Quixotic: Soul On Ice
"I liked the word Quixotic and after I'd put it forward as a title I discovered it had many meanings" says Martina 'and one that made sense with regard to the making of this album is that it's a journey (sparked by idealism) and accidental discoveries along the way are explored out of intrigue and curiosity.
It's flawed. It's exposed. One definition of Quixotic is: idealistic to the point of impracticality. "The album represents my past present and future."
Produced and mixed throughout 2002, Quixotic reveals 26 year old Martina's evolution as a singer, and as a songwriter and producer. It travels from shattering nu metal to brutal electronica, from ambivalent ballads to swamp-boogie, expanding and exploring the terrain of the self as it goes. Martina began writing the songs for the album with a closely knit group consisting of her stepbrother Nick Bird, Steve Crittall and Alex McGowan. Recorded at McGowan's studio in Fulham, the album was mixed by Tchad Blake, Jake Davies and Hugo Nicholson (of Primal Scream fame) and produced in large part by Martina with McGowan and Tricky also in evidence.
It's an inclusive and challenging album, as wilfully individualistic as London born Martina herself. It's true to her unique 2nd Generation upbringing. "My mother is El Salvadorean, Seminole Indian and the rest is untraceable African American. Her parents met in England. "It would be good if that mixture was recognised. Many people here don't get that. To them, you are to all and intents and purposes black, however mixed you may look".
Martina grew up in London, moved to Maidenhead aged 6 and then at 12 to Somerset. She went on to attend schools in Sussex and Bristol where she was a brilliant student. "If you're not white and middle class then you're slightly different and exotic in those environments. But I was a character that thrived and survived in those situations."
Quixotic is full of vivid moments that snag the memory. The gospel tinged blues of Soulfood, The ominous John Carpenteresque drones of Stevie's. The sumptuous string arrangements and collapsing rhythms of Ilya. The giant fuzz guitar of Too Tough to Die. The stumbling patterns of Ragga. And through it all Martina, her voice of soul cooled to ice, untouched by the cliched traditions of R&B.
For the awesome Need One, Martina called in Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan of Queens of the Stone Age. "I loved Kyuss and I've always loved Mark Lanegan's voice and I'd met them years ago and they wanted to do something and I wanted to do something and so it happened." Too Tough to Die opens with a burst of Delta Blues uproar sourced by David Holmes, then bucks and heaves like a bull goaded by its gaucho. With her voice processed into a pre-war crackle.
"David found this sample of this old rhythm & blues record from the New Orleans era Martina recalls. "Most of my family is American so I started to think about what I know from my mother about her three brothers, their struggles, how they've had to come up and their environment in America in the 40s onwards and how that influenced her life."
Another guest, Bond composer David Arnold, arranged the strings for Stevie's on which Martina's old collaborator Tricky is evident as well as Ragga and Ilya to varying degrees. "Ilya we did at his house in the States with additional bits of programming by Alex and a whole other level of flavour added by Fabien Waltmann. Ilya’s got a lot of space between the elements and that’s what I like; it has really abrasive moments but they’re held down, by the vocals which are quite soft."
Quixotic's elusive moods stem from Martina's ability to slip between the protocols of urban music. "I thought there were enough R&B, soul, gospel singers out there and I don't think that really reflects me, an English girl. "
The fact is, Martina Topley-Bird isn't like any other female artist. She's a one off. Unrepeatable. With Quixotic, her uniquely intense voice, her challenging lyrics, her paradoxical sound of violent serenity expresses Now. In all it's strangeness.
'QUIXOTIC' IS RELEASED JULY 14TH ON INDEPENDIENTE
Source: http://www.martinatopleybird.com
