New Release – About the Soul (album) by Joe Adhemar
On July 12th Joe Adhemar wil release his new album ‘About The Soul’ on Bandcamp. The album has been chosen to be featured on Bandcamp’s home page from 18th to 20th July. And for those that want a physical copy of the album, there will also be a CD gatefold and vinyl available. The album won’t hit the streams until December 2022. The album Spotify/Apple pre-save link is here.
What can we expect?
“This album was finished in May 2022. There were two changes behind the scenes as I recorded it. Firstly, I made some minor changes to my vocal style. Singing more quietly and staying low. It seems to be where my vocal strengths lie. The second change was that I added to my library a large number of software-synthesisers by Arturia. This gave me the opportunity to revisit my influences from the 80’s on a few tracks. ‘Synth-wave’, I believe it’s called? So there are hints of Blue Nile, Ultravox, Moroder, Depeche Mode and others in this work.”
Could you pick out one or two songs on this album and discuss how they came to be? How did they go from being ideas in your heads to full-fledged songs?
“The 2 up-tempo tracks that will definitely be released as singles are the title track ‘About The Soul’ and ‘Tramp in St Tropez’. ‘About the Soul’ is a pulsing synth odyssey that supports a lyric that challenges the recent alignment between right wing political belief and Christian fundamentalism in the USA. It was penned before the Roe vs Wade debacle, so I guess is perfectly timed to itch the scab that exists on the other side of the Atlantic.
The single ‘About the Soul’ will be out July 21st. A pre-save is available here.
“‘Tramp in St Tropez’ is an energetic psych pop track with hints of Beck and The B52’s. It is a song about wealth disparity with a story full to the brim with poetic license. Two separate experiences I have had that I merged into one story. “Sometimes beauty is having no plan” I might release more post album release, but as I write I’m already building up a collection of new songs for album six.”
“I also have an album launch in August under the Invisible Squirrel profile called ‘Chief and McMurphy’. The most amazing news for me is both these albums are to be featured by BandCamp as a ‘New and Notable’ release on their home page/App.”
Which bands/artists have inspired you to make this album?
“Influences are varied. In no particular order there are flavours in this album of Elbow, Beck, Blue Nile, Ray Lamontagne, Bob Marley, Giorgio Moroder, Brad, Nick Cave to name a few.”
How do you hope your listeners feel when they listen to your new album?
“Bouncing between joyous and thoughtful.”
How long did it take you to write and record the songs for this album?
“There’s one track on here ‘When Our Lungs are Empty’ that was written by me in 2006. It’s had a different vocal for 15 years, but after a bit of wrangling over copyright with the guy who sang on it back then, I have rewritten the lyric and sung a new tune. The rest have emerged in the first few months of 2022. All are written, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by myself, although the vinyl version was mastered by Graham Seamark of Cyclone Music U.K.
