Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.
𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚 – 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙅𝙖𝙣𝙚
Charles adds one to another…
Lately, I’ve been thinking about collectives. How one thing plus another thing makes a completely new thing. It is so much more than multiples. It CAN be mere multiples of course; take the humble flageolet bean, for example. Add many more, and you simply end up with more beans. It’s nothing more than more. But so often the sum of its parts ends up as something else. A metamorphosis of sorts.
A tree is just a tree. A lovely tree, perhaps. An old and wise tree, but just a tree. When adding many more, you can’t see the trees for the forest. In that forest, a wandering man is lonely as ever. He comes across a wandering woman and they hit it off; a couple is born. As the Spice Girls neatly observed: when ‘2 Become 1’. But that couple is now just a couple. After much canoodling, a baby is born; turning that couple into a colourful family. The colour red is bold and brazen, if a little raw. It is also just red. But when red meets yellow – after much canoodling – a vibrant orange has taken the place of both primary colours. But an orange is – let’s be real – after all, just an orange. Toss a few more fruit into the mix and you end up with a fruit salad! The problem is – as Homer Simpson rightly once put it: “You don’t win friends with salad”. Just a salad. Stick a bit of meat with it, and suddenly you’re faced with a scrumptious meal! Apologies to all you vegetarians for that last thought. But I reiterate Homer’s thoughts… Now, now; why, it was only on Sunday that I had lunch with a vegan (or vee-GAN, as I like to say) – I cast no aspersions.
A brick is just a brick. It has very little purpose on its own. An ugly, modern paperweight, perhaps? If only we had some paper to weigh down… But let’s imagine (abandoning the paperweight idea) we manage get our hands on many bricks, then we stack them in a neat geometric pattern, with much goop in between each and every one. We haven’t just got lots of bricks, for they have unified into one. Instead we have a wall. But what good is a wall other than as a windbreaker or a shield from nosy neighbours…? Make four of them and stick a roof on it: you’ve just made a home. But one isolated house is simply isolating (or peaceful, depending on your preference or temperament). Build a row of terraced houses, and you’ve just made a street! But an isolated street is a road to nowhere… A small spaghetti of connecting streets thread together to form a whole town. A thread is little more than an irritation as you fail for the fifth time to poke it through the eye of a needle. That sixth time you get lucky. Eventually, many threads mesh together to form cloth. But cloth is only the beginning… When cloth is worked by a skilled tailor, a jacket is not only born but worn. But by completing the matching trousers, said tailor has turned a jacket into a suit. The card in that breast pocket is the ten of diamonds (quite the suit). What a pointless thing on its own. But when matched with the Jack, Queen, King and Ace of diamonds, you’ve got a Royal Flush! Sometimes it won’t go down after one royal flush – but then it does. When it repeatedly won’t go down, this makes for a happy plumber. But that’s quite enough of that shit.
Let’s talk music. This week we have yet another artist who has never before set foot in my Corner. She and I and the music: three sides collide to make a corner… Please welcome Corinna Jane with her brand new release, ‘Colours Collide’. Corinna (such a pretty name) is a tiny Australian. Neither of which you would believe after having heard her voice… While the song’s meaning might very well be something akin to what I wrote above, it might also be construed as sex. But so much can be construed as sex – Paul McCartney wrote ‘Why Don’t We Do It In The Road’ and, er, ‘Fixing a Hole’ – but I suspect ‘Colours Collide’ to be one of those “it means whatever you want it to mean” songs. Which I like. I do enjoy songs with lots of plausible meanings.
Corinna Jane’s influences apparently include Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin… I know… These are two rather different voices… And I personally hear zero of either in Corinna’s voice or style of music. But hey-ho! I DO however hear various other vocal similarities. There are definite notes of Goldfrapp, Julie Hicklin, Kylie Minogue and Donna Summer. But also Summer Lee Carlson (what happened to her…?), Moloko (what happened to them…?), and Madonna (what ha- wait, my mistake). In style, this is electronic dance with a quite a touch of organic disco. But also in style, this is IN STYLE. It is truly stylish. Despite the many sophisticated secondary and tertiary colours, there is plenty of bold Technicolor blood red. Actually, it’s more like a seductive, glossy Marilyn lipstick. THAT’S the red. It kisses like you know it’s wrong but you can’t help but reciprocate. But she steps back as soon as you respond – with an “it could be you” smile. You may be happy (yellow), you may be sad (blue), but Corinna will leave you envious (green). Having said this, I somehow don’t think this song is about mixing paint colours.
You all know I’m a fan of “song” in terms of chords, melody, words and structure, but what pleases me equally is the coming together of all the parts. Corinna is evidently modest enough to admit not only her strengths but her weaknesses. She knows she’s a fabulous singer. She knows she’s a good writer. But she is aware that in order to make a great song, one needs more than this. She doesn’t depend on herself for everything. Aside from the stress and the pressure, she knows that there are people who can deal with certain sides better. Which is why she brought in co-writer Matthew Payne to get the bare bones of the song down, together. But with the kind of genre she has in mind, a certain kind of producer needs to be involved. Step this way, Adam Calaitzis. But then there’s sound… Corinna asked Sam Lowe (as mixing engineer) to glue things together in the best possible way – and he did so! Lastly, the record needs a final lacquer before it’s off to the presses – this was courtesy of mastering engineer, Joseph Carra. Without all these steps, the song as a whole would not have been as good, and I quite probably wouldn’t have reviewed it.
“But you haven’t actually reviewed it!”… Ahem. Good point. Firstly, Corinna is an extremely talented singer with a voice that suggests she was just born that way. Despite her slightness in stature, her voice is truly larger than life. The intro shows her pop sensibility, Madonna and Goldfrapp style with lush reverb, but the verse has more of a dry, kooky alternative vibe to it (think Moloko). Then as soon as the harmonies surround us, it is as though Summer Lee Carlson is in the room. I can say without hesitation that Corinna Jane has one of the best female voices in the current indie scene. I also ADORE her voice’s versatility, even within just one song. The urgency, breathiness, melodic range, dynamic range, allure, and control all meld together to make one heck of a performance. Writing-wise (the song), I wouldn’t change a thing. It has all the good bits of predictability (the pop edge) blended with loads of “I didn’t see THAT one coming”. Production is where things get really interesting. At first it really does seem to be an electronic dance track (only). The kick/hat duo with the synths give this impression. But the synths are not what we often hear on independent records. Because they sound like very expensive original hardware synths from the late 70s and early 80s. And then there’s the obvious exception of the compressed piano. Electronic tracks don’t usually have any truck with pianos or really ANY organic instruments (except maybe electric bass). Just those simple deep resonant piano stabs (not to mention the higher woody ones later on) are enough to bring this from the traditional electronic genre into a more alternative and altogether more modern era. Pair these with those full-fat synth stabs and it really does bring us back to Donna Summer-era disco (the only real disco era). What I find surprising about the whole piece is how modern it sounds. I think this is mainly down to the choice of blended instruments and sounds, and the mixing. Speaking of mixing (I include mastering here), the sound is just everything you want from a song. Separation, clarity, width, deep lows, airy highs, full mids, thump, thud, oomph and magic. Everything is glued together “like a record”, yet everything has its own space. The details in reverb and delay automation show the difference between an amateur mix and a pro mix. Just in case you were confused, this is of the pro variety.
Top marks, all of you!!
While having lunch with artist Emily Gray (the vee-GAN) on Sunday, she asked “What’s a smash burger?” – a valid query with a brief discussion ending in hilarity. I’m just pleased to say they didn’t have bangers and (s)mash, if only to prove that not everything has to be construed as sex. It wasn’t a long lunch – just a quick in and out.
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