It is no surprise that Brisbane’s firey indie/soul songstress Bec Laughton has been drafted overseas. After winning the Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship and working in New York City with Grammy Award winning Michael League of Snarky Puppy, doors began opening left, right and centre.
Playing the biggest emerging artist festival in the USA, South By Southwest and supporting some of the world’s greatest soul artists at Soulfest this year including D’Angelo, Maxwell, Angie Stone, Anthony Hamilton and Musiq Soulchild, little Laughton is representing Australia on the R&B globe.
Offers on the table from producers in New York to Los Angeles, including Timbaland’s production company, Bec has decided on an unusual place to hide, write and record her debut album.
Before the young chanteuse disappears from Australian shores she will embark on a farewell tour around the country. While her latest EP titled ‘M & R’ is a great big bunch of ear candy, her live show is next level mind blowing. Before she hits the road we chatted with the electric little redhead to find out the top six records that make her the artist she is.
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
1998, Ruffhouse/Columbia
This is easily the most influential album on my sound. Lauryn Hill is probably my greatest musical inspiration. Her tone, style, the production, content… it’s just such an incredible album from start to finish. I sang her version of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ in grade 6 and got disqualified for inappropriate lyrics ha!
I found Lauryn Hill as most 90’s kids did, through Sister Act II. I find that most artists I connect with best these days are all Sister Act/Lauryn lovers. We were all dressing like her in primary school and playing the badass student in class who is secretly the most talented. My favourite tracks were always ‘To Zion’ and ‘Every Ghetto, Every City’ but now I couldn’t tell you which is my fave, I love them all. I love the sneaky bouncy guitar line in ‘Lost Ones’, which makes it groove so hard. ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’ is my ‘go-to’ beat for drumming. So many amazing lyrics worth quoting it’s hard to pick one. From ‘Superstar’: ‘Now who you know without any flaws, that lives above the spiritual laws, and does anything they feel just because, there’s always someone there who’ll applaud’. Also love The Fugees and Ms Hill’s other album ‘MTV Unplugged’ is equally mad and worth listening to from start to finish a million times.
Selah Sue – Selah Sue
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2011, Because
This album was a more recent find for me, I stumbled across Selah Sue at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, which is next to Amsterdam in The Netherlands. She was playing on the main stage in the afternoon before Prince and totally blew my mind. She’s this petit little blondie from Belgium who learnt English from listening to old Bob Marley records and sounds legit like a Rastafarian. Her music and her stage presence will just stop you in your tracks. She has such an authentic intensity that draws you into her world and makes everything else disappear.
Needless to say I bought her album (along with Janelle Monae – ‘The ArchAndroid’) and had it on repeat for nearly a year. I covered her epic track ‘This World’ in my set-list for a couple of tours. There is footage on YouTube of me singing it in NY.
The first track that drew me in was ‘Peace of Mind’, her phrasing is wild and I love it. English not being her first language her lyrics are written so uniquely. That coupled with her very rhythmic attack to writing makes the breakdowns in songs like ‘Fyah Fyah’ so freaking sweet. She has such a crazy vibe in her tone and a real power and authority in the way she sings. She totally kills the soft ballad tracks as well, listen to ‘Summertime’ and does a bangin’ duet with Cee-Lo Green called ‘Please’.
Harry Connick Jnr – She
1994, Sony Columbia
This is an album I grew up listening to from my dad’s collection. It was one of his favourites and I’ve loved it since I was a kid. Some people have adverse reactions to Harry but I have no idea why?? He’s the man. I love his lazy southern tone and style on piano. He is where immense love for New Orleans flavour came from, I can’t get enough of street marching bands and front line snare patterns.
The live drum sounds on this record are delicious, the percussion, honky-tonk piano and just his band in general sound hot. They’ve got some really experimental tracks in there like ‘Joe Slam And The Space Ship’ which I choreographed one of my high school dance assessments to, as well as more traditional sounding New Orleans tracks like ‘Here Comes the Big Parade’ which has a super fun drum break down at 2.30. I also really dig his solo piano album of jazz standards called ‘20’. And speaking of which, Adele’s album called ‘19’, but that’s another story.
Incubus – Morning View
2001 Epic/Immortal
I wanted to include an album that has influenced me outside of the soul/R&B world. I dated a guy in high school who really got me into Incubus. My sister and all her friends were into them at the time too and I was soon a great admirer. I do love rock music when it has a thick element of funk infused, like Red Hot Chili Peppers or Rage Against The Machine. I love Incubus and this album in particular.
The singer, Brandon Boyd, has a wicked voice and pens some amazing and heavy lyrics. I’m always drawn to rhythmically complex songwriting and his is brilliant. He’s an insane performer and definitely at the top of my shortlist of people I want to see play live. The epic feel changes along with the lyrics makes this album hype you up emotionally, it totally gets your blood pumping. My love songs with my high school sweet heart were of course ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Echo’. I also used a bunch of the tracks from this album on a high school Film & TV project.
Brooke Fraser – What To Do With Daylight
2004, Columbia Sony BMG
Brooke Fraser is my ultimate role model as an artist in terms of who she is as a person even more so than her music. This album was a Christmas present from my uncle in New Zealand and came into my life at around the time I first started to dive into songwriting world. Brooke is the queen of life changing ballads and eloquent expressions. My two longstanding favourite tracks on this album are ‘Indelible’ and ‘Scarlet’, the latter being the first proper piano song I ever learned.
Brooke, like a lot of New Zealand artists, has such a beautifully quirky outlook on life and her stage persona is so refreshingly genuine and cheeky. My music is heavily influenced by a lot of New Zealand flavour, I’m very drawn to my mum’s home country. I’m a big lover of Fat Freddy’s Drop, Scribe, Noah Slee, Sammy J, Mark Lowndes and Spacifix who have all had a massive impact on my writing. Brooke’s later albums are pretty vastly different but I love her balls as a songwriter to do what she wants and often sticking to simple and effective.
The Lion King – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1994, Walt Disney
This was the first CD I ever owned and I loved it dearly. I grew up living with my dad after my parents split up and he was a music director. I spent many nights sleeping backstage at his work and was lovingly referred to by the cast as the theatre orphan. I loved many musicals but this was my favourite. With music by Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer you can’t go wrong.
Everybody knows the songs and the score and it’s all brilliant. I love the African influence, which is even more prominent in the stage show. If only Nala’s ballad ‘Shadowland’ were in the cartoon too, such an incredible song. Look it up.
Bec Laughton Tour Dates
Thursday 29th January 2015 – Hugs&Kisses Melbourne
Saturday 31st January 2015 – The Motor Room, Brisbane
Friday, 6th February 2015 – Prince of Wales,
Bunbury WA
Free
Saturday, 7th February 2015 – Settlers Tavern, Margaret River WA Free
Sunday, 8th February 2015 – Four5Nine, Perth WA
Thursday 12th February 2015 – Brighton Up Bar, Sydney
For tickets and info visit www.beclaughton.com
