There are times when I have mixed feelings about the way the music industry is fragmenting these days. Theoretically, the MySpace generation has instilled a new DIY-style Punk ethic and given artists the chance to promote themselves away from the clutches of ‘The Man’, but the sheer glut of new bands (singer/ songwriters especially) also ensures that some of the best new talent now simply slips through the cracks while we all download ourselves to death.
On a more positive note, some new artists have found tangibly exciting ways to present themselves. A good example is Sukie Smith, aka MADAM. Having established something like a base for herself with her debut album ‘In Case of Emergency’ in 2008, the momentum brought her to the attention of a high-end audio company called Bowers & Wilkins. They have a website-based music club, which afforded Smith the chance to record at Peter Gabriel’s renowned Real World studios in Wiltshire. In its’ initial form ‘Gone Before Morning’ was laid down there and given a limited edition release through the B&W website, garnering further critical acclaim.
From there, Smith sought further financial help from a website called Pledge Music which allows fans to provide financial assistance in return for a unique memento of the project. It gave her the final impetus to put the finishing touches to the new, improved version of the album we have here and the end results are certainly a fine testament to perseverance.
Because, for all its’ protracted incubation, ‘Gone Before Morning’ is a striking record. Adroitly avoiding pigeonholes, it speed dates Americana, Alt. Folk, Trip-Hop and sparse acoustic confessionals before heading gloriously off on its own unclaimed path and showing us that ye olde singer/ songwriter genre isn’t as washed up and exhausted as we may have thought.
Opener ‘You Lead, I Follow’ gives you some idea what to expect. Sparse and lonely and built around string bass, impatient drums, skeletal guitar and lowing cello, it’s the perfect vehicle for Smith’s sultry and yearning voice. Not too surprisingly, her voice has found reviewers referencing the likes of Hope Sandoval and Chan Marshall, though I also hear a little spooked Beth Gibbons and eerie Gemma Ray in there too. Actually, Smith’s ghostly, stripped-down takes of Al Wilson’s Northern soul classic ‘The Snake’ and Odyssey’s disco hit ‘If You’re Looking for a Way Out’ (previously handled with melancholic kid gloves by Tindersticks) are both redolent of the success Ray had with her deconstructed covers album ‘It’s a Shame About Gemma Ray’ last summer.
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Elsewhere, Smith flits from opiated folk musings (‘Tar & Serpents’) to the sneaky, deceitful seduction (“I have to make trouble in my life”) inherent in ‘Cover The Ground’ and slips into full-on femme fatale mode on ‘Someone In Love’ (“did I say forever?/ well I was lying like someone in love”). All the songs are dreamy and floaty, but fall just the right side of ethereal. Riding on niggly rimshot-driven snare and fork-tongued basslines, ‘Marine Boy’ is even more murderous and strange, while Smith leaves us hanging beautifully with the glorious, aquatic torch song ‘Riding on The Waves’ where the sharks move in and literally scent blood. It’s a cliff-hanger and then some. We can only hope the air sea rescue snags her and gets her back to the studio on time.
Madam’s music is riddled with obsession, driven by desire and brings lust and revenge along to ride shotgun. If ‘In Case of Emergency’ was the sound of a fatalistic beauty being born, then ‘Gone Before Morning’ is the sound of that offspring learning to hustle, turn tricks and count the proceeds. But, God dammit, you’ll be drawn to the flame in spite of yourself.
Madam on MySpace
Pledge Music website
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