STACK NZ Oct #78

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because all I could think about was the band and the terrible state we left things in.” Fortunately, Xayalith and rest of the band managed to work through this adversity and have now emerged triumphantly with their third album, Simple Forms . Given the trauma involved in the lead up to the recording, you could be forgiven for thinking it will be a dark and gloomy trip. But while the lyrics are certainly not short on heartbreak, Simple Forms is probably their poppiest album yet and is packed with their trademark euphoric anthems. Xayalith sees no contradiction in that. “In the history of the music we’ve made so far, if you listen to tracks like Punching In a Dream, the music in that is quite uplifting and euphoric but lyrically it’s about panic attacks and social anxiety. Another one like I Kill Giants , it’s rooted in grief yet the music is soaring and uplifting. The stark contrasts between music and lyrics are always something that’s been prevalent in our music.” And while she says it’s never easy baring your soul in public, she believes that it’s important to be able to connect with people on a meaningful level. “The past is behind me now and I just want to look forward and make art that matters to me,” she adds “No matter where it comes from it has to be honest and real. To me that is beautiful.” John Ferguson

The new album from the Naked and Famous followed much personal upheaval. But singer Alisa Xayalith isn’t dwelling on the past. PAIN AND GAIN

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W hen a couple in a band breaks up, talking about her split with her Naked and Famous partner Thom Powers three years ago, usually that’s a sure sign that the band is over,” admits Alisa Xayalith. She is

which at one stage threatened to tear the whole band apart. “I lost my confidence in performing and singing,” the singer continues. “I thought that making music would make me unhappy

Simple Forms by The Naked and Famous is out on October 14

KIND OF TRUE Ewan McGregor on how Don Cheadle became Miles Davis for his biopic Miles Ahead .

V ery much a passion

than simply chronicle the life of the legendary jazz trumpeter. Or as co-star Ewan McGregor describes it: “The kind of movie Miles might plays a Rolling Stone writer who attempts to land an interview with the reclusive star at the end of the 1970s, a time when Davis had not released any music for close on five years. Although Cheadle plays fast and loose with the facts, there is no doubting the authenticity of his performance. “I feel, most of the time, that I made a film with have liked to have been in.” In Miles Ahead , McGregor

project for writer/director/ star Don Cheadle, Miles

Ahead is not your standard music biopic, with the first-time director seeking to ‘do’ Miles Davis, rather

Don Cheadle and I [also] made a film with Miles Davis,” McGregor explains. “Sometimes it was really difficult to tell the difference. He’s completely convincing as Miles and also likes to stay in character in between takes. So,

often my direction would come from [Don as] Miles Davis, not from Don Cheadle, so it was quite

interesting.” Adam Colby Miles Ahead is out on October 5

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