PENETRATION and INVISIBLE GIRLS frontwoman Pauline Murray heralds a new solo album with a new single and video.
'Secrets' is the first track to be unveiled from what will be Murray's third solo album Elemental.
The single was originally recorded back in the '80s, only surviving on a single cassette tape. “It was mixed to a cassette and left in a box for years,” explains Pauline. “When we were recording the new album, we remembered this track, found the cassette but couldn’t find the original master tape. All the parts were there, and it sounded really good, but the recording was unusable. We decided to re-record it and tried to replicate the original arrangements, keyboard parts and sounds whilst maintaining the original atmosphere. It’s amazing that something hidden away for so long can assert itself fully into the here and now. Like a secret being revealed.
“Lyrically, it’s about the pressure to conform to social perceptions and expectations,” she continues. "Having to rely on body language and energy exchange to see what’s really going on.”
Elemental was initially recorded in France during 2016 and completed at their own Polestar Studios in Newcastle in 2019. Produced by Penetration bassist and co-founder Robert Blamire, it also features current band-members Paul Harvey, Steve Wallace and Ken Goodinson plus the Invisible Girls' Steve Hopkins and former Roxy Music and current Lindisfarne drummer Paul Thompson.
“As a 15-year-old, I was a big Roxy Music fan,” enthuses Pauline. “I would never have thought that their drummer Paul Thompson who played on all those fantastic records would be playing on my album all those years later. As a 15-year-old fan, I wouldn’t even have envisaged making music myself! Paul came into our studios with Lindisfarne and we plucked up the courage to ask him to play on some of the tracks. It was really exciting when he agreed and an absolute buzz to hear him playing on the songs.”
“The idea for the video ties in with my four paintings featured on the album sleeve," she continues. "It reflects the lyrics - I’m putting on a face to hide. A single camera was set up in a dark room lit only with a make-up mirror. I mixed the paints beforehand and did the face painting in a single take. The Volvo footage was shot around the same time that the song was written. We only found it recently whilst digitising some old VHS tapes. The performance video was shot earlier this year at Polestar Studios. Rob edited it all together.”
Elemental is set for release on 25 September on Polestar Records. It's available to pre-order here.
Pic by Kit Haigh