Haunting notes from London Grammar

Second best: London Grammar’s debut album If You Wait has peaked at number two on the UK chart.By Geoffrey RowlandsLondon Grammar have been described as “yet another fairly mysterious band fronted by a siren-voiced female making slow-building, haunting pop music.”The description was not intended to be particularly complimentary. Yet, apart from the first few words, it is accurate. There is no doubting the vocal prowess of Hannah Reid while the music provided by guitarist / bassist Dan Rothman and drummer / keyboardist Dot Major is perfectly summed up as slow-building and haunting as demonstrated on the trio’s latest UK hit single, Strong.But London Grammar are not “yet another” band of this nature. There simply aren’t that many similar groups who have caught the attention of Britain’s record buying public. This is one reason why their debut album, If You Wait, has so far peaked at number two on the UK chart.“I don’t know if our sound is unique but it’s certainly different from most bands,” Hannah reflected. “Some critics have compared us to The xx and Florence + The Machine. We think they are amazing so we don’t mind the comparisons. But we do feel there is a more classical style to our music.”“We each bring our own tastes to the music we create,” Dot stated. “Hannah is influenced by classic R&B singers and songwriters. Michael Jackson is her favourite artist. Dan loves indie guitar music while I’m into jazz and classical blues. Our own songs fit into none of these styles but our various influences are hybridised into the London Grammar sound.”The band members joined forces while at the University of Nottingham.“I saw a picture of Hannah on Facebook,” Dan revealed. “She had a guitar and was interested in making music so I sent her a message asking if she’d like to collaborate with me. We immediately got on well together. There was a real creative spark between us.“We started out playing to about five people in local bars. We did a few of our own songs but mostly played covers. What we really needed was an extra musician. My girlfriend knew Dot so suggested he would be the perfect person to complete our line-up.”A move to London and posting Hey Now on their SoundCloud page last December saw a massive rise in London Grammar’s fan following and attracted the attention of record labels.“We had actually created our own label,” Dot remarked. “The first release was our Metal & Dust EP last February. Although we’re now with Columbia, we’ll still release records on our own imprint and will hopefully be able to sign great new artists in the future.”Metal & Dust, along with the single, Wasting My Young Years, saw the trio gain critical acclaim and the support of influential BBC Radio 1 DJs. They also made a guest appearance on Help Me Lose My Mind, a track from Disclosure’s UK chart-topping album, Settle.“The collaboration came about through our knowing Disclosure’s managers,” Dan explained. “Making the track was quite an experience. They work much quicker than us.”London Grammar’s own album was mostly recorded in Dan’s garage. He and Dot create the music to accompany Hannah’s distinctly personal lyrics.“Most of my lyrics are written from personal experiences,” she admitted. ‘Wasting My Young Years’ was very specifically about my time with a former boyfriend. Other songs are about particular people, events or situations but in a much more general sense.”With hit records and an ever-increasing fanbase, the trio seem set for a long and successful career. But they see their record label as the key to longevity in the music business.“We’re in our early-20s and it would be great to still be making records 30 or 40 years from now,” Dan smiled. “But we realise most artists have no more than a few years before they become yesterday’s news. If that should happen to us, having our label will always allow us to remain part of the recording industry.”in briefTLCLittle has been heard from TLC since the death in 2002 of Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes. Surviving members Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins and Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas have made guest appearances and performed occasional concerts but there has been no new music from the girls since their fourth studio album, 3D, which was issued seven months after Lisa died.This has now changed with the release today of a new album, 20. The title is an acknowledgement of TLC’s 20-year-plus career. Although almost every track is a re-recording of their old hits by Tionne and Rozonda, the album does contain a brand new song, Meant To Be, which was written for the girls by Ne-Yo.Meant To Be is heard during the closing credits of the upcoming movie, CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, which premieres on the VH1 music channel on October 21.The group’s original song promos are posted at www.youtube.com/user/TLCVEVO. Click on ‘Videos’ to gain full access.TristenToday sees the release of CAVES, the new album from Nashville-based indie-rocker Tristen.Following her critically acclaimed 2011 album, Charlatans at the Garden Gate, the new LP is available via Tristen’s own label, Pupsnake Records. It was financed by 594 of her fans through a Kickstarter campaign which raised nearly 3,000 USD more than her 20,000 USD target.A free download of lead single, No-one’s Gonna Know, is available to anyone who signs up to the mailing list at www.tristen.com/. The song can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqIY8WFteng.All ten songs from Charlatans at the Garden Gate have been gathered together on YouTube. Opening track, Eager For Your Love, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTFlRr7hJJ0&list=PLD70BF3FB88A975C5. The remaining songs will automatically play at the conclusion of each track.Justin BieberJustin Bieber has launched Music Mondays, a series of song releases each Monday over a ten-week period. But anyone hoping these tracks would be available as free downloads will be sadly disappointed.Fans should at least have the opportunity to hear each song before parting with their money. The first release, Heartbreaker, is posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/beliebersportugueses/justin-bieber-heartbreaker.“It’s a song for people going through a heartbreak like I was when I wrote it,” Justin stated. “It means so much to me to be able to share what I was, and still am, going through with my fans and I hope it gives them some insight into my heart.”Meg HutchinsonThose who enjoy quiet songs with lyrics which tell a story should check out the work of American singer/ songwriter Meg Hutchinson.A multiple-award-winning folk artist, Meg’s new album, Beyond That, has just been released. The video for lead single, Only Just Begun, can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-miYxaryxs.Scenes in the video show Meg playing piano. She has acquired this skill during the three years since releasing her last album, The Living Side. This period has also seen Meg publish her first book of poetry, The Morning I Was Born, and create a recording studio at her home near Boston, Massachusetts. More of Meg’s songs and live performances are posted on YouTube. These include the official video for her most popular single, Hard To Change, which can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=81xd9uhgZHE.Second best: London Grammar’s debut album, If You Wait, has peaked at number two on the UK chart.