A high proportion of recently released albums seem to have been made in a matter of months; in some cases suggesting interesting sparks of lockdown creativity, in others a seeming desire to polish up old demos that have been lying around the house.
We heard recently from Daniel Ek, ceo of Spotify , that artists need to increase the regularity of the ‘content’ they release (‘you can’t record music every three or four years and think that’s going to be enough’) but can that really be true? Old billionaire may be licking his lips at the amount of recent new releases but I’m less sure that the music fans I know are interested in a ‘lockdown special’ covers album. They don’t really add anything new/interesting to the way we see the world do they?
Besides, and we only have to look at Prince’s estate to prove this, but isn’t part of the enjoyment of being a music fan the near-endless wait we endure for new releases by our favourite artists? Too much content in a short period of time, just like over-eating, isn’t always a good thing.
All of which sets the context for a new album by Pauline Murray, singer, songwriter and performer with first-wave punks Penetration and 80s pop force the Invisible Girls.
Taking four years to create and design, ‘Elemental’ arrives with us in late September; surely a long enough period for us to miss her particular blend of acoustic/electronic pop and to be excited for her return.
“Yeah it took a while to get this one out” confirms Murray “we actually started recording and writing it way back in France almost four years ago, taking our time to write on acoustic, and letting the music come to us when it was ready. Even then we have the album fully ready and recorded in 2019… before it was further delayed”.
Further delays with shifting logistical challenges mean that it’s taken almost a full year to release the record, something that Pauline seems acutely aware of “it’s been really hard some days to keep going if I’m honest. Even though I’m really proud of the album we’ve had to really stay focused and get through issues with the release and then challenges with promoting the album with all of the lockdown. I’d really like to be out playing live and letting people hear the album. It’ll happen though, I guess we all just have to be patient”.
Given Elemental’s gentle acoustic/electronic hybrid sound, and it’s typical Murray blend of introspective lyrics, if the wait for a live show pays off even remotely close to the pay off for the album then it’s another wait worth hurrying up for.
In the meantime we have lead single ‘Secrets’ to keep us company, including its accompanying creepy, multi-layered, video (“We ended up doing the video at the height of lockdown, in the loft, in one take and it came out really well; so much so that we’re working on similar ideas”).
An accompanying live event may support Elemental’s release (“we’re looking at doing some streaming from our studio”) and then some touring next year (“there’s talk of doing some Invisible Girls shows soon and playing parts of Elemental in that set which I think will work really well”) all of which centres around Pauline’s continued love for music and the shared experience of live shows; “we all need to stick together at the minute and support the music scene and each other. Live music will be back but we must do all we can to make sure there’s venues to play in. We all need each other in the music scene more than ever”.
It may have taken four years, and perhaps the corporate world might have preferred more releases in that time, but it’s great to have Pauline Murray back and listen to her preach.
PAULINE MURRAY ANNOUNCES NEW SOLO ALBUM
‘ELEMENTAL’ RELEASED 25th SEPTEMBER VIA POLESTAR RECORDS
Re-write 13th August
A high proportion of recently released albums seem to have been made in a matter of months; in some cases suggesting interesting sparks of lockdown creativity, in others a seeming desire to polish up old demos that have been lying around the house.
Daniel Ek’s recent observation that artists need to increase the regularity of the ‘content’ they release may be an interesting point to make, but I’m not sure that the music fans I know are interested in hearing ‘lockdown special’ covers album and surely scarcity plays a part in the enjoyment of being a music fan? Don’t we enjoy the near-endless wait for new releases by our favourite artists?
All of which sets the context for a new album by Pauline Murray, singer, songwriter and performer with first-wave punks Penetration and 80s pop force the Invisible Girls.
Taking four years to create and design, ‘Elemental’ arrives with us in late September; surely a long enough period for us to miss her particular blend of acoustic/electronic pop and to be excited for her return.
“Yeah it took a while to get this one out” confirms Murray “we actually started recording and writing it way back in France almost four years ago, taking our time to write on acoustic guitar, and letting the music come to us when it was ready. Even then we have the album fully ready and mastered in 2019 and were keen to release it then, before it was delayed again”.
Further delays with shifting logistical challenges mean that it’s taken almost a full year to release Elemental, something Pauline seems acutely aware of “it’s been really hard some days to keep going if I’m honest. Even though I’m really proud of the album we’ve had to really stay focused and get through issues with the release and then challenges with promoting the album with all of the lockdown.”
Ready to be promoted, and with a nod to its gentle acoustic/electronic sound, it’s a real shame we won’t get to hear Pauline play Electronic live in the immediate future (“I’d really like to be out playing live and letting people hear the album but the gigs have been pushed back and pushed back. It’s understandable of course, and the shows will happen, but I guess we all just have to be patient”) though we do have lead single ‘Secrets’ to build our anticipation; especially with its accompanying creepy, multi-layered, video (“We ended up doing the video at the height of lockdown, in the loft, in one take and it came out really well; so much so that we’re working on similar ideas”).
An accompanying live virtual event may support Elemental’s release (“we’re looking at doing some streaming from our studio”) followed by some eventual touring next year (“there’s talk of doing some Invisible Girls shows soon and playing parts of Elemental in that set which I think will work really well”) though Pauline’s immediate focus is supporting the local scene and venues; “we all need to stick together at the minute and support the music scene and each other. Live music will be back but we need to do all we can to make sure there’s venues to play in when we get back. We all need each other in the music scene more than ever”.
It may have taken four years, and perhaps the corporate world might have preferred more releases in that time, but it’s great to have Pauline Murray back and it’s great to listen to her preaching.
PAULINE MURRAY ANNOUNCES NEW SOLO ALBUM
‘ELEMENTAL’ RELEASED 25th SEPTEMBER VIA POLESTAR RECORDS