Alison Moyet

The basildon diva has shed the weight, smashed the gold discs and risen from the jazzy chaise longue to return to the synth-pop of her Eighties Yazoo days. And the combination of edgy, experimental club beats and Moyet's rich, confrontational tone is still a winner. Co-written and produced with Guy Sigsworth (Bjork, Goldie), the combination of these frank, mature songs and their cool, dark electronic settings feels like being yanked onto the dance floor by a boa around the neck. - The Telegraph

The basildon diva has shed the weight, smashed the gold discs and risen from the jazzy chaise longue to return to the synth-pop of her Eighties Yazoo days. And the combination of edgy, experimental club beats and Moyet's rich, confrontational tone is still a winner. Co-written and produced with Guy Sigsworth (Bjork, Goldie), the combination of these frank, mature songs and their cool, dark electronic settings feels like being yanked onto the dance floor by a boa around the neck. - The Telegraph

Back in the '80s, Alison Moyet embraced bland anthems that were at odds with her spiky-pop beginnings in Yazoo. Now her commercial boat ahs sailed, she's making terrific records. Without the need to please anyone bar herself, she sounds like (in the best sense of the term) she doesn't care. This means that the extraordinary voice is unfettered. It ranges from come-hither on Apple Kisses, epically eounded on When I Was Your Girl, via Changeling's operatic trill. Behind her, as Love Reign Supreme gallops like Frankel at Newmarket, producer Guy Sigsworth crafts a series of intriguing set of electro backdrops. Sigsworth is Moyet's musical soulmate and this is her best LP in decades. - Q

Back in the '80s, Alison Moyet embraced bland anthems that were at odds with her spiky-pop beginnings in Yazoo. Now her commercial boat ahs sailed, she's making terrific records. Without the need to please anyone bar herself, she sounds like (in the best sense of the term) she doesn't care. This means that the extraordinary voice is unfettered. It ranges from come-hither on Apple Kisses, epically eounded on When I Was Your Girl, via Changeling's operatic trill. Behind her, as Love Reign Supreme gallops like Frankel at Newmarket, producer Guy Sigsworth crafts a series of intriguing set of electro backdrops. Sigsworth is Moyet's musical soulmate and this is her best LP in decades. - Q

An interesting experiment. Moyet has written and produced with composer Guy Sigsworth, veteran of everyone from Goldie and Madonna to Britney Spears, and while he delivers a true pop sensibility, he's clearly aslo happy with spectral Vince Clarke-stlye programming, a backing for which Moyet retains a soft spot and reintroduces here. Thus while the opener Horizon Flame is platinum Kylie - a clubby, high-end house groove - next track Changeling is so klonkily electronic we could be back in the '80s. By a quarter of the way through, though, the styles are melting together. When I Was Your Girl is a hopped-up torch song, Apple Kisses fizzes, and Love Reign Supreme mixes that deep soul vocal with an icy, uptempo synth rush. There's guts in going with a sound like this; bumpy at times, but worth the effort. - Mojo

An interesting experiment. Moyet has written and produced with composer Guy Sigsworth, veteran of everyone from Goldie and Madonna to Britney Spears, and while he delivers a true pop sensibility, he's clearly aslo happy with spectral Vince Clarke-stlye programming, a backing for which Moyet retains a soft spot and reintroduces here. Thus while the opener Horizon Flame is platinum Kylie - a clubby, high-end house groove - next track Changeling is so klonkily electronic we could be back in the '80s. By a quarter of the way through, though, the styles are melting together. When I Was Your Girl is a hopped-up torch song, Apple Kisses fizzes, and Love Reign Supreme mixes that deep soul vocal with an icy, uptempo synth rush. There's guts in going with a sound like this; bumpy at times, but worth the effort. - Mojo

Alison Moyet is resigned to the Adele comparisons her re-emergence will inevitably inspire, 'just because I was fat', as she puts it. Her first album for six years doesn't make any attempt to capitalise, but instead recalls the early Eighties when, with Yazoo, she humanised Vince Clarke's chilly synth-pop. The slimmed-down Moyet - strident on When I Was your Girl, ominous on horizon Flame - reminds us of just how good she always was. - Mail on Sunday

Alison Moyet is resigned to the Adele comparisons her re-emergence will inevitably inspire, 'just because I was fat', as she puts it. Her first album for six years doesn't make any attempt to capitalise, but instead recalls the early Eighties when, with Yazoo, she humanised Vince Clarke's chilly synth-pop. The slimmed-down Moyet - strident on When I Was your Girl, ominous on horizon Flame - reminds us of just how good she always was. - Mail on Sunday

One of the UK's finest singers of the last thirty years returns with her first album since 2007. The ex-Yazoo frontwoman co-wrote "The Minutes" with heavyweight producer Guy Sigsworth - who can list Bjork, Madonna and Robyn amongst his previoua collaborations - and the result is Moyet's finest album in twenty years. Punchy electronica illuminates opener 'Horizon Flame' while the herking bleeps of 'Changleing' are the perfect backdrop to Moyet's cosmically rich vocal. Even better is 'A Place To Stay,' a shimmering ballad on which Alf rolls back the emotion-charged years, confirming 'The Minutes' as the triumphant updating of a national treasure.

John Freeman - Clash

One of the UK's finest singers of the last thirty years returns with her first album since 2007. The ex-Yazoo frontwoman co-wrote "The Minutes" with heavyweight producer Guy Sigsworth - who can list Bjork, Madonna and Robyn amongst his previoua collaborations - and the result is Moyet's finest album in twenty years. Punchy electronica illuminates opener 'Horizon Flame' while the herking bleeps of 'Changleing' are the perfect backdrop to Moyet's cosmically rich vocal. Even better is 'A Place To Stay,' a shimmering ballad on which Alf rolls back the emotion-charged years, confirming 'The Minutes' as the triumphant updating of a national treasure.

John Freeman - Clash

The world of pop is always a better place when there's new music from Alison Moyet about to enter it. It arrives today in the UK (6 May) in the form of the minutes, which is scheduled to wash up on U.S. shores on June 11. Here are my not-so-random thoughts on the album's 11 tracks.

"Horizon Flame" Ambient and futuristic, which are two words one might not have previously associated with Alison Moyet. A post-space age love song (not to be confused with "Yesterday's Flame," Track 1 on 2002's Hometime), the opening number on Moyet's eighth solo studio album and first since 2007's The Turn clearly signals a change in musical direction after the stately chamber pop of its predecessor, which was initially conceived, in part, as the musical accompaniment for a stage play. "Horizon Flame," with its hint of a dance beat, an instrumental bridge that sounds like it might turn into the introduction of Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money," and slightly processed vocals that seem to riding in on the wind, is more suited to future cinema. I can imagine it playing over the opening scene of a James Bond film 50 years from now, as Daniel Craig's third successor emerges from a ring of fire, dressed to thrill and still licensed to kill.

"Changeling" One step forward, then one step back, but in the case of "Changeling," that's hardly regression. Track 2 starts to deliver on Moyet's pre-release promise of a return to the electronic form of her early '80s work with Yazoo, but it has more musical elasticity (at times the synthesizers sound almost plucked) and bite than anything she ever did with Vince Clarke. This is what Upstairs at Eric might have sounded like if Clarke had been influenced as much by guys with guitars as he was by Kraftwerk.

"When I Was Your Girl" The album's first single is a standard Moyet ballad in which she covers familiar musical and emotional ground (welcome back to her torch zone). The backing vocals on the chorus are pure '80s power ballad (very Robert John "Mutt" Lange-produced Def Leppard), as is the musical interlude, and even the title sounds like it could have appeared on a previous Moyet album. Lacking any real aural connection to the tracks that precede it, "Girl" begins to suggest an album unburdened by any unifying musical theme.

"Apple Kisses" As industrial and Middle Eastern influences mingle in the background, Moyet plays sexual temptress, and it's a surprisingly good fit. Rihanna doesn't have a thing to worry about -- Moyet is too classy to try to win over a rude boy by acting like his female equivalent -- but it's nice to hear her putting aside her usual vocal reserve and letting her inner sex kitten out for a purr.

"Right as Rain" Moyet at the mid-'90s disco. In these mid-album tracks, 51-year-old Moyet sounds like a vintage diva experiencing a mid-life sexual reawakening. In 1995-96 this would have given Everything But the Girl's "Missing" a run for its under-the-strobelight following. Moyet sounds so comfortable with the beat that it's a wonder she hasn't spent more of her solo career riding one. But it's a short dance: At 3:07, just as you've begun to work yourself into a full sweaty frenzy, it's over, leaving you wanting at least a full minute more, which, in a pop world of short attention spans is saying a lot (all of it good).

"Remind Yourself" A variation on the ambient electro musical theme of "Horizon Flame." For all the pre-release hype that the minutes would be a return to Moyet's techno roots, most of it so far sounds more like her later solo work. Not that she's repeating herself on "Remind Yourself." It's neither groundbreaking nor resolutely of the moment, but there's a newfound tension and spark in the way her voice floats above and cuts through the electronic din, rendering the song somewhat revolutionary in the context of Moyet's previous body of work. Producer Guy Sigsworth has somehow managed to make the multi-layered musical backdrop sound spacious and airy instead of fussy and cluttered, and Moyet, always the vocal equivalent of a great, unattainable beauty (unlike her duo-to-solo British peers Annie Lennox and Tracey Thorn, her accent is more apparent in her phrasing, giving her delivery an aura of posh), sounds warmer and more accessible than ever, like she's singing -- no, cooing -- right into your ear.

"Love Reign Supreme" Up to now, this is the track that most sounds like it could be an '80s collaboration with Vince Clark (if Moyet had been the lead singer of Depeche Mode, Clarke's previous band, and not Yazoo) but with far more sunshine and light.

"A Place to Stay" The most pointed difference between Guy Sigsworth and Moyet's previous co - Theme for Great Cities

The world of pop is always a better place when there's new music from Alison Moyet about to enter it. It arrives today in the UK (6 May) in the form of the minutes, which is scheduled to wash up on U.S. shores on June 11. Here are my not-so-random thoughts on the album's 11 tracks.

"Horizon Flame" Ambient and futuristic, which are two words one might not have previously associated with Alison Moyet. A post-space age love song (not to be confused with "Yesterday's Flame," Track 1 on 2002's Hometime), the opening number on Moyet's eighth solo studio album and first since 2007's The Turn clearly signals a change in musical direction after the stately chamber pop of its predecessor, which was initially conceived, in part, as the musical accompaniment for a stage play. "Horizon Flame," with its hint of a dance beat, an instrumental bridge that sounds like it might turn into the introduction of Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money," and slightly processed vocals that seem to riding in on the wind, is more suited to future cinema. I can imagine it playing over the opening scene of a James Bond film 50 years from now, as Daniel Craig's third successor emerges from a ring of fire, dressed to thrill and still licensed to kill.

"Changeling" One step forward, then one step back, but in the case of "Changeling," that's hardly regression. Track 2 starts to deliver on Moyet's pre-release promise of a return to the electronic form of her early '80s work with Yazoo, but it has more musical elasticity (at times the synthesizers sound almost plucked) and bite than anything she ever did with Vince Clarke. This is what Upstairs at Eric might have sounded like if Clarke had been influenced as much by guys with guitars as he was by Kraftwerk.

"When I Was Your Girl" The album's first single is a standard Moyet ballad in which she covers familiar musical and emotional ground (welcome back to her torch zone). The backing vocals on the chorus are pure '80s power ballad (very Robert John "Mutt" Lange-produced Def Leppard), as is the musical interlude, and even the title sounds like it could have appeared on a previous Moyet album. Lacking any real aural connection to the tracks that precede it, "Girl" begins to suggest an album unburdened by any unifying musical theme.

"Apple Kisses" As industrial and Middle Eastern influences mingle in the background, Moyet plays sexual temptress, and it's a surprisingly good fit. Rihanna doesn't have a thing to worry about -- Moyet is too classy to try to win over a rude boy by acting like his female equivalent -- but it's nice to hear her putting aside her usual vocal reserve and letting her inner sex kitten out for a purr.

"Right as Rain" Moyet at the mid-'90s disco. In these mid-album tracks, 51-year-old Moyet sounds like a vintage diva experiencing a mid-life sexual reawakening. In 1995-96 this would have given Everything But the Girl's "Missing" a run for its under-the-strobelight following. Moyet sounds so comfortable with the beat that it's a wonder she hasn't spent more of her solo career riding one. But it's a short dance: At 3:07, just as you've begun to work yourself into a full sweaty frenzy, it's over, leaving you wanting at least a full minute more, which, in a pop world of short attention spans is saying a lot (all of it good).

"Remind Yourself" A variation on the ambient electro musical theme of "Horizon Flame." For all the pre-release hype that the minutes would be a return to Moyet's techno roots, most of it so far sounds more like her later solo work. Not that she's repeating herself on "Remind Yourself." It's neither groundbreaking nor resolutely of the moment, but there's a newfound tension and spark in the way her voice floats above and cuts through the electronic din, rendering the song somewhat revolutionary in the context of Moyet's previous body of work. Producer Guy Sigsworth has somehow managed to make the multi-layered musical backdrop sound spacious and airy instead of fussy and cluttered, and Moyet, always the vocal equivalent of a great, unattainable beauty (unlike her duo-to-solo British peers Annie Lennox and Tracey Thorn, her accent is more apparent in her phrasing, giving her delivery an aura of posh), sounds warmer and more accessible than ever, like she's singing -- no, cooing -- right into your ear.

"Love Reign Supreme" Up to now, this is the track that most sounds like it could be an '80s collaboration with Vince Clark (if Moyet had been the lead singer of Depeche Mode, Clarke's previous band, and not Yazoo) but with far more sunshine and light.

"A Place to Stay" The most pointed difference between Guy Sigsworth and Moyet's previous co - Theme for Great Cities

Alison Moyet is best known as one half of synth-pop duo Yazoo. She has a stellar solo career, which has been going strong since 1984, and her latest record the minutes comes six years after The Turn.

Moyet exclaims in album opener “Horizon Flame” that “suddenly the landscape has changed.” She’s not lying. the minutes is a more experimental record for Moyet as she explores R&B beats, and dubstep rhythms. Producer Guy Sigworth’s influence is heard best on “Horizon Flame” with its Bjork-esque sound mixing strings with pulsating beats.

Straight away the album provides us with polar opposites. Second track in - ”Changeling” is a sonic robotic R&B attack proving Moyet’s vocal strength and power in any environment. It’s got club culture written all over it, and is probably the closest modern sounding track on the record.

Moyet claims she avoided listening to anything while writing the minutes, and while she mixes in modern dubstep and electronic beats – it still sounds like nothing else on the market. Synth-pop of yesteryear can still be heard on the record – you can’t exactly ask a leopard to change its spots can you?

the minutes takes you on a pop-infused electronic journey swinging, often erratically, from dark to light, beautiful to haunting. “Right as Rain” is a dark dance floor hit over some of the punchiest bass you could ask for. “Love Reigns Supreme” follows immediately and instantly brightens the mood, while “Place To Stay” finds common ground in its beautiful, yet haunting presence.

“Rung By The Tide” runs on a slower tempo than the rest of the record, but is in no way any less charged. It takes the album out on a sombre, yet satisfying note.

Any track on the minutes would be at home in any night club around the world, and although she is 51 years old, you wouldn’t know from listening to this.

- Victom Of Sound

Alison Moyet is best known as one half of synth-pop duo Yazoo. She has a stellar solo career, which has been going strong since 1984, and her latest record the minutes comes six years after The Turn.

Moyet exclaims in album opener “Horizon Flame” that “suddenly the landscape has changed.” She’s not lying. the minutes is a more experimental record for Moyet as she explores R&B beats, and dubstep rhythms. Producer Guy Sigworth’s influence is heard best on “Horizon Flame” with its Bjork-esque sound mixing strings with pulsating beats.

Straight away the album provides us with polar opposites. Second track in - ”Changeling” is a sonic robotic R&B attack proving Moyet’s vocal strength and power in any environment. It’s got club culture written all over it, and is probably the closest modern sounding track on the record.

Moyet claims she avoided listening to anything while writing the minutes, and while she mixes in modern dubstep and electronic beats – it still sounds like nothing else on the market. Synth-pop of yesteryear can still be heard on the record – you can’t exactly ask a leopard to change its spots can you?

the minutes takes you on a pop-infused electronic journey swinging, often erratically, from dark to light, beautiful to haunting. “Right as Rain” is a dark dance floor hit over some of the punchiest bass you could ask for. “Love Reigns Supreme” follows immediately and instantly brightens the mood, while “Place To Stay” finds common ground in its beautiful, yet haunting presence.

“Rung By The Tide” runs on a slower tempo than the rest of the record, but is in no way any less charged. It takes the album out on a sombre, yet satisfying note.

Any track on the minutes would be at home in any night club around the world, and although she is 51 years old, you wouldn’t know from listening to this.

- Victom Of Sound

It has only been six years since Alison Moyet released her last solo album, but it’s her latest, The Minutes, that is sure to secure her return to the hearts of fans who have worshipped her sultry contralto voice for 30 years. As the female half of the synthpop-pioneering band Yaz, she and Vince Clark (himself of Depeche Mode and Erasure) influenced generations with their unique blend of electronic tracks and captivating vocals. After Yaz’s noteworthy two-album output, the decidedly reclusive Moyet continued her career with seven solo albums, each of which garnered acclaim in her native U.K.

Moyet’s latest solo project is somewhat of a new beginning for the musician—whose voice has not lost an ounce of its power or edge—despite never having called it quits. Armed with a new, downright svelte look and a new take on what’s important in life (it isn’t her personal possessions, as you’ll read), Moyet presents what is arguably her most polished and pristine album yet. Fans will find subtle parallels to her synthpop past alongside contemporary pop elements and electronic experimentation. Moyet has characterized The Minutes as her “happiest studio experience,” and that is a fact that indeed shines through.

Having worked this time around with famed writer and producer Guy Sigsworth, Moyet refers to the album as one “mindless of industry mores that apply to middle-aged women,” a characterization that is spot-on without doubt. To be fair, though, few “middle-aged women” are able to return to their prime in such an effortless way as this.

Frontiers spoke with Moyet from her home in England not long after The Minutes entered the UK albums chart at number five. With both sides of the call in high spirits, she discussed her pre-show vocal regimen, her tribulations with getting the record made, plans to tour stateside and what she considers her best story ever.

First off, congrats on the new album. It’s really amazing. I’m really enjoying it.
Oh, that makes me happy to hear. Thank you.

I’m assuming you’ve received great feedback so far.
Yeah, it has been pretty fantastic, and obviously, going in at number five in England this week was pretty astonishing.

I remember seeing you a couple years back when Yaz was touring the States, and your voice is just as amazing these days—if not better—as it was 30 years ago.
Thank you. I think there are very few things any of us can do that don’t improve with time, and I think the very thing that hindered my career—which was my reticence to kinda be ‘out there’ and the fact that I was always a bit reclusive—is the very thing that prolonged my career, because I never caned it. I never caned it in the way that a lot of people did who really rode the wave of their success at the time.

Do you keep a pretty strict vocal regimen? Do you have to?
Nah. Before I go on, I might sing songs with whoever’s in the room for about five minutes, and then we do a shot of Sambuca. [Laughs]

You released your last album in 2007, which isn't a terribly long time ago, so why do I seem to be fighting the urge to call this a comeback record? Do you consider it a comeback record?
No, not at all. I don’t, although I’m not insensitive to the reasons why everybody else would, especially when they think of ‘comeback’ as being when you get more prominence with the media and stuff. For me, the reason there was that gap is because I’m now a middle-aged woman. I’m a middle-aged woman in this industry, and no one wants to particularly make albums of new material.

I had lots of offers to make Etta James cover albums, but nobody wanted to make new material with me. You know, I have no issue with singing other people’s songs, and I never have. Actually, I want to try out my instrument on other people’s work, but in this instance it was really important for me to write. This album was about me as a creative artist.

I read that while writing and recording this album, you avoided listening to any other artists. Can you say a bit about that decision?
For one, I didn’t want to do that thing where you’re trying to keep up with the kids. I have no interest in that. I don’t aspire to that, and I think it’s a non-starter. There’s that, and there’s the fact that when you have to work with A&R people, one of the things I find to be a big irritant is when they say at the first meeting, “What kind of record do you want to make?” when the songs aren’t even written. I find that bizarre. How do I know what the record’s going to be until I’ve made it? I’m not trying to produce a favorite family recipe. I’m inventing within this, so I can’t tell you that.

I wanted to make an Alison Moyet record—and forgive me for saying so in the third person—but that means a record that is influenced by the experiences I’ve had, good and bad, and not a reinvention or trying to emulate somebody else.

Are there any plans to tour the album?
Yeah. I’m touring the UK in the autumn, and I’m just waiting on c - Frontiers

It has only been six years since Alison Moyet released her last solo album, but it’s her latest, The Minutes, that is sure to secure her return to the hearts of fans who have worshipped her sultry contralto voice for 30 years. As the female half of the synthpop-pioneering band Yaz, she and Vince Clark (himself of Depeche Mode and Erasure) influenced generations with their unique blend of electronic tracks and captivating vocals. After Yaz’s noteworthy two-album output, the decidedly reclusive Moyet continued her career with seven solo albums, each of which garnered acclaim in her native U.K.

Moyet’s latest solo project is somewhat of a new beginning for the musician—whose voice has not lost an ounce of its power or edge—despite never having called it quits. Armed with a new, downright svelte look and a new take on what’s important in life (it isn’t her personal possessions, as you’ll read), Moyet presents what is arguably her most polished and pristine album yet. Fans will find subtle parallels to her synthpop past alongside contemporary pop elements and electronic experimentation. Moyet has characterized The Minutes as her “happiest studio experience,” and that is a fact that indeed shines through.

Having worked this time around with famed writer and producer Guy Sigsworth, Moyet refers to the album as one “mindless of industry mores that apply to middle-aged women,” a characterization that is spot-on without doubt. To be fair, though, few “middle-aged women” are able to return to their prime in such an effortless way as this.

Frontiers spoke with Moyet from her home in England not long after The Minutes entered the UK albums chart at number five. With both sides of the call in high spirits, she discussed her pre-show vocal regimen, her tribulations with getting the record made, plans to tour stateside and what she considers her best story ever.

First off, congrats on the new album. It’s really amazing. I’m really enjoying it.
Oh, that makes me happy to hear. Thank you.

I’m assuming you’ve received great feedback so far.
Yeah, it has been pretty fantastic, and obviously, going in at number five in England this week was pretty astonishing.

I remember seeing you a couple years back when Yaz was touring the States, and your voice is just as amazing these days—if not better—as it was 30 years ago.
Thank you. I think there are very few things any of us can do that don’t improve with time, and I think the very thing that hindered my career—which was my reticence to kinda be ‘out there’ and the fact that I was always a bit reclusive—is the very thing that prolonged my career, because I never caned it. I never caned it in the way that a lot of people did who really rode the wave of their success at the time.

Do you keep a pretty strict vocal regimen? Do you have to?
Nah. Before I go on, I might sing songs with whoever’s in the room for about five minutes, and then we do a shot of Sambuca. [Laughs]

You released your last album in 2007, which isn't a terribly long time ago, so why do I seem to be fighting the urge to call this a comeback record? Do you consider it a comeback record?
No, not at all. I don’t, although I’m not insensitive to the reasons why everybody else would, especially when they think of ‘comeback’ as being when you get more prominence with the media and stuff. For me, the reason there was that gap is because I’m now a middle-aged woman. I’m a middle-aged woman in this industry, and no one wants to particularly make albums of new material.

I had lots of offers to make Etta James cover albums, but nobody wanted to make new material with me. You know, I have no issue with singing other people’s songs, and I never have. Actually, I want to try out my instrument on other people’s work, but in this instance it was really important for me to write. This album was about me as a creative artist.

I read that while writing and recording this album, you avoided listening to any other artists. Can you say a bit about that decision?
For one, I didn’t want to do that thing where you’re trying to keep up with the kids. I have no interest in that. I don’t aspire to that, and I think it’s a non-starter. There’s that, and there’s the fact that when you have to work with A&R people, one of the things I find to be a big irritant is when they say at the first meeting, “What kind of record do you want to make?” when the songs aren’t even written. I find that bizarre. How do I know what the record’s going to be until I’ve made it? I’m not trying to produce a favorite family recipe. I’m inventing within this, so I can’t tell you that.

I wanted to make an Alison Moyet record—and forgive me for saying so in the third person—but that means a record that is influenced by the experiences I’ve had, good and bad, and not a reinvention or trying to emulate somebody else.

Are there any plans to tour the album?
Yeah. I’m touring the UK in the autumn, and I’m just waiting on c - Frontiers

Alison Moyet started out her distinguished career as the unforgettable voice of Yaz (or Yazoo if you were in the UK), a project Vince Clarke committed to between his work in Depeche Mode and Erasure. Since the untimely demise of the band, Alison Moyet has proceeded on her own musical journey, now releasing an eighth studio album entitled the minutes. A thoughtful work of artistry and intrigue, the minutes also features the participating of noted producer Guy Sigsworth, whose own credits include the likes of Frou Frou and Bjork. A lower case title to a high profile recording, the minutes present Alison Moyet at the very height of her creativity, singing with a newfound passion while delivering what is perhaps the finest album of a long and varied career. Highwire Daze recently spent a few glorious moments on the phone with Ms. Moyet, discussing the highs and lows of an artist with a soulful voice for the ages. Read on…

Is there any story or concept behind the title of your new recording the minutes?
Yes, there is. It springs from a track on the album called Filigree. I had a kind of a heavy weekend in Amsterdam, and found myself going into the cinema in the midafternoon – and it was the film The Tree Of Life – the Brad Pitt / Terrence Malick film. There’s not a great deal of narrative – it’s a lot about imagery and it’s a very long film. You really have to get into the right pace of it. And all these people are getting up and walking out, expecting it to be a film with sex and abs in it being Brad Pitt – and it’s not this at all. It’s right at the end of the film – this last scene is really incredibly beautiful and redemptive. As I look around at the last few people that are sitting in the cinema with me – we’ve all kind of got wet faces – it’s kind of a very moving moment. And it struck me how people jump too soon – be it suicide, be it a love affair, be it work or a project that can’t know – that you jump too soon just right before something brilliant happens – right before the moment of clarity happens. This is something you realize as you get older when you’ve been so (brought up) in childhood about how a life well lived should be a thing seamlessly successful and full of love – and we find out that we failed and we feel that we fucked up and that everybody else hasn’t fucked up – and it’s just us and we feel resentful for this. Until you get to that point when you realize no, these redemptive moments or these brilliant moments – they happens in minutes and those minutes are cradled in pedestrian years. When you kind of realize that – when you get your head around that and you stop feeling cheated, and life just feels really good. And for me, the reason why it’s in lower cases – this is not a romantic statement and this is not just a particular group of minutes. They’re sporadic – and for me, making this album – fighting to get an album of original work done and achieving that – and that I think are some of my minutes.

What do you think has made your collaboration with Guy Sigsworth on the minutes so successful?
Well, for one, I made a real point of not wanting to listen to anything. I really didn’t want any of my writing to be influenced by the charts or by youth or any other record makers of today. I have had the kind of a career that a solo artist – or maybe even most artists are plagued with – which is being led by an A&R man who often has no idea of who you are as a musician – has no idea of your fan base – has no idea what made you an artist – and who is constantly trying to make you think about demographics and about sales figures and about all this nonsense that only serves to make you make something that’s very safe and asinine and frightened. And so for me, it was really important that I listened to no music and ideas – only to my own voice that comes from my own experience – and I don’t mean singing voice – I also mean the musical voice – the one that happens from all of things that you just absorb into your skin. The great thing about Guy is that he is more motivated about making a record that excites him than by chart success or by monetary reward. That is evident by the fact that he could chose to work with anyone – and working with a 50 year old woman who has seen her commercial days come and go – people who are only driven by financial reward would not see that as a goer. Guy is driven by being stimulated – and it became evident when we sat down together at the beginning that what we did together really struck the other. I was very moved by what he did – he was very moved by what I did. It wasn’t like a producer / artist relationship – it was very much more like a band. My area of control was on the vocals, the melody and the lyrics, which is all my work and melodic information. His is all the soundscaping and the chord structuring. In that, we worked independently together. I write on my own – he does his writing on his own – then we bring our things together. We just se - Highwire Daze

Alison Moyet started out her distinguished career as the unforgettable voice of Yaz (or Yazoo if you were in the UK), a project Vince Clarke committed to between his work in Depeche Mode and Erasure. Since the untimely demise of the band, Alison Moyet has proceeded on her own musical journey, now releasing an eighth studio album entitled the minutes. A thoughtful work of artistry and intrigue, the minutes also features the participating of noted producer Guy Sigsworth, whose own credits include the likes of Frou Frou and Bjork. A lower case title to a high profile recording, the minutes present Alison Moyet at the very height of her creativity, singing with a newfound passion while delivering what is perhaps the finest album of a long and varied career. Highwire Daze recently spent a few glorious moments on the phone with Ms. Moyet, discussing the highs and lows of an artist with a soulful voice for the ages. Read on…

Is there any story or concept behind the title of your new recording the minutes?
Yes, there is. It springs from a track on the album called Filigree. I had a kind of a heavy weekend in Amsterdam, and found myself going into the cinema in the midafternoon – and it was the film The Tree Of Life – the Brad Pitt / Terrence Malick film. There’s not a great deal of narrative – it’s a lot about imagery and it’s a very long film. You really have to get into the right pace of it. And all these people are getting up and walking out, expecting it to be a film with sex and abs in it being Brad Pitt – and it’s not this at all. It’s right at the end of the film – this last scene is really incredibly beautiful and redemptive. As I look around at the last few people that are sitting in the cinema with me – we’ve all kind of got wet faces – it’s kind of a very moving moment. And it struck me how people jump too soon – be it suicide, be it a love affair, be it work or a project that can’t know – that you jump too soon just right before something brilliant happens – right before the moment of clarity happens. This is something you realize as you get older when you’ve been so (brought up) in childhood about how a life well lived should be a thing seamlessly successful and full of love – and we find out that we failed and we feel that we fucked up and that everybody else hasn’t fucked up – and it’s just us and we feel resentful for this. Until you get to that point when you realize no, these redemptive moments or these brilliant moments – they happens in minutes and those minutes are cradled in pedestrian years. When you kind of realize that – when you get your head around that and you stop feeling cheated, and life just feels really good. And for me, the reason why it’s in lower cases – this is not a romantic statement and this is not just a particular group of minutes. They’re sporadic – and for me, making this album – fighting to get an album of original work done and achieving that – and that I think are some of my minutes.

What do you think has made your collaboration with Guy Sigsworth on the minutes so successful?
Well, for one, I made a real point of not wanting to listen to anything. I really didn’t want any of my writing to be influenced by the charts or by youth or any other record makers of today. I have had the kind of a career that a solo artist – or maybe even most artists are plagued with – which is being led by an A&R man who often has no idea of who you are as a musician – has no idea of your fan base – has no idea what made you an artist – and who is constantly trying to make you think about demographics and about sales figures and about all this nonsense that only serves to make you make something that’s very safe and asinine and frightened. And so for me, it was really important that I listened to no music and ideas – only to my own voice that comes from my own experience – and I don’t mean singing voice – I also mean the musical voice – the one that happens from all of things that you just absorb into your skin. The great thing about Guy is that he is more motivated about making a record that excites him than by chart success or by monetary reward. That is evident by the fact that he could chose to work with anyone – and working with a 50 year old woman who has seen her commercial days come and go – people who are only driven by financial reward would not see that as a goer. Guy is driven by being stimulated – and it became evident when we sat down together at the beginning that what we did together really struck the other. I was very moved by what he did – he was very moved by what I did. It wasn’t like a producer / artist relationship – it was very much more like a band. My area of control was on the vocals, the melody and the lyrics, which is all my work and melodic information. His is all the soundscaping and the chord structuring. In that, we worked independently together. I write on my own – he does his writing on his own – then we bring our things together. We just se - Highwire Daze

Whether howling the hoary drama over the Yaz situation with Vince Clark in the early ’80s or reigning as queen of the major-label blousy belters in the decades since, Alison Moyet has never allowed any particular sonic arrangement to diminish the prominence of her inimitable pipes: not blues, not club bounce, not smoky standards. So when serial blip-pop-noodler Guy Sigsworth (Sia, Alanis Morrissette) came to the helm of Moyet’s surprise indie resurrection, there probably shouldn’t have been any cause for alarm. In fact, the resulting collaboration, The Minutes, towers above almost everything before it in the Moyet oeuvre, percolating with optimism (“You are more than the sum of the numbers you’ve been done,” she sings on the effusive “Love Reign Supreme”) and drowning in coarse, lyrical depth (“Remind Yourself,” “A Place to Stay”) in equal measure. There’s even an intentional Yaz nod – the dreamy synth cascade of “Filigree” – to remind us that, even after 30 years, it’s still only her.


- Orlando Weekly

Whether howling the hoary drama over the Yaz situation with Vince Clark in the early ’80s or reigning as queen of the major-label blousy belters in the decades since, Alison Moyet has never allowed any particular sonic arrangement to diminish the prominence of her inimitable pipes: not blues, not club bounce, not smoky standards. So when serial blip-pop-noodler Guy Sigsworth (Sia, Alanis Morrissette) came to the helm of Moyet’s surprise indie resurrection, there probably shouldn’t have been any cause for alarm. In fact, the resulting collaboration, The Minutes, towers above almost everything before it in the Moyet oeuvre, percolating with optimism (“You are more than the sum of the numbers you’ve been done,” she sings on the effusive “Love Reign Supreme”) and drowning in coarse, lyrical depth (“Remind Yourself,” “A Place to Stay”) in equal measure. There’s even an intentional Yaz nod – the dreamy synth cascade of “Filigree” – to remind us that, even after 30 years, it’s still only her.


- Orlando Weekly

Alison Moyet and her husband were in Amsterdam on a rainy day and decided to see a movie.

"The Tree of Life" grew on the chanteuse.

"It's starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, so it has a cast where you can understand lots of people think it's going to be some kind of thriller or at least they'd get a chance to look at some attractive pecs," she said during a call from her home in Brighton, England.

"I don't want to see anything too challenging. It's in the song 'Filigree.' I was looking for a little filigree," Moyet said referring to a track from her new disc, "the minutes."

"I sit down in this film and the pace was so - there didn't seem to be any narrative or clear dialogue; it was all about beautiful imagery. And when you;re not expecting that, it takes a bit of time to get into pace with it. Meanwhile, the cinema is emptying," she continued.

"Yet I found myself getting into pace with it. And it was right at the end of the film where there's this five-minute passage, which is entirely joyful and redemptive. And I looked around at the people who hadn;t left and they were, like me, kind of concave and wet-faced and entirely moved.

"It struck me how soft and redemptive, be it someone who is suicidal or be it out of love or out of a project or if something becomes too difficult, we all know a ship we feel is sinking, but if we just hang on, then we find these little moments that we really don't mind that actually feel like a complete sea change for you.

"And it strikes me that we've been fed this lie that our lives are supposed to be seamless and it's supposed to be filled with joy, filled with romance, full of love, full sexually - all these kinfds of things that we feel we have something incredibly wrong if our lives don't turn out that way. And it's when you get to this age that you understand that those joyful times, those spectacular moments, that those moments of change do happen in those brief minutes in those pedestrian years that you can feel far more liberate and finally able to enjoy your lot," the singer-songwriter said.

For me, with this album I found so difficult to make because no one wants to make a current album with a middle-aged woman, you know, they'd love for me to do covers albums, and it felt really impportant that I hold out for this, that ht emaking of this and to get it realized; these are some of my minutes."

Moyet's life has been filled with minutes. She teamed up with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke to from Yaz. The synth-pop duo's 1982 debut, "Upstairs at Wric's," introduced her powerful voice with "Don't Go," "only You" and "Situation."

The two split after one more album, and Moyet went on to stardom as a solo artist in the United Kingdom where her hits include "Invisible," "Love Resurrection," "All Cried Out," "That Ole Devil Called Love," "Love Letters," "Weak In The Presence of Beauty," "Whispering Your Name," and "Is This Love?"

With "the minutes," Moyet returns to that synth-pop sound.

"My management company knew I wanted to work in electronic music again; it was just finding that right person," she said.

Enter producer Guy Sigsworth, who has worked with Madonna, Robyn and Bjork.

"We're both quite socially awkward; yet with what we do, we're both really solid. And I love the fact that he started off his musical life as a Cambridge University harpsichordist," Moyet said. "So working with him, we really found that we spoke the same English."

Released last month in the UK, "The minutes" debuted at No. 5. The U.S. release is set for June 11 on Metropolis Records. - Toledo Free Press

Alison Moyet and her husband were in Amsterdam on a rainy day and decided to see a movie.

"The Tree of Life" grew on the chanteuse.

"It's starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, so it has a cast where you can understand lots of people think it's going to be some kind of thriller or at least they'd get a chance to look at some attractive pecs," she said during a call from her home in Brighton, England.

"I don't want to see anything too challenging. It's in the song 'Filigree.' I was looking for a little filigree," Moyet said referring to a track from her new disc, "the minutes."

"I sit down in this film and the pace was so - there didn't seem to be any narrative or clear dialogue; it was all about beautiful imagery. And when you;re not expecting that, it takes a bit of time to get into pace with it. Meanwhile, the cinema is emptying," she continued.

"Yet I found myself getting into pace with it. And it was right at the end of the film where there's this five-minute passage, which is entirely joyful and redemptive. And I looked around at the people who hadn;t left and they were, like me, kind of concave and wet-faced and entirely moved.

"It struck me how soft and redemptive, be it someone who is suicidal or be it out of love or out of a project or if something becomes too difficult, we all know a ship we feel is sinking, but if we just hang on, then we find these little moments that we really don't mind that actually feel like a complete sea change for you.

"And it strikes me that we've been fed this lie that our lives are supposed to be seamless and it's supposed to be filled with joy, filled with romance, full of love, full sexually - all these kinfds of things that we feel we have something incredibly wrong if our lives don't turn out that way. And it's when you get to this age that you understand that those joyful times, those spectacular moments, that those moments of change do happen in those brief minutes in those pedestrian years that you can feel far more liberate and finally able to enjoy your lot," the singer-songwriter said.

For me, with this album I found so difficult to make because no one wants to make a current album with a middle-aged woman, you know, they'd love for me to do covers albums, and it felt really impportant that I hold out for this, that ht emaking of this and to get it realized; these are some of my minutes."

Moyet's life has been filled with minutes. She teamed up with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke to from Yaz. The synth-pop duo's 1982 debut, "Upstairs at Wric's," introduced her powerful voice with "Don't Go," "only You" and "Situation."

The two split after one more album, and Moyet went on to stardom as a solo artist in the United Kingdom where her hits include "Invisible," "Love Resurrection," "All Cried Out," "That Ole Devil Called Love," "Love Letters," "Weak In The Presence of Beauty," "Whispering Your Name," and "Is This Love?"

With "the minutes," Moyet returns to that synth-pop sound.

"My management company knew I wanted to work in electronic music again; it was just finding that right person," she said.

Enter producer Guy Sigsworth, who has worked with Madonna, Robyn and Bjork.

"We're both quite socially awkward; yet with what we do, we're both really solid. And I love the fact that he started off his musical life as a Cambridge University harpsichordist," Moyet said. "So working with him, we really found that we spoke the same English."

Released last month in the UK, "The minutes" debuted at No. 5. The U.S. release is set for June 11 on Metropolis Records. - Toledo Free Press

Pop
Three decades after they were recorded, Alison Moyet's smoldering vocals can still be heard on the radio singing Yazoo's era-defining new wave hits "Only You" and "Don't Go." After a foray into musical theater, a bout of depression and a purging exercise that resulted in smashing all her gold records, the proto Adele returns to her synth pop roots on her first album in six years. Moyet's pipes are as dramatic as ever, markedly so when producer Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Madonna) takes two steps back and lets them rise above the electronic clamor on songs such as "When I Was Your Girl" and "Filigree."
- San Francisco Chronicle

Pop
Three decades after they were recorded, Alison Moyet's smoldering vocals can still be heard on the radio singing Yazoo's era-defining new wave hits "Only You" and "Don't Go." After a foray into musical theater, a bout of depression and a purging exercise that resulted in smashing all her gold records, the proto Adele returns to her synth pop roots on her first album in six years. Moyet's pipes are as dramatic as ever, markedly so when producer Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Madonna) takes two steps back and lets them rise above the electronic clamor on songs such as "When I Was Your Girl" and "Filigree."
- San Francisco Chronicle

Musical icon Alison Moyet will release her eighth solo album the minutes on June 11, 2013 (Cooking Vinyl/Metropolis Records). While many still think of Moyet as the lead vocalist of 80's group Yaz (or Yazoo, depending on whom you talk to), she has actually been making much more music on her own consistently through the 90's and into the 2000's. While the sound of most of those albums was more along the lines of ballads and adult contemporary fare, the minutes, Moyet’s first album since 2007, marks a shift back to (classy) electronic pop. This is an artistic and ambitious album from an artist more than 30 years in to her career. It’s inspiring to hear Moyet adapt and blend the minutes album into the modern, pop soundscape.

The minutes was written with and produced by Guy Sigsworth (half of the electronic duo Frou Frou), who has previously worked with Robyn, Björk, Goldie and Madonna. This album finds her unique contralto voice unchanged from the seductive and powerful voice we recognize as unmistakably ”Alison Moyet.” It’s a captivating listening experience which flows with perfect smoothness from one track to the next for the album’s 40 minute duration. Here, Moyet dabbles in 80's synth pop, plus modern pop hits and club sounds (some tracks, such as “Apple Kisses,” are on the brink of dubstep at times), and general experimental electronic sounds. High points on this album include the aforementioned “Apples Kisses,” which really plays with the club beats and effects while letting Moyet’s voice float effortlessly from end to end of her vocal range, “Right as Rain,” which is a very house-sounding track, and “Love Reign Supreme,” which is a more pop effort. Opening track “Horizon Flame” also blends in some strings that create a beautiful, ethereal and haunting effect. Other tracks, such as the darkly emotional and beautiful “A Place to Stay” and the peaceful, positively spirit lifting “Filigree” showcase the album’s swing between darkness and light.

This is an album that should have fans of both old school and modern synthpop and electronic pop happily humming along — humming because there’s simply no matching Alison Moyet’s voice. - Arenas Promotions

Musical icon Alison Moyet will release her eighth solo album the minutes on June 11, 2013 (Cooking Vinyl/Metropolis Records). While many still think of Moyet as the lead vocalist of 80's group Yaz (or Yazoo, depending on whom you talk to), she has actually been making much more music on her own consistently through the 90's and into the 2000's. While the sound of most of those albums was more along the lines of ballads and adult contemporary fare, the minutes, Moyet’s first album since 2007, marks a shift back to (classy) electronic pop. This is an artistic and ambitious album from an artist more than 30 years in to her career. It’s inspiring to hear Moyet adapt and blend the minutes album into the modern, pop soundscape.

The minutes was written with and produced by Guy Sigsworth (half of the electronic duo Frou Frou), who has previously worked with Robyn, Björk, Goldie and Madonna. This album finds her unique contralto voice unchanged from the seductive and powerful voice we recognize as unmistakably ”Alison Moyet.” It’s a captivating listening experience which flows with perfect smoothness from one track to the next for the album’s 40 minute duration. Here, Moyet dabbles in 80's synth pop, plus modern pop hits and club sounds (some tracks, such as “Apple Kisses,” are on the brink of dubstep at times), and general experimental electronic sounds. High points on this album include the aforementioned “Apples Kisses,” which really plays with the club beats and effects while letting Moyet’s voice float effortlessly from end to end of her vocal range, “Right as Rain,” which is a very house-sounding track, and “Love Reign Supreme,” which is a more pop effort. Opening track “Horizon Flame” also blends in some strings that create a beautiful, ethereal and haunting effect. Other tracks, such as the darkly emotional and beautiful “A Place to Stay” and the peaceful, positively spirit lifting “Filigree” showcase the album’s swing between darkness and light.

This is an album that should have fans of both old school and modern synthpop and electronic pop happily humming along — humming because there’s simply no matching Alison Moyet’s voice. - Arenas Promotions

Alison Moyet, "The Minutes" (Cooking Vinyl/Metropolis Records)

Alison Moyet is not trying to impress you. True to her punk roots, the English artist didn't make "The Minutes," her first studio album since 2007, to please anyone. And, by doing so, she has created a remarkable collection that takes her rich contralto to new edges.

Moyet, the iconic voice in the 1980s synth-pop duo Yazoo (aka Yaz), revives her electronic roots here, merging with an experimental blend of synth sounds that express modernity, technology and introspection. Producer Guy Sigsworth has built brilliant moments into the album's fabric, demanding listeners be armed with good headphones.

Moyet's voice is at its most complex and her lyrics are darkly poetic, in perfect defiance of commercial conventions. As she proclaims on "Right as Rain," an ubercool club piece, "If you can't be happy with me, be unhappy with me, stay unhappy with me."

... - Yahoo

Alison Moyet, "The Minutes" (Cooking Vinyl/Metropolis Records)

Alison Moyet is not trying to impress you. True to her punk roots, the English artist didn't make "The Minutes," her first studio album since 2007, to please anyone. And, by doing so, she has created a remarkable collection that takes her rich contralto to new edges.

Moyet, the iconic voice in the 1980s synth-pop duo Yazoo (aka Yaz), revives her electronic roots here, merging with an experimental blend of synth sounds that express modernity, technology and introspection. Producer Guy Sigsworth has built brilliant moments into the album's fabric, demanding listeners be armed with good headphones.

Moyet's voice is at its most complex and her lyrics are darkly poetic, in perfect defiance of commercial conventions. As she proclaims on "Right as Rain," an ubercool club piece, "If you can't be happy with me, be unhappy with me, stay unhappy with me."

... - Yahoo

Born with a bluesy, androgynous contralto that she controls with Jedi precision, Alison Moyet became an overnight sensation in the 1980s as half of pioneering British synthpop duo Yazoo, cofounded by electronic maestro Vince Clarke (who also jumpstarted Depeche Mode). Yazoo’s two albums, Upstairs at Eric’s (1982) and You and Me Both (1983), laid the foundation for electronic music and were DJ staples in early B-Boy culture. “Situation” and “Don’t Go” have been sampled by dozens of dance and hip-hop artists including Deee-Lite and Snoop Dog; “Only You” has been covered by pop stars as diverse as Judy Collins and Enrique Iglesias; while “Nobody’s Diary”, and “State Farm” remain essential to any electronic playlist worth a blip.
After only two years, Yazoo split up; Clarke went on to form Erasure with Andy Bell, and Moyet launched a solo career that has garnered her millions in record sales worldwide, numerous awards, and collaborations with some of the biggest talents in the business, including Lamont Dozier, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, Freddie Mercury, and Sinead O’Connor. In May, Alison released a new album, the minutes, co-written and co-produced by Guy Sigsworth, who has worked with Bjork, Madonna, Goldie, and Seal. The adventurous mix of electronic pop has been enthusiastically received. For the ?rst time in a while, Moyet sounds at ease with the material, the production, and herself.
We rang up Alison in Brighton, England a few days ago to get her thoughts on her meteoric rise to stardom, her battles with the music industry, reuniting with Clarke for a sold-out Yazoo tour, and the new album. What we learned: she idolizes Elvis Costello, was not a fan of Dusty Spring?eld growing up, will never perform “Invisible” again, and has been BFFs with comedienne Dawn French for, like, ever. Download the minutes directly from AlisonMoyet.com and an exclusive remix of “Changeling” after the jump.
VIBE: The album’s been out for a few weeks now. Have you been keeping up with the reviews? Are you happy with the reception?
Alison Moyet: It’s been fantastic. What makes it especially great is because I’m at that brilliant point in my life where I expect nothing. People say “Are you surprised that anyone likes it?” I’m not surprised, I love this record. I’m surprised they got to hear it.
You’ve famously tangled with the industry over your creative direction. There’s something radiant about you and this album.
With this record, I’ve been left to my own devices, really. The thing about this industry is you become successful from something you create yourself, whereupon everyone determines to tell you what you should be doing. It’s taken this long to get to a point where I have no deal, no label, consequently no A&R man who didn’t know anything about my history or fan base or what I should be doing. Guy Sigsworth got me as an artist. I wasn’t sellable, commercial, or any of those things. He wanted to work with me because he likes what I do, and I wanted to work with him because I like what he does. We just wanted to make something, take it to a label and say, “This is it, no compromises, do you want it? Yes or No?” I don’t need hot air blown up my ass. I need people to be respectful and do their jobs.
Do you think your distinctive voice and stellar debut make you di?cult to market?
I think with me it’s that I became famous before I knew who I was an artist. When I started working with Yazoo, I didn’t think about it as a long term project. I did this thing with Vince, and I really enjoyed it. And then when I was signed to CBS as a solo artist, I’d become so isolated, I didn’t have anyone to play with, so I decided to see what would happen with their team. We did the Alf album, and it was massive. When that happens as a female singer, what’s forgotten is that you’re an artist, someone that likes to create things. Sometimes I want to put my voice center stage, and sometimes my voice is no more signi?cant than the drum pad. That became really problematic because people only wanted me to showboat.
Showboat is a great word for it.
I wanted to be who I am, this odd, androgynous girl who never meant to be a pop star, and they wanted to me to ?t in this template.
It reminds me of when I talked to Laetitia Sadier after she left Stereolab. When your voice is so branded, it must be an uphill battle to rede?ne yourself.
What becomes really di?cult is when you want to sing a song that’s really light, where the lyric is far more important than the vocal. But people get really confused by that. They think you can’t sing. They don’t get that it’s a choice that’s been made. This song doesn’t require any acrobatics. It’s a little voice, a nursery rhyme, and it requires a nursery rhyme voice. My strength as a singer is my versatility. I ?nd it really frustrating when I’m only expected to show o?. The music industry is awash with female acrobats. What happens to the song, and treating it for its sake, and not as an ego exa - Vibe

Born with a bluesy, androgynous contralto that she controls with Jedi precision, Alison Moyet became an overnight sensation in the 1980s as half of pioneering British synthpop duo Yazoo, cofounded by electronic maestro Vince Clarke (who also jumpstarted Depeche Mode). Yazoo’s two albums, Upstairs at Eric’s (1982) and You and Me Both (1983), laid the foundation for electronic music and were DJ staples in early B-Boy culture. “Situation” and “Don’t Go” have been sampled by dozens of dance and hip-hop artists including Deee-Lite and Snoop Dog; “Only You” has been covered by pop stars as diverse as Judy Collins and Enrique Iglesias; while “Nobody’s Diary”, and “State Farm” remain essential to any electronic playlist worth a blip.
After only two years, Yazoo split up; Clarke went on to form Erasure with Andy Bell, and Moyet launched a solo career that has garnered her millions in record sales worldwide, numerous awards, and collaborations with some of the biggest talents in the business, including Lamont Dozier, Johnny Marr, Nile Rodgers, Freddie Mercury, and Sinead O’Connor. In May, Alison released a new album, the minutes, co-written and co-produced by Guy Sigsworth, who has worked with Bjork, Madonna, Goldie, and Seal. The adventurous mix of electronic pop has been enthusiastically received. For the ?rst time in a while, Moyet sounds at ease with the material, the production, and herself.
We rang up Alison in Brighton, England a few days ago to get her thoughts on her meteoric rise to stardom, her battles with the music industry, reuniting with Clarke for a sold-out Yazoo tour, and the new album. What we learned: she idolizes Elvis Costello, was not a fan of Dusty Spring?eld growing up, will never perform “Invisible” again, and has been BFFs with comedienne Dawn French for, like, ever. Download the minutes directly from AlisonMoyet.com and an exclusive remix of “Changeling” after the jump.
VIBE: The album’s been out for a few weeks now. Have you been keeping up with the reviews? Are you happy with the reception?
Alison Moyet: It’s been fantastic. What makes it especially great is because I’m at that brilliant point in my life where I expect nothing. People say “Are you surprised that anyone likes it?” I’m not surprised, I love this record. I’m surprised they got to hear it.
You’ve famously tangled with the industry over your creative direction. There’s something radiant about you and this album.
With this record, I’ve been left to my own devices, really. The thing about this industry is you become successful from something you create yourself, whereupon everyone determines to tell you what you should be doing. It’s taken this long to get to a point where I have no deal, no label, consequently no A&R man who didn’t know anything about my history or fan base or what I should be doing. Guy Sigsworth got me as an artist. I wasn’t sellable, commercial, or any of those things. He wanted to work with me because he likes what I do, and I wanted to work with him because I like what he does. We just wanted to make something, take it to a label and say, “This is it, no compromises, do you want it? Yes or No?” I don’t need hot air blown up my ass. I need people to be respectful and do their jobs.
Do you think your distinctive voice and stellar debut make you di?cult to market?
I think with me it’s that I became famous before I knew who I was an artist. When I started working with Yazoo, I didn’t think about it as a long term project. I did this thing with Vince, and I really enjoyed it. And then when I was signed to CBS as a solo artist, I’d become so isolated, I didn’t have anyone to play with, so I decided to see what would happen with their team. We did the Alf album, and it was massive. When that happens as a female singer, what’s forgotten is that you’re an artist, someone that likes to create things. Sometimes I want to put my voice center stage, and sometimes my voice is no more signi?cant than the drum pad. That became really problematic because people only wanted me to showboat.
Showboat is a great word for it.
I wanted to be who I am, this odd, androgynous girl who never meant to be a pop star, and they wanted to me to ?t in this template.
It reminds me of when I talked to Laetitia Sadier after she left Stereolab. When your voice is so branded, it must be an uphill battle to rede?ne yourself.
What becomes really di?cult is when you want to sing a song that’s really light, where the lyric is far more important than the vocal. But people get really confused by that. They think you can’t sing. They don’t get that it’s a choice that’s been made. This song doesn’t require any acrobatics. It’s a little voice, a nursery rhyme, and it requires a nursery rhyme voice. My strength as a singer is my versatility. I ?nd it really frustrating when I’m only expected to show o?. The music industry is awash with female acrobats. What happens to the song, and treating it for its sake, and not as an ego exa - Vibe

The British singer's highest-charting -- and best-reviewed -- album of her 25-year career is a moment of "vindication." Dropping from a size 22 to a 10? "I’m wholly uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed by it," she tells THR.
Alison Moyet recently made headlines in the U.K. for two different reasons. First, her new album, The Minutes, became the highest-charting release of her 25-year career. Second, the 51-year-old singer showed off the results of a diet that saw her dwindle from a size 22 to a 10. But then, following the fluctuations of Moyet’s career and her waistline has long been something of a British preoccupation.

Moyet first gained fame in 1981 as the voice of Yaz (or Yazoo as they were known in their native land), the electro-pop duo formed by Vince Clarke after he left Depeche Mode. Both Clarke and Moyet hailed from Basildon in Essex. (Moyet went to high school with Depeche members Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore, whom she remembers as being “studious -- they did their homework.”) But where Clarke was inclined toward synthesizers and drum machines, the teenage Moyet was a blues singer with ambitions to be in a rowdy guitar band like Dr. Feelgood.

Clarke approached Moyet to sing on his first post-Depeche demo, a song called “Only You." She agreed, thinking she might be able to use it to launch her own career. Two months later, the song was climbing the U.K. charts. “I really thought that was the trajectory,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought you made a record, you gave it to a plugger, the plugger took it to the radio stations, all the radio stations played it, everyone bought it and then you had a hit record.”

Moyet and Clarke remained together for two hit albums, 1982’s Upstairs at Eric’s and the following year’s You and Me Both, before disbanding. Moyet cites the lack of a personal relationship to accompany their working one as the chief catalyst for the dissolution.

Her first solo album, 1984’s Alf, after her nickname, was carefully designed to launch her as an international superstar. It was a No. 1 smash across Europe and produced hits like “Love Resurrection," "All Cried Out" and "Invisible." A subsequent cover of the jazz standard “That Ole Devil Called Love” was even bigger and opened the door to multi-generational mainstream success. But Moyet, always uncomfortable with the attention that came with high-charting records, resolved to steer her career in more idiosyncratic directions.

Later albums, like 1991’s Hoodoo, were less polished and accessible. Moyet eschewed chart trends, instead recording covers of Michel Legrand and George Gershwin songs. She even gave the stage a whirl, treading the boards as Mama Morton in a West End production of Chicago and in the comedy Smaller.

The Minutes sees Moyet return to electronic music. Written and produced in collaboration with Guy Sigsworth (known for his work with Bjork and Madonna, among others) and filled with ruminations on aging. The Minutes is a far cry from Yaz’s more excitable highlights, but Moyet has never been in more powerful voice.

She recently spoke to THR about that voice, her struggles with fame and why she does not appreciate compliments about her newly svelte figure. No, really -- don't go there.

NEWS: Margaret Thatcher and the Rise and Fall of the Great British Pop Protest Song

The Hollywood Reporter: Congratulations, first of all, on being a British singer who puts out a record without any American intonation.

Alison Moyet: When I started singing, the fashion was to apply an American accent. But as I’ve gotten older, I’m more fixed with my European-ness and just the fact that I want to have a greater honesty in what I’m doing. I want to be able to sing the words in the way that I would speak them, and obviously I don’t walk around with a mid-American drawl.

THR: You must have been chuffed, as they say, at the U.K. reception to the album.

Moyet: It’s been well reported that I threw away all my old gold discs because the idea of having some token on my wall that tells me when I’ve been successful and made a lot of money means nothing to me. However, in this instance, I’ve had to battle for years to get a record label to even speak to me about new material. I’ve had loads of deal offers, but all for covers or unless I would do reality television. Do you really think that me getting my tits out on some program is going to get anyone to look at my art? It got to the point where I had to make this record off my own back. I had only Guy Sigsworth who musically believed in what I was doing, and he effectively funded it, because I wasn’t paying him. He was working in his downtime and in between records. And I wasn’t a natural cash cow -- someone where he could say, "I’m definitely going to reap rewards on this." So when you’ve dealt with people not even taking your phone calls and then you enter the chart higher than you h - Hollywood Reporter

The British singer's highest-charting -- and best-reviewed -- album of her 25-year career is a moment of "vindication." Dropping from a size 22 to a 10? "I’m wholly uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed by it," she tells THR.
Alison Moyet recently made headlines in the U.K. for two different reasons. First, her new album, The Minutes, became the highest-charting release of her 25-year career. Second, the 51-year-old singer showed off the results of a diet that saw her dwindle from a size 22 to a 10. But then, following the fluctuations of Moyet’s career and her waistline has long been something of a British preoccupation.

Moyet first gained fame in 1981 as the voice of Yaz (or Yazoo as they were known in their native land), the electro-pop duo formed by Vince Clarke after he left Depeche Mode. Both Clarke and Moyet hailed from Basildon in Essex. (Moyet went to high school with Depeche members Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore, whom she remembers as being “studious -- they did their homework.”) But where Clarke was inclined toward synthesizers and drum machines, the teenage Moyet was a blues singer with ambitions to be in a rowdy guitar band like Dr. Feelgood.

Clarke approached Moyet to sing on his first post-Depeche demo, a song called “Only You." She agreed, thinking she might be able to use it to launch her own career. Two months later, the song was climbing the U.K. charts. “I really thought that was the trajectory,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought you made a record, you gave it to a plugger, the plugger took it to the radio stations, all the radio stations played it, everyone bought it and then you had a hit record.”

Moyet and Clarke remained together for two hit albums, 1982’s Upstairs at Eric’s and the following year’s You and Me Both, before disbanding. Moyet cites the lack of a personal relationship to accompany their working one as the chief catalyst for the dissolution.

Her first solo album, 1984’s Alf, after her nickname, was carefully designed to launch her as an international superstar. It was a No. 1 smash across Europe and produced hits like “Love Resurrection," "All Cried Out" and "Invisible." A subsequent cover of the jazz standard “That Ole Devil Called Love” was even bigger and opened the door to multi-generational mainstream success. But Moyet, always uncomfortable with the attention that came with high-charting records, resolved to steer her career in more idiosyncratic directions.

Later albums, like 1991’s Hoodoo, were less polished and accessible. Moyet eschewed chart trends, instead recording covers of Michel Legrand and George Gershwin songs. She even gave the stage a whirl, treading the boards as Mama Morton in a West End production of Chicago and in the comedy Smaller.

The Minutes sees Moyet return to electronic music. Written and produced in collaboration with Guy Sigsworth (known for his work with Bjork and Madonna, among others) and filled with ruminations on aging. The Minutes is a far cry from Yaz’s more excitable highlights, but Moyet has never been in more powerful voice.

She recently spoke to THR about that voice, her struggles with fame and why she does not appreciate compliments about her newly svelte figure. No, really -- don't go there.

NEWS: Margaret Thatcher and the Rise and Fall of the Great British Pop Protest Song

The Hollywood Reporter: Congratulations, first of all, on being a British singer who puts out a record without any American intonation.

Alison Moyet: When I started singing, the fashion was to apply an American accent. But as I’ve gotten older, I’m more fixed with my European-ness and just the fact that I want to have a greater honesty in what I’m doing. I want to be able to sing the words in the way that I would speak them, and obviously I don’t walk around with a mid-American drawl.

THR: You must have been chuffed, as they say, at the U.K. reception to the album.

Moyet: It’s been well reported that I threw away all my old gold discs because the idea of having some token on my wall that tells me when I’ve been successful and made a lot of money means nothing to me. However, in this instance, I’ve had to battle for years to get a record label to even speak to me about new material. I’ve had loads of deal offers, but all for covers or unless I would do reality television. Do you really think that me getting my tits out on some program is going to get anyone to look at my art? It got to the point where I had to make this record off my own back. I had only Guy Sigsworth who musically believed in what I was doing, and he effectively funded it, because I wasn’t paying him. He was working in his downtime and in between records. And I wasn’t a natural cash cow -- someone where he could say, "I’m definitely going to reap rewards on this." So when you’ve dealt with people not even taking your phone calls and then you enter the chart higher than you h - Hollywood Reporter

When the name of Alison Moyet is mentioned to some adults of a certain age, the first song lyric to possibly come to mind might be…, “Please don’t stop. Don’t you know? I’m never gonna let you go” from “Don’t Go.” Yet after tremendous success with Vince Clarke as the duo Yaz, her solo work as a vocalist only continued to shine as a singer of the first caliber long after “Don’t Go,” had gone.

She has brought forth ground breaking and emotionally charged songs such as “Love Resurrection,” “Invisible” and “All Cried Out” and will always be considered as an important element of the new wave, pop, blues and electronica scene when beginning her journey in 1982. Now, Alison Moyet is musically moving forward as an artist, acknowledging 25 years in the U.K. industry and abroad.

With consistent, relevant and out-of-the-box originality, Moyet might have easily stated, “Happening is not where I want to be. I want to be free to create what is truly mine.” With a seven-year itch of this important desire addressed and presented on her terms, Moyet is back with her new album The Minutes.

In this revealing, heartfelt and thoroughly intelligent interview without a touch of “attitude,” Moyet proudly wears the coat of her musical coloring and shares the importance of individuality and creativity.
Will you tell me a bit about what it’s been like working on your label Metropolis Records?

It’s a new relationship. I met them awhile back. For me, I was just delighted with the fact that they completely got what I wanted to do with this album. I’m actually delighted. For me to get a deal at this point in time was tricky as obviously, a middle-aged woman and all that “blah, blah, blah.”

Really?

No one wants you to make new music. They don’t want original works from you, you know. That’s been my experience in England over the last four years, I’ve had offers to make covers albums. I turned them down and decided to make this album on my own. Guy Sigsworth and I made it together and then we took it to record labels to see if anyone “got it” without making us change or edit copy. The first main label was Cooking Vinyl England and through their partnership with Metropolis, Metropolis came straight on board. It’s been amazing.

Oh, wow. Wonderful, I’m a 1961 baby too.

Ohhh…I love that. I love that.

So, I hear ya all the way.

It’s so great of you to have the same reference points isn’t it? You know it’s a musical journey, so that’s really nice.

How did you come about titling the album The Minutes? Was the title in any way, a reference to the book The Hours?

No, it wasn’t at all. In fact, I’ll tell you kind of where that reference “the minutes” came from. It comes from a song “Filigree” which was a song that I wrote after going to see the film The Tree of Life. Remember that film?



Yes.

I went to see The Tree of Life, it was a rainy weekend afternoon, I was with my husband and it was sort of like we fell into a cinema. There was a line outside, the people were going in and obviously it’s an art house film and these people were leaving in droves. These people looking for mainstream entertainment. You see them go.

We sat there. We were caught by the visual beauty, perplexed by the seeming lack of narrative. But, either way you sit there for almost an hour and you find yourself involved in watching it and moving with the pace. At the same time, you still don’t quite understand your experience.

Then, in the last five minutes of the film is a wonderful, redemptive scene, which really kind of sums up what this album [The Minutes] means to me. It’s like the whole chorus and you jump too soon and that can relate to suicide, that can relate to your relationship; a project that’s become tortuous. Anything you fear and you’re on your last legs and you jump right before this glorious redemptive minute.

The one thing that you understand when you are middle-aged, is that this idea that you’re sold on nursery stories when you’re young is this “perfect” life and that somehow you f*cked up. You’ve got to continue on… and you fucked up. Then, you get to this brilliant place in your life where you are understood “Oh I see, those glorious times. They happened in pedestrian years. Those minutes were strong in pedestrian years.

And when I understand that, when I stop feeling cheated because of those dull, loveless, gray days and it’s just these times that we’re supposed to support. When you understand that, you’re in the grade. You’re ready for your own misery.

Woah, that’s an excellent analogy. You almost made me jump ahead of my questions because my favorite song is “Filigree.”

Ohhh…fantastic. Like you said, that sums up what Minutes means to me. Not about The Hours, it means about the facts that within this film [Tree of Life] there are a couple of minutes… I enjoyed the film, don’t get me wrong but there were a couple of minutes that lifted my heart and made me feel differently.

Nice, that’s nic - The Rage

When the name of Alison Moyet is mentioned to some adults of a certain age, the first song lyric to possibly come to mind might be…, “Please don’t stop. Don’t you know? I’m never gonna let you go” from “Don’t Go.” Yet after tremendous success with Vince Clarke as the duo Yaz, her solo work as a vocalist only continued to shine as a singer of the first caliber long after “Don’t Go,” had gone.

She has brought forth ground breaking and emotionally charged songs such as “Love Resurrection,” “Invisible” and “All Cried Out” and will always be considered as an important element of the new wave, pop, blues and electronica scene when beginning her journey in 1982. Now, Alison Moyet is musically moving forward as an artist, acknowledging 25 years in the U.K. industry and abroad.

With consistent, relevant and out-of-the-box originality, Moyet might have easily stated, “Happening is not where I want to be. I want to be free to create what is truly mine.” With a seven-year itch of this important desire addressed and presented on her terms, Moyet is back with her new album The Minutes.

In this revealing, heartfelt and thoroughly intelligent interview without a touch of “attitude,” Moyet proudly wears the coat of her musical coloring and shares the importance of individuality and creativity.
Will you tell me a bit about what it’s been like working on your label Metropolis Records?

It’s a new relationship. I met them awhile back. For me, I was just delighted with the fact that they completely got what I wanted to do with this album. I’m actually delighted. For me to get a deal at this point in time was tricky as obviously, a middle-aged woman and all that “blah, blah, blah.”

Really?

No one wants you to make new music. They don’t want original works from you, you know. That’s been my experience in England over the last four years, I’ve had offers to make covers albums. I turned them down and decided to make this album on my own. Guy Sigsworth and I made it together and then we took it to record labels to see if anyone “got it” without making us change or edit copy. The first main label was Cooking Vinyl England and through their partnership with Metropolis, Metropolis came straight on board. It’s been amazing.

Oh, wow. Wonderful, I’m a 1961 baby too.

Ohhh…I love that. I love that.

So, I hear ya all the way.

It’s so great of you to have the same reference points isn’t it? You know it’s a musical journey, so that’s really nice.

How did you come about titling the album The Minutes? Was the title in any way, a reference to the book The Hours?

No, it wasn’t at all. In fact, I’ll tell you kind of where that reference “the minutes” came from. It comes from a song “Filigree” which was a song that I wrote after going to see the film The Tree of Life. Remember that film?



Yes.

I went to see The Tree of Life, it was a rainy weekend afternoon, I was with my husband and it was sort of like we fell into a cinema. There was a line outside, the people were going in and obviously it’s an art house film and these people were leaving in droves. These people looking for mainstream entertainment. You see them go.

We sat there. We were caught by the visual beauty, perplexed by the seeming lack of narrative. But, either way you sit there for almost an hour and you find yourself involved in watching it and moving with the pace. At the same time, you still don’t quite understand your experience.

Then, in the last five minutes of the film is a wonderful, redemptive scene, which really kind of sums up what this album [The Minutes] means to me. It’s like the whole chorus and you jump too soon and that can relate to suicide, that can relate to your relationship; a project that’s become tortuous. Anything you fear and you’re on your last legs and you jump right before this glorious redemptive minute.

The one thing that you understand when you are middle-aged, is that this idea that you’re sold on nursery stories when you’re young is this “perfect” life and that somehow you f*cked up. You’ve got to continue on… and you fucked up. Then, you get to this brilliant place in your life where you are understood “Oh I see, those glorious times. They happened in pedestrian years. Those minutes were strong in pedestrian years.

And when I understand that, when I stop feeling cheated because of those dull, loveless, gray days and it’s just these times that we’re supposed to support. When you understand that, you’re in the grade. You’re ready for your own misery.

Woah, that’s an excellent analogy. You almost made me jump ahead of my questions because my favorite song is “Filigree.”

Ohhh…fantastic. Like you said, that sums up what Minutes means to me. Not about The Hours, it means about the facts that within this film [Tree of Life] there are a couple of minutes… I enjoyed the film, don’t get me wrong but there were a couple of minutes that lifted my heart and made me feel differently.

Nice, that’s nic - The Rage

Cooking Vinyl / Metropolis | "the minutes is a cohesive distinctly modern album that eschews everything the industry expects of a musician like A
?Review · ?Lauren ? · ?May 28th, 2013 · ?1706 Views
Last Edited by: Chris MUG5 Maguire May 28th, 2013.

Demographic discussion and advert jazz are usually the territory of the middle aged female singer, or at least the one they get stuck and associated with. Never content to meet middle of the road expectations though, Alison Moyet returns with a record which spills young modern dance over her deep vocal palette.

Her eighth solo album and first since 2007 sees Alison Moyet matched with producer Guy Sigsworth (Robyn, Bjork, Madonna) and in him she’s found exactly what she needed. His beats from the icy introduction of ‘Horizon Flame’ or the airy bubble-gum pop of ‘Love Reign Supreme’ accompany Moyet’s voice as if they are part of it. If you remember Moyet from Yazoo, but have missed the years between (some duller than others) then the minutes offers a place to pick things up that’ll feel familiar and fun as electro rings out.



This album does feel very fun and upbeat – in places. Moyet’s got a voice that’s ripe for love wrought serenades as she shows on ‘A Place To Stay’ which sees her go full throttle on the emotion: “I’m going to leave you now, even when I don’t know how, I’m never going to look away from you precious face,” you can practically see the rain soaked music video as you listen. It’s an album that swings from light to dark as if Alison Moyet were a trapeze artist searching for a spotlight and her voice works just as well whether it be dabbling in resoundingly positive messages on ‘Filigree’ or mysteriously pussyfooting over a snarling mechanical bassline on ‘Apple Kisses’.

Alison Moyet has always had a beautiful voice and superb vocal chops, but it’s here on her most experimental album that she succeeds like never before (it’s her highest charting since Raindancing in 1987). It’s evident that working with Sigsworth has revitalised her and the man who’s helped bring to fruition the music of the some of the biggest and most interesting pop singers in the world has taken Moyet to a realm where modern smash hits and punchy, bass heavy high end club numbers are the norm and the result is a track as carnivorous as ‘All Signs Of Life’ which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Pendulum album or being played at Fabric, but almost more importantly doesn’t sound out of place here either.



the minutes is a cohesive distinctly modern album that eschews everything the industry expects of a musician like Alison Moyet and concerns itself with the head, the heart, and the dancing feet of everyone else.

the minutes is out on June 11th
Read more at http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/159216-review-alison-moyet-minutes-album.html#jDHJFgJ4PZTfO8oX.99 - Alt Sounds

Cooking Vinyl / Metropolis | "the minutes is a cohesive distinctly modern album that eschews everything the industry expects of a musician like A
?Review · ?Lauren ? · ?May 28th, 2013 · ?1706 Views
Last Edited by: Chris MUG5 Maguire May 28th, 2013.

Demographic discussion and advert jazz are usually the territory of the middle aged female singer, or at least the one they get stuck and associated with. Never content to meet middle of the road expectations though, Alison Moyet returns with a record which spills young modern dance over her deep vocal palette.

Her eighth solo album and first since 2007 sees Alison Moyet matched with producer Guy Sigsworth (Robyn, Bjork, Madonna) and in him she’s found exactly what she needed. His beats from the icy introduction of ‘Horizon Flame’ or the airy bubble-gum pop of ‘Love Reign Supreme’ accompany Moyet’s voice as if they are part of it. If you remember Moyet from Yazoo, but have missed the years between (some duller than others) then the minutes offers a place to pick things up that’ll feel familiar and fun as electro rings out.



This album does feel very fun and upbeat – in places. Moyet’s got a voice that’s ripe for love wrought serenades as she shows on ‘A Place To Stay’ which sees her go full throttle on the emotion: “I’m going to leave you now, even when I don’t know how, I’m never going to look away from you precious face,” you can practically see the rain soaked music video as you listen. It’s an album that swings from light to dark as if Alison Moyet were a trapeze artist searching for a spotlight and her voice works just as well whether it be dabbling in resoundingly positive messages on ‘Filigree’ or mysteriously pussyfooting over a snarling mechanical bassline on ‘Apple Kisses’.

Alison Moyet has always had a beautiful voice and superb vocal chops, but it’s here on her most experimental album that she succeeds like never before (it’s her highest charting since Raindancing in 1987). It’s evident that working with Sigsworth has revitalised her and the man who’s helped bring to fruition the music of the some of the biggest and most interesting pop singers in the world has taken Moyet to a realm where modern smash hits and punchy, bass heavy high end club numbers are the norm and the result is a track as carnivorous as ‘All Signs Of Life’ which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Pendulum album or being played at Fabric, but almost more importantly doesn’t sound out of place here either.



the minutes is a cohesive distinctly modern album that eschews everything the industry expects of a musician like Alison Moyet and concerns itself with the head, the heart, and the dancing feet of everyone else.

the minutes is out on June 11th
Read more at http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/159216-review-alison-moyet-minutes-album.html#jDHJFgJ4PZTfO8oX.99 - Alt Sounds

Essex singer Alison Moyet has always had a memorable androgynous contralto voice. She burst into the '80s in the group Yazoo, also known as Yaz, where she teamed up with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. The duo created hits together such as "Only You," "Don't Go" and "Situation."
Clarke moved on to another duo, forming Erasure, while Moyet became a solo act. Her debut solo album, Alf, was a hit, reaching number one on the charts.

This year she returns with a new record entitled the minutes. This makes her eighth album to date and a return to her roots in electronic music.

We spoke about touring, the creation of the new music, and her loyal gay fans over the years.

Windy City Times: Hi, Alison. How are you today?

Alison Moyet: Excellent, I'm just having some tea here.

WCT: What kind of tea do you drink?

AM: English breakfast tea.

WCT: Let's start talking about music. The new album the minutes is in lower case. What was the reason behind that?

AM: The whole premise of using the words the minutes is getting to that place in your life where you were led to believe all of your life to be aiming for this seamless stream of joy that will go through your loves and everything but in failing to get that you have been cheated in some way. That someone else is doing it perfectly well but you are not able to achieve it. I think you get to a point of understanding. I certainly did, where it was never about this whole continuum. It was about these sporadic points in time, these little gems that are suspended in pedestrian years.

The reason I put them in lower case is because to put them in upper case infers that there is just one set of minutes, almost like a romantic statement where in truth these minutes happen throughout your life and can relate to everything and anything.

WCT: Speaking of gems, there are some on the album. It starts off very atmospheric sounding then moves into songs that people will listen to for a long time.

AM: I am actually delighted about that because for me the great joy in working with electronica again is it allows you to use a wide pallet. People have related this back to my Yaz work and I would say the only connection to that truly is the fact that we used electronic acoustic instruments. Back then the music was sourced from many varied areas. It was the production values that held it together. I think that is what I have been allowed to do with this album. It is what I have wanted to do.

I am constantly like a kid in a candy store that is chewing one finger and looking what to put in her mouth next. It is that kind of thing. I always feel quite cheated. I have the old ADHD thing going on. I get bored very quickly and like to be looking at different things. I looked for a way to put the whole thing together so it was a continual album.

Am I running on too much?

WCT: No, not at all.

AM: So many pop albums are made with huge songwriting teams that don't want to commit to making an album they just want to write a hit song. They get a collection of singles. Someone at my age has no interest in singles at all. I wanted to make a body of work that was conceptual in itself.

WCT: Someone like Beyonce sometimes has 10 writers on a song. Freddy Mercury never did that back in the day.

AM: Exactly—and where is that coming from? I don't know why they need a team of people to correct something. I don't understand what that is and why you write a song with 10 people.

My area of control on this album is pretty much the lyrics and the melody. Debating that with 10 people is too tedious to imagine.

WCT: Any plans to tour with the album to Chicago?

AM: I am touring in the autumn. My management is going over European and North American tours as we speak so I am really hoping that it will be a big yes.

I have a lot of family in Chicago both from my French and my English side. The French live in Kalamazoo and the English side lives in Skokie. Chicago is a big place for me!

WCT: It must feel amazing to be making music 30 years later.

AM: It is amazing because you can actually start to enjoy it. It is nice to be famous but still have a normal life. I am a musician, as opposed to a pop star, and I love that.

Visit alisonmoyet.com to keep up with the tour and new music. Read the entire interview online at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com .
- Windy City Times

Essex singer Alison Moyet has always had a memorable androgynous contralto voice. She burst into the '80s in the group Yazoo, also known as Yaz, where she teamed up with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. The duo created hits together such as "Only You," "Don't Go" and "Situation."
Clarke moved on to another duo, forming Erasure, while Moyet became a solo act. Her debut solo album, Alf, was a hit, reaching number one on the charts.

This year she returns with a new record entitled the minutes. This makes her eighth album to date and a return to her roots in electronic music.

We spoke about touring, the creation of the new music, and her loyal gay fans over the years.

Windy City Times: Hi, Alison. How are you today?

Alison Moyet: Excellent, I'm just having some tea here.

WCT: What kind of tea do you drink?

AM: English breakfast tea.

WCT: Let's start talking about music. The new album the minutes is in lower case. What was the reason behind that?

AM: The whole premise of using the words the minutes is getting to that place in your life where you were led to believe all of your life to be aiming for this seamless stream of joy that will go through your loves and everything but in failing to get that you have been cheated in some way. That someone else is doing it perfectly well but you are not able to achieve it. I think you get to a point of understanding. I certainly did, where it was never about this whole continuum. It was about these sporadic points in time, these little gems that are suspended in pedestrian years.

The reason I put them in lower case is because to put them in upper case infers that there is just one set of minutes, almost like a romantic statement where in truth these minutes happen throughout your life and can relate to everything and anything.

WCT: Speaking of gems, there are some on the album. It starts off very atmospheric sounding then moves into songs that people will listen to for a long time.

AM: I am actually delighted about that because for me the great joy in working with electronica again is it allows you to use a wide pallet. People have related this back to my Yaz work and I would say the only connection to that truly is the fact that we used electronic acoustic instruments. Back then the music was sourced from many varied areas. It was the production values that held it together. I think that is what I have been allowed to do with this album. It is what I have wanted to do.

I am constantly like a kid in a candy store that is chewing one finger and looking what to put in her mouth next. It is that kind of thing. I always feel quite cheated. I have the old ADHD thing going on. I get bored very quickly and like to be looking at different things. I looked for a way to put the whole thing together so it was a continual album.

Am I running on too much?

WCT: No, not at all.

AM: So many pop albums are made with huge songwriting teams that don't want to commit to making an album they just want to write a hit song. They get a collection of singles. Someone at my age has no interest in singles at all. I wanted to make a body of work that was conceptual in itself.

WCT: Someone like Beyonce sometimes has 10 writers on a song. Freddy Mercury never did that back in the day.

AM: Exactly—and where is that coming from? I don't know why they need a team of people to correct something. I don't understand what that is and why you write a song with 10 people.

My area of control on this album is pretty much the lyrics and the melody. Debating that with 10 people is too tedious to imagine.

WCT: Any plans to tour with the album to Chicago?

AM: I am touring in the autumn. My management is going over European and North American tours as we speak so I am really hoping that it will be a big yes.

I have a lot of family in Chicago both from my French and my English side. The French live in Kalamazoo and the English side lives in Skokie. Chicago is a big place for me!

WCT: It must feel amazing to be making music 30 years later.

AM: It is amazing because you can actually start to enjoy it. It is nice to be famous but still have a normal life. I am a musician, as opposed to a pop star, and I love that.

Visit alisonmoyet.com to keep up with the tour and new music. Read the entire interview online at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com .
- Windy City Times

Alison Moyet circles back to the electro-pop start of her career on her new CD — but with a modern twist.

It’s the first time the rich-voiced singer has gone whole hog for electronics since her days fronting the duo that shot her to fame — Yaz — back in the early ’80s. Like Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and Human League, Yaz helped make synth-pop the era’s defining sound. The Brit singer’s deep register, burly timbre and unpretentious character made her an international breakout: a smaller-scale version of Adele.

In the years since, Moyet has taken a cabaret singer’s approach to pop, shuttling between hit material on albums like her 1994 masterpiece, “Essex,” and songs that became ever more sophisticated, arcane and at times French.

A big Yaz reunion tour in 2008 may have been the inspiration for her return to synthesizers on this, her first album in six years. But in truth, little of the new “The Minutes” sounds like Yaz’s electro-dance hits of yore, à la “Situation” or smash ballads like “Only You.”

Just one track, “Love Reign Supreme,” has the bubbly feel of the band’s frothier tracks. It’s a more age-appropriate and much-updated sound, taking in elements of dubstep, art-song and timeless soul. To program and co-concieve the music, Moyet hooked up with Guy Sigsworth, who has produced everyone from Bjork to Britney Spears.

In some ways, the mating of Moyet’s womanly voice with his dense synths echoes the dynamic of Tracy Thorn in the electronica recordings of Everything But the Girl. A song like “Changeling” draws on the skittish beats of dubstep, but matches them to textures as lush as pashmina. Other cuts use synths to suggest orchestrally layered guitars.

Moyet has the agility and chops to find the beauty in even the most minor key melodies, which many tracks employ. She also manages this in the intimidatingly harsh “Rung by the Tide,” whose arch lyrics she delivers like a Gothic proclamation.

Most of the vocals find Moyet accepting the fleeting nature of happiness, which she counts in the minutes referenced in the title. Luckily, her talent has proven far more enduring. The chestiness of her voice draws us close just as surely as her harsh words give us pause. While many singers in the electronic world end up slaves to the rhythm, here Moyet once again proves able to soar with any sound.

jfarber@nydailynews.com



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/minutes-music-review-article-1.1361774#ixzz2bCOc2r9y - New York Daily News

Alison Moyet circles back to the electro-pop start of her career on her new CD — but with a modern twist.

It’s the first time the rich-voiced singer has gone whole hog for electronics since her days fronting the duo that shot her to fame — Yaz — back in the early ’80s. Like Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and Human League, Yaz helped make synth-pop the era’s defining sound. The Brit singer’s deep register, burly timbre and unpretentious character made her an international breakout: a smaller-scale version of Adele.

In the years since, Moyet has taken a cabaret singer’s approach to pop, shuttling between hit material on albums like her 1994 masterpiece, “Essex,” and songs that became ever more sophisticated, arcane and at times French.

A big Yaz reunion tour in 2008 may have been the inspiration for her return to synthesizers on this, her first album in six years. But in truth, little of the new “The Minutes” sounds like Yaz’s electro-dance hits of yore, à la “Situation” or smash ballads like “Only You.”

Just one track, “Love Reign Supreme,” has the bubbly feel of the band’s frothier tracks. It’s a more age-appropriate and much-updated sound, taking in elements of dubstep, art-song and timeless soul. To program and co-concieve the music, Moyet hooked up with Guy Sigsworth, who has produced everyone from Bjork to Britney Spears.

In some ways, the mating of Moyet’s womanly voice with his dense synths echoes the dynamic of Tracy Thorn in the electronica recordings of Everything But the Girl. A song like “Changeling” draws on the skittish beats of dubstep, but matches them to textures as lush as pashmina. Other cuts use synths to suggest orchestrally layered guitars.

Moyet has the agility and chops to find the beauty in even the most minor key melodies, which many tracks employ. She also manages this in the intimidatingly harsh “Rung by the Tide,” whose arch lyrics she delivers like a Gothic proclamation.

Most of the vocals find Moyet accepting the fleeting nature of happiness, which she counts in the minutes referenced in the title. Luckily, her talent has proven far more enduring. The chestiness of her voice draws us close just as surely as her harsh words give us pause. While many singers in the electronic world end up slaves to the rhythm, here Moyet once again proves able to soar with any sound.

jfarber@nydailynews.com



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/minutes-music-review-article-1.1361774#ixzz2bCOc2r9y - New York Daily News