Cast
your mind back to the year 1999,
to a world on the brink of a new
millennium. A time when dance music
was still at large, Apple and iPod
were still conspiring in the wings
for global domination and now ubiquitous
artists such as David Gray were
still broke. Joss Stone wasn't
even a teenager! In the thick of
all this, you may remember a singer
/ songwriter / multi-instrumentalist
by the name of Merz.
Following
the self-released 7 inch single
championed by the likes of Jarvis
Cocker and called “Many
Weathers Apart”, a fierce
battle for his signature by several
major record labels, Conrad Lambert
aka Merz signed to Sony/Epic
and looked set to conquer the
world. His debut album received
widespread critical acclaim and
led to appearances on Top Of
The Pops, Jools Holland, and
was subject to a Channel 4 music
documentary. Huge support and
Single of the Week also came
from Radio 1’s Jo Whiley
and an appearance at Glastonbury,
featuring on the same bill as
a group called Coldplay, who
later became firm friends. His
music was embraced by the then
unreconstructed genre that was
English folk, electronica and
the fringes of dance (Pete Tong
was a fan of some particularly
tasty Francois K mixes) and would
even be heard on soaps like Eastenders
and Coronation Street.
Since
his considerable splash in 1999,
Merz has apparently disappeared
without a trace. But six years
later, he is well and truly back
with a dazzling album, Loveheart.
Elaborating on his early pastoral
influences, the album features
an astonishing range of delicate
instrumentation, and crucially,
is illuminated by brilliant arrangements,
Loveheart is the work of a gifted
and passionate songwriter with
a rare musical talent.
Naturally,
the first question is – what
happened?
Despite
a glittering entree to the pop
music world, major label shenanigans
ensued, leading Conrad down an
unexpected road. “For any
musician to walk away from a record
deal goes against all your inherent
instincts," he admits, "so
it was a tough decision but absolutely
the right one.”
Conrad
worked on songs for his next album
in Bath. “I worked hard for
those years, but had a very unsettled
life which made it difficult to
complete a coherent album of songs.” Writing
turned into a fraught, all-consuming
process, and eventually he moved
back to a small flat in Yorkshire
to continue working towards Loveheart.
He
found himself signing back on the
dole in his hometown of Huddersfield. “That
was very difficult, even more so
as I signed on back where I grew
up, which felt like going right
back to square one on the Snakes
and Ladders board.” The anguish
of “Mentor”, where
Conrad cries out for some kind
of guidance – “be my
mentor, won’t you influence
the things I do / Step down here,
be my mentor, I want your influence,
I do” – comes from
as raw and honest a place as has
ever been committed to song.
Living a solitary life in the moors
took its toll, inspiring moments
of elegiac melancholia that emerge
on the mellifluous piano-led album
opener, “Postcard From A
Dark Star”, where Conrad’s
yearning, husky voice aches for “contact,
my only wish is contact, my only
dream is contact”.
Recorded
on location in an empty 17th century
parsonage, the sense of lonely
isolation is palpable on the haunting “My
Name Is Sad And At Sea”,
where bells from distant ghost
ships toll eerily in the background.
“It
was gargantuan effort,” Conrad
admits. “The hardest thing
of all was getting up in the morning.” But
slowly the record began to take
shape, modelled by late night drives
to and from Yorkshire. “The
album is heavily influenced by
the Late Junction show on Radio
3 and the John Peel show on Radio
1," Conrad smiles. "I
used to write and record in Yorkshire
but drive to Bath in between sessions
to visit my girlfriend. I’d
always drive at night on a weekday
so I could listen to those shows.
They had such a wide spectrum of
music and it was all about discovery.
It was great to switch from one
show to the other, I’d kind
of amalgamate both shows to make
my ideal radio show."
Indeed,
times were not all so bleak. Conrad
married his long-time American
girlfriend Jess in Mongolia, where
his parents have lived for some
fourteen years, and where Jess
had also spent a year as an editor
on a local English newspaper. Conrad
found himself blossoming with ravishing
songs like the intoxicated dance-on-air
of "Dangerous Heady Love Scheme" and
infatuated delirium of “Butterfly”.
The enveloping intimacy of "Warm
Cigarette Room" where “everything’s
how it’s supposed to be” pointed
the way out of the maze.
Loveheart
was co-produced with Bruno Ellingham
(respected engineer on recent albums
by New Order, KT Tunstall and The
Departure and emerging British
producer of note). "He was
like an Oxford professor," Conrad
says, "I would come to him
with my demos and recordings and
he would give me detailed notes
to go away and work on." Recorded
in 12 different locations around
Bath, Bristol and The Pennines,
and finally finished on St Valentine’s
Day 2005, West Country mates including
Goldfrapp bass player Charlie Jones
and Portishead / Beth Gibbons /
Robert Plant accomplice John Baggot
also lent a hand on harpsichord,
while Norway’s Even Johansen
(aka Magnet) contributed lap steel
guitar.
Rich
in distinctive instrumentation
(including Wurlitzer piano, ukelele,
mandolin, Hammond Organ, harmonica,
Native American bass drum as well
as drum machines, synths and numerous
electric and acoustic guitars),
but never overcooked, Loveheart
draws from experiences of intense
emotions with a deft and tender
touch, displaying a breathtaking
way with melody. Warm, and infused
with rising hope even at bleak
times there are moments of pure
joy. The album grows more addictive
with each listen.
“If there is a theme to this
album, it’s really about
finding the strength of heart to
get through ropey times in life.
I feel like I was led into a forest
and have only just re-emerged.
I’ve got my sense of direction
back and am just going to carry
on down that track.”
With
the release of Loveheart there
is little doubt he is back on the
right track and heading towards
the bright lights once again. |
