Emerging from Edinburgh’s music scene in the mid-1990s, Idlewild carved out their place in a British rock scene choc-a-bloc with guitar bands (the halo of Britpop) through a combination of emotional intensity and literary edge. All of this is present in the band still, right down to new song “Back Then You Found Me” name checking Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood. Their 1998 debut album, Hope Is Important, announced them as something more than just another Scottish guitar band. Their songs were tight, but angular, and threaded with Woomble’s poetic phrasing and a strong melodic core. Did Idlewild have the boom and bust fame of Brett Anderson’s “Stations of the Cross” career curve (on which this podcast is based, I remind you)?Of a sort, yes. Building on an acclaimed debut album (Broken Windows),  2002’s The Remote Part, Idlewild reached a classic creative x commercial peak. That album is perhaps still their most well known - a more expansive, anthemic sound without abandoning the sensibilities that had become their trademark. It contained bona fide chart hits, “You Held the World in Your Arms” and “American English” and set the band on the way to being one of the key British bands in the early 2000s.But in a sense, the “stratospheric rise to the top” was kept well in check. Perhaps it was personnel changes (I haven’t counted but the band has had more than its fair share of bassists). They pivoted toward a warmer, more reflective style on Warnings/Promises (2005), incorporating folk influences and richer textures. It bridged the band to maturity and opened up their options but ultimately did not satisfy the major label they were signed to, Parlophone. An arena tour with Coldplay somewhat exposed Idlewild’s “limitations” if you want to put it that way - not musically, but in terms of performance - the will and the way to take their show to the big stages expected by major labels. There was no meltdown, no drama. But major label life is what it is - both back then, and in the present time. “Our label mates were Kylie Minogue, Radiohead, Coldplay and Blur. We were definitely at the bottom of that pile”.When Parlophone didn’t want to renew a new deal after four albums, it was time for the band to re-adjust. To Woomble, it was liberating - eventually. “For Make Another World, we felt like we’d toured enough, we had a fan base. Then after Post Electric Blues (2009) we decided to take some time away. As a band we felt intact, but we also felt like we wanted to stay up at the level we were, not to end up just playing clubs. The music business was so strange then (2007), we ended up taking five years away and came back with a renewed sense of what we could do, creatively”. Their string of subsequent albums, Everything Ever Written (2015), Interview Music (2019) and now Idlewild all have something to offer, and demonstrate the band’s refusal to stagnate. The one-two punch of Woomble’s poetic lyrics and Jones’s jagged, urgent guitar work still delivers something, if not unique, then most definitely a cut above standard indie fare - more depth, more emotion. Few bands transition successfully from ragged punk-inflected rock to expansive indie-folk, but Idlewild managed it without alienating their audience or diluting their artistic character. In short, Idlewild’s career is a testament to thoughtful songwriting, evolution, and the enduring power of emotionally intelligent rock. Most definitely an interesting and quietly inspiring longevity story. <a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com">Support the show</a>Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/

<description>&lt;p&gt;Emerging from Edinburgh’s music scene in the mid-1990s, Idlewild carved out their place in a British rock scene choc-a-bloc with guitar bands (the halo of Britpop) through a combination of emotional intensity and literary edge. All of this is present in the band still, right down to new song “Back Then You Found Me” name checking Dylan Thomas’s &lt;em&gt;Under Milk Wood&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Their 1998 debut album, &lt;em&gt;Hope Is Important&lt;/em&gt;, announced them as something more than just another Scottish guitar band. Their songs were tight, but angular, and threaded with Woomble’s poetic phrasing and a strong melodic core. Did Idlewild have the boom and bust fame of Brett Anderson’s “Stations of the Cross” career curve (on which this podcast is based, I remind you)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of a sort, yes. Building on an acclaimed debut album (Broken Windows),  2002’s &lt;em&gt;The Remote Part&lt;/em&gt;, Idlewild reached a classic creative x commercial peak. That album is perhaps still their most well known - a more expansive, anthemic sound without abandoning the sensibilities that had become their trademark. It contained bona fide chart hits, “You Held the World in Your Arms” and “American English” and set the band on the way to being one of the key British bands in the early 2000s.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But in a sense, the “stratospheric rise to the top” was kept well in check. Perhaps it was personnel changes (I haven’t counted but the band has had more than its fair share of bassists). They pivoted toward a warmer, more reflective style on &lt;em&gt;Warnings/Promises&lt;/em&gt; (2005), incorporating folk influences and richer textures. It bridged the band to maturity and opened up their options but ultimately did not satisfy the major label they were signed to, Parlophone. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An arena tour with Coldplay somewhat exposed Idlewild’s “limitations” if you want to put it that way - not musically, but in terms of performance - the will and the way to take their show to the big stages expected by major labels. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There was no meltdown, no drama. But major label life is what it is - both back then, and in the present time. “Our label mates were Kylie Minogue, Radiohead, Coldplay and Blur. We were definitely at the bottom of &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; pile”.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When Parlophone didn’t want to renew a new deal after four albums, it was time for the band to re-adjust. To Woomble, it was liberating - eventually. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“For &lt;em&gt;Make Another World&lt;/em&gt;, we felt like we’d toured enough, we had a fan base. Then after &lt;em&gt;Post Electric Blues&lt;/em&gt; (2009) we decided to take some time away. As a band we felt intact, but we also felt like we wanted to stay up at the level we were, not to end up just playing clubs. The music business was so strange then (2007), we ended up taking five years away and came back with a renewed sense of what we could do, creatively”. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Their string of subsequent albums, &lt;em&gt;Everything Ever Written&lt;/em&gt; (2015), &lt;em&gt;Interview&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;Music&lt;/em&gt; (2019) and now &lt;em&gt;Idlewild&lt;/em&gt; all have something to offer, and demonstrate the band’s refusal to stagnate. The one-two punch of Woomble’s poetic lyrics and Jones’s jagged, urgent guitar work still delivers something, if not unique, then most definitely a cut above standard indie fare - more depth, more emotion. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Few bands transition successfully from ragged punk-inflected rock to expansive indie-folk, but Idlewild managed it without alienating their audience or diluting their artistic character. In short, Idlewild’s career is a testament to thoughtful songwriting, evolution, and the enduring power of emotionally intelligent rock. Most definitely an interesting and quietly inspiring longevity story. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Emerging from Edinburgh’s music scene in the mid-1990s, Idlewild carved out their place in a British rock scene choc-a-bloc with guitar bands (the halo of Britpop) through a combination of emotional intensity and literary edge. All of this is present in the band still, right down to new song “Back Then You Found Me” name checking Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood.  Their 1998 debut album, Hope Is Important, announced them as something more than just another Scottish guitar band. Their songs...

The Art of Longevity Episode 85: Idlewild, with Roddy Woomble

I’ve been trying to get Tim Burgess to join me on The Art of Longevity for at least 10 seasons. Ultimately, a new Charlatans album, We Are Love, seemed like the right reason to finally do it. I’ve said it before, but I’m genuinely amazed and thrilled about how many ‘old bands’ have put out a recent album that is up there with their very best work. Suede, The Manics, Nada Surf, Tindersticks et. al. And I’m delighted to now include The Charlatans in that club. The band’s new album, #14 no less, is wonderful. Confident, varied, suitably different but very much representative, it’s a thoughtful and entertaining record throughout, containing some of the band’s best songs for ages; notably both the lead singles, opener Kingdom Of Ours, Appetite, For The Girls, You Can’t Push The River and, Tim’s own choice - Out On Our Own. But honestly, this is another cracking end-to-end listen with none of the filler that has perhaps been there in the past on some Charlatans offerings (along with all those above mentioned bands). “I’m really confident that it will seep in. We’re enigmatic and thugs as well. Some of it bangs you over the head but it has an emotional impact that I think, gets there”. ]Like many people of a certain vintage, The Charlatans have been one of those reassuring presences in my life over the years. Perhaps never the best or the biggest, The Charlatans longevity story has been to simply keep on keeping on, eventually unfolding into a slow-burning surprise journey towards British indie rock legend. You may not have predicted it back in the early days, despite a couple of genuine early hits, but when a band finds its formula and works at it, the miracles come later. Some early success in 1990 brought the top 5 hit “The Only One I Know”, but it wasn’t a linear rise from that point on. By album five, Telling Stories (1997) the band had a genuine classic album on their hands, including the legendary indie hit “One To Another” (which new single “Deeper And Deeper” nods to brilliantly). With that momentum, the Charlatans crossed the rubicon into longevity, establishing themselves as one of the more enduring British indie bands, with genuine peaks of popular success (three UK number one albums). When I asked Tim the secret to the band’s longevity, he’s pretty clear with the answer:“The reason why people are into older bands now is that they don’t all sound the same. Now, everyone sounds the same but has to invent a persona to be different, whereas we [old bands] all are, effortlessly different”.From the get go, the band’s instrumentation, with the late Rob Collins’s Hammond organ at its core, gave The Charlatans a distinctive fusion of indie rock, soul, psychedelia and dance music. But with due respect to the band’s sound, much of the enduring fondness for the band comes from Tim Burgess himself. His vocal style is sunny but with underlying yearning, his style as a frontman effortlessly optimistic and embracing. And while Burgess remains best known as a singer and frontman of this band, he has also pursued a range of solo, collaborative and curatorial projects that make him something of a “renaissance man” and, as I suggest in our conversation, something of a National Treasure. <a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com">Support the show</a>Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/

<description>&lt;p&gt;I’ve been trying to get Tim Burgess to join me on The Art of Longevity for at least 10 seasons. Ultimately, a new Charlatans album, &lt;em&gt;We Are Love&lt;/em&gt;, seemed like the right reason to finally do it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I’ve said it before, but I’m genuinely amazed and thrilled about how many ‘old bands’ have put out a recent album that is up there with their very best work. Suede, The Manics, Nada Surf, Tindersticks et. al. And I’m delighted to now include The Charlatans in that club. The band’s new album, #14 no less, is wonderful. Confident, varied, suitably different but very much representative, it’s a thoughtful and entertaining record throughout, containing some of the band’s best songs for ages; notably both the lead singles, opener Kingdom Of Ours, Appetite, For The Girls, You Can’t Push The River and, Tim’s own choice - Out On Our Own. But honestly, this is another cracking end-to-end listen with none of the filler that has perhaps been there in the past on some Charlatans offerings (along with all those above mentioned bands). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“I’m really confident that it will seep in. We’re enigmatic and thugs as well. Some of it bangs you over the head but it has an emotional impact that I think, gets there”. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;]Like many people of a certain vintage, The Charlatans have been one of those reassuring presences in my life over the years. Perhaps never the best or the biggest, The Charlatans longevity story has been to simply keep on keeping on, eventually unfolding into a slow-burning surprise journey towards British indie rock legend. You may not have predicted it back in the early days, despite a couple of genuine early hits, but when a band finds its formula and works at it, the miracles come later. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some early success in 1990 brought the top 5 hit “The Only One I Know”, but it wasn’t a linear rise from that point on. By album five, &lt;em&gt;Telling Stories&lt;/em&gt; (1997) the band had a genuine classic album on their hands, including the legendary indie hit “One To Another” (which new single “Deeper And Deeper” nods to brilliantly). With that momentum, the Charlatans crossed the rubicon into longevity, establishing themselves as one of the more enduring British indie bands, with genuine peaks of popular success (three UK number one albums). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I asked Tim the secret to the band’s longevity, he’s pretty clear with the answer:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“The reason why people are into older bands now is that they don’t all sound the same. Now, everyone sounds the same but has to invent a persona to be different, whereas we [old bands] all are, effortlessly different”.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the get go, the band’s instrumentation, with the late Rob Collins’s Hammond organ at its core, gave The Charlatans a distinctive fusion of indie rock, soul, psychedelia and dance music. But with due respect to the band’s sound, much of the enduring fondness for the band comes from Tim Burgess himself. His vocal style is sunny but with underlying yearning, his style as a frontman effortlessly optimistic and embracing. And while Burgess remains best known as a singer and frontman of this band, he has also pursued a range of solo, collaborative and curatorial projects that make him something of a “renaissance man” and, as I suggest in our conversation, something of a National Treasure. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/&lt;/p&gt;</description>

I’ve been trying to get Tim Burgess to join me on The Art of Longevity for at least 10 seasons. Ultimately, a new Charlatans album, We Are Love, seemed like the right reason to finally do it.  I’ve said it before, but I’m genuinely amazed and thrilled about how many ‘old bands’ have put out a recent album that is up there with their very best work. Suede, The Manics, Nada Surf, Tindersticks et. al. And I’m delighted to now include The Charlatans in that club. The band’s new album, #14 no...

The Art of Longevity Episode 84: The Charlatans, with Tim Burgess

“I don&apos;t know where I&apos;m going from here, but I promise it won&apos;t be boring.” Those words were spoken at one time by David Bowie, and thus are gospel to us here on The Art of Longevity podcast. Fortunately, some bands still live by that same philosophy. For evidence, we revisit the world of Suede. Suede has refused to become boring. Somehow, this band of 40 years have gone the other way - more exciting and visceral than ever. Suede are not hanging about to become their own echo! Albums like Autofiction and now, its immediate follow-up Antidepressants are not just the proverbial ‘return to form’ type records. They are nothing short of a reinvention. Mat Osman, co-founder member with Brett Anderson and bass player, shares his views on the new Suede record:“It feels like Autofiction on steroids. If Autofication was a TV show, Antidepressants is the film version. We took everything more widescreen with this record”. However, for Osman - you can forget about that old cliche of a band making music for themselves and hoping the world will agree (that’s what Rick Rubin has been telling us with The Creative Act: A Way of Being and to be fair, more than a few artists have told me it works for them. It&apos;s not for Suede. Instead, the band’s creative mission has been guided by their fans - their reactions at live shows, to the band directly, but also the band’s own interpretation of what a Suede audience really wants. “A band without an audience isn’t a band. It’s a hobby,” Osman declares. That emotional connection is Mat’s affirmation - fan tattoos of favourite songs, tears at gigs, and stories about Suede songs at weddings. This fan connection is Suede’s compass in the band’s 4th career phase. And so we return to a key central theme of longevity; usefulness to people. “As I get older, those moments where someone says, ‘That song helped me,’ mean everything,” he reflects. “That’s what I’m proud of. There’s a community feel [between the band and the fans] that becomes more and more important. It’s evident from this ‘Revisited’ episode, that Mat Osman and Brett Anderson have a fair degree of telepathy on many things - a shared vision that no doubt has added focus to Suede’s current run of creative form. They even agree on the most ironic thing about where Suede has arrived; that they were the least likely band to survive in the first place. “Longevity is not something we strived for, it just happened as a side effect of our bloody mindedness and passion for making music”.They still have it. Season 12 of The Art of Longevity is Powered by Bang &amp; Olufsen. Long copy can be found on www.songsommelier.com.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com">Support the show</a>Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/

<description>&lt;p&gt;“I don&amp;apos;t know where I&amp;apos;m going from here, but I promise it won&amp;apos;t be boring.” Those words were spoken at one time by David Bowie, and thus are gospel to us here on The Art of Longevity podcast. Fortunately, some bands still live by that same philosophy. For evidence, we revisit the world of Suede. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Suede has &lt;em&gt;refused&lt;/em&gt; to become boring. Somehow, this band of 40 years have gone the other way - more exciting and visceral than ever. Suede are not hanging about to become their own echo! Albums like &lt;em&gt;Autofiction&lt;/em&gt; and now, its immediate follow-up &lt;em&gt;Antidepressants&lt;/em&gt; are not just the proverbial ‘return to form’ type records. They are nothing short of a reinvention. Mat Osman, co-founder member with Brett Anderson and bass player, shares his views on the new Suede record:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“It feels like Autofiction on steroids. If &lt;em&gt;Autofication&lt;/em&gt; was a TV show, &lt;em&gt;Antidepressants&lt;/em&gt; is the film version. We took everything more widescreen with this record”. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, for Osman - you can forget about that old cliche of a band making music for themselves and hoping the world will agree (that’s what Rick Rubin has been telling us with The Creative Act: A Way of Being and to be fair, more than a few artists have told me it works for them. It&amp;apos;s not for Suede. Instead, the band’s creative mission has been guided by their fans - their reactions at live shows, to the band directly, but also the band’s own interpretation of what a Suede audience really wants. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“A band without an audience isn’t a band. It’s a hobby,” Osman declares. That emotional connection is Mat’s affirmation - fan tattoos of favourite songs, tears at gigs, and stories about Suede songs at weddings. This fan connection is Suede’s compass in the band’s 4th career phase. And so we return to a key central theme of longevity; usefulness to people. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“As I get older, those moments where someone says, ‘That song helped me,’ mean everything,” he reflects. “That’s what I’m proud of. There’s a community feel [between the band and the fans] that becomes more and more important. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It’s evident from this ‘Revisited’ episode, that Mat Osman and Brett Anderson have a fair degree of telepathy on many things - a shared vision that no doubt has added focus to Suede’s current run of creative form. They even agree on the most ironic thing about where Suede has arrived; that they were the least likely band to survive in the first place. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“Longevity is not something we strived for, it just happened as a side effect of our bloody mindedness and passion for making music”.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;They still have it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Season 12 of The Art of Longevity is Powered by Bang &amp;amp; Olufsen. Long copy can be found on www.songsommelier.com.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/&lt;/p&gt;</description>

“I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.” Those words were spoken at one time by David Bowie, and thus are gospel to us here on The Art of Longevity podcast. Fortunately, some bands still live by that same philosophy. For evidence, we revisit the world of Suede.  Suede has refused to become boring. Somehow, this band of 40 years have gone the other way - more exciting and visceral than ever. Suede are not hanging about to become their own echo! Albums li...

The Art of Longevity Season 12, Episode 6: Suede (Revisited)

Now well over a decade in the music industry, Tom Odell is motoring through a successful second phase as an independent artist. His recent albums have leaned into more introspective, personal material that has resonated so much that he now attracts bigger audiences to bigger shows (an arena tour is forthcoming), and continues to grow a very large base of listeners on the streaming platforms. Indeed, he sits comfortably (and ironically) within Spotify’s elite of Top 200 streaming artists. He is in the 0.01% of working artists, the “Billions Club”, a place he never set out to be but nevertheless, belongs. Odell broke free of the major label system (not his choice at the time but transformational as it turned out) three albums ago, to find a whole new level of creative and commercial success. Most of all, with his seventh studio album A Wonderful Life on the horizon, the singer-songwriter has found a renewed sense of purpose. His time touring with artists like Billie Eilish and the <a href='https://www.songsommelier.com/art-of-longevity-the-lumineers'>Lumineers</a> has given him a first-hand glimpse of the very top tier of success in a changed industry, a secret sauce that may well rub off on him more as a result of those experiences. Odell is a hopeful soul. In a world of quantity over quality, 100,000 songs a day and AI about to increase that number ad infinitum, he has a strong idea about where a solution may lie to all the madness. “I really have faith in the listener. I believe people will find the good stuff. And when I look at what’s big right now, most of the time I go, ‘Yeah, that’s really good, that’s why it&apos;s big”. As A Wonderful Life gets closer to release, Odell isn’t looking to chase the numbers, or meet any industry expectations. He’s following the music. “I didn’t get into this to be big,” he says. “I got into it because I love it. And I still do.” His Spotify biog says it all. No flowery press copy, no AI generated summary, no self-penned promo, just 33 million monthly listeners and a simple keyboard smile emoji. One wonders how far he will go. Season 12 of The Art of Longevity is Powered by Bang &amp; Olufsen. Long copy can be found on www.songsommelier.com.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com">Support the show</a>Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/

<description>&lt;p&gt;Now well over a decade in the music industry, Tom Odell is motoring through a successful second phase as an independent artist. His recent albums have leaned into more introspective, personal material that has resonated so much that he now attracts bigger audiences to bigger shows (an arena tour is forthcoming), and continues to grow a very large base of listeners on the streaming platforms. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Indeed, he sits comfortably (and ironically) within Spotify’s elite of Top 200 streaming artists. He is in the 0.01% of working artists, the “Billions Club”, a place he never set out to be but nevertheless, belongs. Odell broke free of the major label system (not his choice at the time but transformational as it turned out) three albums ago, to find a whole new level of creative and commercial success. Most of all, with his seventh studio album &lt;em&gt;A Wonderful Life&lt;/em&gt; on the horizon, the singer-songwriter has found a renewed sense of purpose. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His time touring with artists like Billie Eilish and the &lt;a href='https://www.songsommelier.com/art-of-longevity-the-lumineers'&gt;Lumineers&lt;/a&gt; has given him a first-hand glimpse of the very top tier of success in a changed industry, a secret sauce that may well rub off on him more as a result of those experiences. Odell is a hopeful soul. In a world of quantity over quality, 100,000 songs a day and AI about to increase that number ad infinitum, he has a strong idea about where a solution may lie to all the madness. “I really have faith in the listener. I believe people will find the good stuff. And when I look at what’s big right now, most of the time I go, ‘Yeah, that’s really good, that’s why it&amp;apos;s big”. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;em&gt;A Wonderful Life&lt;/em&gt; gets closer to release, Odell isn’t looking to chase the numbers, or meet any industry expectations. He’s following the music. “I didn’t get into this to be big,” he says. “I got into it because I love it. And I still do.” His Spotify biog says it all. No flowery press copy, no AI generated summary, no self-penned promo, just 33 million monthly listeners and a simple keyboard smile emoji. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One wonders how far he will go. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Season 12 of The Art of Longevity is Powered by Bang &amp;amp; Olufsen. Long copy can be found on www.songsommelier.com.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Now well over a decade in the music industry, Tom Odell is motoring through a successful second phase as an independent artist. His recent albums have leaned into more introspective, personal material that has resonated so much that he now attracts bigger audiences to bigger shows (an arena tour is forthcoming), and continues to grow a very large base of listeners on the streaming platforms.  Indeed, he sits comfortably (and ironically) within Spotify’s elite of Top 200 streaming artists...

The Art of Longevity Season 12, Episode 5: Tom Odell

Singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald has never been one to chase trends - an impressive show of resistance for an artist whose music journey began with teenage stardom (the streaming monster hit “This Is The Life” was all over the radio when she was just 19). Macdonald could be forgiven for trying to stay in the spotlight, but she was never that bothered about industry fuss in the first place, protected as she is by a finely tuned bullshit detector, a birthright for anyone born in the vicinity of Glasgow.  That said, as her career has developed (she is now on her sixth album), MacDonald admits to worrying more…about mostly everything. New album Is This What You’ve Been Waiting For? is a cheeky dig at years of being asked when new music was coming, yet it comes with a certain anxiety about how it will go down, about how the world sees her now. “I keep myself up at night just thinking about shite basically, it&apos;s ingrained in me - I just want it to be good for everybody involved”. Staying grounded matters to Macdonald. When asked what she’s most proud of, her answer is modest but telling: “That I’m still doing this. There were so many times I thought I was going to sack it all in. But here I am, album six, and people still seem to be interested.”It&apos;s easy to forget how much responsibility falls on the shoulders of solo musicians. It’s as if the strength of her songwriting might not be enough. But it is. Season 12 of The Art of Longevity is Powered by Bang &amp; Olufsen. Long copy can be found on www.songsommelier.com.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com">Support the show</a>Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/

<description>&lt;p&gt;Singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald has never been one to chase trends - an impressive show of resistance for an artist whose music journey began with teenage stardom (the streaming monster hit “This Is The Life” was all over the radio when she was just 19). Macdonald could be forgiven for trying to stay in the spotlight, but she was never that bothered about industry fuss in the first place, protected as she is by a finely tuned bullshit detector, a birthright for anyone born in the vicinity of Glasgow.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That said, as her career has developed (she is now on her sixth album), MacDonald admits to worrying more…about mostly everything. New album &lt;em&gt;Is This What You’ve Been Waiting For?&lt;/em&gt; is a cheeky dig at years of being asked when new music was coming, yet it comes with a certain anxiety about how it will go down, about how the world sees her now. “I keep myself up at night just thinking about shite basically, it&amp;apos;s ingrained in me - I just want it to be good for everybody involved”. Staying grounded matters to Macdonald. When asked what she’s most proud of, her answer is modest but telling: “That I’m still doing this. There were so many times I thought I was going to sack it all in. But here I am, album six, and people still seem to be interested.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;apos;s easy to forget how much responsibility falls on the shoulders of solo musicians. It’s as if the strength of her songwriting might not be enough. But it is. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Season 12 of The Art of Longevity is Powered by Bang &amp;amp; Olufsen. Long copy can be found on www.songsommelier.com.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.songsommelier.com"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Get more related content at: https://www.songsommelier.com/&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald has never been one to chase trends - an impressive show of resistance for an artist whose music journey began with teenage stardom (the streaming monster hit “This Is The Life” was all over the radio when she was just 19). Macdonald could be forgiven for trying to stay in the spotlight, but she was never that bothered about industry fuss in the first place, protected as she is by a finely tuned bullshit detector, a birthright for anyone born in the vicinity of ...

The Art of Longevity Season 12, Episode 4: Amy Macdonald

Uniquely honest conversations with famous and renowned musicians. We talk about how these artists have navigated the mangle of the music industry to keep on making great music and winning new fans after decades of highs and lows. We dive into past, present and future and discuss business, fandom, creation and collaboration. What defines success in today's music business? From the artist's point of view.&nbsp; The Guardian: “Making a hit record is tough, but maintaining success is another skill entirely. Music industry executive Keith Jopling explores how bands have kept the creative flame alive in this incisive series”.

The Art of Longevity

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