back in the day -, it a thing of wonder. Taken from The Bangles’ 1988 album, Everything, Eternal Flame was the second single from it (after In Your Room). Like In Your Room, Eternal Flame was written by Susanna Hoffs, Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg. A number one in the U.S. and U.K., Eternal Flame is one of the best-loved songs from The Bangles. The group, Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson, Michael Steele and Debbi Peterson delivered the song with such purity and power. A track that is still lodged in my head nearly thirty-five years after its release. I will come to an article that goes deep inside Eternal Flame. I know there was a feeling within the band that, because Hoffs had the lead vocal on this song and In Your Room, she was being placed at the front – their lead and central focus. I don’t think that was ever true. A case of two songs where she was lead chosen as singles. I hope Susanna Hoffs – who will probably not get to read this – doesn’t mind me celebrating a song that maybe contributed to the break-up of The Bangles. The group did part ways in 1989., yet they re-formed in 1999 and released albums in 2003 and 2011.

IN THIS PHOTO: The Bangles from left, Vicki Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, Michael Steele in 1988/PHOTO CREDIT: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy

In 2021, Susanna Hoffs and co-writer Billy Steinberg explained how they made Eternal Flame. The Guardian got the lowdown on one of the classic tracks of the 1980s. A story I thought was a myth when I was younger – regarding Susanna Hoffs being naked in the studio when recording her vocal – turned out to be true. It was a weird and wonderful time for The Bangles. With songs like this in their locker, there was also a sense of tension and exhaustion:

“Susanna Hoffs, singer, guitarist, co-writer

In 1988, it felt like the Bangles had been touring endlessly. Our second album, Different Light, with the singles Manic Monday and Walk Like an Egyptian, had been released two years earlier. Now, finally, we could take a break from living on buses together.

I began collaborating with the songwriting team Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who wrote Like a Virgin and True Colors. Writing, for me, had always meant picking up a guitar and crafting a melody; the lyrics would emerge after I felt the emotion of the song. But Billy and Tom would always start with a lyric.

I went over to Billy’s house and was telling him about a Bangles trip to Graceland, in Memphis. When we got to Elvis’s grave, we started recreating Spinal Tap singing Heartbreak Hotel there when we noticed that the eternal flame by the grave was out because it was raining. Billy said: “Wait, eternal flame? That is a great name for a song.” Within about an hour we had the lyrics.

The song is about connection, hope and what we hold most dear. There’s a yearning in it, from the awareness that not everything is eternal, but we don’t want love to seem fragile; we want to depend on it.

When we made the demo at Tom’s studio, we recorded what we instinctively felt should have been a keyboard part, the little tick tock running through the song, on guitar. This was because the Bangles didn’t have a keyboard player. It was Vicki Peterson and me on guitar, Michael Steele on bass and Debbi Peterson on drums. Nevertheless, my enthusiasm and excitement about the song were so great that I carried the demo cassette around in my bag and would play it for anyone willing to listen.

Cut to the tense moment the band sat down with our producer, Davitt Sigerson, to vote which songs would be on the next album, Everything. Eternal Flame was rejected and I was heartbroken, but in the Bangles everybody played and sang and was represented creatively.

Once recording the album was under way, Davitt said: “I keep thinking about Eternal Flame and I know this wonderful keyboard arranger. Let’s go over to his studio and mess around.” When the band heard the result, they decided to go along for the journey.

Davitt had recently produced Olivia Newton-John and pranked me by telling me she did her best vocals in the nude. I imagined it would feel like skinny dipping –vulnerable yet freeing – and I decided to try it. Nobody could see me; there was a baffle in front of me and it was dark. After the first song went so well, I became superstitious about it, like in sports where you have to have your rabbit’s foot, and ended up compelled to skinny dip my way through most of the album, including Eternal Flame.

In 1988, it was the beginning of the end for the Bangles. We’d spent our 20s together, starting as a powerpop, garage-rock, local club band and eventually releasing three albums with Columbia records. After Everything was released, we went off to create our own music in different ways. But we have come back together to tour since, and that same bond is still there between us. It’s an eternal flame!

Billy Steinberg, songwriter

When Susanna told me about the eternal flame for Elvis at Graceland, it made me recall a childhood memory. My family was not very religious but my parents did send me to Sunday school. It was quiet and dark in the synagogue and there was a little red bulb they used to call the eternal flame. I immediately took out a notebook and free associated to the title.

When Tom and I wrote the songs True Colors, Like a Virgin and Alone, we had to make demos and then try to find a record company executive who thought they would be good for one of their artists. We were really lucky because Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and Heart sang the songs beautifully. But it was nothing like when you’re in a room with Chrissie Hynde or Susanna Hoffs, hearing one of those great pop singers sing the song as you create it. It’s so much less arduous and a great inspiration.

Eternal Flame was retro in that it has no chorus. It is structured like an old Beatles song, with the title tagged on to the end of the verse: “Am I only dreaming / Or is this burning an eternal flame?” The Beatles do a similar kind of thing on We Can Work It Out. Instead of choruses, both songs have two bridges (or middle eights). In We Can Work It Out, the bridge is the part that starts, “Life is very short / And there’s no time…” And in Eternal Flame it begins, “Say my name / Sun shines through the rain…” In the 60s, it wasn’t that unusual to have songs structured in that way, but, by the 80s, choruses were much more developed and middle eights had started to disappear.

The enduring popularity of the song is very gratifying. Some songs are hits and then they vanish, and some songs remain evergreen. I think Eternal Flame has that status”.

I love the bones of Eternal Flame. It is a magnificent song that Susanna Hoffs has performed quite a few times live through the years. One she feels an attachment to, I wanted to tie it into her sixty-fifth birthday celebration. An eternal goddess, let’s hope we get a special version of this very soon. I melt every time I hear her sing it! Also in 2021, Stereogum highlighted Eternal Flame for their feature, The Number Ones:

“Eternal Flame” does not sound much like a Bangles song. By the time they recorded 1988’s Everything, their third album, the Bangles had carved out a reliable chart presence with a very specific sound, a jangly and garage-y and consistently upbeat take on harmony-heavy ’60s folk-rock. With that sound, the Bangles had broken through in a huge way. The band’s 1986 single “Walk Like An Egyptian” had spent a month at #1, and Billboard had eventually named it the biggest song of 1987. “Walk Like An Egyptian” also kicks ass. So do the Bangles’ other hits. So when the Bangles came out with “Eternal Flame,” a #1 hit that completely diverged from their established sound, a whole lot of people — some of whom may have been actual Bangles — felt like the song was bad. These people were wrong.

In the late ’80s, the songwriting team of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly went on a ridiculous run, cranking out a series of #1 hits that also happen to be bangers: Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” Heart’s “Alone,” Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional.” Steinberg was a Bangles fan, and he went to see the band at the Palace in Hollywood. There, he met Susanna Hoffs. Hoffs and Steinberg were both fans and scholars of ’60s pop, and they made plans to write some songs together. One of those songs was “I Need A Disguise,” which Belinda Carlisle recorded for her 1986 solo debut Belinda. That’s a pretty good start.

At one of their songwriting sessions, Hoffs told Steinberg and Kelly a story about when the Bangles had gone to visit Graceland while touring through Memphis. At Graceland, there was an outdoor shrine to Elvis with what was supposed to be an eternal flame. The day they visited, though, it was raining, so the eternal flame was out. Steinberg immediately suggested that “Eternal Flame” would be a great song title. As a kid in Palm Springs, he’d gone to a synagogue that had an eternal flame of its own. In Fred Bronson’s Billboard Book Of Number 1 Hits, a book that I cite in pretty much every column these days, Steinberg says, “There was a little red light — like a little red Christmas light — that they called the eternal flame. I remember thinking that there was this flame that could burn forever. It seemed very mysterious. It was like thinking about how far the universe goes, those little things that kids think about that blow their minds.”

Hoffs and Steinberg wrote the “Eternal Flame” lyrics together quickly, and Steinberg loves pointing out that the song has no chorus. (The “say my name, sun shines through the rain” bit is technically a middle eight.) Hoffs and Steinberg wanted “Eternal Flame” to sound like a track from the ’60s, when pop songwriting often had a less rigid set of rules. (Steinberg: “For us, ‘Eternal Flame’ was the Beatles meet the Byrds.”) Kelly arranged the music, and he and Hoffs recorded a demo together. They knew that “Eternal Flame” would sound better with a piano, but they used guitar on the demo instead, since the Bangles didn’t have a keyboard player. Hoffs sang lead on the demo, and Kelly sang the backup harmonies.

“Eternal Flame” is a love song, of course. But what’s striking about it is how uncertain — how fearful — Susanna Hoffs sounds. She’s head over heels for somebody, but she can’t luxuriate in her own happiness because she’s too consumed with the idea that this love is a fleeting thing. When she goes over everything in her mind, a future without this person becomes a horrifying possibility: “A whole life, so lonely, and then come and ease the pain/ I don’t wanna lose this feeling.”

Those “Eternal Flame” lyrics aren’t statements. They’re questions. Do you understand? Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Or is this burning an eternal flame? It’s hard to imagine Hoffs’ narrator actually asking these questions. Instead, “Eternal Flame” sounds, to me, more like an internal monologue. Hoffs doesn’t really want to tell this person that she watches them when they’re sleeping. Instead, these terrible worries well up within her, and they stay there.

Hoffs’ phrasing on “Eternal Flame” just kills me. She wails the everloving fuck out of the song, but there’s no conviction in her delivery. Instead, her voice cracks and quavers. She’s in anguish. The arrangement answers that anguish back. It’s vast and majestic — strings, synths, pianos, kettle drums. (In the video, each new crescendo triggers a firework explosion or a crashing wave. I love that shit.) The other Bangles, harmonizing behind Hoffs, sound dispassionate and ethereal, like ghosts. They can’t soothe her narrator. All they can do is echo her questions back at her and offer ahhhs that at least come off vaguely sympathetic. In its all-crushing drama, “Eternal Flame” is almost gothic. The song offers Hoffs’ narrator no real comfort. When “Eternal Flame” ends, her questions are still open. She still doesn’t know if this flame is eternal”.

A stunning song that has passion and trepidation in the vocal. This sensed of yearning (and burning) that also has caution and fear. A fascinating song co-written and sung by Susanna Hoffs. She is sixty-five on 17th January…so I wanted to use this opportunity to wish her a happy birthday. Also show my love for one of my favourite songs ever. It is so stirring that it does something to me every time I hear it. When it comes to this song and its white-hot flame, it is something that can…

NEVER extinguish.

FEATURE: Don’t Call It a Comeback! The Media’s Overuse of the Word ‘Return’ – and Whether It Reflects Our Need for Constant Engagement

FEATURE:

 

 

Don’t Call It a Comeback!

PHOTO CREDIT: Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels

 

The Media’s Overuse of the Word ‘Return’ – and Whether It Reflects Our Need for Constant Engagement

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THIS might seem like an odd feature idea…

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

but I can’t help noticing that, whenever an artist releases a new track or album after a short time away, it is called a ‘return’. It may seem like a minor point but, as there is no timeline or rule on how often an artist needs to release music, the word does seem quite pressuring. Like they have been in the wilderness for years and are now back after all of this time. Sure, if someone like Tom Waits released a new single, that might be seen as a return. His album, Bad As Me, came out in 2011. Even so, he has not retired or gone missing in action. Although it does get applied to some artists who have not made music in a few years, you see it all the time in articles relating to a new single from someone who released material a few months before. It doesn’t help that artists like Paul Weller are calling out young musicians who leave gaps between albums! I remember, when Sampha announced news of Lahai, it was seen as a big return. Even if Process, his Mercury-winning debut, was released in 2017, he had not retired or was suggesting he’d be gone. This feeling that he has come back to us after such a long time! Even artists who leave a few months between singles are said to ‘return’. I know what the music media means. They are saying they are back with new material. That is what a music career is. As I said, there is no ruling how often artists should be releasing material, so there is that oddness to saying they have ‘returned’. It can be ridiculous in some cases; maybe someone who released as recently as two or three months ago puts another single out. Suddenly, it is this ‘return’! It sort of makes me wonder whether, in a streaming age where you can get access to music all the time, there is a feeling that artists need to keep producing or fear being irrelevant or passed over!

It bothers me a bit, as I would encourage artists to take as much time as they need. This excitement and anticipation when they release a single or album then leads to people listening and adding to that praise. Do artists feel they need to keep busy and put out music right away?! Fine if that is really what they want to do. I still think music is an industry where there is an unspoken expectation of prolific-ness and productivity. If you dare to take a year between albums or even take six months to follow up one single with another, articles will then keep talking about you returning to the fold. The insulation that it has been a while and, don’t sweat, they are now back! It does seem quite absurd. Rather than this being their musical comeback, the artist is simple conducting their career on their own term. I wonder if this applies to any other industry. Where there is this relief almost when an artist releases music and we sort of assumed they had faded away. Maybe I am reading too much into it, yet so many music news articles relating to new material has that word ‘return(s)’ in it. Such an odd choice. I am not going to highlight or out one website that does it more than others. It is a word I have seen applied to so many. I guess, factually and in terms of the definition, a new song after a little time is a ‘return’. I often wonder what affect that has on an artist if they read it. I don’t think I am bringing up anything new or revelatory. There has on been pressure on artists to put music out as often as possible.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

I wonder whether this can overwork them. Coupled with tour demands and the pressure to keep up with competition and stay in the public eye can lead to mental health challenges and burn out. Maybe social media is a factor in this need for new stuff all the time. Perhaps artists feeling like the streaming age does not pay them enough. That they can earn a living if they keeping pumping out albums, tour them and then repeat. In 2019, The Guardian asked why Pop especially was so demanding and productivity-driven:

“For many artists who release independently, whether they are rappers dropping mixtapes or punks with tape labels, fast-and-furious releases are nothing new. But even major-label pop stars are at it. Ariana Grande released her album Thank U, Next just six months after her previous LP, Sweetener; within two months, she had moved on again, releasing the non-album single Monopoly, later followed by Boyfriend, and is now at No 1 with Don’t Call Me Angel, a collaboration with Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey. This month, before listeners had barely had a chance to hear all of Del Rey’s new album, Norman Fucking Rockwell!, she announced that her next record, White Hot Forever, will arrive as a surprise release within the next year.

The studio album was once the industry’s most valued commodity. Back in 2000, the US music industry earned 92.3% of its revenue from the sale of CD albums. It was the peak of the format’s power since its introduction by Columbia Records in 1948. Leaving behind the singles-focused culture spearheaded in the 50s by A&Rs such as Phil Spector, the album hit new levels of commercial and cultural significance in the 60s with the Beatles. Initially, albums were released at the same breakneck pace as singles had been in the 50s, but by the 70s, the rate had slowed as the album became the most revered form of musical expression. “Judgments were simpler in pop’s early days, partly because rock’n’roll was designed to be consumed in three-minute take-it-or-leave-it segments,” wrote famed critic Robert Christgau in Christgau’s Record Guide in 1981. “The rise of the LP as a form – as an artistic entity – has complicated how we perceive and remember what was once the most evanescent of the arts.”

But today, the pace has “completely returned to a hit-driven model,” says Jamie Oborne, manager of the 1975 and head of their label, Dirty Hit Records. “We’ve returned to the days of the 50s or 60s, where people are just smashing out singles in the hope that one sticks. There is a lot of output that is just about building consumption”.

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

There is so much competition and saturation now. A minefield or factors to consider when you come into the industry. The challenges that artists face. I think there has always been the pressure to release material so that there is no drop in popularity and visibility. This push and expectation to get caught in this cycle can have devastating consequences. This article from 2018 asked if there is too much pressure on artists. With the rise of TikTok and social media, coupled to the sheer mass of artists and options out there, this has only intensified:

“Artists have an enormous amount of pressure on them from having to look good and act well at all times, to making and putting out music at a frequent rate, to touring around the world. There are many cases of artists who suffer from depression and anxiety as well as others having drug addictions which lead to suicide. These may have nothing to do with the music industry and to do with the individuals mental state, but the stresses that the industry has on its stars, definitely doesn’t help. Artists who have admitted to have suffered from mental health issues include, Adele, Demi Lovato, Zayn Malik, Selena Gomez, Kanye West, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Sia, Justin Bieber and Britney Spears.

Speaking to NME about his Purpose tour, Bieber said, “You get lonely, you know, when you’re on the road. People see the glam and the amazing stuff, but they don’t know the other side. This life can rip you apart.” As well as this Zayn Malik, who had to pull out of the Capitol Summertime Ball, said “With the magnitude of the event, I have suffered the worst anxiety of my career. I cannot apologise enough, but I want to be honest with everyone.” “I have anxiety attacks, constant panicking on stage, my heart feels like it’s going to explode because I never feel like I’m going to deliver, ever,” Adele told Q magazine. With Bieber, Malik and Adele all stating that the pressures can be too much, along with many other artists, it shows that the industry should be more aware of how their stars are being treated and should take that into consideration. With drugs and suicide also being prominent in the music industry, we have seen stars like Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Kurt Cobain, Michael Hutchence and most recently Avicci take their own lives. This may be the cause of their own mental health bu the music industry would not have helped them if we take the statements from Bieber, Malik and Adele into account”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wellington Cunha/Pexels

The faster an artist works to put out material, the lower the quality. There cannot be that same satisfaction and completeness. Of course, I used a single word the media overuse as a jumping off point. It is not their fault that there seems to be expectations of frequent releases from our artists. It just seems to be the end of the cycle. Almost a sigh of relief that, even if they leave a few months between songs, an artist is back and it is this big thing. In actuality, they there is nothing special or anything that requires such a word! The media are just doing their job. They know that the music industry wants this churn. Artists feel pressured to push hard so that they can keep up. I am not sure what the answer is. This recent article discusses social media’s role when it comes to the heat some artists feel to fulfil a huge demand. In the modern time, how many new artists especially can leave a few years between albums? What if you only want to release a few singles a year? Is that enough?! I think we all need to stop expecting so much from artists. But are we simply conditioned to do that?! How do you resolve this?! Maybe something we are going to be asking years from now:

“Another point to the downside of this expectation is simply the question of the quality of work. Putting together and crafting an album to be able to release a collection of songs is a ton of work and even then, it may not be well received.  But albums that end up being award winning or even fan favorites take time and effort, so who are we to rush that? I think that a perfect example of quality work taking time is Adele. Adele is known for putting out incredible albums, maybe doing a tour, and then disappearing for a few years.

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

No one is really expecting her to put out a single every few months, or even put out a yearly album. However, many artists, especially up and coming, don’t have the privilege of being as established as someone like Adele where they don’t have to make efforts to stay relevant. So for these up and coming artists, it seems that their only hope at success in their music is to just consistently put out music and hope fans are still liking it, which most likely leads to a severe case of burnout before they really even get started in their career. Plus, as these newer artists work to put out music often, they are probably put in a position to not spend as much time on each individual song in order to really craft a masterpiece, which then leads to a lower chance of them gaining newer fans due to the decreased quality of their work. Even though I am not an artist myself, just thinking of that scenario makes me stressed out and overwhelmed”.

I do worry! It is funny that an artist can be seen by the music media as returning to us even though they simply have not released material for a little while. It calls into question a bigger issue that has blighted the industry for years. Perhaps to the point where we cannot return. The mental health pressure artists have to stay afloat and seen is immense. No wonder so many feel reluctant taking time to craft music and spending some time out. This year, there needs to be more awareness of the pressures and slavish demands. Fans being more patient perhaps. Tackling streaming sites so artists are paid more. Tiny steps will lead to a big change soon enough. It would be magnificence if artists could take as long as they need to release material. The media could say the artists has ‘shared a new track’ or they have ‘put out a new song’. Just don’t call it a ‘return’. It is simply a continuation…

PHOTO CREDIT: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

AND not a comeback!

FEATURE: Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights at Forty-Six: Is the Classic Debut Single Still Underrated?

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights at Forty-Six

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

 

Is the Classic Debut Single Still Underrated?

_________

THIS is my second…

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

feature that marks forty-six years of Wuthering Heights. Released on 20th January, it is Kate Bush’s debut single. I have been thinking about its importance and impact. Getting to number one, it is was the first time a British female artist got to the top spot with a self-written song. Quite a feat considering Bush wrote the song when she was a teenager. In the final anniversary feature for Wuthering Heights, I want to explore it in terms of its popularity. No doubt a big favourite and song that almost defines Bush, I think that Wuthering Heights remains underrated. Still seen as weird by some, there is an element of its being this eccentricity that is not as accessible and play-worthy as, say, Hounds of Love’s singles – especially Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). I will go into the song and some features around it before asking whether more needs to be written and said around the song. Even if The Guardian rated Wuthering Heights the fourteenth-best U.K. single ever back in 2020, you do not hear Wuthering Heights covered more. Maybe one of the more technically distinct songs in Bush’s canon, it is a unique song in terms of the vocal and vibe. That said, among the cover versions, there has not been much radical interpretation – and there have not been many cover versions released in the past few years. Given that it relates to the classic novel of the same name and there is this opportunity to take the lyrics in new directions, artists do not come to it much. Also, look at modern music, and how many other artists have written songs around novels?! I don’t think it happens as much as it should.

I will talk about the legacy and importance of Wuthering Heights. Radio stations are partly to blame, as they still favour other tracks. Hounds of Love gets so much airplay in terms of the obvious singles. I also think that there is chance for podcasts and documentaries about Wuthering Heights and its legacy. Before that, I came across an article from 2004. Sound on Sound highlighted Wuthering Heights as a classic track. Jon Kelly was the engineer on the single – Wuthering Heights was taken from Kate Bush’s first album, The Kick Inside – and recalled his memories of that recording session:

“Kate Bush's smash hit debut single was also the first major project Jon Kelly had recorded. It proved to be a dream start for both artist and engineer, and a perfect illustration of the benefits of working with talented session musicians.

The 1977 sessions for The Kick Inside marked the debut not only of a new artist named Kathy Bush, but also of Jon Kelly as a fully fledged engineer. He had spent the previous couple of years as a tape-op and assistant engineer at the original AIR Studios facility on central London's Oxford Street, during which time he'd assisted the already-legendary Geoff Emerick on recordings by Gino Vannelli, Robin Trower and Gallagher & Lyle. He also "did as many jingles as I could, because I knew that would teach me to be quick", and had worked on several smaller projects with producer Andrew Powell before the two of them joined forces for The Kick Inside. Thereafter, Kelly would engineer Kate Bush's second album Lionheart, co-produce Never For Ever with her, go on to produce and/or engineer for the likes of Paul McCartney, Chris Rea, Tori Amos, the Damned, Deacon Blue, New Model Army and Prefab Sprout, and form a notable relationship with the Beautiful South which has so far yielded nine albums.

Artist Development

A beautifully tender yet haunting musical setting of Emily Bronte's classic love story, 'Wuthering Heights' wrapped swelling keyboards, strings and guitars around a lead vocal delivered in a sustained, almost child-like soprano by the song's 18-year-old composer, Kate Bush.

Mentored by Pink Floyd lead guitarist Dave Gilmour, Bush had been signed to EMI at the age of 16 on the strength of 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes' and 'Berlin' (later retitled 'The Saxophone Song') — both recordings, engineered during an 'artist test' by Geoff Emerick, would be included on her first album, The Kick Inside. Thereafter, she had been allowed to study dance, mime and voice while developing her self-evident keyboard and writing talents, and by early 1977 she'd penned 'Wuthering Heights' and numerous other numbers and was ready to enter the studio to record The Kick Inside. This was achieved with producer Andrew Powell and engineer Jon Kelly behind the 24-channel Neve console in AIR's spacious Studio Two, which also housed Tannoy monitors and a 3M M79 two-inch 24-track tape machine, as well as the similar equipment in Studio One, whose vast live area was utilised for the string sessions.

"As a Geoff Emerick protegé, my early miking choices basically mirrored his," says Jon Kelly. "For instance, on drums he loved the Coles 4038s for overheads, as I still do now, and at that time his snare mic was an AKG D19 — he liked that punchy dynamic on the snare, and the D19 provided that kind of definition while the overheads captured most of the size. His tom mics varied between D19s, Sennheisers and Shures; and bass drum mics were usually D12s, D20s and sometimes a [Neumann] FET 47. I can't remember ever putting up any ambients or room mics with Geoff, because during the mid-'70s everything was pretty dry. It was always that Westlake/Eastlake sound, with people taping up cymbals so they didn't ring too much.

"Geoff took immense care positioning the mics. He used to say 'The microphone is like a camera lens. Imagine it's taking a picture.' Having assisted a number of engineers at AIR, the difference I noticed with Geoff was that he always used the cheapest dynamic mics on the drums, whereas others like Bill Price used things such as KM86s on the snare, 84s and 87s as overheads — much more classy condenser microphones. Geoff would use the old dynamics and then bring the sound out with EQ." 

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

Starting At The Top

All of this served as Kelly's starting point for the very first Kate Bush session, during which he was "learning as I went along and dreadfully insecure. I give full credit to Andrew [Powell] and the great musicians, who were very supportive, while Kate herself was just fantastic. Looking back, she was incredible and such an inspiration, even though when she first walked in I probably thought she was just another new artist. Her openness, her enthusiasm, her obvious talent — I remember finishing that first day, having recording two or three backing tracks, and thinking 'My God, that's it. I've peaked!'"

The live rhythm section that Jon Kelly recorded for 'Wuthering Heights' consisted of Kate Bush playing a Bösendorfer grand piano, Stuart Elliott on drums, Andrew Powell on bass and Ian Bairnson on a six-string acoustic. And in terms of the miking, Kelly adhered pretty closely to Geoff Emerick's favoured choices while adding some of his own.

"For the drums I used a D19 on the snare, Sennheiser 421s on the toms, a D12 on the bass drum and a [Neumann] KM84 on the hi-hat," Kelly recalls. "The bass was DI'd and amped — at the time I was very keen on the Susan Blue DI box, while a Marshall cabinet and Marshall head were miked with an FET 47. Ian Bairnson's acoustic was recorded with a Neumann U87, as were Kate's piano and vocal — I was a big 87 fan, I used to use them on everything. I still think it's a really under-rated microphone. When people listen to one on its own they often think it's a bit hard and doesn't have such a huge sound as some of the valve or softer-focus mics, but it's so efficient once you place it within the mix.

"Kate always recorded live vocals, and they were fantastic, but then she'd want to redo them later. In the case of 'Wuthering Heights', she was imitating this witch, the mad lady from the Yorkshire Moors, and she was very theatrical about it. She was such a mesmerising performer — she threw her heart and soul into everything she did — that it was difficult to ever fault her or say 'You could do better.'"

Virgin Territory

David Paton, who was the bass man on the other songs, overdubbed 12-string acoustic guitar on 'Wuthering Heights', and after Ian Bairnson redid his six-string part, Jon Kelly double-tracked them and tweaked the Varispeed on the machine to provide some breadth together with a chorusy feel. Then Andrew Powell hired a celeste and played the chime-like arpeggios that double with the piano motif during the song's intro and the sections preceding the chorus... all of which was virgin territory for the fledgling recording engineer.

"There was a fair bit of fun involved in working with instruments like that," Kelly recalls. "Kate would certainly get involved, poking her head all around to see where it sounded nice. There was a good feeling of camaraderie, so I never felt nervous... just insecure! I recorded the celeste with a Coles ribbon mic positioned on the soundboard at the back, and that worked out fine.

"You couldn't keep Kate away from he sessions even if you had wild dogs and bazookas. She was just drinking it all up, learning everything that went on. The first moment she walked into the control room, I could tell that's where she wanted to be, in control of her own records. She was so astute and intelligent, and she was also phenomenally easy to work with. An absolute joy. I can't remember any bad moments at all."

Next to overdub some parts was percussionist Morris Pert, who spent an entire day working on songs for The Kick Inside. "The only things he played on 'Wuthering Heights' were crotals, which are like disc-shaped glockenspiels," Kelly explains. "Again, these were doubled with the piano motif throughout the song."

Then came the strings recorded in AIR's Studio One — eight first violins, six second violins, six violas and six cellos — as well as three French horns. These comprised the section that was used on 'Wuthering Heights', whereas a smaller section was used for some of the other songs — the parts for a couple of numbers were recorded in each three-hour session.

"That was a huge room, twice as big as the live area in Studio Two," Kelly remembers. "It could accommodate between 60 to 70 musicians, and had high ceilings and a lovely, bright sound. Everything sounded great in there. I miked the first violins with a couple of 87s, as I did for the second violins, the violas, the French horns and as overheads — back then you could have called me Mr. 87. At least there were FET 47s on the cellos. I'd try to use as few mics as posssible in Studio One because the room sounded so good and there was this phase thing going on — the more mics you used, you could fool yourself into thinking it sounded better, but things would cancel one another out and you'd lose the vibrancy.

"Nothing was slaved, everything was kept 24-track on this album, and that was fortunate because slaving was a really laborious process in those days — before Q-lock enabled us to efficiently run two machines together, we'd have to physically get two tapes in the right position to start a song. Tracks one through five were hi-hat, bass drum, overhead left, overhead right and snare — hi-hat would always be the first casualty if we needed an extra track — and tracks seven and eight were the tom-toms. Track six was missed out because you couldn't pan between odd and even on the Neve desks in AIR, while some of the groups had faders on them and some weren't normalised. You had to be careful about getting groups caught between the two, because there were cancellation problems. Meanwhile, the strings were mixed to two tracks and the French horns went to just one track."

Ian Bairnson's electric guitar solo, which winds its way through the closing stages of 'Wuthering Heights', was played in the Studio Two control room, his Les Paul going through a Marshall head and Marshall 4 x 12, miked with... yes, a pair of 87s, one close, the other about four feet away.

"Ian warmed up and developed that solo while I got the monitoring right, and there was one take that was just great," says Kelly. "Being in the control room, he missed the feedback from the amp, and I can remember telling him to get close to the speakers, expecting this to do the same. You can tell I was pretty naïve..."

Kate Bush, meanwhile, re-recorded her 'Wuthering Heights' vocal late one night, miked with a Neumann U67. "I liked the clarity of the 67," Kelly explains. "For me, the top end was a little better suited to vocals than the 87, helping with diction, and to that I added some [Urei] 1176 compression. At that point, there was only one track left, and Kate did just two or three passes, and that was that. There was no comping, it was a complete performance."

Even if Kate Bush might not recall too much from the recording and that period, it is clear that Wuthering Heights is important! She fought for it to be the first single release against the will of EMI (who favoured the more conventional James and the Cold Gun). A song that she performed dozens of times – across T.V. and 1979’s The Tour of Life -, it was once her defining and most popular song. I think it has been slightly buried in recent years by the Stranger Things/Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) success. I have asked before whether, in the same way, Wuthering Heights, is due its big T.V. moment. A song I actually feel outranks Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) in terms of quality and importance, what of the magnificent and strangely enticing debut single?! In 2018, Kate Bush honoured the memory of Wuthering Heights’ author, Emily Brontë, for a Yorkshire monument:

“Kate Bush will pay tribute to the Brontë sisters in a new memorial on the Yorkshire Moors, on the bicentenary of Emily Brontë’s birth and 40 years after Bush’s haunting, chart-topping “Wuthering Heights”, inspired by the enduring novel of the same name.

The singer has written an inscription for a stone that will be placed on a seven mile trail between the Brontë’s family home in Haworth and the sisters’ birthplace in Thornton. A stone for her sister Charlotte will be placed at the family house while the Anne stone will be in a meadow in Haworth at the dedicated museum.

“I am delighted to be involved in this project” Bush said in a statement. “Each sister being remembered by stone in the enigmatic landscape where they lived and worked is a striking idea. Emily only wrote the one novel – an extraordinary work of art that has truly left its mark. To be asked to write a piece for Emily's stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978

This article talks about the strangeness of Wuthering Heights. It got to number one in 1978 but, were it released today, I don’t think it would be a massive success. In an age of TikTok-driven Pop and less fascinating sounds, could the buying public embrace Wuthering Heights?! I feel the song is still misunderstood and under-played. More exposure of this iconic track would definitely make it more familiar – and, therefore, less unusual. More artists adding their stamp to it. I recorded a podcast about the song to mark its forty-fifth anniversary last year. I was surprised how few others there were out there. Not many recent articles about this song. In terms of radio play, it gets included now and then, though there is still that lazy dependence on Hounds of Love. With nearly two hundred million streams on Spotify, it is the second-most streamed song of hers on the platform (behind Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). One might say that means it cannot be seen as underrated. That said, the visibility and exposure of the song wider afield is slender. Not too much modern evaluation of the track. Perhaps some see it still as took kooky. I think it is one of Pop music’s most important and seismic moments! A song that broke a record and introduced one of the most distinct artists ever, we need to discuss Wuthering Heights more than we do. It is forty-six on 20th January. I hope people play it and really do some background reading. Listen to interviews Bush gave about the song. I hope more magazine articles, books, podcasts and bits are produced that celebrate a phenomenal song. That they do not leave a beautiful and entrancing song up on those…

WILEY and windy moors.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Divorce

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Evans via The Independent

  

Divorce

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A band who…

PHOTO CREDIT: Rosie Sco

have a pretty busy start to the year in terms of gigs, I am a little late to the Divorce party. They are a band who have established themselves as ones to watch. Featuring on stations like BBC Radio 6 Music, you need to get behind this force! The Nottingham band released their first single, Services, in 2022…so they are still quite new. In the past year or so, they have made big steps and released a string of great singles. The Alt-Country and Grunge-fuelled project from Nottingham consists of Kasper Sandstrom, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, Tiger Cohen-Towell and Adam Peter-Smith. I am going to get to a few interviews with the band. Felix from Divorce spoke with Wax Music UK last year about the formation of the band and their development:

“It’s somewhat fortunate for Nottingham quartet Divorce that they’re adept at grinding the best out of these potentially awkward situations, and if their experience of the last year is anything to go by, they’ve got a canny ability to swing the approval of a room. This is down to a combination of their consummate professionalism on stage, their playful candour, and most of all their knack for penning earworms of the highest calibre. Having all plied their trade in other bands in their hometown circuit and beyond, they’ve certainly used their expertise to elevate their output to new levels under this new guise.

Now twelve months on from the release of their first single, ‘Services’, it’s hard to deny that Divorce have experienced a whirlwind of a year, culminating in the release of the four tracks that make up their debut EP Get Mean. The resulting record careers between a raw and grungy sound and country-flecked indie balladry, and while those may sit at rather opposing opposites of the musical spectrum, it’s a winning combination for Divorce. While the songs are ultimately a slick mix of their dry wit and tight musicianship, it’s the interplay between vocalists Tiger Cohen-Towell and Felix McKenzie-Barrow that stand out as the stars of the show, crafting impeccable harmonies that often catch the listener off guard.

After the two spent years together performing under the name Megatrain, Tiger and Felix clearly have this bond that creates magic when they collaborate, and Divorce is no exception to that. With the additions of singer-songwriter Adam Peter Smith on guitar and Do Nothing guitarist Kasper Sandstrom on drums, their sound is elevated to a greater level, and once you witness it unfold both live and on record, it’s no wonder they’re able to provide that star factor.

Speaking at the tail end of last year prior to the release of Get Mean, I spoke to Felix about the spectacular breakout year Divorce have had, their coming together as a band, and what lies ahead for the group in 2023.

Was having a more diverse input from the others a major factor in wanting to expand?

Adam and Kasper were people we’ve always respected massively as musicians, and we knew that we would work. It was a conscious decision to open the room of thoughts a bit wider and I think that’s enabled us to have more faith in our decisions and pick each other up when we’re not feeling good. As well as the band having a really strong ensemble presence, the team around us has been great as well.

Was the idea for Divorce already floating around before the other members came along?

I think there were a few songs that were written in a limbo period where we were unsure whether we were going to carry on Megatrain or do something different. ‘Checking Out’ is one of those that we wrote a while back, maybe four or five months before we started Divorce. Some stuff has been sitting there a little while, and it’s been really nice to revisit that as the four of us, but the bulk of it has happened pretty organically as a four-piece. I think largely it feels nicer to share that with all the members.

A lot of people have been quick to make comparisons to alt-country, which is something that there isn’t as much of here in the UK. Where do you stand on this labelling, and what do you feel you have to offer towards it?

I think it’s a tricky one, because I wouldn’t say I know the country culture enough to wholeheartedly say that we’re making country music. That comes from a whole different world to anything we really know, but I think maybe we have an instinct for writing folk songs essentially. Maybe when you add a band to that it becomes country – I don’t know. We’re quite heavily inspired by a lot of US music. Tiger and I had the chance to do a few dates with The Felice Brothers in Ireland while we were playing as the backing band for our friend Lorkin O’Reilly, which was pretty special. Coming back from those shows, we felt really inspired, and their records have inspired us for a long time. There’s something that I feel is sometimes missing from band stuff in the UK; there’s a lack of warmth that I think we want to feel running through our music. As long as there’s a warmth that feels as human and imperfect as possible, while still being listenable, that’s the aim.

Obviously a lot can change in a short space of time, and the band hasn’t existed for that long so it can be hard to put stuff into perspective. With that in mind, do you feel that this collection of tracks best represents you currently, how you have been leading up to now, or where things are heading in the future?

Altogether I feel like it’s a pretty good example of how we’ve grown over this first year. We played our first show in late 2021, and the music didn’t start getting released until a little while after that, so it definitely is a marker of where we’ve been and maybe the last two tracks on it (‘Checking Out’ and ‘That Hill’) are possibly the most closely linked out of the four. When we did ‘Services’ we kind of bashed it out and didn’t bother with any overdubs playing how we’d play live, and while that’s fun and a good place to start, I think those two show we’ve opened our minds a bit more to the instrumentation and aesthetics. We’ve allowed the softness and some of the subtleties that come with it to come through, and maybe having a little more confidence in ourselves has allowed us to not be fighting so hard. It’d be nice to carry that on into the new year, and whatever comes after this we’ll be a bit more prepared to tackle”.

I am going to move on to a couple of interviews from fairly recently. Before that, DIY spoke with Divorce in September. They had announced their fantastic E.P., Heady Metal. There was a lot of excitement around a band who were growing in stature and confidence. Their live shows getting so much acclaim and positivity. If you have not found the Nottingham quartet yet then do make sure that you check them out. One of the U.K.’s premier and most promising young bands:

“Your debut EP 'Get Mean' came out last year, and its follow up 'Heady Metal' is due to arrive in November. How do you feel you've developed as a band between the two releases?

Tiger: I think this EP feels far more intentional as a body of work, and although with an EP there’s less pressure to do anything except put your best songs forward, they definitely feel like they illustrate the last year for us personally and professionally. Things have moved pretty fast since the last release; we’ve had to wise up to a lot of things fast and sort of get our ducks in a row. At times it’s felt rushed but I think that’s been exhilarating in a way; this is the fastest we’ve ever turned around songs, it’s nice to not have to sit on them for too long.

You're from Nottingham - how would you describe the regional scene around there? Who are some other local artists we should check out?

Felix: It’s a lovely close-knit scene, and for a small city there’s always tons going on. Catmilk and Victory Lap are really exciting us at the moment and you should get to know!

'Heady Metal' explores concepts of identity, vulnerability, and intense periods of personal change. What prompted the shift in focus from the character studies of your earlier work?

Tiger: Getting older, and also being a bit more relaxed about lyrical subject matter in general. Before, I felt like we were very much writing for Divorce, and trying to figure out what we wanted to say as a band, and although that was fun I think on this EP we wanted to pour more of our personal experiences into it. I think with the way that the band has been sculpting our lives lately, that shift was inevitable.

You're going on a tour of the UK this November. What can fans expect from a Divorce live show?

Felix: I hope people leave our shows feeling uplifted and like they’ve been part of something genuinely live, in that it’s never quite the same each time. We don’t like to plan things too heavily, because we get a lot more joy from the spontaneity of it. Apart from all the stunts we make Adam do. They have to be planned meticulously because they could cause serious harm to him or the rest of us”.

I am going to get to some new interviews with Divorce. Left Lion chatted with Divorce last month. With Heady Metal out in the world and getting a load of love, there was a tonne of anticipation and curiosity. This will all translate and transfer to the live arena when they take the songs on the road. Go and see Divorce play if you can. Such a magnetic and magnificent band to see in the flesh:

“They credit Nottingham's music scene not only for what it has done for them since Divorce formed, but also for introducing them to each other in the first place. "None of us would have met each other without all of the shows that happen every day of the week in Nottingham - open mics and things like that at JamCafe, The Bodega... Those venues mean a lot to us," Felix says. "It's a connected web - we all had different projects before Divorce even formed, and we were admiring each other’s projects from afar," Tiger adds.

Their “darkly humorous” name was chosen due to its “strong and memorable” nature, and it has definitely generated some humorous remarks - from fans saying ‘my husband/wife isn’t going to like this’ at the merch table, to a direct message from a man whose T-shirt arrived in the post on the exact day that his divorce was finalised. "Maybe we'll have an era where we all get married and we can sing about that!" Felix laughs. "I do wonder sometimes if it will be my downfall... I was thinking of getting a tattoo of it, but what if I want to get married one day?"

Heady Metal will have been released by the time you are reading this, but they promise that there are more surprises up their sleeves that are still yet to be revealed. "There are some visuals coming with one of the songs that will blow all your heads off because they’re so ridiculous," Tiger says. "It should come with a warning, really - a trigger warning!" Adam laughs, "You won't be able to unsee it." Felix adds: "We haven't seen the edit yet but there's no way it can't be terrifying and frightening - but also incredibly…” he pauses for suspense, “breath-taking." Very intriguing...

Even though there were a handful of unreleased songs from the EP when I was speaking to them, they already found that people were singing the words back to them at their shows. "They don't all boo when we play them, at least!" Felix laughs. "It's always a bit less of a reaction, of course, but people who come to a lot of shows do know them even though they're unreleased." Tiger adds; "For a while, people have been singing the chorus to Eat My Words. Divorce fans love to sing!" With all of the debate about gig etiquette right now, it's refreshing to hear that Divorce fans are a nice, respectful bunch.

This month will see the band perform at a sold-out Rescue Rooms, the biggest venue on their headline tour. "That is really silly to us. This far in advance, it just feels wild,” Felix laughs. “Even though it’s our hometown show, it was actually one of the slowest selling ones," Adam admits, something that he says that Willie J Healey also experienced with his hometown show in Oxford that was taking place that evening. But then Tiger, pointing out that it is double the size of the other venues they are playing, adds, “It's an iconic venue to us, and being able to play to that many people in Nottingham will be a privilege."

The radio plays that the band have received from Steve Lamacq of 6 Music has helped them to gain new fans, who have visibly been supporting Divorce by turning up to their shows. “I was sitting outside the venue after we played last night; I was eating some fried chicken. This guy came along wearing a really big hat and asked me to shake his hand but my hands were covered in chicken,” Felix says. “But I shook his hand anyway, and he said he’d heard us through 6 Music. Radio fans listen to your music, and they don’t care if your hands are covered in chicken!” he laughs”.

Divorce have been tipped by a few sites as ones to watch this year. DIY initiated them in their Class of 2024. A band with a lot of momentum behind them, this promise is going to be fulfilled through the year. The more gigs they do, the more that experience and confidence goes into their music. A quartet impossible to ignore:

“The EP they’re toasting today, ‘Heady Metal’, represents a notable leap forward from 2022’s debut ‘Get Mean’. Where, around that period, the band were often labelled as ‘country-punk’, from swelling centrepiece ‘Right On Time’ to the synthy ‘Scratch Your Metal’, their latest is far less categorisable. Rather than genre, the throughline is in the feeling: a collection of songs that look inward and process change with a poetic, sometimes yearning, often dryly humorous turn of phrase. “Oh, it’s the year of me! I’m fixing all of my devices,” goes opener ‘Sex & the Millenium Bridge’; “I wanna be beautiful / I wanna be good to myself,” cries the cathartic chorus of ‘Birds’.

Talking about the tracks, Tiger references the idea of an “emotional zeitgeist”. “It’s the flare up of feeling when you’re going through big changes,” they say. “A zeitgeist is usually used on a more societal level, but the way that, as people, we just commit to eras emotionally and then come out and look back on them feeling really different…” “And then bring that reflection into the present with the new light it throws on it,” picks up Felix. “There was a lot of self-examination.”

Divorce on their recent EP 'Heady Metal' and having Self Esteem as a fanDivorce on their recent EP 'Heady Metal' and having Self Esteem as a fanDivorce on their recent EP 'Heady Metal' and having Self Esteem as a fan

PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Miles

Though Divorce is still a fairly new project, Felix and Tiger have been writing together for the best part of a decade, from when they were just 16. “Back when we were little rascals, running around Nottingham,” Tiger laughs. It’s an evidently close-knit bond that comes through in the increasing nuance of their music. “It feels like there’s a lot of songs coming out and we just have to work out which ones hold hands,” says Felix. “We’re finding subtler and subtler ways of connecting.”

Though they joke about the lingering effects of their previous theatrical forays (“I think we’re quite annoying people; acting kind of inherently requires you to be a bit annoying,” laughs Felix), there’s a lack of inhibition and pretension to the band that allows them to put their feelings out there, warts and all. “The aesthetics of this band are very emotionally-driven instead of what looks cool, and if what’s right for the song means making ourselves look silly or being theatrical then that’s how we’ll do it,” says Tiger. “That lack of worrying about what your body or face looks like and just worrying about the emotional intensity of it, that’s something we’ve got from acting.” “I’ve never found a successful way of looking cool,” Felix sighs as Adam affirms: “But that’s why you ARE cool…”

One person who certainly agrees with him is Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem, who’s been shouting about the band on Instagram at every opportunity. “She will NOT leave us alone…” jokes Tiger. Earlier this year, when Divorce were very much still in their infancy, she handpicked them to support on a smattering of shows. “She’s so supportive. To bring us on the shows we did with her… it’s not every day someone takes you to the prom,” Felix smiles.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Miles

Next up, alongside a Spring 2024 support tour with Everything Everything, is a move towards a coyly-described “larger amount of music”. Whatever form that takes, they’ll have to top ‘Heady Metal’’s anarchic cover shoot day, for which they shipped in a room full of dogs to join them. “For half an hour it was the best, and then the other half an hour it was like… OK, now they’re pissing,” recalls Kaspar. “I was the only one who got pissed on!” retorts Felix. “It was a 4D scratch and sniff kind of experience, except I didn't even have to scratch. The owners would throw treats at us, so not only were we covered in piss, we were covered in treats, and then covered in dogs.”

Fun, messy, sweet and silly, it’s an image that suits Divorce well. Their music might come firmly from the tangled depths of the heart, but they’re also relishing every win they can whilst putting it all out there. “It feels like the last six months have been pretty mental in terms of the snowballing we’ve been doing,” says Kaspar, as Felix continues: “People are giving us the chance to do the thing we’ve wanted to do for ages.” Tiger nods: “We’re THIS close to the chance”.

If you do not know about Divorce, then go and follow them on social media and ensure that you check out their music. What a sensational band we have in our midst! They have released a terrific E.P. in Heady Metal. They will expand on this throughout the year. I am excited to see where they will head through the year. Even though they have been together a short time, Divorce have made big strides. Their formation and success is a…

MARRIAGE made in Heaven.

 

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Follow Divorce

FEATURE: It's Thursday Night, It's Seven O'Clock… Top of the Pops at Sixty

FEATURE:

 

 

It's Thursday Night, It's Seven O'Clock…

IMAGE CREDIT: BBC

 

Top of the Pops at Sixty

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THERE is something interesting to think about…

IN THIS PHOTO: Clara Amfo presented Top of the Pops: Review of the Year 2023, which aired on 28th December on BBC Two/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC Studios/Michael Leckie

when it comes to marking a big anniversary that happens on 1st January. On Monday, it will be sixty years since Top of the Pops launched. There is a case to suggest that the legendary and long-running series had its flaws. With some of its presenters mired in scandal and disgrace (especially the vile Jimmy Saville), there are black marks and issues if we look at the series with rose-tinted glasses! The show went through various shifts in terms of its format. Acts being made to perform live. Not all changes and ideas worked out. Some of the presenter should be written out of history. There were a raft of guest presenters, normally artists, who were hit and miss. Even so, there is no doubting the importance of an institution. I want to bring in a few features that talk about the evolution of Top of the Pops. The highs and lows. I will end with a feature that quite rightly calls for its return (and the reasons why it is a good idea). The series ended in 2006. Almost eighteen years later, there is a definite desire and rationale to reinstating and repurposing Top of the Pops for a modern audience. The BBC charted the history of Top of the Pops. Its early days must have been so exciting and different. Nothing that had really been seen on British television:

“When the BBC launched Top of the Pops on 1 January, 1964, absolutely no one could have believed it would become an authentic pop institution. Originally transmitted from a converted church in Manchester, Top of the Pops was commissioned for six shows. There have been over 1800 editions of the Pops since then.

The reason for its success is simple. Top of the Pops always remains true to its original format. After 34 years, the show still provides - via the Top 40 chart - a weekly snapshot of what's truly popular in pop music, always ending with the number one record. "It's a great idea for a programme, a brilliant format," says Chris Cowey, who has produced the show since the summer of 1997.

The influence of the Pops has been so huge over the years, that performing on the show is now almost a 'rite of passage' for aspiring young artists. "I always used to consider myself a failure until I appeared on Top of the Pops," says Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. There have even been two songs - by The Kinks and The Rezillos - named after the show, which was also name-checked in The Boomtown Rats' 1978 number one hit, 'Rat Trap'.

The very first Top of the Pops, broadcast on a Wednesday evening at 6.36 pm, was introduced by DJ Jimmy Savile. The opening band was The Rolling Stones, who had just made number 13 in the chart with 'I Wanna Be Your Man'. They were followed by Dusty Springfield with 'I Only Want to be With You'; 'Glad All Over' by the Dave Clark Five; The Hollies with 'Stay' and The Swinging Blue Jeans performing 'The Hippy Hippy Shake'. The show was completed by filmed pieces with Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Freddie & The Dreamers, together with The Beatles, who played the week's number one, 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'”.

Even though Top of the Pops spanned five decades, there were definite periods where it was at its peak. Many would say the 1970s and 1980s were when the series was at its very best. Not only in terms of the acts who performed on the show. There was also this perfect balance between the quality of the music, the variation on offer, and the excellent presenters. This feature from earlier in the year discussed how Top of the Pops was a go-to for legendary artists the world over:

“Having established a transatlantic connection, the 70s was when Top Of The Pops became a truly global brand. In a decade that has more than its fair share of variety – everything from punk to glam, hip-hop, reggae and high-octane rock’n’roll made it into the charts – it’s also remarkable how many overseas acts made the pilgrimage to BBC Television Centre, knowing that the show’s audience of up to 19 million couldn’t be found anywhere else. Having dropped by to perform his classic reggae hit “The Israelites” in 1969, Jamaican star Desmond Dekker returned in 1970, performing “You Can Get It”; as the decade came to a close, Australian hard rock icons AC/DC were on hand to deliver some ear-splitting “powerage.” Swedish pop icons ABBA made several appearances through the 70s, introducing classics such as “Mamma Mia,” “Waterloo,” and “Fernando” to the UK.

And so a pattern was set. In the decades that followed, every style of music was represented, and acts came from all over the world to add the iconic TV show to their list of successes. So important was the show that even the most established stars came back throughout their career, with Queen appearing in 1982, almost a decade after releasing their debut album, Queen II, to perform “Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love)” on 17 June 1982.

A glance at the list of luminaries that appeared on Top Of The Pops also traces the changing cultural zeitgeist throughout the years. American alt.rock began to make its first tentative forays into the mainstream when R.E.M. turned up to perform “Orange Crush,” in a decade that saw shimmering UK pop (in the shape of The La’s’ “There She Goes,” first released in 1988) nestle with globe-straddling synth-pop courtesy of Soft Cell (“Tainted Love”), The Human League (“Don’t You Want Me”), and Duran Duran (“Girls On Film”). And that’s just the 80s. Fast-forward to the 90s and you’ll witness the battle for dominance between Blur and Oasis also form part of a wider transatlantic face-off between UK Britpop and the US grunge scene. Add in the show’s dedication to promoting some of the more memorable promo clips by the likes of Underworld and Kelis, and it becomes clear to see why the 90s is remembered as a uniquely postmodern decade”.

In July, The Scotsman explored how Top of the Pops was an excellent documentary of music evolution. Among the chaos and controversy, there were these iconic moments. With BBC Four putting out old episodes weekly, we still get to experience these snapshots of Top of the Pops and how it changed through the years. I wonder if there is an easy archive and access where you can watch every episode available from the BBC. Maybe an updated documentary is needed that looks inside the brilliant Top of the Pops. All of its wonder and weirdness:

“One of my favourites has to be the 1972 intastella rock-and-roll performance of Starman by David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars. The live shot is a good sum-up of Bowie’s pioneering spirit, innate skill for transcending the boundaries of music and revolutionary fashion sense. The interactions between guitarist Mick Ronson and Bowie on stage are fun to watch and the performance showcases the band’s studio excellence.

Another has to be Kate Bush’s debut on the show. At barely 20, the English musician, who has now sold millions of albums worldwide, graced the stage with her performance of Wuthering Heights in 1978. Watching the recording now, which she apparently described as “a bloody awful performance” at the time, and knowing what success she went on to have is perhaps what adds to it.

As for the weird, or rather provocative, spectacles on stage, TOTP doesn’t disappoint. From Rod Stewart playing football on stage midway through his gig to Robbie Williams singing with his jeans down round his ankles (I think they were meant to come all the way off but got stuck), to Blur’s energetic performance of Country House where bassist Alex James is wearing an Oasis t-shirt while smugly smiling at the camera – a nod to the hit chart frenemy relationship between the two bands at the time.

Also Nirvana giving the middle finger to TOTP rules that musicians had to lip sync to prerecorded songs with frontman Kurt Cobain changing the lyrics and putting on a strange voice – for example "Load up on guns, bring your friends" became "Load up on drugs, kill your friends.”

Cobain later supposedly said he was trying to sound like former Smiths frontman Morrissey. The take is a contrast to their furiously energetic debut TV performance playing the same song with such raw energy on the 90s Channel 4 show The Word.

Looking back on the show with hindsight also spotlights the musical gems who were ahead of the curve for their time, such as Gary Numan’s performance with the band Tubeway Army of Are Friends Electric in 1979. At this point, punk rock was still raging, new wave was on the horizon, but Numan brings to the stage a kind of poptronica and new electronic sounds that the crowd seem unsure how to take at first, but by they end become totally entranced.

Delving back into the recorded videos naturally evokes a wave of nostalgia, and a reminder of the inimitable excitement as a child seeing some of the bands you first heard come alive on stage. And, is it fair to say some of the dancing is pretty entertaining to watch now? I think people danced differently when there were no smartphones. There’s more a sense that they are really feeling it; a ‘dance like nobody’s watching you’ vibe. I think the visually arresting debut performance of Roxy Music’s Virginia Plain on the show with Andy Mackay and his jaunty oboe playing illustrates this point well.

Even if you’re not that fussed about the bands (which would be strange), rewatching TOTP’s footage also gives an interesting lesson on the evolution of music which I think also explains its grip to this day.

The programme demonstrates the quantum leaps music made between the ‘60s and the 2000s. From rock to punk to new wave with some Britfunk in the mix, TOTP is an excellent documentary of one of music’s most interesting evolutionary periods.

While on this topic, footage of The Old Grey Whistle Test (TOGWT) is equally indulgeable. While TOTP showcased UK chart hits, TOGWT was more album-focused. The former got me into my love for music in many ways, while watching footage of the latter in later years expanded it”.

I am going to move forward and think about why Top of the Pops, which celebrates its sixtieth anniversary on Monday, needs to return. Den of Geek wrote about Top of the Pops’ iconic moments earlier this year. The more we remember that legacy ad highlights of Top of the Pops, the more it makes me wonder whether we could ever match that today. How would the studio audience react?! Would artists be made to sing live?! What sort of branding would it have?! It is interesting to ponder:

“Top of the Trolls

For most of Top of the Pops‘ first three decades, acts were encouraged to mime their music and vocals over a pre-recorded track – barring rare exceptions. Many acts sought to play around with this stricture, shattering the shared illusion for comedic effect. Sometimes this was done in a spirit of fun, as when Rod Stewart and his Faces bandmates had a quick game of football mid-‘Maggie May’, while DJ John Peel uncomfortably squatted nearby ‘playing’ a mandolin.

Sometimes the mockery came in the spirit of a two-fingered salute. In one memorable appearance in 1995, Oasis’ Gallagher brothers decided to swap places for their performance of ‘Roll With It’. Liam strummed gamely away in the background, while Noel channelled his brother’s bow-legged, front-man swagger, complete with tambourine. Perhaps owing to Oasis’ nascent fame in those days, the producers reportedly didn’t notice the switch until it was pointed out to them afterwards.

A question-mark has long hung over Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ 1982 Top of the Pops appearance. They were performing their cover version of Van Morrison’s 1972 hit ‘Jackie Wilson Said’, when viewers noticed behind them what appeared to be an egregious yet hilarious mistake: a large video screen displaying the image not of the late, great soul singer Jackie Wilson – on whom the song was obviously based – but of Scottish darts’ legend Jocky Wilson. Viewers were quick to assume that Top of the Pop‘s production staff must have goofed, but the wheeze was apparently very much Dexy’s idea. In 2002, the band’s frontman Kevin Rowland admitted to The Guardian: “For a laugh, we told the producer to put a picture of Jocky Wilson up behind us. He said: ‘But Kevin, people will think we made a mistake.’ I told him only an idiot would think that. The morning after, the [Radio 1] DJ Mike Read said: ‘Bloody Top of the Pops. How could they mix up one of the great soul singers with a Scottish darts player?'”

But no flipping of Top of the Pops‘ format was as memorable as Nirvana’s version of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in 1991. Singer Kurt Cobain’s surprise languid, low-octave performance of the high-energy grunge hit has been mythologised as the ultimate fuck-you to the man in response to the show’s miming tradition. The reality though, might have been much more banal. From around 51:00 in Top of the Pops: the Story of 1991, hear James’ Tim Booth, who performed on the same show, tell a completely different story. In this version, Cobain had lost his voice and was suffering with a cold during filming and so asked to mime his vocal but Top of the Pops refused. According to Booth, the Ian Curtis/Morrissey impersonation was Cobain’s workaround response. Whatever the behind-the-scenes truth, the performance went down in legend.

Live and Dangerous

In 1983, New Order was the first band to throw caution, and their potential credibility, to the wind by going fully live, synthesisers and all. This performance of their hit ‘Blue Monday’ is regularly cited in lists of Top of the Pops‘ biggest gaffes and cringe-worthy moments, though its inclusion is a little unfair. Sure, singer Bernard Sumner occasionally looks like a tortoise trying to recreate Henry Hill’s final car-borne dash in Goodfellas, and the music isn’t always exactly in key, but it’s a fine and bold performance of one of the most 80s songs ever; one, moreover, that’s proven to be timeless.

More worthy of inclusion in said lists is All About Eve’s performance of their song ‘Martha’s Harbour’ in 1988. Due to a production snafu, everyone – the studio audience, the viewers at home – could hear the first minute or so of the song… except for Julianne Regan and Tim Bricheno, who sat on stage deathly-still, staring awkwardly out at the audience, in a move that must have been interpreted, at least initially, as a devil-may-care protest. ‘Those bastards are pulling a Nirvana.’ ‘Who’s Nirvana?’ ‘Oh right, that hasn’t happened yet. Forget I said anything.’

Drink Jiving

In 1982, the Scottish national football team appeared on the Top of the Pops’ stage along with actor John Gordon Sinclair to sing their World Cup anthem ‘We Have a Dream’: a half-spoken, half-chanted, self-deprecating ditty that seemed to say: Yeah, we know we’re probably going to last about as long in this tournament as a red-shirt on his first away mission with Captain Kirk, so let’s just have a good time’.

Whatever you think of Top of the Pop‘s lip-syncing tradition, it’s undeniably the best way to counter your average pop star’s predilection for imbibing potentially performance-wrecking substances prior to taking to the stage. That goes ten-fold when your act is a bunch of booze-loving Scottish footballers, none of whom seem to mind leaning hard into national stereotypes. Scotland’s goalkeeper, the appropriately named Alan Rough, explained in a recent BBC Scotland documentary: “You could tell why we were all swaying. We’d been in that BBC bar for about five hours so we didn’t have to practise that bit.”

Given Shane McGowan’s reputation, it came as no surprise to anyone that when he took to the stage in 1987 to mime his way through a performance of ‘Fairytale of New York’ with Kirsty McColl, he was in such a state of inebriation that the act of mouthing along to his own words made him look like a badly dubbed Korean movie. This was jarring for a lot of reasons, but mainly because the young and goofy McGowan – cocooned inside an ill-fitting leather jacket – didn’t look like the kind of man who’d be in possession of a voice so rich in pathos and world-weary agony. Instead, many in the audience would have been wondering: ‘Where is the real Shane McGowan? Why have they kidnapped a young drunk boy from a school disco and forced him to mime along to this song? I’m calling Ofcom.’

Speaking of complaints, no act attracted the level of official opprobrium as the Manic Street Preachers when they performed their 1994 hit ‘Faster’ with singer James Dean Bradfield decked out in a balaclava, which was interpreted by more than 25,000 angry viewers as some sort of signal of support for the IRA. Needless to say: it wasn’t.

Memorable and Iconic

The singles’ charts were a capricious beast, so it was often impossible to predict who’d be appearing on any given Top of the Pops edition. The show could be forced to put bad boys like Cliff Richard on the same bill as more wholesome acts as Rage Against the Machine. Juxtapositions like that, of course, were a crucial part of its charm. Especially when, divorced from their natural environment of the club, rave or music video, even some of the acts weren’t entirely sure how to convey their vibe.

Take The Orb’s rendition of ‘Blue Room‘, their 39-minute epic trance tune, heavily cut down for transmission, featuring two people dressed in industrial, vaguely post-apocalyptic garb playing a weird variation of space chess for three long minutes. Any member of The Greatest Generation who happened to be passing by their TV set that evening in 1992 – and catching a song that sounded like the sort of aggressive hold music their descendants might be subjected to in 2096 – might have been moved to opine: ‘Ah, so THAT’S the freedom millions of us went to our graves protecting in the 1940s…’

Certainly memorable. However, the artists who gave the most iconic Top of the Pops performances were those who best understood the show’s format and how to play to its strengths and weaknesses. It was about pitching yourself in a fun, endearing way without coming off as too silly, but steering clear of pompous pretentiousness – in short, giving the audience a live music video”.

I am going to wrap up with some debate as to whether we need to revive Top of the Pops. This feature an interesting take on it. At a time when we have radio stations and streaming services highlight new acts, together with a vast array of music media websites out there, does Top of the Pops have the same necessity and cachet?! I think that, at a time when major acts are charging fans a load to see them, watching them on Top of the Pops provides that access that they would not otherwise have. We have BBC’s long-running Later… with Jools Holland. Even so, only one music show on national television is pretty poor - at a time when there is a real call for more! Also, Top of the Pops is very different in terms of its tone and format compared to Jools Holland’s series. Metro published a feature this year that argued why we need to see Top of the Pops back on the screens:

“Given this, it’s desperately sad that there is no regular space dedicated to live music on the telly anymore – unless of course you can’t fork out £340 on a Glastonbury ticket so watch it on TV instead. Delightful as the broadcast is, this only happens once a year and doesn’t really cut it.

So of course normal people are going to be priced out of concerts. But it’s not all Ticketmaster and Madonna’s fault.

Ticket prices have also increased because the cost and expectation of production is much higher, with better technology available to make performances pop.

And of course, touring is now the humble artist’s biggest form of revenue since streaming giants have made music less pricey to buy.

IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour promotional poster

But at a time when the UK is battling with the cost-of-living crisis, and people can’t afford to heat their homes, over £100 for one night of live music seems tasteless and out of touch.

This price is totally unaffordable to the average Brit, 60% of whom have admitted to struggling financially due to the rising costs of living.

I think if we can’t bring ticket prices down for live shows, it’s time to bring Top Of The Pops back so everyone can enjoy live music like we used to.

Even ex-host Fearne Cotton agrees, as in 2021 she revealed she couldn’t understand why it was axed in the first place.

‘After the show had finished, I sort of campaigned: “Please can we bring it back?” Why is there no decent music TV? I just don’t understand it,’ she said on The Gaby Roslin Podcast.

Experiencing the atmosphere of live music should not be limited to people who can afford it – and it’s not just fans that need this, but artists too.

In a world where everyone with a voice, camera, and internet can call themselves a musician, quality can sometimes be lost in the sheer quantity of content out there.

Bringing back TOTP would fill a much-needed gap of brilliant, curated content, showcasing the best genuine talent in the music industry today.

And why wouldn’t artists want to give more access to fans who can’t afford to see them live?

As a rule, music should not discriminate – especially in our current, polarised world. It should unite. That’s what makes it so powerful.

And while most people don’t have a spare £100 knocking around which they can happily splurge on one night, most people do have a TV and a favourite song.

So let’s bring the music into people’s homes again for free. It’s not just future generations and artists that need accessible live music – the country needs it, especially now”.

As we remember Top of the Pops at sixty on 1st January – though most will have other things on their minds…not least a hangover! -, we cannot say it was faultless and golden. Issues and controversies that mean it is a series that had its problems. That being said, think about all the brilliant moments and those legendary performances! I can imagine there is a big call for its return. So people can see artists play live without paying big money! A great way of discovering new acts. Mixing established artists and rising into this show, together with music news, features and archives. It may not enjoy another huge run. Though I could see Top of the Pops lasting for years more. Clara Amfo’s Top of the Pops Review of 2023 show on 28th December rekindled that love and spark of legendary series! Why it is such a beloved format. If Amfo and another presenter were to helm a new version of Top of the Pops, I can see it sitting alongside Later with Jools Holland. Some may want Top of the Pops left in the past. Maybe us being misty-eyed and too romantic! Sixty years after it launched on the BBC, generations recall their favourite Top of the Pops memories. The more we fondly reminisce, the more we will want to relive that all over again. There is a whole new generation unaware of the madness, magic and musical excellence…

THAT only Top of the Pops provides.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Talia Goddess

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

  

Talia Goddess

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THERE are a few interviews…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Henry Diagne

that I want to put together to highlight and go deep with Talia Goddess. I will get straight to them. She is someone that everyone should know about. Hailing from East Flatbush, Brooklyn, Talia Goddess is an artist, producer and songwriter. Someone who has definitely caught my eye and ear. I will start off with this interview from NATAAL:

“What inspired your stage name?

Talia is my middle name and I’ve always liked it. I used it when I started to make my social media platform as a way to separate from my personal identity. So, it’s kind of like an undercover secret identity with Talia Goddess. Then when I started to gain more popularity I made the decision to embrace that as my public persona.

How do you feel you embody ‘Goddess’?

It allows for a sense of divinity to call into my existence when you speak on me. When you say the name Talia Goddess, you’re automatically prophesising a certain energy, an essence that feels protective, divine and spiritual. I chose the word Goddess to remind me of what it means to be aligned with yourself and operating from the point of authenticity and love and openness.

How do you bring that spirituality into your work?

My music is a really spiritual process. There are some songs that I feel were sent to me by God, like I’m the vessel between God, the higher power and the computer. It’s about being able to understand when things align, trusting the unknown and understanding my purpose here being bigger than anything I can comprehend. But also understanding God and spirituality to be the sum of everything that exists, which creates this oneness and unity allowing me to have this love and acceptance of the ecosystem. So that’s something that I use to operate in my daily life.

Your online bio is pretty powerful. It shared about your intention with wanting to be a champion of change. Why are you choosing to show up in the world in that way?

I've always been a leader and the one to take initiative. For example, when I was nine years old, I made an anti-bullying rap song. My goal was obviously to stop bullying but also to show individuality in the sense of being able to rap, enjoy performing and being myself as opposed to what other kids were doing. So, I think it's a radical effort just by constantly showing up as myself, inspiring other people to show up as themselves, and then we can begin to have more authentic relationships with each other. My sense of leadership and entrepreneurship goes hand in hand. It's just a matter of creating the reality I want to see in terms of how I want to engage with art and how I want other people to engage with my art. And art isn’t just music. It’s thinking about the visuals, graphics, movement, how it makes you feel. I can't help but be inquisitive about delving into all of it.

You write, produce and create the artwork. Why do it all?

There are three main reasons. One is financial, you have to compensate people and I did most of these songs in high school. Then often when I did sent things over to other people, I wasn't satisfied with what they did. I’m meticulous so no one else could really understand my vision. Then the third reason is growing up in a digital era, where you have your MacBook and all these tools at your fingertips gives you the capacity to create. It’s a matter of taking the time to learn and figure it out. Being a tech dork at heart, making music and making beats already, means graphic design kinda goes hand in hand. It allows me to think about finding my own visual identity.

Which other mediums outside of music inspire your work?

I started off as a dancer so whenever I listen to music, I pay attention to how my body reacts to it and the physiological sensations that come across, whether it's the bangs of the drums, or the rhythm, or how the frequencies resonate with me. When I'm walking in the street, I’m aware of how my heart moves and how people talk and their body language. It’s both a mental and physical thing. So, when I’m making music I think about how I would move to it or how it stirs me.

PHOTO CREDIT: Henry Diagne

As a child of Guyanese and British parents who was raised in Flatbush New York, how does that influence your art?

A lot of the first parties I was throwing were in the basement of my dad’s house in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He’s a construction worker and DJ. He just posted them on Facebook - no cover, no drugs, no alcohol - just being together and it doesn't matter who you are, it's about why you are there. So now when I throw parties and DJ, I go against the grain of optics of having clicks or having a scene. It’s more-so just people who are in search of an authentic experience through music discovery and having an open mind to whatever the night entails.

Music was playing all the time at home so I was understanding my Caribbean roots through dancehall and reggae and even lovers rock as a British Caribbean sound. I was then hearing afro house and dancing at the same time. Being a first-generation New Yorker, being at the intersection of two sonic palettes and cultural palettes, helps me to create a really cool melange that hopefully resonates with other people.

Your sound is not bogged down by one genre of music. Can you tell me about how you work with different sounds?

We have different moods and feelings so different genres encapsulate that, even when you think about subject matter and how you move. Rhythm and drums are intuitive to me, regardless of the cadence, so I combine different things to see what happens. Being a music producer allows me to have that creative freedom to try new sounds. I can make something and define it later”.

There is a great interview from NOTION that is well worth sourcing. Interesting discussions with an immense talent. I am going to start off with their interview from April of last year. They spoke with someone who was creating a legacy of her own. A sensational proposition with a unique sound a distinct passion and drive. Someone that was definitely getting people excited:

“Influenced by her family, her community and the concrete jungle she was raised in, the multi-faceted powerhouse is helping to redefine the creative landscape in more ways than one. To put it into perspective, Talia Goddess is only 20 years old and is already a talented singer-songwriter, producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist and founder of record label and creative agency, TRANCE.

For her entire life, Talia has been surrounded by creativity. First introduced to music by her parents, a DJ and a singer, she and her nine siblings were always encouraged to follow their passions. The artist spent her early years as a dancer competing in shows, which was where she first developed her own relationship with music, going on to experiment with singing, doing covers and rapping proverbs. A natural performer, she would often steal the limelight at family functions, competing against the other kids. “I have a really big family — lots of cousins, aunts, all of that. We’d have a lot of family gatherings where there was always music. When I stepped foot in the place it was like a performance. I would just enjoy being in the centre and it kind of became a dance competition. Performing was the core of what really got me into music. This was in New York, before social media.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Amy Peskett

Recognising how our consumption of music is constantly evolving through the latest technology and devices at our disposal, Talia credits her curiosity as the fuel that ignited her passion for production. “I would beg my mum for gadgets and just fuck around with it. We had an electric keyboard which had different sounds, so that’s kind of how I started producing,” she explains. I would layer the keys and add some drums, then add the bass, some chords and it just kept evolving.” Innovative and observational from a young age, Talia enjoyed experimenting through multiple channels and seeing what she could create.

Raised in a Caribbean community and going to her local elementary and middle school, Talia was predominantly surrounded by Caribbean music. It wasn’t until she went to high school that she found herself in a much more multicultural space. “As diverse as New York is, I wasn’t around that growing up. As I started to be around other people, I realised how my identity as a first-generation New Yorker, Caribbean, Black person in America shaped me in a lot of different ways. That it translates to my style or just the overall appreciation for the diaspora.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Amy Peskett

Talia noticed that the prevalence of Caribbean music meant that her community wasn’t really in touch with other sounds. Taking time to research the many intersections that exist within Black music, she began to pay attention to the way different cultures and communities interact with it. “I find that there’s a lot of Black Americans who don’t really get into Caribbean music, they don’t know how to whine and that’s crazy. Similarly, with the rise of afrobeats, that’s a whole new thing to me too. But it’s not new, it’s just different cadences,” she says. “Growing up, I was listening to house music and seeing that it’s kind of gentrified in a way. You’d go to these white people clubs and hear the ‘oonts oonts’, but if you do your research, the ‘oonts oonts’ stemmed from Black music.”

Through her practice, Talia aims to challenge traditional narratives that exist by exploring the many genres that resonate with her. “What I hope to convey is authenticity and individuality in terms of production, just sonically, how it sounds. I’m trying to express my culture, my heritage and the things that make me who I am. It’s also a bit of an experiment to see what resonates with certain people. I do pop, I do rock. I’m really keeping it open. My target audience is real music lovers. People who can just appreciate the story and the artistry.”

Being in a culturally-rich environment like New York, Talia was exposed to many sections of the creative industry. From going to a performing arts school, to attending and throwing parties, singing and producing music and learning how to DJ, she’s already experienced a 360-degree view that many others her age could only dream of. With a talented network of artists around her, Talia came up with an idea to bring everyone together and do projects outside of school, by creating her own label and creative agency. “At the time, I was in high school around all these creatives — art, dance, drama, instrumental, vocal. I went to LaGuardia High School. Nicki Minaj went there, Timothée Chalamet, Alicia Keys, etc. So I’m thinking to myself, ‘Damn we should do some shit’, because you had your curriculum, but it wasn’t really current or relevant to what was actually going on in the arts, especially with streaming or digital art”.

There is one more interview that I want to get to before finishing off. Culted spoke with Talia Goddess last year about her rise in music and plans. An artist that grew up in Brooklyn now belongs to the world. That said, she still might be unknown to some. That is going to change very soon. Someone who is clearly destined for much bigger things. This is someone who started performing at a really young age. Her enthusiasm and curiosity has not waned at all. Really do go and follow the stunning Talia Goddess:

“You grew up in Brooklyn, New York. How do you think the concrete jungle shaped and influenced you as a creative? Did you have any other early childhood influences?

Yes, I did grow up in Brooklyn. I’ve been performing since I was 6 years old. I performed in after-school clubs all over from the Bronx to Queens to anywhere in the tri-state area. Meeting all kinds of people and being exposed to the music industry at such an early age really prepared me for what was to come, especially in a city like New York, where everything is so rough and hustle, you must really work your ass off. It’s kind of like London in a way, I feel like New York is like London on crack. New York has a similar energy, it’s fast-paced pace but it’s not too crazy, yeah growing up in New York gave me the street smarts and the strength of having tough skin to be able to navigate the industry or even my career and knowing how to master my skill and master my craft, that ultimately what sets you apart from the rest, a gimmick is a gimmick, I think New York is known for being real and dope, that’s something you can’t fake. You can’t fake it until you make it, you must be real in this industry. I think it’s just like the entire experience ultimately inspired me, that’s my origin.

In terms of influences, I can’t really pinpoint one specific artist, but If I had to pinpoint one artist it would be Michael Jackson like the Jackson Five growing up, when it came to performing, practicing and the whole etiquette of what it means to be a performer, this was before anything social media or anything like that, just seeing him perform at such a young age was such an inspiration.

Amazing. Of course, Your first EP Poster Girl was posted in 2021 which was overall a very soft and intimate project. How would you describe your musical evolution since then?

I would say I’ve become a lot bolder in my creative choices, initially when I first came onto the scene with a soft and intimate tone people just assumed I was an R&B artist, that was just an appetizer and the first course I’m the complete opposite to that, because I think that being my first project there were a lot of nerves and uncertainty, now that I’ve experienced what’s it’s like to create a body of work, I’m so sure of myself and now I actually want to showcase my creative ability and not play it safe at all. My new music it’s all over the place, but it’s in the same world I think it’s a good reflection of me as an individual, being so multi-cultural and being in so many different spaces, my new music is just a reflection of who I am today. Pushing the visuals, the song, doing more shoots, and just creating this world, I’m so excited to push the pen, and the artistry and continue developing. 

What does your creative process look like? Are you the type to freestyle until something with potential comes up? Or do you always have a set idea of what you want to achieve when making music?

Most times I’ll start with the beat and even going back to the last question, I’m really showcasing my skills in production and my work as a music producer, whether that’s playing with genres, arrangement, or different instruments, I’ll always start with the music that could be loose melodies that I’ll freestyle over while I’m making the beat or play around with loose lyrics and create something from there. Recently I’ve been collaborating with a variety of producers and trying to step into a songwriter space, I worked with a producer who sent me a beat and I managed to get a track together instantly – probably the fastest time I’ve ever done something like that. Most of the time when I’m making music the inspiration is spontaneous and just spouts from being in the right state of mind and the right energy flow to make something cool.

What do you want your listeners to take away from your music?

I think with the new music especially, I want the listeners to really engage with music like the audio sonic experience, wholeheartedly and to fully immerse themselves into the musical experience. I think there is a little bit of a lack of etiquette when it comes to listening to music, sometimes people would play in the background or just play it on their iPhone speaker or talk throughout the song, I really want the listeners to really be able to dissect and really be taken aback by the creative choices. I think my music is unpredictable and I like the fact it sparks conversation and I think that’s what music is about, like it literally stimulates your brain.

I love how passionate you are about your music as well.

Yeah that’s true, I love to take away notes about the production, take away notes about the themes, finding connections between the black diaspora music and how it can intersect and combine and like all the different cool sonic things happening with music right now to create new sounds.

Not only are you a singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer, but you also founded your own record label TRANCE, all by the age of 20. Impressive. How do you balance it all?

I have very irregular work and sleeping hours, I have periods where I’m chilling, living the life, partying, DJing, clubbing, traveling, whatever, being very extroverted, and then when I’m making music or working, a lot of what I do is very isolated, whether that’s recording or just working on my computer, sometimes I’ll have non-stop days where I’m just locking in hours. It also helps that I have a good team, a label, and good peers, who are my collaborators and we kind of bounce ideas off each other. There’s a big aspect of entrepreneurship with everything that I do and I’m still learning”.

The simply brilliant Talia Goddess needs to be on everyone’s radar. I think that this year is going to be her busiest and most successful yet. The momentum that is behind her will make sure of that! I am fairly new to her work, though I am not a fan and will definitely keep an eye to see where she goes. Make sure that this incredible human is in your sights! After a great 2023 and year where she put out the DOWN 2 EARTH album, it is very much full steam ahead. There is no doubt that Talia Goddess is…

SUCH a sensation.

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