By Geoffrey Rowlands

 

Lilly Wood & The Prick are very grateful to German producer Robin Schulz. Having already created an international smash hit for Dutch singer/songwriter Mr Probz with his remix of Waves, Robin turned his attention to the French indie folk duo’s Prayer in C.

The initial version was a track on their 2010 debut album, Invincible Friends. Robin’s remix speeds up the song and adds a dance beat yet remains remarkably faithful to Nili Hadida and Benjamin Cotto’s original work.

“We got a message from Robin on our Facebook page asking if he could do a remix,” explained guitarist Ben. “It was completely out of the blue. We’d never met Robin but were aware of his production and remixing talent so we were happy to see what he could do with Prayer in C.”

“We didn’t just turn the song over to him though,” added singer, keyboardist and lyricist Nili. “It was a collaborative effort. We’d send each other sound snippets. These would go back and forth until we were all happy with the finished product.”

Their own happiness has been reflected in the reaction of record buyers. The Robin Schulz remix of Prayer in C has become a world-wide hit topping the singles charts in no fewer than 20 countries. “The chart success has been a revelation to us,” Ben admitted. “Our two albums have been fairly successful in France and we won the New Artist of the Year award at the 2011 Victoires de la Musique ceremony. But none of our singles have even made the top 60.”

The international acclaim is a long way from their first meeting at a Paris cafe in 2006. “It was all set up by a mutual friend,” Nili recalled. “We got talking and realised we had the same kind of musical ideas. We met again the next day and suddenly got into writing a song. When that was finished, we wrote another and then another. We shared this creative spark and here we are, eight years later, still passionately enthusiastic about our work together.”

Their first two years mostly saw the duo performing in bars and other small venues around Paris. Some of their songs were posted on Myspace where they were heard by French musician Pierre Guimard. After viewing Nili and Ben in concert, Pierre effectively took them under his wing creating the Choke Industry label on which to release their six-song debut EP, Lilly Who and the What?

“Pierre has been vitally important in our development as artists,” Ben remarked. “He basically took us from barely earning a living from playing around Paris into a professional recording studio and on to the major stages of the indie folk scene. Despite his own status, Pierre also performs concerts with us as one of our additional live musicians.”

Although by no means unique among French artists, one of the more surprising aspects of Lilly Wood & The Prick’s work is that all of their songs have English lyrics. “I suppose it may seem strange considering the type of music we perform,” Nili admitted. “But I lived part of my early life in America so I speak perfect English and the truth is that it’s easier for me to express myself in English. The great French language songwriters have also set the bar so high. I love Jacques Brel’s songs, for example, and don’t feel I could match the quality of his work.”

Their last album, The Fight, was issued nearly two years ago. New songs, Long Way Back and Into Trouble, were released as singles earlier this year. Are they the prelude to a new album?

“We were actually recording in Bamako, Mali, a few months ago,” Ben stated. “So, yes, we have a new album in the pipeline. We hope our success with Prayer in C will mean more people want to hear our music. We just hope they realise our basic style is indie folk, not dance.”

 

IN BRIEF

Karen O

 

In 2006, Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O recorded 14 songs to give as a personal gift to TV on the Radio guitarist/keyboard player Dave Sitek. Discovered in a suitcase which Dave had accidentally left in a New York apartment, the tracks were leaked online under the collective title of Karen O at Home. They can be heard now at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfJYaIWlZNU.

This collection is not officially recognised as a Karen O album so it can now be said that she has just issued her debut solo LP.

Crush Songs gathers together lo-fi guitar and vocal tracks which Karen wrote and recorded during 2006 and 2007. This was a period when she experienced a succession of heartbreaks in her personal life.

“I had so many crushes during that time, hence the album title. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever fall in love again, at least not with the right person. This emotion came through in the songs.”

Karen’s new album is available to hear at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2meoXu7kIqE. Twelve songs are listed on the posting but it is actually 13. Track ten, listed as Body King, is in fact two short songs, Body and King.

The video for lead single, Rapt, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTvqMfvVWYQ.

 

Interpol

 

Interpol have also just released a new album.

El Pintor is the band’s fifth studio LP. It follows their 2010 self-titled album and is the trio’s first record since the departure of bass player/keyboardist Carlos Dengler.

“Carlos was an integral part of the band,” said guitarist and singer Daniel Kessler. “We weren’t sure how our fans would react to his decision to leave. But we had our last album to promote so we hired other musicians to replace Carlos for our concerts. I know most fans were disappointed by his absence but they still enjoyed our performances and the album sold pretty well.”

With Carlos being such a key element in the band’s songwriting, there were concerns about the quality of their new material. But reviews of El Pintor have been incredibly positive with many critics suggesting it is Interpol’s best work since their 2002 debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights.

You can judge for yourself by listening to the new album which is posted in full at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u6DvRyyKGU&list=PLxpRNq5SCAvLEYWnbPol7_svcYraAQvJc. The video for lead single, All The Rage Back Home, is the first of the 11 postings.

 

Shannon K

 

Legendary Bollywood vocalist Kumar Sanu has two talented daughters. Shannon, 12, and Annabel, ten, have collaborated to create an anti-drugs song, Just Say No...!!

The track was inspired by the lessons both girls were taught in school. They hoped a song written and performed by young people of their age group might provide an even clearer message about the dangers of drugs to anyone who may not pay too much attention to schoolteachers.

Shannon and Annabel’s song can be heard at (no www.) soundcloud.com/six-strings-uk-ltd/just-say-no-feat-annabel-k.

A video has yet to be made for Just Say No...!! but the video for Shannon K’s debut single, Roll Back The Years, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjBUb5WVbKc. This song was also based on words written by Annabel.

Shannon has also made a video for her cover of Rihanna’s smash hit, Diamonds. This can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkt7LtPq0FU.