Odette Albani
As Odette Albani prepares to release her beautiful new single, Just Listen, I caught up with the saucy Italian to chat about music, life and working at MTV.
Hello there, what are you up to at the moment?
Spending most of my day figuring out how to best launch my CD, and then just doing it. I talk to a lot of people, spend hours online looking at ideas, and sing new song ideas into my iphone recorder in the breaks.
Tell us a bit about your new single release...
"Just Listen" is a pop/rock song with an edge. It's about being with a guy who doesn't listen (anyone been there? :-)). Seriously though, being in a relationship also means being able to share your problems with someone and it's tough when they don't want to hear these problems or belittle them...
What made you choose to release that one first?
I had 3 or 4 potential songs in mind as a first release, among which was 'Just Listen'. I took advice from my radio team as to which one would be the best one for the UK market initially. I'm satisfied with this choice because I think this song reflects quite closely where I am at the moment with my music as this was one of the last ones I wrote before we recorded the album.
If you could recommend just one song from the album for us to listen to, what would it be?
Ooh, that's really difficult because I think you would need to listen to at least 3 songs to start to get a flavour of the album as the songs are all quite different from each other....'Just Listen' is a good one to start with, but then you would need to listen at least to 'My Friend' and 'Ride Your Bike' to get a clearer picture of what my music is about!
To anyone who hasn’t heard of you yet, how would you describe your sound?
I would say it's a mix of country/rock from California and of Indie Rock from the UK. I lived a part of my life as a child in the US and I think this somehow influenced the part of my brain which deals with creativity. I've lived a large part of my adulthood here in the UK and listened to loads of UK music while growing up in Italy. Anything from Beatles to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin to Tears for Fears.
The result is that a lot of my music is guitar based and 'acoustic' and some of the songs have a slightly more 'psychedelic rock' twist to them. In general I think my music positions itself within the female pop/rock singer/songwriters sound but is not as clearly definable as US or UK origin as most.
If you could cover another band’s song, what would it be?
Either 'Kiss from a Rose' by Seal or 'Revolution' by the Beatles
And can you sum up your good selves in just five words?
Creative, Determined, Sensitive, Intuitive, Kind
You know we’re having a bit of an economic crisis here at the moment, if people wanted to spend their last £10 on a cd this weekend, why should they buy yours?
Well...for one 'Just Me' is packed with great songs, none of them a copy of the other (so good variety all within one cd!). Secondly, it's 'hand made' in that each song was crafted on the piano, wrapped in a lot of emotion and all the instruments were 'real instruments' played by real live amazing musicians (not computer generated samples!). Most importantly I think 'Just Me' will strike a chord with people and hopefully donate a few extra colours to the palette of their day to day lives.
What three bands would you have to headline your dream festival?
Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Police (can you imagine hearing these 3 bands one after the other? Like sweet and sour and hot in quick succession! :-))
What has been your favourite musical memory to date?
Seeing Sheryl Crow who played for just a few of us in a green room while I was working at MTV...She was a great performer and very personable as well. The real thing.
If all of the bands equipment was on fire, what one piece would you save and why?
My notebook with all the random ideas for my songs. If you work hard enough you can replace all the instruments but ideas are irreplaceable.
If you could only listen to one CD for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would hate that as I don't enjoy repetition and I get bored quite easily. Probably the only one I wouldn't want to destroy after 3 months would be "The Best of the Beatles"
Okay, now we want to ask you some random questions;
Tell me about the most terrifying experience of your life…
I was in Kenya on a safari and sleeping in a 'luxury tent' in the middle of nowhere. In the middle of the night I heard a loud grunting noise just outside of the tent near the bed. 2 seconds later the whole tent started shaking and I thought I was about to be eaten alive by a lion. It turned out that there had been a small earthquake (very rare in Kenya!) and the grunting noise was from a resident hippo that liked to eat the grass next to our tent.
What’s the most stupid purchase you’ve ever made?
I have done so many of those....probably those that I make because I feel embarrassed not to buy anything after 2 hours in the same shop...
Why go to the top of a tall building, only to put money in binoculars and look at things on the ground?
...because nobody can see what (or who) you are looking at.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison