Blue Angel - Departures
"One of the odd things that evolved in the process of making the album was the number 43. It started with writing the song '43 Days' which was about an incident on the 43 bus which I used to use a lot in Islington. So after writing that song, we named our label 43 Records.
"It also happens that I'm 43 years old. 43 seconds of one of my songs was used in the US TV show 'Burn Notice' last year. And the album 'Departures' happens to be 43 minutes long. I guess that the answer to life, the universe and everything isn’t 42, but 43."
Jason Newton’s winding journey to Blue Angel has seen the London based producer/composer/musician play in a variety of bands playing flamenco folk and acoustic pop but when he stumbled across vocalist Bella Bennett rehearsing with another band in a studio in North London, he knew what his next project was going to be.
A musical partnership quickly formed, especially after they soon realized that they shared a passion for creative escapism and cocktails.
And with influences including Portishead, Brian Eno, Rufus Wainwright with a dash of Kylie, ‘Departures’ shows how quite diverse influences can come together, culminating in a record resonant of open spaces, melancholy, summertime and understated optimism with a lyrical bite.
Newton continues, "We were looking to create a sense of warmth, simplicity and space with this album. Themes of loss, escapism and leaving run throughout the album giving it a slightly melancholy and yet quietly uplifting mood.
"I wanted it to be the kind of album that you could listen to late at night when you're travelling to keep you company and create a safe space around you away from the chaos of the everyday world."
Opening with the gritty realism of current single ’43 Days’, ‘Departures’ takes its listener on a journey through the Ibiza-like bliss of ‘Open Spaces’, euphoric ‘One More Down To Go’, sing-along ‘Colour Of Summer’ and optimistic ‘Hopeful’.