Second Lens EP

Hello.
How was your festive period? Mine was lovely. I made dinner myself! Definitely my biggest culinary achievement to date. Next year I hope to get the duck right as well as the turkey and beef. Its ok, there were 8 of us.

But this is not why I popped in for a chat. I popped in for a chat because something exciting is happening. Do you remember me telling you about the project I was working on with Royce Wood Junior? Well its coming out! Second Lens is finally coming out on the 30th January on Shades of Grey Records and we are both incredibly excited about it!

Royce Wood Junior and I have spent the last couple of months organising a Royce Wood Junior live session for Mary Anne Hobbs‘ show on XFM. We recorded it a couple of weeks ago and one track a day is going to be broadcast from the 30th January, including one of the tracks from our Second Lens EP, a track featuring the OneTaste Choir, a special guest appearance from someone whose name rhymes with balloon (sort of) and the man RWJ himself singing incredibly beautifully! There’s more stuff to tell you but I will do that nearer the time.

Until then, here is a video for our song Outlines

See you soon!
Stac x

Harp

Hello!
How’s your winter going so far? It doesn’t really feel like winter does it? Not in England anyway. I went to New York a couple of weeks ago for my friends 30th birthday, we were lucky enough to experience 3 out of the 4 seasons while we were out there. It was glorious when we arrived on the monday…

and we woke up to snow on the saturday…

Global Warming ay. It was lovely to walk around Central Park in the snow but the fallen trees were a massive reminder that we are screwing ourselves up. So many trees fell because they still had their leaves. Its pretty sad. It was only October!

So, in order to bum you out further, I have decided to play you a new tune I wrote a couple of months ago. I recorded it at Jamie Woon’s and Royce Wood Junior’s studio. Well, actually, I recorded the harp in my bedroom at my folks house holding the microphone with my knees so Roycey, who produced it, had a lot of work to do. I think he did a smashing job. He also made this video for it. What a dude.

So thats it for now. Until next time!
Stac xx

Royce Wood Junior and Stac

Hello. How are you? It’s been a while hasn’t it. I’ve been busy organising shows for OneTaste in London and New York. How very la dee da!

Other than that I’ve been working on a new musical project with one of my best friends Royce Wood Junior. We have been friends for half our lives and its taken us this long to work on some music together. Im not entirely sure why. We have made an EP called Second Lens and I am really proud of it.

Roycey has spent the last couple of years working on and playing on Jamie Woons album MirrorWriting. Jamie is a mutual friend of equal duration. We all met at school and have been buddies ever since. Anyway, Jamie, being somewhat recognised as audible gorgeousness by a fair amount of people worldwide had suggested to one particular DJ that they might like a mixtape of tunes Roycey had made over the last year called Gutter. This particular DJ loved the mix and asked Roycey to send over some tracks so that they could play some on their radio show! Who am I kidding? You know Im talking about Mary Anne Hobbs. Ive been banging on about her on facebook for the past 2 weeks! She’s amazing. Not only did she play ‘Edge’ on her saturday show twice but she also made it her Game Changer record which meant that she played it every day so far this week on her new XFM show, Music Response.

It’s mental. Ive only managed to listen to it being broadcast live twice, once on monday night and again last night. Both times I felt sick and my heart was racing like that of a recently escaped budgie. It totally doesn’t sink in. I tried to make it by reminding myself the whole way through that the music I was listening to was coming from the same station I used to listen to all the time as a teenager. It didn’t. Its just made it harder.

I thought I should load you up with Royce and Stac stuff. Here is our facebook page just incase you wanted to ‘like’ us. No pressure.
Here is a picture of us drunk on Royceys birthday earlier this year. Our drunkness was severe.
I remember calling my friend Katie up the next day and telling her that I actually thought I might die.

And that’s me done! I hope that you like our stuff.
Speak to you soon and hope you are all well and lovely.
Stac xx

Stac returns with a host of remixes from a selection of producers all at the top of their game. This is the first of two remix projects (the second to be released in February 2011) featuring a stellar line up who’ve been queuing up to add their stamp to Stac’s trademark vocals.

On Volume One of “The Remixes” you’ll find producers de jour, Blue Daisy and Greymatter, along side more established names such as Natural Self and TM Juke, as well as newcomers Elias Linn and Royce Wood Junior, and many more. Look out for producers including Nu:tone and Kidkanevil  in Part 2!

We love Stac – and we’re not the only ones…

===============

Reactions:

“Very nice remixes – if i had to pick one it would be the Elias Linn mix of Glory  – Epictronica!” Nick Luscombe (Resonance FM)

“Nice work chaps. Good variety of mixes!” Found Sounds (DJ Mag)

“The Blue Daisy remix is off the scale. That is a masterpiece.” Greymatter (Unique Uncut / Wolf Music)

“I really like most of the stuff, esp. Paper Tiger, Greymatter & PTH!” Josef Sedlon (R1, Czech)

“PTH and Natural Self make my day. Both contenders for the next shows…” m.path.iq (Berlin, Germany)

“Natural Self mix! Nice work as always and will be played at Cumberlandsche Galerie for sure.” Ralf Zitzmann (Agogo Records, Germany)

“Sounding sweeeeeet! Really feeling the Greymatter mix.” Ross Wakefield (Part-Time Heroes)

“Brilliant project. Some of my favorite producers remixing the magical STAC. And there is second volume coming. Hotness !!!!” Angel Mishev (Groovy Sessions, Bulgaria)

“Royce Wood Jnr and Natural Self are my fave remixes. HOT!!” Zilvinas Stumbras (Bagpak, NYC)

“A high quality selection with each producer honouring the beauty of Stac’s vocals. A lot of these tracks are real growers. Fave right now is the Royce Wood Jr Mix!” Richard E (Further Out, LA)

“Oh yeah mate liking this, especially the Elias Linn remix of ‘Glory’.” DJ Abbo (Starpointradio.com)

“Loving all the tracks of course, but that Tip mix by Royce Wood is something else! Playing it on tonight’s show and really looking forward to the responses I know its gonna get. Wicked.” King Tee (Ireland)

“When I received the album a few months ago I said, wow this is so good. Now this, I’m speechless ‘couse this is better than good and it will for sure have my support all the way!” Georgios Paroglou (Athens, Greece)

“Incredible futuristic remixes of great productions!. Full support! Thanks.” Enrique (Fusionova Records)

The debut album from off-kilter, soulful songstress Stac is a unique blend of intoxicating harmonies, stunning live instrumentation and intricate songwriting that belies young Stacey Dowdeswell’s years.

“Turn That Light Out” takes its influences from classic soul, folk, reggae, acoustic and South American sounds, utilizing as it does a line-up that includes much lauded Mancunian jazz trumpeter Matthew Halsall, Hackney Colliery Band trombonist Magnus Dearness, strings courtesy of The Heritage Orchestra string section, former member of Brighton outfit The Hat, Dan Clark (on harp and double-bass), Part-Time Heroes pianist Stephen McCleery, a twelve strong choir, and as if that wasn’t enough Stac is joined by label mate and producer of the album Adam Scrimshire on guitar, and the whole album is engineered and executive produced by none other than Nostalgia 77! Blimey, not a bad line-up we’re sure you’ll agree.

The main focus of attention, though, should be on the glorious vocal tones of the lady herself. Opening tracks “Same Old Thing” and “Strainger” tell frustrated tales of inebriation and lust, and “Balls Bounce” continues that theme confronting the subject of Stac’s affection to rise to the challenge! The rather more sweet natured “Head On Me” features the Heritage Orchestra strings and is a tear jerker of the highest order, whereas the somewhat epic “All Or Nothing” again throws down the gauntlet to a loved one, before it crescendos with choir, grand piano and Stac’s band turning out what looks like being a future classic.

The more feet friendly “Whoops” sees Stac on sassy form, before the latin flavoured “More”, slow burner “Glory” and the quirky “Tip” pull heartstrings galore as the focus of the love interest continues to disappoint. The final track on the album, “Cry To Me”, is the only cover version on the album, taken as it is from classic chick flick “Dirty Dancing”, and despite the title (and the lyrics!) brings Stac’s emotional journey to something like a happy ending.

“Turn That Light Out” is an honest and evocative collection of songs from a young lady who has a unique vocal and song-writing talent, and with the help of some of her coolest friends, has created something very special indeed.

Buy the album now direct at stac.bandcamp.com

Reactions

=========

Music Week, Key Release 21/06/10!

“That lady is tasty!” Alice Russell

“Sounds like a young Minnie Ripperton” Mark Ronson

“Stac is DOPE!” Gilles Peterson (Radio 1)

“Stunning and beautiful. End of story.” Ashley Beedle (Xpress2)

“A gorgeous voice.” Mary-Anne Hobbs (Radio 1)

“Stac is amazing!” Brad Baloo (The Nextmen)

“Stac’s definitely gonna turn out the lights in the industry and shine like a star amongst her counterparts.” Blue Daisy

“On her accomplished debut album London based singer Stac pulls in some very talented friends, and in doing so illustrates just how convergent the Capital’s musical community can be: members of The Heritage Orchestra, producer Nostalgia 77, Mancunian Jazz figurehead Matthew Halsall and a dozen-strong choir all bring their talents to the table, although it’s Stac’s intricate songwriting that make ‘Turn That Light Out’ such an intriguing listen.” Barclaycard Mercury Prize Recommends

“Turn That Light Out is simply exquisite; an album so accomplished and beautifully performed it’s hard to believe it’s her debut. Call it soul, call it folk, call it jazz, whatever. It’s delicious. Imagine an English take on Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins, with the soul of Badu, the wit of (early) Winehouse and the charm and emotional directness of Feist and you won’t be too far off capturing the effect of the enchantment that Stac weaves.” Will Georgi, Okayplayer

The song ‘Give Me All Or Nothing’ deserves all those gushy, non-specific adjectives reserved for reviews pages like these; and as a whole this album of blue-eyed soul from nymphette Stacey Dowdeswell, backed by a 12-strong choir, conjures up over-saturated VHS footage of daisy chains and summer frolicking. It goes to show that the UK can do ‘feeling’ without resorting to American karaoke and, produced by Adam Scrimshire, it represents a landmark album for Wah Wah. Jez Smadja, Shook Magazine

“On first listen Stacey Dowdeswell could be mistaken for one of the many generic post-Adele, post-Corinne, post-Amy retro soul singers that increasingly clog up the industry. But as this album progresses, a deeply idiosyncratic way with song-structure, a backing band who aren’t short of funk, and an unselfconscious charm become clear. By the time it hits track eight, the aptly-titled “Glory”, you’ll be hooked.” Joe Muggs, theartsdesk.com

“Stac is very much the current sound of Wah Wah 45s as a delicate and vulnerable soulful flower but with song writting “balls” that’ll surprise you.” Gerry Hectic, Fly

“Turn that Light Out is a brave, unpretentious album with a stronger sense of identity than any British soul album of the past five years. It deserves to be heard far and wide.” Soulcuts.wordpress.com

“There’s a gentle simplicity that makes this album very alluring. A beautiful collection of tunes from this talented lady. a slice of Acoustic Soulful-folk with an almost ghostly quality, song writing that is passionate but not melodramatic. A strong line up of musicians including jazz trumpeter Matthew Halsall, Hackney Colliery Band trombonist Magnus Dearness, strings courtesy of The Heritage Orchestra string section, former member of Brighton outfit The Hat, Dan Clark (on harp and double-bass), Part-Time Heroes pianist Stephen McCleery, and a twelve piece choir. Stac’s vocals are refreshing with just a touch of melancholy.

“For me this is definitely the best debut album I’ve heard in 2010, and I’m sure it will be in heavy rotation for months years to come. With the right promotion and support from the public Stac could easily become a household name and help fly the flag for brit-soul both here and abroad, her fresh take on modern soul music should be a welcome alternative to the over-saturated, mediocre retro soul that seems to be clogging up the UK’s commercial soul-system.” Soul UK (SoulUKBlog.com)

“A perfect slice of acoustic soul.” Soul Identity

“What can I say, it was set up to be magnificent and it has not dissappointed, the songs have this light, beautiful, summery feel  yet pierce deep into your soul.  Stac is incredible..” The Confused Eclectic

“I’ve always been a fan of Stac. It’s refreshing,as oppose to generic tones and styles out there. Then again that’s me, I always beg to differ. IF YOU’RE NOT ON THE EDGE,YOU’RE TAKING UP TOO MUCH SPACE” Andy Williams (The Goods, Montreal, Canada)

“Fucking lovely stuff” Phat Phil Cooper (Sick Trumpet, 2 Dogs)

“Great Stac tunes! Head On Me is my absolute favourite maybe together with Same Old Thing. Lovely songs! Runner ups are All Or Nothing and Whoops – great as well. This girl is such a talent – great work – and big ups to the Scrim for production : )” Snorre Seim, Butti 49, Norway

“Classy stuff, there’s a gentle simplicity that makes these compositions very alluring. Lovely productions too.” Phil Levene, eclecticjazz.com

“I only have one simple word to describe it – BEAUTIFUL!” Markus Milz, Further In Fusion

“Absolutely love it! A corker of an LP! 10/10.” Ross Wakefield, Part-Time Heroes

“I must admit I agree with the Wah wah 45′s crew that this is their best release so far. A clever album that’s complete and has all a true music lover wants & needs, Stac’s superior voice makes this debut album of hers brilliant and her future as a vocalist & lyricist is bright, very bright!” DJ Georgios Paroglou, Greece

“Such an honest recording!” DJ John Hendicott (OneTaste)

“Amazing!” DJ Nelson Ramalho

“Wonderful, sublime sounds” Tom Middleton

“Sounds so much like Erykah Badu” DJ Flow (Play Vybz)

“Beautiful soundtrack for the soul. Already reviewed on radio oxigenio special review “o2 hifi” 3 times a day. Repeat soon.” DJ Tiago (Spaceboys, Portugal)

Radio play for:

• “All Or Nothing” by Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 1;
• “All Or Nothing” by Trevor Parkee on Departure Lounge Radio, Australia;
• “All or Nothing” by Nick Luscombe on Late Junction on BBC Radio 3;
• “Whoops” by Scott C and Andy Williams, The Goods Radio, 90.3FM, Montreal, Canada;
• “Strainger”, “Same Old Thing” and “Head On Me” by Phil Levene, Elclectic Jazz Radio;
• “Whoops” by Gil Karpas, Resonance FM 104.4FM, London;
• “More” and “All Or Nothing” by Simon Harrison, Basic Soul;
• “Whoops” by Markus Milz, Further In Fusion;
• “Whoops” by freefallradio.com / KUSF, San Fransisco U.S.A.;
• “Same Old Thing” – Lovemonk DJs on Gladyspalmera.com;
• “Cry To Me” and “Whoops” by Pete Isaac, Jelly Jazz Radio;
• “Whoops” by Gil Karpas on Resonance;
• “All Or Nothing” by Georgios Paroglou on Cosmic Sounds;
• “All Or Nothing” by Mike Chadwick on Jazz FM;
• “Same Old Thing” by David Bassin on KUSF 90.3 FM, San Francisco;
• Play Vybz;
• Radio Oxygenio (Portugal);
• Club Silencio Radio Show;
• “All Or Nothing” played on Departure Lounge Radio, Australia;
• “Same Old Thing” by Lovemonk DJs on Gladyspalmera.com.

Featured in Songlines Magazine, recommended release on halcyonline.com.

Her third single on Wah Wah 45s, in advance of the much anticipated release of her debut LP, “Turn That Light Out”

“All Or Nothing” comes in the shape of two heavy hitting remixes, from long time collaborator LenAfrosaxon, who delivers a straight up hip hop flavoured take, and sonic scientist Blue Daisy who comes through with something more heart wrenching, but a heavyweight head-nodder all the same.

Reactions:

“Stac is DOPE!” Gilles Peterson (Radio 1)

“Stunning and beautiful. End of story.” Ashley Beedle (Xpress2)

“A gorgeous voice.” Mary-Anne Hobbs (Radio 1)

“Stac is amazing!” Brad Baloo (The Nextmen)

“Loving both versions. Will play out for sure!” DJ Astroboy (Departure Lounge, Edinburgh)

“Nice stuff. I was looking fwd to that BD-mix to hear what the buzz is about. Very interesting sounds. LenAfroSaxon is the mix I like best at first this might change though. Looking fwd to hear the Stac album!” Snorre Seim (Butti 49, Norway)

“Blue Daisy remix takes it on here, supporting on my radio show this coming Monday. Beautiful track.” Jason Pulaski (Ubiquity Recordings)

“Blue Daisy’s remix on Stac is awesome. Deep and delicious. Essential!” DJ Laurel (Belarus)

“According to Facebook updates Stac`s album has rapidly become the most anticipated album of 2010! This definitely lives up to that hype. Ace!” DJ Fidel (Bang Bang! Norway)