Which brings us to another twist on the new album: the use of horns and strings. Tracks like "Tralala" and "Ciao!" (which features Pulp's Jarvis Cocker helping out on vocals) are accented by the horns of ska guy Terry Edwards and violin and cello played by, according to Miki, a woman named Audrey. When asked what prompted this new approach, which is only evident on a couple of tracks, Miki said, "It just fit with the songs. Even before we started recording, Emma had written certain parts that she wanted for horns. We worked with this woman, Audrey [Shield], and we never really write string parts, so it was kind of like, 'Well, this song needs strings,' and we just sort of left it to her." Simple enough, I suppose.
They didn't want to bother with America, but America bothered with them.
It was a bit awkward for me asking Miki and Emma about why they had changed their style when I sort of liked them better with all the feedback. I then realized that very few of the bands from that wave of British noise in the late 80s and early 90s have survived. Figuring I could engage them in that English tradition of band gossip, I asked the gals why that might be. "A lot of those bands really didn't bother coming to America," Miki explained. "There was a point where Ride was doing it, but they gave up on
America as well. They just sort of thought, We can't be bothered." I recalled being frustrated by this fact because all these great bands were releasing incredible, innovative music that I had to pay dearly to listen to as imports, but then virtually none of them seemed to even consider coming Stateside. "Our whole approach has been a bit different than a lot of those bands," Miki insisted. "We always toured more for one. Others did three weeks in the U.K., two in Europe, and then maybe one or two shows in the U.S." Lush, on the other hand, toured for nearly two years following the release of Spooky, including a spot as the opening act on Lollapalooza, and a healthy tour with fellow 4AD artists Mojave 3 (featuring former members of Slowdive) and Scheer for Lovelife begins this month.
That discussion segued into talk of the money side of music. Miki expressed a hearty disdain for the gobbling up of next big things after the thing is way past over. "It's almost too common the way bands are signed now," she commented. "The sort of money these people are talking about, it's equivalent to offering us a million dollars or something to sign when we had Gala." I wanted to know what role dough plays in the life of Lush. "Well you don't sit there thinking, Oh, is this mix going to be radio-friendly," Emma began, "but obviously you do hope people like it and buy it. Some people say, 'Oh, we're just doing this for ourselves,' but I don't think anyone really means that." Have to agree there. Referring to the charting of the band's first U.K. single off the new record, "Single Girl," Miki said, "It's so much smaller. It's like being in the Top 20 in California."
Curious about the future of the band, considering how bummed these two seemed after a few days of press duties, I asked if there was an end in sight, and was hastily told "No." Emma mentioned how she loved the lack of a routine and Miki told me how much she was looking forward to getting back on the road. Perhaps I did just catch them on a bad day.
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