colleen

As I’m slowly recovering from my pharyngitis, I’m reflecting on a year full of learning and artistic and human experiences.  I do think I reached the limits of my physical and psychological capacities, so my aim for 2018 will be to prioritize rest and a sense of slowness over productivity, online presence and live shows. Which leads me to end of the year lists. A flame my love, a frequency has without a doubt led me to work the hardest I’ve ever worked in my entire life, so even though I do think any “best of the year” list has to be taken for what it is – a reflection of the magazine/webzine’s tastes, and not some kind of “objective truth” –, in a world inundated with thousands of new albums every year, I am grateful that the album has made it to several  best of 2017 lists, reaching number 2 on FACT Magazine, and is also included in the lists of The Vinyl Factory, The Quietus, The Vinyl District, Textura, Tiny Mix Tapes, and a couple more.

This photo of me is from a series that the super talented Portuguese photographer Vera Marmelo took during the soundcheck and show at Lisbon’s Galeria Ze Dos Bois earlier this month. I don’t know why my hand is in that position (trying to see the audience? realising I dialled something wrong in the dozens of settings I have to change for each song??? ), but I just really like that photo, its softness encapsulates the sense of trust and well-being that I feel whenever I play in that very special venue :-))) You can see the whole series here.

Last but not least, pour les Francophones, un long entretien fait avant mon concert au festival BBMix pour Manifesto XXI, où l’on évoque Delia Derbyshire, le passage de prof d’anglais à musicienne à temps plein, Facebook, ma récente session chez Moog, et plein d’autres choses liées au dernier album et à mon approche musicale en général ! Merci Alice!

I have some good news and bad news in this post: I am so sorry to have to cancel my participation in Alien Disko Festival tomorrow in Munich: I was really looking forward to playing this beautifully-curated festival, but I felt on the verge of falling ill all week, and now it’s happened: I have pharyngitis, and having had it last year just before a concert, I know that travelling with this and attempting to play and sing is a *really* bad idea, as the symptoms get worse with travelling and working. I know that for sure I would end up with a fever and generally worsened symptoms that would probably prevent me from performing anyway. It is only the second time in 14 years of live playing and more than 220 shows that I cancel a show for health reasons, so if I’m doing it it’s because it’s really necessary. I do apologize to those of you who were hoping to see me there…

(PS: for those who don’t follow me on Facebook, on Sunday I was stranded with thousands of other passengers in Stansted airport, London, because of the bad weather; I ended up having to spend 3 extra days in London, so that and the fact that St John on Bethnal Green where I played on Saturday was pretty cold + weeks of travelling and not sleeping enough are probably the reason why my body has now decided it’s had enough…)

Ironically, I do have some very good news to announce on the live European front: I have some really exciting dates lined up for this spring, I hope to see you there, and in the meantime, I’m going to have a nice long rest so I can be in the best of shapes to play again! Here is the full list of dates

1 February 2018, Berlin, Germany – CTM festival, HAU 1 Theatre – tickets

2 March 2018, Den Haag, Holland – (P)Rewire with Laurel Halo, Korzo Theatre

7 March 2018, Barcelona, Spain – Mutek, Institut Français – tickets

3 May 2018, Stockholm, Sweden – Fasching – full announcement and tickets available next week

A quick post to remind you that the December “mini-leg” of my tour has arrived, starting with Lisbon ZDB tomorrow 7 December, London St John on Bethnal Green on 9 December, and Munich Alien Disko Festival on 16 December (be careful, the Facebook event lists 15 December but that’s because that’s the start of the festival)! As usual all details are in my songkick or the live section of this website! :-))) There will be a few more European shows in the spring, but don’t miss these ones if they are near to you and you want to catch me playing the new album live!

Also wanted to share the link to the amazing Machine Love feature that Resident Advisor have run on my music! It’s been such an honour to give one of the most in-depth interviews I’ve ever done on my working process ! Mark Smith visited my studio in San Sebastián back in September and we spent the afternoon talking about my entire discography, how I record, how I approach live playing, and so much more stuff that’s dear to me! I really hope that you will like reading this article and interview as much as I enjoyed replying to Mark’s questions, and the articles also features the best photos ever taken of my studio (and me in the studio – something that never happens since usually I’m the one taking photos ;-) by the super talented Isabel Dublang – the picture below is my absolute favorite, it really captures what the studio looks like on a sunny day, and what I try to transmit with my music: light :-) :-) :-)