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“We need to give, and love – and do it over and over
again,” Sophie asserts. “And with my music, it just
comes straight through, with no room for contrivances.”
It’s a bold proposition, certainly, but it’s a proposition
that rightly invites no shortage of scrutiny, especially
when there are people out there who will dismiss Barker
as just another Dido, trading all on the impossible
highs that a novelty success might bring. What was that
novelty success? That novelty success was that British
Airways tune she sang back in 2006. ‘Leaving On A Jet
Plane’. It was all very cutesy of course; gently-strummed
acoustic guitar, dolphins made out of clouds, attractive
air-stewards cosseting equally attractive passengers,
long, lingering looks out of the plane windows. And
to a certain extent the flight theme continues with
‘Seagull’.
But no contrivances? Well no as it happens and anyone
who dismisses  Sophie
as a one hit wonder will have forgotten that by the
time the British Airways tune took off she’d already
scored a sizeable hit with the platinum-selling album,
‘Simple Things’ with Zero 7 – the downtempo, trip-hop
project put together by Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker.
So what’s new?
May 2011 saw the release of Sophie’s new album, ‘Seagull’
– a mellow collection of songs recorded with producers,
Alex Pilkington and Mark Tucker responsible for releases
from Blue Rose Code, Beth Hirsch, Custom Blue and The
Willow, as well as electronica projects by Mark Pritchard
and Flotilla. Rustling with languid, bass heavy grooves
and sultry, honey-dripping vocals, ‘Seagull’ rejects
the usual contrivances of fashion, scavenging instead
on a more fluid and intuitive environment. Not that
it had always seemed that way. Between 2007 and 2008
Sophie had tried working with a variety of people, none
whom seemed to gel.
“There was a point when I wasn’t sure whether this
album was even going to come to fruition.” That frustration
finally lifted when she met Alex Pilkington and Mark
Tucker, who co-run Ho Hum Records and also produced
the record.
“It brought a great sense of relief and synchronicity
– I’d found the producers and band I’ve dreamt of for
years. ” The band is made up of life-long friends, “a
newly-formed collective of amazing people enjoying music
and playing with their own feeling. The magic I’m feeling
now is similar to what I felt at the beginning of Zero
7.”
The result is a weightless and rather effortless collection
of tunes, stripped back of artifice and almost as soft
as the clouds that made up that British Airways classic.
Sophie Barker ~ 'Seagull' Out Now
more info:
http:/www.sophiebarker.com
Report ~ Alan Sargeant for Crud Magazine 2011©
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