Aussie rock chick turned electro-pop diva Sarah McLeod has launched an initiative to help keep homeless kids off the street. From now until Christmas, Sarah will be donating ALL the proceeds from her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" to Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets program. For a lousy $1.69 you get an awesome song - which is currently sitting pretty at #9 on the ARIA club chart - and the satisfaction of knowing you helped a homeless kid find a bed for the night. Bargain! Watch the ex-Superjesus frontwoman talk about the campaign below. Oh and make sure you swing by her website to pick up a copy of her EP. It's a limited run of 500, so get in quick. They are individually numbered, come with a personal message and a poster. I've already ordered mine!
Sarah McLeod's latest single is a dark and dirty cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark". It's an interesting choice after dabbling in upbeat electro ("Tell Your Story Walking") and Rihanna-esque pop ("Double R") but it works. In fact, of the three singles, I think this suits Sarah's voice the best. Her two pack a day rasp squeezes every last drop of angst from the lyrics, making this a worthy rendition of the 80s classic. My only reservation is the fact that it's a little too faithful to the original. The killer remixes - courtesy of Christian Luke and Chardy - drag the song into 2010, while the radio edit sounds like it should be on a JJJ "Like A Version" compilation. That's not a diss - those things fly off the shelves - so fingers crossed Sarah finally gets some airplay and chart action. The video (below) is a simple affair but I kind of like the grainy, fly on the wall aesthetic. I hope this means the album is almost ready because I've been waiting since 2007!
About a month agoI postedSarah McLeod's new single "Double R". I still think it's one of the best Australian pop songs of 2010 and can't wait to hear her half a decade in the making sophomore album when it drops next month. Sarah is currently on the promo trail to pimp and kindly took some time out to talk about her new electro sound, those pesky Rihanna comparisons and the Australian pop scene. Note to self - asking someone how they feel about their last flop is not the best icebreaker. It was said with love!
Sarah, it's been a year since our last chat. What have you been up to? I've been living in New York, recording and producing music with a selection of different producers and musicians. It was great fun.
I loved "Tell Your Story Walking" but it didn't really take off the way you would have probably liked.... No, I love it when no one buys my records.
You've re-invented yourself again on "Double R". The sound is slightly darker and dirtier. Who or what inspired the track? This song is about what a risky manouver it is getting intertwined in other peoples lives.
It's hard to avoid the comparisons with Rihanna - who also had a song called "Russian Roulette" and an album called "Rated R". Are you a fan? I remember you saying you liked "Breakin' Dishes". Ha, yeah I am a fan but I didn’t know about the "Russian Roulette" thing till it was too late. My song is actually a few years old, and her one totally sucks.
Your sophomore album has been so long in the making. Are you constantly adding new tracks or does it have the same tracklisting as the one you talked about last year? I wrote "Double R" in 2009 but all the rest are new. I have been adding and morphing the tracklisting for years.
I still want to know if "White Horse" made the cut! Hate to break it to ya.....
Boo! Will there be songs on it for the fans who loved "Beauty Was A Tiger" or is it exclusively electro? Well if it's guitars you're looking for you’ve come to the wrong place, but I've got some pretty rockin' tunes on there with some huge dirty synths. There's one song in particular called "Love And Honour" that is just ferocious .
How hard is it for pop acts to break in this country if you're not from Idol or a soap? You have to work very hard to be in this business, there are no short cuts and it's not easy. You have to be good live. If you're good live you’ve got a chance of longevity.
Will you be doing gigs to promote the album? The gigs are starting in October, stand back!
Finally, I'm a closet Living End fan. Would you ever work with Chris Cheney again? I love Chris’ voice. I would work with him again if the project was right.
"Double R" is available to download from iTunes. There are currently no plans for a video, so check out the track below.
Sarah McLeod has become something of a regular on Pop Trash Addicts over the years. Her first venture into clubland "He Doesn't Love You" featured high on my best songs of 2006 countdown (along with modern classics from Katie Price, Bionda and Melissa Tkautz - LOL!) and I covered her return to the Australian pop scene late last year with "Tell Your Story Walking". We even had a little chat about her love for Rihanna's "Breakin' Dishes" but more about the poor man's Shontelle later. Unfortunately that song didn't really take off. Happily, I think she'll have better luck this time!
Yes, the ex-Superjesus frontwoman is back for another stab at electro-pop glory. "Double R" is already burning up dancefloors around the country (the Grandtheft remix is my jam) and could be Sarah's ticket back to mainstream radio. I liked "Tell Your Story Walking" but this is a massive improvement. Everything about it is bigger, badder and better. The production packs more punch and the chorus is irresistible. I've always loved Sarah's two pack a day voice and this song showcases it perfectly. My only concern is the Rihanna influence. Sarah's re-visited her Russian roulette metaphor, called the song "Double R" (a homage to "Rated R"?) and even looks a bit like RiRi in the promo pics. Girlfriend needs to stop getting down to "Rude Boy" and open her heart to "Licky" but I digress! "Double R" really is strong enough to stand on its own merit. Give Sarah's jam a spin below and make sure to download the track when it hits iTunes on the 25th of August. Bring on the video!
Sarah McLeod officially launched her new single "Tell Your Story Walking" down at Woolloomooloo Wharf today and I was lucky enough to be invited. Unlike a lot of these events it was an intimate affair, which allowed everyone to get up close and personal with the ex-Superjesus frontwoman. Sarah kicked off proceedings by talking about the song's inspiration (it's about overcoming her own demons - not a break up anthem as the lyrics would suggest) and her adventures filming the video in New York. I think the final result (below) is simple but very effective and I love the army of hooded divas in the background. After screening the film clip, Sarah performed the song live and proved once and for all that her inner rock chick is still alive and kicking. I actually think the edgier, acoustic version suits the lyrics better but I do love her glamorous new "pop" direction. The highlight for me was watching Ms McLeod pose for snaps on the wharf (above) with joggers and businessmen gawking at her supersexy hotpants! "Tell Your Story Walking" is now available to download for iTunes. Check out my recent interview with Sarah here. Source URL: https://popmusicrecords.blogspot.com/search/label/Sarah%20McLeod Visit pop music records for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
Sarah McLeod is one of music's great chameleons. In the late 90s she joined the likes of Suze Demarchi (Baby Animals) and Chrissy Amphlett (Divinyls) as one of the very few female singers to make any kind of real impact on the Australian rock scene. Her band, The Superjesus, epitomised the post-grunge movement and their debut album "Sumo" was pretty much unavoidable when I was a teenager. After recording another couple of albums with The Superjesus, Sarah struck out on her own and released her solo debut "Beauty Was A Tiger" in 2005. The project wasn't a huge success - until someone decided to try something different and remixed the third single. "He Doesn't Love You" was a #1 club smash and remained on that chart for over 6 months. I was completely obsessed with the song and included it on my inaugural end of year countdown. At the time I ranted "if only the silly bitch would buy a dress and realise that pop is her calling, the entire world would simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief". A little bit dramatic I know (sorry about the silly bitch comment, Sarah!) but strangely prophetic. Since then Sarah has focused on dance music - scoring a massive US and UK club hit last year with "White Horse" - and has finally returned with the official follow up to "He Doesn't Love You". I was lucky enough to chat with Sarah recently and here's what she had to say about her new single "Tell Your Story Walking":
Sarah, your new single "Tell Your Story Walking" is a great fuck you anthem. Was it written about anyone in particular or inspired by various arseholes? Actually , it masquerades as this type of sentiment but actually it is about a very intense personal struggle within myself. It's actually me talking to myself, trying to eradicate all my negativity to push through to become the best I can be. Everyone wrestles with that little voice in their head that tells them that they can not achieve something if it seems too far fetched or too hard. Without these voices we can achieve anything. I'm just telling mine to hit the road and get out of my way. I think this struggle paves the way for great personal triumph.
What are your favourite break-up songs? You mention "I Will Survive" in the lyrics. I didn't picture you as a disco fan. That's just a classic, you can't escape it, and yeah, I can rock a bit of disco from time to time! I also like "Respect" by Aretha Franklin and I LOVE "Breakin' Dishes" by Rihanna.
The song is another club banger. Since the release of "Beauty Was A Tiger" you've really found a niche on the dance scene - what inspired the move away from rock? It was a perfectly natural progression actually, we had a remix done of "He Doesn't Love You" with Hook N Sling and it took off without us actually doing much at all. The same with "White Horse", we gave it over to the girls and boys in the clubs to decide... and it just happened, I couldn't stop it. When I got into production I discovered that electronic sounds were much more fun to work with from a studio point of view. As I got further and further into the realms of the thudding sub kick, live drums and guitars seemed to create too much trashy top end white noise for me. I couldn't go back, I had seen the other side and I LIKED it! There's so much more you can do with electronic sounds, it's way more fun from a production stand point.
The remixed version of "He Doesn't Love You" was one of my favourite songs of 2006 and spent most of that year on the club charts. Why has it taken so long to follow it up? It was never supposed to be a big release, it's purpose was to fill the gap between albums and have some fun. It's not like that was the first single and then a year later I released the rest. I had to make sure I was confident of my direction before putting out the next song. I do chop and change a lot as I like so many styles of music, so I had to solidify my path and then walk it with confidence. Sometimes this takes time.
I read that NY based producers Questionable Intent worked on your album. Who else has been involved and when is it being released? Most of it was done by myself and the QI boys but there are also a couple of tracks that I did with Jimmy Douglas and ILL Factor in Miami. This was a session I had done prior and I picked the best from that collaboration and fused it with what I had learned in Brooklyn. I also worked with a French rapper named Fredrick Da who is amazing, he is a great friend of mine now who I met through Paul Mac when he was in New York.
Will the album feature "White Horse"? That song is stunning. Why wasn't it an official single? "White Horse" may be on the album, I'm 99% sure it will be but as I write better songs, things start to get bumped. "White Horse" is hanging in there by it's chiny chin chin but I think it will survive!
I hear you're heavily involved with fashion and styling these days. Who inspired your sexy new look? Living in New York City really inspired me. I would see the coolest people walking around my neighbourhood and it was all very eclectic but super cool. I would get ideas for things I could wear and the way I could style myself in general. I started to see the creativity in it. It became less: "I have to go out, I'll throw this on" kinda thing, to a more "Oh how exciting I can try this with this and maybe do that". I got really into the idea of the personal statement that finding your style creates.
Would you ever leave the house dressed in garbage bags or wearing a Kermit the frog jacket a la Lady GaGa? Every artist has their own way of expressing themselves and she really takes it to the extreme, God love her. It's way to over the top for me though.
Do you ever miss being Australia's premiere rock chick? How different is performing on the international club scene to gigging around Australia? Playing in clubs is a pretty different scene, Its less rowdy and raucous than the Aussie pub scene. People are less likely to yell things out to you while your performing, they just keep on dancing with a grin from ear to ear and kinda stare at you!
Speaking of your musical past, I'm pretty sure I vomited to the glorious strains of"Down Again"at a school disco. Do you have a favourite song from The Superjesus catalogue? That's a tough question for me, I like certain songs for different reasons. My life changed so much with record to record and each track means something different to me. Especially as each record had a different guitar player and my role in the band grew more hands on with each record. Probably for me, I was most into the 3rd album "Rock Music" My favourite tracks from that are "Manic" and "Shudder".
Aussie rock chick turned electro-pop diva Sarah McLeod has launched an initiative to help keep homeless kids off the street. From now until Christmas, Sarah will be donating ALL the proceeds from her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" to Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets program. For a lousy $1.69 you get an awesome song - which is currently sitting pretty at #9 on the ARIA club chart - and the satisfaction of knowing you helped a homeless kid find a bed for the night. Bargain! Watch the ex-Superjesus frontwoman talk about the campaign below. Oh and make sure you swing by her website to pick up a copy of her EP. It's a limited run of 500, so get in quick. They are individually numbered, come with a personal message and a poster. I've already ordered mine!
