"they say Hollywood will eat your soul / well bring it on / I got a hole where it used to be / before the lord took you away from me..."
There is no doubt about it, UK based songwriter and producer Sasha Papadin is a hopeful romantic and, as one, he likely thinks about death as much as he does life and the tenuous connection between both. I also have the sense that the only way to cheat death is to create art that has the ability to live on forever. Maybe too, for Sasha being an artist was unavoidable, literally in his blood, part of his historical fiber and spiritual essence on a subatomic level.
As press notes indicate:
[His father, renowned Russian poet Valentin Papadin, defected at the height of the Cold War and escaped to the UK with Sasha’s mother, a young English woman who had met him while traveling. Swept from country to country as his parents followed jobs across Europe, the family settled in California where his parents raised seven more children while Sasha became a songwriter and singer for a number of bands, most notably 1955, who played alongside The Raveonettes and Blonde Redhead.]
The latest offering from Sasha Papadin's musical namesake Loverman, "Listening to Elvis" feels stark in it's romantic vision, the piano with the breath and scope of 50's rock n' roll metamorphosis into what might feel like late 70's music hall pop (or thereabouts), wonderfully melodramatic and even cheeky in the most loving way. A heartfelt homage, sinewy tribute to friendship, to human connectivity that means something.
Papadin shares:
"It was written for a friend who passed away a few years ago. We used to listen to Elvis recordings together. When writing this song I imagined them running across the King himself somewhere ‘over there’. It’s a strange and delicate song and one of the only times I’ve recorded a vocal live while playing the piano. I think we used the first take. It has a sparse intimacy. My producer Jason had the mad idea of weaving in actual recordings of the audience at a live Elvis show from the 70s and I think it worked brilliantly"
Brilliantly indeed Sasha. I raise a glass to you and your friend.
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://www.instagram.com/lovermanxoxo/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOPl1pmGvE0C-84Gc71JtOg
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6mH930VvONxn76Kqpnixjy
https://www.facebook.com/lovermanxoxo
https://soundcloud.com/lovermanxoxo
Loverman, moniker for UK-based songwriter and producer Sasha Papadin, makes toe-tapping indie rock with elements of post-punk, Americana, and soul music in the vein of Nick Cave, The Walkmen, Timber Timbre, Damon Albarn, and Leonard Cohen.
Sasha Papadin was born into a life of cinematic romance. His father, renowned Russian poet Valentin Papadin, defected at the height of the Cold War and escaped to the UK with Sasha’s mother, a young English woman who had met him while traveling. Swept from country to country as his parents followed jobs across Europe, the family settled in California where his parents raised seven more children while Sasha became a songwriter and singer for a number of bands, most notably 1955, who played alongside The Raveonettes and Blonde Redhead.
After his father’s sudden death in 2016, Sasha retreated to the recording studio in the back of his furniture workshop, at a loss for how to continue making music. He soon traded his guitar for a piano and began to write music that explored themes of mortality and love.
The 2018 debut album ‘Wings of Desire’ is a lounge-y, toe tapping record that pairs melancholic lyrics with snappy instrumentation in a swaggering stroll through love and loss. You’ll hear the influences clearly: Dire Straits, Tom Waits, Chris Isaak and Nick Cave. The album was recorded in a weekend, crammed into a tiny studio, with a sense of urgency. It had been a year of personal loss for the whole band and a number of close friends, a wave of deranged grumpiness was sweeping the voting masses around the world, and a wildfire had torn through their hometown just days earlier. Life felt impermanent, chaotic, insane. In that little room they created our own, more sublime version of what was happening outside. A reflection where the universe didn't feel off-kilter, God showed up for work, and even madness made sense. The album featured production from Grammy winner Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire) and Gus Seyffert (The Black Keys, Beck).
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/lovermanxoxo/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOPl1pmGvE0C-84Gc71JtOg
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6mH930VvONxn76Kqpnixjy
https://www.facebook.com/lovermanxoxo
https://soundcloud.com/lovermanxoxo
Loverman, moniker for UK-based songwriter and producer Sasha Papadin, makes toe-tapping indie rock with elements of post-punk, Americana, and soul music in the vein of Nick Cave, The Walkmen, Timber Timbre, Damon Albarn, and Leonard Cohen.
Sasha Papadin was born into a life of cinematic romance. His father, renowned Russian poet Valentin Papadin, defected at the height of the Cold War and escaped to the UK with Sasha’s mother, a young English woman who had met him while traveling. Swept from country to country as his parents followed jobs across Europe, the family settled in California where his parents raised seven more children while Sasha became a songwriter and singer for a number of bands, most notably 1955, who played alongside The Raveonettes and Blonde Redhead.
After his father’s sudden death in 2016, Sasha retreated to the recording studio in the back of his furniture workshop, at a loss for how to continue making music. He soon traded his guitar for a piano and began to write music that explored themes of mortality and love.
The 2018 debut album ‘Wings of Desire’ is a lounge-y, toe tapping record that pairs melancholic lyrics with snappy instrumentation in a swaggering stroll through love and loss. You’ll hear the influences clearly: Dire Straits, Tom Waits, Chris Isaak and Nick Cave. The album was recorded in a weekend, crammed into a tiny studio, with a sense of urgency. It had been a year of personal loss for the whole band and a number of close friends, a wave of deranged grumpiness was sweeping the voting masses around the world, and a wildfire had torn through their hometown just days earlier. Life felt impermanent, chaotic, insane. In that little room they created our own, more sublime version of what was happening outside. A reflection where the universe didn't feel off-kilter, God showed up for work, and even madness made sense. The album featured production from Grammy winner Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire) and Gus Seyffert (The Black Keys, Beck).
Since moving to Bath, England in 2021, Sasha has been recording with producer and drummer Jason Boesel (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley) at 4AD studios in London and will release an EP in late 2023 followed by a UK tour.
No comments:
Post a Comment