Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
AAn artist with one of the most distinctive voices in British soul music, Celeste is still struggling to make herself heard. Release of their second album, Awesome woman of facesThere should be cause for celebration. Yet just weeks before its release – and before this interview took place – the Mercury Prize-shortlisted singer accused her record label of showing “very little support” for the new project. He wrote in a post shared on social media that he felt he was facing “serious consequences for not doing as I was told”.
“There was definitely a point where I said, ‘I have to talk about what happened,'” the 31-year-old told me. “Especially when you’re a singer, opening up the throat chakra is something really important.” She cites Dr. Gábor Matey, who has discovered a connection between chronic stress symptoms in women—which account for 80 percent of autoimmune disease cases—and a culture that tells them to be agreeable, obedient and, most importantly, quiet. “When I went into certain situations in the studio, I felt like I wasn’t really able to express my voice and my vision,” says Celeste. She recently watched a video of another female artist expressing herself freely in the studio: “And I was thinking, I don’t really get that moment.”
without even listening His excellent 2021 debut, not your museumMany may have heard her smoky vibrato on songs like her 2019 breakthrough “Strange”, which helped earn her a Brit Rising Star Award. The following year, their song “A Little Love” featured in a John Lewis Christmas advertisement, while their song “Stop This Flame” was used frequently by Sky Sports for their Premier League coverage. “Hear My Voice”, from the soundtrack of Aaron Sorkin’s film chicago trial 7was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Meanwhile, their hair-raising track “This Is Who I Am” was a scene-setter eddie redmayne2024 hitman series jackal dayBased on the Frederick Forsyth novel of the same name.
Despite all these achievements and accolades, she was nervous about being released woman of faces – partly because of the chaos behind the scenes, but also because most of the songs had been written three years earlier. “It has existed for quite a long time, and sometimes you can’t understand whether it’s good or not [or not],” she says. We are talking on video call; Celeste is battling jet lag, but still warm and charming, from the kitchen of her home in London. I admire the satin striped sofa behind her as she fiddles with the sleeves of her shirt. When I ask her a question, she gives long, thoughtful answers, as if she wants to get a lot off her chest and is just now looking for an opportunity to do so.
She says, “I think what I said is pretty consistent with my experience over the last year.” Feeling pressure to post more content online, which she mentioned in her Instagram post, was “kind of the last straw”, while she also felt unhappy at a perceived imbalance between the support she received for her debut and the record. Following those posts, she says, she has now spoken to people at her label, Polydor, and are undergoing a “gradual process of figuring things out”. A representative for the label says: “We’ve loved working with Celeste over the past few years and are really excited about her new record. Like all of our artists, we want Celeste to succeed and have a great partnership with us. We’re thinking about how to make sure we’re the right partner for her going forward, so she can continue to share her incredible music with her fans.”
,I’m not struggling with anything right now – I’m really enjoying it all,, Celeste says, offering a small smile. ,[But] If I leave it any longer… it kills you. A kind of emotional war is going on… [It can be] It’s exhausting to have to fight to get your voice heard.” She’s found herself questioning why she looks up to other female artists – we talk at length about Rosalía’s acclaimed and ambitious record, lux – Feel free to create art that is challenging and adventurous. woman of faces This is undoubtedly a brilliant album – her best, in fact – and one in which the themes of identity and self-worth shine brightly.
.jpeg)
Opener “On with the Show” was written during a low point, evidenced by the way she sings in a tired, defeated murmur: “And so / I thought I should go / There’s a little sense left / Know you took most of that.” Waltzing piano notes spin her around a solemn merry-go-round, as military-style drums signal the death knell for a relationship. Songs like “Keep Smiling” have an Old Hollywood grandeur that I tell them reminds me of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang” – the same silky menace that resides in the fluttering strings and softly strummed guitar. “I remember hearing this when I was 15 and thinking, ‘I love the way she captures this,'” says Celeste. “It’s mysterious, and it’s sexy and a little bit neurotic, but it still has the feeling of a strong person.”
Celeste is, clearly, a strong person. A proud self-taught musician, she was born Celeste Waite to a Jamaican father and mother who grew up in Dagenham, LA, then moved to the UK at the age of three after her parents separated. Growing up in her grandmother’s household in artsy, middle-class Brighton, she was exposed to a predominantly white music scene, which shaped her early influences. Perhaps in response to this, he created worlds within his music that offered escapism, Alice-in-Wonderland style. woman of facesHowever, it is about finding the strength to “come back to being yourself, finding this integrity in what you do”. She seems to have been influenced by an observation I made about recent albums by female artists, including Rosalía, about how women are often forced to “choose” between their careers and their romantic lives – I feel the same way with her latest work.
‘Faces of Woman’ is about coming back to who you are and finding this integrity in what you do
,woman of faces Absolutely talks about that moment where you feel like you’ve lost your footing in the industry because of other things going on in your life,” she says. “It’s a really hard situation to deal with, because ultimately, I think, when you’re in this position where you’re determined [about] The degree of success you want… demands all of you, and you really don’t have much choice No To give my all to my music and my performance.”
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. conditions apply.
Advertisement. If you sign up for this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism at The Independent.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. conditions apply.
Advertisement. If you sign up for this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism at The Independent.
he misses a speech semi-swamp given on glamourThe Woman of the Year Award makes women feel like they are in competition with each other. “I think we really need to fight against systems that cancel out one of us when someone new comes along,” says Celeste. “To give each other space, to be able to have that moment of relief when you really desperately need it, [and to] Know that people will be there to help you.” This could be anything from supporting a fellow artist on tour, or an invitation to collaborate… “Even just publicly saying, ‘I like her. I like what she does. I like his music.” She smiles sadly again. “Sometimes it seems like this could be rare.”
Celeste’s new album ‘Woman of Faces’ is out now