Tanita Tikaram releases new material and reflects on the music industry in the 1990s

Record ID: 902134

  • Title: Tanita Tikaram releases new material and reflects on the music industry in the 1990s
  • Date: 27th April 2016
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (APRIL 20, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) SINGER, TANITA TIKARAM, ON WHY SHE TOOK A BREAK, SAYING: "I think when you're young and you start very young you're not necessarily sure about why you are doing things and especially if a lot of success is given to you without you feeling that you've really earned it so I think there was a little moment where I was a bit like, 'I don't really know if I'm supposed to be a songwriter this is, I don't even know I just wrote a bunch of songs I am not sure why, and also just being a young woman you are really finding your identity and trying to, just be exploring life and not necessarily you want to do that in a public way."
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2016 13:16
  • Keywords: music Ancient Heart Food On My Table Twist In My Sobriety Closer to the People Tanita Tikaram
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music
  • Reuters ID: LVA00E4F5AC0D
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: After several years on the road 46-year-old singer songwriter Tanita Tikaram is back with new album 'Closer To The People' and a light-hearted single that she hopes will get people dancing.
    Tikaram made her name in the late 1980s when as a teenager when her debut album 'Ancient Heart' sold around 4 million copies worldwide.
    Known for her husky voice she told Reuters on Wednesday (April 20) that her latest track 'The Way You Move' is simply about getting people dancing.
    ''It's a song about really loving the way that people move, however they move and however they dance. It's a really innocent song and I'm really glad I wrote it, because I'm probably not usually associated with songs like that. So it's quite nice to have a light song that hopefully people dance to."
    The music video features a couple of lead professional dancers, but the rest of the cast are either friends or people that she and music video director Natasha Horn simply spotted on the tube in London and asked to be involved.
    ''Well Natasha the director is very good at just talking to people on the tube and saying I think you have a great face, do you want to be in my video and then people are usually very receptive."
    For her ninth studio album 'Closer to the People' Tikaram got her rhythm and blues band to collaborate with producers Angie Pollock - who's worked with Goldfrapp and Goetz Botzenhardt, who's worked with Faithless - to bring together the different musical styles: ''The idea that I had was very much from working with a touring band - and having a very strong relationship with my musicians and having the sense that I should make something that also sits very in a modern setting,' she said.
    Tikaram - who was born in Germany and moved to Basingstoke in England with her family in her early teens - was 19 when she found herself propelled to stardom. Reflecting on the music industry in the late 80s she told Reuters she was lucky to be allowed time to develop as an artist:
    "I suppose when I was younger one of the fortunate things was that I was still on the tail end of record companies actually developing an artist and perhaps investing in a longer term career and I think it's quite difficult now for young artists because things happen very quickly and the expectation is for things to happen quickly but you still have to build things and you still have to build your identity as an artist and that doesn't necessarily take one album it's a longer thing and also building your audience."
    Tikaram's debut album 'Ancient Heart' reached number one in the charts in Germany and Austria, while it got to number three in the UK and number 59 in the US.
    Despite an initial successful couple of years, after the release of her third album 'Everybody's Angel' in 1991, her next few records failed to have the same impact. Following the release of her sixth album 'The Cappuccino Songs' in 1998 she took a break from the music industry.
    ''I think when you're young and you start very young you're not necessarily sure about why you are doing things and especially if a lot of success is given to you without you feeling that you've really earned it so I think there was a little moment where I was a bit like, 'I don't really know if am I meant to be a songwriter this is, I don't even know I just wrote a bunch of songs I am not sure why, and also just being a young woman you are really finding your identity and trying to, just be exploring life and not necessarily you want to that in a public way.''
    Seven years later in 2005 Tikaram made a comeback with 'Sentimental', followed by 'Can't Go Back' in 2012. Her latest album 'Closer To The People' was released in March and while she performs at festivals in the UK and Europe this summer Tikaram is also hoping to write new material.
    "Every time you do live concerts you start to have new ideas, 'cause the audience always tells you what you have to write next - so I hope that new things will come out," she said.
    Tikaram's latest single 'The Way You Move' was released on April 22.
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