{"id":11007,"date":"2016-06-24T05:30:53","date_gmt":"2016-06-24T09:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=11007"},"modified":"2016-06-24T08:56:51","modified_gmt":"2016-06-24T12:56:51","slug":"eliot-sumner-sounds-familar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/24\/eliot-sumner-sounds-familar\/","title":{"rendered":"Eliot Sumner: Sounds Familar"},"content":{"rendered":"

When singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eliot Sumner<\/strong> began her recording career, she used the name I Blame Coco<\/strong> for her project. That choice was based at least in part upon her desire not to trade on her famous name. As the daughter of bassist Gordon Sumner (that’s Sting<\/strong> to you and me) and actor Trudy Styler<\/strong>, Sumner wanted to be measured on her own musical merits. She was sensitive to suggestions that nepotism played a part in her getting a record deal.<\/p>\n

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That was then; this is now. On her latest album, Information<\/i>, the now more self-assured Sumner proudly goes by her given name. \u201cI’ll always be in this shadow,\u201d she admits, pausing and then adding, \u201cWell, for now, anyway. But I don’t see a problem with it; I just get on with my job, turn up and play music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Information<\/i> has been receiving near-unanimous critical praise. \u201cThis is the album I was always supposed to make,\u201d Sumner says. She’s less enthusiastic about The Constant<\/i>, the 2010 album she made fronting I Blame Coco. \u201cI wasn’t very happy with it,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to distance myself from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumner has moved past The Constant<\/i>‘s pop-leaning sounds and into darker textures influenced by krautrock, a largely synthesizer-driven style that came about in 1970s Germany. \u201cI think it’s more natural for me to write darker songs with moodier textures,\u201d Sumner says. She can relate more to those qualities. \u201cPositivity seems very two-dimensional to me; I like to explore the darker end of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The songs on Information<\/i> \u2013 most notably \u201cAfter Dark\u201d and \u201cWhat Good Could Ever Come of This\u201d \u2013 still have plenty of hooks that can attract and hold the attention of listeners. But Sumner says that isn’t a conscious goal of her songwriting. \u201cI don’t tend to think about that too much,\u201d she says; Sumner does her best to avoid writing to a formula. She does concede that composing catchy melodies is \u201ca natural way of writing traditional pop songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the defining characteristics of krautrock is \u201cmotorik,\u201d its mechanical, almost hypnotic beat. That attribute is what drew Sumner to the style that influences her work. She credits Information<\/i>‘s producer Duncan Mills<\/strong> for introducing her to the joys of krautrock. \u201cHe opened the door to that world for me,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd you can get lost in it, because there’s so much to discover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sumner believes that the structured aesthetic of krautrock is a positive influence on her songwriting. \u201cBefore Duncan got involved, my song structures were really, really obscure,\u201d she says. \u201cThey kind of went off into total chaos.\u201d She describes the finished songs as \u201cmaybe a little more accessible, but at the same time still obscure.\u201d<\/p>\n