Whether you knew him as Terance Trent D’Arby or know him know as he has been for past decade or more as Sananda Maitreya, his funk rock style remains steadfast as a unique blend of Sam Cooke, The Beatles, and James Brown. On Return to Zooathalon, Sananda takes on every instrument, wail, and holler on this 22-song statement about various characters, real and mythical, in his life. This album is meant to be played loud, as the pounding drums and ringing guitars demand. The record starts with the brief, but fervent, “Brimstone Follies”, followed by pop numbers, “(DFM) Don’t Follow Me” and “Save Me”. A lyric in the bluesy number, “Dancing With Mr. Nostalgia”.would resonate with any one who had a measure of success, then have to start over, either by choice or necessity: The album is full of strong characters with names like, “Stagger Lee”, “Ornella or Nothing”, and “Mr Gruberschnickel”. Between all the rhyming devices used throughout the record, the lyrics are an experience in themselves.
There she goes with my memory Ready to raise a child From Adam to Stagger Lee There she goes bearing all my name Encouraging on and on Return to Zooathalon
As Zooathalon comes on the year of his 50th birthday, he honors the memory of those who didn’t make it to that age and namely so, Whitney Houston, with the album’s closing instrumental, “The Last Train to Houston”. Return to Zooathalon reminds you why Sananda remains a powerful musical force, though it may take you more than one listen to soak in all of this record.
After serving as executive producer of Michael Jackson's posthumous album, Xscape, Timbaland is focusing on his own music career.
The hitmaker announced in an interview with Revolt TV that his long-awaited solo album is titled Opera Noir, meaning "black opera."
"It’s a culture thing. It’s the truth. It’s just about life in general. My life. My personal life, and I found myself as an artist and human being and as a man. I found who I am,” said Timbo of his fourth album.
Surprisingly, Timbaland reveals that his upcoming effort won't include many collaborations. "Me and my new artist, her name is V. Just me and her. And Cee Lo. That’s it," he said. "When [Opera Noir] comes out and you see the whole package, you’ll understand why. You’ll see it, and you’ll be like, 'Wow, I’ve never seen nothing like this.'"
The producer also claimed that his set will rival Dr. Dre's 1992 classic, The Chronic. "I finally made my Chronic," he says.
The follow-up to 2009′s Shock Value II is slated to arrive later this year.
Here’s a breeze of fresh air offered by Craft Spells. With a inch of Japanese flow, Komorebi is taken from Nausea EP and follows his previous album Gallery EP in 2012. For this record, Justin Vallesteros put down his guitar and trained himself on piano for over a year; the instrument on which all the tracks for Nausea were written.
Bob Dylan isn't known as a crooner, but that hasn't stopped the legendary singer/songwriter from releasing a cover of Frank Sinatra's 1946 single "Full Moon and Empty Arms," which is apparently is the first song from a brand-new Dylan album.
Dylan posted the track to his official website on Tuesday, together with what appears to be cover art for an album entitled Shadows in the Night.
A rep for Dylan confirmed the song is "definitely from a forthcoming album due later on this year," but wouldn't reveal the album title. No word either on whether or not the album will be a collection of other standards.
"Full Moon and Empty Arms" was written by Tin Pan Alley writers Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman on a melody borrowed from Russian classical composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The new album, when it arrives, will be the follow-up to Dylan's 2012 release Tempest.
After teasing fans with a handful of tracks off her upcoming debut album Goddess, the indie siren Banks is back with another soulful single titled "Drowning."
Charles Bradley: Interview “When I’m doing music onstage, I’m putting my heart and soul into it, and giving all I have to give. But when I’m finished with music, I just like to put up my own little aura where there’s peace and quiet.”
The emotional power of Charles Bradley’s raw, yearning voice is intensified when you consider his history. He was a homeless runaway as a teenager, spending decades hitchhiking and working odd jobs, always with a distant dream of “making it” with his music. He experienced personal loss too intense to respectfully touch on here. He performed occasionally as a James Brown impersonator, but was eventually discovered by the fine folks at Daptone Records and paired up with the fantastic throwback soul collective, the Menahan Street Band, led by guitarist Thomas Brenneck. The songs from this partnership are all original: they sound like Charles Bradley, not James Brown. It was decades coming, but Bradley is finally getting his due.
His story has already served as inspiration for a documentary. Bradley pleases critics but seems to form remarkably strong emotional connections with fans. With the Menahan Street Band behind him, Bradley has toured the world and created soul music that sounds like it was pulled right out of the 1960s. His latest, Victim of Love, came out earlier this spring. When I spoke to him, Bradley was resting up after a European tour and getting ready to hit the road again.
How are you feeling after the tour?
When I got home I felt a little under the weather but now I feel much better.
How has your life changed since the breakthrough of your first album, No Time for Dreaming?
I just moved out of the projects. I’ve got my mom’s basement — I’ve been trying to get it fixed up so I can move down there. Using the money I’ve made from music […] I’ll basically make a one bedroom apartment out of it. At least [I’ll be] there — I can watch my mother more closely. I like having the apartment where she’s right upstairs. Thank God I’ve got a place where I can watch over my mother, and make my music.
That’s really admirable. Did you manage to buy anything special for yourself, though?
My van — I got a 2008 van. I bought that for me so I could move stuff around. I did not know if I was going to [keep making money from music], so I bought this van to do handyman’s work. If somebody wants me to move [something] to make a little money to pay the bills […] that’s why I bought the van.
I jumped into the mud and we started have a good time. They were hugging me, we were loving and crying together. I was just really into it. As I came back onstage, I grabbed the microphone and got a shock through my whole body. The electricity shocked me.
Can you tell me about your relationship with Thomas Brenneck, and the way you write songs with the band?
They were playing some music and I just started singing on it. When I heard it, the words just came to me. There’s more to it than just what you hear. I just like the music. We got together and put it together and started singing.
The music is written by the band and you improvise vocals over it?
Some of the songs, Tom will have it all together and he’ll come to me and ask, “Charles, how do you like this song? That song?” Some of ‘em I didn’t like, some of ‘em I did like. The ones I did like, I just said, “Let me hear it.” I listen to them very carefully and when I hear them I know where to put the lyrics. I put them in right on the spot. Some of them didn’t come out quite right — we had to work on the music. But some of them […] we just made the music and lyrics up on the spot.
How do you feel now that you have two widely heard albums under your belt?
Honestly, I’ve been excited for music ever since I was 16 years old. I’ll always love the music. I did a CD way back in 1989 but I never got it off the ground. I’ve always been seeking my music. It’s been a long time coming — [I’m] 63 years old […] When Tom gave me this opportunity and said he wanted to record me, five years later he moved to Brooklyn and we started talking and everything started happening from there. Ears opened and listened to what I had to say, and things just started happening.
Has anything about your new lifestyle surprised you?
I’ve always been the same person with music. I’ve always been a person who wanted to withdraw from the world because the changes I’ve been through I just don’t want to go through anymore. When I’m doing music onstage, I’m putting my heart and soul into it and giving all I have to give. But when I’m finished with music, I just like to put up my own little aura where there’s peace and quiet and not go through some more changes I’ve been through. I have to look out because when I’m walking in the street, a lot of those things are still out there, so I’ve got to keep myself away from them.
I’ve heard you speak about God in interviews. Can you tell me about how your faith affects your music and life?
My faith in God is totally… there’s nothing on this planet that can change my faith and love for God. Because I believe that’s who kept me strong, who kept me going through all the darkness and brought me through the darkness into the light. Without my faith in Him, I’m nobody. I would have been in somebody’s graveyard or somebody’s jail if I didn’t have God in my life.
I understand that you spent time in Job Corps as a young man?
To young kids out there, 18 years of age, if you come from a down-low life — go to Job Corps. If you’re in bad financial shape — go to Job Corps. Job Corps helped save me from a lot of different things. It got me away from living in the basement and watching people shootin’ up junk everyday, all their life. To keep warm, you gotta stay out of the cold. If you came from a hard life, and don’t know which way to go, go to Job Corps.
Since you probably have more life experience and wisdom than many of the people you play and perform with, do you ever have advice for them?
I have experience, wisdom, and knowledge. Sometimes I have to let them give me what they have to give me. If I say things, sometimes they think I’m against them or I’m trying to hurt them — I’m not. I’m trying to tell them the ways of life that I’ve seen and know. A lot of these young kids, I see what they’re doing. I see them living their life. I don’t want to do anything to hurt them or harm them, all I want to do is tell them the right thing.
When you’re young, you think you know it all. I know I did too, at one time. There’s nothing I can do but teach when [they] want to learn. When [they] want to learn, I’m here. I don’t care where you’re at. Even if the kid from down the street from where I’m at today… if they want to learn, I’ll tell ‘em. If they think they’re grown and know it all, I back off and leave them alone.
Your song “Why Is It So Hard?” asks for a change in America. Can you tell me what you’re looking for with this song?
Why is it so hard? Why must I do all these changes? I like to show the world that I’m a goodhearted person. Why is it so hard for me to get opportunity in life? Why is it so long for me to go through life to get an opportunity? What I have I’ll give […] I’ll give the world every inch of my love. Why is it so hard?
When I said that statement to America, I really mean every word. That’s the reason that song is so true. When I sing that song, I’m very emotionally, deeply, spiritually into it. I know what I had to go through. It took all these years before I was truly given an opportunity. And I can say some of the things in that song when I see how I was stripped of my identity, and know that I was right.
There was no one I could run to and tell, “Look what that man did to me,” or “Look what they’re doing to me!” I had no one to tell it to at the young age of 14 years old. And when I went to go get a job or wanted work, they wanted me to do wrong to get a job and I wouldn’t do it.
“Why Is It So Hard?” To me that song is my national anthem.
What responses have you gotten to your music and your message?
That’s one of the reasons I always go out to the audience and hug them. I get so much… “Charles Bradley, I just want to thank you. You helped me with my life.” I feel it in their souls and heart. I wish I could hug each and every one of them, because the things they tell me, the things they whisper in my ear tell me their hardship and their love.
What I did was bring the openness of their heart and it’s a beautiful feeling. It’s a spiritual emotion I get when I go out to the audience.
I’ve always been a person who wanted to withdraw from the world because the changes I’ve been through I just don’t want to go through anymore.
Can you tell me about some memorable concert experiences you’ve had so far?
One was down South — we were playing at an outdoor concert and a storm came. It was raining, so they cancelled the show. Everyone was angry. All the people were standing out in the rain and the mud. I looked out and said, “Oh my God, all these people standing out in the rain and mud […] to see me sing a song.” I said, “That’s not right. I’m on the stage, underneath this tent and I’m not getting wet. They’re out there just to see me perform.”
I said, “If you guys can stand out in the rain like that, I can come out and get wet with you.” I had a white suit on. I jumped into the mud and we started have a good time. They were hugging me, we were loving and crying together. I was just really into it. As I came back onstage, I grabbed the microphone and got a shock through my whole body. The electricity shocked me. That’s a memory I’ll never forget, long as I live. We were like one out onstage.
The other I remember, I was in Canada. [A person] came up to one of [my] band members and said, “Can you ask Charles Bradley to talk with me?” The band member came to me and said, “Charles, that young man wants to talk to you.” I said, “What does he want to talk to me about?” [My bandmate] said, “Charles, I think you need to talk to him because he’s pretty upset.” I said I would speak to him after the show.
When I came offstage, the kid was standing right by the door. “Charles Bradley, please talk to me.” I said, “Young man, what is wrong? Why do you want me to talk to you?” He said, “I just lost my mom!”
I said, “Oh God, how old was your mom?”
“My mom was 57 years old.”
“How old are you, young man?”
“I just turned 18.”
I said, God, please tell me something to teach to this kid.
“Young man, sometimes in life, God brings an angel into the world, and he gives you all the love that angel can give you. But when that angel gives you all the love God told them to give you, God calls them home. Your mother, she gave you all the love and wisdom she had in her soul. She made you a leader to go forward to change the world and make it a better place, through the love she gave you. Now that you’ve got that love, her work was done. God called her home. Now it’s up to you to be strong, to keep the love and dignity and quality that God gave you to go forward. Don’t be a follower, be a leader.”
That kid just grabbed me and cried. I said, “I want you to go out into that world and be somebody and show the world the love God has stored in your heart.”
Meshell Ndegeocello’s approach to music and life is equal parts defiance and surrender.
Her music defies categorization, never fitting neatly into any specific genre yet incorporating elements of rock, R&B, soul, hip-hop, electronic music, folk and whatever else she feels like when she’s in the process of creating. (If you’re still searching for a label then maybe “good” or “great” would suffice.)
Typical labels don’t work very well to describe her as a person either. Categorizing Ndegeocello by gender, race, or sexual orientation does little to encompass the depth of her creativity or the breadth of her vision. Trying to capture that type of expanse in a word or two is futile too.
As part of our Off The Record video series, we spoke with Ndegeocello and she performed unique covers of Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’ and Nina Simone’s ‘Be My Husband.’ We also were treated to songs from her new album, ‘Comet Come to Me,’ including her dramatic take on old school rap trio Whodini’s classic ‘Friends’ and a lush original composition called ‘Continuous Performance.’
According to Ndegeocello, ‘Comet Come to Me’ is an exercise in living in the present – a surrender to spontaneity and the here and now. It’s not a concept album but a body of work inspired by creative impulse in the now and “randomness.” No strict adherence to theme or premeditated intention — just creating for creation’s sake — a space where she feels most liberated. “It’s the only time I feel genderless, race-less,” she told us. “I just feel at ease, you just have one thing to concentrate on.”
Watch her talk about how Prince’s music spurred her own music career and her approach to making music in the video above and maybe you’ll be inspired too.
Some have it tougher and more painful than most. And some take that pain and create something kick ass.
When Danielia Cotton faced the death of her unborn twins, and her own mortality, she could have shut down. Instead she dug deep and came up with a collection of songs that screams survival. This woman ain’t goin’ down without a fight!
Even the release of her new album, The Gun in Your Hand, is a testament to carrying on. It was released the week of Hurricane Sandy! And for this Brooklyn-based singer and guitarist, that means something more. This third album follows her critically acclaimed 2008 offering, Rare Child.
Cotton has opened for some of the biggest names in rock, R&B and blues including the Allmans, B.B. King, Derek Trucks, Bon Jovi, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Robert Cray. Her song, “Let it Ride,” was on the soundtrack for Sons of Anarchy.
Cotton isn’t about pretty ballads. This singer/songwriter’s collection rocks you, moves you, makes you shout out loud and shake it. Her smoky voice soars above fat and fatal guitars and a fabulously tight rhythm section. The Gun in Your Hand is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year. I caught up with the undeniably talented Cotton a couple of weeks after Sandy had blown through. Check it out …
GUITAR GIRL'D: We tried to set this interview up for before your album release, but I guess the weather had other ideas.
I know, the weather’s really having other ideas these days!
I love the album. It’s written from the somewhere deep inside you.
I kind of went out on a limb on some things. It’s been a tumultuous couple of years, and your writing always reflects your life. So I had a lot of things to put somewhere, and this album really gave me a place to put everything. It took a little bit longer than most albums, which I like. I feel like with anything that you do, the editing process, so to speak, should be one that you take your time on. I compare that with writing a book. You can just edit constantly. And it’s good, you’ve got to go back and fine tune things. Even though when you’re on the road, you’re getting better and better at playing these songs. When you’re making an album, you really wanna make sure that it is what it is.
Because you’re going to have to live with that for a really long time, right? You don’t want to look back and say, “Damn, I wish I had done this one thing!”
Yeah. Shit! But I’m happy with it. It’s slightly eclectic, which I like in an album. I like that it’s not one long song, which can happen sometimes. It’s the kind of album that I like to put on, that goes in a few different places. You see the artist with more than one face on. I like that, personally. So I tried to do that as best I could.
Has this been a healing process for you, writing in your own way about getting through everything you had to deal with in the last few years?
Yeah, it gives you some place to put it. That’s the beauty of art. It can help you recycle pain in a beautiful way and come out with something great on the other side.
I also feel like the songs are really relatable. You listen and think yeah, I feel that.
I have a lot of audience members over the years that have admitted to depressive things. They can identify with the struggle to keep your head above water. But that’s life too, shit. You’re like yeah it’s good! - and then bam! It’s hills and valleys.
Can you tell me why you picked up the guitar?
Well, my mom gave it to me when I was around 12 or 13. I was emotional and probably had a slight chemical imbalance. As an artist, too, you just have that, you know. I’d just be sad sometimes and not know why. She was a single mom and would be like, really Danielia, are you having a minute right now?
I felt like she gave me the guitar as something to do, somewhere to put it all. And it worked. I didn’t come out of my room for 2 days. And then when I came out I had a G, a C and a D, you know? And my fingers were hurting. I was like, the tips of my fingers hurt so bad Mom! I always tell people it’s like fire! fire! That’s how much I wanted to learn.
Who have been some of your guitar focused influences?
Well, I didn’t know my Dad, and mom told me that he played guitar, so that was all I needed. I’ve never met him even to this day, but she told me that he played flamenco guitar and sang. So that was my tie to my Dad. I didn’t need any inspiration. I mean, as the years go by, if you told me I could be Bonnie Raitt in my next life, I’d be like yes!
Tell me about what kind of guitar you’re playing.
At the gigs, I take the role as the rhythm guitarist. I have a Gibson acoustic. It’s the Emmy Lou Harris one. I was actually with Vector at the time, who managed her. They gave me the guitar. It was custom made a little smaller ‘cause I’m so tiny. I got it in the mail and was like ahhh!
I was opening up for Derek Trucks in Rochester and went to this place called House of Guitars with my guitarist. There was a guy who works there who wrote a book who is kind of famous. There was this pink hollow body Fender Telecaster. He was like, this is a Tele on steroids. I’d never seen a Pink hollow body like it. He said he’d give it to me for 500 bucks. My guitar player was like, if you don’t buy that, I’LL buy it for you! So I bought it, and I’ve been playing it ever since. It’s awesome, and I’ve never seen anybody ever have the exact one that I have.
A lot of fans write in and say they love that guitar. I also have a paisley Strat that’s awesome that’s also pink. But the Tele is the one I play. I love it and I take it with me everywhere I go.
Do you use effects? What kind of amps are you using?
Well, I actually just got sponsored by Moog, so I have their new delay pedal. I can actually use some of the effects on vocals. Also, there was a guy who was taking Boss distortion pedals, redoing them and spray painting them. He got bought out, but that’s the only other pedal I have. When I bought it, the guy was like, oh, the last person to buy one before yours was Keith Richards!
You’re in good company then with that!
Yeah! Because we tour and play in clubs that are not always big, I’ll play just a little VOX amp or my Fender Deluxe, or a Blues Junior. I love, love an AC30. It’s just awesome and great, bright and cool.
I’m pretty simple. Most of the amps I go through I just put a little dirt on them. And then I have that distortion pedal and just a delay pedal. Most of the time my amps give me enough dirt, and I only play with a little bit of dirt. Kind of like in “Deep Dark Love” and some of those.
So you’re playing rhythm live. Who else is playing live with you?
Tony Bruno plays with us a lot, who has played with Joan Jett. He’s just frightening. Really good. He’s actually on the album, on “Save Me” and “My Housekeeper.” Marc Copely played on “Deep Dark Love,” beautiful slide guitar on that, another great, great player. Kevin Salem, who’s the producer, played on the album as well. He’s just extraordinary. So it was three great players who came together and did the album work. And also actually Kareem Devlin, who was out with Lady Gaga. He just left that tour. He co-wrote “Save Me” and played on “Easy”. Another great player, just beautiful stuff. It was great to have all of them.
I take guitar lessons in New York to this day with a guy named Alan Cohen. I’m trying to venture into a little lead territory so that one day I can pull out a some killer leads. I always do it at lessons and Alan says, why don’t you do it at a gig? I’m the only girl in the band.. so when I whip it out for the guys, I want everyone to be like oh shit!
So is there a song or two off the new album that you particularly like to play live?
I love “Deep Dark Love.” I love “Save Me.” Even “Watch Me Bleed,” the rhythm part is deep for me. It’s not an overly complicated chord progression, but it has quick changes. We play it a hair faster than the album, and you can get beat! I try to tell people, I’m changing the chords with my left hand, I’m playing a whole nother rhythm with my right hand, and I’m singing in a different time signature!
Yeah, that’s challenging. People don’t know!
I know, I’m like dude, that’s three different time signatures all happening at the same time! There are times when just I stop, and come back in on the 3, but for two beats I’m like where the hell are we?!
Do you have any advice for other guitarists out there?
Continually take lessons. Continually work on your craft. Practice, practice, practice. I have a vocal coach, and I have a guitar teacher still to this day. You can never progress enough to where there’s nothing that you can’t learn. I think that’s the best way to pay homage to what you do.
So what’s next for you? Where will you be touring?
Radio can sort of dictate where you’re gonna go. I told the fans on the website.. you have a voice. You’re not a singer, but you have a voice. It’s become a very indie-run industry. You know what your voice is? Call every radio station if you like an artist. Request their songs get played. Call the venues you go to and places you like and ask them to book your favorite artist. That’s where you have power. Without you buying a ticket, we don’t get booked there anyway. Use the power that you have as the ticket-buying, record-buying, radio-listening audience and take that and use it. Like, vote! Vote! You have a voice, it’s very powerful, and if you all use it, you can change the face of how music is. That’s my opinion.
This entry was posted on May 6, 2014, in MUSIC REVIEWS
I’ve followed the progress of Lauren Tate for two years now, but it was only in the last year that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her perform; the highlight of which being an outstanding set at last summer’s Live in Barnsley festival. Although only in her late teens, Lauren has already had a number of successes. In just a few years, she has earned a global social media fan-base of 20,000, has sold copies of her first record – a collection of cover versions all around the world, and has already had the respectful acknowledgment of her work by one of her heroes, Linda Perry and Dave Stewart (former Eurythmics). Being noticed at the age of 14 by Flat Wave Studio owner Pete Thompson, she has been nurtured and mentored well, enabling her to develop her craft around seasoned professionals. 2013 saw her invited to sing on garage blues rocker The Graveltones’ debut Album ‘don’t Wait Down’. The Australian duo approached Lauren after hearing her rendition of the Led Zeppelin classic “Whole Lotta Love” on YouTube, which has over 250,000 views.
2014 sees Lauren ditch the ‘covers singer’ tag and release her first record proper, a debut EP collecting five self-penned songs. My Reflection is her first ‘Pledge Music’ Campaign and saw Lauren hit over 50% of her target in the first 24 hours and achieve her funding goal in less than four days. Here, along with her guitarist Sean McAvinue and various musicians at Flat Wave Studio, she has cultivated the perfect debut record.
Opening with The Black, she sounds like she’s going to bust her larynx on the first chorus. Lauren’s voice is far beyond its years and I hope to God it lasts, because she really does work it. The Black’s dirty post-grunge, fuzz laden guitars do Lauren’s song and her voice the world of good. Rather than going down the obvious blues rock path, opting to open with The Black, she straddles Throwing Copper-era Live and even, albeit a tamer Hole. It’s an unexpected opener, and altogether stronger for it. Your Unhappy (sic) opens with a vocal refrain ripped right from the book of Robert Plant, and even though it’s lyrically simple, it’s emotive in exactly the way it should be, and is never once ihatemyselfandiwantotdie-style teenage angst. Lauren is vocally 100% natural and convincing throughout. It’s a very dark and very heavy blues; once again tinged with alt-rock leanings, but all the better for it.
Trapped in My Skin is the EP’s lead track. Musically it starts off like the Lauren you might already be used to; stripped back acoustics and whispered vocals, but the tempo and volume is cranked up and it becomes the kind of anthem that could span genres – the kind of dark song Linda Perry writes. Its reflective lyric could be performed in many different ways; pop, rock, blues, and is a testament to Lauren’s song writing. There is a bonus radio edit of this track. It is easily the most commercial here, and it might be my least favourite of the five, but that is not to say that it isn’t a gem though. Whoever visits this EP off of the back of this song, it in for a surprise and a real treat when they listen to the rest.
Along with the brilliant The Black, Take Me Away is just the kind of thing I always hoped I’d hear from Lauren. This EP highlight is Eastern tinged, reverb drenched guitar – think No Quarter – and then launching into Brody Dalle fronting mid90s Therapy, and ends with something unexpected (though I shouldn’t be surprised)… Lauren wails like Plant’s taken over her entire being. Spectacular.
The closing track, My Reflection, is a genuine surprise. Not commercial in the slightest and a sign that Lauren Tate is a law unto her own. Definitely not commercial and entirely unhinged, it’s a perfect way to play out the EP. This is a Pandora’s box of all kinds of crazy, and is more of a musical representation of the vaudevillian personality she expresses online – think Emilie Autumn, Amanda Palmer or Maple Bee. The beautiful deep drone, the rickety out of tune Tom Waits-esque piano and the faint echoes of a guitar ringing out in the distance, are all accompanied by Lauren painfully, but softly singing her heart out. And the track slowly builds its many distant layers – TV white noise, guitar distortion, backing vocals or many kinds until it fades out to static, fuzz and a barely audible Lauren speaking her mantra. It’s dark, personal and maybe the most honest song here. Maybe a sign of what’s to come for Lauren. If it is, I’m signing up, right now.
I previously feared that Lauren would turn to the dark side and go the way of the TV talent shows. If she did, she’d have probably won. I did however, do her a disservice. In the last few years, she’s developed her craft, ripped up the book and has started afresh down a road she’s writing, and that has to be commended. Her songs are of a high quality. What you’ve got hear is five very personal songs that are complimented perfectly by the studio musicians. It would be easy to say that the hard-rock/post-grunge sound is down to the studio, but if I know Lauren, I’ll bet that she’d never let be solely down to them anyway. She knows which way she wants to go and she definitely knows how she wants to sound. With a voice as powerful and as distinctive as this, you risk overdoing it with the vocal acrobatics, but that doesn’t happen here. It never feels forced and always feels authentic. A beautiful, hard-hitting record that is equal parts Zep as it is mid 90s alt-rock; and with songs as good as this, she need never touch another cover again.
Noosa turned some heads two years ago with her self-titled EP, Noosa, which featured sounds that not only captured imaginations, but also served as a welcome respite for those who were tired of the cookie-cutter pop that dominated the radio waves. Songs like “Walk On By” and “Sail” were just as recognizable as any mainstream offering, but they also had a rare sense of authenticity that both elevated Noosa’s brand, and carved out a fanbase which would provide the catalyst for the warm response she’s gotten so far on this second project, Wonderland. Some of the songs on it you’ll recognize, including the aforementioned single “Walk On By”, but with nine tracks in total, you’re bound to come across some new material; and if you were at all a fan of her older work, then the new stuff will not disappoint.
After listening to the whole project, it’s apparent Wonderland hasn’t wholly embraced the type of beat-driven indie-pop that’s making the rounds at the moment; and with a lot of the synth work and production textures devoted to creating panoramic soundscapes, Noosa seems to have pulled a lot more inspiration from the soft-rock genre than most of her contemporaries. Songs like “Golden One” and “Stranger” represent a good balance of grandeur and intimacy, and when the tracks transition from quiet singing to big choruses, she uses string sections to evoke a sense of antiquity. It makes her work both impressive and much less susceptible to the ever-increasing threat of obsolescence in such a quickly evolving music community, and we’ve to thank the rather mysterious Mickey Valen (Noosa’s producer) for that.
This is all just the beginning for Noosa, mind you, and now that she’s got a formidable catalog to work with, expect a steady stream of exposure for this New York-native in the coming year. Her music has resonated with pop aficionados all over the world already, but her true victory will be to captivate those who are strangers the lighter side of the genre. Wonderland has only just been released, so time will tell if she accomplishes this with the project, but if the success of her first work is any indicator, her future as a recording artist looks very promising indeed.
Since the release of her Christmas album last year, Mary J. Blige has remained quiet musically. However, the singer surprised fans by releasing a snippet of a new song appearing on the upcoming Think Like a Man Too soundtrack.
Through her Instagram account, Mary unleashed the excerpt of a soulful new single about a complicated relationship.
"Some nights I wish I didn't love ya, some days I wish I didn't care/Sometimes I just hold on, can't stand the idea of sleeping by myself," she sings on the hook.
There's no word on when the singer plans to release the full version.
Her sound is a bit Florence, a touch Katy Perry, a little Bat for Lashes and her name is weird — the 24-year-old newcomer who calls herself after a pack of furry animals tells David Smyth what it’s all about
While music’s biggest stars are putting their feet up in January, it’s rush hour for new acts. You may not hear so much about Foxes in the clamour. The 24-year-old singer’s debut album arrives in March, so is badly timed for the taste-making tips lists. But it’s not a problem. She’s already well on her way.
Which other newcomers can count a Grammy nomination and a platinum-selling single among their early accomplishments? Clarity, an emotional electronic tune by Russian DJ Zedd featuring Foxes, has been a hit all over the world and will be competing against Calvin Harris and Duke Dumont for Best Dance Recording at the Grammys at the end of this month. “I keep forgetting. People are still congratulating me and I go, ‘What? What do you mean?’ It doesn’t feel real,” she tells me over coffee near her Dalston home.
Raised Louisa Allen in Southampton (Foxes, that confusingly plural stage name, is something to do with a bizarre dream her mum had), she’s confident, well-spoken company, quick to laugh about her nascent stardom but also with a habit, perhaps from too much X Factor viewing, of referring to her “journey”.
She’s been in London since she turned 18, making connections and becoming a go-to girl for a sweet, powerful guest vocal. Last year, as well as the Zedd song, she popped up singing Right Here on the number one album by Hackney dance crew Rudimental, and more surprisingly, on Just One Yesterday by huge US rockers Fall Out Boy. “They already had Elton John, Courtney Love and Big Sean on that album so I thought I might as well join in with the weirdness.”
All these feature spots are the ideal preparation for solo stardom, she says. “You get to go along for the ride and there’s no pressure on you. I’ve seen how to deal with it. Now I feel really ready.”
And about time. A teenage year at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in Kilburn (alumni include Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Drew McConnell of Babyshambles) did not prove fruitful. “I was a bit of a piss-taker when I was 18. I wasn’t the kind of person who could sit in a classroom and be taught anything, never mind music. I didn’t really go in very much, I turned up late, hungover a lot.”
Then there was an unsuccessful period as a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar, roving around the open-mic nights, though it did spawn her early composition, Youth. In a new shiny electronic guise, that song landed just outside the UK top 10 last November. “I grew up and finally found my sound,” she says.
Her album, Glorious, places her somewhere between the overblown gothic pop of Florence + the Machine (Florence co-writer Kid Harpoon is a collaborator, and tries to phone her many times during our conversation), Katy Perry’s cartoon tunes (Perry has tweeted her approval) and, on the more subtle tracks Count the Saints and Night Glo, the haunting melodrama of Bat for Lashes.
“There is a darkness to it. I’m inspired by film so there’s something cinematic about it,” says Foxes. She writes the songs with production from Jonny Harris, who uses the name Ghostwriter and also co-wrote Waiting All Night with Rudimental. “What I write is really personal too. I’m not going to start writing about partying in a bikini top.”
As a young woman who by no means resembles the back end of a bus, she’ll have to try extra hard to avoid the less savoury expectations of the pop business — let’s be honest, she’s hot, and that means the lad mags will be on the phone before long. With giant brown eyes and lips you could land a helicopter on, she struggles to convince when she says people have told her it’s a pleasant change to see a girl “who seems normal” in the Clarity video.
“People say it’s nice to see a girl who hasn’t got her clothes off,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be about looks, you can choose. It can solely be about the music, it really can. It’s about what kind of person you want to be. Luckily I’m completely in charge of my videos, so the last one I did involved a food fight. It’s definitely not going to involve me in a swimming pool with nipple tassels on.”
However, having previously said that she would be happy writing songs for other people, she’s now warming to the idea of being centre stage. “Before, I wasn’t really into the idea of being a pop star, but what I’ve seen recently is that you can help people. I’ve had people crying at shows saying that a song has really helped them. I want to be the kind of artist that someone like Patti Smith was for me when I was younger.”
The soundtrack of her childhood also included Björk, Portishead and Kate Bush, endorsed by her single mum, a “dreamer” like her daughter who also moved to east London recently to run a vintage store on Brick Lane. She doesn’t talk to her father, a musician. “My mum brought me up to think you can do exactly what you want to do as long as you work hard enough at it.”
She wasn’t forced into seeking a 9-5 career when music didn’t work out straight away, though that pressure that school-leavers often feel is the subject of her song Youth. “Don’t tell me our youth is running out, it’s only just begun,” she sings with the confidence of someone who knows she has found her true calling.
“It’s been a great year,” she says of 2013’s collaborative 12 months. “But now I feel like the curtains are opening. I feel prepared for anything.” This year will be even better.
You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
Neil Young made history Monday night on The Tonight Show, performing "Crazy" as Jack White pressed the song onto vinyl live before the studio audience. Both artists appeared on the show to promote Young's new covers LP, A Letter Home, which was recently released on White's label, Third Man Records.
Young and White spoke to Fallon before the performance, expressing their joint affinity for electric cars and detailing how A Letter Home came to be. White also explained the history of the Voice-O-Graph, the refurbished 1947 vinyl recording booth that Young recorded A Letter Home in. After White had spent a decade looking for the machine and a year and a half renovating it, the booth debuted at Third Man Records for Record Store Day 2013.
After the interview, Young hopped inside the box to perform "Crazy," a cover of Willie Nelson's 1961 hit popularized by Patsy Cline. Young, White, Fallon and guest Louis C.K. listened to the vinyl later in the show. Young also performed "Since I Met You Baby," a cover of R&B singer Ivory Joe Hunter's 1956 song, on piano while sitting inside the booth. That performance didn't make it to air, but was posted online by The Tonight Show.
Fallon tweeted news of this wacky venture on Monday afternoon: "Making history tonight," he wrote. "Neil Young is going to perform and press a vinyl with the help of Jack White live on the show. One take. Fun."
Young's Tonight Show appearance has been a long time coming. Fallon, known for his hilarious musical impersonations, has often imitated Young's nasal balladeer style, most notably when he delivered a Young-styled rendition of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. "I was here a long time ago, looking good," Young told Fallon, referring to the host's impression.
White's no stranger to record-breaking stunts: Last month, the vinyl enthusiast pulled a similar trick at the Nashville headquarters of Third Man Records, recording a live version ...four hours. This broke the Guinness World Record set by Swiss polka trio Vollgas Kompanie, who released their LP Live on August 16th, 2008, the day after recording it.
Meanwhile, the blues-rock singer/guitarist is also prepping an experimental "Ultra" vinyl version of his upcoming studio album, Lazaretto(out June 10th on Columbia and Third Man), which features a pair of hidden tracks pressed underneath the center label of both sides.
Swedish pop trio Like Swimming may be a newer name on music fans' radars: They formed in 2012 out of the ashes of a former five-piece group. However, the musicians have been working together for some years putting together a beautiful, atmospheric sound.
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I’ve followed the progress of Lauren Tate for two years now, but it was only in the last year that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her perform; the highlight of which being an outstanding set at last summer’s Live in Barnsley festival.
