“I don’t actually mind doing interviews,” Imelda stated. “But it’s not creative and it gets repetitive. Part of the reason I write song lyrics is so I don’t have to talk about things. Then I do interviews and find myself having to talk about the things in my songs.”
Performing her work is an entirely different matter. She loves being on stage.
“It’s probably where I feel most at home. I love what I do. I love all the different parts of it. I love writing, recording, editing, mixing, mastering, artwork, rehearsals, all of it. It’s never mundane. But touring and performing is the reason to make music.”
Her new album marks a change of musical direction for Imelda. Now 42, she began her career at the age of 16 on Dublin’s club circuit. Her interest in rockabilly and blues music stemmed from childhood. These were the kind of songs she wrote and performed until the soft rock, soul and jazz-pop tracks which feature on Life. Love. Flesh. Blood.
“I knew I was going to lose fans with the new album but hoped to possibly gain some others. I’m fine with that. I’ve never made music to please others and I’m not going to start now. I can’t imagine how awful it must be to make an album, hate it, have to tour it, talk about it and pretend you like it. I’ve always made the music I want to perform.”
Imelda feels the new album has seen her develop as an artist.
“I wanted to stop all the preconceived notions of me. I feel like I’d been put in a box with a bow around it. I wanted to breathe and write from a clean slate. I wanted to see what came out of me rather than decide what album I was going to make. I dug deep, was very honest and this album is the result.”
She ignored all those who suggested the different style of music could prove disastrous for her career.
“I’ve never been one hundred per cent pure rockabilly. I mixed it with blues, jazz, punk and gospel when I started singing and was told to drop the rockabilly. That made me want to do it more because of the natural rebellious streak in me and because I couldn’t understand why such an influential music was so shunned.
“I still love rockabilly. However, I don’t like to be constricted or made to feel I have to conform to any one idea of me. As a creative artist, I must grow, expand, not get complacent and hopefully, progress.
“More than anything, I want to feel free and have fun. I will always follow my heart, which is how I got into rockabilly by not listening to others and doing what I felt was right for me at the time. I will continue to learn, grow and enjoy myself regardless of gaining or losing fans.”
Imelda’s musical diversity coincided with a highly significant change in her personal life. After 18 years together and 13 years of marriage to guitarist and actor Darrel Higham, the couple separated in July, 2015.
“It was very sad but we made the right decision for us and our daughter. We’ve remained friends and support each other in raising Violet.
“The new record isn’t a break-up album. I didn’t sit around heartbroken for a whole year, I didn’t let myself do that. You have to make yourself move on.
“The album deals with the struggle and guilt of feeling good sometimes. But it has a whole range of emotions. I fell in love again and had my heart broken again. That’s why I called it Life. Love. Flesh. Blood. It seemed to be about my life, love, lust, regret, flesh and desire.”
Another change is in Imelda’s appearance. Her hair has always previously been swept back while her trademark was a dyed blonde quiff. This has now been replaced by a straight, shoulder-length style and an attractive fringe.
“One of my fans asked me why I’d turned into Chrissie Hynde. I followed my heart again even though people might wonder what I’ve done with my hair. I felt like I was dressing up as a character called Imelda May but this is me now. You’ll always get somebody telling you off whatever you do so you may as well do what you want.”
in brief
Prince
It is less than a month since the Prince estate issued a lawsuit preventing recording engineer Ian Boxill from releasing a six-song EP of tracks he co-wrote with Prince. They are now ready to cash in on their inheritance with the first of what will undoubtedly become many posthumous releases of the music legend’s work.
Available from June 23 are new Deluxe and Deluxe — Expanded editions of Prince’s 1984 album, Purple Rain. The original album has already sold over 13 million copies in America and more than 22 million world-wide. It topped the Billboard 200 for 24 consecutive weeks between August, 1984, and January, 1985, and returned to the number two spot last year in the wake of Prince’s death.
The Deluxe set includes the 2015 Paisley Park remaster of the original soundtrack tapes. This was overseen by Prince before he died. A second CD, From The Vault & Unreleased, contains 11 rare or previously unheard tracks from Prince’s vast amount of archived material.
The Deluxe – Expanded edition additionally features a CD of Single Edits & B-Sides plus the concert CD, Prince and The Revolution Live at the Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY, March 30, 1985. The audio and video has been restored from the original production mastertape.
Haim
It’s been quite some time since new material was heard from Haim.
The Los Angeles-based quartet, sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim plus drummer Dash Hutton, began performing together in 2007 though only became a full-time band in 2012. Their 2013 debut album, Days Are Gone, attracted enormous critical acclaim. It topped the UK chart and peaked at number six in America.
Since then, the band have made guest appearances on songs by some other artists but there has been no new Haim music for fans to enjoy. This situation is about to change. Their sophomore album, Something To Tell You, is set for release on July 7.
The album has been preceded by lead single, Want You Back. There is no official video as yet but an audio posting can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7krrRoJpT0
An in studio video for a live version of another new song, Right Now, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1LLWHroWgA
Days Are Gone is available to hear almost in full at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh_CcrUQiDU
The one missing track is The Wire. But this song was one of the album singles. The accompanying video is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TffpkE2GU4
Kill West
Argentina produces some of the world’s finest footballers. But the country has little pedigree in developing international rock or pop stars.
This could be changed by the emergence of Kill West. The Buenos Aires quartet have been gaining a solid reputation on the psychedelic music scene. Their new album, Gush, will be released on June 23. Lead single, Faces, has been hailed as perhaps the band’s best work to date. The video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_9we1rKqcw
Their 2015 album, Smoke Beach, is posted in full at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiNNljkzFVA The band’s 2014 self-titled EP is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nfAjQnpri8
Another EP, 2016’s Raw Desire, can be heard in full at (no www.) killwest.bandcamp.com/album/raw-desire-ep
Imagine Dragons
June 9 has now been announced as the release date for Evolve, the third studio album from American alternative rock band Imagine Dragons. The record had previously been slated for issue two weeks later.
The announcement accompanied the release of Whatever It Takes, the third single from the new album. There is no official video at present but an audio posting can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGlEZpOVjGo
Videos for previous singles, Believer and Thunder, are posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wtfhZwyrcc and www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKopy74weus respectively. brief
