Another month, another new recording release! Already this year Phnom Penh ska band Checkered Past issued their debut EP Public Announcement; this week their lead singer, Ariane Parkes, also known for her work with The Sock Essentials and the Rocket Science project, is releasing her debut album entitled Talk To The Girl, Speak To The Ghost. She spoke to LengPleng about how it all came to be, and the delights and challenges of the recording studio.
So where does the story of this album start? “It starts here in Cambodia. When I had to write an artist description for Bandcamp last week I said: “It took me many years to discover that songwriting is something that I can actually do.” I picked up the ukulele and discovered that I could write songs: create the structure of a song with different chords and build a melody around it. The album has the first song I wrote in Cambodia, I Don’t Have My Mother’s Eyes from early 2018, and also the most recent one. Most are from 2019, The Beauty In Our Moments Of Simplicity and Escape are from early 2020, and Heal is from 2021.”
Talk To The Girl, Speak To The Ghost was not originally intended to be a solo project. “After working on the Checkered Past album with producer Jan Mueller, he and I thought it would be good to do some recordings with The Sock Essentials. The idea was simply to record around four of my songs that the Socks do, and whatever else would be a bonus, so I didn’t really have any expectations about what would happen. And I certainly did not expect that Jan would take the time to work on them as he did, adding all the beats and bass and effects and little solos here and there.”
Although Sock partner Scott Bywater contributed most of the guitar tracks on the album, along the way it became clear that this was not The Sock Essentials but rather a different beast altogether. “I was already happy with what it sounded like with only acoustic guitar and vocals, but then it went to another level. I was massively surprised at how the songs sounded after Jan had spent some time with them. I usually don’t enjoy listening to my voice over and over again on recordings, but with this album it was different.”
Those who know Ariane’s work with either Checkered Past or The Sock Essentials may well be surprised at the final product. With her voice brought front and centre, the nuance and character of the vocals is brought into close focus, pulling it more in the direction of cabaret than rock’n’roll, while still in a recognisable pop format. Also continuing on from CP’s Public Announcement is Ariane’s newfound harmony vocal parts – here and there songs burst into little sunset explosions of layered voices.
“Jan would say ‘Let’s have a harmony here’. Right. What am I supposed to do? But it was really nice to work with Jan, he’s very supportive, and says straight away ‘this is good’, or ‘let’s try another one’. There are parts in the songs where I would have never thought I would record harmonies, like the ay-ay-ays on Escape for example. He said just try…”. Along with the vocals, Ariane contributed glockenspiel, a little guitar, and some ukulele.
“I do feel there is a cohesion to the album. Unintentionally, but in the end it has worked. And I like that it covers all my songwriting years here in Cambodia. I thought about the playing order for a long, long time until I finally agreed with myself.”
Ariane contributed some comments about a few key tracks.
The Beauty in Our Moments of Simplicity
The opening track – and the single. I really, really love how Jan picked up the vibe of this song, it seemed to perfectly fit the song, the atmosphere that I would have created if I was able to. I really love what he did with this one. I actually love everything he did, but that one stands out to me.
Heal
Last year I hadn’t written a song for ages, I was lacking inspiration, and I was talking with my accomplice, Bjoern, saying I didn’t know what to write lyrics about anymore. They used to come from the lonely and painful times. He suggested two topics to write a song about, and out of that came Heal. The lyrics came quickly. And afterwards I recall walking around the streets of Phnom Penh during lockdown with the melody line in my head, and I thought maybe I can make this work.
John or James
Jan picked up on this one straight away and did a great job with it. I had written it especially for a themed open mic, when the subject was John – being a great fan of the theme nights I thought it would be a good idea to write something on theme at short notice.
The Sound Of Dragonfly Wings
I wrote the lyrics way before I tried to make a song out of it. In the beginning the song was intended to be very depressing: I am here by myself, in an ocean all alone, this kind of vibe. When I started turning it into a song it changed, and became more empowering and positive. I used to have a time when I was happy, and I can always go back to that time, and I always have that time ahead of me, reaching for the stars.
The Woman Is Out
I don’t want to interfere with everyone having their own ideas about what the song is about. And I really like the mysterious feel that it has now, the effects and the glockenspiel. Jan put in a very specific effect and he was so sure that I wouldn’t like it, but I immediately loved it.
So what next for Ariane Parkes? “There are still many songs that didn’t make the album – this is probably a good third of what I’ve written so far. Also what I would love to do is put together a live band for this project, so any musicians who like the music, please contact me – I’m happy to explore!”
The release, on Bandcamp, is on Friday morning, and that evening there’s a listening party at Tacos Kokopelli where it can also be purchased – as a download code with a very tastefully put together accompanying booklet. You can hear a few sample tracks on RadioOun.com on Drivetime around 5 pm (after the LengPleng weekly wrap) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You can hear The Sock Essentials play at Shophouse Gallery on Thursday 19 May, and at Cloud on Saturday 27.
