Scarlette Fever debut album ‘Medication Time’ released June 6 on Starfisch Records
aaamusic | On 12, Jun 2011
Praise for debut single Crash & Burn: “A confident debut” – Record of the Day
“Rising star” The Sun |
- FEATURING CRASH & BURN (B-LISTED ON RADIO 2) + BLACK & WHITE
- TIPPED BY SUGAR & MIZZ AS AN ARTIST TO WATCH IN 2011
- CO-WRITTEN BY SCARLETTE, STUART CRICHTON & METROPHONIC (JAMES MORRISON)
- MIXED BY CENZO TOWNSHEND (SNOW PATROL) AND PRODUCED BY JULIAN EMERY
Hertfordshire-born pop chanteuse Scarlette Fever releases her debut album, ‘Medication Time,’ on June 6th, an inspiring mix of widescreen orchestral ballads, accessible guitar-led growers and classic pop, all brimming with anthemic chord changes and hooks.
The album, which is named after Nurse Ratched’s mantra in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Scarlette is a big movie fan), features new single Black & White(Co-written with Alex Smith from Metrophonic) along with the addictive ‘Crash & Burn,’ which exploded into the nation’s consciousness on its release this January. B-listed on BBC Radio 2, ‘Crash & Burn’ won praise everywhere from The Sun, Star Magazine and Record of the Day, to teen favourites Mizz, Sugar and Bliss.
Other highlights? The haunting ‘You Don’t Know My Name,’ which continues the cinematic theme and features a rare sample from John Barry’s Midnight Cowboy soundtrack. “I wrote it with Grant Black,” says Scarlette, “who’s Mr Barry’s godson. Mr Barry never gave permission for his stuff to be sampled, but when he said yes it was one of the best days of my life. A true honour.” In fact John Barry liked it so much that he allowed Scarlette Fever the use of ‘Give Me A Smile,’ an instrumental from his 1999 album, The Beyondness Of Things. Don Black (Grant’s esteemed lyricist father) wrote new lyrics and voila, there it is, as Medication Time’s secret song – found at the end of Track 14.
Elsewhere, there’s the similarly movie-referencing Single White Female, the Motown-esque clatter of ‘Cheatin’ Man’, the urgent ‘What Would You Do,’ written in the wake of a friend’s death from breast cancer (“She was only 27 and she never achieved her ambition of seeing Las Vegas”); the deeply personal ‘Elated’ and its similarly revelatory sibling, the ‘Lost In Translation’-inspired ‘Face The Facts,’ initially titled Scarlett Johansson.
And why Scarlette Fever? “My real name’s Karen,” she laughs. “And I’m passionate, so I was thinking of red. Being me, I had to be even more extreme and upgrade it to scarlet. And it’s ‘fever’ as in a fantastic rush of out of control joy and excitement. So here I am.” Here she is indeed. Now 28, she really ought to have been a marine biologist, but after sailing through her biology, chemistry and mathematics ‘A’ levels, Scarlette was faced with a choice: to follow her obsession with sharks; or to join the, ahem, shark-free music industry.
You can guess what she chose. And, our collective thumbs firmly pressed on fast-forward, 2010 flew by in a whir of roadshows, tour supports and working through official Pride performances in London, Brighton, Leeds and Doncaster. Oh, and let’s not forget the Blackpool illumination festivities where she (no doubt) giddily performed alongside Robbie Williams (who was there to turn on the lights). And now clever old Scarlette is headlining her own London dates in preparation for a nationwide tour this summer. Details TBA.
“What do I hope for this year?” Scarlette lets out a perfectly-formed sigh. “That’s a tough question… According to the Mayan calendar the world is due to end in 2012 so 2011 needs to be pretty damn incredible. ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ baby.”
Download ‘You Don’t Know My Name’ here:
