“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE
“A humanistic document of our ever-changing world”, ‘Losing, Linda’ follows up Melbourne-based experimental electronic musician and performance artist SUI ZHEN’s ‘Secretly Susan’ album from 2015.
“It’s an album about missing people after they are gone and trying to pre-empt loss – not only loss of life, but memory and information”SUI ZHEN explained, “I see it mirrored in our increasing need for data storage. Why are we collecting and documenting so much, anyway? It’s also a simple ghost story about being haunted by our other versions and our past selves…”
‘Losing, Linda’ is understandably an introspective listen, the genesis of it came under the trauma of her mother’s critical illness and eventual passing. Opening with ‘Another Life’, the ghostly track is held around a melancholic electric piano and unsettling eerie vocal chants; these elements loom heavily in the realisation that “all I see are things I could be missing, all I know are things from another life”.
The effectively spoken word ‘Natural Progression’ exploits the use of drum machines and haunting voice treatments as sombre detuned synths in the vein of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’ soundtrack evoke isolation. But ‘Matsudo City Life’ offers more classic synthpop in its throbbing electronic bass synths before bringing NEW ORDER styled guitar into play, coming together like SAINT ETIENNE with an Antipodean twist.
Talking a diversion for a night out at Ronnie Scott’s, the jazzier moods of Astrud Gilberto make themselves heard on ‘I Could Be There’, mixing synths and brass. Continuing the theme, ‘Mountain Song’ brings the bedsit jazz-inflected resignation of EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL into the room. ‘Being A Woman’ furthers those jazzy inclinations, but that odyssey comes to a halt with the space reggae of ‘Different Places’.
While that quartet might confuse electronic music enthusiasts, the album’s best two tracks are saved until last. The best and most immediately accessible song is ‘Perfect Place’, a delightfully odd but wonderful slice of pentatonic avant pop, with eerie spoken passages and bursts of delightful melodica offset by hypnotic arpeggios and danceable rhythms.
Closing proceedings and not dissimilar in vein, ‘Night River Rider’ is a superbly quirky instrumental with beautiful whistling passages and exotic textures that offer lighter relief to end ‘Losing, Linda’ on a more optimistic note.
‘Losing, Linda’ is not an easy listen and a dedicated focussed mood is a must to appreciate its very personal craft.
But it is a thoughtful art pop record with enough synthy elements to sustain its surreal melodic quality to provoke existential questions on the human condition in the modern world.
‘Losing, Linda’ is released by Cascine in North America and Dot Dash in Australia / New Zealand on 27th September 2019 in the usual formats
Behind the persona of BELOUIS SOME was Londoner Neville Keighley who released his debut album ‘Some People’ in 1985.
Best known for the classic single ‘Imagination’, the accompanying boundary breaking (for the time) promotional video included full frontal nudity.
Over his three albums, Keighley worked with a stellar roll call of musicians including Bowie guitarists Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick, Guy Fletcher of DIRE STRAITS and CHIC’s Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson.
After a break of 25 years, BELOUIS SOME has recently returned to the live arena and Neville Keighley kindly spoke about his career, the challenges of getting signed, working with the late iconic PINK FLOYD artist Storm Thorgerson, plus his early links with DURAN DURAN and a fledgling TEARS FOR FEARS.
Who were your initial musical influences?
In the 70s, like everyone I guess, I was obsessed by music, the stuff older kids were listening to like JETHRO TULL, early GENESIS, LED ZEPPELIN etc. But then at age of 12-13, it was ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and I was off!
What was the early link between you and TEARS FOR FEARS?
My friend had an uncle who signed them to a publishing deal as the band GRADUATE, so I knew them and when I did some demos at a studio in Bath with Manny Elias on drums, they joined in with backing vocals.
What made you choose an alter-ego rather than releasing songs under your real name?
I was a solo artist and it was impossible to get a record deal as one; also no-one took new solo artists seriously… eg singer / songwriter stuff. Also I was always playing live so wanted a name that was ambiguous, plus my real name is a real mouthful. I had very few knock backs after I changed my name, put a band together and started playing live, but that was 5 years in!
What was the pathway that eventually got you signed to a major label and how were DURAN DURAN involved?
DURAN DURAN’s managers, the Berrow brothers, signed me to their publishing label and although I signed to EMI via Parlophone, they weren’t the only label involved by that stage. They were a great label to be with.
How did you manage to hook up in the States with guys of the calibre of Carlos Alomar, Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson?
I had been recording my first album in London for a while and I wasn’t happy with it, it sounded too ordinary!
Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero had just remixed TALK TALK’s ‘It’s My Life’ and the record company suggested they remix one of my tracks.
I went to New York, it was obvious I wasn’t happy with my album so we agreed that if they could put together an amazing band, I could persuade Parlophone to let me re-record a track with them producing. Eventually we did 6 or 7 songs…
Was it nerve-wracking being in a studio environment with musicians that had played with Bowie and CHIC?
No, I was so relieved and grateful to be re-recording the songs, I didn’t have time to be nervous. Parlophone weren’t going to let me carry on forever. By this time, I knew what I wanted and the musicians were amazing people as well as players. I still remember the look on the record company’s face when I walked in and played ‘Imagination’!
This was a time when some bands went fully electronic, what made you stick primarily with more of a band aesthetic?
I’m still called ‘electro pop’ etc and never understood why, because I’ve always been band focused…
You are best known for the song ‘Imagination’, do you think the extended 7 minute “saucy” promo helped or hindered the success of it?
I didn’t care. I knew EMI would go berserk and they did when they saw it! Luckily as soon as they sent it out to the clubs, the reaction was amazing. British TV didn’t like it, but European TV did!
The director Storm Thorgerson was best known for his legendary album cover designs for artists such PINK FLOYD, but also worked on several promos for artists such as Nik Kershaw and Paul Young. How was the experience of working with him?
I wanted to do something special and Storm Thorgerson was an amazing man, he’d just started making videos. He was very creative and a bit difficult, but I loved working with him. We had to keep it all secret because of the storyline.
The video for ‘Some People’ that was shot in Clacton and Alburgh is more obviously ‘Thorgerson’ than ‘Imagination’ with that PINK FLOYD-ish surrealist edge to it. Do you have any specific memories of making it?
We took over the whole place over for a few days, the video was a Swatch Watch TV commercial for the USA as well. The ‘Some People’ video confused a lot of people! Not what they were expecting and it did much better in the USA than ‘Imagination’.
Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson from THROBBING GRISTLE shot the video, were you aware of his alter-ego at the time?
No, but he was a very charming man.
How was the experience of supporting Nik Kershaw?
This was my first time out in theatres in 1984, it was a great experience!
You toured the US in 1985 supporting FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, one can only imagine it wasn’t a sedate affair? What are your memories of those dates?
My band held their own!
In 1986, you played in front of your biggest crowd yet at Knebworth opening for QUEEN, a trouser soiling prospect if ever there was one? But the crowd were quite hostile to you weren’t they?
It’s funny how people ask this, I’d played constantly for 3-4 years and in some really grisly venues, the 120,000 Knebworth audience were great. There were some people in the audience who caused a bit of trouble but they can’t have been QUEEN fans. I had a great time.
You gamely performed ‘Target Practice’ as the missiles were flying, was it as dangerous as it appeared on the big screens at Knebworth?
The first time I sang ‘Target Practice’ was at Glasgow Apollo on a Saturday night, I realised then what was going to happen… audience participation!
Having read some of your earlier interviews at the time of ‘Imagination’, you come across as pretty ‘rock n roll’! What are your opinions of today’s music artists and the way they portray themselves in the media?
I think social media means everyone has to be a bit careful and behave themselves. We didn’t have this problem in the 80s!
Looking back, what is the standout experience of your music career?
Meeting and working with so many great people, also performing your own songs to any audience is such a privilege.
You disappeared off of the musical radar for a while, what were you doing at the time?
It was pretty obvious in the 90s that what I did wasn’t getting a fair chance so I buggered off.
You returned to paying live recently, how does the experience of this differ with your earlier live experiences?
I went on stage this summer with the ‘Let’s Rock 80s’ summer festivals, my first time in over 25 years.
Is there any chance of any new BELOUIS SOME material on the horizon?
I hope so!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to BELOUIS SOME
Over four songs and four instrumentals on her impressive debut album ‘Polarlichter’, ALICE HUBBLE makes the perfect synth earth mother.
Behind ALICE HUBBLE is London-based musician Alice Hubley, previously best known for fronting cult favourites like ARTHUR & MARTHA and COSINES. Despite her roles as a lead vocalist, this is the first time she has ventured out musically on her own.
With her forlorn vocal presence and endearing instrumental charm, courtesy of her array of vintage keyboards, ‘Polarlichter’ is an impressive solo debut that is a soundscape of pastoral solace.
Released on Happy Robots Records, home of RODNEY CROMWELL and TINY MAGNETIC PETS, the first single ‘Goddess’ has already been declared one of the singles of 2019 by BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, while the sub-OMD of ‘We Are Still Alone’ with its the lilting bass and elegiac transistorised melody is wonderfully glorious.
Alice Hubley chatted about the genesis of ‘Polarlichter’ and much more…
‘Polarlichter’ as a title is perfect for the album, but what inspired you to use that particular word, as opposed to other variants and languages?
The title track initially came from the artwork from the LP which I bought in a flea market in Berlin a few years ago. I like the way it sounds and rolls off the tongue, I probably don’t do the best job of pronouncing it though!
Some would say this is the album people have been waiting for from you since ARTHUR & MARTHA? Who were your key influences for this record?
That’s very nice of you to say. I do think this LP is very self-indulgent and it’s been the most fun I’ve ever had recording and putting out a record. The tracks were generally influenced by places and people / personal interactions. I don’t necessarily set out to borrow from other artists, I enjoy seeing what people pick up on when reviewing the record. There are definitely some surprises and Googling I’ve had to do, but I know I do wear my heart on my sleeve.
Was it the intention to make a half song / half instrumental album? What do you get as a musician from one form that you can’t get from the other?
I didn’t set out for that initially. When I first started the project, I was really looking to do more instrumental tracks and attack the writing process in a different way to how I have approached song writing in the past. I got a lot out of changing round my processes.
The song tracks developed along the way, mainly ‘cause they just come out of me. I think my instrumental tracks are representative of what I’m trying to get across when writing them, but it’s definitely easier to tell as a story with a song.
You began the compositional process on an iPad before bringing in analogue synths, which particular instruments did you use?
The main apps I’ve used are Tabletop and the Moog Model 15 synth app along with Garage Band and a few effects.
Where do you sit on that hardware versus software debate?
Ha, it is a contentious debate, I created a hushed silence in a room with a band (I won’t divulge who!) once when I said I liked the Moog iPad app! The thing I like about some apps is that they encourage a different way of thinking to playing a keyboard, recording can be quite immediate and you can come up with different ideas when things are more off cuff.
I personally feel if the sound fits the track and is good enough quality then why not use an app sound. I think I re-recorded the majority of the Model 15 tracks ‘cause they sounded better on the Prodigy, but the Tabletop sounds are very prominent on the LP.
‘Ruby Falls’ is a lively opening statement that paints pictures in the listener’s mind. When you go travelling, what sort of places do you like to visit and how does it stimulate your music?
I like to visit places of natural beauty and those more off the beaten path; this year, for contrast this year I’ve visited the Alhambra in Granada and a nuclear bunker in Prague. It’s nice to be taken out of the familiar, I’ve found travelling is inspiring and also triggers creativity for me.
The single ‘Goddess’ has had a very positive response, what was its genesis?
‘Goddess’ was one of the first tracks I wrote for the LP. I’d always liked the idea of writing a song called ‘Goddess’, it’s a word that is bold, beautiful and distinctly female. Through thinking about Goddesses and goddess worship came the idea of the destructive nature of the male gaze when taken to extremes, which the song explores lyrically.
I think the bass riff came in first before the song, it was written over such a long time. I then wanted to go for this chorused / filtering synth sound, which I remember worrying after it was done that it was too intense to listen to on headphones. I’m really delighted by the response it has got though, so I guess I was wrong!
The choral laden ‘Atlantis Palm’ is rather gorgeous…
Thank you!
The key track on the album is ‘We Are Still Alone’, it’s a bit like OMD meeting ASHRA?
That’s very kind, both bands are big touch points for me.
The main melodic theme of ‘We Are Still Alone’ reoccurs on ‘The Golden Age’ and ‘Still Polarlichter’, is this all part of a bigger story?
Ha, well spotted. The solo from ‘We Are Still Alone’ was at one point quite prominent in ‘The Golden Age’. It wasn’t intentional but it does help to pull the record together.
‘Kick The Habit’ goes all electro-glam, like a synthy Suzi Quatro?
Totally! I wrote the track after coming off tour supporting the psychedelic rock band BLACK MOUNTAIN, they have a lot of songs with big guitar riffs in them and this was my attempt at writing a big riff song.
Other touch points for me were second / third LP GOLDFRAPP and LADYTRON.
There’s a lot of flute sounds on the album, are they real ones?
I wouldn’t be adverse to a real flute on a record, but it’s all the beautiful sound of the Mellotron.
Which tracks on ‘Polarlichter’ are your own favourites and why?
I like them all for different reasons, though I’m particularly fond of ‘Still Polarlichter’ and ‘Atlantis Palm’. ‘Still Polarlichter’ because we went on such a journey in the studio with that song, it’s so sinister and also I love playing it live. With ‘Atlantis Palm’, it just feels so different from anything I’ve done in the past, it’s so simple but a big statement.
You are undertaking a headlining tour having opened for DAMO SUZUKI and TINY MAGNETIC PETS earlier in the year. How were those experiences and how will your approach change as you move into the role of headliner?
Both shows were a lot of fun, it was such a great experience playing with Damo and TINY MAGNETIC PETS and they were both very sweet to me.
It is a bit daunting but I am looking forward to the headline shows, I’m not planning on bringing anyone into the band as of yet, but I am looking to expand the set in some ways. Come along and see for yourself!
Will there be more from ALICE HUBBLE in the future, how has the solo experience been for you compared to being part of a band?
Yes, there is definitely more ALICE HUBBLE in the works, I’m actually in the middle of preparing to go back into the studio in September to start recording for the next release.
The whole ALICE HUBBLE process has been a dream, being solo means you can work at your own pace and can be quick at making decisions. It can get lonely at times, but I make a point of working with people I enjoy being around and try to have fun with it.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to ALICE HUBBLE
Manchester Salford Eagle Inn (3rd October), Glasgow Nice N Sleazy (4th October), Sheffield Hatch (5th October), London Servants Jazz Quarters (5th November)
Leeds based singer / songwriter IMI has made a fine impression in 2019 as one of the most promising new synth acts of the year.
Blessed with a glorious soprano in the vein of striking vocalists like Alison Goldfrapp and Tara Busch, what has also stood out is the widescreen aesthetic of her music with sharp electronic melodies and inventive arrangements.
Having previously been a member of a Goth band, classically trained IMI’s ears were drawn to her parents’ record collection; her father, a veteran of the New Romantic campaign had naturally been a fan of VISAGE so it was fitting when Rusty Egan started playing her music on his radio show.
IMI made a rare live appearance in London at The Finsbury to showcase her intelligent avant pop. Opening with ‘The Fence’ from her recent ‘Lines’ EP, a programmed warbling drop of vintage bass synth and a metronomic rhythm construction was the backdrop for an almost folky vocal before a percussive build to usher in the clouds and the darkness with a beautiful crescendo.
Two still-to-be-released songs ‘Monolith’ and ‘Pin Me Down’ demonstrated IMI’s previous flirtation with the gothique while encapsulating the filmic ambition of GOLDFRAPP circa ‘Felt Mountain’ and its delightful oddness.
On stage, IMI took up different personas in the live presentation of her songs, from serious synth girl to serene pop princess, but the rousing melodic call of ‘I Feel Alright’ saw her enter I SPEAK MACHINE mode.
With the dramatic combination of her magnificent live vocals and sampled ethereal voices while sternly facing her Moog Sub Phatty, proceedings became more sinister but strangely captivating as her delivery emotively conveyed the parradox of the song’s title in a barrage of squelch and rigid beats.
Closing the short set with the mighty triplet infused operatic statement of ‘Margins’, IMI’s musicality allowed her to cross trip hop and Synth Britannia without anyone noticing the join, before a piercing cry on the caesura.
A largely mesmerising solo performance, IMI did well to get round some minor technical difficulties. As she increases in confidence and maturity, she will only get better.
For the moment, she is a highly promising songstress with lashes of talent and a focussed esoteric mindset that will hopefully lead to more artful adventures for all to savour. IMI is undoubtedly one of the keys to a sustainable synthy future.
Australian multi-instrumentalist Jorja Chalmers was first spotted within the London music scene as a member of HOTEL MOTEL, a stylish new wave pop trio with shades of BERLIN who were described by DJ Mark Moore of S-EXPRESS fame as like a ROXY MUSIC album cover come to life.
So it was quite fitting in 2009 when Chalmers was recruited as a sax and keys player for Bryan Ferry; she has more or less been there ever since and that would kind of explain why her debut LP ‘Human Again’ has been a long-time coming.
Primarily instrumental and recorded in her boss’ studio while later co-mixed by Johnny Jewel, head honcho for the Italians Do It Better stable, the home to CHROMATICS, DESIRE and HEAVEN, ‘Human Again’ is a conceptual observation on the human condition.
Conceived and sketched in hotel rooms during the come down from playing songs like ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache’ to packed theatres around the world, ‘Human Again’ succeeds in capturing those feelings of emptiness and alienation that can often arise from living the dream.
As the opening album title song asks “Hello, are you breathing? Can you make me Human Again?”, a mountainous aural art piece acts as a cathartic expression in a collage of voice, synth and sax, like Enya wandering into ‘Twin Peaks’ but discovering it is full of ‘Subterraneans’…
The following ‘Red Light’ is brilliant and sinister with sharp rhythmic passages and cascading keys combining for a claustrophobic Cold War atmosphere. Laced with abstract whispers and chilling off-key organ, the European tension recalls Chalmers’ French label mates DOUBLE MIXTE and even the haunted dancehall of THE SABRES OF PARADISE. ‘Black Shadow’ maintains that air of mystery, tainted with desolation.
Meanwhile, of a more sombre synthy disposition, ‘She Made Him Love Again’ is a song where Chalmers’ breathy vocals possess a gorgeous forlorn allure, so when the icy string machine and deep sax join in, proceedings rise to another level.
The sinister pulsing arpeggios on ‘Copper Bells’ are simplistic but effective, while ‘No Words’ presents an eerie ambience. More sax based, ‘Our Love In A Glass So Thin’ gets smothered in reverb while detuned electronics add to the moody ‘Low’ before ‘Suburban Pastel’ offers a cautious rumbling sound sculpture.
But the sax returns on ‘This Is Where The Sky Begins’ where it is rich and expressive over a spacey soundscape, with a strangely soothing feeling compared some of the more unsettling pieces that are collected on ‘Human Again’.
As the haunting string ensemble, church organ and bursts of bass synth recall Klaus Schulze on ‘The Sum Of Our Sins’, the ghostly closer ‘Ship In The Sky’ is swathed in drifting melancholy like Arvo Part’s solemn ‘Fratres’.
Capturing the emotion of a stranger in a strange land after the artifice of adulation only hours earlier, ‘Human Again’ is a back-down-to-earth reality check in musical form, to indeed get back to being human again.
This is a rather captivating record that is well worth the time and space, exuding quality in abundance.
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“A humanistic document of our ever-changing world”, ‘Losing, Linda’ follows up Melbourne-based experimental electronic musician and performance artist SUI ZHEN’s ‘Secretly Susan’ album from 2015.
‘Losing, Linda’ is not an easy listen and a dedicated focussed mood is a must to appreciate its very personal craft.
is an impressive solo debut that is a soundscape of pastoral solace.
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