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flexible on how to express ideas. You can learn
of some of the dysfunctions you had when you
were younger, and choose not to bring them to
the present. I think we all had a bit of that." As
for the seemingly prosaic title, Gould is matter of
fact. "It refers to a sun worshipper. It’s a Roman
thing, a Pagan thing. It works with the album."
The record's strange, distinctive artwork (see
below) comes from Ossian Brown, member of
the bands Coil and Cyclobe. "Patton already had
[Brown's] book, and then I mentioned it," says
Gould. "That was pretty much where we were
at, subconsciously. [Brown] contacted us, and
asked about his photos – he had a couple that
weren’t in the book. I don’t know if he knew
what kind of band we were!"
082 MAY 2015 JB Hi-Fi
visit NEWS MUSIC
A new album from the
acclaimed UK act Florence
and the Machine lands at the
end of May. How Big, How
Beautiful – the follow up to
2011's Ceremonials – sees the
artist emerge from a period of
some reinvention and seclusion.
After coming off the road
promoting her last album, still
aged only 21, Florence ducked
public life for a long period. “It
was sort of a crash landing,”
she freely admits. “I guess
although I’ve always dealt in
fantasy and metaphor when
I came to writing, that meant
the songs this time were
dealing much more in reality.
Ceremonials was so fixated on
death and water, and the idea
of escape or transcendence
through death, but the new
album became about trying
to learn how live." The new
album is produced by Markus
Dravs (who's helmed records
for Bjork and Arcade Fire) and
also features arrangements
by Will Gregory of Goldfrapp.
Florence and the Machine also
play Splendour in the Grass this
coming July.
Florence & the machine Big, beautiful, soon!
No matter your take on Australian Idol, it's undeniable both Stan Walker's
vocal ability and stage presence are considerable. After winning Idol
in 2009, he released Introducing Stan Walker, but it's his new album that
is raising eyebrows and pricking up ears. Truth and Soul is a collection of
standards by some of music's legends – everyone from Bob Marley (Is
This Love?) to Otis Redding (Signed, Sealed, Delivered). Walker covering
Marley isn't so surprising: he starred in New Zealand feature Mt. Zion
about a young man who dreams of his band supporting the late reggae legend. Walker
was also a judge on The X Factor panel that saw Natasha Kills berate the unfortunate
Joe Irvine, and publicly backed the decision to sack Kills and her husband Willy Moon.
But he's only looking forward with this new album of standards: "It’s not just enough
to deliver a good, polished performance… they all deserve extra depth.”
continued
Q1/Good to Bad addresses hard realities in the
country. Do city people get country people?
I didn't grow up in the country, I just spend a fair bit of
time there. I grew up on a freeway! The inspiration for the
song came from too much Breaking Bad. I have a little side
project called The Hillbilly Killers with Bill Chambers and Tim
Rogers. I said to Bill, “I’ve written [about] this drug farmer,
crazy...” and he went, “No. That’s a Catherine Britt song,
save it for the album.” It felt like a Dylan/folkie melody. It's
an interesting starting point – a song about a drug farmer.
But I’ve had feedback about all the desperation and loss
– people alone, out on those big properties they inherit...
there are stories. So who knows? I might have nailed some
Aussie story.
Q2/You went to a songwriting workshop with Steve
Earle, how did that feed into the record?
I was very suss on it. I wanted to know what Steve Earle
had to say about songwriting. I’d have no idea how to 'tell'
someone to write a song; it’s not a step-by-step process.
He was just brilliant: the main thing around what he was
teaching was what inspired him – the way Shakespeare
structured his plays, the rhyming schemes, that sort of stuff.
He had this amazing black American poet, young, beautiful,
stunning woman screaming at you – rap poetry – really
aggressive. Steve watched every single song, every single
night. I finally got up and did Sweet Emmylou; he came up
and said “Who are you?”
Q3/And he features on You and Me Against
the World, did you do that face-to-face?
I recorded it live with a violinist and upright bass player. I
did all my part and then sang his part separately – I went on
and did his parts for him and then sent it to him, and then he
just recorded it live in a couple of hours in New York studio
and sent it back.
Q4/You recorded Boneshaker in New York State,
near Big Pink (where The Band and Dylan made The
Basement Tapes); did you see it?
It's just a big house on a back street. I drove
past and they told me not to stop for too long, ‘cause the guy
comes out apparently, with a gun, and tells you to move on.
I took a quick photo and drove away. It was just a big house
that’s pink, nothing special.
Q5/You remain the youngest Australian to play The
Grand Ole Opry: what's the experience like?
There’s nothing quite like the first time. I was living in
Nashville. I was a regular by the end of my time there, which
was just amazing. But you never quite get rid of that rush
when you go up on stage, you stand in that little circle that
everybody from Hank Williams to Elvis has stood in. It was
just like this ultimate thing: part of
music history, and I’m all about that.
Catherine britt
Boneshaker is out now
via Universal.
faith no more return
Stan Walker's truth in soul
C ynics may scoff, but Faith No More are back
with new album, Sol Invictus, after 18 years.
The band, who just toured here for Soundwave
2015, first reformed for gigs in 2009 and have
proved a potent live attraction. "The crowd thing
was crazy – we always were a little bit of an
odd band," says bassist Billy Gould, who's also
produced Sol Invictus. But according to Gould,
the group's community has never gone away.
"Back in the day, we encouraged people to
come on the road and follow the band around,"
he remembers. "We were playing shitty clubs,
trying to get as many people on the guest list
as we could. We had this little travelling group
of kids, and that's continued. Some of them I
still see when we play in London and there’s
still a lot of friends in Australia now, who travel
around. We have a community, it’s not cliquey at
all." But given live shows started again in 2009,
why so long for an album? "If you think about
techniques and knowledge as tools, people have
more tools to work with. I think people are more
Sol Invictus is out May 15
via Liberation/Universal Music.
Truth and Soul
is out now via
Sony Music.
How Big, How Beautiful is out
May 29 via Universal.