INTRIGUED: “I don’t know why but Mattafix always did a lot better outside Britain,” says Marlon Roudette.
By Geoffrey Rowlands
It’s taken ten years for Marlon Roudette to finally have a second big hit single in Britain. As the duo Mattafix, Marlon and Preetesh Hirji reached number 15 in 2005 with their second single, Big City Life.
Despite other Mattafix and solo singles doing well elsewhere, he has had to wait all this time before When the Beat Drops Out peaked at number seven.
“I don’t know why but Mattafix always did a lot better outside Britain and the same has been true in my solo career. Big City Life was a massive hit topping the charts in numerous countries.
“I’m really pleased to now have my first UK top ten hit. But When the Beat Drops Out has also been much bigger in other countries. Germany is just one place where it reached top spot.”
Marlon’s 2011 debut solo single, New Age, also hit number one in Germany as it did in several other countries. The song stalled at number 90 in Britain.
“That basically summed up how things went for me. For some reason, British record buyers didn’t seem to get my music.”
Marlon is the son of British singer, songwriter and producer Cameron McVey and West Indian designer and artist Vonnie Roudette.
“I spent the first eight years of my life in the Ladbrook Grove area of London. My mother then took me to live in St. Vincent and the Grenadines so my early musical influences were a real mix of British and Caribbean styles.
“St. Vincent has a strong tradition of soca music which I really enjoyed. Sean Paul was very big while I was in the West Indies as were dancehall and reggae stars such as DJ General Degree and Buju Banton. My mum was also into a lot of American soul music and South African reggae artists like Lucky Dube and Hugh Masekela.”
Marlon participated in the kind of West Indian music which is known throughout the world. He played in a steel band.
“That was in the tourist hotels. More than anything else, people from everywhere associate the sound of a steel band with the Caribbean. It was good fun and another part of my musical heritage.”
Despite all these West Indian influences, Marlon had no doubts about where he wanted to make his mark on the music scene.
“I moved back to London 14 years ago when I was 18. I loved the Caribbean music but I wanted to incorporate other styles into my work. I don’t think I could have successfully done this if I’d stayed in the West Indies.
“I was able to carve out a place for myself on the London music circuit with my mix of R&B and pop fused with reggae influenced melodies. I then met Preetesh and we became Mattafix. We were together for five years. There was no big fall out, we just had different ideas about the direction of our music so felt it was best to go our separate ways.”
Before doing so, Mattafix became the first artists to film a music video in a war zone.
“That was for our song, Living Darfur. Mick Jagger funded the video. We shot it in a refugee camp. It was part of the Save Darfur campaign. This was back in 2007 when the war had already been going on for four years. Things are a lot better now thanks to various peace agreements but the conflict is still ongoing with reports of new atrocities every so often.”
When the Beat Drops Out is the lead single from Marlon’s second solo album, Electric Soul. As with his 2011 debut LP, Matter Fixed, Marlon has written or co-written every track.
“I think it’s important to have a major input on my own material but I really enjoyed writing the songs with several different collaborators. It was also great to work with Tim Bran and Roy Kerr who produced all but one of the tracks.”
With When the Beat Drops Out being such a big UK hit, Marlon hopes it could be a prelude to his work becoming more appreciated in Britain.
“I’d love that to happen. It’s great to have people anywhere enjoy my music but extra special to be successful in my own country.”
IN BRIEF
Temple Invisible
Romanian industrial electronica trio Temple Invisible made quite an impression on the UK music scene late last year with the release of their debut EP, Enter. The record attracted such critical acclaim that a deluxe version of Enter, complete with two bonus tracks and three remixes, will be issued later this week.
Although Irina Bucescu, Costas Ivanov and Daniel Olteanu have not posted much of their music online, the original version of Enter can be heard in full at (no www.) templeinvisible.bandcamp.com/album/enter
The official video for their debut single, Disappearance, is available to view at www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL33CFlVXIk
Natalia Kills
Natalia Kills has had a checkered career. The 28-year-old native of Bradford, West Yorkshire, began acting at the age of nine. She has modelled, directed videos and released several albums and singles under at least three different names.
Her biggest UK hit single, 2005’s Don’t Play Nice, was credited to Verbalicious. This was an adaptation of the childhood nickname, Verbal, coined by her mother because Natalia never stopped talking or singing.
Despite her own achievements, Natalia has never received such publicity as for her recent verbal mauling of contestant Joe Irvine on New Zealand’s version of X Factor. This was not Natalia’s first brush with controversy during her brief stint on the show. She had previously shouted and sworn at audience members during an audition in Auckland.
The latest incident drew 50,000 signatures in 24 hours to an online petition calling for Natalia’s removal from the judging panel. In response, New Zealand’s TV3 fired both Natalia and her husband, fellow judge Willy Moon.
On the premise that any publicity is good publicity, her dismissal prompted many critics to take a fresh look at Natalia’s own musical output. Judge for yourself by checking out her most recent album, 2013’s Trouble, which is posted in full at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvCGyAIgfkU Her 2011 debut album, Perfectionist, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=urGE4MKWtmg
Her official videos can be accessed from www.youtube.com/user/NataliaKillsVEVO/videos
The Verbalicious video for Don’t Play Nice is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=foJ-GQ-d2R8
Laura Marling
English singer / songwriter Laura Marling has just released her fifth studio album, Short Movie.
The track listing is not as originally expected. She recorded songs for the album while living in Los Angeles but scrapped almost all of them because they were “just not interesting.” More songs were eventually recorded and it is these which make up the bulk of Short Movie.
Two songs, the title-track and False Hope, have so far been released as singles. A video for Short Movie can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdCdT_dcmUI while a studio performance video for False Hope is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqf7DxBAuSw Another performance video for a third album track, I Feel Your Love, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQA2Z9oDmgM
Tinashe
American R&B star Tinashe is offering fans a free seven-song mixtape.
Each track on Amethyst was recorded in Tinashe’s bedroom during her 2014 Christmas holiday. She urges listeners to enjoy the mixtape as an entire body of work rather than individual songs.
Amethyst can be heard and downloaded at www.hotnewhiphop.com/tinashe-amethyst-new-mixtape.115751.html
