Catherine AD
‘Carry Your Heart’ [Tara Busch's AnalogSuicide mix]

Tara Busch is at it again. Just a few weeks after her genius reworking of the Bat For Lashes hit ‘Daniel’ [here], she’s turned in a typically complex, multilayered remix of recent Catherine AD single, ‘Carry Your Heart’. The second in a series of remixes that Catherine is gathering together for a free EP, it follows last week’s intensely atmospheric Sweet Billy Pilgrim remix of the previously unreleased ‘Hand To The Tide’ (also free to download below) and is every bit as transformative. Described by Catherine herself as “mad as a hat stand: a Disney-shaped hat stand”, Tara has put her bank of analogue organs and synths to good use, cleverly reworking the main keyboard melody with a beautifully simple motif of layered flutes and other goodies, interspersed with various bursts of fizzing synths, a clanging bell and all manner of futuristic squelches beamed in from a galaxy of emptiness. Like paying a visit to the singing roses of Wonderland after a midsummer nap in the poppy fields of Oz, Tara’s distant coos and mutterings are a lovely added touch.

If you’re going to Latitude Festival next weekend, be sure to check out Catherine’s set at the Sunrise Arena on Sunday (July 19th) at 5pm. As for her long-awaited debut album, for which she has enlisted the production skills of Bernard Butler (Suede, Duffy) and Liam Howe (Sneaker Pimps, Marina & The Diamonds), Catherine tells us that she’s halfway there with the recordings so not too much longer to wait. MP3s after the jump.

FREE MP3: Catherine AD, ‘Carry Your Heart’ [Tara Busch's AnalogSuicide mix]
BONUS MP3: Catherine AD, ‘Hand To The Tide’ [Sweet Billy Pilgrim remix, via Last.fm]

visit Catherine on Myspace

3 Minutes with Catherine AD

ActionAid 6 Degrees Project feat. Róisín Murphy, Sinéad O’Connor, Amanda Ghost, Micachu, thecocknbullkid + Alessi’s Ark
‘I’m Every Woman’ [Chaka Khan cover]

With each day that goes by it’s becoming easier and easier to play the game of 6 Degrees of Swine Flu with musical folks like Lissy Trullie and Jens Lekman having to spend time in quarantine, and as the virus spreads here in London we’re counting our removes from unlucky friends who’ve found themselves confined to their bedrooms (thankfully expected to have 100% recovery). We’ve probably never been more aware of the fact that we’re all connected, but ActionAid’s 6 Degrees project is here to remind us that those connections can span unimagined distances. Supported by several high profile musicians, journalists and celebrities, 6 Degrees is shining the spotlight on the charity’s work on women’s rights issues in countries where extreme poverty claims the lives of thousands of women.

Released on the 100th anniversary of the first suffragette hunger strike in Britain, the 6 Degrees project is giving away a very unusual cover of Chaka Khan’s prevailing disco hit ‘I’m Every Woman’ dreamt up by current President of Epic Records, Amanda Ghost, and featuring five very different female artists: leftfield pop diva Róisín Murphy, musical icon and political force Sinéad O’Connor, plus up and coming Londoners Micachu, thecocknbullkid and Alessi’s Ark. The track was inspired by the story of Hajara Mukyala, a 20 year old single mother who lives in one of the poorest slums in the Ugandan capital of Kampala having been forced to work as a prostitute after a terrifying sexual assault aged 14 left her pregnant and thrown out onto the streets. 

Wears The Trousers caught up with Amanda over email to talk about her involvement with ActionAid’s 6 Degrees project and about the track.

Who/what initiated your work with ActionAid?

I had just moved to New York and I got a call from my publicist asking if I wanted to get involved. I didn’t think I’d have the time, just starting a new job as President of Epic, but then ActionAid shared Hajara’s story with me and explained how I was connected to her via Miranda Sawyer, Ladytron, etc. They researched the chain and shared it with me. Add to that the shocking fact that 70% of the world’s poor are women and I knew that I had to get involved and help spread their message. It still amazes me when I think about it – we really are all connected. This is why I feel it’s so important that women get involved and support this.

Were you nervous about covering such an iconic song?

No, not at all. I’m a friend of Chaka’s and when I thought of covering it I gave her a call to see what she thought. I explained the project and told her I wanted to give the track a more sombre feel. She loved the idea and so I knew it was a good approach.

Did you invite her to sing on it?

I did. She was in LA and I sent her over the track and asked her to add a vocal. It’s absolutely brilliant to have her involved.

What other song(s) would you have considered if you hadn’t been given permission to cover ‘I’m Every Woman’?

The original idea was to create a new song but then I thought about ‘I’m Every Woman’ and knew this was the one we should do. Everyone thinks of it as a disco anthem, but when you think of the message in the song it’s so relevant to what we’re talking about with 6 Degrees.

Being a women-centric project, there is obviously a strong feminist element. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Is this something that informs your role as President of Epic?

I don’t know if I would consider myself a feminist. I do think that the music industry, especially in the UK, needs to tap into female talent more. Not in respect to artists but A&Rs, label bosses, producers, engineers, etc. Most of the people who buy music are women so it makes sense to have more women involved in the creative process and decision making.

Although the track is obviously an all-women affair, the project has the support of various male celebrities. Do you think it’s important that projects like 6 Degrees make room for men who support women’s rights to get actively involved?

Definitely. Every man has a mother! In order to really change the system you need to have the support of men as they, unfortunately and unfairly, have a lot of the power.

Has this project inspired you to become more active in women’s rights initiatives?

Yes, definitely.

What’s the next step for 6 Degrees now the song is out there? Raising awareness is the first step towards action, but what can your audience then do to make a real difference?

There are lots of ways for people to get involved in the campaign. They can donate to help support ActionAid’s women’s rights work around the world, they can send a message of solidarity, or join the debate started by Cherie Blair on The Independent’s website [here]. It’s important to get people engaged and keep them interested so that they will stay involved with the issues.

How will any fundraising from the 6 Degrees project be spent?

ActionAid will use the money to support their women’s rights work around the world. They have a lot of projects that they fund on a local level that helps women get access to healthcare, education, food, microfinance and training, etc.

Do you see poverty in women and children becoming a larger issue closer to home in the UK?

I’m not really sure. I think that women’s rights issues are always on people’s minds here and the government is really supportive to make sure the system is fair and helpful to women.

[interview by Charlotte Richardson Andrews]

FREE MP3: ActionAid 6 Degrees Project, ‘I’m Every Woman’ [registration required]

Read more about Hajara’s story and the genesis of the track at www.actionaid.org.uk/6degrees

Sarah Blasko
‘No Turning Back’

Three years on from her award-winning breakthrough What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have, Australian singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko returns with her third album As Day Follows Night, a simpler yet still stylistically bold offering recorded in Sweden with producer Björn Yttling (Lykke Li, Robyn) earlier this year. The dozen songs run through various styles we’ve never heard before from Sarah, taking in jazz, vaudeville and flamenco guitar, always crisp and allowing plenty of space for Sarah’s expressive, playful voice to take command.

Released today in Australia, the album will most likely take some time in making its way across the world (officially at least), so preview track ‘No Turning Back’ will have to suffice for now. It’s perhaps a strange choice for a single as it’s not particularly radio friendly. A steady drum beat is accentuated variously by low-end piano and parps of brass, given added drama with crashing and reverberating cymbals, before it all strips back to a very simple bridge of acoustic guitar and swooping backing vocals. The repetition of the lyrics is cleverly handled as Sarah’s vocal becomes more quavery, more insistent, even desperate sounding, as the song progresses. In short, it’s a grower. MP3 after the jump.

A very limited edition (1000 copies only) of As Day Follows Night featuring a bonus disc of covers of Sarah’s favourite film soundtrack songs is available for international orders if you’re quick. Each beautifully packaged boxset is signed by Sarah and also includes four “magic ink” reveal cards and paintbrushes. Painting them with water will reveal the colourful artwork. Orders to the UK can be placed here for the princely sum of AU$57.95 (including $15 postage), which equates to approximately £27.65.

Wears The Trousers has an interview with Sarah coming up as part of our Australia Week, which runs from July 20–27. We’ve also been chatting to Lenka, Lisa Mitchell, Holly Throsby, Kate Miller-Heidke, Butterfly Boucher and Howling Bells. It’s gonna be great, mate.

As Day Follows Night
01 Down On Love
02 All I Want
03 Bird On A Wire
04 Hold On My Heart
05 We Won’t Run
06 Is My Baby Yours?
07 Sleeper Awake
08 No Turning Back
09 Lost & Defeated
10 Over & Over
11 I Never Knew
12 Night & Day 

Bonus disc
01 Seems Like Old Times [from 'Annie Hall']
02 Something Good [from 'The Sound Of Music']
03 Maybe This Time [from 'Cabaret']
04 Out Here On My Own [from 'Fame']
05 Xanadu [from 'Xanadu']

FREE MP3: Sarah Blasko, ‘No Turning Back’

visit Sarah on Myspace

‘No Turning Back’

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fve_ObZOfv4

‘All I Want’

Nicole Atkins
‘Ben’ [Michael Jackson cover]

We really weren’t planning to post any more Michael Jackson covers, but then we heard that Wears The Trousers favourite Nicole Atkins was offering a free download of her version of ‘Ben’, MJ’s first ever solo #1 (in the US) in 1972. After years of having to suffer countless reality TV stars butchering the song (Eoghan Quigg, Ray Quinn, Connie Talbot – we’re glaring at YOU), we were glad to see someone we respect take on the song and turn it into a handsome tribute. In all honesty, Nicole’s version isn’t particularly groundbreaking or startling, and sounds as if could have been recorded at a soundcheck, but it’s not bad at all. Nicole is still in possession of one of indie-pop’s most impressive and distinctive voices, and we’re eagerly awaiting news of the completion of her second album, which surely must be sometime soon. Please? For now, ‘Ben’ is a nice reminder that she’s still around. MP3 after the jump.

FREE MP3: Nicole Atkins, ‘Ben’

visit Nicole at Myspace

Times New Viking
‘No Time No Hope’

If you were shrewd enough to catch Times New Viking on last year’s inaugural Shred Yr Face tour with Los Campesinos! and No Age, you’ll know just quite how ferocious this resolutely lo-fi trio can be. ‘No Time No Hope’ is the first taster of their upcoming album Born Again Revisited, a typically hasty follow-up to last year’s acclaimed Rip It Off and sounds almost like good old fashioned power-pop, only the vocals are buried at a crossroads on the outside of Coolsville and the overlaying guitars clang and grind like warring blades of serrated metal. You can barely hear Beth Murphy sing as she competes with drummer Adam Elliott, though her keyboards ring loud and true through the scraping and shouting.

Never ones to intentionally downplay their lo-fi credentials, Times New Viking reportedly delivered the masters for the album to Matador Records on a VHS cassette, which, as daft as it may seem, is entirely appropriate for this band. Influences for the album are said to include Guided By Voices, Pavement, The Beatles and late ’70s British art-school DIY (punk, presumably?), and in true Times New Viking style, only one song (the intriguingly titled ‘2/11 Don’t Forget’) exceeds 3 minutes. Quite what the thematic link with controversial US politico Chuck Colson’s 1976 memoirs Born Again is, we’re not sure, but Matador suggest there is one. Born Again Revisited is released on September 21st. MP3 after the jump.

Born Again Revisited
01 Martin Luther King Day
02 I Smell Bubblegum
03 City On Drugs
04 Born Again Revisited
05 Little World
06 No Time No Hope
07 Half Day In Hell
08 Something Moore
09 2/11 Don’t Forget
10 Those Days
11 (No) Sympathy
12 High Holidays
13 Hustler, Psycho, Son
14 Move To California
15 Take The Piss
 

FREE MP3: Times New Viking, ‘No Time No Hope’

visit Times New Viking on Myspace

Olivia Broadfield
‘Don’t Cry’

Hailing from Leicestershire, Olivia Broadfield is the latest embodiment of the-girl-done-good as she prepares to release her debut album Eyes Wide Open next week. A budding musician from the age of six, Olivia got her lucky break when an unsolicited Myspace message to producers of MTV’s ‘The Real World’ landed her song ‘Don’t Cry’ on an episode of the show, topping 7000 downloads in the process. The major influence that’s apparent from even just a cursory listen to the song is fellow Brit-girl-done-good Imogen Heap, specifically Frou Frou’s 2002 album Details (“It was so different, and I found it really inspiring. I fell in love with the warmth of electronica,” says Olivia), and bringing things full circle rather nicely is the fact that the other half of Frou Frou, producer Guy Sigsworth, has been singing Olivia’s praises, remarking: “Some singers strike a pose. Some make attention-seeking songs out of gossip-column inanities. Olivia takes you inside her head, and what a wonderful place it is.”

‘Don’t Cry’ balances nursery rhyme segments inspired by her mother with more world-weary lyrics about the temptation to give up and let go, all delivered in a pleasingly breezy manner. Like Heap, her voice is capable of sounding feathery, as if half whispered, and the similarity really is quite striking. It’s all about that nostalgic yearning for simplicity we all experience from time to time. As Olivia explains, “Sometimes you just want to be a kid again and not have to worry about anything, not care what you look like, not care if you fall over and everyone sees you. Kids act completely mental all the time and no one even seems to notice. For better or worse, when you grow up, life becomes complicated.” This isn’t electro-pop in the 2009 sense, viz. Little Boots, La Roux, Lady Gaga, but keep your ears wide open for Olivia. She could yet make a real mark. MP3 after the jump.

Eyes Wide Open
o1 Weight
o2 Don’t Cry
03 Indescribable
04 Holding Onto You
05 Hang On
06 Lost In You
07 Safe
08 Probably Nothing
09 Don’t Let Go
10 Silence
11 Eyes Wide Open
12 Save Me
13 Crashing Down 

FREE MP3: Olivia Broadfield, ‘Don’t Cry’ [via Spinner]

‘Don’t Cry’

Third album from ‘Once’ actors out in September 

Moviegoers know them as the struggling musicians from the 2007 indie film ‘Once’ who fall into a relationship that ultimately cannot be sustained, and life it seems is imitating art as the real-life romance between Czech singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová and Frames frontman Glen Hansard, collectively known as The Swell Season, is over. (Who knew that Glen was almost twice Markéta’s age? Not us.) However, the show must go on and the duo are still “good friends” and currently putting the finishing touches to their third album, Strict Joy, to be released through Anti- Records on September 29th.

The album borrows its name from an Irish poet named James Stephens and was co-produced by Glen and Peter Katis (Mates Of State, The Grates). Every member of The Frames chips in bar drummer Johnny Boyle, with additional instrumentation from Leonard Cohen’s guitarist Javier Mas, pianist Thomas Bartlett, Levon Helm’s horn section and others. The album release will coincide with an extensive tour, with dates to be announced soon.

Swell Seasons fans will also be pleased to know (if they didn’t already) that the band’s 2007 world tour was filmed for an upcoming documentary. More news on that when it emerges.

[artwork not yet available]

Strict Joy
01 Low Rising
02 Feeling The Pull
03 In These Arms
04 The Rain
05 Fantasy Man
06 Paper Cup
07 High Horses
08 The Verb
09 I Have Loved You Wrong
10 Love That Conquers
11 Two Tongues
12 Back Broke

Alan Pedder

International Pop Underground icon returns to K Records

For her third solo album, ex-Tiger Trap/Go Sailor/Softies member Rose Melberg has returned to her roots with a new deal with K Records, her first release on the label since 2000’s Softies swansong Holiday In Rhode Island. Mirroring the almost fully solo approach she took for 2006’s enchanting comeback Cast Away The Clouds, Rose recorded the dozen songs on Homemade Ship with minimal outside help, only calling on fellow Vancouverite Larissa Loyva (aka Mint Records recording artist Kellarissa, and one quarter of P:ano) to help out on a few tracks. It’s the first new material we’ve heard from Rose since a beautiful cover of Mia Doi Todd’s ‘Autumn’ appeared on her Myspace in December 2008. Sadly, that one hasn’t made the final cut. Full tracklist and artwork below.

Homemade Ship
01 Things That We Do
02 Look Skyward
03 Bear In A Cave
04 Outlaws
05 Old Days
06 Moon Singer
07 Homemade Ship
08 Clay Bride
09 The Whistle Calling You
10 Sharks
11 Sidewalk
12 Truly

Alan Pedder

Guests include Bruce Springsteen and Rufus Wainwright

Bouncing back from her 2007 brain surgery, Rosanne Cash is set to release her 12th studio album, The List, on October 6th through Manhattan Records. The long-awaited follow-up to 2006’s grief-wracked Black Cadillac, the album finds Rosanne going right back to her roots with a selection of covers taken from a list given to her by her father Johnny back in 1973 of the 100 essential songs he thought she ought to know. ”If my father had been a martial arts master, he might have passed a martial arts secret on to me, his oldest child,” says Rosanne. “If he had been a surgeon, he might have taken me into his operating room and pointed out the arteries and organs. If he were a robber baron, he might have surveyed his empire and said, ‘Honey, some day this will all be yours!’ But he was a musician and a songwriter, and he gave me the List.”

Part homage to her father, part celebration of the country tradition, Rosanne has taken great care to put her own stamp on each of the songs while respecting their heritage. “I looked to that list as a standard of excellence, and to remind myself of the tradition from which I come,” she says. “This album enables me to validate the connection to my heritage rather than run away from it, and to tie all the threads together: past and future, legacy and youth, tradition and timelessness.”

Among the dozen tracks are covers of Bob Dylan’s ‘Girl From The North Country’, Hank Snow’s ‘I’m Movin’ On’, Jimmie Rodgers’ ‘Miss The Mississippi & You’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, on which she duets with no less than The Boss Bruce Springsteen himself. Other guests on the album include Rufus Wainwright, Elvis Costello and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. The List is Rosanne’s first collection of covers in a recording career spanning more than 30 years. Hear a preview of ‘I’m Movin’ On’ here.

[artwork not currently available]

The List
01 Miss The Mississippi & You
02 Motherless Children
03 Sea of Heartbreak [feat. Bruce Springsteen]
04 Take These Chains From My Heart
05 I’m Movin’ On
06 She’s Got You
07 Heartaches By The Number [feat. Elvis Costello]
08 500 Miles
09 Long Black Veil [feat. Jeff Tweedy]
10 Silver Wings [feat. Rufus Wainwright]
11 Girl From The North Country
12 Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow

 Alan Pedder

New album out in September

Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk is releasing her first album in 3 years on September 22nd, and she’s chosen a rather self-deprecating title for it – Plain Jane. Explaining her choice in a lengthy blog post, the two-time Juno Award winner says: ”I lead a very unique life I think, not because I am a singer-songwriter, but because I am a singer-songwriter whose material is most celebrated in my native country – Canada, but I live part time in another country. In California, where Raine [Maida, her husband] and I have a home/home studio, I am simply a mom – a working mom, yes, but I am mostly a typical mom. In Canada, I am a singer, who does interviews and has videos, a commercial and lots of very public advocacy work for many organisations I believe in –which puts me far more ‘out front’.

“In the song ‘Plain Jane’, I explore the beauty of anonymity and privacy, and the realisation that quite frankly hard work and obscurity makes a much more grateful person of you. I abhor entitlement, the belief that one actually deserves the privileges they find themselves basking in, and I have come to appreciate the truth that comes from being immersed in a life of typicality and unpretentiousness. I realise that I am living out my life as it is supposed to be lived, having the ability to appreciate the little things, because I am not entitled to anything, really…The album title Plain Jane reflects more my feeling that I am an incredibly plain person. Everyone I tell that to laughs, but I always truly feel so plain and ’safe’. I see people like Lady GaGa and Katy Perry, and I am, like, wow, I am such a prude, plain Jane. Oh well, I am who I am.”

The recording of Plain Jane was a lengthy process due to Chantal’s pregnancy and writing projects for other artists, and she admits to being nervous that it might sound too diverse. Perhaps the most unusual inclusion is an African language song co-written and performed with her children’s nanny Bibi called ‘Na Miso’. “She is from Congo [where] so many are separated from those they love due to escaping persecution, and it has been my honour to write a song with her on the subject of connecting with loved ones…truly a privilege and so transforming,” says Chantal. Other songs she singles out as favourites include first single ‘Invincible’ (”such a joy to perform”), ‘5000 Days’ and ‘Half Of Me’. Hear ‘Invincible’ over at her Myspace.

Plain Jane
[tracklist not currently available] 

Alan Pedder