LIsa Stansfield joins Kerry McClean talks about the new album Deeper. The moment she realised she was famous, about a life spent in the music industry. being a storyteller & wanting an Ulster Fry!
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Northern Powerhouse! Check out Lisa's latest interview in Wirral Life magazine - Digital Edition can be viewed here Lisa will be meeting fans and signing copies of her new album “Deeper” on
Monday April 9th 2018 at hmv manchester arndale at 5:30pm How do I attend? Access is granted on a first come first served basis with a purchase of the new album from hmv Manchester Arndale on the day of the event, up to store capacity. Please note that photography restrictions may apply and that Lisa Stansfield will only be signing copies of her new album. Make sure to follow @hmvtweets & @hmvManchester for event updates Tweeting about the event? Make sure to use #hmvLive Check purehmv priority access here For full Ts and Cs click here Fancy jumping to the front of the queue at one of our other events? Check out purehmv for priority access here. Please note all events are subject to change or cancellation at short notice, any changes will be notified by social media. Make sure you check hmv.com/hmvlive, twitter.com/hmvtweets or facebook.com/hmv for an event updates or changes before travelling. Lisa Stansfield talks about her new single Billionaire and the forthcoming album Deeper together and the tour next month.
Lisa joined Janice Forsyth on BBC Radio Scotland discussing her forthcoming album Deeper and the upcoming tour in April. Listen back on the audio player below.
“I’ve not been this proud of an album for a long time” – Lisa Stansfield Lisa Stansfield is one of Rochdale’s biggest success stories. With three BRIT awards, two Grammy nominations and a number one single to her name, she’s set to release her eighth studio album, Deeper, in April. VIVA caught up with her to about her glittering career.Your new tour is coming to the Lowry in Salford on Sunday 15 April. Does playing to local crowds give you a different kind of buzz? Yeah, definitely. We did The Ruby Lounge in December. It was a great one-off show, and hopefully a little clue of what the tour will be like. I think when you play on your own turf you’re a bit more apprehensive, but a bit more excited because you just want to do really well for everyone. What can fans expect from the tour? The most important thing is the music. I’ve got a really s**t-hot band. I’ve worked with them for a few years now, so we know each other really well musically. We’re going to do a mix of old and new stuff because I think it’s unfair to just play all your new stuff, especially when people don’t know it yet. Of all your hits, do you have a favourite to perform? Not really. As you go along, you rediscover songs. If there’s a song we’ve not done for ages, we’ll put it in there. Often, we’ll do the same set but jiggle it up a bit. Sometimes we’ll revisit songs but do them in a slightly different way to make it more interesting. I love to perform everything really. VIVA last spoke to you back in 2014 when you were touring your last album Seven, so called because it was your seventh. This one’s called Deeper – is there a reason why? There’s a song on the album called Deeper. It’s a love song, and it’s about something growing deeper as time goes on. I think that’s what my music has become because I’ve been at it for so long. I look at this album as a getting-yourself-ready-for-the-weekend album. One to listen to when you’re getting all geared up for a Friday night.
I don’t know really, because I just went and did it. I didn’t really look at what other people were doing. I was on a mission. It was my mission, and I just went for it. I think if you’re completely and utterly determined that this is what you want to do, you will do it. If you have the wherewithal and determination to do it, you definitely can. Has the music industry changed much since back then? It has, because of social media and new technology. But instead of looking at it in a negative way, you just have to go with it because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s been nearly 30 years since All Around the World shot to number one and made Lisa Stansfield a household name. Of all the things you’ve achieved since, what sticks out as a career highlight? I think probably the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. It was just such a privilege to be asked to do that, and it was such an unbelievably special day. There were so many massive famous people there, and not one person was like “I’m more important than you! I want this! I want that!” Everyone was just there for Freddie Mercury. It’s as if he was watching and you were like “F**k, I really have to do my best for him!” You performed with George Michael at that concert. What are your memories of working with him? He was a really lovely person. He got a reputation at one point for being difficult but, honest to God, I think that’s because of the people around him, because he wasn’t like that at all. He was quite shy, actually. I think people tried to protect him and that reflected on him – it does as an artist. But he was a lovely guy. You won three BRIT awards back in the early 1990s and were nominated for a further nine throughout the decade. Paloma Faith recently criticised the BRITs for only booking one female artist – Dua Lipa – to perform at this year’s ceremony (since this interview, they added two more – Jorja Smith and Rita Ora – to the bill) … Really? You would’ve thought they’d have someone like Mabel on there. Neneh Cherry’s daughter? Yeah. She’s really good, isn’t she? I was watching her recently, and then I read online that she’s Neneh’s daughter. My friend Lisa, who is a hairdresser, has worked with Neneh for years and I asked if she knew that Mabel was her daughter, and she said “Oh yeah, I used to cut her hair when she was a little girl”. You can really see the resemblance sometimes! Manchester is your birthplace and also the birthplace of the suffragette movement, which turns 100 years old this year… I can’t believe it’s been 100 years…and we’ve still not got equal pay! Women don’t have equality in a lot of things, and I think that does need to be changed. Women should have equal opportunities and be treated with as much respect as men. I think a lot more should have been done in those 100 years. Do you think it’s a good time for women in music? Yeah, well there’s enough of us around, ain’t there! I’m really quite shocked about the BRITs actually, because there is quite a lot of female talent out there now. Before your last album, you took a ten-year break from recording to focus on your acting career. Does acting give you the same buzz as music? It does. I suppose singing is like acting in a way, but you’re just portraying a song. Acting is just like singing on acid! Have you any more acting jobs in the pipeline? Not as yet, but I never really go out to get acting jobs. I never really think about it, and then someone comes along with one. I’d love to do more acting because I really enjoy it. I love meeting all the actors, but I get really star struck. I did an episode of Marple with Alison Steadman, and we got on really well but I was like “Oh my God, I’m acting with Alison Steadman!” I feel a bit like I’m interrupting everybody because I’m not really a proper actress. I’ve always thought you’d be great in Corrie… have you ever been approached by ITV Granada? Yeah, but they always offer me really massive parts and I can’t do them. I wouldn’t want a big part anyway – I just want to go in the Rovers and have a drink! Or play someone’s mate who’s in it for about a week. But they won’t do it. The first TV job I ever got was on a variety show on Granada though, so it’d be good to go back. What are your plans for after the tour? God knows! Probably just getting on with more promotion. Once it starts and you’re busy, it never ends! The album, Deeper, is released on Friday 6 April. Click here to pre-order it. Lisa Stansfield’s Deeper tour comes to the Lowry, Salford, on Sunday 15 April. Click here to buy tickets. Interview By Harry Cannell Northern soul by Jane McGowan It’s almost 30 years since Lisa Stansfield stormed the UK charts with her debut album, Affection. As Jane McGowan discovers, however, the Lancashire lass is still in tune with the times You could be forgiven for thinking that Lisa Stansfield’s break-out hit, All Around the World, was a matter of months ago, if the amount of times it gets played on the radio were anything to go by. In fact, the song which took the top spot in more than seven countries, selling millions of copies and catapulting the pixie-haired, big-voiced northern lass into the pop stratosphere, was released in 1989. “Oh, it were mad,” says Lisa in a North Manchester drawl so broad it makes Liam Gallagher sound like Prince Philip. “Singing had always been my life and deep down I knew I would be successful, but nothing prepares you for that level of fame.” The second of three daughters, Lisa was born to parents Marion and Keith in Manchester in 1966. Soul and, in particular, Motown were the sounds of choice in the Stansfield household and the 51-year-old songstress cites her mother’s love of Diana Ross as one of her main influences. Soon people began to take notice of this waiflike girl with a very big voice. “Oh, my mother wheeled me out all the time,” she reveals with a throaty laugh. “I would be tucked up in bed, and if they were having a party I’d be dragged out to sing. I found out after I got famous that actually my mum used to sing in a skiffle group. But that all stopped when she got married, as it was seen as being a bit common. My dad is a good singer too and loves karaoke. But I didn’t realise when I was starting out that I got my voice from them. “From being five or six I just wanted to sing and then, as I got older – about 11 or 12 – I started to write. I couldn’t see anything else. I think it’s something I knew I was going to do – singing was going to be my life and there was nothing anyone could do about it.” At the age of 14, Lisa entered the Manchester Evening News Search for a Star contest. She won, landing herself a record deal with Devil Records. And while the first single, Your Alibis, was not a chartbuster, it nevertheless got her noticed by big boys Polydor. A handful of singles later, with the hoped-for sales still unforthcoming, Lisa and the record company parted ways, but she didn’t go unspotted for long. For in 1983 she moved into television, landing a role presenting kids pop show Razzmatazz on ITV. “It was great fun,” she says, “but I really wanted to be a singer and so I decided to move on.” It was the right decision. Lisa joined forces with old school pal Ian Devaney – whom she would marry in 1998 – and his friend Andy Morris to form Blue Zone. Moderate success followed in the dance charts, but the breakthrough came in 1989 when Devaney and Morris were asked to play on a session for dance music outfit Coldcut. For a laugh Lisa went too – and ended up co-writing People Hold On, which became a big Coldcut hit. As a result, Arista Records asked to sign her as a solo artist. Devaney and Morris agreed to drop the Blue Zone moniker and the trio became brand Lisa Stansfield. “It was under my name, but we were still a band in a way. I was just the frontman. It’s still like that now with me and Ian. We do everything together musically, but people just see me. He loves that though. He hates all the photos and interviews and stuff. He’s more than happy to let me get on with it.” Affection, the 1989 album that included All Around the World, made Lisa an international star. There were gigs and recordings with George Michael and Barry White, and in 1992 she wrote a song for the soundtrack of Whitney Houston’s smash hit film, The Bodyguard. “I don’t think anyone is prepared for that kind of success,” she admits. “You have no control over where it’s taking you. It almost has a life of its own and you have to go with it. It’s like the product is your boss and you have to respond to its demands.” Hit followed hit, and with album sales reaching20 million, Lisa and Ian quit London for a quieter life in Dalkey, near Dublin, where they counted Bono as a neighbour. But in 2007, Lisa’s world was turned upside down when her mother Marion died, aged just 63. More than 10 years later, you sense that Lisa is still coming to terms with the loss.
“My mum was brilliant. She had spent a lot of time on me in the beginning, driving me around and stuff. And it’s funny, looking back, as I was always being told: ‘Don’t get too big for your boots – don’t say that, don’t act like that.’ Meanwhile my mum was living it up, going round the market waving at people like she was the Queen. Everyone in Rochdale knew who she was and she loved it.” Lisa had always dabbled in acting, and when Marion passed away she stepped back from her music to give it a more serious go. She appeared on stage in The Vagina Monologues and on the big screen in Edge of Love, with Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, and later the acclaimed drama Northern Soul. At 51, she finds acting an increasingly big draw. “Oh, I’d love to do more,” she says with real desire. “Especially as I get older. It doesn’t matter what your face looks like when you’re acting, as there’s not as much pressure as in music. I do consider my age – after all we are in an industry dominated by youth. And I’m not a spring chicken, so you have to try and bring something else to the table.” For now though, Lisa is back with her first love of music, hitting the road for a UK and European tour that reaches G Live on April 7 – the day after the release of her new album, Deeper. “I am genuinely excited about this album and I do think that, as a body of work, there is something really special about it. For me it’s the kind of record I would put on if I was getting ready to go out on a Friday night. You know when you’re younger the ritual of getting ready is almost a religious act. ‘I’m going to go to a club and find a bloke and all my dreams will come true. And it starts by picking the right music to get you in the mood.” Deeper, her eighth studio album, has been a labour of love that Lisa hopes will find favour with fans both old and new. “We’ve developed another side to the audience,” she explains. “The children of my early fans have now grown up and are coming along too. At first it was weird seeing this odd mix of people and thinking: ‘Have those kids just been asked to take their mother out?’ But now I can see they’re into the music too, which is great.” And yet, despite the enthusiasm of the younger generation, Lisa is relieved not to be starting out today. “I am so glad I did it when I did, as the business was much more lucrative,” she laughs. “No, really, if you want something bad enough you’ll do it no matter what. For me there was no other option. And I just keep going. You know, there’s no plan. I’m just doing the best I can.” Lisa Stansfield will be at G Live on Saturday Apr 7; glive.co.uk. Deeper is released on Apr 6 (earMUSIC) Deeper is scheduled to be be released in Japan on April 13th 2018.
It is the first official album release in Japan since 2004 (The Moment). There will be a special Japanese limited edition double CD. Disc one will contain the 13 album tracks, disc two will contain 8 live songs taken from the 'Live in Manchester' album recorded on the Seven tour in 2014. Track listing: (Disc 1) 01. Everything 02. Twisted 03. Ditherer 04. Billionaire 05. Coming Up for Air 06. Love of My Life 07. Never Ever 08. Hercules 09. Hall in My · Heart 10. Just Can not Help · Myself 11. Deeper 12. Butterflies 13. Ghetto Heaven (Japan only limited live CD - Disc 2) [September 7, 2014 UK · Manchester Performance] 01. Can not Dance 02. Set Your Loving · Free 03. Change 04. Time To Make You Mine 05. People Hold On 06. Someday (I'm Coming Back) 07 Live Together 08. All Around the World Order here or on Amazon Lisa Stansfield: Deeper
When I hear the name Lisa Stansfield, I can immediately hear the sound of her signature voice in my head and think about the impact she has dealt upon the music industry throughout her successful career. The soulful diva has plenty left to showcase, as after four years, she is back with her latest album Deeper. The album opens full of rhythm with the upbeat “Everything” and its smooth moves blend in with electronic-pop tones. The number literally has everything you want from a track and it makes you want to dance the night away. “Twisted” is next and it romances with sexy, sensual and northern soul inspired sounds. “Desire” is majestic, full of desire and undeniable. It’s a song of fairytales as you ride this lyrical affair. “Billionaire” is a big and dramatic track with a powerful voice to boot. It shines brightly for the world to see. “Coming Up for Air” is hedonistic and outstanding. It shows off a slower tempo and plenty of groove. “Love of My Life” follows with funk and plenty of personality. It is sweet like honey, as it moves seductively into your vision. “Never Ever” is upbeat, preppy and full of pop. It is a absolute show piece through and through. “Hercules” follows with utter strength, positive lines and motivation. This song doesn’t mess about and stands its ground. “Hole In My Heart” is up next and is stunning. It’s an emotive ballad which sings from the heart, and the feelings resonate without effort. “Just Can’t Help Myself” follows with soulful, funky beats. The added element of strings make for an unforgettable presence. Title track “Deeper” is next and is home to many layers, as it runs deep within. Jazz and soul combine together to create a beautiful sound. It is a track where you can dim the lights, sit back and forget all your worries. “Butterflies” follows with bright colors. It is uplifting and makes you smile. The butterflies gather around and spread their wings wide open to reveal such natural beauty. The album draws to its close with “Ghetto Heaven.” A cool track with a superior quality inside and out, it leaves you on such a high, you feel like you’re on cloud nine. Deeper brings a different side to Lisa Stansfield without compromising her signature sound. It is full of funk, soul and groove which blend to create a magnificent spectrum. Review by BY HAYLEE ROEBUCK for Shockwave magazine |
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