Helen Lawson: Blog

Gosh, it's been a while eh?

Gigs are going swimmingly. I'm told I have a habit of starting to sway from side to side the second I hit the chorus, which apparently gives me the effect of being either a) a weeble or b) a little bit 'special'.

Well, I always loved a weeble. Not as much as a slinky, mind.

EP-making continues apace. In fact, I'm one song away from completion and have decided that I'll put a couple of songs here once they're all done, and then the whole thing will be on iTunes for Actual Purchasing. There'll also be some lovely CDs available to order. Woohoo. We'll get there soon-ish, hopefully only a few months behind my original target! No, wait, my original target was about a hundred years ago. Ah well.

I always admire people who just pop into a studio for an afternoon and whack out an EP. Speed-tastic, and very impressive. I'm from more of your 'muse-over-each-tiny-detail' school of record-making...

Anyhow, if anyone's interested in what I do with myself while trying to get my own music together, pop over to Yoav's myspace - www.myspace.com/yoavmusic He's one of the artists I do videos for - his tour footage and the 'making ofs' on his page are some of the work I've done for him... Plus he's ace.

I've got all sorts of grand plans to make a bit of a video for 'Something in the Wine' soon, so I'll keep you posted on that...

Cheerio for now
Hxx

I'm just back from a week in the studio, working on a couple of tracks for my EP with Ian Davenport. I lived in the flat above the studio, working till daft o'clock in the morning and then staggering upstairs to pass out (making a nice change from the trek across London after gigs...)

We might have been able to finish up earlier had I not insisted on 'fun with percussion'. You'd be amazed the noises you can get out of a grandfather clock and a roll of gaffer tape.

We worked on a slightly different version of Silver Purse, which I'm rather pleased with, especially as my new melodica got to make its first appearance. The track is soft, strong, and very very long (might need an edit...)
It otherwise bears no resemblance to Britains favourite loo-paper.

The other track we worked on was a new one - one you'll only know if you've seen me play live - 'Crossing the Bridge'. With any luck it'll be making its Myspace debut soon.

In one of my spare moments I went for a walk in the countryside, and made myself useful by rescuing a dopy rabbit from a speeding truck. Hurray.
I don't think the rabbit will remember me though.

Anyway, on to the next thing, which is Wednesday's gig at the Hope and Anchor. In classic Helen style I have picked up an injury at the crucial moment, and will be playing the gig with a sprained left hand. I can't decide whether that's better or worse than a sprained right hand. Still, I reckon I can change a few chords and pull through like a good'un. That'll teach me to play basketball a few days before a gig...

If it wasn't one thing it was going to be another this weekend. Having sunk up to my knees in hungry mud while picking blackberries, I took it upon myself to risk life and limb to rescue a frisbee from high up in a tree. I'd just been telling friends about the oak tree up which I used to spend most of my time, so it would have been rude not to.

Anyhow, I live to fight another day.

Fingers (painfully) crossed for Wednesday.

Hxx

Well, as you might have seen on the main page, the AntiAtlas album 'Between Voices' was released yesterday on One Little Indian.

It's been getting some great reviews, which is very nice indeed.

The Observer Music Mag said this: "'Between Voices' is superb: a lovely, meandering, wide-eyed work of wonder in which singers from every corner of the planet endow electronica with grandiosity."
The Sunday Times Culture said this: "Pop CD of the Week: A fuzzy, luscious, ambient haze - an album that will calm you down and lift your spirits."

And Entertainment Focus UK were kind enough to say this: "Broken Doll featuring Helen Lawson is the kind of track you'd get if you crossed Bjork with Mum. The track is beautifully haunting with Lawson's delicate vocals allowing the music to be the focus."

If you'd like a copy of your very own, I'd be touched and delighted.
You could buy it from Amazon: Anti-Atlas at Amazon or from iTunes: AntiAtlas at iTunes
My song is the one called 'Broken Doll'. Is that the 3rd time I've said the name of the song? Gosh.

Bizarrely, the nice people at iTunes decided to use the instrumental interlude as the 30 second preview snippet, instead of the chorus. So if you'd rather try before you buy, you may do so at www.myspace.com/antiatlas

Hope you like it...

Today I am still immensely peeved about having been burgled.
Truth be told, as burglaries go, it could have been worse. But they made mess and broke doors and took away nice things including my computer, and now I am unable to do any recording.

Hence I am peeved.

I am also not a big fan of people rifling through my drawers, as it were.

Huh. And booooo.

Doors have been replaced and fortifications made. But can anyone tell me how to build a moat? Or a portcullis, please? Ta.

I am now reliably informed that the AntiAtlas album Between Voices is out on the 30th July. Set your diary reminders now.

If you'd like a sneak preview - go and see
www.myspace.com/antiatlas. My track is the one called 'Broken Doll'.

In other news, I'm just back from Montreal, which I can confirm is a very lovely place. They have their stairs on the outside of their houses, just for a giggle. And the mice there are very shiny and partial to chocolate.

Handy Hint of the day: If you are ever served a sizzling hot teriyaki dish, and the person serving it to you sees fit to hold it in front of your face, you must duck. Hot Teriyaki sauce spits, and having a thousand tiny burns on your face is not a good look. Also, be warned, such a person is also apt to tip icecold saki down your back later in the evening.

Thankyou to my friend Liz for her magnificent Wig Party on Saturday. I have now embraced my inner ginger:





Also, whilst trying my wig on for size before the party, and hastily trying to get the washing up done, I made the following invaluable discovery:

Wigs Make Housework Fun.

Everyone should know - the world would be much cleaner for it.

Anyway, what else? Today I've been mostly trying to record a new song called 'Crossing The Bridge'. Sadly, what with the rain pelting and the wind whistling, I've not been able to record anything that didn't sound like a hundred angry aircraft were sharing the kitchen with me. Oh, for soundproofing...

Lordy, has it been so long? Verily I neglect my blogging.

The exciting news for today is that I have a track coming out on a soon-to-be-released album by producer duo AntiAtlas, on the One Little Indian label. The album is called 'Between Voices', and features different songwriters / vocalists on each track. The lovely Gemma Hayes also appears on the album, amongst others, and it's sounding beautiful.

My track is called 'Broken Doll'. I believe the album's out in August '07, but I'll post a definite release date as soon as I know it...

In other news, I'm working towards an EP release, getting some lovely strings involved, some cello and viola and other similarly mellow noises...

Handy hint of the day: Large glasses of wine in bars contain More Wine than small ones. Easily forgotten, and yet oh so hazardous.

Happy New Year. May we Bond in 007. Ho ho.

I feel thoroughly refreshed having spent new year's eve dancing with gay abandon around a large bonfire in a larger (fortunately) field. Shapes were thrown, marshmallows were toasted, and my cheeks are still slightly burnt, as evidenced here:



I have made the momentous decision to drop the 'C' in Helen C Lawson. It was originally adopted to differentiate myself from the villainess Helen Lawson in US camp classic novel and film, Valley of the Dolls. But there's probably worse namesakes. And the 'C' is all a bit '19th-Century novelist'...

May 2007 bring you warm toes, a full belly and any other of your pre-requisites for a happy time.

Hxx

The moons just fly by, don't they. One minute we're edging towards the end of autumn, the next everyone's gone festive and we're dodging baubles and turkeys for dear life.

In the meantime Matthew and I have been braving the stages of London's cosiest venues, and rather enjoying it. We have won fans from all walks of life - from the old bloke in the corner with his own whisky supply, to his dog, and everyone in between. Thankyou to everyone who has seen us play and said nice things - that was very nice. More gigs will follow in the new year (new year? another one? I only just got used to this one. Help!)

I have been doing my best to avoid not only the reams of tinsel that assault me at every turn (at least until mid-December, at which point I will evict my inner Scrooge and party with appropriate glee), but also the Ever-Threatening Cold. At every sign of a sniffle I am devouring satsumas and slurping and squirting all manner of health-giving potions.

Which brings me neatly to the latest installment of Helen's Handy Hints: Never spray Vick's First Defence up your nose whilst hurrying to the train station. It will hit you squarely in the eye.

Today is one of those promising autumn days, my favourite kind of weather, when you can legitimately wear both sunglasses and a bobble hat without looking like a deluded minor celebrity. One of those days that makes you forget the harsh realities of winter - wet ankles and the like - and actually quite look forward to it.

Anyhow, the lovely Matthew Grist and I have been rehearsing a couple of 'numbers' with a view to venturing back out into the London live thing. Wish us luck...

I remember wondering this as I ran down the garden holding a plastic shopping bag above my head, hoping to take off.

I never did succeed in taking off, but I eventually found out how they wrote the first Oxford English Dictionary. 'The Professor and the Madman' by Simon Winchester tells the story of that massive project. It's intriguing reading for anyone who likes words and wotnot.

I picked it up in the back garden when I was about 14, it was smooth and round and pleasing to hold. It was immediately obvious to me that this was a lucky stone. It went with me to every scary event I ever went through - exams, interviews, gigs...

I just thought about it as I was looking at another stone, given to me recently by a friend. I think he nabbed it from an ornamental flowerbed.

I wonder where my lucky stone might be. I've a nasty feeling I have put it in a 'safe place'. Always calamitous.

I have just been assaulted by a mouldy cherry. There it was, looking tasty in the bowl. But alas, when I chewed it, it was verily a bit gross. Certifiably a bad'un. I am disappointed.

In 'Other Fruit-related News': Never bend over to pick something up whilst eating an apple. Apple juice will come out of your nose.