We caught up with British singer Lydia Kaye following the release of her debut album “Seventh Sense“. It went a little something like this:
Cougar Microbes: What time did you wake up today? Was it out of choice or necessity
Lydia Kaye: 9.30 am….my choice. Sunday lie in.
CM: Describe your music to the uninitiated?
LK: This album is evocative, vocally driven songs with eclectic influences of blues, folk, jazz and 90s trip-hop.
CM:What is the songwriting process like for you? you able to write on the road or do you do this in your off time?
LK: I find it much easier to write at home or in the studio where I can get it all moody whilst noodling on the piano and getting lost in ideas for hours. Lights down low, candles lit and off we go. I like to get rolling with chords and sing ideas without words to get the feel of the song, that’s often when I find little bits of magic, like harmonies that I’ll record and polish up later on. Lyrics come easier when I’m on the road or travelling. There’s something about seeing the world flash by so fast that really inspires me and gives my brain a different kind of space and clarity to write.
CM:What is your own favourite track and why?
LK: A song on the album called ‘Yours’. It’s pretty but melancholic and felt really intoxicating to write. It’s a late-night, dream-like song about wanting to be with someone who is out of reach. I wanted to evoke that feeling you get when you’re wide-awake whilst the rest of the city sleeps. The feeling that everything is possible and you can momentarily have what you want.
CM: If you could record any cover what would it be?
LK: Anything by Agnes Obel – but she does it best, so I’ll leave it to her. I did a live cover of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division with an act called Drift Chamber. That felt pretty special and hopefully, we’ll get to record it at some point.
CM: Do your songs go through many revisions via demo recordings?
LK: Yes quite a lot. For this album ‘Seventh Sense’ I’d had some of the songs with me for years and they’ve changed as I have changed. I think one started as a crappy little voice recording I found on my phone. At first, I was writing three songs in one, so I had to step back and learn to simplify things, which has really helped the way I now write. I usually throw all my ideas into a song to unleash the creative flow and then listen back and strip it back to find the heart of the song.
CM: What came first, the lyrics or the melody?
LK: It depends on the song. If I’ve got chords that sound good on the piano it usually sets a mood, which then inspires the melody. Then I’ll start singing and sound a bit like Kurt Cobain in the process of finding words that fit. Eventually, it transforms from some kind of nonsense to a potential song and starts to sound more like me. Other times, I may have written a few lines of lyrics or a poem that I’ve scrawled down and it might gel with the instrumental I’m working on. I don’t have a set way, which keeps it fresh and exciting each time.
CM: What are your views on autotune?
LK: If you’ve got THE take and the vibe is spot on but there’s just one or two notes slightly out, I can just about forgive it. But if you’re using it on all vocals A.) You lose the feel and the magic and B.) You need a better singer.
Obviously being in tune is ideal but wonky notes here and there are what make a song real, sound human and can sometimes help the emotion in the song.
CM: What is the most flattering thing you’ve read about yourself?
LK: There was a nice comment in ‘Mixmag’ about my “heart-wrenching vocals” on a track for my other project KALAHARA. And someone once wrote that I looked like a healthy version of Amy Winehouse. I’ll take that.
CM: What was the first record/tape/cd you ever bought?
LK: ‘Wannabe’ – Spice Girls. On tape. I know. Not long after I began stealing my brother’s Oasis and Radiohead CDs.
CM: What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
LK: Every time I hear ‘Retrograde’ by James Blake, the intro gets stuck in my head without fail, for days.
CM: If you had to bring on artist back from the dead in exchange for sending a living artist down, which artists would it be and why?
LK: I’d bring back Jeff Buckley because I’ve been in awe of his voice since I was a kid. His album ‘Grace’ is a masterpiece and his voice is unreal. I can’t send anyone down, that’s just bad karma. May as well bring back Kurt Cobain whilst we’re at it because, Nirvana.
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