Cortney Tidwell
As part of a musical dynasty, Cortney Tidwell鈥檚 singer-songwriter career path was inevitable. Ask her how she became involved in a music career and the Nashvillian will reel off a list of family associations on both sides, from her mother鈥檚 successful performing career in the 1970s, to her grandfather鈥檚 independent country record label subsequently taken over by her father, and on to her husband鈥檚 production career. Her second album, Boys, succeeds the enthusiastically-received debut, Don鈥檛 Let the Stars Keep Us Tangled Up, and effortlessly fuses her country roots with eclectic influences from across Europe in what she describes as a 鈥渟chizophrenic鈥 record. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a pop song, there鈥檚 a jazz song, a rock song, a new wave song, but I鈥檇 get bored if I had to just do one thing.鈥
Despite her Nashville heritage, Tidwell鈥檚 influences are far ranging, with echoes of Joy Division, alongside homage to the usual country associations. 鈥淭he first time I heard The Clash, Depeche Mode, and The Smiths, it just blew my mind. I realised there was a great big world out there and all sorts of music. I listened to a lot of jazz and blues growing up. My family was yelling all the time so basically I had headphones on for 10 years.鈥 There is something inherently dark about Tidwell鈥檚 music. Solid State opens the album in a haunting, almost painful vein. All things considered, song writing is a soul-searching process for the artist, and she became strikingly prolific in the weeks following her mother鈥檚 death. 鈥淚 never really cried, I dealt with it in a strange way. About a couple of weeks later I just wrote a load of songs.鈥 She describes this creation as therapeutic and encounters the process with no end result in mind: 鈥淢y songs are a stream of consciousness. I don鈥檛 really set out to write, it usually comes from an experience (normally a bad one) and I just go down and sing and write and that鈥檚 how the lyrics come up too.鈥 The album, however, is far from melancholic, veering towards 1980s synthesisers on the Goldfrapp-esq Watusii and the steadier, more mystical Son & Moon, before lurching back into darker territory.
With such eclecticism on the album, Boys is difficult to define, and a tug-of-war ensued between Tidwell and her record company over duplicate versions of one song. So We Sing joyfully lurches over a strumming chorus, and is described by Tidwell as 鈥渕y most accessible song, which of course is my least favourite one on the record!鈥 In contrast, the more down-tempo Oh, Suicide fully explores the darkness of its lyrics, a darkness that seems almost out of context on the record company鈥檚 choice. Simultaneously heart-breaking and uplifting, this closing track only serves to further intrigue the listener on Tidwell鈥檚 own experiences.
A reluctant performer, Tidwell is aware of the music industry鈥檚 鈥渢rials and tribulations鈥 from witnessing her mother鈥檚 own experiences, but she has become integrated into Nashville鈥檚 core clique, sharing band members with Lambchop and touring with Andrew Bird, 鈥渂ecause we鈥檙e native Nashvillians, there鈥檚 this camaraderie.鈥 Even her website url hints at the unassuming nature of this established talent. 鈥淚 went with feverqueen because it鈥檚 a nickname of mine. I didn鈥檛 want to use cortneytidwell.com, it seemed so narcissistic.鈥
Boys was released on City Slang on 8 June 2009. .
Ruby Beesley
