New Zealand born Jess Cornelius fronts Melbourne band Teeth and Tongue. When it came time to work on the bands upcoming fourth album the songwriter signed up to an opportunity that took her to the other side of the globe.
The songwriter signed up for an artistic residency program in Northern Iceland. Surrounded by snow and volcanic landscapes Cornelius began work on her next album, but she tells us prior to this she’d had no burning desire to travel to the far flung country.
“I’d never been, and funnily enough I’d didn’t have a real desire to go to Iceland. I didn’t go for the destination, I went because I wanted to do an artist’s residency. I’d never done one before, I thought it sounded slightly torturous, but appealing to be isolated and to be so focused on just writing.”
“I actually wanted to go to Turkey or somewhere warm, but I found this residency in this town in Northern Iceland where four hundred people live. The photos looked amazing and I thought ‘If I want to be away from people, this is probably a good place to be’.” Cornelius shared.
Cornelius said been based in the remote town did change the way she wrote. The barren Icelandic landscape didn’t come to feature in her songs, but it did affect her emotionally.
“I did get lonely, a little bit crazy, as everyone said I would. So it did effect how I wrote. Everyone who goes there has a moment where they think ‘what am I doing, I want to get out of here’. It did make me write some very strange songs that I didn’t want to use later.
“This album isn’t as self-indulgent as it could have been. I’m glad we discarded some of the songs. I didn’t want to make an album that was just microscopic kind of analytical self-reflective record. That’s not where I wanted to be.
“I was conscious of how I was affected by my surroundings, but I guess I’m not a writer who sings about the mountains, but for me it became a little more internal.”
Cornelius said she loved doing the residency and would certainly go through the process again in the future.
“I loved the process. It’s interested what happens when all you have to do is write.” Cornelius said.
While much of the writing she completed in Iceland was declared too self-indulgent to be recorded, one song did make it onto the band’s new record.
Once back in Australia Cornelius re-teamed with the rest of the band and put together a new album that has a distinctively overt electronic sound.
‘Give Up on Your Health’ open with the title track and works its way through eleven great tracks where interesting lyrics and intriguing sounds are perfectly matched.
Lead single ‘Dianne’ with its pulsing beats has already been well loved on indie radio stations and the album is sure to be a hit with the bands fans.
‘Give Up on Your Health’ will be released in September.
Graeme Watson
