Remélhetőleg nem olyan fakó színvilágú, mint az előző, a Put Your Hands Up.
Az biztos, hogy ütősebben kezdődik, így az emberek az első pár sornál majd nem kapcsolnak át valami más adóra.
* * *
I was really intrigued with one track in the album which is Turn Me On Again. Is the track really about sex? If so, what inspired you to make a track about sex?
"Ha ha! Well, I meant that all good pop songs should really by 3 and a half minutes about sex in general, not just the ‘act’ itself if you know what I mean. TMOA is about flirting, really, about the thrill of the chase – that’s sometimes the most fun part I think."
* * *
If the title wasn’t clear enough, Nerina explains what the song is about:
"It’s essentially a song about shagging, but specifically the bit before you’ve seen the goods and you’re in that flirty, chemistry soaked phase. The phase before you find out they still live with their Mum and/or have a wife and kids tucked away somewhere."
* * *
Addig is, még egyszer... kétszer... :)
Turn Me On Again
All your sympathy and all your flattery Won't get me home tonight All those pretty lies that serve some other kind Won't set this spark alight You got a fix for feeling, I've a thing for meaning That don't come so easily It's the conversation while I keep you waiting It's the bed before you see
You got your fingers on my wrist now Accidentally on purpose Close enough so I can breathe you Close enough to make me nervous
Love is hate and love is fire Fill my head with dumb desire Turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again
Creature chemistry, the same old enemy It gets me every time It's something small, you see, it's something throw-away Goes around and round my mind It's inescapable, it's more than physical I'm born again, I'm born again I'm born again, I'm born again
I feel the rushing of my blood now Every time that you come closer I feel the rushing of my blood now Oh won't you move a little closer?
Love is hate and love is fire Fill my head with dumb desire Turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again
Love is hate and love is mercy First you kiss and then you curse me Turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again
You got your fingers on my wrist now Accidentally on purpose Close enough so I can breathe you Close enough to make me nervous
Love is hate and love is fire Fill my head with dumb desire Turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again
Love is hate and love is mercy First you kiss and then you curse me Turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again
Love is hate and love is fire Fill my head with dumb desire Turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again Turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again Come on, come on and turn me on again
Úgy néz ki, Nerina Pallot utolsó próbákozása a sikeres pop-előadó státuszra nem sikerült. Így nyilván marad neki a dalírás mások számára, bérmunkában. (Mivel már a saját studiójuk sincs meg, így magánkiadásban sem nagyon fog tudni újabb albumot készíteni és kiadni.)
A Geffen (Universal) szerződés eléggé reményt keltő volt, de nem sikerült nekik a Year of the Wolf albumról kiadott első single-t (Put Your Hands Up) sikeressé tenni, a videót nem játszották a zenetévék. Így az, hogy az album bekerült a UK Top 40-be a nyitó hetében, még szép eredménynek is mondható, de a következő héten az előző heti 31. pozícióból azonnal sikerült neki kiesnie a 100-ból is.
A CD-t nem lehetett kapni a szupermarketekben, csak digitálisan lehetett letölteni... illetve talán a nagyobb CD-boltokba kikerült, de oda meg már a kutya se nagyon jár.
Az, hogy a Geffen Records-nak nem sikerült elérnie, hogy a CD ott legyen az emberek szeme előtt, amikor a napi bevásárlásaikat intézik, azért elég nagy kudarc. Amit majd nyilván Nerinán fognak leverni, pedig ezt elintézni nyilván az ő dolguk lett volna.
Amit sikerült elérniük, hogy Nerinát berakták jónéhány rádió-, és pár tévéműsorba.
De ez nagyon kevés, hiszen a néző hiába látja őt, hiába venné meg utána a CD-t, ha ott, ahol vásárolni szokott, nem találja.
Így aztán Nerina, és a producer Bernard Butler hiába ment el a népszerű pop irányába az albumon, a megcélzott közönséget nem érték el.
Akik várták az albumot, megdobták az első heti eladási számot, és belökték nerinát a Top 40-be (a 31. helyre, bár a hát elején az eladási adatok alapján még a Top 10-be kerülés is elérhetőnek látszott), de a szélesebb közönség nem cuppant rá az albumra, és az eladás meredeken visszaesett.
Talán a második single (Turn Me On Again), ha azt sikerülne jobban menedzselni, még visszahozhatná az albumot a 40-es listára, de ahhoz elég gyorsan ki kellene adni, videóklippel, promócióval, mindennel... És az sem ártana, ha az album végre ott lenne mindenhol a polcokon.
A Geffen-től ez az "akarom is, meg nem is", "csinálom is, meg nem is - aztán hátha mégis bejön" hozáállás józan ésszel belegondolva nem is vezethetett sikerre.
Őszintén szólva Nerina eleve nem egy kommersz popsztár alkat, az ő igazi világa az Idaho, Sophia stb. stílusú dalok, ő akkor a legjobb, amikor ül a zongoránál, és énekel.
És nem is fiatal már, harminchat éves... Justin Bieberrel, Selena Gomezzel, Lady GaGával, s a többi hasonlóval értelmetlen küzdenie a slágerlistákon.
* * * Hatmillió lélek, akik elvesztek a ritka légben, utazik újra a földön. Életek, nem számok. Mind ezek a kísértetek, anyák fiai, a történelem kiürült fegyverei, csak darabok sorban egymás után. És mögéjük állunk, lassan kísérjük a mi fiainkat.
Egy napon nekem is lesz gyermekem. Hogyan fogom majd azt mondani neki: Ó, Ez a világ, ez a világ egy jó hely? Hogyan fogom elrejteni a félelmet az arcomról?
Hogy alszotok mindazzal amit tettetek? Másvalaki fiát halálba küldeni, olyan dolgokért, amelyekben senki sem hisz. Tisztelgés a saját abszurd ügyeteknek, amint felsorakozunk ezen a kegyetlen parádén.
Nerina Pallot - History Boys (live, audio, BBC4 Woman's Hour, 13-06-2011)
* * *
"Before I first met Nerina, I wasn't even aware she was pregnant. Then she turned up as big as a house and said, 'I want to make a record.' I said 'Yeah, right, see you in six months – or six years.' Making this record turned out to be one of the greatest recording experiences I've had. She trusted me completely from the first day we met. It was just so easy. She's not 14 and silly about it, she just wanted to make a terrific record whatever it took. With the baby coming, time was of the essence and I realised the only way to record it was to do it live. We booked into Konk Studios, in Crouch End, Ray Davies' place and one of the few remaining great studios left. We recorded eight songs in seven days, then on the eighth day, she had the baby. It really was unbelievable."
There's a song called History Boys that I would never have written if I hadn't become a mother, because it changed my perception of the world.
That song is talking about casualties of war. "All these ghosts / Sons of mothers."
I was four months pregnant, and watching footage of fallen soldiers coming home at Wootton Bassett and it just… [pauses] I suddenly related to those boys as people's kids. And I couldn't stop weeping, because I thought, "gosh, I'm having a little boy and maybe one day he'll want to become a soldier, and I might have to deal with something as horrid as that."
You can feel the emotion in your vocal...
I was trying to be political without being political. On a human level, regardless of whether a particular war is wrong or right, there's a human sadness and tragedy at the heart of it. And that's what I was trying to describe in the song - loss. The senseless loss of young lives.
There's a thematic link between that song and your first big single Everybody's Gone To War. Has your viewpoint changed at all?
I haven't thought about that - but I suppose, on a personal level, I feel less angry, more sad.
It's quite easy to be angry in music, because you just turn everything up. But real sadness - sadness that isn't cloying or sentimental - is the hardest thing to convey.
I really wanted people to be moved and thoughtful at the same time."
Csütörtökön, pénteken, szombaton, és vasárnap a négy album dalait bemutató netes koncertek nem a szokásos 22h-kor, hanem egy órával előbb, este kilenckor kezdődnek!
Nerina Pallot chose to launch her new album, Year of the Wolf, at Borderline, an intimate venue she first played at the start of her career, over ten years ago.
The choice of Borderline, however, ended up being more than just a nostalgic nod to her musical roots. It proved a perfect setting for the chum-like interaction Pallot famously has with her audience and, sound-wise, for some of the more stripped-down, minimally accompanied tracks she played solo (such as “I Think, “It Starts“, “Human” and set-closer, “Sophia“), which showcased her remarkable voice.
The flawless vocal performance is not Pallot’s only strength, it must be noted. Another is her undeniable talent for writing a good melody. And there appear to be plenty of strong melodies on the new album, several compositions from which Pallot played last night.
Lyrically, Pallot often gets political (particularly on her biggest hit, “Everybody’s Gone To War” and 2009′s beautiful Kate Bush-reminiscent ballad, “English“) but for this special album-launch evening, politics were left behind and, instead, we got a selection of more personal songs, including “Grace” (which the songsmithstress wrote the night before she gave birth to her son, Wolfie, last year) and “If I Lost You Now” (apparently written the day after Wolfie was born). On the latter she ends by exclaiming, “If I lost you now, would I cry? Oh, my God, would I!”. That was a hear-a-pin-drop moment, right there.
One of the surprises of the night was a guest-appearance from legendary Suede-forefather, Bernard Butler, who produced “Year of the Wolf“. Joining Pallot and her two bandmates on guitar, the foursome gave a cracking rendition of “Turn Me On Again” (one of the songs Pallot describes as having written “about shagging”) and − by far, the best moment of the evening − new single “Put Your Hands Up“.
With its soaring, catchy chorus, “Put Your Hands Up” was originally written for, but ultimately left off, Kylie Minogue’s “Aphrodite” album, the title track of which, as well as Kylie’s previous single, “Better Than Today“, were penned by Pallot with husband, Andy Chatterley. Last night we were also treated to Nerina’s own version of “Better Than Today“, which drew a huge applause from the audience.
There is no reason why Nerina Pallot should not be selling records by the bucketload − her songs are beautiful and well-crafted, her live performance is engaging and entertaining and she certainly has the looks. Yet, she’s still somewhat of a well-kept secret as far as the general public are concerned. Hopefully, “Year of the Wolf“, which comes out next week, will help bring her music to the masses. Both Nerina and the album deserve it, as she ably demonstrated last night.
Year of the Wolf is out on 13 June. Order here. By Doron Davidson-Vidavski
"Join Nerina Pallot on June 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, where she will play every song in chronological order from her four albums, live from her studio in London."
Brave lady, Nerina Pallot. Choosing to work with Duffy producer Bernard Butler for similarly 60s-slanted, Motown-referencing pop can’t fail to raise comparisons and expectations. And given Duffy moved on to another sound/producer with diminishing returns, there’s the chance someone will think Butler was the X factor in that relationship. But Pallot is a lot more experienced and tenacious than Duffy (she’d have to be to contend with Butler’s hands-on approach). She’s survived major label shenanigans, releasing her second album Fires independently despite having hits while on Warners (she’s now signed to Geffen). And she writes, or co-writes, all her own songs; although interestingly there’s not a single Butler co-write here. We’re talking services-to-the-stars songcraft here.
The opening Put Your Hands Up, for example, was originally intended for Kylie Minogue (Pallot’s got credits on Aphrodite). But it wouldn’t sound this way if it had reached Kylie. This version is initially restrained, subtly lifted by those keening, Butler-patented strings; but 70 seconds in, it unexpectedly kicks in at twice the volume and energy, with Butler’s guitar pushed up behind the beat and the auto-suggestion of liberation. It’s a masterstroke, to add to the song’s already inch-perfect flow. Compare that to her last album, 2009’s The Graduate, whose electronic sheen lacked direction and identity (did she want to be Kylie-meets-Alanis? Probably not). Brought on board by Pallot’s love of The Sound of McAlmont & Butler, our Bernard knows how to make a song swing and his guitar always responds to Pallot’s nimble touch – check the zippy solo that briefly pops out of Turn Me on Again.
Even when Pallot plays with pop conventions, she’s never flash or crass. If I Lost You Now’s jazzy MOR chords have the classy hallmark of Hall & Oates, and This Will Be Our Year isn’t far behind Raphael Saadiq’s current 60s-black-hall-of-fame love fest. But the album’s second half shows Pallot can be hemmed in by pop convention, when she should be breaking out. The hushed piano-ballad finale History Boys (written when pregnant, amid reports of child casualties of war) is a beauty, but the likes of I Think fall into that grey zone between rock and pop. Still, Year of the Wolf could be a commercial monster to match Duffy’s if led by the right singles (Put Your Hands Up is first). But assuming she wants it, Pallot won’t make the same giddy impact until she truly embraces her inner bravery.
Csináltam a Mr. King videóból egy rövid változatot, csak az album track-al.
Nem tudom miért, de már hónapok óta nagy kedvencem ez a dal, először persze az AOL session élő verzió, de már a studió változat is kedvenc lett.
És valahogy passzol a Suburban Girl storyhoz, Sarah Michelle Gellar és Alec Baldwin párosához.
SMG-vel már csináltam így két másik dalhoz is videót (Veronika Decides To Die, The Air I Breathe), de azok Melua-dalokhoz voltak (mint ahogy a Lost In Translation videó is, meg ez a másik is, The Tourist, amit sajnos :) nem én csináltam... és ráadásul ez egyébként is kakukktojás, mert ez a dal valóban elhangzott abban a filmben, míg a többinél a dal a filmmel csak úgy lett összehozva utólag).
De Nerina Pallot dalhoz ez az első (illetve a hosszabb változat után a második, de mindkettő a Mr. King dalhoz van), amit csináltam...
Valahogy a legtöbb Nerina-dalnál nem merül fel, hogy jó lenne valami filmmel összehozni, mert a Nerina Pallot dalok általában akkor a legjobbak, ha Nerina ül a zongoránál, és élőben ott énekli el azokat.
Csomó dal van, ahol az album-verziónál jobban tetszik az élő zongorás előadása. Azt meg nem annyira érdemes talán felhasználni ilyen házi videoklipek elkészítéséhez.
Nerina Pallot - Mr. King (Suburban Girl, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alec Baldwin)
