IN TUNE: Becky says her forthcoming debut album has electronic dance music tracks, some soul, pop, even acoustic but everything is hopefully a little out of the ordinary.
By Geoffrey Rowlands
Becky Hill has already enjoyed a top 10 hit as the vocalist on Wilkinson’s 2013 smash, Afterglow. Not that anyone would have known as Becky’s contribution was uncredited.
There is no doubting her UK chart-topping success with Gecko (Overdrive). Becky not only performs the vocal but co-wrote the lyrics with MNEK and shares equal billing with Dutch producer/musician Oliver Heldens.
“It’s really Oliver’s track,” said 20-year-old Becky. “He had a huge dance hit with the original instrumental. It spent two months in the top 10 on Beatport. But he wanted to make a different version which would be more radio friendly. This meant converting a tune into a song so he needed a lyricist and vocalist. That’s how I got involved.
“Oliver is very much into the sounds of UK dance music and knew me from my vocal on the Wilkinson track. I’d been doing a lot of songwriting with the amazing MNEK so we created a lyric around Oliver’s music and I recorded the vocals.”
The end result saw Gecko (Overdrive) storm straight to number one. This made Bewdley, Worcestershire-born Becky the first contestant from BBC Television’s The Voice to top the UK chart.
“I hope my success might stop at least some people from criticising the show. None of the criticism was about any lack of talent among the vocalists. It was all about the winning artists not making any big hit records.
“Part of that was not having the right songs or the right marketing. I didn’t win, I was a semi-finalist on the 2012 series. But I’ve had the right songs with Wilkinson and now Oliver Heldens. Other people from the show just need the same thing.”
A career in music was Becky’s goal since childhood. She began songwriting at 13 and joined the band Shaking Trees when she was 16. “We actually fared quite well. We built a good following around the West Midlands and did some performances for the ‘Introducing’ show on BBC Hereford and Worcester. I was still with Shaking Trees when I auditioned for The Voice and appeared on the show. It was only afterwards that I decided to branch out on my own.”
Although officially a solo artist, Becky’s first performance alone on stage did not occur until this past May at the Birmingham Pride music festival.
“I’d worked with Wilkinson, Rudimental and others so performed the tracks with them. I even sung on tracks for which I hadn’t recorded the vocals when we played at festivals.
“I was pleased to finally get my name on the bill as a solo artist but it was quite scary to go out on stage alone. I actually loved it once I got over the initial nerves but I’ve now put together a group of musicians to be my backing band so I might never be alone on stage again.”
The musicians were recruited to play live versions of the songs on Becky’s forthcoming debut album. “I’ve written or co-written about 120 songs for the album. That’s 10 albums worth of material. I don’t have any specific Becky Hill sound. There are electronic dance music tracks, some soul, pop, even acoustic but everything is hopefully a little out of the ordinary.
“It’s the dream of every artist to create something massive and iconic which people will still play years later. I hope my album can achieve this kind of status.”
IN BRIEF
Ariana Grande
Oliver Heldens and Becky Hill enjoyed the last UK chart-topping single based exclusively on sales. Ariana Grande has now made chart history by registering the first number one based on a combination of sales and streaming figures.
With 100 streams being classed as the equivalent of one sale, the 712,000 audio streams on Spotify, Napster, Xbox Music and several other streaming outlets added to 106,000 sales gave Problem, which also features Iggy Azalea, a combined total of 113,712 ‘chart sales.’ The song is not just Ariana’s debut UK chart-topper but her first track to break into the top 40. Despite charting with eight other songs, her previous peak position was number 41. This was achieved last year with The Way, which boasted a guest appearance by rapper Mac Miller.
Alt-J
English experimental indie rockers Alt-J will follow their 2012 Mercury Music Prize-winning album, An Awesome Wave, with sophomore set, This Is All Yours. The new album is scheduled for release on September 22. But the band has now issued two tracks as singles. Hunger of the Pine and Left Hand Free can both be heard on (no www.) soundcloud.com/alt-j.
The latter is a surprisingly bluesy track which critics have suggested is more like something which might be expected from an artist such as Jack White. But the former raised even more eyebrows as Hunger of the Pine includes a sample taken from the Miley Cyrus song, 4x4.
Not that using the sample comes as any great surprise to those who know something about Alt-J. Drummer Thom Green created a remix of 4x4 for Miley and the band are happy to acknowledge she is a big fan of their music. See if you share Miley’s musical taste by listening to all the other songs posted on Alt-J’s SoundCloud page. These include every track on An Awesome Wave.
Adam Fielding
Producer/musician Adam Fielding releases his new album, Pieces, on August 8. But two tracks, A Call To Action and Sleepless, can already be heard and downloaded for free at (no www.) adamfielding.bandcamp.com.
These works are a prelude to the entire album being offered on a pay whatever you like basis. This includes the option to pay nothing at all. Anyone who does buy the album for £1 or more will also receive an extended version of Pieces which features additional ambient mixes of selected tracks. If you enjoy Adam’s melodic electro sounds, he is also offering his previous releases for free download. Links to each album and EP can be found on Adam’s Bandcamp webpage.
The only exceptions are his 2012 album, And All Is As It Should Be and last year’s Icarus. Label contractual obligations mean they can be heard but not purchased on Bandcamp.
SouLost
London-based electro-rockers SouLost have revealed a new band member along with their latest single. Bass player Lux has now joined vocalist Ceira, guitarist/songwriter Stef and drummer Law to create their second EP, The Way I Feel Part 2. The follow-up to February’s The Way I Feel Part 1, the new EP will be available from September 1. But lead single, Without Me, can be heard now at (no www.) soundcloud.com/soulostofficial/without-me/s-jnDQT.
Ceira Mahoney’s voice has drawn comparisons with Evanescence star Amy Lee. She is at her best on the band’s debut single, Save Me, which can be heard at (no www.) soundcloud.com/soulostofficial.