STACK #198 Apr 2021

FEATURE MUSIC

That's where the therapeutic part of songwriting comes in, but like sit-down-with-a-psychologist therapy, it takes work – much like Shark's commitment to this journey as a whole, from way back in 2008 when she released her first EP under the name Amy Cushway. “Some people are gifted, the way they just fall into it and can do it, but for me it definitely was something I was just really passionate about,” she says. “I wasn't like, 'I want to get good at this, I want to be playing shows, I want to be Amy Shark. I just love the feeling I get when I nail it – when I can listen back and think, 'I've just said everything I wanted to say there, and I didn't even need to edit anything, it just all came out.'” And the fact that 'nailing' a song is an abstract target – the way to your goal isn't via an objectively defined set of tasks – makes the achievement all the more triumphant. “It's very addictive really, 'cos you just don't know – if you just change that chord there, you might fall into a really nice melody, and then some other words might be inspired to come out,” Shark describes. “It's a big, big game that you play.” Shark has stepped further into multi-player mode on the Joel Little-produced Cry Forever , proffering the afore-mentioned C'MON with Travis Barker (“He was so accommodating! He's such a busy superstar. He sent me that breakbeat all the way through and it deadset sounded like the Prodigy – it sounded so sick – but it was a very alternative sound so... he was kind enough to do a hybrid half-time mix”) as well as single Love Songs Ain't For Us , a gorgeous country-licked ballad featuring Keith Urban and written with Ed Sheeran. “Ed got us started with the chorus hook – which was incredible – and I think I had the chords,” Shark says. “It was weird because I was already playing the guitar chords when he walked in; then we met for the first time and started talking, but he'd obviously listened to what I was playing as he was coming in, because he was straight into, 'So what were you playing before?' and I was like, 'Ooh, you remember that?'” The song emerged as a relatively effortless beast, with Sheeran's “calming” acoustic mixed with keys, slide guitar and

some extra twang. “It was always going to be such a different sound for me, but I was really excited for that – this is the album where I've pushed beyond where I thought I could go – even in my [singing] register,” Shark says. “I never thought I could sing up there, and Ed was the one telling me: 'I can hear that you can get up there. And if you do, it it's going to sound really pretty.' When I did it, it was so lush! It was a challenge, but in all the right sorts of ways.” It's certainly a scary thing to push yourself into possibly failing territory. “Especially when you're

Cry Forever

by Amy Shark is out Apr 30 via Sony.

with Ed Sheeran!” Shark laughs. “I definitely bombed out a few takes! But it was cool that he cared enough to really push me. You never know how much [guest artists] really want to do it – is this just a favour? But the fact that he was really into this song, and didn't settle for just any lyrics – we sat there and made sure we had the right words; we didn't want it too lovey-dovey, 'cos that's not my vibe. He was just super respectful, and he cares a lot.” Add Ed in, then, to the growing school of Shark fans – guaranteed to increase with the release of Cry Forever . Once you get in the water, you'll never want to get out again.

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