When you perform it now, how do you relate to the younger you? becgoldsmithI was in an abusive relationship, so Bring Me to Life was partly about processing the reality of that abuse and asking myself, what are you gonna do about it? I wrote it when I was crushing on my [now] husband, but the theme is about a quest for something bigger: opening your heart, finding more depth. It’s very empowering to perform it now in huge places; I’m very proud of the 19-year-old me that wrote it.
Artists often reveal their influences through the songs they choose to cover. You’ve performed both It’s a Fire and Glory Box by Portishead. What drew you to those songs?
VerulamiumParkRangerBeth Gibbons was one of my greatest vocal and musical inspirations. In the 90s when I was a young teen really feeling music I loved Portishead, Massive Attack and the whole trip-hop vibe. It was dark and cool, really different.
Beth’s vocals have a way of teetering on an emotional crack, on the edge of wild, barely restrained emotion but never belting, which I always thought was so cool and enticing. I could happily do an entire album of nothing but Portishead covers. Your new album, Sanctuary, feels delicately balanced between healing and reflection, but also anger about what is going on in the world right now.
How did you manage that balance and how do you feel about using your voice to stand up against what’s wrong? Amlou7 I hate politics, but our existence is political. Most of us don’t want anything to do with the atrocities that are going on today, but as human beings with hearts and souls we must rise to the occasion.
I’m done with letting people make me feel I should be quiet or making me feel uncomfortable speaking about what we’re now calling politics, which is life and death, rape, genocide, stealing from people. Music has always been an outlet for whatever’s in my heart, so now the music is an outlet for those big things. I meet so many people around the world with different beliefs, and we’re not that different.
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