Louise And The Pins
Louise and The Pins are set to return with their haunting new single Bell Jar, a follow up to the double A side Melancholy/Beauty Strange.
I caught up with Louise to talk about the single and what we can expect from her debut album.
- Your new single Bell Jar is set to be released at the beginning of next month so how would you describe the new track?
Someone I heard summed it up really nicely as they called it a ‘torch song for the modern age’ and I think that is a really nice way to describe it. It’s quite a sad song and it’s quite personal to me but there is quite a lot of hope in it too.
If definitely touches people in quite a big way, we have had a lovely response to is so far. So yeah it’s a bit of a hold your lighters in the air kind of song.
- It's a song about love and loss and pain that has been penned by yourself so how much did you pull on own experience whilst penning what sounds like a very personal track?
It is definitely personal to me and I wrote it from experience but I don’t want to alienate people by saying that it is about a specific thing - loss it quite a general thing.
So it could be about someone breaking up in a relationship, or death, or family loss so while it is specific to me people can take from it what they want.
- Bell Jar has been produced by David Odlum so how did that collaboration come about? And how did you find working with him?
I knew a little bit about The Frames, they were on my radar from when I was a little big younger. But my manger actually put me in touch with David; I had heard some of Gemma Hayes stuff that he had produced that I really liked.
So we just met up, he lives over in France but he came over, we had a meeting and we just completely clicked and he understood what kind of record I wanted to make without having to explain exactly what sound you want or what you need - he just understood the music and where it needed to go. We got on like a house on; we went out and got a little bit drunk; in true Irish tradition.
Then I went over the France with the band for about a week and recorded the first single and Bell Jar. We were in the middle of nowhere in the beautiful French countryside so it was gorgeous and very inspiring and I had a lovely time with him.
- There is also a great video to go with the track that stars David Bradley so who's idea was it to get him involved?
Because of the nature of the song when we sat down and thought about what would be a really lovely and relevant video. We came up with the idea of having an old man in a pub thinking about his life and being pretty sad but also having this little smile on his face.
So we wrote a list of actors who we though would be great, but we just wanted someone who had an amazing face - and we thought of David. I had just seen Harry Brown and I just thought he would be amazing. It turned out that my manager had a connection to him from when he was a kid so we managed to get in touch with him.
He was amazing and he just loved the song and he just really wanted to it - he was just an absolute joy to work with and he is an absolutely gorgeous human being. He did an amazing job and we were really happy with the video.
- There is an album just around the corner so what can we expect from that?
Bell Jar is quite representative of what the album is going to be like but it’s going to be like a little journey as there are going to be a few emotional songs on there. But there will be a few more upbeat songs, which I don’t generally write but there are going to be a few that make it on there.
We are going to record it in analogue, so it’s just going to feel nice and lovely and old as well as feeling contemporary as well.
- You have touched on my next question really Bell Jar is the second single after Melancholy/Beauty Strange so how do this first singles releases introduce us to the rest of the album?
They definitely set it up, I think the introduce people to my song writing and to my voice and the way I like to have the songs recorded; everything sounds quite warm and there’s a little bit of orchestration. But I think in the album that is going to go up a notch and be a little more lush on the production side of things.
But Bell Jar and Melancholy are definitely a really strong introduction to my sound, which I think is quite and interesting one. People ask me all the time what do you think your music is? And I can’t ever really describe it as it is a little bit folk, a little bit fifties as well as a little rockabilly.
- You have penned Bell Jar so have you written all of the songs on the album or have you written with someone?
Well up until three or four months ago I had only ever written myself and hadn’t done any collaborations. But I thought that it might be an interesting thing just to try out writing with couple of different writers and see how it went, if I even could write with other people.
So I have spent the last few months finding key people song writing wise. So it’s probably going to be half and half; six or seven of the tracks will be just mine and then co-write three or four,
- How much has your label given you the freedom to write and record the music that you want - how important is that creative freedom?
I think it is essential, particularly for the album, because I know what sound that I want for the album and I know how I want it to be - of course there will be input from producers and the musicians that will play on the record - but it is really important to me that I am, to a certain extent, left to my own devices.
So the label ringing me up every day asking to listen to what we are doing is probably not going to be that helpful. With the singles they have pretty much left me to do what I wanted to do and have just supported when they needed to do so.
It’s great to have support from a label when it’s needed but for me it’s important that they understand what kind of record is going to get made and they kind of, to a certain extent, leave me to it (laughs).
- You will also have your first headline show in London in April so how excited are you about that?
I am really excited. Obviously it is a really big deal that people are buying tickets to see us because I have never had that before.
Also the venue is really beautiful, I have seen a couple of shows there and I have always said that I would love to perform there, it’s a little church and the acoustics are amazing. So yeah I am really looking forward to playing at that specific spot.
- But you have already got quite a reputation on the live scene performing with the likes of Martha Wainwright and Laura Marling so how have you seen yourself develop as a live artist during that time?
Just trying to perform live as often as you can is so important to build your confidence and to work on your sound, live is completely different than when you go into the studio.
I have definitely changed as when I first started performing on my own it was more of a folksy sound that I had and it was just me and my acoustic guitar. But when you have a band introduced into that then your sound starts changing.
And being able to perform with Laura and Martha and people like that you see how amazing they are live and how they have developed their craft through gigging a lot and you look at them and think ‘wow I really need to up my game’.
It pushes you to want to be an amazing live act that people actually want to come and just get blown away by a show - everyone remembers amazing gigs that they have been to and I want to be able to exceed people’s expectations when they come to see me after listening to my records.
- There are plenty of female acts and artists out that at the moment so what sets you apart from the rest?
I just don’t think that I sound like anyone else, and I think that that is a good thing. People will always try to compare you to whoever; a lot of people are saying are you going to be the new Amy Winehouse? Or you sound like Adele and whatever.
But I just don’t and I want to be the first Louise and the Pins I don’t want to be the next anybody. I think that I combined a lot of elements of music that people loved but have turned it into something that is fresh and different and contemporary, which I think is important. So yeah I am definitely different (laughs).
- Finally what's coming up for you - is there a tour planned for this year?
Well we have got a show in Ireland just before the London show. Then I am going to LA to do a show over there as well as one in New York, which is very exciting. I have done a few shows in and around Florida but I have never been to New York to play, so I am very excited about that.
Then it’s festivals all summer, I hope, then we are going to try and get a regional UK & Ireland tour at some point before the album comes out, which will hopefully be the end of the year. So yeah it’s a busy year with lots of shows and lots of gigs that I am looking forward to.
Louise and the Pins’ new single Bell Jar is released 9th April
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw