Revue
Revue are vocalist Emma Loudon & multi- instrumentalist Martin Price, ably assisted by Sean McCann on bass, Ioannis Tsioulakis on keys and Josh McCullough on drums. The sound is inspired as much by folk, roots, jazz and blues as it is updated sounds of ethereal indie pop, modern grooves and alternative rock.'
The Arts Council (NI) had confidence in their material and funded a full live band and recording sessions for their debut album Why Can't You Stay in 2022. The song-writing was as heavily inspired by the natural world as it was by themes of loss. Loss comes to us all in life but sadly Emma lost both her brother and her father in the space of a year. Comfort was found in local forests and beaches, where the pair walked their two dogs and so these inspiring natural locations found their way into the material for the album. As did a sense of joy and appreciation of being together with those we love and of strength and growth in the face of adversity.
Prior to this, their debut single Wonderful was released in 2019 and led to shows in Ireland/UK and two tours of Brittany. Wonderful, subsequent singles and The Wolf EP (released in 2022) all received national and international radio play.
2023 will see the release of their album, a third tour of Brittany, a second stint at the How The Light Gets In festival (the world's largest festival of philosophy and music), other festival dates and shows in UK & Ireland, and lots of time spent both in their cosy home studio and the wild beauty of forests, coasts and cliffs that continue to inspire them and their music.
Still Crazy by Paul Simon
This is a song we cover live sometimes actually. I love the imagery of Paul Simon's songwriting. I remember listening when I was a kid and I had this sense of a whole world and relationships and a culture which probably is evocative of 1960's/70s/80s New York artistic lives. Much to my annoyance I can't write like him, try as I might, I just write my own way! But I do think we are influenced by his music, melodically and instrumentally.
Parts by Lisa Corry
When we were releasing Wonderful in 2019 found a group of musicians who were sharing and supporting each other's music. Lisa was one of these musicians and her song Parts to me is just perfect, it is the kind of song I sing over and over -totally addictive, a hook without being in any way gimmicky and relating an emotional truth.
Dangerous by Amy Montgomery
Amy Montgomery is the power vocalist heart of the NI music scene. Unmissable live. But I first fell in love with her music through this song Dangerous. Bluesy, emotive and verging on a painful truth without being too exposing. She is an artist I admire greatly and one to definitely watch.
Nerina Pallot - Everybody's gone to war
I had an experience recently, we were playing How the light gets in festival in Hay on Wye and I wandered into a tent at about 9.30 at night and stumbled into a set by Nerina Pallot, I couldn't place her at first and then realised I had loved her music growing up. I sat down by myself and was mesmerised as she played songs accompanying herself on guitar or piano, with incredible vocals. Since then having revisited her catalogue she is an extraordinary songwriter and aside from her own songs has written and produced for Kylie and Diana Vickers. This song from back in the day was right up my younger self's street! Catchy, angry indie pop/rock.
Roads – Portishead
You could play this on an acoustic guitar and it'd still sound great – because the songwriting is so solid – but that undulating Rhodes piano is incredible, it feels smokey and ancient. And they played some really low, dense chords with it! A lot of people would probably be worried it's too muddy, but they knew the vibe of it was great. Beth Gibbon's voice is so vulnerable-sounding and pure, and the way they really make you wait for that bass riff to come in – it's hard not to overuse an idea you like, but this is a great example of that kind of restraint.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps – The Beatles
You could almost pick any Beatles track. I love the way this one has a slightly more interesting harmonic idea than most catchy pop songs (and it is catchy!). Music theorists call it a line cliché I think – the bass note of the chord moves (down, in this case) while the top notes stay (mostly) the same, throwing up some moderately different types of chords. Instantly gives it a bit more of a classical feel or something, and the guitar solo is really melodic, not trying to go fast for the sake of it. That simple-but-interesting approach to harmony and solos is definitely something we try to get at.
How To Disappear Completely – Radiohead
Again, I could pick almost any Radiohead song, but this one in particular is similar to Roads (or most Beatles tracks) in that it would stand up on just a guitar or piano, but the arrangement totally elevates it. That's what we're always trying to emulate with Revue production; the way they came up with that perfect instrumental call-response to the vocal line, how the band builds up with the emotional intensity of the singing and drop out when it's time to drop out, never overplaying.
Ophelia – The Band
The Band are obviously really conscious of their musical roots, and this is great example of taking a much older, jazzier influence and filtering it through the style of music you play (rock'n'roll in their case). There's a really earthiness to this that we're often trying to emulate (although sometimes we're a bit towards the other end of Hendrix's earth/space continuum – more like Portishead!), the lyric is about lost love, the harmony puts you in mind of ragtime, the horns are glorious. We're always trying to find a way to get a horn section into our songs.
Girl With One Eye – Florence & The Machine
Normally, we're a bit more restrained than Florence & The Machine. There's a real punky energy and snarl about this, in her voice and the aggressive guitar stabs and the bom-bap stop-start drums. But we're trying to get this mean sometimes, when there's angry subject matter on a song, and we used it as a reference track for one of the tunes on the album – like a lot of the others we've picked here, it really knows when to hold back so that when the band does all come crashing in it feels like a musical climax.
The Park - Feist
FEIST is an artist I have loved for a long time, sometimes hauntingly beautiful, sometimes poppy and bouncy. I'm mad about the Gretch sound she uses for a lot of her stuff. I once watched a bts about the recording of The Park, in an apartment with the engineers trying to capture the bird sounds out the windows and on the balcony. The process just looked so romantic and raw and gives the track a real demo feel which makes it easy to connect with.
