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We are thrilled to be able to bring you a very special feature – an exclusive interview with Charlotte for CharlotteChurch.net! The interview took place on June 9th at the London office of SonyBMG. DutchMark and UKMark present their report of an amazing day …

We arrived at SonyBMG a full hour ahead of our interview because we had been promised a preview of Charlotte’s new album “Tissues and Issues”. Sure enough we were whisked into an office by Charlotte’s manager and, after a chat, we were left to listen to the whole CD – from start to finish!




‘Call My Name’ launches the album and is the song that Charlotte premiered at the Summer XS roadshows in Reading and Southampton on June 5th. Along with ‘Crazy Chick’ (track 2), this gives the album a great upbeat / Motown start.

From the lyrics of ‘Moodswings’, track 3 appears to be one of the many personal songs on the album that reflect on Charlotte’s experiences of the past few years. ‘Show A Little Faith’ (Tsunami Relief Concert) and ‘Finding My Own Way’ (Passion of the Christ) are full of passion and some great vocals.

Let’s Be Alone is a complete rollercoaster of a song from it’s opening almost opera-esq vocals, to electric guitars and a hi energy feel. It bought out the goosebumps!

‘Easy To Forget’ and ‘Fool No More’ are a contrast to the previous track as the tempo slows down for more personal accounts. (We didn’t have the writing credits to hand so, we are making some assumptions here!). Easy To Forget has some great instrumentation and gives Charlotte the opportunity to use a few of her many singing voices.

We think we recognised the verse of ‘Easy Way Out’ from last year’s ‘Spreading her Wings’ TV documentary. ‘Casualty of Love’ (track 10) is another personal account of Charlotte’s experiences, apparently when she had just turned 16. Great violin and flamenco guitar arrangements.

‘Even God’ again has lyrics that sound as if they have come straight out of Charlotte’s diary. Charlotte uses her ‘breathy voice’ on this track.

The album closes with ‘Confessional Song’. This is the song that was played over the closing credits of ‘Spreading Her Wings’. It starts quite sparse in arrangement but builds into a full on production as the second verse kicks in.

What we can say without any hesitation is that we really loved what we heard from our first listen. The variety of musical styles makes for an exciting journey and the care and attention lavished on the song writing and production is obvious from one track to the next. It has definitely been worth the wait. Well done Charlotte!

Straight after the CD audition, we were taken up to the 6th floor where the interview was to take place. Almost immediately, Maria appeared from the room so we said hello as she passed by heading off down the corridor.

This was the middle of another very busy day for Charlotte and things were running a few minutes late. Charlotte was giving back-to-back interviews to several ‘online’ news / entertainment organisations and we were lucky enough to be seeing her about mid-way through the proceedings. Later the same day, Charlotte was due at the BBC for rehearsals ahead of the recording of the Jonathan Ross show in the evening!

So, rather than wait outside, we were taken back downstairs for a quick drink whilst Charlotte had a bite to eat. We returned fully recharged a few minutes later.

The moment arrived for us to be shown into the room. Charlotte was sitting to one side of a large boardroom style table with Maria a few positions to her left. We exchanged our greetings with Charlotte, said hello to Maria again and set up our recording equipment ready to begin.

Anyway, we will let the video and captures do all the talking from this point on.

After the interview we took a couple of pictures as personal mementos of the occasion. We said our goodbyes before heading downstairs to the restaurant to reflect on our meeting with Charlotte.

A big thank-you to Charlotte, SonyBMG and Charlotte’s management team for arranging this very special event for us. This is an incredibly hectic and important time for Charlotte so we really appreciate the opportunity we have been given.

We hope you enjoy watching the interview as much as we did in taking part.
 

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