• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

6 The Weekender www.alloaadvertiser.com Wednesday, June 9, 2021 Wednesday, June 9, 2021 www.alloaadvertiser.com The Weekender 7 Eliza Shaddad talks about the road to her new album MALKA opens up on impact of By Iain Smith ongoing battle with long-Covid By Iain Smith into a big hole. IKE everything else in the Scot- “I have struggled with the energy to try tish music scene recently, Eliza and promote it, but also it all felt a bit shal- Shaddad’s album has been a long- SOME days are better than others – huge low at the start of the pandemic to remind everyone about an album when we were all time coming. strides forward, only to be snapped back. For some, a bout of Covid-19 was a minor in- just trying to survive.” LFrom its inception back in March 2020, the record convenience and others will definitely have Schlesinger lost her father-in-law to Covid has been a labour of love for the songwriter and a found it a bit rough, to say the least. and soon came face-to-face with the disease companion through the pandemic era. And then there are those who battle a dif- herself and its long-term impact. The Woman You Want will finally be released ferent condition altogether: the entrenched Lockdown bore some light in that she next month, with teaser tracks in the form of Blos- and torrid duel with ‘Long-Covid’. had more time to concentrate on new music, som, Heaven and Now You’re Alone having already Songwriter Tamara Schlesinger, known even if it was cruelly coupled with a sheer landed. as MALKA, has been grappling with the lack of energy and concentration. Shaddad, the daughter of a Sudanese astrophysi- long-term effects of coronavirus since con- She says: “Writing and creating music is cist and a Scottish diplomat, will also unveil her tracting the illness more than a year ago. my total escape, which is why I think I have next single The Man I Admire on June 18. It has played havoc with both her physical found it particularly hard when I can’t do it. With most of the writing coming at the height of well-being and her mental health, and may “But for me, during lockdown, it has been the first lockdown, the album bears all the hall- well last beyond the pandemic itself. like going to a totally different world. It re- marks of introspection at a time of frustration and “I have never fully recovered,” the artist ally has been therapeutic to have that place isolation. tells The Weekender. “I had Covid over a year to disappear into for a few hours and I am Shaddad tells The Weekender: “When I was choos- ago and I have a lot of recurring symptoms. glad that for the most part I have been able ing the songs to make up the final track listing I “I am breathless, deeply fatigued, unable to do that over the last year or so.” realised they all were all striving towards the same to exercise properly and I also have some During lockdown, Schlesinger was able thing – a theme of who I want to be, and how far I neurological issues with dizziness and brain launch Hen Hoose – a female and non-binary feel like I’m achieving or failing at that. The album fog. Everyone is different and the symptoms collaborative songwriting project. She was title The Woman You Want and the song of that seem to vary a lot in each person. also able to improve her producing cre- name kind of sum that up.” “It has deeply affected me. It is hard not to dentials and released two tracks: Moving The singer continues: “Most of the album was in- feel very low when you can’t play with your Together and, most recently, Alive. deed written in March-April of last year, and largely children some days or even walk them to Alive was a product of lockdown, in more influenced by the intenseness of lockdown one and school due to being so deeply exhausted or than way, with elements of trying to return the few months leading up to it. I had so much time achey. to normal and cast off the shackles of the and, honestly, so many different feelings whirring “I don’t feel like the same person I was,” pandemic. around it was a pretty unique creative moment in she continues. “Before this, I had been train- Schlesinger ruminates: “I suppose there my life. ing as a gymnast again for my music video is that need to escape and feel myself again. “There are also three songs on the album that I’ve and I was as fit as I had been in years. To go That combination of suffering from long been playing with, and in one case playing live, for a from that to hardly managing to cook meals Covid and the restrictions we are all strug- while and I wanted to try recording for this album. peace. boss, a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend, a wife”. incredible influence really, I feel so open to language MORE TO some days is awful. gling with have come together into this song. “Normally, when I get in the studio everything COME: Eliza “And with that song in particular I now have a It is just another journey in a lifetime of jour- and genres and have a lot of respect for non-western “There are days when I feel good, even “I also watched West World and I felt a is 100 per cent finished and I’m quite resistant to Shaddad will song that I can scream-sing, too, when I feel discon- neys. Indeed, the well-travelled Shaddad has gar- music. It was also brilliant prep for tour life.” weeks, and then it hits again – that can be real affinity to the lead character, with that making any changes, but this time I definitely found unveil her nected and frustrated, and that’s always a good way nered admiration for her approach to music, which She adds: “I’ve always felt very drawn to tradi- the most depressing part, when you feel that need to feel and see so much more than the myself really wanting to sculpt little things about album next to get some emotions out.” is down to her unique upbringing. tional folks songs, the idea that people have been you are better, but you get hit by it again. confines of one space.” the lyrics and instrumentation to match the person- month. The singles released so far have been well-re- She describes herself as Sudanese-Scottish but singing the same songs and telling the same stories “I have also struggled to concentrate on She adds: “I really do hope that Alive res- al and collective things that were on my mind – the ceived by fans and critics, but she is, of course, not has never formally lived in either country. She spent for generations, maybe in part because my upbring- my music, so I am creating at a much slower onates with people, especially if they have BLM movement, the revolution in Sudan, and Covid finished yet. so much of her informative years soaking up so ing was so diverse I like the idea of a single thread pace than usual. I would probably have writ- been suffering during lockdown whether and all its ramifications.” Picture by Shaddad says: “I’m pumped for [the album] to many rich and diverse cultures, but always feels the through history – and I love a good long yarn and I ten a full album during lockdown with my from illness or just that need to reset the Shaddad’s most recent track Now You’re Alone Jodie Canwell come out. And pretty bowled over by the reaction pull of her heritage. think that has had a big influence on my songwrit- previous energy and concentration levels. clocks or escape. conveys the myriad of emotions felt during the early from fans and the media [to the singles]; it’s so The singer reflects: “My family are from Perth ing. “I am learning to live with it, but also “I am sure that there are lots of other stages of the pandemic. The uncertainty, the anger exciting and lovely, and I feel really lucky, especially and Aberdeen mostly – but, actually, from birth I “I also think the stories often ring as true today trying all kinds of things to try and recover artists struggling along with long Covid, and the fear. given the crazy circumstances under which the al- was travelling with my mum around Europe and as they ever have, and I hope that can bring us some from it too.” too. I haven’t seen much about it if they are But the singer feels the writing of the track bum was made. There is indeed more to come ahead Africa (Spain, Nigeria, Poland, Slovakia, Russia) and comfort at least – maybe in a kind of nihilistic way For Schlesinger, the pandemic has not though. helped her through it all, and also now provides her of July 16.” then at 18 ended up studying in Birmingham, then if nothing else. Time passes, people change, but the only robbed her of her vitality but has “I think that it is important to raise with an outlet when things get too intense. back to Spain, and then to London to pursue music. human experience is pretty similar – we strive, we trampled her plans to tour her latest album.

Load more

  1

Copy Link