Jade MacRae Get Me Home
Get Me Home
The new album by Jade MacRae
For any songwriter or performer, maintaining one's integrity is not always so easy in the world commercial pop music. Especially when you are classically trained in violin and piano, you have a love for old-school soul and R&B and you work primarily in an Australian market dominated by rock and pop.
"The reason I make music is like anyone else, because I love the process
of writing a song; of working with my band and performing my music live.
I wanted my new album to be a true representation of me, to tell a story
and hopefully show any growth as a person and musician I may have made
since the first album" said Jade.
For Jade MacRae, to take the next step from critical acclaim and awards
that her debut album received, certain compromises and changes were
required to evoke a new direction musically that would satisfy herself,
her fans and the dreaded yet often crucial 'commercial interests'. The
result is Jade's new album, 'Get Me Home'.
"Taking into account what you think other people want you to write can
be a mistake that can ruin an artist. Ultimately however I do think my
subconscious was probably affected somewhat by the very fact that I did
not reach as many people as I hoped when making my first album, and I
started to write an album that I guess maintained my soulful roots, but
moved more into the fluid world of electronic and commercial pop."
Jade's debut album opened doors in the US and Europe, allowing Jade to
work with songwriters and producers who have written hits for many
international recording artists.
"Working with such professional, creative and musically sound people was
amazing. You automatically raise your game. I felt relaxed because I
knew the people around me were great at what they do. Sometimes you only
get a day to work with someone, so the pressure to produce is high. You
need to feel comfortable."
Feeling at ease and relaxed has not always been so easy for the
diminutive beauty. The once very shy girl with low self-esteem faced
many long-time personal insecurities and fears by placing herself in the
public eye so often. A homebody at heart, Jade is happiest cooking for
her friends and relaxing and having a laugh over a glass of wine. The
rigours of constant travel, promoting a record, corporate gigs, charity
gigs, touring, TV appearances, never wearing the same dress twice, being
in a constant state of 'beautiful' etc all changed Jade's life
immeasurably. Personal experiences and public scrutiny combined to make
Jade's life extremely successful and some tough professional and
personal changes needed to be made, and were. But you won't hear Jade
making any excuses.
"I would not swap my career for anyone's. I hate hearing sob stories
from people in the entertainment industry about how tough they have it.
But anyone who thinks doing what I do is overly glamorous is just plain
wrong. I do this because I love making and performing music, not because
I want to see some magazine comment on what designer dress I have
borrowed for an event or the latest happenings in my personal life. I
want people to discover my music and hopefully fall in love with it."
And fall in love they will. Get Me Home is a perfect mix of what makes
Jade so unique; her soulful tone, her lyrical content and her
distinctive phrasing, combined with the production values that rival any
in the world today. Through her songs such as Low, Trouble and the
highly anticipated new single I Wanna Be In Love. Jade has managed to
keep her musical integrity intact to deliver a truly incredible
follow-up album.
"Writing an album has been compared to having a baby- I'm not sure about
that. But the feelings surrounding the release of any album are similar.
You pour a lot of time, energy and a lot of yourself into an album. This
is not an album of three singles and a bunch of filler songs. Each song
on the album had to really fight for its place, and I am really proud of
the results."
As the album looks primarily at relationships and love, the subject
matter could on the surface look typical of a 'not quite ready to settle
down' young woman. However such a take on this album would be incorrect.
It is through these broader themes that Jade is able to look into the
darker and lighter shades with lyrics also examining betrayal, lust,
depression, domestic violence, flirtation and communication breakdown.
Asking jade to separate fact from fiction in this album is met with a
private grin.
"One of the great things about songwriting is the therapy involved with
telling a story or releasing emotions that you are feeling. Most of what
I write is based on my experiences or the experiences of those close to
me. Low is a song about being betrayed by the one you love, and the pain
and confusion that goes along with that- I think everyone can relate to
this in some sense- in this case it's about your partner cheating on you
with your best friend, and her ending up pregnant with his child. You're
Gone is one of the most emotional songs from the album. It can be really
painful when your partner is afraid to communicate and becomes
withdrawn. You end up feeling alienated and alone and these were the
feelings I was trying to capture. But I am naturally reticent to divulge
exactly what is fact from fiction when these are things very personal to
me and those around me."
The album also contains a lighter, fun side that is more in tune with
the real everyday Jade MacRae. Under The Sheets was inspired by 'lazy
summer afternoons spent with a lover under crisp white sheets', and In
The Basement, Get Me Home and Shine Like A Diamond add thumping beats
and a club chic attitude that initially brought Jade to prominence with
her hit So Hot Right Now in 2006.
"I was fortunate enough to write with Warryn Campbell on my first album.
When I heard that he was keen to work together again on this album… to
say I was excited would be a huge understatement. When I arrived Dr Dre
was in the studio working on a new act that he was producing. Working
with Warryn was enough of a buzz, but add the presence of Dre to the
equation and I was on such a high. It really made me feel a part of
something big. The track is one of my favourites to perform live as
Warryn put down some awesome live drums, keys and backing vocals and it
really comes alive with my band."
Jade's peers also recently recognised her. Jade won a prestigious 2008
APRA Award for Best Urban Release for her single In The Basement in
June.
"I wrote In The Basement on a whirlwind writing trip to Sweden in early
2007. I was lucky enough to work with Arnthor Birgsson, one of the
incredible writers from Max Martin's famous Maratone Studios in
Stockholm. We had one day together. He had a huge collection of vintage
synths and we ended up with a banging electro club track."
The title track of the album is Get Me Home, and as the name suggest it
is symbolic of the journey that has taken Jade from Sydney's northern
beaches all the way around the world and back.
"It was an amazing experience and I found it particularly interesting
writing lyrics with writers whose first language was not English. Of all
the songs written for this album, the title track Get Me Home was
written when I was feeling particularly isolated in Stockholm. Get Me
Home is essentially a song about losing your way, losing your centre of
gravity, your sense of Self, and the journey to get back to your true
essence. When I hear the fully produced version of the song by J Skub
from Melbourne I really felt that I had once again found my musical
centre and found my way home."
www.girl.com.au/jade-mac-rae.htm
www.girl.com.au/jade-macrae-in-the-basement.htm
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