ALBUM: Sharon Lazibyrd – ‘Half Shame and Half Glory’

Our ancestors once passed on their tales of caution, woe and political angst through the form of ballads, a theme explored in Half Shame and Half Glory. Throughout her new album, Sharon Martin – aka Sharon Lazibyrd – uses this tradition with her messages of modern life mixed in with foot-stomping, gypsy-folk tunes.

As its name suggests, Half Shame and Half Glory tackles head on our conflicting emotions in our day to day lives – all delivered through vocals reminiscent of music halls, cheerful ukuleles and passionate violins. Sharon Martin invited an array of musicians on board for her debut solo outing – which even included her own father! Having others along for the ride is evident in the delightfully whimsical sound, with many of the tracks being the aural equivalent of walking through a field of wildflowers with sunbeams on your face.

Half Shame and Half Glory dives straight in with the cautionary tale of ‘Mr Smilie’. Mr Smilie has known both love and heartbreak with Sharon bringing this character to life through traditional accordions and, despite the sadness which Mr Smilie has to endure, it’s hard to be drawn too far down when ukuleles are involved.

 

An album of ballads would not be complete without politically charged protest songs. ‘Opium of the Masses’ and ‘More For Less’ tell us what to expect from the title alone, before we even hit the play button. Although the title is lifted straight from The Communist Manifesto, ‘Opium of the Masses’ also pays homage to Tolkien with the lyrics embedded within the solemn violins. ‘More For Less’ does more to release Sharon’s political dismay at the powers that be, and demands that we pay attention – “Now listen to my story…” she tells us, before jaunty violins and rhythmic tambourines keep pace with her tongue-twisting vocals.

Half Shame and Half Glory isn’t just an outlet for political anger, gentle pianos can be found on ‘Winding Road’ which is a touching ode to maternal love. ‘Don’t Worry’ is a sun-fuelled track, reminiscent of Lily Allen’s early work, with spoken-word style vocals. Whilst ‘Blood on Bone’ takes us down a gothic path, ‘And They Danced’ closes the album with fun spontaneity with scattering vocals and a rhythm which will have you whirling around the room.

Sharon Martin has packed her debut full of hidden delights, igniting a free-spirited passion with each listen. Through her stomping ballads which wouldn’t be out of place in Fiddler on the Roof, Sharon not only delivers her truth, but causes her listeners to realise their own.

Nicky Lee-Delisle 
@Nicky___Lee

 

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Introducing Interview: M.I.

Hot off the back of her latest release ‘Euphoria’ we caught up with East London born DIY, alternative R&B artist M.I. to talk about living in Leeds, being a DIY artist and an excellent list of new music artists to shout out!

And what a pleasure it was…

Welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit yourself – who is M.I and how did it all get started?
Hello! Thank you for having me (or featuring me lol). Where it started…? I’ve always loved the music since I was a kid. Mum played Motown classics all the time. I also went to theatre schools on the weekends throughout secondary school and then I decided I wanted to do it all day, everyday. So I studied music in college then came to Leeds to continue. When I initially started gigging it was under the name ‘Miss Idele’. I enjoyed it but I realised that it wasn’t a true representation of me. I wasn’t a ‘sassy soulstress’ all the time and I got a bit tired of trying to be that at every performance/appearance. So I created M.I.
M.I I would say is kind of a culmination of all the different aspects of me. So she’s got the sass of Miss Idele, but she’s also vulnerable, scared and anxious. With M.I there are no expectations or limitations.  She can be anything or everything she wants to be.

And you’re originally from East London (where GIHE HQ is!), what made you make the move to Leeds?
Yes, E17 all day everyday! Hahaha. I moved because of the choice I made to go to Leeds College Of Music (LCOM). It was a tie between there or Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA). As soon as I got to Leeds it felt like a second home immediately, and it helped that three friends from college were coming to Leeds too!

Leeds has a great music scene, do you find it very different to London’s?
The Leeds music scene is great. Lots of talent all around. I have to give a whole heap of praise to DJ Lubi for giving a lot of us opportunities to gig around some of the best venues, line ups and promoters! I do think the London scene is a bit different – the music scene is huge with lots of different things happening. Unfortunately from what I know, I feel like the London music scene is kind of people saying the same thing over the same type of music. Something I really appreciate is coming to Leeds to find my sound and what I like and/or dislike, and what I have to say that can impact, that is honest. Having said that I do feel like the London scene would cater more to my sound than Leeds would. I think Leeds has a soft spot for Jazz, Afro Beats or singer-songwriters!

You are a DIY artist which we respect so much, was this a conscious decision to keep more control over your music? How do you find being a DIY artist?
I’m neither happy or sad to be a DIY artist. I don’t think I can see it any other way right now as I know what I want, I’m very involved in all aspects like the writing, arrangement and production. So, unless the perfect recording contract came along giving me that same amount of control, I’m happy to stick with being a D.I.Y artist! I must say though, it is sometimes easy to be a DIY artist because I don’t see music as a task or job. Sometimes I don’t even see it as a career. It’s my passion so it will always be a part of me whether I become a huge superstar or not. I think the only big struggle with being DIY is there isn’t a big company funding you so you kinda have to find ways to literally DIY, hahaha (sorry, bad joke).

We’re loving the new single ‘Euphoria’ at Get In Her Ears HQ and have played it on our radio show! Can you tell us a bit about the song and what inspired it?
Euphoria!!! The first song I ever wrote. It was surprisingly easy to write despite having never written before and not thinking I could. I just started improvising to an instrumental on youtube and boom! It appeared! I think what helped is that I needed to get something of my chest… I didn’t realise it at the time but writing was my outlet. My inspiration for that song was a guy I liked…! I wrote it as a kind of letter I suppose. We were both dealing with a huge change in our lives and I was kind of writing to myself as well.  Telling myself (and him) to try something new, to escape reality (funnily enough most of my songs became about escaping). I really enjoyed writing it as if it was a breath of fresh air, instead of making it direct which gives it a freedom to mean the listeners interpret it to be.

 

Am I right in thinking you are part of a vocal group called Leeds Contemporary Singers? Who have performed with the likes of Kelis? That must have been amazing!
Yes!  L.C.S!!!  I absolutely adore them! Yes we have! We also performed with Will Young who was one of our mentors on the show! We also got to see Jermaine Jackson, Nick Jonas, Seal and my number one idol CHAKA KHAN!!  Definitely the big highlight of 2017!!!

At Get In Her Ears we’re about promoting and supporting women in music, hoping for a day when people can talk about good music no matter what the artist’s gender is on an equal basis. Do you find as a woman that people label you as a ‘female’ artist rather than an ‘artist’? If so how do you feel about that?
Sadly I think my race is picked up on before my gender. So kind of a double whammy there.  Most of the time, despite my change in image/sound, I’m labelled as a “Soulstress” or “Gospel Singer”. It’s something I really struggled with in University, people just assuming what I do and limiting me to that. Most of the time I got labelled as a backing vocalist. I think a lot of the time people think because I’m a female, all I do is sing and if I play an instrument too an even bigger achievement. But yes I sing, I can accompany myself on a piano but I also write, arrange and produce my songs. I may not be the best producer but I know what I want and it was really hard finding producers who let you do you. I found a lot of producers try and force what they want for you, upon you and ignore when you disagree or try to have an opinion on your own songs! When speaking to male artists, they never seem to have that issue. I think that enforces my being DIY as well as I do not have the time or the patience to deal with it.

What’s 2018 got in store for M.I.?
2018!!  Reclaiming my time, reclaiming my time!!  I plan to ‘snatch wigs’, be the best version of me musically and personally, put in the work and leave the rest to GOD! I want to release a couple more tracks throughout the year and get some gigs in. But other than that, I’m gonna live my BEST LIFE!

Finally as we’re a new music focused site, are there any other new/upcoming bands or artists you’d suggest we check out?
New music! I love supporting friends so here is a nice list! I’m mentioning producers, instrumentalists and writers because I think it’s important to shed light on people behind the spotlight – they’re all important too!! Becky Bowe, Loux, Park fires and Luna Pines recently released new singles. The compilation album by Sixteen Records compiled by Lotte Van Den Berg is full of loads of upcoming artists/bands in and around Leeds – Ofure Faith, Dija Bhlue, Mali Hayes and Jermaine Peterson – amazing artists! Chloe Rianna – best drummer I know! Kieran Williams – greatest songwriter I know, he’s written a couple of bops including BBC Radio 1’s Track Of The Week ‘I’m Not Ever Coming Back again’ (I’ve also got a couple of bops coming out with him). Akin Music – he co-produced ‘Euphoria’ and a couple of other tracks of mine, AND he’s opening for Lalah Hathaway in July in Leeds!  Monkey Harper – he’s a producer, he’s got some bops coming out too! And he co-produced ‘Euphoria’ and a couple of other tracks. I could actually go on but I think that’s enough!!!

‘Euphoria’ is out now, check out more from M.I. via her socials – Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

Tash Walker
@maudeandtrevor

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ALBUM: Jo Passed – ‘Their Prime’

Living in the city with nowhere to rent? No time outside of employment, and no realistic expectations to live up to? Then you should invest in Jo Passed‘s debut album, Their Prime. Released via Sub Pop Records, the Vancouver-based four piece have written a record that encompasses these anxieties – but most importantly – uses a combination of melodic noise and grunge-inspired sound to break through them.

Comprised of Jo, Elliot, Bella & Megan-Magdalena, Jo Passed’s new record is the amalgamation of front-man Jo’s fears and frustrations at not being where he thought he’d be in his 30s. Jo has been part of the DIY music scene since his late teens along with high school best friend Elliot, both of whom thought they were “freaky music weirdos” when they began writing their own tunes. Now, with the multi-talented Bella & Megan-Magdalena on board, Jo’s fear of missing out has been neutralised and channelled into songs like hazy album opener, ‘Left’. It’s three minutes of reverb-heavy riffs that cloud the ears with gentle anger.

Second track ‘MDM’ hosts noise-rock riffs and floaty, quietly furious vocals, before ‘Glass’ and ‘Undemo’ pass by in steady fashion. The brief ‘Facetook’ bleeds in with its distant vocals and diluted guitar sounds, before ‘Repair’ pushes things in a more positive direction. Breathy, laid back vocals are mirrored in the gentler percussion and guitar parts, preceding the cathartic pay off which comes three minutes and twenty seconds in.

The guitars on ‘R.I.P’ drift dreamily above more pensive vocals, before the relatable ‘Millennial Trash Blues’ punches its way through with more noise and feedback, ricocheting between loud & quiet. ‘You, Prime’ rings out in similar fashion, as does following track ‘Sold’ with its manic riffs and driving percussion. Ambient interlude ‘Another Nowhere’ provides space for reflection, before the spacey ‘Places Please’ closes this journey through uncertainty and finding your identity.

Jo Passed’s debut record is a strung-out, melodic tonic for those pushing through the fear of missing out, or indeed, being past Their Prime. You can purchase your copy here.

Follow Jo Passed on Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Gurr – ‘Hot Summer’

Contrary to its title, Gurr‘s latest single ‘Hot Summer’ was conceived on a grey day in London town. The Berlin duo tried to capture “that feeling of despair when everyone around you is happy, but somehow you just don’t feel it,” and the result is a frustratingly catchy “anti-summer” anthem.

Produced by Richard X (Roisin Murphy, Goldfrapp, Kelis,) ‘Hot Summer’ is the first taste of new material from the band since the release of their debut album In My Head, which won the IMPALA European Album of the Year Award in 2016. Gurr – comprised of Laura Lee & Andreya Casablanca – wanted to explore the idea that as the temperature rises, so does the pressure to enjoy and partake in all things summer related.

“Summer is such an iconic time of year and something we long for so often, but it ends up having very little to do with reality,” the band explain. “We wanted to write a song that sounds like you want to get fucking crazy to it, but also shout: Shit, maybe the condom did break? Or shit, did I forget to take the pill? Or shit, why is everyone around me doing ok and I feel like I need therapy? It’s a celebration of the imperfect summer, and everyday neurosis.”

The duo are gearing up for their Hot Summer Festival Tour which will see them grace the stages of over 20 European festivals this year, including performances at Rock Am Ring, Melt and Lollapalooza Berlin. They can also exclusively announce a headline show at The Garage on November 29th, their biggest show in the UK capital to date.

Listen to ‘Hot Summer’ below and follow Gurr on Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Rowan Allen

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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