Alison Moyet possesses one of the most easily recognizable and powerful voices in the music industry. Embraced by the gay club community since the early 1980s when, as a member of the electronic duo Yaz ( with Vince Clarke, who later went on to co-found Erasure ) , her powerhouse performances on dance club standards such as "Situation" and "Don't Go," made her something of a sensation in both the disco and new wave scenes.
As a solo artist, she continued to earn our respect and devotion with the songs "Invisible," "Love Resurrection," "Is This Love?," and "Whispering Your Name," to mention a few.
On Moyet's splendid new album Hometime ( Sanctuary ) , her voice has lost none of its ability to inspire an emotional response. Whether she's adding her own spice to a Latin-tinged track such as "Yesterday's Flame" or exploring her lightly funky side in "More" or belting out a dramatic number such as "Should I Feel That It's Over," Moyet has come home again.
Gregg Shapiro: There were eight years between Essex and Hometime.
Alison Moyet: I reached a bit of an impasse with the record company ( Sony Music ) , who wanted me to follow more of a commercial line of recording than I wanted. They didn't want to release me from my contract. I think they were hoping that I'd come to my senses and that never happened. After 10 years, finally, they let me go.
GS: I also understand that during that period of time you did some musical theater. You were in the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago.
AM: Yes, I was in Chicago in the West End and it was one of the most fantastic things I've ever done. I had a brilliant, brilliant time, just laughed every day. I played Mama Morton. You couldn't imagine me as Roxy ( Hart ) with my thighs ( laughs ) . I would like to [ do more of that ] , but what was so good about Chicago is that the songs were still dark. I wouldn't like to do anything too cowgirly, thigh-slapping. Chicago is a great musical and they had a great cast. Yeah, based on that experience I would do it again, because it's just fantastic.
GS: You have a long-standing creative partnership with Peter Glenister, as both a producer and co-songwriter. You co-wrote more than half of the songs on Hometime with him.
AM: I think writing relationships are very intimate. I never did this kind of jobbing song writing. I know a lot of songwriters that will sit in a room with somebody strange and write. The concept of that has never really worked for me. I think it's a very intimate thing to tell your words to someone and to weave them in. It's almost like having a lover. I just like him very much. He's a hugely talented bloke and great company.
GS: Several different musical influences can be heard on Hometime. For example, "Yesterday's Flame" has a Latin beat. Were you listening to a lot of that type of music prior to writing that song?
AM: No, I listen to very little music actually. I always find that my relationship with music has been more about doing it than listening to it. When I get the need for music I don't turn to a record player, I turn to my guitar or my porta-studio or something like that. I deliberately listened to very little music when I was recording this album. I wanted to get away from that whole kind of ebb of thinking about what your career needs or what you need to put in a record or what sells, what gets on radio. The way that I've written the songs is the same that I've ever written songs, even right back to Yazoo. It's about finding the right context.
GS: "If You Don't Come Back To Me" and "Ski" both have a jazz flavor to them. Would you agree?
AM: Yeah. You can sense a bit of that, a bit of jazz, a bit of blues, a bit of chanson. It's a mixture of things. I'm 41 now and I've been exposed to lots of different things. That's how I kind of take them in. I kind of take them in through the pores of my skin rather than ... I'm not a collector. I'm not at all a trainspotter. I can't tell you albums or album tracks or who the right artist is to listen to. None of that interests me, but everything that surrounds you every day is what influences you.
GS: "You Don't Have To Go" is the kind of emotional, belter's ballad that you do so well. Do you prefer ballads?
AM: No, I really do like to mix it. My first bands I ever played in were punk bands. So, the first things I ever did were four on the floor thrash. My tastes are quite eclectic. Even with the songwriting, and even if you go back to Yazoo, you'll find that the songs were quite disparate and it was Vince's sound and my voice that tied them in to sounding like a common thread. I just do know that when I go down one route, I feel like I'm missing a part of myself.
GS: Because of your previous success with dance music, are there plans for dance remixes of Hometime songs?
AM: I think they were talking about having someone remix a track on Hometime. They're talking about a guy called Mike Cruz. I'm completely out of touch with the dance movement. To be honest with you, I've never been in touch with it. It's never been a case that I've been a part of a movement, it's more a case that you get taken on board, know what I mean? I never went clubbing.
GS: Hometime is being released on Sanctuary Records, which is home to Pet Shop Boys and James, as well as the late Joey Ramone. How do you like your label?
AM: So far, it's just been incredible. When my relationship broke up with Sony and I had this album and it wasn't an album that interested them, because I didn't feel they'd be able to sell it, I went to Sanctuary and I was completely blown away by the way they reacted just organically to the music. They don't have the tools that Sony has. They don't have the same kind of marketing monies, but they completely believed in the album and the reaction that we've been getting these last two weeks in England is just ... I'm really happy for them. I'm really happy that it's come to them, because they care about the record. We're getting the most incredible reviews that I've never had. It feels even more exciting than the first time, because the first time you're not aware how difficult it is to get in the position you are, so you take things for granted. ... Just that the record ... they're already in state of having to keep reprinting, even in the first week. It's just been great.
GS: That's great. Congratulations.
AM: Thank you. I know that I'm kind of like this, it's not that I'm feeling that smug or anything like that. I'm just so happy. I feel so moved that the journalists out there, who it would've been very easy to say, "Alison Moyet, she's part of the '80s, it's not relevant now, we're not going to give it the air space." I knew that if people listened to it, they'd see that there was depth to it.
GS: It's wonderful to be appreciated.
AM: Yeah! That's what we determined too. If it goes nowhere more than this, I don't care. I feel like I stood by my guns when I knew I was giving up a commercial career to try and make this record that I would feel good about for my whole life. I knew I was risking it and I know how much of a battle it was to get it out. To be in this position now, surrounded by people who are getting as much excitement out of every brilliant thing that happens every day, is fantastic.
GS: Are there plans for a U.S. tour?
AM: I'm just starting a tour in October in England, just a little one. If the album's received well, then the promoters have confidence and they book you. I would come to America tomorrow, 'cause I have some brilliant fans and I've had some great gigs out there, really good times. I'd love to come back there again.
GS: Are you aware of a queer fan-base?
AM: Oh yeah, and thank God for them!
GS: I noticed there were a number of fan sites on the web ...
AM: It's incredibly humbling, actually. It was right in the middle of these years when I was calling my manager up every day saying, "Have they released me? Can I work? No." This was a big long run of feeling like, "OK, it's over. You're never going to be able to speak again." Bear in mind, all I've ever done is sing. From the age of 15, I've never had a proper job. It feels like a limb's getting taken away. It was a really low time for me. Then to get a computer. It's only in the last couple of years that I've had a computer. To do little searches and suddenly find out there's this little community or these communities of people that are talking about your work and supporting you was the most fantastic boost to my self-esteem. It was brilliant.
