Jimmy Somerville – Suddenly Last Summer – May 2009
 |
5 ” CD-r Album – For Promotional Purposes Only
|
 |
5 ” CD Album – For Promotional Purposes Only
|
 |
Download only! amazon bonus version
|
|
Download only! itunes version
|
Sometimes you have to go to the other end of the world to realise that you just want to go home. Free of the responsibilities of your everyday existence it’s easier to take a good look at your life, your career, your desires and your i-pod. Maybe you even get a chance to figure out what’s really fun and then simply start doing that. Just like Jimmy Somerville did in the summer of 2006.
Whilst performing a couple of critically acclaimed acoustic concerts in Sydney and Melbourne, Jimmy realised he really didn’t need synthesizers to have fun. “We recorded material like that while I was with Communards and Bronski Beat. ‘For A Friend’ worked like that: a piano, a voice, a great song. Whilst performing in Australia I realised: that’s all a song needs sometimes. Keeping it simple makes it powerful.”
Jimmy was enjoying his trip to Australia. After the shows, someone suggested recording the acoustic tracks he’d just performed. Jimmy liked the idea and, having some time on his hands, went into a local studio with the same musicians to record the tracks over six days.
“I took my i-pod, which has about 6,000 songs on it, and put it on ‘shuffle’ for a while. Every time I found a song I liked, we simply recorded it. I wouldn’t say these are my favourite songs, because I don’t understand how people can decide upon their favourite songs at 47. There’s still so much music out there that I’ve not heard. What I can say is that I like all the songs on the album very, very much, for a variety of reasons.”
The result speaks for itself: ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ is a collection of modern classics. Jimmy’s interpretation of these songs, both classics and standards, is just as relaxed but multilayered as Andrew Worboys’ production. Worboys composed ‘Hey Sydney’, the theme song of the Sydney Gay Games and is famous for his work in musical theatre working with the likes of Hugh Jackman.
After 11 Albums, 7 Million records sold, performing in ront of thousands of people around the world and 25 years after releasing his first worldwide success ‘Smalltown Boy’ with Bronski Beat, Jimmy Somerville goes back to his roots and sings the songs that he grew up with: Nina Simone’s ‘Black Is The Colour Of My True Loves Hair’, which he wrote additional lyrics for, Blondie’s ‘Hanging On The Telephone’, ‘People Are Strange’ by the Doors (“Because they just are.” muses the artist), and standards like ‘My Heart Belongs To Daddy’ and ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’.
Somerville and Worboys’ production simplifies the arrangements realising their strengths, they strip away the unnecessary until there is nothing but wonderful songs sung by a fantastic singer. “I just wanted to let the material speak for itself. The songs are already great, all you need to do is perform them and not fuck it up.” Somerville knows how to sing a great song and, understanding their original brilliance and simplicity, delivers. On ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ he allows himself to be lost within the songs in a way he hasn’t done for years. Assured and relaxed, brave and witty, very sexy and with just the right touches of irony and camp this may just be the vocal performance of his career. At 47 he is at the height of his powers as a singer and an artist.
When singing ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone’ Jimmy makes the song just as powerful and urgent as Marlene Dietrich did when she first performed it. “It is the most famous anti-war song of all time and is every bit as relevant today.”
Somerville performs ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’, ‘Hush’, ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ and ‘Was That All It Was’ as the great universal songs about love that they are. But with ‘My Heart Belongs To Daddy’ and ‘Walking After Midnight’ Somerville demonstrates the lyrics work just as well in a gay setting, whether or not the composers had considered that at the time. ’My Heart Belongs To Daddy’ is just perfect for the Bears out there. And I don’t know another song that captures what it feels like to be cruising for a man in a dark city as well as ‘Walking After Midnight’ the singer explains smiling.
“Suddenly Last Summer” is without doubt a further milestone in an outstanding career.
| Where Have All The Flowers Gone? Promo Video |
| People Are Strange – Home Video |
Limited 2-Disc Collector’s Edition The first 3,000 copies released in a limited edition deluxe Digipak with a bonus 2 track DVD, Digipak w/ outer slipcase. ℗ and © 2010 Jess-E Musique / Cherry Red Records Ltd trading as Strike Force Entertainment. Recorded at The Grove Studios, Australia. Engineered, mixed and mastered at 48 Volt Studios, Australia. “Motherless Child (Live)” recorded at The State Theatre, Sydney, Australia 2006. Live Photos: © 2006 Rachelle Wyzenbeek