According to Renee Geyer, working with major label EMI to create her 22nd album Dedicated, which provides fresh takes on old R&B standards, was a little like being a kid loose in a lolly shop. Here, in an interview with OUTinPerth’s Megan Smith, she explains why.
Megan Smith: Where do you start when you decide to reinterpret an old classic?
Renee Geyer: Something has to tickle my fancy melodically, lyrically, atmospherically… I like to find songs that when people hear them they go, ‘Oh, I know that song’ and then I like to fuck with them, feel-wise, groove-wise – put different grooves to different ideas and take the essence of what is the song. In other words, pay homage to the writer of the song, as opposed to the existing version, because I don’t think you can ever recreate a gem by Marvin Gaye. But some songs are so great that they are reinterpretable. As Frank Sinatra proved all through his career, that’s what it is all about – reinterpreting great songs.
MS: A lot of songs you cover, the originals were sung by men. Does it shape your interpretation to be singing as a woman?
RG: Back on Tenderland, I did ‘Sexual Healing’, for a lot of people that was borderline blasphemy because not many people are going to fuck with Marvin Gaye. I dared to. It was interesting to do it from a woman’s perspective because coming from a man, it is obviously sexual healing, grunt grunt, testosterone, but for a woman to say I want sexual healing is a voice you don’t hear very often. It can be related to any gender – male-woman, woman-woman. It doesn’t matter. It is just interesting coming from a woman.
MS: When you reinterpret, do you go back and listen to the original or are you done with the original?
RG: I’m done with the original. You want to know what the exact right chords are of the song, and then get rid of it and make your own thing.
MS: How do you keep a fresh creative energy on your 22nd album?
RG: I’m only just getting good at it. Every time I go into the studio, I’m better and better. To try to capture a bunch of songs as deliciously as what a live concert does is like an elusive butterfly. This record has done it, and I am proud of it for that reason because all of the takes are pretty much one take. That’s how I keep it fresh – by using great musicians and trying new songs.
MS: Are there original cuts coming in the future?
RG: I’ll be looking for original material and writing, but my ego as a singer is bigger than my ego as a writer. I’m known for quality goods, and if one of the songs I co-wrote doesn’t make the grade, it ain’t going on there. My vanity is too big. I want a good record, and I truly believe it’s got to be ‘all killer, no filler.’
MS: As you get ready to take this album on tour, what songs are you most looking forward to playing live?
RG: I always say that asking someone that who makes records from their heart is like asking which child you like best. Though with this album I have to say that the original ones, they have a little bit more of my TLC on them. They all get my love, but the new ones that Paul [Kelly] wrote, get a little more of a push. It’s like ‘c’mon little ones, get out there’ because they have never been heard before…
Paul’s ‘Leave Your Light On’, when I hear that I almost have a religious moment. I don’t know what religion, but it is solemn. It is the ultimate ‘I fucked up, please take me back. Leave your light on, I’m taking the long way home’ – the ultimate make up song from someone to their partner. When I first did the mixes in the studio of that song, wow, I thought this is going to be good. And the way the band plays it… You can’t buy that shit. You can’t muster it. It there or it ain’t.
