FLOURESCENT ASOBI SEKSU

FOLLOWERS of New York quartet Asobi Seksu will know their fourth album is already drawing favourable attention.
But for those not yet familiar with the group’s latest offering – Fluourescence (out this week) – a visit to Relentless Garage, Highbury Corner, on April 17, may shed some light on what all the fuss is about.



Asobi Seksu melt from dream pop to shoegaze to soaring heavy-effect instrumentals, which have historically attracted comparisons with My Bloody Valentine.
Singer and keyboardist Yuki Chikudate is an accomplished frontwoman, playing the solid lead role around which her three male counterparts congregate, while remaining solitary and disparate onstage.

The scattered stage arrangement provides a strong visualisation of Asobi Seksu’s newer stripped down sound, while the remaining heavier riffs defy gravity as they lay thick in the air.
As guitarist/singer James Hanna said: “This time, our agenda was to not have one at all, to be mellow about the entire process instead of obsessing over everything.”

They may have made a conscious decision to keep things sparse but their resolve has proven patchy at best, allowing the power chords for which they are most popular to remain, even more pronounced against a newfound crystalline audio backdrop.

RECORD OF THE WEEK - JOSH T PEARSON, Last of the Country Gentlemen

THERE’S a danger of trivialising this masterpiece by suggesting it is one for the broken-hearted.

But the anguish mournful Texan Josh T Pearson painstakingly lays out in Last of the Country Gentlemen has more than a hint of “I feel your pain and I’ve suffered tenfold” about it.
With just seven songs over 60 minutes, Pearson takes his sweet time building each sorrowful track. Stunning but not for the impatient. (Out March 14, plays Union Chapel May 11).

PALOMA'S BATHTIME REVELATIONS

“IS IT a girl?” Paloma Faith asks as the call is put through for our interview.
“I’m glad it’s a girl because I’m in the bath,” she says. “I was trying to rush and then I thought let’s take a gamble. It’s 50-50 chance it’s going to be a man and if it is I’ll slowly edge out of the bath and try not to make any water noises. They might think I was flirting or something.”
Paloma’s insuppressible personality is apparent from her first words.



The former Islington Green pupil is due to play a gala show of her collaboration with trumpeter/arranger/composer Guy Barker – Down at the End of Lonely Street – alongside a full orchestra at the Barbican on December 10.

She said: “The Barbican’s like the cultural centre of the area I was brought up in. As a kid I always saw it as somewhere quite posh where rich people go. Now I’m playing there it feels like a breakthrough.”

She says the show’s about loss and loneliness, adding: “There’s a few of my songs but mainly songs that have influenced me by the great queens of tragedy and torch singers.”
Renowned as a flamboyant performer, Paloma’s happily aware of her past limits.

“I wanted to perform from quite a young age but I knew I wasn’t very good. I was about 10 when I did my first dance performance. I loved the excitement and adrenaline but didn’t know what I was doing. When they went right I went left and when they went up I went down, I totally stood out. My mum said it was hilarious that I stood out like a sore thumb because I was wrong all the time.
“For years after, I had the enthusiasm but not the ability. I think people thought I was a bit of a laughing stock…but I guess I found my way.”

A choreographer once told her he’d have to give her a lead role as she was hypnotic but “not very good” and was doing something different to everyone else.
Realising she wasn’t going to be a dancer was a “big setback”, so she began singing in bars while studying theatre hoping to work behind the scenes.
But she began attracting attention for her voice.

“I started to do it to my own surprise because I hadn’t really sung that much. Because the people I admired were so amazing I put myself beneath them and didn’t feel good enough but through this last year touring this album I think my voice has improved so much. I’ve sort of learned on the job. In a way my voice is better now than when I recorded my album. When I listen to the album I think oh a bit shit but I now play live and people say I’m so much better live.”

Paloma’s style has often attracted the attention of the Fashion Police: “Sometimes I end up walking out in something I haven’t really thought about. I look at it in pictures and think what was I doing? I know it’s dressing up. I find it difficult to get dressed on a day off because I don’t actually remember what I think looks nice. I take pride in taking risks and being a bit funny with it. People put me in those columns “what was she thinking?” Well I wasn’t. When I’m serious and when I know I look good it’s vintage inspired stuff. I think I’m very good at dressing like a Hollywood starlet.”

SEE the second part of this interview here - Paloma Faith on moaning music moguls, cash-strapped students + old school teachers

ANGHA - THEY'RE QUITE HAPPY YOU KNOW

THERE'S the one who can sprint really fast, the playboy, and the man with the irresistible voice. Angha sound more like a slick team of crimefighters than the latest R’n’B band from Islington.

But that’s exactly what they are – a trio of musicians who first realised their mutual dream of being in a band over a game of football. They still have day jobs, two still work in gyms and another has a council office job – but they’re on the verge of breaking through into the mainstream.

They were due to support 90s US group Dru Hill at the 02 Academy Islington on Monday – now postponed, apparently thanks to Sisqo’s seafood allergy – and have gained great support from radio networks. Producer D-Dash and vocalists/ rappers, Play and DVD make up Angha.

Former Highbury Grove pupil Play, 25, said: “Play comes from playboy. I party a lot and like having a good time anywhere I think there’s a party going on. DVD stands for Divine Vocal Dialect – the ladies tend to love his voice – and Dash comes from when we played football. He used to be a sprinter.

"Dash is the comedian of the group. He’s always got tricks up his sleeve. DVD's the most serious. He pulls everyone together. He acts the oldest.””

He admits the band name’s deliberately misleading: "Dash stumbled over Angha and realised it meant a mythical bird that gives kindness and goodwill. From the pronunciation people are going to be drawn to it and think it’s an angry group, but if they research it they will see it’s the opposite of what it appears.”

As teenagers, the group would play football together, later realising they were all interested in music. They would hang out in Dash’s studio where they would write songs to his beats. Play started writing his own material aged 15, putting it on karaoke machines. 

“I was probably writing about playing football, or girls or little teenage experiences, having a crush for the first time,” he said. “Now, it’s about experiences, relationships, going out, partying, going to clubs.”

Debut single For You is out on June 7 and Angha have already established their own label.

Play said: "Major labels like to see the following you've got before you can approach them.We wanted to keep our own creative freedom. If you’re on your own label and they become interested in you, you can ask them to sign up your label and you can control your direction. The music game is cutthroat at times and you’ve got to be prepared.”
Play, who lives in Stoke Newington, said: “I loved growing up in Islington. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was fortunate. You hear a lot of people going the wrong way in life but there was so much for me to do. There was Mayville Community Centre, football. Life was easier. The majority of time was cheerful.”
Angha recently played The Cross Kings for a British Heart Foundation charity gig, proving they can appeal to all audiences.
Play said: “It wasn’t our sort of crowd but because it was a charity event we were more than happy to be performers. It was mostly indie bands. The reaction and feedback was really good. They were pleasantly surprised. It was probably the biggest nerves I’ve had but they were brilliant.”

BLOB Angha launch debut single For You at Elbow Room, Chapel Market, on June 6.