Louise Havell is a consummate singer-songwriter, performer and multi-instrumentalist musician and draws melody and arrangement inspiration from singer-songwriter legends such as Tori Amos, Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell, as well as more beat driven eighties artists such as Giorgio Moroder and Wham. Her music is also hugely inspired and fuelled by her rich life experiences and travels to date: all around the globe and back again, living largely in tune with nature and learning from all the cultures she has encountered along the way. She now releases her debut E.P. “Shooting With Lives” which is released 1st July 2022.
After a childhood of learning to play guitar, saxophone and drums, Louise’s formative musical influences were incredibly varied: as well as Tori, Kate, and Joni she also loved the vibrant sounds of Salsa and Samba. She also loved all the greats, from across all time, and all genres: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, Carol King, James Taylor, Nick Drake, Stevie Wonder and all the credible pop music of the eighties too. These eclectic sounds inspired an enduring love of production and how to arrange music which has served her very well as an artist in her own right.
A native Londoner, Louise’s desire to experience other countries and cultures saw her adopt the life of a global traveller, and one who finds a true connection and inspiration in Nature, whether it be sleeping under the stars in California, swimming with dolphins, immersing herself in country living – or in the challenges of mountain dwelling (in both the Himalayas and the Lake District!) She has traversed the Earth, met many people and lived several lives, so it is unsurprising she has distilled these many and wonderful experiences into her music.
Back living on a narrowboat in London and experiencing a brand-new adventure – becoming a mother- Louise set about writing her debut EP “Shooting With Lives” and, true to life, it is infused with the glorious sounds of nature, with geese and boat engines and river life infusing their charms into the recordings. Taking her love of eighties pop production, and the era generally, the E.P. is a mix of different production aspects with a lot of references and nods to the decade in terms of being beat-driven but also with a strong sense of melody and arrangement.
The EP opens with the previous single, the emotional and wistfully sad “Everything’s Gone”, the opening of which is evocative of soul filled Gospel and Blues which exudes loss and regret. The song was inspired by a homeless man Louise witnessed on the streets of London and what he may have lost in life. Focus track “You Take Me Home” is about meeting someone who feels so familiar that they feel like ‘home’. Sonically the track is a homage to the eighties with a lo-fi take on Thompson Twin inspired guitars Louise says, “This is daydream material for me, influenced by my experiences living in Southern California – surfing beach life, hazy light, perpetual warmth and dream-state.”
Another nod to the traditional eighties sound is “Solina Ferriane” which is punctuated with in-your-face unapologetically ‘angry’ synths and drums sounds which underscores the divisive subject of this track: Brexit. Louise adds, “I remember feeling a sense of foreboding in the air, of devastation and loss. I felt shock and fear about the division within our country”. “Falling in to Blue”, with its sparse reductionist arrangements, also chimes about shock and fear, in its lament on climate change.
“For Me” is an intriguing exploration of production using everyday domestic objects to create percussive beats, mixed with electronic drums. Title track “Shooting with Lives” saw Louise experiment once again with musical production by using her own unique method of multi-layering her own voice to make one ‘note’. Thematically, the song is a soul-searching question of the war in the Middle East and its devastating consequences, both for the people there, and for ensuing violence and attacks elsewhere in the world. Louise asks how innocent children can grow to hurt others in that situation – a theme which also translates to all of humankind engaging in unfathomable conflict across the ages.
With the “Shooting For Lives” E.P; the well-travelled, talented and versatile Louise Havell not only explores the very form of music production itself, she also fearlessly explores our innate human fears, frailties and conflicts with a true insight and sensitivity.
