Michael Kiwanuka at Brudenell - 18th February 2012

The Brudenell is already at full capacity when The Staves take to the stage, no one wanting to miss a minute of this night. The Staves are three sisters whose voices are as beautiful as they are, with brunette hair tumbling around their shoulders the way emotion tumbles gracefully out of their songs. There is a gentleness about them, from the way they play their instruments (guitar, ukulele and tambourine) to the folk music that seems to float out of them, and they have the audience spellbound.

As Michael Kiwanuka appears there is a flash of humbleness in his eyes that all these people are here to see him sing. Only twelve months ago he was a session guitarist and now he has millions of fans eagerly awaiting the release of his debut album. As soon as he launches into his first song you can hear what all the fuss is about, his voice so warming and smooth it wraps itself around you.

The upbeat numbers like Tell Me a Tale so thick with funk they are practically sticky, the slower numbers set in a dreamy rhythm of soul. His set is laden with songs that even though you are hearing them for the first time they sound familiar. All of them carry an undercurrent of sadness but it doesn’t stop them at the same time being euphoric and joyful. There are flickers of his Ugandan roots in his intonation and the use of a Hammond organ at times gives his set a gospel feel.

Near the end of the set he plays Rest, a song that just makes you want to be close to the one you love, lie in bed all afternoon and just enjoy the simpler things in life. For someone that is only at the start of his musical journey his performance holds a maturity that if developed 
properly could well cement him alongside the soul legends he is compared to.






Published in Yorkshire Evening Post

Spector Interview

Last year saw Spector deliver knockout shows at a handful of festivals and support the likes of Killers and Florence and the Machine, dazzling audiences with their powerful pop and vigorous performances. This year is set to be huge for the London based five piece as before their debut album has even been released they are being featured on ‘ones to watch’ lists everywhere. The band is obviously working really hard as when we chat to drummer Danny Blandy about the album he tells us he has been up since 6.30am so to be gentle with him.

Is the album finished?

No it’s not, we are meant to hand it in at the end of the month so hopefully the label will think it’s finished then. We have got two more things to record and then we have got to sort out all the mixes of the other things, tidy them up a bit.

Surely they would wait until you have finished it.

I really don’t know, I hope so; we only have ten days to get it done.

You have worked with a number of producers on it, what was the reasoning behind that?

In the beginning it wasn’t a conscious choice to do that but with peoples schedules being what they were there wasn’t a time when we could be somewhere two months straight. We had two months to record the whole thing at short notice. It kind of ended up us picking different people to do different songs; it’s worked out really well. It’s been interesting to work with a range of different people. I really enjoyed working with all of them; there’s not been one that I didn’t enjoy.

Band of Skulls Interview

Atmospheric Indie rock trio Band of Skulls first started their musical career as ‘Fleeing New York’ but a name change along with a more focused attitude led them to receive critical acclaim for their debut album, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey. Hoping to echo that success with their follow up, Sweet Sour, we chat to bassist and vocalist Emma Richardson about dealing with doubters and their eye-catching album artwork.

Do you approach song writing as trio?

Yeah all three of us write and with this record especially its been easier to work together. We trust each other a little more, we are able to show each other ideas and back down when someone says, “this might not fit here” or “this verse won’t work so lets scrap it”. You have to take it on the chin and get used to taking opinions from the other members. It ended up with the songs being the best they can be. It’s a good way to do it as we push each other; it’s almost a competition to write something better than you did before, better than someone else.

Do you have a musical hero you would like to work with in the future?

If dreams can come true Tom Waits would be an amazing person to collaborate with. I would quite like to meet Jenny Saville the painter. I went to Wimbledon school of art a while back, I still draw a lot and I have got an exhibition in London coming. I did four large oil paintings for this album cover and they are going on show with some of the work from the first record as well. I never thought I would get a show of my own.

Rupert Stroud - Chasing the Night

Now that more music than ever is being downloaded and the tangibility of a CD is becoming less frequent, it is really refreshing to get an album that has had so much thought put into the artwork. Rupert Stroud’s second album ‘Chasing the Night’ is wonderful in the continuity of its presentation. The website, the album sleeve, even the styling of the photographs has a 50’s jukebox feel to it.

Rupert has the label of singer/songwriter but there is much more than the expected acoustic guitar and driving vocals. Producer Will Jackson (The Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs) has effortlessly blended a mix of country, rock and folk, all linked together with Rupert’s strong voice that fits perfectly with the instrumentation used and lyrical sentiment. Hurt, hope and happiness are all on show.

On songs like ‘hate to say’ there is an emotive and tender quality to the vocals, enriched by the fact they are not overly produced or manipulated. When the songs call for it Rupert is able to reflect the darkness in the lyrics with melancholic, echoing harmonies such as on ‘no love lost’.

Rather than having as many instruments thrown onto the songs in the hope they might bring something to it, it seems as though each instrument has been specifically picked for each moment. Whether it’s a handclap on human politics or a female vocal on ’40 days and 40 nights’ each ingredient is in exactly the right place and in the right amounts.

This is a project where every element has been well thought out and a clear sense of identity has been imprinted on every aspect.