Happily, Wilson’s now kicking it with the best of Australia’s own jazz and soul greats. Amongst other things, her debut album I Hope You’ll Be Very Unhappy Without Me has just been nominated for Best Soul, Funk, R&B and Gospel Album at the 2014 The Age Music Victoria Awards, where it’s keeping company with releases from Saskwatch, Kylie Auldist and The Bamboos.
That shouldn’t be a surprise though, Wilson’s a goddamn soul/jazz power house – when she’s not singing she presents Jazz Got Soul on PBS and manages their music library, she’s also the brainchild behind the super-successful and much loved Women of Soul nights, she DJs every week and runs her own label, House of Valerie Joan, on which she released her debut album after two years’ careful and hard work.
In the main, the album’s a heartfelt exploration of the impact and demise of unhappy relationships, but the vibe’s triumphant – the ladies featured on the album rise and ride with grace and flair.
Wilson’s made no secret of the fact the themes in I Hope You’ll Be Very Unhappy Without Me are personal and she finds singing the title track cathartic. Is it nerve-wracking exposing something that’s otherwise so private? “I just write tunes about what’s going on – maybe I’m just not very imaginative,” she laughs. “It’s all the real stuff that’s going on for me though. It’s quite autobiographical I guess, but it just comes out that way. I don’t think I could write about something else – maybe I should try.
“I wrote around 40 or 50 odd songs before picking these ones and there were a few additional ones I recorded that didn’t make it onto the album. I recorded a lot that were on the relationship theme. It’s especially tricky when the main-ex boyfriend came to the album launch. He’s very supportive though – he even pre-ordered the album from Pozible.”
The lyrics aren’t all sad – in particular, the song about Muhammad Ali’s “Thrilla in Manila” bout is suitably punchy (Hit Em Like Ali). While that might look a bit left-field, Wilson can explain its origin. “I feel like a novelty act singing about heart-wrenching stuff and then busting out a song about sporting history,” Wilson laughs. “It’s a bit of family thing though. My dad used to do amateur boxing and he always had boxing gear set up in the garage. I was about nine or ten or so when he tried to teach me how to punch bag. My uncle’s a boxing trainer – he was Aussie Joe Bugner’s trainer, the former heavy-weight champion. So, I used to watch the fights with Dad. I just love it – I just think it’s one of the best forms of exercise. I was working out boxing one day and thinking about how great it’d be to have a song you could work out to boxing-wise, not just Britney Spears or the usual stuff at the gym, and you can’t work out to jazz, it’s just not the right vibe.”
BY MEG CRAWFORD
