DOUBLE-ALBUM FROM LONDON JAZZ ARTIST FIONA ROSS
FIONA ROSS
‘JUST ME (AND SOMETIMES SOMEONE ELSE)’
Release date: April 7th 2017
Record Label: Therapy Records
Format: 2CD album / Download
DOUBLE-ALBUM FROM LONDON JAZZ ARTIST FIONA ROSS
"This double album by Fiona Ross is an absolute joy to immerse oneself in. There is an incisive honesty and humanity in the detail that takes each song’s message straight to your heart.” - Ola Onabule
Hot on the heels of her 2016 debut album ‘A Twist of Blue’, London jazz artist Fiona Ross’ will release a new double-album ‘Just Me (and Sometimes Someone Else)’ on 7th April 2017 on Therapy Records.
From full-band Latin Jazz to stripped-back acoustic tracks, ‘Just Me (and Sometimes Someone Else)’ arrives with a mastery and skill that comes from Fiona’s years of training and life experience.
Having worked as a musical director, session musician, composer, choreographer, director, dancer, actor and model, there has rarely been a day when Fiona’s life hasn’t been centred on music.
As the Head of British Academy of New Music for almost nine years, Fiona was responsible for the training of some of Britain’s biggest music stars, including Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora and Jess Glynne. Fiona said, “Training musicians who truly have that desire, talent, passion and, most importantly, the right attitude is not hard. Finding them is. Ed, Rita and Jess all clearly had those attributes and there was no doubt they would find success. I am very pleased to have had a tiny role in that, but you can’t teach that that undefinable thing that they all have – that’s all their own.”
Now, though, it’s Fiona’s time to put her own music first. “I had my first son when I was 16, got married, then divorced,” says Fiona. “I was a single parent raising two boys, working fifteen-hours a day to earn enough money to support us all. Now that my boys have grown-up I’ve been able to focus on my music properly.”
Enrolled in dance, drama and singing lessons from the age of two, Fiona has played piano from the age of six. By the time she was eight-years-old she was starring in West End musicals such as Annie. At the age of fourteen Fiona lied about her age to talk her way into gigging at weekends in jazz clubs throughout London. "I will never forget going home to my parents," Fiona says, "telling them that I had a job singing and playing jazz as a solo artist in a club in London. I was so thrilled, but they were furious. They knew some of the places I was playing were no place for a young teenage girl. But, as a performer, it was all invaluable experience."
‘Just Me (and Sometimes Someone Else)’ is a candid insight into Fiona’s heart and soul, and an illumination of her creative process. Fiona said, “I’ve held on to many of these songs for a long time, so releasing them is a catharsis. It’s a realisation that I am finally at the point of my life where I just have to do this. I intend to fully embrace it.”
Written, arranged and produced by Fiona, the album was mixed by Nate Williams and mastered by Nick Watson (The Libertines, Seal, Alison Moyet) at Fluid Mastering.
Fiona will shortly announce a run of live dates to support the release of ‘Just Me (and Sometimes Someone Else)’.
Fiona Ross online:
https://soundcloud.com/fiona-ross
www.facebook.com/FIONAROSSMUSIC
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fifi_ross/
A guide to ‘Just Me (and Sometimes Someone Else)’, by Fiona Ross.
Disc 1: Just Me (and sometimes someone else)
- ‘27 Reasons’ (acoustic): “In a very drunken stupor I wrote a list of reasons why I shouldn’t pursue a guy I liked and it turned out there was 27 reasons. Mentioned it to a friend at work the next day and they said ‘that’s a great name for a song’ so went home that night and turned it into one. And there are in fact 27 reasons in the song.”
- ‘I Don’t Want To Love You’: “Basically a song about knowing you are in love with someone but not wanting to be and being scared of taking that leap.”
- ‘Fix Me’: “Quite simple this one. Verses describe that feeling when you realise deep down you are a bit broken and that feeling just won’t go away. Chorus is when you realise you want someone to just come and fix you.”
- ‘Let Me Go’: “Actually wrote this about my frustrations at a previous job - so it’s about my previous boss, who, well, was a control freak and deep down insecure about his own abilities. I just wanted to be given the freedom to do my job and he wouldn’t let me. When I realised it was affecting me enough to write a song, I resigned!”
- ‘I’m Lost’: “As the title says, it’s about feeling lost and going through life not really knowing who you are or how to find out; pretending you’re ok, but you’re not really…and no one knows.”
- ‘You Made Me Question Me’: “That time after a relationship when you analyse yourself to death and wonder what you did wrong and if you should change, but while you’re doing that, you’re not ready to move on - continually questioning yourself.”
- ‘You Listen But You Don't Hear’: “That moment when you thought someone was there for you but it turns out they’re not - and the song talks about if you can’t be there, then don’t be.”
- ‘Reflection’: “I saw a woman teaching her small child to throw stones at pigeons and I went up and spoke to her about it - she just didn’t get it. I went home and wrote this song. So, this one is about my frustrations with people basically moaning about the state of the world but not being willing to actually stand up and do something about it. If we actually took a step back and reflected, we could all be better people.”
- ‘Reach Me’: “I wanted to improve my lyric writing and stop writing about failed relationships and love etc. So I wrote a list of words that I thought people would use to describe me plus some of my own descriptions. So the verses are just the lists of these words. I sound a little complicated but isn’t meant to be - hence, ‘Reach Me’.”
- ‘Over You’: “‘Over You’ is about the end of a relationship and that moment when you realise you are finally over it.
- ‘Interlude’.
Disc 2: Just Me (and the rest of the band)
- 12. ‘27 Reasons’ (full band):
- 13. ‘The Mating Game’: “This is comparing the dating game to the mating games you see in wildlife documentaries; birds fluffing up their feathers to impress while the other bird watches pretending to not be interested – a bit like when you see people walking around trying to impress and pretending to be something they’re not. I get it now and I don’t want to play anymore - see next song!”
- 14. ‘I Don’t Want To Play’: “Basically about the games of life, how child like they are and how confusing and tiresome they can be - but you don’t really have a choice and have to keep playing, because that’s life!”
- 15. ‘You’re A Fool’: “Actually about my ex-husband, who was a fool. Ha! But in fairness, I was 15 when I met him. So, really I guess it’s about when you are young and in love and you do anything to make it work because you don’t know any better. But when you look back on it, you realise you shouldn’t have made quite so many compromises.”
- 16. ‘Save Me’: “This one is about me spending all my time looking after everyone else and making sure they are ok and happy and forgetting to sort myself out. So, a sort of romantic, come and take me away type of song.”
- 17. ‘My Dignity’: “This is an angry break-up song about what an idiot I was in a relationship, and that I made a fool of myself and I should have known better.”
- 18. ‘Too Many Thoughts’: “That moment when you realise someone is far from who you thought they were and you can’t get your head around why you didn’t realise.”
- 19. ‘You Didn’t Want Me’: This one is about that point in a relationship when you are still together but neither of you want to be and you finally realise it and end it - but you’re not really sure why you didn’t end it sooner.
- 20. ‘Outro Jam’
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