Sweet Baboo: The Singer, Changing Perceptions And 'The Boombox Ballads'
Friday, 07 August 2015
Written by Huw Baines
Image: Tom Norton/Kirsten McTernan
The idea that pop is a multi-purpose, one-size-fits-all commodity is a popular one. It’s the backbone of the snobs’ charter and the reason that so many music fans feel compelled to mount the ‘anything but the top 40’ defence. In its purest form, though, pop is what makes us tick. It’s where our greatest loves and losses find purpose, where communication is prized and where three minute songs become epics in the hands of the right performer. It can be transformative, surprising and, above all else, fun.
Back in April, a jetlagged Stephen Black tumbled onto the stage at St. Giles’ church in Wrexham for a short Sweet Baboo set as part of Focus Wales. Framed against the sweeping arches of its windows, he punctured the solemnity of the room with ramshackle charm; stumbling over new lyrics, bemoaning his creased shirt and, at one point, stopping altogether to collect his thoughts. Those scattered across the pews, many of whom were knocking back drinks purchased from a tacitly disapproving church warden, were transfixed. The rough edges made the quiet, unassuming beauty of his songs that much more personal.
‘The Boombox Ballads’, the new Sweet Baboo record, takes a similar approach to exploring a corner of pop history, namely what it means to be a singer in the mould of Harry Nilsson or Scott Walker. A lofty goal, perhaps, but one presented without pretence. “All I wanna do is play you all my favourite records,” Black sings on Got To Hang On To You.
“My old press release said: ‘Idiosyncratic singer-songwriter from north Wales.’ If you read anything, that was the first thing it always said,” he said, sat on a bench outside the church as the spring light quickly faded. “I got obsessed with this idea that maybe I could try and change people’s perception. I know that I’m not a great singer in the tradition of the people who I love. I don’t have the best voice in the world, but I thought it would be a good exercise to try and give the perception that I was an amazing singer.
“It was weird, I started off by wanting to have total control over everything, but as it went on I realised that, actually, the best stuff was collaborative and got lots of people involved. Sometimes that left me just as the singer, I guess. I tried to play a role while making the record, to keep it exciting and interesting.”
It’s an album that repackages pre-existing imagery, casting Black as the slightly awkward crooner whose songs get under your skin. The video for Sometimes, the first single to emerge from it, takes the idea a step further, training a spotlight on Black and his era-specific microphone before cutting to a backing band comprised of four doppelgängers.
The song moves between two distinct sections, one low-key and acoustic, the other bright, bold and deceptively complex. Its instrumental break is layered and meticulously presented, yet still able to catch the listener unaware. Similarly, You Got Me Time Keeping is permitted to sprawl at its midway point before being hauled back in by the album’s standout melody. It’s pop with a sweeping, virtuoso element that, like a creased shirt in a grand hall, is all the more personable for being presented next to a song ostensibly about the weather and replete with Cardiff specifics.
“Compared to the last record, which we were hell bent on putting loads of brass over and making quite Technicolor, this one my only thing was that I didn’t want the songs to sound the same,” Black said. “It was lucky, really, because I was busy touring with other bands so it actually took a long time to record. We did it in little chunks. Before, I’ve tried to make things in one concise effort, but this one things turned out differently because you’ve had time to reflect.
“There were a couple of songs where I recorded and then took advice from the label. They were like: ‘It’s a good song but we don’t think it’s good enough...you should do this.’ I was like: ‘At least I’ll try, they probably know what they’re doing.’ I tried to take more on board of what other people thought, which made it more diverse. It’s got the same voice. That’s the thing that ties it together.”
Taking the idea of the singer as a separate entity further, one song on ‘The Boombox Ballads’ stands out. I Just Want To Be Good was written for Black by Cate Le Bon, with whom he has spent stretches of time on the road and in the studio as a member of her band. Her psych-pop wizardry is woven throughout its lilting falsetto hook, its lyrics abstract yet heartwrenching.
“I asked her to write a song for me. She said: ‘Yeah, cool.’ Pretty amazing, really,” Black said. “We were touring so much, at that point we as a band were pretty tight. She gave me a demo, but she didn’t write the words until after we recorded. I knew the melody. I don’t know why she did it that way, but she did. It wasn’t until I read the words I actually thought: ‘Fuck, these are amazing.’ It was quite an odd thing to then sing it, because I don’t have any emotional attachment to it. It was a good challenge.”
Black’s autumn tour will follow a smattering of festival dates, with his backing band switching from stripped back to a multi-legged beast at different intervals. He’ll be out front. The question is, has he got this singer thing down yet? “No, probably not,” he laughed. “I’ve not thought about it. The next stage, really, is to try and perform it live as a singer. I’ve not really done that yet. So, I think then I’ll understand. All I seem to want to do now is make instrumental music, which is the opposite.”
'The Boombox Ballads' is out on August 14 through Moshi Moshi.
Sweet Baboo Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed September 16 2015 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Thu September 17 2015 - LIVERPOOL Leaf
Fri September 18 2015 - SHEFFIELD Leadmill
Sat September 19 2015 - GLASGOW King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
Sun September 20 2015 - YORK Crescent
Tue September 22 2015 - BIRMINGHAM Rainbow
Wed September 23 2015 - LONDON Bethnal Green Working Mens Club
Thu September 24 2015 - NORTHAMPTON Lamplighter
Fri September 25 2015 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Cluny
Sat September 26 2015 - MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
Sun September 27 2015 - NOTTINGHAM Bodega Social
Wed September 30 2015 - BRISTOL Thekla
Thu October 01 2015 - HOVE Old Market (The)
Fri October 02 2015 - ASHFORD Revelation St Marys
Sat October 03 2015 - CARDIFF Globe
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