Madam is a project of singer/songwriter/producer Sukie Smith,she has recorded and performed with some amazing musicians including Chris Clarke, Adam Franklin, Gavin Pearce, Simon Breed, Marc Tchanz, Mara Carlyse, Jeff Townsin, Moose, Brock Norman Brock, Lee Tryming, Howard Monk, Sean Reed, Jon Redfern, Patrick Durkan, John Robertson, Sarah Gill, Ross Drummond.
Influences
Equally influenced by, mountains, alcohol, betrayal, intrigue, boys, girls, inbetweeners. x oh all right then, townes van zandt, mary margret o'hara , francoise hardy , phil spector ............
Sounds Like
'Sukie Smith, better known as Madam, has a rare ability to combine the smoky, nocturnal atmospherics conjured by PJ Harvey or Portishead or the Velvet Underground with a pop sensibility...sets her head and shoulder above the singer-songwriter masses ,as individual a voice as Cat Power or label mate JAWP'
THE INDEPENDENT. ONE TO WATCH (April 2008)
'CONTENDER FOR THE NOIR NICHE OCCUPIED BY HOPE SANDOVAL ( MAZZY STAR) AND CHAN MARSHALL (CAT POWER) - MADAM IS A REAL FIND !'
The Guardian 4/5 ****
'A Girl with a taste for the dark stuff'
NME
'Madam is a name which should be written in bright neon outside big venues in the swanky part of town' ***** 4.5 / 5
THE SUN
'champions of sounds soft and subdued. The terrific madam favours sultry, slightly spooked and lusciously late-night Americana noir'
TIME OUT
'she should give kylie and alison goldfrapp a run for their money'
Caroline Sullivan THE GUARDIAN
'an astonishing album of cruel beauty and emotional honesty, an immense talent.' 5/5*****
ROCK AND REEL
'beautiful vocals set against a backdrop of acoustic guitars show great promise and give the track a distinct Portishead feel'
Artrocker
'atmospheric and deliciously woozy, it is ghostly, intoxicating pop at it's most inspired'
MAVERICK
'slow-paced tales of everyday hurt and darkness... suggests a more sleazy portishead' 3/5 ***
Q
'a sultry,chanson-singing glamour puss... moody , dreamy, smoky LP suitable for late-night smooching or, indeed weeping'
METRO
'A feisty Madam energised the room the moment she came on. At her best she recalled Leonard Cohen, all softly intimate confessions and sunny, pure-voiced refrains; or the dreaminess of Julee Cruise on ’Falling’. A subtle but hard-edged darkness glinted beneath, though, and kept things interesting'
DROWNED IN SOUND
'combining the surreal charm of kate bush with the edgy urgency of the velvet underground, this curious hybrid has no right to sound as fresh and futuristic as it does. gripping stuff.'
TELETEXT
'With its sultry vocals, lounge guitar, and spiralling melodica this is a mesmerising example of music that doesn't so much hold your attention as hypnotise you. Singer-songwriter Sukie Smith rises above the standard girl-with-guitar fare by several storeys with her self-assured brand of Americana, and even though this is just one track, it's good enough for you to start matching her live dates against the gaps in your diary.
Call America has a filmic quality that puts you in mind of David Lynch, perhaps because it sounds a little like Chris Isaak, but mostly because it's individual, seductive and quite brilliant. Her debut album is released in October 2007, so I suggest you start following her now. Then you can tell all your friends 'I told you so.'
'a surrealist masterpiece'
LOBSTER QUADRILLE
MADAM - In Case of Emergency (Reveal Records)
Prior to In Case of Emergency I'd heard two Madam singles and really appreciated the late-night, underworld elegance of 'Calling For Love' and 'Call America'. But I didn't expect their debut album to be this good. This is the most cohesive debut I've heard for a long long time and is unquestionably one of the best albums of the year so far.
'Fall On Your Knees' is a rich, dreamlike song that walks the line between beauty and sadness. The slide guitar is particularly effective. The insomniac blues of 'Call America' is outstanding and is evocative of the voodoo-lounge sound of Chris Isaac and the films of David Lynch. Nick Cave is another name that springs to mind listening to the inspired western 'Superfast Highway'. What a track.
'Strange Love' owes something to To Bring You My Love-era Polly Jean Harvey but arrives at a less abrasive, though equally memorable, conclusion. Sukie Smith's intimate voice is something special, but Madam's real talent is in perfectly mixing the soft with the skewed. The production is nothing short of inspired with feedback guitar solos mixed with shimmering pedal steel and more traditional double bass and drum sounds. Perhaps the highpoint is the confessional 'Rope Trick', a wistful, ghostly tale perfectly set to music.
Like an imaginary soundtrack to An American Dream, full of desire, sadness and beauty, In Case of Emergency is a surrealist masterpiece.
'quality wist'
"its a fantastic, sultry slice of
quintessentially English poise that denotes a major talent in the noble art of
smoky chanteusery... Call America
sees Smiths band provide a timelessly atmospheric backdrop to her
crystal-clear vocals that creates a truly vintage emotion. In the menagerie
of genres embarked upon here, an alt-classical number is one of few were
yet to encounter.".......
tangents webzine....
love your music, finally got to listen to it, (not being at work now), dark, resonant and beautiful. really, really good. I might have to buy some of your stuff. congratulations, inspiring. x
The BellRays headline a night of maximum rock'n'soul on Thursday next
week at The Borderline with Los Chicos and King Salami & The
Cumberland 3 playing live and Corn Rocket Club DJs on the wheels of
steel.
Click on flyer for tickets.....
Other forthcoming NTSOBC action:
July
Thrs 9 BellRays + Los Chicos + King Salami & The Cumberland 3 @ Borderline, London, W1
Thrs 16 Micheal Sheehy & The Hired Mourners + Gemma Ray @ The Lexington, London, N1
Thrs 23 O’Death @ The 100 Club, London, W1
September
Friday 11 T-Model Ford @ The Luminaire, London, NW6
Saturday 12 T-Model Ford @ The Luminaire, London, NW6
Tues 15 Bob Log III @ The Luminaire, Kilburn, London, NW6
After selling out The 100 Club last week The Jim Jones Revue headline The Rock’n’Roll Circus at Inn On The Green in Ladbroke Grove this Friday (19 June). This will be our last London show until we tour the UK in October......
Tickets on the door only so make sure you turn up early in your best rockin' shoes!!!
Equally influenced by, mountains, alcohol, betrayal, intrigue, boys, girls, inbetweeners. x oh all right then, townes van zandt, mary margret o'hara , francoise hardy , phil spector ............
........... Madam is the music project of singer/songwriter Sukie Smith...........
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