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ZAZU INTERVIEWS: NERINA PALLOT

If being famous was based solely on talent, Nerina Pallot would be a global household name by now. At one point, around a decade ago, when she was nominated for a BRIT Award and an Ivor Novello in the same year for her song "Sophia", it looked like that might have been about to happen.

It was a world-class song, and since then, though her following has become more cult than mass, she has released four more albums of world-class songs - the sort you imagine would have fit-in much better in the eras that gave us Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell.

Robert O'Connor caught-up with the singer/songwriter about her latest record, 'Stay Lucky', why she'd rather starve than have to co-write more hits for pop stars, and what she really thinks about disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein.

Nerina, first of all thank you for taking the time to talk with us. We’re big fans of yours going all the way back to ‘Fires’ – which by the way we can’t believe was 12 years ago! We all know how tough it is to last this long in the music industry – how do you think you’ve managed to stick around long enough to be now releasing your 5th album?

You know what’s scary? Stay Lucky is actually my 6TH album! And if you count up the Year of EPs and include them, it’s more like 11 albums. I don’t have an answer. Or maybe it’s that even though I have my own label and am signed to a publisher, I make a conscious effort to stay out of the industry. I’m quite sensitive (actually, no, I’m really bloody sensitive) and if I engaged too much with the bullshit of the industry I’d go bananas. It has absolutely nothing to do with music. Nothing to do with my motivations for making music. I’d make music whether it was a good living or bad. If I’ve had commercial moments and a few of the songs I’ve written have been lucrative it’s been entirely accidental - whereas the industry is all about monetising. I think I’ll stick around for as long as I’m emotional because music is my only real outlet so I don’t have a choice about making music or not, if that makes sense.

The music industry has changed drastically during your time as an artist – do you feel like the internet has helped or hindered you as an artist when you consider how people consume music nowadays with streaming etc.

That’s a really good question. The positives for me are that I can reach and maintain my fanbase relatively inexpensively through the socials. So keeping people up to speed about what I’m doing is a lot easier than it might have been ten, twenty years ago. It also allows me to engage in the way that suits me, because I do like chatting to people, and I do like sharing other bits and bobs about my life - within reason. Maybe I should have cultivated a more aloof persona - I know I was urged to do that by one of my old mangers - but that never felt right to me, and the internet suits my personality. The negatives are obvious - downloading and streaming has made music cheaper (from a consumer point of view I bloody love that and listen to loads of things because I can just stream them) but that means that it’s hard to make decent money because streaming pays so appallingly. I also think that because so much music is now available, you just have so much to plough through. And nobody knows who the gatekeepers are anymore because places like Spotify are very cagey about how they make their playlist choices and you can’t plug them the way you can plug radio producers. I have absolutely no idea how I got on some of the bigger streaming playlists I have been on - it was sheer pot luck. Also, far from democratising music, if you look at the streaming charts they are more or less entirely comprised of artists on major labels. It’s never been harder for the Indies to get a look in.

You’ve always sort of genre-hopped, and that’s what’s kept it interesting as a fan – has that always been a natural progression for you, or were you pressured in the past by labels to go in a certain direction as artists often are?

That’s a great question. I think it’s a bit of both. I’ve genre hopped because I am into so many different kinds of music, and always want to try things I haven’t done before. But yes, label pressure has had something to do with it. The most profound influence was probably when I got dropped by Polydor because my first record hadn’t worked and I knew in order to keep going I had to hit pay dirt. So I made the conscious decision to make at least one radio single on Fires because I wanted to have enough commercial success to keep making records. Because it worked on the second album, I went into overdrive on my third album, trying to chase another hit, and my heart wasn’t in it so it didn’t work. But the pressure always came from myself, if I’m honest.

There’s quite a jazzy vibe on some of the tracks on the new record, such as the gorgeous “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”. Was this the plan from the outset with this project, genre-wise?

No! I started off programming a lot of stuff on my own and was initially thinking I’d make an electronic album. But then I got cross with myself because I was being so premeditated and the music felt sterile and too thought out, and at odds with how I was actually feeling. If I’m honest, I got into the music business because of a very respected jazz musician who I started to write with when I was still a university, and it was through him and his brother I got my first record deal. The weird thing is that it’s taken me sixteen years to make a record that sounds like who I actually am, musically. So it was a relief to ‘give myself permission’ to make the record I’d always wanted to make deep down.

'Stay Lucky' looks on course to enter the Top 30 this weekend in the UK. Do you feel like, since you’re an artist without the massive marketing budget of the Adele’s and Ed Sheeran’s of the world, that’s a testament to the strength and loyalty of your fanbase? It sort of seems like they’re on this journey with you, and as long as you make albums, they’ll be there to buy them…

I think it will be a miracle if we get in the Top 40 to be honest! But to even be in the game when the midweeks came out is absolutely a testament to my fanbase, because my sales are largely physical. Which means there are all these amazing people prepared to put their money where their mouth is and support me in that way. It’s very humbling actually, and is definitely a huge comfort to me when I’m going about my business. I think the connection between me and my fans is special, and I think it’s because it is quite cultish. I’m not convinced it would be that strong if I had been more commercially successful, and I would hate to have that dislocation between us.

We were obsessed with your Year of EPs project that you did a couple years ago – and now EPs are becoming the new normal for lots of artists. What was it like working at that rate versus the normal “single-album-single” approach that we’re so used to?

The recording process was pretty easy - I’ve always enjoyed performing live and am pretty solid, so that process wasn’t an issue. The writing enough good songs a month? That was very bloody hard!!! I think I wrote about 8 songs a month for the 5 that got released, because I was determined not to release any old rubbish. Honestly, when artists take a long time making albums, I think it’s because the writing is what is taking up the time. And it should. The song should always be the most important thing. And the funny thing is, when the songs are well written enough and the melodies flow and the lyrics have good imagery, the recording kind of takes care of itself. It’s when there are holes in the writing that the production process becomes arduous.

You’ve written for other popstars, Kylie for instance. What was that like as a process and would you consider doing more of it? Sia’s certainly managed to do well out of diluting her recipe and selling it to A-list non-writing pop stars!

No, my writing for hire days are well and truly over. I lucked out with Kylie and she very graciously took songs I had written for her, rather than with her. The thought of sitting in a room with another human with the express purpose of writing a song to make money makes my blood run cold. I’d rather starve.

Your recent single “Man Didn’t Walk On The Moon” is just sublime. It feels almost from another time, sitting comfortably alongside the likes of Fleetwood Mac. When you’re writing new songs, do you find yourself inspired by other acts from the past or present, because truly there’s no-one else out there doing what you’re doing at the moment!

Wow. Thank you! You know what’s funny is that everyone says Fleetwood Mac when they hear Man Didn’t… but I honestly, honestly didn’t listen to a note of Fleetwood Mac while I was writing or recording the album. Maybe they are somewhere in my musical DNA and popped up to say hello, but it wasn’t a conscious effort. But I think because I allowed myself to make the album my heart so desperately wanted to make, all my real, longest lasting musical influences surfaced - like Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan etc. Those are the records that I still put on time and time again and outlast the latest new album that captures my imagination for about a week.

Markus Feehily provided backing vocals on a couple tracks on ‘Stay Lucky’. How did that come about?

I worked with Markus a few years ago and was floored by his voice. I had no idea what a gifted singer he is. And after that I had it in the back of my mind that when I made the right kind of thing, his voice would be amazing singing with me. He was so supportive too while I was making the album, because I was scared - you know, I was aware I was kind of committing commercial suicide, but he (and everyone else who worked on it) were genuinely getting into the music in a way I hadn’t experienced while making a record before and that was such a comfort.

Your song “Real Late Starter” was covered by X Factor winner Joe McElderry a few years back. How did you feel about that, and how do you feel about those types of shows in 2017?

I was flattered but also quite confused because the song is about being a loser and Joe had just won something. I think those shows need to go away for a bit because the public are bored now and it’s not the greatest vehicle to set up sometimes truly talented people (Kelly Clarkson, for example) in the right way.I think it’s starting to ruin people’s futures before they’ve even really begun. And what was the last truly great song that came out of it?

Your song “If I Had A Girl” on the last album was kind of a feminist anthem, so we’ve gotta ask about the recent news in Hollywood about Harvey Weinstein and all of those allegations. Do you feel like there’s similar situations happening to women working in the music industry?

Me too, me too, me too. It’s not just women though - I know of some young gay men who have been victim of some predatory men in both the film and music industry. It’s worth mentioning that because I think they’re even less likely to speak up. Just look at the way women are marketed in general, and the way that we are marketed to. I’m so heartened to see so many women speaking up (although it’s kind of horrifying how many of us there are), but this is genuinely the most positive I’ve felt about women being treated equally in a long time. It’s awful that it’s taken something as monstrous as Weinstein (who I’ve met by the way, and he radiated sleaze I have to say) but a change is happening. I would like to make the point though that I have never ever encountered misogyny in my day to day creative workplace - the male musicians and engineers I’ve worked with have always treated me as an equal and have never thought I wasn’t as capable as them because I have a vagina.

Let’s talk about getting you to Ireland – can your fans here expect to see you live in Dublin during the course of this album cycle at all?

I live in hope. It’s been quite a while since I played in Dublin, but if I can come over next year when I plan on touring more extensively, I definitely will. Tell your friends, and if enough people want to see me, I shall be there!

Finally, is there anything left on your musical bucket-list? A producer you’d like to work with or a goal you dream about achieving, etc?

I just want to keep making records that move people. That’s it. I might hop about styles or moods but my main aim is always to connect. Everything else is just gravy.

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Nerina Pallot - Stay Lucky

Now, if you know me, or have at least had the ‘pleasure’ (a loose term reader[s]) to have had a conversation with me about music, religion, the economy, politics, memes or well… anything really I’ll probably have managed to shoe-horn in my penchant for a certain Jersey-born singer-songwriter. You may also know that isn’t my first musing about Nerina’s latest body of work I’ve released into the ether (see an extensive & exhaustive list ranking 2014’s Year of the EPs here). There is definitely a ¾ written piece about the last LP The Sound And The Fury as well, which I never finished or uploaded; however the worry when writing anything about one of your musical heroes is the knowledge that they might just see (or at least tl;dr skim) & feel a sense of agony that their vision and artistry hasn’t been appreciated as intended, which is probably most likely due to my inane way of rambling & probably not articulating what I really want to say very well at all. Or that it just comes across a little bit sycophantic, like that video where Bradley Cooper (before he was famous) is in a studio audience blowing smoke up Sean Penn’s arse.

I digress and I will try to remain relatively concise in regard to what I want to share about Stay Lucky, Nerina’s 6th studio album. The tl;dr version of this is ‘OH MY WORD, WHAT AN ALBUM, BUY IT NOW’, but humour me for now and allow me to expand upon that a little;

The album opens with Juno, the original working title for the LP and a towering behemoth of an opener. Classic Nerina songwriting, however with a grand musical soundscape, reminding me of something that could be found on Kate Bush’s Ariel (albeit with a little more pop-sensibility & a lot more melody, Kate I love you, but I’m correct on this one) - “The prettiest bird in all of the world’s at my window” is repeated through the bridge before a soaring glide into the abyss around 2:35, followed by some stunning interpolation as the track draws to a close. The fluttering recalls the noise I think a bird’s wings would make if tied to musical instruments, anyway Juno is the one™ for me, but let’s not let that fool you into thinking the rest of Stay Lucky isn’t worth every loving crafted second of the 46:43 the records’ running time. The first time I heard Man Didn’t Walk On The Moon was its debut on Radio 2 while at my parents’ house, my mum relayed how catchy she thought it was and gosh wasn’t she right? Perfectly coquettish delivery of the lyrics throughout, and the line “I’ve got a cartoon heart & a SodaStream, baby look at us we’re a young love’s dream” has has never made me want to enjoy sparkling water & kiss boys more. Line up, line up, I’m going to Amazon Prime one first thing in the morning.

Bring Him Fire for me is a cross between I Saw The Light (from the Little Bull - EP [and one of my all time favourite Nerina songs fact fans]) & Spirit Walks (from 2015′s The Sound And The Fury) albeit with additional, though not superfluous strings throughout, which let’s be honest is a combination for excellence. The more I think about it, the more I think how perfect Come Into My Room would be playing over a soft-focus montage of characters having sex in a Love Actually sequel, with a cut away just as Nerina coo’s “cummmmm” at *ahem* climax of the song. The title track remains as stunningly beautiful as the first 150 times I played it - “And the greatest trick of life, is thinking that we’ll never die, darling don’t ask me why, it only makes me cry” still gives me a lump in my throat if I think about it too much.

I could say a lot more (and if we’re honest, you’ve probably not even got this far, so would it really matter if I kept shooting off on tangents?) but that saxophone outro is the highlight on Better, Fleur East who? Take me to a café in Paris, and I’m almost convinced that The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter needs be played on repeat for the rest of eternity there, go on, any café, I don’t mind, it’d be nice to have a holiday wouldn’t it? I’m not entirely sure if there’s another song that sums up the fatigue of waiting for someone to come along who may not even exist as well as this does, and as an aside, for weeks I’ve been paraphrasing “curse the languid afternoon” when I’m really bored in the office at work & someone thought I was verbose & intelligent, so thanks for that Nerina - I really can always count on you.

All Gold is a latter album highlight, it starts out a simple piano affair, before a phenomenal string arrangement accompanies what may be some of Nerina’s best vocals of her career. That’s a grand claim, I know, but they really are that good. The production on Stay Lucky is remarkably good throughout, however particularly strong on All Gold. I’m a stickler for a middle-eight as well, and this is the strongest offering on the album - the flourish of strings at 2:39 before “I’ve just got this feeling….” and the introduction of brass as Nerina & Rod Thomas (AKA Bright Light Bright Light) repeat the title gives me chills, I may have even done a little tiny cry the first time I heard it, but let’s keep that between us, okay? Okay.

Come Back To Bed for me captures the vibe of the Christmas Tabernacle shows, though I don’t think it’s ever been played there - but there’s something woozy about it all - like on Christmas Day when you’ve drunk a little too much egg nog & eaten a few too many mince pies, but a sexier, less-festive version of that. Notable mention to “If you’re sorry for what you said then honey…” *guitar plays the melody of the title* too, that’s a moment.. Closing the album is Bird “I’m so weary of keeping up” feels very fitting with everything that’s happened in the last couple of years, what a weird bloody place the world is at the moment. That detuned MonoPoly action for the middle-eight is sublime, prior to a necessary key change and subsequent chorus exclaiming “I’m living my life like its golden, golden” as the music, or bird in this case, flies away into the distance. As a keen ornithologist (honestly, look in my parents’ shed at the amount of bird books I have) I’m really appreciative that metaphorical bookends of the album of the year (there, I said it) compliment each other with similar imagery.

It’s hard to capture or articulate an emotion but I think Stay Lucky is the closest to describing the feeling of what falling in love is like without realising it, with that classic Pallot-melancholy I relate so well to sitting underneath it all. The album is an incredible addition to a back catalogue that your faves could only wish for - Nerina herself claims she isn’t Kate Bush & this isn’t an album the world was waiting for (which is ridiculous to be frank), however it’s the album I was waiting for & I couldn’t be more thankful. For everything x

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Sunday Times & Classic Pop reviews of Stay Lucky

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Stay Lucky Press Release

Nerina Pallot has announced details of her forthcoming album ‘Stay Lucky’, which will be released on October 13 on Idaho Records. The first single to be taken from the album is the title track ‘Stay Lucky’ is available to listen to now here – https://fanlink.to/StayLucky. The Brit and Ivor Novello Award nominated musician will follow the album’s release with a UK tour, which includes London’s Hoxton Hall on November 15.

Her sixth album, ‘Stay Lucky’ was written and produced by Pallot and recorded over two weekends at London’s RAK studios. The speed belies the lovely, unhurried expansiveness of an album that is, truly and deeply, her most personal, most warmly emotional album yet.

Pallot plays piano, analogue synthesiser, guitar and percussion, and is joined by musicians including Bernard Butler (guitar on ‘Bring Him Fire’, ‘Come Back To Bed’ and ‘All Gold’), Markus Feehily (backing vocals on ‘Bird’, ‘Man Didn’t Walk On The Moon’ and ‘Come Into My Room’) and Rod Thomas AKA Bright Light Bright Light (BV’s on ‘Stay Lucky’ and ‘All Gold’). The core group on the album are from Michael Kiwanuka’s touring band – Steve Pringle on keys, Alex Bonfanti on bass and Lewis Wright on drums.

The album opens with ‘Juno’, which swells and builds and is Pallot’s take on the likes of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ and Little Dragon’s ‘Twice’. “I like songs that creep up, creep round,” she says. “They don’t follow simple pop lines.”

The sublime ‘Man Didn’t Walk On The Moon’ comes across like a soulful reboot of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ (“I was actually trying to do Steely Dan’s ‘Do It Again!'” ), whereas ‘Heart Is A Lonely Hunter’ – named after Carson McCullers’ 1940 debut novel – is a perfectly poised, wee-hours, spellbinding jazz. The album closes with ‘Bird’, which begins softly with keys and acoustic guitar, like one of her musical heroines, Joni Mitchell, before blooming into a gospel-tinged soul belter, complete with a nod to Jill Scott.

‘Come Back To Bed’ is a deeply sexy cri de coeur to her husband, while the glorious title track is for their young son. Sonically, ‘Stay Lucky’ speaks to the Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg records (notably the latter’s second album, ‘5.55’, which featured Air), big influences for the quarter-French Pallot. Lyrically, it’s a wish for the future, a shaft of positivity beaming out into the world. That, she acknowledges, is why it’s the album title, and why it’s the lead track.

“You know, last year was such a fucking weird year,” she sighs. “People were dying left, right and centre, the political system was so fucked up…”

But rather than rage in the new songs she was writing, she found solace. Pallot found herself thinking back to reading The Wasteland at university. Her tutor pointed out that in times of war, “when shit goes down, people are more inclined to get pissed and shag than they are to take to the streets, because you just want to anaesthetise yourself. So that’s kind of my feel.”

“Basically, it’s my death and shagging record,” she concludes. “That I hope people will get high and shag to, but hopefully not die while doing so!”

Nerina Pallot ‘Stay Lucky’, track listing:

1. Juno 2. Man Didn’t Walk On The Moon 3. Bring Him Fire 4. Come Into My Room 5. Stay Lucky 6. Better 7. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter 8. All Gold 9. Come Back To Bed 10. Bird

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Nerina Pallot opens up about her new album Stay Lucky...

It's now six albums and counting for singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot with her latest, Stay Lucky, arriving today. We sat down with her to find out all about how it came together...

How did you want Stay Lucky to move on from what you did on The Sound And The Fury?

"When I started writing the album, I thought it was going to be a more synth-based, electronic album, and a lot of the writing demos were programmed with no real instruments at all. But whenever I took the songs back to a piano or guitar, they immediately sounded better. And so as opposed to going left from The Sound And The Fury, I sort of went right, or straight into the heart of Yacht Rock!"

You recorded the albums in just two weekends, why did you decide on that approach?

"It was a combination of my limited attention span and limited budget. But I’d spent the best part of a year writing it, and demoing it, and I knew what the songs needed. I spent 2014 making an EP a month, so I have learnt to work very, very fast when necessary and now I can’t see a reason to waste too much time. I’m happy to spend an age making sure the songs are as good as they can be, that’s always worth spending time on."

You’ve self-produced the album, who else played on it with you?

"I’m really lucky that I get to play with some amazing musicians, some of whom are part of Michael Kiwanuka’s band. So they’re playing on it, and I also roped in my friends Bright Light Bright Light and Markus Feehily to sing some backing vocals on it, and Bernard Butler who produced my fourth album added some great guitar too."

Which song on the album took the longest to get right?

"'Bring Him Fire'. I tried so many different ways of doing this. I’m still not 100% happy with the final version, but I loved the song and wanted it on the album."

And which came together most quickly?

"'The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter' because we recorded it almost completely live. We just overdubbed the strings and brass."

What kind of album is this in lyrical terms? Is there a theme to the songs?

"I never like to get too specific about the meaning behind my lyrics because I think it kind of spoils it for the listener. I love hearing from other people what their story is in their head when they hear the song. My sister, for example, told me her personal image when she hears a song from the album called ‘All Gold’ and it’s such a lovely story I don’t want to spoil her imagination with what I really wrote it about. Having said that, as a writer, I always start from a place of personal experience, otherwise, I don’t think I can be honest, and if I can’t be honest, I don’t think I can connect with the person listening."

When did you settle on the title of Stay Lucky?

"Because that song means an awful lot to me, and at the same time I wanted to make the album a kind of gift to the listener. Almost like a good luck charm. I made it during 2016 which was one hell of a weird year, so I figure those of us who made it out alive need all the luck we can get, especially when you look at the state of the world right now…"

Were there any other titles in contention?

"Its working title was ‘Juno’ which is the first song on the album, but I thought it might confuse people and make them think it was a vintage synth album."

What are your plans to take the album out live? How is your live set coming together?

"I’ve already played the whole album live with the studio band a few times this year. Because it was essentially recorded live, it’s really easy to put the set together on stage and I think people will come to shows and feel it is close to the recorded album. I don’t think I’ve managed to do that with an album before, so I’m really pleased and excited about forthcoming live shows."

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Nerina Pallot - Stay Lucky (LP)

Sometimes the right album comes along at the right time. Of course it’s a personal thing, entirely dependent on you catching an album (or an album catching you) at just the right moment for it to resonate at that particular point in your life. For me, Stay Lucky has been one of those albums.

On her sixth ‘long player’ Nerina’s songwriting feels entirely at ease with itself. Though I guess the trick is in making it seem effortless. The largely (exclusively?) analogue instruments serve the songs well and bring an airiness and warmth to the arrangements, which in turn allows them to breathe —and me to bask in them. The album begins with Juno, where “the prettiest bird in all of the world is at my window”. That is until it soars at around the 2:35 mark; it’s a perfect moment and one hell of an opener for the nine songs that follow.

I’m particularly enjoying the extended version of Man Didn’t Walk On The Moon. It remains a great song, though hopefully the frequent comparisons to a certain British-American rock band don’t come to feel like an albatross (👀) around Nerina’s neck. Ahem. Naturally it’s fun to go influence spotting, whether those reference points were intended by their creator or not, but Stay Lucky wears its influences lightly, and thankfully they never come close to eclipsing the songs themselves. HOWEVER, while we’re here and drawing lazy comparisons…

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter —one of my favourite songs at the time of writing— sits somewhere between the jazz bossa-nova of Getz/Gilberto and The Carpenter’s version of This Masquerade (see: melancholic, yearning lyrics and the effortless piano solo that trips along toward the latter part of the song). It’s really beautiful.

Elsewhere on All Gold she sings “and I would bet the farm, on him staying in the world”, and I can hear an unexpected nod to The Winner Takes It All, as well as a number of Bacharachisms in the arrangement. I can tell I’m going to love it more and more with each listen. And while we’re at it, let’s just take a moment to talk about that middle eight, FFS (“I’ve just got this feeling, it’s gonna be all gold”).

Months later the title track is still a total and literal gift of a song, and Come Into My Room is a great piano ballad, though thankfully not an insipid one (“come into my room, I’ll make you cum” - yass Nerina). It’s quintessentially NP, if such a thing exists.

In 2017 Stay Lucky feels entirely welcome, dealing in just the right amount of romanticism and melancholy —and optimism tempered with humour and cynicism— to leave me feeling soothed and understood and uplifted as a result. By the time the album closes with Bird (another highlight), I came away feeling like some small weight had been lifted.

Sometimes the right album comes along at the right time. (Thanks Nerina x.)

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Rousseau

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Blessèd

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