Tasmin Archer by Bruce Thomas (August 1995)
Tasmin Archer's first ever single, Sleeping Satellite, went to Number One in six countries - as her debut album, Great Expectations, went platinum. A Brit Award for best British Newcomer of 1993 followed swiftly - along with an invitation to the Woman of theYear lunch where she was honoured for donating all the royalties from her single In Your Care - a haunting song about child abuse - to the Childline charity.
"I certainly had great expectations",says Tasmin, "but I hadn't anticipated everything! It took me by surprise. I wasn't prepared for the speed with which everything happened - it was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. It was the first time that I'd been the focus of so much attention. There was so much information and responsibility to experience and adjust to - all at the same time. Yes, sometimes I did feel nervous and didn't find it easy to take the stage - I'd think what are all these people doing in my living room?"
The whirlwind of rapid success, the worldwide promotion for the first album, the subsequent release of the Shipbuilding E.P. (which featured four Elvis Costello songs) - followed by a little time to reflect on it all - have led to Tasmin's second album, BLOOM.
All of Bloom's eleven tracks were co-written with Tasmin's long-time collaborator and partner, John Hughes. Pre-production began in London in late 1994. Together with Mitchell Froom - much sought after and known for his work with Crowded House - they spent two weeks recording ideas for arrangements onto Mitchell's old portable cassette player.
"On the first album, John and I had done all the demos at home - and the finished album tracks were simply more polished versions. For Bloom, we wanted to leave things much more open to see how it would flow in the studio. I wanted to use a real band on the record and to see how Mitchell and the musicians might contribute to the songs. I wanted them to be songs - not just backing tracks with a "voice-on-a-stick'. I didn't want anything sparkly, showy, or dressed up. I wanted to be plainly me - to start simply and take an honest look at the music and see what was there and where we could take it."
Recording began around the end of 1994 at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, near Bath - and additional tracks were later recorded at Sunset Sound Factory in Hollywood, where the album was subsequently mixed. The recording team was Mitchell Froom who also played keyboards, with Steve Donelly (lead guitar), John Hughes (guitar), and Attractions' drummer Pete Thomas and bass player Bruce Thomas - along with Mitchell's sound engineer, Tchad Blake.
"It was a good team and they gave me lots of confidence. Their playing was very "rootsy" and melodic. They were very supportive and really listened and made it easy for me to sing."
Bloom's first single is "One More Good Night With The Boys" - a rolling jangly song about being in a social situation where men are getting drunk, loud, and agressive - and how the girls who get caught in the middle feel restless and uncomfortable.
But for Tasmin, herself, a key song on Bloom is Breaking My Back... "This song was a turning point for me. It's about wantng to achieve ambitions, and yet feeling: 'Why am I doing this?' John wrote the lyrics knowing what they would mean for me. At one point, during recording, I just let the singing go where it wanted to - I took a much more intuitive approach and it felt as if a great weight had left my shoulders."
"For me, 'bloom' means a kind of realization - it's like a flower in the sense that it is about opening up, rather than closing down. It's about realising potentials and being open to new experiences, new impressions and new success. All I want is to learn as much as I can while making good music - though I've no ambitions to duet with Pavarotti - making music is something I'm good at and that's what holds my attention. But I'm also ready for touring and all the rest of it. It just took me a little while to accept that I can't just disappear - that I'm a pop singer! - and that I like people.
....Now, what are you doing in my living room!"
"I certainly had great expectations",says Tasmin, "but I hadn't anticipated everything! It took me by surprise. I wasn't prepared for the speed with which everything happened - it was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. It was the first time that I'd been the focus of so much attention. There was so much information and responsibility to experience and adjust to - all at the same time. Yes, sometimes I did feel nervous and didn't find it easy to take the stage - I'd think what are all these people doing in my living room?"
The whirlwind of rapid success, the worldwide promotion for the first album, the subsequent release of the Shipbuilding E.P. (which featured four Elvis Costello songs) - followed by a little time to reflect on it all - have led to Tasmin's second album, BLOOM.
All of Bloom's eleven tracks were co-written with Tasmin's long-time collaborator and partner, John Hughes. Pre-production began in London in late 1994. Together with Mitchell Froom - much sought after and known for his work with Crowded House - they spent two weeks recording ideas for arrangements onto Mitchell's old portable cassette player.
"On the first album, John and I had done all the demos at home - and the finished album tracks were simply more polished versions. For Bloom, we wanted to leave things much more open to see how it would flow in the studio. I wanted to use a real band on the record and to see how Mitchell and the musicians might contribute to the songs. I wanted them to be songs - not just backing tracks with a "voice-on-a-stick'. I didn't want anything sparkly, showy, or dressed up. I wanted to be plainly me - to start simply and take an honest look at the music and see what was there and where we could take it."
Recording began around the end of 1994 at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, near Bath - and additional tracks were later recorded at Sunset Sound Factory in Hollywood, where the album was subsequently mixed. The recording team was Mitchell Froom who also played keyboards, with Steve Donelly (lead guitar), John Hughes (guitar), and Attractions' drummer Pete Thomas and bass player Bruce Thomas - along with Mitchell's sound engineer, Tchad Blake.
"It was a good team and they gave me lots of confidence. Their playing was very "rootsy" and melodic. They were very supportive and really listened and made it easy for me to sing."
Bloom's first single is "One More Good Night With The Boys" - a rolling jangly song about being in a social situation where men are getting drunk, loud, and agressive - and how the girls who get caught in the middle feel restless and uncomfortable.
But for Tasmin, herself, a key song on Bloom is Breaking My Back... "This song was a turning point for me. It's about wantng to achieve ambitions, and yet feeling: 'Why am I doing this?' John wrote the lyrics knowing what they would mean for me. At one point, during recording, I just let the singing go where it wanted to - I took a much more intuitive approach and it felt as if a great weight had left my shoulders."
"For me, 'bloom' means a kind of realization - it's like a flower in the sense that it is about opening up, rather than closing down. It's about realising potentials and being open to new experiences, new impressions and new success. All I want is to learn as much as I can while making good music - though I've no ambitions to duet with Pavarotti - making music is something I'm good at and that's what holds my attention. But I'm also ready for touring and all the rest of it. It just took me a little while to accept that I can't just disappear - that I'm a pop singer! - and that I like people.
....Now, what are you doing in my living room!"
