Alt-J frontman Joe Newman has revealed to NME plans for his “Americana, Motown, soul” influenced debut solo album.
Newman was speaking to NME on the red carpet of the Ivor Novellos yesterday (Thursday May 23), when he told us that the UK trio were “taking a break as a band” – following their extensive touring for their acclaimed fourth album, ‘The Dream‘.
“I’m doing some solo work at the moment,” he said. “I went to LA and I’ve been working with producer Carlos de la Garza [Paramore, The Linda Lindas, M83, Cold War Kids]. We’ve spent some time together over the last couple of months and we’re hashing out ideas. It’s a really invigorating and new experience. I’m absolutely loving it.”
Asked about the sound and direction of the record, he replied: “When I was younger, I was a big fan of soul music. The musical direction of this new album is Americana, Motown, soul, but then it does inevitably have that kind of odd Alt-J quirkiness; a doom-laden sound to it.”
Newman was at the Ivors to present the award for Best Contemporary Song, which was won by Speakers Corner Quartet (Kwake Bass, Peter Bennie, Biscuit and Raven Bush), with Kae Tempest for ‘Geronimo Blues’.
On his own current listening habits, he told us: “The new music I’m into at the moment is kind of acoustic-y, float-y, cerebral, philosophical, kitchen sink singer-songwriters with nice, wispy voices. Adrianne Lenker from Big Thief – I’ve been listening to her album [‘Bright Future‘] a lot.
“It’s beautiful and I can’t put that on at dinner parties because I then just drift off from conversation at the dinner party and start listening to the album. That’s kind of rude.”
Check out the full list of winners from the Ivor Novellos 2024 here. Other highlights of the night included Bruce Springsteen winning the Ivor Fellowship Award (with a roasting from Sir Paul McCartney) and Lana Del Rey picking up the Special International Award.