Interview with Talitha Rise: “Get a ruddy good set of headphones or speakers, lie back, listen LOUD and enjoy!”
UK’s Talitha Rise are Jo Beth Young and Martyn Barker. Essentially their songs are a fine combination of art
pop and progressive folk, inviting the listener into a world of ethereal landscapes and
bohemia.
Forming in Sussex UK, vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentallist Jo Beth has been likened to artists such as Tori Amos, First Aid Kit, Mazzy Star and Stevie Nicks all the while remaining a striking and capturing voice that hypnotizes the ear. Martyn Barker’s rhythmical virtuosity on guitars and percussion make evident his experience (Shriekback, Robert Plant, Alain Bashung and Goldfrapp) yet show his continuing ability to create fresh original sounds with well placed drive and power.
Today Talitha Rise present their new single “The Lake” from their forthcoming album Tides Of Gravity due for release later in 2017. The video was filmed by renowned photographer Eamonn J McCabe in Barcombe East Sussex and Yellowfish Studios.
We interviewed Jo Beth and Martyn to get an insight of what their approach is and what we might expect from their upcoming album.
First off, congrats on the release of your new single “The Lake”. Apart from the obvious topicality of the track, a stylish b/w video brings a fleur of mysticism. So what’s the background of the song?
Jo: Thank you! Well a couple of years back Martyn wrote this as a gorgeous high string part after a visit to a nearby lake in Surrey. He sent it to me and said ‘i don’t think it’s a song’ I took it away and said, ‘yes it is!” and wrote the melody and words over it. We layered it up from there and now it’s a bit of a monster!
It’s a song about not fighting against what we know is true for us inside… even if it’s hard. That in itself I think is a mystery, even quite a right of passage and the video is invoking some of that ceremony of admitting when your gut feeling is telling you something… and being brave enough to
surrender to that and do what’s right for you.
In your approach to music you keep Talitha Rise in a rather niche path of progressive folk and pop nowadays. Music is always a quest, are you already where you belong in terms of genre, or we might hear unusual style-bending experiments even on the new album?
Jo: I think we’ve been forced to give ourselves a genre so that people can get an rough idea quickly! We certainly are not genre fixed and the new album will traverse a few as we both are influenced by so many styles. I think people can expect anything from us in the future! We have a joke that we call our genre ‘music’!
And what should the audience look forward with the new LP?
Jo: The new LP is quite a rich and deep journey. It’s full of ambience, ethereal sounds, grit and great grooves. It is quite an emotional trip! We’ve tried to capture sonically what we’ve loved about our favourite records growing up in a way… and I guess it’s an unusual record. I think people can expect to be taken away somewhere a bit deeper and more complex that anything we’ve done in the past.
Jo, do you find it easier if the lyrics resonates with your personal views or if it is kept in a certain concept aside of the real experience?
Jo: I find lyrics are always personal and yet in another way yet not at all. The minute you feel something it’s often gone again… thoughts and feelings being visitors that may haunt you once or many many times. Whatever you feel or your views are, most people have had that feeling at some time and
that’s what I mean by ‘not personal’. My lyrics reflect what is true in that moment, but not necessarily forever. I do love metaphors and poetic ways of describing things so it might not always be obvious that it’s quite raw and close up… above all I try to be as honest as I can.
Martyn, you’ve worked with a stunning number of stars, your band Shriekback is legend by its own. Is there a need to reload with every next musical incarnation? And being an inspiration yourself, how do you get inspired?
Martyn: Yes, there is always a desire to reload with a musical incarnation.
It’s not a major plan I have in mind with any new project, it’s just that I’ve been very fortunate to be in such creative musical situations. Talitha Rise and Shriekback bring music out of me that I didn’t know I had. My guitar part on “The Lake” for instance is a rhythmical conversation with Jo Beth that reminded me of us both sitting by an actual lake chatting away about life before we played a gig.
I am inspired by the musicians i work with! The groove is my voice whether it be drums or guitar. I’ve been lucky enough to have performed/write with amazing musicians/composers from so many genres, its a huge learning process for me that gives no answers but many opportunities to express my
voice.
What was the starting point for Talitha Rise? And is there any global idea of this duo?
Jo: We started out not meaning to be a band! We met through working on my solo album and then realized we were really connecting, we started writing and after a few songs thought — wow, this is really something! It’s very lucky when you can meet and work with someone like that in a very natural and inspiring way. We both feel like we bring the best out of each other. Obviously it’s now evolved into a project that’s gone beyond our original expectation and we want to take this out and not only play all over the world, but write all over it too! We’ve managed as far as Ireland, but there are plans for taking this out live much further afield in the pipeline.
Tell us a bit about your plans for this year, any particular heights you are ready to take?
Jo: The main focus for this year is to finish and release our debut Album! It’s all ready to go and we’re at the pre-mix stage. Apart from the release of “The Lake” this month we also have a lovely set of shows with Nick Webb and Philip Clemo guesting so we’re really excited about that. I think as self funded and supporting artists we’re building a strong foundation of work and shows we can be proud of. But we’re willing to get out this year on an adventure and see where it takes us! We’re open to everything right now.
Now let’s imagine a collective image of a person who will be listening to The Lake” for the first time. Are there any recommendations on the best way to perceive all of the track’s glory?
Jo: Yes, get a ruddy good set of headphones or speakers on it, lie back, listen to it LOUD and enjoy!
“The Lake” is now available on iTunes and Talitha Rise’s Bandcamp page.
You can also follow the band:
Official Website, Facebook, SoundCloud, Twitter, Instagram
