LULU, newly signed to Decca Records – the company to which she first signed at the age of 15 – will release her new album, “Making Life Rhyme”, on April 13.
The album sees the singer return to her roots: a deep, rich, emotional, autobiographical medley of musical flavours, harking back to the raw groove of her pure early, soul and blues inspirations and fast forwarding to the most joyful music of today.
The album evolved after an invitation to perform a blues set at BB King’s Club in New York in February 2013. A glowing New York Times review, which hailed “the power and the passion” of her voice was a timely reminder to Lulu of what music meant to her - and so began the path to recording, ‘Making Life Rhyme’.
Initially, Lulu recorded blues covers with a small band of hand-picked musicians, overseen by her musical director and the album’s co-producer, Richard Cardwell. However, Lulu was inspired to bring a couple of her own songs into the sessions and Decca Records liked the original tracks so much, that they encouraged her to keep writing and provide more original material.
The album was recorded in London and features lyrics which are at once highly confessional, questioning and ultimately redemptive.
Lulu said:
“I should have done this years ago. But life is what life is, and now to write an album about how I see my life, it feels like it fits so well. I’ve dealt with demons, disappointments, I’ve dealt with anxiety, I’ve dealt with sadness. Now I like who I am, I feel good about the realisations that I’ve come to and the way I conduct myself. I feel like I’ve grown up in a way. And yet, the opposite is true. It’s like I’m just beginning.”
Nine of the eleven tracks are written by Lulu, along with her writing partner and brother – Billie Lawrie. Neither of the two cover tracks are obvious choices yet both are true classics and keep Lulu in very good company. ‘Angel’ was originally recorded by Jimi Hendrix and has since been re-recorded by several artists including Rod Stewart, while traditional song ‘Wayfarin’ Stranger’ has also been covered by Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young and, most recently, Ed Sheeran.
The deluxe edition of the album will include bonus 2015 versions of the classic tracks, ‘Relight My Fire’, ‘Shout’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Fight’, the latter being the song Lulu wrote for Tina Turner, which would prove to be as popular worldwide as it was iconic.
Tracklisting as follows –
Faith In You
Every Single Day
The Answer Is Love
Cry
Poison Kiss
Hypnotised
Heaven Help
Make Life Rhyme
Angel
Messed Up World
Wayfarin’ Stranger
DELUXE EDITION ONLY
Relight My Fire – 2015 Version
Shout – 2015 Version
I Don’t Wanna Fight
Lulu, who has worked with artists as disparate as David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Bobby Womack, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Take That, Jools Holland, Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Barry Gibb will tour the UK this year. The tour opens on May 10 and includes a major London date at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on May 17.
TOUR DATES AS FOLLOWS:
Sun 10 May 15 Salford Lowry
Mon 11 May 15 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Tue 12 May 15 Glasgow Clyde Auditorium
Thu 14 May 15 York Barbican
Fri 15 May 15 Gateshead Sage
Sun 17 May 15 London Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Mon 18 May 15 Cardiff St Davis Hall
Tue 19 May 15 Birmingham Symphony Hall
Thu 21 May 15 Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Fri 22 May 15 Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Sat 23 May 15 Sheffield City Hall
Mon 25 May 15 Ipswich Regent
Tue 26 May 15 Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre