Emily Barker | 5 Tracks That Influenced ‘Sweet Kinda Blue’

Amidst her current headline tour, Emily Barker has shared some of her musical inspirations.

From Dusty Springfield to Aretha Franklin, Emily Barker takes influence from the leading soul songstresseses.

Recording her latest release at Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis, known for playing host to Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, she forayed down the icon-paved route.

Now, as she tours the UK celebrating the release, Emily has shared the top five singles that influenced her recent album ‘Sweet Kinda Blue’.

‘Nobody’s Fool’ – Dan Penn | Listen via Spotify
When Matt Ross-Span (my producer) and I first started talking about what sort of album we might make, he sent through a playlist of reference tracks and there was loads of Dan Penn on there, especially tracks from the album ‘Nobody’s Fool’. The title track from this record has such a palette of textures: strings, horns, guitars, backing vocals, etc. that all interweave and share the spotlight at different points in the song. Its got such a Memphis soul groove, but also a country feel to it and we both felt the demos I’d written had these similar qualities of being both soulful and old country.

‘Son of a Preacher’ – Dusty Springfield | Listen via Spotify
Before I went to Memphis to record, I saw a BBC documentary about Dusty’s trip there to make her record ‘Dusty in Memphis’. For a long time, I’d been a fan of this record and she felt like some sort of an angel to me. I felt like I was following in her footsteps. I love the production on this record. Beautifully epic with the orchestral arrangements, but also at the heart of it a Memphis band holding down a groove. Her voice is so wonderfully tender, fragile and breathy, but she also really belts it out at various points. I love that display of vulnerability and strength.

‘Surrender’ – Diana Ross | Listen via Spotify
When I sent my demo of ‘More!’ it was originally in a 6/8 time signature and not 4/4 as you hear it now. But interestingly, Matt had sent through ‘Surrender’ by Diana Ross prior to us starting recording as a reference for production and I could hear it working. When we got to recording, we’d sort of forgotten about it though and then the guitarist Dave Cousar said, how about we change this to a Motown sort of vibe and put it in 4/4! Itwas obvious this song had to evolve into what it became. We got some Northern soul vibes on our Southern record!

‘Think’ – Aretha Franklin | Listen via Spotify
Since I was a teenager, Aretha Franklin has been an inspiration to me. I used to shut myself in my bedroom after school and try to follow her voice. It felt so good to finally make a record with a soul feel to it. It felt like going back to my roots. This song, plus numerous others of hers inspired a lot of the backing vocals for the album. Matt asked me to produce the backing vocals session, so on my drive to the studio that day, I listened to some Aretha for inspiration.

‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’ – Burt Bacharach | Listen via Spotify
When Matt and I first started talking about how we’d like the album to sound, he mentioned Bacharach. We both loved the idea of having some classic string arrangements whether they be real strings or on Mellotron. The arrangements of songs on the album such as ‘Underneath the Honey Moon’ and ‘Over My Shoulder’, in our heads at least, pay homage to Bacharach.

Watch the video for ‘Sweet Kind of Blue’ below:




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