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Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Searching for the hows and whys
Let the journey begin!
So starts the second album from 21-year-old Sam Duckworth, aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. And it really is some journey, one that adds a roomful of musicians to the laptop and guitar that populated his critically acclaimed first album, 2006’s The Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager and that quantum leaps his sound into musically broad and defiantly joyful new territory. It marries GCWCF’s proven lyrical talent with expansive orchestration, razor-sharp laptop beats, folkish, fervent guitars and even a touch of afro-beat. “I started making it on my computer as we were touring, but the more I got into it, the less I wanted to make a bedroom sounding record. I wanted a tangible step forwards.” So he called in an orchestra and realised a new vision that is both intimate and raw. You can hear the strings emote – but you can also hear ‘em scrape.
It’s a long way from his early teen beginnings as a gig promoter prone to playing agit-emo sets in-between the hardcore punk acts he booked at local scuzz-holes. Since he signed to Atlantic in 2006 zipped up and down the British rail network gigging intensively, had two tracks featured on The O.C, supported The Flaming Lips and Funeral For A Friend, played three riotous shows at 2007's Glastonbury Festival and a show-stealing performance at the Carling Weekend, and picked up a 2007 NME Awards nomination for Best Solo Artist. “We headlined the Astoria on my 21st but I’ve always been more of a punk rock person than anything else and I’d love to headline Brixton Academy. It’s the holy grail.”
Searching For The Hows And Whys contains a mix that reflects a crazy, colourful twelve months for Southend’s favourite musician since acid jazzer Snowboy powered up the local soulsters. Since the last album GCWCF has recorded in a strange Brazilian choir singing grunge songs over beats with Kieran Hebden, ended up in hospital during the Berlin leg of his last tour, and travelled to the Congo as part of Damon Albarn’s Africa Express project – with the last two events being connected by way of an exotic amoeba. And seeing as GCWCF is marking himself out as one of the UK’s most adventurous and interesting artists, it’s no surprise that he’s got a sparky sideline on the go: a hip hop re-telling of American Psycho, featuring as yet-unveiled American artists. There are already a few gigs booked for the summer.
But back to the album in hand. It was written on tour and in London, during a few months of intensive 18 hour sessions. Once the songs had a basic shape, GCWCF began looking for someone to co-produce it with him – and seeing as Beyond Skin was pretty much his favourite record ever, asked Nitin Sawhney if he’d come on board. “If someone had told me three years ago that I would be recording an album with an orchestra, produced by Nitin Sawnhey I would have thought that sounded rubbish,” he says with a smile. “But Nitin’s great at finding the best character to fill the spaces in a song. I couldn’t have trusted him more. I know his records inside out, we were thinking the same things.” The resulting album is powerfully political. “On the last album I danced around things a bit. Some of these songs couldn’t be more direct.” Fundamentalist religion, pointless consumerism, bitter sex – they all get the GCWCF treatment.
Take ‘The Children Are (The Consumers Of) The Future’, which was written around the time of ‘Chronicles…’ and channels one of those “horrible” monologues where Carrie in Sex And The City realises that shoes are the answer to her emotional problems. It’s also a good example of how GCWCF’s musical plan has changed since the first record. “It was one of those songs that were just around. We did an in-store at Pure Groove and sang it for some reason. When we went back to the studio we decided to go as far left as possible with it. We had trumpet players blowing as hard as they could in one key, so it wasn’t really a note. It was just finding new ways of making sounds. Everyone thought we’d lost our minds.” ‘Better Things’ features a duet with long time friend and touring partner, Kate Nash. “It’s a song about that classic thing where people want to talk to you, or want things from you because you’re in a band.”
Listen carefully and you’ll hear a few musical influences making their collective presence felt. There are shadows of The Manics and Fela Kuti on ‘The Children Are (The Consumers Of) The Future’; of Simon and Garfunkel and Elliot Smith on ‘Postcard From Catalunya’ and shades of a mystical, clear-eyed Shaun Ryder and DJ Shadow on ‘Could’ve Seen It All’. By some alchemical combination of hard work, prodigious talent and a determination to push his sound forward, it coheres – beautifully. “The first album was a snapshot in time, but that’s not where I am now. This record is about my ambition, and about where I want to get in the future.”
Of course there are the lyrics too. “I’ve always been into interesting ways of saying things that are very simple. Imagery and old fashioned language is definitely my thing.” Or as he says on ‘Postcards From Catalunya “We talk in circles, but we move in narrow lines.” The album title comes from a lyric in the Orwell-referencing ‘Postcards From Catalunya’. “It was the original track title for that song, but it seemed to encompass what I’m about. Progress happens through trying to find solutions to problems – keep questioning, keep challenging things.”
Which sums it up, really.
The album tracklist is:
1. Let The Journey Begin
2. Waiting For The Monster To Drown - free mp3!
So starts the second album from 21-year-old Sam Duckworth, aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. And it really is some journey, one that adds a roomful of musicians to the laptop and guitar that populated his critically acclaimed first album, 2006’s The Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager and that quantum leaps his sound into musically broad and defiantly joyful new territory. It marries GCWCF’s proven lyrical talent with expansive orchestration, razor-sharp laptop beats, folkish, fervent guitars and even a touch of afro-beat. “I started making it on my computer as we were touring, but the more I got into it, the less I wanted to make a bedroom sounding record. I wanted a tangible step forwards.” So he called in an orchestra and realised a new vision that is both intimate and raw. You can hear the strings emote – but you can also hear ‘em scrape.
It’s a long way from his early teen beginnings as a gig promoter prone to playing agit-emo sets in-between the hardcore punk acts he booked at local scuzz-holes. Since he signed to Atlantic in 2006 zipped up and down the British rail network gigging intensively, had two tracks featured on The O.C, supported The Flaming Lips and Funeral For A Friend, played three riotous shows at 2007's Glastonbury Festival and a show-stealing performance at the Carling Weekend, and picked up a 2007 NME Awards nomination for Best Solo Artist. “We headlined the Astoria on my 21st but I’ve always been more of a punk rock person than anything else and I’d love to headline Brixton Academy. It’s the holy grail.”
Searching For The Hows And Whys contains a mix that reflects a crazy, colourful twelve months for Southend’s favourite musician since acid jazzer Snowboy powered up the local soulsters. Since the last album GCWCF has recorded in a strange Brazilian choir singing grunge songs over beats with Kieran Hebden, ended up in hospital during the Berlin leg of his last tour, and travelled to the Congo as part of Damon Albarn’s Africa Express project – with the last two events being connected by way of an exotic amoeba. And seeing as GCWCF is marking himself out as one of the UK’s most adventurous and interesting artists, it’s no surprise that he’s got a sparky sideline on the go: a hip hop re-telling of American Psycho, featuring as yet-unveiled American artists. There are already a few gigs booked for the summer.
But back to the album in hand. It was written on tour and in London, during a few months of intensive 18 hour sessions. Once the songs had a basic shape, GCWCF began looking for someone to co-produce it with him – and seeing as Beyond Skin was pretty much his favourite record ever, asked Nitin Sawhney if he’d come on board. “If someone had told me three years ago that I would be recording an album with an orchestra, produced by Nitin Sawnhey I would have thought that sounded rubbish,” he says with a smile. “But Nitin’s great at finding the best character to fill the spaces in a song. I couldn’t have trusted him more. I know his records inside out, we were thinking the same things.” The resulting album is powerfully political. “On the last album I danced around things a bit. Some of these songs couldn’t be more direct.” Fundamentalist religion, pointless consumerism, bitter sex – they all get the GCWCF treatment.
Take ‘The Children Are (The Consumers Of) The Future’, which was written around the time of ‘Chronicles…’ and channels one of those “horrible” monologues where Carrie in Sex And The City realises that shoes are the answer to her emotional problems. It’s also a good example of how GCWCF’s musical plan has changed since the first record. “It was one of those songs that were just around. We did an in-store at Pure Groove and sang it for some reason. When we went back to the studio we decided to go as far left as possible with it. We had trumpet players blowing as hard as they could in one key, so it wasn’t really a note. It was just finding new ways of making sounds. Everyone thought we’d lost our minds.” ‘Better Things’ features a duet with long time friend and touring partner, Kate Nash. “It’s a song about that classic thing where people want to talk to you, or want things from you because you’re in a band.”
Listen carefully and you’ll hear a few musical influences making their collective presence felt. There are shadows of The Manics and Fela Kuti on ‘The Children Are (The Consumers Of) The Future’; of Simon and Garfunkel and Elliot Smith on ‘Postcard From Catalunya’ and shades of a mystical, clear-eyed Shaun Ryder and DJ Shadow on ‘Could’ve Seen It All’. By some alchemical combination of hard work, prodigious talent and a determination to push his sound forward, it coheres – beautifully. “The first album was a snapshot in time, but that’s not where I am now. This record is about my ambition, and about where I want to get in the future.”
Of course there are the lyrics too. “I’ve always been into interesting ways of saying things that are very simple. Imagery and old fashioned language is definitely my thing.” Or as he says on ‘Postcards From Catalunya “We talk in circles, but we move in narrow lines.” The album title comes from a lyric in the Orwell-referencing ‘Postcards From Catalunya’. “It was the original track title for that song, but it seemed to encompass what I’m about. Progress happens through trying to find solutions to problems – keep questioning, keep challenging things.”
Which sums it up, really.
The album tracklist is:
1. Let The Journey Begin
2. Waiting For The Monster To Drown - free mp3!
3. Young And Lovestruck
4. Postcards From Catalunya
5. The Children Are (The Consumers Of) The Future
6. Window Of Your Mind
7. I Could Build You A Tower
8. Keep Singing Out
9. Moving Forward
10. Find The Time
11. This Could Be All
12. Better Things
13. Could’ve Seen It All
Buy the album
4. Postcards From Catalunya
5. The Children Are (The Consumers Of) The Future
6. Window Of Your Mind
7. I Could Build You A Tower
8. Keep Singing Out
9. Moving Forward
10. Find The Time
11. This Could Be All
12. Better Things
13. Could’ve Seen It All
Buy the album
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