Marc Almond plays Brighton Dome on back of new album release
Marc Almond plays Brighton Dome on September 11 on the back of his new album I’m Not Anyone.
Marc said: “I always approach curating an album of covers with a lot of joy as it means a year or so of listening to songs, old and new, making lists from which I add or subtract songs and in the process discover, or rediscover, some half-forgotten gems. Living now in Portugal, I´ve found the time to not only reflect on my life but to also rediscover my love for music and songs. A great song can never die and should always find a new life and audience.
“I finally reached a selection of songs that express where I am in my life today and how I feel about the world and my place in it. These aren’t particularly storytelling songs – though for me, lyrics always come first – but more than ever this time I've gone for how a song makes me feel and the emotional resonance it holds, reflective songs for an older artist, perhaps.
“I don’t change a song too much, take it too far away from why I like it. Too much emphasis is made on reinvention. I like to think that I’m bringing a song in a new light to my audience who might not have heard it before or haven’t considered it until they’ve heard me sing it. Then they may re-evaluate it.
“There is an underlying spiritual, esoteric feel to this album, a thread that goes through it - deeply elemental references, a nod to my interest in things Druid and Pagan and which reflects how many of us feel in this world which is going through changes and not all good.
“I could go through the album song by song but that takes away the joy of how you may hear it, and to me what is important is the overall feel. Sometimes why I choose a song over another is not always even clear to me, it is just a feeling and something of the moment. A choice has to be settled on and the discipline of track limitation means sometimes I just have to go with what I feel on that day when I commit. I always hope the choices are right, but the album is what it finally is, and I live with it.”
The album I’m Not Anyone draws from different genres, from psychedelic and prog rock to folk, gospel and soul, from Blue Cheer’s I’m The Light to Neil Diamond’s Lonely Looking Sky (from Jonathan Livingston Seagull), a musical journey that includes King Crimson, Marmalade, Rita & The Tiaras and Johnny Rivers, all given an orchestral rock sheen by producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Stevens.
The title track, Paul Anka’s I’m Not Anyone, is the centrepiece of the album, a passionate and emotional ballad about defiance and pride.
Then there is Don Mclean’s powerful Chain Lightning that runs a gamut of emotions about the nature of the earth and life, love, anger, grief and rebirth.
Marc added: “I can’t simply just sing any song; I have to feel that if I could I would have written it myself… it’s just that someone else said it first and far better than me.”