Storm member Jade Hill releases debut album on own indie label.
Artist: Jade Hill
Album: In The Small Print
Label: Miss Cherry Records
Released: 5th January 2012
Producer: Easther Gabore
Format: CD, Digital Download
Length: 33:33
Availablity: Worldwide
Lyrics: All tracks with the exception of 9&10 are written by Jade Hill and John Head. Track 9 written by Kirsty MacColl, Track 10 written by Hira Vine/Jade Hill.
Tracklisting
Play (0.33)
In Between (3:54)
Ours (3:40)
Not Long Left (3:15)
Last One Standing (3:48)
Innocence (4:13)
Walk (3:02)
Ego (2:53)
In These Shoes? (4:01)
Love Suicide (3:36)
Wilt (3:12)
Tension:Released (0:26)
Recording
The recording of Jade's debut album began only a few months ago when she and fellow band mates were controversially dropped from Black Cat Records by one of their own members (Zoe Thompson). The album which is titled; 'In The Small Print' was recorded in Storm's old studio in Germany, however the tracks 'Walk' and 'In These Shoes?' were recorded in her own living room! "The recording of the album was really laid back and enjoyable. I didn't have people shouting at me for not doing a certain thing neither did I have any pressure on me to rush the album because one, it is unexpected by fans and two, it's not a follow up album of some sort so it doesn't have a deadline for when it has to be finished, mixed, released and what not. Whilst recording in Germany, it felt more official like I was a real pop star in a studio with lots of many creative people and I did it in that frame of mind, official and important. Recording at home however is a different story, it was just me, my guitar, the instrumental to one of the songs and a mic. I let loose and put everything into it like a drunk at a karaoke although I hope I don't sound like that! Being in the house and surrounded by my own creature comforts, I felt really free which made it extremely enjoyable though my neighbour told me to quiet down during recording......oh well". The guitar that features in tracks; 'Walk', 'Wilt', 'Play' and 'In Between' is played by Jade herself who has only been playing the guitar since November. Jade is also learning to play the piano which she hopes to have mastered in time for her second album. "I've always wanted to play instruments from a young age but never really got round to it and when I joined 'Storm' we didn't really need to play instruments due to all our music being made for us, but now that I'm on my own I decided that if I want to be a REAL musician I should learn how to play an instrument. To be writing, singing, recording and playing my own songs with my own guitar is an amazing feeling, it feels as if I've accomplished so much and that I am finally in control of music".
Writing
Jade had written most of the tracks before she knew she was even going to do a solo album. Many of the songs were written just for pleasure or for possible future Storm material however after the group went into decline, Jade decided to continue writing and put all of her previous work and new work that she wrote after the band all together to create her debut album. "Writing the album wasn't hard or long at all. I wrote 4 of the songs back in 2010 before even thinking about doing a solo album or before even releasing a single with the group, 1 song is a cover so I didn't write that, there is a little intro and outro which didn't take much time to write so by the time I knew I was doing this album all I had to do was write 5 more songs and that was it." Jade then explains what inspired the lyrics. "The first four songs I wrote way back in 2010 were from a moody teenage girls point of view so it was full of 'boys are this, boys are that, love doesn't exist' and so on, so when I wrote the newer tracks I wanted to continue that but not seem so harsh, even putting some humor into the songs so they don't sound depressing and bitter. It's not all about love and respect from a romantic relationship POV though. The track 'Last One Standing' is about people not respecting or maybe even bullying a person who they don't respect and perceive as weak but when you think about it, that person hears all the nasty comments and hurtful things but is still standing and going on which shows that they should be loved and respected for getting over the hurt"
Genre
For people who loved the pop-tastic, dancefloor filling music of Storm may be surprised upon hearing Ms.Hills debut solo effort. The emotional playing of guitar, banging of drums and in your face overly English vocals all add up to make a great slice of Indie-Pop. "I think that the Indie root was probably one of the best choices because it is not what everyone expects of me because of it's attention grabbing sound and loudness which people don't necessarily associate me with as I was always perceived as the quiet and meek girl in the group. Also, it is my favourite type of music and when you're given total creative control of your music you are definitely going to do what you love which for me is Indie-Pop. Indie music really has an edge to it but it also has some sort of charm that pulls you in and makes you really want to listen so hopefully I can recreate this with my album." With no lead single released yet, Jade explains her choice to release the album just now; "For me, I couldn't pick any song to be the lead single because I love them all so much and I wouldn't know what the public would prefer to hear because I like them all equally. There will still be a few singles released but I want to hear what people say about the album first and what tracks they prefer so I can release them, it makes it easier." Jade then explains the title of the album; "I decided to call it 'In The Small Print' because it's like when people first look at me they say 'oh it's the quiet one from that band' and they don't care to know more about me, they don't read the small print as to what to expect from me so when they hear this and criticise it or praise it I can say; 'Why wouldn't you expect this sort of music? If you read the small print or actually took your time to know more about me then you would see that I'm not the Jade most people think I am."
(OOC: I know that hardly any promotion will/has gone towards this album but I want it to seem more realistic as she doesn't have the backing of a big label to promote her etc. :D)
Edited by user 06 January 2012 06:12:40(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
