TRACK REVIEW: Kelly Lee Owens - Re-Wild

TRACK REVIEW:

Kelly Lee Owens

Re-Wild

9.6/10

The track, Re-Wild, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVwZwVTwMPs

The album, Inner Song, is available via:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/kelly-lee-owens/inner-song

RELEASE DATE:

28th August, 2020

GENRES:

Synth Pop/Dream Pop

ORIGIN:

Flintshire, Wales/London, England

LABEL:

SmalltownSupersound

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I am going to revisit a subject…

that I have brought up in various interviews recently: how this year is being dominated by women. The last few years have seen women rise to the fore and release some truly phenomenal albums! I think this year is one where women have ruled like never before. I mention it because there is still huge sexism in the industry and there is still inequality. From festival line-ups and award shows, change is happening very slowly! I think this year has been made much richer by the innovative and sensational albums we have seen. From Phoebe Bridgers, Dua Lipa and Fiona Apple, the finest music of this year has been released by women. I hope that those in the industry can see the staggering music put out by women and they pledge to make changes and strive towards gender equality and greater rights for female artists. Not only are the albums released by women tremendous in terms of quality; they are hugely varied and original. This takes me to Kelly Lee Owens. The Welsh-born, London-based artist has just released her album, Inner Song, and it is one of this year’s very best. I will come to that album and a song that I have highlighted for special consideration but, before then, I want to go back to Owens’ earliest years and her eponymous debut album – which was released in 2017. This article from Under the Radar in 2017 introduces us to an exceptional talent:

"I didn't really know, in a way, what production meant until I started working with Daniel Avery on Drone Logic," explains Kelly Lee Owens. The 28-year-old Londoner grew up in North Wales, but traveled about, studying in Manchester and then moving to London to focus on music. She discovered her love for dance music thanks to working in a record store called Pure Groove with Avery, leading to her contributions on the techno producer's 2013 record Drone Logic. Following their collaboration, Owens dropped two white label 12-inches alongside her Oleic EP. But this year is the first time Owens is releasing a full-length.

It's almost surprising that she's only now releasing her first LP, but it was really Avery who opened her up to the world of production. "Sitting in on the sessions was when I got really into analog production," explains Owens. "It quickly became an obsession—especially with analog, it's very tangible and works within the Logic program as well. I realized very quickly that I very much knew what I wanted and what I wanted the sound to be."

A body of work fully envisioned by Owens, her self-titled debut is a "sonic diary" that oscillates between dark techno, ethereal pop, and Krautrock, always leaving you wondering what's next. Owens' breathy vocals paired with pulsating beats reveal an album riding the emotional spectrum. Inspired by Björk's Vespertine and the thousands of tiny beats and home recordings that she compiled over two years, Owens' first record includes a plethora of unconventional sound bites (in the past she has used all sorts of weird noises, including a cracker melting into soup). "On the first track there are tiny Japanese bells that I found that I literally whacked into a pencil and a rubber microphone [to create unconventional noises]...I added reverb and that's kind of the outro to that track," describes the up and coming producer. "It keeps it interesting for me, if nothing else."

Instead of starting off with lyrics, Owens wrote the music first—it was her way of experiencing her emotions. "I needed that therapeutic sense of wanting to talk about specific situations that have affected me and relationships seemed to be a theme that came up," she says. "A lot of songs reflected specific relationships—maybe that was just my way of processing stuff. Also, interestingly, it led into a relationship with myself." While the idea of connections was weaved into the record, it thematically wasn't a conscious decision for her. "I put myself in the deep end and just hoped for the best and things start coming together," says Owens”.

That debut album was three years ago, and it received some great reviews. I think Owens has taken a big leap since then, and her sound and modus operandi has altered. I love the direction of Inner Song, and how it builds from the early promise and brilliance of her debut. Like Kelly Lee Owens, Inner Song ranges from the bold and big Techno and something more emotional and inward-looking. That sonic and emotional dichotomy has defined Owens’ work, but I think she has really come into her own and struck gold on her second album! I am going to include another interview in a second, as it talks about the direction of the new record and, whilst it has similarities to the debut, there are differences that have resonated and translated into five-star reviews. I think Inner Song is a more personal album and it digs deep and resonated for longer. Loud and Quiet highlighted the richness of Inner Song and how Owens has developed as an artist:

“It’s a record that once again divides its time between the throb of wordless techno tracks and down tempo dream pop numbers, with myriad of other influences thrown in to both. ‘On’ pulls off each style one after the other, when Kelly’s breathy vocal drops out over the blips, the pace quickens and switches to a low-end thump for the next two and a half minutes. A similar tone – of warmth and smoothness – permeates the whole album, regardless of any given track’s leading style: like the thudding ‘Melt!’, which features perfectly weighted drops, and Kelly’s clearest venture into vintage Krautrock – ‘Jeanette’.

By grounding everything in the bass, Inner Song is tied together with a richness that perhaps goes all the way back to when Kelly first heard The Knife. There’s a murky RnB slow jam, too (‘Re-Wild’), some old-school two-step at the end of the otherwise meditative ‘Arpeggi’, and John Cale collaborates on ‘Corner of My Sky’ – something that, as a proud, Welsh indie nut, Kelly still can’t quite believe: “I cried when I finished the arrangement,” she says.

PHOTO CREDIT: Parri Thomas

The most marked difference is that Inner Song is sounding less dub than Kelly Lee Owens, which is a side effect of Kelly’s most direct decision when making this record: where her first album treated her voice as just another musical instrument, feeding her vocals through a Space Echo or Watkins Copicat, Inner Song lifts her voice to the front of the songs she sings on. “I supported Four Tet in America, and when Kieran saw me live he came over and said, ‘why have you been hiding your vocals? Get them up there next time.’

“But this record is also a reflection of my life. I’ve been through quite a lot in my personal life. It sounds clearer because that’s how I feel.”

It doesn’t take two listens to Inner Song to identify much of it as a break-up album. Kelly is, after all, singing hooks like, “So, this is how it must go / In my way / Moving on”, and ‘L.I.N.E.’ stands for ‘Love Is Not Enough’.

“What I’ve decided is to not divulge too many of the details,” she says, “especially when there’s another person involved. But the album focuses on a lot of loss. What I’ve realised is that even in the deepest and darkest of times – and this is cheesy – is that sense of hope. There’s always something hopeful in my music. It’s the melancholic Welsh girl thing. Again, I can’t help it. I’ve tried to write something in a major key and I just can’t do it”.

As I say, I think Inner Song is one of the finest releases of the year, and I think there are personal reasons why Owens’ music connects so heavily and readily. She worked as a nurse, and her experiences with mortality and vulnerability, I feel, are vital when it comes to us understanding who she is as a songwriter and why her music is so powerful. Not only can Owens tap into emotions and experiences that other songwriters cannot access, but she understands the healing nature of music and how it can help people.

PHOTO CREDIT: Burak Cingi

There is more to Inner Song than Owens’ C.V., but I feel the reason why (or one of the main reasons) Inner Song is such a stunning record is that it is unafraid to discuss and tackle darker subjects, but there is a resounding sense of hope and providing the listener with light. I am fascinated by Owens’ experiences as a nurse and how it has fed into the music. When Owens spoke with The Guardian earlier in the year, the power of healing was discussed – she revealed how she is making the experience of lockdown easier to deal with:

“Owens understands the role of healing more than most: in her late teens, while others would be waiting tables, she worked as an auxiliary nurse in a cancer ward, “holding people’s hand as they die”. The job gave her a unique insight into death. “Hearing is supposedly the last thing that goes,” she says, and so, when her grandmother died, “everyone was around her, holding her hands, telling her they loved her. That’s one of the ways to die well.

“This sounds really weird,” she adds, “but I feel like later on in life I might become a death doula. We need to have more conversations about death, and I’m not afraid of that.”

It is obviously devastating to consider that, right now, people aren’t able to see their loved ones as they pass. “People are dying alone and it’s a very serious thing,” Owens nods, although she has been thinking about alternative comforts. “I know it’s a pandemic, but maybe there could be their favourite scent in the room, or maybe there could be music playing,” she suggests. “It’s obviously not easy to do any of this, and the NHS is struggling, but I can’t help but think of little ways that would help ease [their pain].”

PHOTO CREDIT: Liam Jackson

She recently dedicated a playlist of calming tracks to care workers, some of whom she is still in touch with from her hospital days, and who she is understandably concerned about. “The PPE [shortage] is absolutely huge,” says Owens. “I know a lot of doctors who are refusing to work, and I fully support them in that. The government is putting it as a war, so we have ‘heroes’, and actually all they’re doing is what they’d normally do with wars, which is to sacrifice people”.

Not that I want to dwell on death and mortality, but I think it is important to mention when we talk about Kelly Lee Owens. Given her experiences as a nurse, it is inevitable that the nature of life and death is always on her mind, but I think her music is a lot richer and more moving because of those experiences. I feel it is vital to get a more comprehensive and intimate look at an artist before approaching their music, rather than just penning a couple of paragraphs that barely scratch the surface. Kelly Lee Owens is a fascinating human, and I was eager to dig out as much research and interviews as I could in order to properly contextualise her music and original talent. In the interview from Loud and Quiet, Owens’ relationship with death was revealed:

“I could talk about death all day,” she says. “I feel it was a privilege to be there at the end of someone’s life, and it’s inevitable, so we need to be able to talk about this more. I genuinely believe that you can die well. The hearing is the last thing to go, so when my nana passed I was talking her through her death, and I would do that intuitively in the nursing home I worked at before the hospital and in the hospital. I would have days when I’d have stopped working for the day and someone’s dying and they’re alone, and I’d say, ‘I’m going to sit in that room with that man so that he doesn’t pass alone.’

PHOTO CREDIT: Sara Amroussi-Gilissen

“I’ve seen a lot,” she says. “The body is just a shell, and I’ve seen that essence disappear and go somewhere else.”

I suppose once you’ve cared for cancer patients in your late teens, moving to London to jump over fences into locked parks, keeping in touch with Graham Coxon and finding your own Arthur Russell only to let him go again aren’t such terrifying prospects. That Kelly’s done any of them is really quite incredible, even if Google does tell me that Virgos “take their responsibilities seriously”. It also says, “If you are ever unsure of how a Virgo feels, just look at their artwork”.

In contrast to death and the fragility of people, Owens knows that music has this enormous and unique capacity to restore and rejuvenate. We can all relate to what Owens discusses in Inner Song, and I think another reason why the album has been received so effusively and enthusiastically is because of its relatability. Maybe it is the current situation and lockdown that means the songs are even more nuanced and potent than they otherwise would be. Owens’ debut album is a wonderful thing, but I think the strides she has taken and what she has learned since has made her sophomore album so amazing. Above everything else, Inner Song is here to provide hope and strength for people who feel alone or are struggling to cope. In an NME interview, Owens discussed suicide in men, and how she wants her new album to give people some comfort and strong reassurance:

“I’m definitely not afraid of leaning into the cracks emotionally,” Owens says, citing an unexpected response from her male listeners. “A lot of men send me messages saying ‘I cried listening to this’ or ‘this made me connect to my emotions’. That is phenomenal,” she enthuses, “to hold space in that way, especially with men, who have been so forced to forget their feelings,” noting that suicide remains a top killer of men in the UK.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jonangelo Molinari

It’s particularly fitting, then, that she chooses the word “strength” when asked what she hopes ‘Inner Song’ will give people. Deeper still, she wants them to “not be afraid to be alone,” pointing out that ‘alone’ used to be two words: “all one – meaning ‘whole’. That’s what this time has shown us: being whole within the self is the greatest of all strengths and, that, however painful things can be at times, expressing that pain is healing”.

I will move on to reviewing Re-Wild in a minute but, in lieu of reviewing the whole of Inner Song, I want to, instead, look at Owens as an artist and various sides to her work. I have highlighted her work as a nurse and how she has progressed since her debut album, but I have not touched on the experimental nature of Owens’ music and her love of Techno music. I think she is a huge innovator and someone who absorbs sounds and music like nobody else. If her experience as a nurse gave her a privileged glimpse into human frailty and the power of hope, I think her experience of working around music and records has driven her as a sonic pioneer and composer. It raises a question as to how one’s work experience can directly feed into their music, and how instrumental a varied C.V. is. Owens has definitely enjoyed a broad and interesting life, and her time working at a record shop gave her a spark that has been burning bright ever since. I want to bring in an article from Music Tech, where we learn more about her time at a record shop and how the music played their inspired her:

“As well as immersing herself in music scenes across the country, Kelly’s palette was also broadened by the time she spent behind the counter of important music retailers. Her employment at the legendary Pure Groove when she first moved to the capital proved to be a crucial step in her development. “The Farringdon shop was where I first met Daniel Avery,” she says. “Then I met Erol Alkan and mavericks like Andrew Weatherall. I ended up becoming friends with these people and was lucky enough to call them mentors and collaborators.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Liam Jackson

Surrounded by inspiration, both in person and from the shop’s speakers, sparked a transition in Kelly. She would go from selling records to making them. “My songs are an amalgamation of the places and people I’ve connected to,” she says. “Everything I’ve been exposed to has seeped in”.

Kelly’s creativity is driven by her love of sampling, and she’s carving out a reputation as someone unafraid of wrapping her recording equipment around even the most unlikely sound sources. “I sample all sorts of weird stuff,” she says, with a laugh. “This is going to sound odd but my nan’s hearing aid whistles a lot. When she took it out, it made this really high-pitch sound, so I recorded and processed it. You can sometimes create magical moments from the most unexpected places.”

When preparing to record, Kelly sets up her environment in a way that allows for maximum experimentation, so she can get the most out of her creative outbursts. “I’ll hook up a synth like a Korg Mono/Poly to some kind of sequencer just to see what happens,” she says. “Sometimes a random pattern will emerge that just works, especially with analogue, where you can’t predict anything. When I worked with Jon Hopkins, he’d recently collaborated closely with Brian Eno. Brian told him there’s no such thing as a mistake and I agree. You have to look out for these moments, as these are the gems you didn’t even know you needed”.

There are a couple of other subjects I want to introduce before I settle into a review of Re-Wild, but Owens is a fantastic producer, and I think she is helping to redefine the role of a producer. Through the years, artists and producers have had greater accesses to affordable equipment, and one does not need to be in a studio or have a lot of money to produce an ambitious and accomplished album. Especially now, as access to studios is reduced, a lot of artists are producing their own work, and many are doing it from their own homes.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kim Hiorthøy

I don’t think people mention Owens’ production talents when they talk about her music. I want to bring in a brief passage from Music Tech (again), where Owens explained how producers now do not need to be overly-au fait with technology or have a great knowledge of the studio and usual processes:

“Kelly is keen to reconfigure notions of what producers should be in 2020. With so much easily available and affordable gear on the market, these days there are innumerable avenues down which music-makers can take their creations. Though a fundamental understanding of the machinations of programs such as Pro Tools and Logic is likely to help, complete technical proficiency shouldn’t be anybody’s end goal. “Many people think producers are technical wizards but you don’t need to be to come up with great music,” says Kelly. “There are so many ways to get music made and finished. It all depends on the kind of producer you are”.

Two more things I need to cross off the list before I get down to business is how Owens’ singing voice has been pushed more to the front now, and what a great vocalist she is. I also want to write about, despite her talents as a vocalist, she is having to fight for attention and approval still. Since her 2017 eponymous debut, Owens has come on in bounds as a writer and singer, and I think an important reason why the subjects and striking lyrics on Inner Song are so moving is because of the clarity and strength of her vocals. In this interview from Dork, Owens explained why her voice is more prominent:

“In contrast to her first record, Kelly's vocals and lyrics are more prominent here. You can hear the sound of her blossoming as a writer as she deals with big, bold themes, both personal and global, with songs that tackle climate change and the elemental power of Earth. "The lyrics are more straight to the point," she states. "I needed the messages to be heard literally, clearly. The vocals have got more confidence to them, and that informs the production as well."

PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Stedeford

"If you think about a day in your life and the range of how many different emotions you go through, then all that can happen within one track. 'On' is the perfect example of that, and it's what I always call a hybrid," she continues. "I can go into the honesty of that feeling of letting go and moving forward. Then it can transform you into that feeling of acceptance and the music changes, and it's like let's literally move forward and create shapes and sounds. The sounds push me forward. The emotion ties it together and allows that flow of ideas".

Kelly Lee Owens has collaborated with others, and I was especially struck by the wonderful track, Luminous Spaces, from earlier in the year. It is a fantastic song, and we hear Owens’ voice on the track. Unfortunately, as this interview from The Guardian explains, Owens’ contribution was ignored; many people were raving about Hopkins and his brilliance instead:

“It was her “insistence”, she laughs, that resulted in her and friend Jon Hopkins making the ambient-trance song Luminous Spaces in January. Originally a remix of his track Luminous Beings, Owens did the arrangement and added vocals, and it became something new entirely, even otherworldly. So it was disappointing for Owens to see the part she played diminished.

“Unfortunately, all the comments on YouTube are like: ‘Jon’s a wizard, he’s amazing,’” she says. “His production is amazing, but I took that track and made it what it is. And he’ll tell you that.

“It’s boring,” she continues, “but I still have to fight my corner, because if I don’t I’m passed off as ‘just the singer’. Why are we presuming that if a woman’s voice is on something, it’s the only thing she’s contributed? We have to keep undoing those preconceptions”.

Have no doubt that Kelly Lee Owens is greatly respected. I still think there is a lot of sexism and ignorance towards women in music, but Inner Song is an album that one cannot ignore! It is a staggering album and it will open many new doors for Owens. There are a lot of great songs that I could have reviewed from Inner Song, but I was particularly affected by Re-Wild and I wanted to throw some love and light on this great track.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jonangelo Molinari

Although there are few different lyrics in Re-Wild – line are repeated to create great impact -, I do love the composition and the layers of the song, and how powerful Owens’ voice is and what she does with the song. Three is this electronic coda that opens the song that is stirring and haunting at the same time. We hear a pulsing beat, and one already constructs images and scenarios for the song. A terrific introduction can set the listener off in all kinds of directions, and I was already immersed and dreaming before the vocal came in. As a producer and composer, Kelly Lee Owens has this intuition and knack of crafting incredibly rich and interesting compositions, and she wastes no time in getting under the skin on Re-Wild. I would be interested to know where the title stems from, and whether it refers to her being reborn and this new sense of life and vivacity entering her life. The opening verse offers some form of explanation and insight: “Felt the power in me/Things are different in me/Watch your eyes open me/Watch your eyes open you”. The simplicity and beauty of those words is amazingly moving, and Owens delivers them with so much heart and meaning. One can arrive at their own conclusions as to who inspired those lyrics, but I was thinking more of a romantic background rather than anything else. Backed by a beat that provides throb and blood flow, Owens layers her voice and she beautifully weaves her vocals so that there is this mixture of the heady and tangled. I have gone back to the first verse again and again, as there is so much to investigate and study. On the surface, the verse might sound quite simple and sparse, but there is so much detail in the composition and there is endless nuisance in the vocal. Owens is such an underrated singer, and one of the great strengths of Re-Wild is Owens’ vocal performance.

The pace and flow changes as we move from the first verse into the pre-chorus. The pre-chorus is a little faster, as Owens sings “Taking release/taking release” (twice), and, again, I was thinking more about a relationship and the nature of love. Maybe I have got my interpretation wrong, but the truth of the origin is known only to Owens. The chorus is the song’s title projected in different ways. The first ‘re-wild’ is almost shot and delivered in quite a sharp way, whereas the second delivery is breathier and dreamier. It is amazing to learn that it is only Owens singing, but she manages to create this effect where one hears different tones and emotions – apologies if that sounds patronising, but it is an amazing vocal performance! From opening verse to the first chorus, so many different visions flow, and one is knocked back by the beauty and potency of the song. The chorus is especially stunning, as the title becomes a coda and, with each repeat, the word seems to take on new meaning and provokes a new image. The composition adds so much atmosphere and shivers, and I just love how Re-Wild moves and twists! The second verse is fairly similar to the first in terms of its message: ”See the freedom in me/Allow the freedom in you/Free yourself with the truth/That's already in you”. I was wondering at this point whether, if we are to assume Owens is talking about a relationship, the bond has strengthened or ended.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kim Hiorthøy

The lyrics can be taken both ways, as it seems that both have discovered the truth and freedom, and a definite change has arrived. It sounds quite positive in delivery, but there is always that other side that could be more resigned and downbeat. I am just naturally jumping to the conclusion that Owens is revealing a relationship and passion that has entered her life, but the lyrics could be broader and universal. Some people prefer lyrics that are more explicit in their meaning, and I do like the room for interpretation, and the fact that every listener will have their own slant. Owens’ voice is amazingly composed and strong throughout and, though she doesn’t explode or implode, one feels this real tremor and passion that is wonderous. The combination of the slightly moodier composition and the sweeter tone of Owens’ voice could be an unnatural blend, but Re-Wild never sounds jarring or uneasy. The final pre-chorus – this time “Facing release, facing release/Facing release, facing release” – and chorus stirs the senses and gets the heart beating fast! By the time Re-Wild ends, one needs a few moments to collect themselves, but they will go back and listen to the song again, as new things are uncovered every time you go back. Every track on Inner Song is amazing, but I was particularly attracted to Re-Wild, as it is a song that keeps coming back to mind. I am not sure whether I have interpreted the lyrics correctly, but maybe that is the point: if the actual truth and origin was known, then the beauty and power of Re-Wild might be diminished. If you have not got hold of Inner Song (or streamed the album), then make sure you do, as it is one of the best albums of the year, and it is proof that Kelly Lee Owens is an artist with a huge future ahead of her!

PHOTO CREDIT: Carys Huws

I am not sure how Kelly Lee Owens’ diary is fixed for this year, but one suspects that 2021 is a year where we will get to see Inner Song on the road. I am sure there will be festival dates, and I wonder whether she will be given a prominent slot at festivals like Glastonbury. Big changes have come in over the past five months, and I am always impressed that so much great music has been created whilst under lockdown. Owens originally scheduled Inner Song for release on 1st May, but it was pushed back to 28th August because of the COVID-19 situation. Many of the lyrics on Inner Song take on new and unique meaning at this changeable and uncertain time. In the interview from Dork, Owens talked about lockdown and how it has given her album a new sense of meaning:

“She goes on to describe how the album's themes of the fragility of our ecosystem and the way we interact with it have taken on an added poignancy. "There's a lyric on the album that says, 'Never pausing to take it in, always avoiding your sense of dread'," she explains. "I wrote that before all this happened but this is what's going on. We're forced to take a pause to look at all these things we've been avoiding. As difficult as that it is there's such beauty that can come from it. Emotional intelligence, connection and respect for each other and globally for the planet. It's a time of deep introspection, and I think that can only be a good thing".

I shall wrap things up now, but I have been eager to review Kelly Lee Owens for a long time, as she is an artist that I have a tremendous amount of respect and time for. In Inner Song, she has released one of this year’s defining albums, and I cannot wait to see where she heads from here! Who knows where she might head for a third album and where her current album takes her in terms of tour dates – which might have to wait until next year. Owens (like many women in music) has been overlooked and dismissed a lot, and she is still having to battle to have her voice heard and respected despite the enormous quality of her work. Kelly Lee Owens is such a phenomenal artist that deserves…