Belgium soul singer is
back on a brand new beat...
The first song on the
new album is called « Regrets ». It's a strange way to
start a new record...
Lady Linn (laughs) :
Well, for me the title is not the most important thing. It's more
about the atmosphere of the song. And it's a good song to start with.
It starts very slow and easy. I thought it was a good beginning.
On that record you
switched from piano writing to guitar writing...
L.L : Sometimes
it's good to discover a new instrument and make songs with it. You
don't know it so well and then you do different things. And i thought
it was time for something different. A new approach. It's fresh and
surprising.
If we go back to « No
goodbye at all », when the album was released, did you have the
feeling that you couldn't do a better record on that specific kind of
music, sixties jazz/soul ?
L.L : Actually, it
was my first album to be released in France but it was the second one
in Belgium. It was my second album in that style. It grew naturally
in me, i wanted to do something else. I wanted to be free. Not
thinking about the band, the magnificent seven. I wrote the first two
records with the band in mind, the full horn section, the piano. Now
i just want to write and then we'll see what happens. I wanted to do
something else.
You used to a kind of
60s pop singer...
L.L : I still am.
And this is a new sound
for you. Do you feel the need to move forward ?
L.L : I wouldn't
say forward because i still like my two previous cds. And we still
play the old songs during the show. But you know there was a part of
me that was never there in my own music. I sang house for ten years
and you didn't hear it in my music. And now in the last album i feel
it's more me. A combination of things. Now i combine more all the
things i am doing in one. The last album was more about the concept
of the band. Now it's just me. Renaud Letang has made the songs very
different. My songs were very acoustic when i went to Renaud. He
chose to do something very poppy with it. I was ok. I trust him.
Is it like a new start,
exciting ?
L.L : Yeah, it is
for me. I really like it. It gives me new energy. Also live it's a
different band with a lot of new musicians. The horns are still there
and the sings backing vocals as well. We worked hard. Everybody like
the new band. We enjoy it.
On the other hand there
are songs like « Back », « Remember »,
« Drive » would could easily been on previous albums...
L.L : That is what
i mean. I combine a lot of styles. I listen to soul music but also
pop, rock, jazz, country, reggae, brazilian music. But in the end,
it's still me who writes the songs. Previous albums, produced in a
different way could have been like this. The songs are the songs.
Do you have like a
core, a musical identity and then you evolve around it ?
L.L : Yeah that's
it. You write songs but what they are going to sound like could be
very different.
Another new thing is
the 80s angle on « Never ». It's a very poppy song, new
wave song...
L.L : Yeah it's
true. This is a song i wrote about a feeling i have and i think it's
very universal. From the moment you let somebody go and then
sometimes they start to love you. It's typical. It's something i
struggle a lot with in previous relationships. Not anymore i'm
happy (laughs) ! It happened a lot to me. I was in a
relationship that wasn't working out. So i left and then he was
coming back. At that moment, when i wrote it, it wasn't going on but
it is still in me. You still want the person but you know it's not
good for you...
A few words about the
« sassy » side of you ?
L.L (laughs) :
Sassiness to me is like, i'm confident, i know i can be strong. You
see a lot of people that are very sassy, confident and you're a
little bit jealous about that. You also admire them. You think they
have no problems, actually that's not true. I thought it was a funny
topic. The feeling of jealousy is childish actually. It's not helping
anybody. To me sassy is to be more confident.
This is the first time
the band the magnificent seven is not involved in a recording...
L.L : Yes. That's
because of the style. Also because the way of work is very different.
The previous albums i wrote i only rehearse with the whole band. But
now i wrote the songs and we made a demo with just one guitare
player, Bruno. And then we went to met Renaud. He did a lot about the
sound. Every musician involved came one by one to Paris for a couple
of days. Renaud took the lead and worked with them. The arrangement
is different. Also, we chose the name Lady Linn and her Magnificent
Seven because it sounded like an old big band like Duke Ellington and
his orchestra, Count Basie and his orchestra. It's the same vibe.
It's a more produced record, not just about the band. They're playing
but not as a group. I thought, it's too different, that is not the
same anymore. Also it's not the same musicians anymore, the three
horns are the only ones left. The name, Lady Linn and her magnificent
seven, didn't fit the music anymore.This is too different from what
it was.
You told us about
Renaud Letang, who produced the album. Do you have a special working
relationship with him ?
L.L : Yes. He's
really great ! And i really love to come to Paris ! I
really loved it ! I love to record here and work with Renaud. We
did a tour in France, two years ago. The people are really warm. When
we came to play, they were very enthousiastic from the first song
already ! And we are not used to that. In Belgium, people are
not so opened. In France you start to play and they start to dance
already and you didn't do anything (laughs). It feels very natural.
It's very nice. Even in the smaller clubs we played. They are very
enthousiastic ! It's very fun for me to be out of Belgium.
Like a vacation ?
L.L : It feels
very exciting. Yeah it feels like a vacation. A better vacation
actually because we're doing something here (laughs) !
We talked about the
guitar, yet there is a beautiful piano song « Feeling me »
on the album. A few words about that one ?
L.L : This is one
of the first songs i wrote for the album. Two years ago i was still
teaching in a music school and i wrote the song there, in the
classroom on a big piano. I have recorded the song with my phone on
my voice mail because i had nothing else and i felt the urge to
record. I forgot about the recording. The song had changed it was a
pop song and it became an energy song. And then i said to Renaud :
I don't feel this song maybe we should throw it away. And then by
accident i listen to my voice mail. I am very bad with voice mail, i
leave to many messages. So i listened and i heard « Feeling
me » on the piano. It was higher in a different key. Wow that
was much more beautiful (laughs) ! I said to Renaud, do you want
to hear it, i think it's better than the first version. We put it
like that. This is funny. Weird.
I think the first song
recorded for the album was « High »...
L.L : Yes indeed.
Renaud said « It remind me of the flashdance movie » !
What a feeling (she sings). He added some beats. I was surprised by
the way he heard things differently. It was more of a soul song not
disco. But he knew i like disco and i like singing dance. That's why.
I've read you liked
Charles Bradley...
L.L : Yeah i was
inspired by him. I was watching television and i saw a live concert.
It really touched me. It's amazing how he lets himself go like a
transe or something. He's actually high on music. Wow, really !
I saw him live a couple
of times and i thought he was going to cry on stage...
L.L : Yeah and he
does ! He really gets high. That's why i wrote the song. After
watching this i had to cry because it was « WOW » !
It's unbelieveable ! Very emotional. I went straight to my piano
in the living room and i start to write the song, it came out in ten
minutes or something. Just because of him, he made a very big
impression (laughs) !
Did you met him
already ?
L.L : No, maybe i
should. It doesn't matter actually. I'm glad he inspired me, he
doesn't have to know me. It's not important.
And where do you want
to go from there ?
L.L : Right now
i'm writing for a movie in Belgium. I'm writing the whole music score
for the movie. It's gonna be out in 2015. It's a new thing for me but
i really like it. There is going to be instrumental but there is also
songs. It's different from the « high » album. It's very
empty. Sensitive. I can't really explain it. I'm also inspired by new
people, the afrobeat scene.
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