STACK #157 Nov 2017

MUSIC NEWS

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INTERVIEW

how they felt between certain tracks, [to see] whether they articulated what I was trying to convey in that particular segment of the record.” One of the speakers is Maple’s French housemate Sophie Debaere, who pops up in Harmonie du soir (translation: Evening Harmony ) and the interlude I Like To Play With Him . “The poem she is recounting is by Charles Baudelaire, and then I interviewed her about her first sexual experience," explains Maple. "When I was gathering all the interludes, I was also on a bit of a journey, intellectually.” Maple mentions Alain De Botton and Alan Watts as

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GEORGE MAPLE W hen it comes to music, sexuality and freedom, we’re all human beings who deserve to find community and love; this is the golden kernel around which George Maple has spun the elements of her debut album. On Lover , the sought-after musician (she’s worked with Flume, Flight Facilities, Snakehips and many others) explores silken, compelling beat- and synth-led ideas as well as the limits of her warm, elastic vocals. Amongst the album's threads are several spoken interludes which bind Maple’s narrative together, giving this meaningful pop record true depth and weight. “It was its own little exploration and creative adventure,” the musician says of these narrative slices. “I spoke to people... I’d gather information and find YouTube things and interview strippers and… I'd test them out,

writers she looked to in understanding her own “obsession with intimacy”, and discovering new ways to think about its themes. “I really wanted to – and maybe I will do this one day – do a documentary-style portion to the record where I go and interview a lot of people about their experiences,” she says. The tracks on Lover articulate these

Lover by George Maple is out now via EMI.

into bright chords don’t strip the stand-out of any mystery), but sometimes she’s super close to the microphone. “I love [vocal layers]; I love that effect, and I love what it means, and I love the richness of it,” she says. “But there’s this real vulnerability when it comes to a single vocal that I have always been quite afraid of. I think I started to edge into it with this record, and I think I’m going to take it even further with the sort of music that I’m working on at the moment. I’m such a nerd. I love that process so very much.” ZKR

varying encounters with detailed alacrity. Pain is incredibly sensual with elegant piano glissandos and jazz chords and aerial, breathy vocals which ascend into almost inhumanly high harmonies, like cherubs in chorus. Will You ‘s electronic break-beat is paired with slow, ethereal strings. Maple often layers her vocals with a full octave in between, but also plays with the tone of her voice – she belts like En Vogue ( Like You Used To , whose unexpected swerves

INTERVIEW

CURTIS HARDING Atlanta. “We had three minds in [the studio] that… in our own right, we all do things really well. But collectively we were able to come together and make something

I n 2015, Curtis Harding and Leon Bridges were plopped onto pedestals as the new harbingers of classic soul, influenced by Otis Redding and Curtis Mayfield but with a modernity to their arrangements. While Bridges’ album Coming Home pleased those after a straighter homage, Harding’s Soul Power piqued the ears of those keen for a more dangerous adaptation. With this month’s Face Your Fear – created in collaboration with producers Danger Mouse and Sam Cohen – Harding establishes himself as a musician unafraid to mesh his ‘60s soul influences with some of the most magnetic ideas in hip hop and electronica. “We wanted to make it as cinematic as possible,” Harding tells STACK from his home in

really amazing. It was awesome.” Lead single Wednesday Morning Atonement includes bow-wowing electric guitar, lazy tambourine, and a woodwind section with totally unironic flute to achieve that potently cinematic feel Harding wanted. The eponymous track takes inspiration from Bill Withers’ Use Me in its perfectly synchronised guitar and basslines, with shivering strings that are the musical manifestation of the title’s emotion. Till The End showcases Harding’s humour: as the song’s protagonist sings each lyric, a ‘woman’ (Harding himself, in character voice) counters with little asides. (“See, I was p-ssed at you”/ “I was mad too!”, “I’ll be on my way”/ “Now wait a minute, where the f-ck you going?”) Harding chuckles deeply as he

describes its concept: “I was channelling a nagging girlfriend, but no one in particular.” So it’s an amalgamation? “Exactly. Girlfriends in some of my friend’s lives, my cousin’s lives.

The other mega stand-out is the trembling synth-led Dream Girl , whose mysterious feel is offset by an incredible drum beat. “I initially didn’t like what [Danger Mouse] was doing,” Harding admits. “But I was like,

But then, I’m the annoying boyfriend! That I’ve been before, and that women have experienced in their lives, my sisters, you know. We both were annoying each other, but we still love each other.”

OK, I’m gonna see if I can work with this. And then it just grew on me. I was like, yeah. This is movin’. This has moved into a whole progressive disco song.” ZKR

Face Your Fear by Curtis Harding is out now via ANTI-.

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