|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D'Sounds Info |
|
|
|
Simone Larsen - Vocals |
D'Sound |
Smooth Escape |
|
(copied from wikipedia )
In the singles chart, D'Sound enjoyed success with singles like "Smooth Escape"
and "All I Wanna Do". At the end of 1998, the follow-up "Beauty is a Blessing"
was released, featuring an even heavier influence from drum'n'bass and modern
soul. The record was another major success, resulting in a Spellemannpris for
"Best Norwegian Pop Group" in 1998. The singles "Ain't Giving Up" and
"Down on the Street" became massive chart busters both sales and radio wise,
with "Down on the Street" even entering the UK club charts.
"Beauty is a Blessing" has gone platinum, even though the album was never
given international release. D'Sound is long since established as one of
the best live bands in Norway. Simone, Jonny and Kim are skilled and ambitious
musicians who instantly captures the audiences when get together on the stage.
Several successful tours around Norway (including concerts at the
Molde Jazz Festival) and international gigs have cemented their deserved
reputation as brilliant and electrifying live performers.
After a short break from band activities, D'Sound started
their work on "Talkin' Talk" in March 2000. This time they were given
the opportunity to be their own producers, and joined forces with long-time
collaborator and keyboardist Stein Austrud.
On "Talkin' Talk" the band really has been able to live out their passion for
modern American R & B. Strong sources of inspiration includes Angie Stone,
d'Angelo, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu. The songs are still the main focal
point, but D'Sound this time has a stronger edge towards beats, and the band
members describe the work on the album as a big challenge groove-wise.
The bass- and drum-led first single, "Sing my Name", is in that respect
representative of the whole album. In January, a dream came true for D'Sound
when they went to have their album mixed in Virginia Beach, USA, one of the
worlds' leading R&B-scenes. There they met up and worked with the highly
acclaimed mixer Serban Ghenea, whose previous track record includes several
major names, among them Janet Jackson, Prince, Blackstreet, Jill Scott and Kelis.
The band and Ghenea really hit it off, and together they ensured that the
album got that very special D'Sound prior to its release.
The record title
"Talkin' Talk" is one of the bands own expressions. It's no secret that during
working on the album there has been a lot of "constructive fighting" within
the band, and at the end of the recording sessions the band sat down for
a brutally honest three-hour long "Talkin' Talk" to clear the air.
Since then their collaboration has been even better than before,
and the record title was more or less a given. This resulted in a golden age
of creativity, and at one point the band was working on as many as 35
different sketches. The 13 songs that are featured on the finished product
was first developed in Jonnys home studio during a long, creative and
exciting process. "Talkin' Talk" is heavily influenced by the bands wish to
preserve the impulsiveness in their collaboration. Playing around and
experimenting with each others song ideas has resulted in a record that
D'Sound are understandably content and excited about.
Major live focus |
|