Journalism Portfolio: featuring words for Gigwise, Middle Boop Mag, FrenchEntrée, Mixmag and from a variety of my previous University's student publications
Benjamin Gibbard has been the lead singer of the American indie rock band Death Cab For Cutie for the past 15 years, as well as his part in his other band The Postal Service. He was also married to indie pinup Zooey Deschanel, but they have recently had an uncomfortably public breakup. Former Lives if his first album released under only his name.
Usually when someone decides to go solo, it carries separatist connotations. Be it breaking free of the restraints and inevitable negotiation of their band mates, a craving to create a sound or message that won’t sit well with said bands adjusted style or just plain boredom. Typically, the person in question mixes it up to some extent. Think Kele Okereke a la Bloc Party – he went from indie rock to house music, a complete u-turn.
Gibbard however seems content with releasing a full length solo homage to his days with Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service. On the surface, it sounds very similar. He has though stated that Former Lives is, “a side story, not a new chapter.”
For fans of Death Cab you will no doubt like what you hear. Inspirations include three relationships, living in two different places and drinking and then not drinking. It is like his personal narration of his time in the bands, a place where he can execute something wholly personal – sadly it fails to connect.
A man famed and loved for his cutting and cruel lyrics, this is very safe. It sounds ‘nice’ and all that, but is rather uninteresting. ‘Teardrop Windows’, ‘Dream Song’ and ‘Bigger Than Love’ are worth adding to the record collection, but that’s really about it.
Allah-Las are a psych rock band who formed in Los Angeles back in 2008, priding themselves on their LA-centric, geographically enhanced laid-back style. Having released their debut EP Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind) earlier this year to rave reviews and the impressive approval of Patrick Campbell-Lyons, Allah Las are in a great position to release a full-length album. They also gathered masses of interest from the trendier American blogs and some UK ones after they turned heads at this year’s FYF Fest hosted in LA. One wonders why it has taken the four-piece four years to collect up the tracks for their debut, but as the album unfolds it is clear that many a heartbreak has been woven into each track, carefully crafted with love and longing. The record teems with nostalgic jangle-pop, hints of garage, psych and groove. The fuzzy, harmonised backgrounds and sundrenched guitars wash over you in a haze of blurry dream rock. Allah Las are a band that wear their influences on their sleeve, with hints of Byrds, Love, The Kinks and even The Rolling Stones. They have that expansive sound that instantly draws the listener in, much like the more recent Tame Impala. The album has such classicist influences that one could be forgiven for mistaking it for an old dusty LP from the ’60s dug out of a record store.
Opener ‘Catamaran’ instantly transports you to a chilled out day on the LA sea front. The band are surfers as well as musicians, an obvious sway over the tone of their music on tracks like ‘Busman’s Holiday’ and ‘Sacred Sands’. This album begs to be enjoyed in a social setting and is perfect background music. ‘Ela Nevega’ is an ambient grooving instrumental, a necessary break between the other more vocally led tracks. There is nothing avant-garde about this record – it is more a loving homage to LA and it’s dusty pavements and gleaming seascapes, attributes that make it one of the most alluring places in the world. The album blurs through expressively and is nothing short of spectacular, unionising the bright sunshine and waves with the inevitable heartbreak that even the enviable setting of LA can’t quite soothe.
This is the third LP from French musician Vitalic, titled rather awkwardly Rave Age. Now 37 years old, and 12 years on since his debut album Okay Cowboy – has much really changed?
Each song thrown out over any dance floor would no doubt cause mayhem, but set aside one another in an album format it makes little sense. ‘Rave Kids Go’ is interesting, and perhaps the only glimmer of something new. ‘Fade Away’ is his finest hour, sounding slightly 80’s with a throwback vocal effect.
The French are superior providers of dance floor bangers - think Daft Punk, Justice or more recently David Guetta (before he sold his soul to ‘the man’). Vitalic is no different; however, Rave Age is in no way daring, just more of the same formula repeated to a rather stale effect.
Chad Valley is an experimental bedroom musician, and is by far the brightest light from the Oxford based creative movement Blessing Force, which his band Jonquil is also a part of. His real name is Hugo Manuel and having released two EP’s, both of which were highly celebrated in the UK and the US amongst other places, it seems a logical progression for Hugo to bless our ears with a full-length album, that goes under the title Young Hunger.
Opener ‘I Owe You This’ lends vocals from American musician Twin Shadow, the track is bursting with emotion and longing, even sounding a little like Tears for Fears but an RnB twist. ‘Fall 4 U’ is very George Michael in his ‘Careless Whisper’ era. He teamed up with synth Siren Glasser on this track, her voice as soothing as his as they both fade in and out. Spotting a trend? Young Hunger is undeniably 80’s, but in the best kind of way.
‘My Girl’ is rather cheesy , it goes: ‘If you wanna be my girl//you gotta get with my friends’, the Oxford based band Fixers’ front man features on this one, but the vocals are overly auto tuned and honestly, it’s a little too silly. The album really does come into its own towards the end. ‘Fathering Mothering’ features the delectable voice of Norwegian singer Anne Lise Frøkedal. It’s perfect, delicate and encapsulating pop music. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (or for less of a mouth full – Orlando) is an old school friend of Hugo’s, adds a gloss of expertise on the track ‘My Life Is Complete’ makes for another standout moment.
In its most excellent parts, Young Hunger is delightful and interesting low-fi pop. In others, it is a little too; ‘video gamey’ with too many odd little beeps and noises rattling on in the background. Chill wave seems to be the genre that Hugo has continuously had stamped onto his previous material. However, on Young Hunger he has ever so slightly curbed his infatuation with that surfer, west coast of America vibe, developing the best of that sound and melding it in with his love of 80’s synth pop.
San Cisco are a four-piece indie pop outfit, hailing all the way from Perth, Australia. Their blend of low-fi indie has managed to turn heads on the other side of the globe, and they have recently signed a UK deal with Columbia Records.
The band have blown up in their native Oz, scooping eight WAMI awards in the same night, the Australian equivalent to The Brit Awards. We caught up Jordi, Scarlett, Josh and Nick to discuss pre- show jitters, having a pint in a pub (somewhat or a novelty for San Cisco) and their dreams of one day recording at Abbey Road Studios...
Is there a great story to tell about San Cisco formed - or is it as simple as a few friends playing music together?
Jordi: It’s pretty simple, I was just playing solo, and then I got quite bored to be honest. I decided to start playing a few songs with Josh, and then we got really into playing duets. Meanwhile I was also jamming with Scarlett.
Scarlett: He was two timing me… but then I was two timing him too because I was also in another band.
Jordi: We won an award for our track ‘Rocket Ship’, and it was then when we recorded that song that we all came together. After that we started to play some live shows as San Cisco, and that’s when Nick was also bought in.
What’s on San Cisco’s bucket list to achieve as a band?
Jordi: To just be able to make a living out of this would be really awesome.
Scarlett: We’d love to record at Abbey Road. That’s something we all really want to do.
Nick: There are a lot of bands that we would love to tour with too like Collaborations and Tame Impala. They are from Perth where we are from; we’ve met Tame Impala a couple of times.
Having recently signed a deal in the UK - does it feel like a whirlwind of success or a long time coming?
Jordi: It’s been a long time coming really, but in terms of travel it does feel like a bit of a whirlwind. We’ve been playing together for three years, and so it’s not like our success happened overnight.
Scarlett: We want to take the music to the next level now though; we need all the help we can get for the overseas market, so this big deal had to happen for us.
Did you have a feeling that the track ‘Awkward’ was something special when you were writing it?
Scarlett: We didn’t have time to think – it all happened so quickly.
Jordi: We wrote it and I didn’t personally think it was very special – but our managers did. They gave it out to all the radio stations, and then it just completely blew up. That’s when we realised how good it was probably. While we were writing it though I just felt like it was an ordinary pop song.
How does it feel promoting your music so far away from home - and knowing that people love your work on the other side of the world?
Scarlett: It does feel like you’re starting all over again, like when you’re waiting for people to show up for a gig - we haven’t had that in a while, but there is obviously interest over here just not on the same scale…yet.
Scarlett - how do you cope being the only girl in the band?
Yeah it’s alright I’m just so used to it now – I’ve known the boys for ages and I’ve known Jordi since I was three. So we all just feel like brothers and sisters really which is nice.
Australia has a reputation for great pop music. What do you think it is about Australia that results in such great bands?
Jordi: I'd say Isolation – being a long way from anything
Josh: I think because we don’t have direct influences, we only have the internet which is a mix of American music and British music, so Australia seems to create a whole new beast as a result of that.
Scarlett: It’s easier not to get stuck into one genre scene there, so bands like us tend to be able to experiment a lot more.
Which other Australian bands should we be keeping an eye out for?
Jordi: Snakadaktal, they are an indie pop band who is a bit like Foals. They’re form Melbourne. They won a competition which is called Triple J Unearthed which is on one of the major radio stations. They tend to surface a lot of the better acts I think. Ball Park Music There’s quite a few good little bands around at the moment.
What have you been up to since you've been in London and is there anything you really want to see or do?
We’ve done everything we wanted to do, going to Abbey Road studios has been the highlight. London is so very different from Perth – everything’s so much older and there is so much history. Having a beer in a nice little pub is just so cool to us. The little things like that that we’re enjoying.
For those who aren’t familiar with Tyler James, he was a runner up behind Leanne Mitchell on this year’s reality flop talent show, The Voice. Her winning single failed to even chart and the post show tour was cancelled, perhaps not the greatest launch pad for any singer’s career. However, Tyler was in fact one of the more exciting contestants on the BBC’s answer to the X Factor.
He released his debut album ‘The Unlikely Lad’ through Island Records back in 2005, which enjoyed a short-lived bout of success, but he quickly slipped off the radar soon after.
The London based soul man was best mates with the late Amy Winehouse, which does add a rather alluring string to his bow, along with his undeniably strong voice. He has been marketed as the new Justin Timberlake, because he can do that really high falsetto thing and is partial to wearing sharp suits and being slick and charismatic.
Lead single ‘Single Tear’ peaked at #28 in the UK, and is a polished, ‘Cry Me A River’ type song. The video features him getting hot and heavy with a number of ladies in the back of a cab. It’s a bit much, and the saying ‘sex sells’ sprung to mind, but in this case, it didn’t sell all that well.
‘A Place I Go’ has been released at an opportune time, with RnB creeping back into our view, good RnB though, which has, for the most part become almost vacant from the charts in the last few years.
There is nothing wrong with the album, but there is nothing particularly right about it either. His cover of ‘Higher Love’ is a highlight, but the rest of the tracks seem to blend into one another. Tyler has all the credentials of a pop star, but seems to lack the fluency and variety to instate himself as anything more than that guy who was a runner up on The Voice.
BIGkids is made up of Ben Hudson (Mr. Hudson) and singer Rosie Bones, with a talent for fun, carefree pop tunes. So if you’re sick of all the seriousness, BIGkids are the band for you.
Mr Hudson has been involved in high profile collaborations accross the pond with Jay Z and Kanye West, but feels this project is much closer to his heart. He has taken his production experitise and melded it into something new and exciting with BIGkids.
The duo has released their debut album this week (October 8th) titled Never Grow Up which features lead single ‘Heart Sing’. We caught up with the band to discuss their new album, what they miss about being a kid and how for Ben, it’s all about BIGkids now.
You say Bigkids is meant to be fun. Do you think grownups need reminding of how to have fun these days?
Ben: I think grownups do know how to have fun. I think the weekend’s abundance of drunkards rolling around in Kebab shops can vouch for that. I guess a lot of music can be quite boring though, like that shoegaze sh**, but, there is a lot of fun music out there too. I always think you end up making the music you want to listen to, that’s what’s happened with BIGkids anyway.
What would you say is the worst thing about being an adult?
Rosie: Taxes!!
Ben: I think it’s good as long as you stay from a real job for as long as possible.
What do you both miss about being a kid?
Rosie: I miss tantrums, and excitement. I miss Christmas mornings as a kid, or how excited you can get about stuff, that seems to go away as you get older.
Is being a member of BIGkids as much fun as it looks – or is there seriousness behind the scenes?
Ben: The functional elements can occasionally be a bit more grown up, but mostly it’s been a pretty carefree process and we haven’t really busted our balls as of yet. Well I haven’t busted my balls…
Rosie: I’ve busted my balls a bit.
Ben: Do you know what; it really has just been a lot of fun.
What’s more enjoyable being in BIGkids or hanging out with Jay Z and Kanye West?
Ben: It’s just different, BIGkids is about being back in London, being back on the street, being back in the pubs and getting back to my roots. Also it’s been more of a band vibe and less of a production thing here. I love being in America and I love working with those guys, but this is a big part of me as well.
Have you brought any of your work with hip hop superstars to BigKIDS?
Rosie: Yeah he definitely has. The main thing for me is that Ben produces as we write, he lays down the beats for a lot of the tracks and then we write on top of them. That is a method that I’m not used to. I would write a song and you get my guitar and then would start to think about how the band would fit around. BIGkids in comparison is made in a very hip hop way, but with live show sensibility. Most of the instruments are played by Ben and we don’t use guitars that much. We also record in mostly one or two takes.
Who parties harder: Kanye West or Rosie Bones?
Ben: I think Rosie parties harder.
Rosie: I do. The night we formed BIGkids I had drunk… a lot.
Ben: I think I was the Dezzy D that night - have you heard that phrase before? It means designated driver, I really like that.
Which current musicians do you draw inspiration from and can we hear any of these inspirations on your album?
Ben: We’ve been referencing bands like The Gorillaz to bands like The Muppets, Dolly Parton and Fleetwood Mac. There is some uncool stuff in there but we don’t give a monkeys. We’ve also been listening to the (Rolling) Stones; we’ve basically been listening to a lot of duets to give us creative inspiration.
What are your hopes for BIGkids in the future?
Ben: We don’t really have a plan, we never even planned to make an album that just kind of happened by accident. We’re going to do a tour, we’re going to promote the album and just see what happens.
Whilst I was at Gigwise I interviewed a band called The Other Tribe. Their track 'Skirts' is currently getting some R1 airplay, and they are pretty amazing.
