Earlier lush guitarist/singer emma anderson released their first solo album, pearl, which will be released on October 20 via Sonic Cathedral.The album was written and produced by Anderson map‘ james chapmanguitar contributions from Suedeof Richard Oakes.
The album’s seeds can be traced back to Lush’s mid-00s reunion, which ended sooner than some expected. “I think we’ve been working together for a long time, so some of those songs—or even just parts of them—are actually for Lush,” Anderson said. “That didn’t happen, so I didn’t know what to do with the songs and the pieces.” She considered forming a new band with someone else as lead singer, but former Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie (who has produced some records for Lush) urged her to sing her own songs.
Guthrie was originally going to make it, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, everything was put on hold and Sonic Cathedral suggested Chapman. “It turned out he was the right guy,” Emma said. “People tend to think of James as the main electronic producer, but there’s so much more to him. His wide-ranging taste and encyclopedic knowledge of music means he’s able to bring huge gains to this album. He really gets it.”
first single from pearl It’s “Bend the Round,” a great song with a cinematic, baroque psychological vibe, with Oakes on guitar. “I didn’t know Richard in the ’90s, but found out he was a Lush fan,” says Emma. “I had a part-time job as a bookkeeper and I also did some work for the Suede camp. I met him through that and we became friends. I asked him if he would play some guitar on the record and to my delight he said yes!”
You can watch the “Curved Circular” video below.
pearl:
1. I am thousands of miles away
2. Curved round
3. International light
4. Taste the air
5. Xanthi
6. to exist
7. Willow and mallow
8. Tonight is mine
9. for a while
10. Cluster
