How fitting, then, that Lia Tsamoglou of notable Sydney ambient outfit Moonmilk has released her debut album Meditations On The Sun under the nom de musique Melodie Nelson. Full of nods to the shimmering and jangling guitar hooks that defined the pop of the sixties and seventies, this sweeping and emotive outing by Ms Tsamoglou transcends time and place, and delivers a joyously brilliant voyage into territory formerly owned by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood.
Speaking by phone from Sydney, Tsamoglou admits a spiritual connection to sixties pop. “I’ve been making music for the past five, six years in Moonmilk with my boyfriend,” she says. “I was sort of doing that to hide behind not actually having something to say, because it was all improvised and it was more of an experimental sort of music. Only a couple of years ago I thought I wanted to make something that was an album of music I really liked, ’cause that’s the sort of music that I listen to, really. Nice sixties and seventies-sounding records. So I thought I’d try to give it a go.”
One aspect of the album that really gloms onto the listener is the production values of the music; how it raises the, er, Specter of the whole Wall Of Sound mixing style. “I recorded [Meditations On The Sun] with Tony Dupe, and he tends to set up his studios in rural properties around New South Wales. I was lucky this time – he had this old Methodist church that he was recording in. That was really special to me, to be recording in this massive sandstone church, in the foyer – the acoustics were brilliant”
And how was it recorded? “Everything was pretty much recorded there; I pretty much just layered the tracks,” Lia reveals. “I played bass, the guitars, the keys; so there wasn’t really a band. That just comes later, a band I can play live with. [All] the original tracks had a drum machine, so in order to keep the dynamics and texture, we added a drummer. And Robin Dixon, who has played strings on a number of other albums, played viola and cello and a bunch of other weird stringed things that he brought.”
I mention that, while I was listening to the album, I couldn’t help but feel as if I were being transported to a Sergio Leone spaghetti western; tracks such as Orpheus, She’s Gone and the titular track really brought to mind something that could have been written by Ennio Morricone or Angelo Badalamenti. Is she a fan?
“Oh, absolutely,” she states emphatically. “A lot of that comes from Moonmilk. You know, we could never find a genre for what it was – it was experimental and loop-based music, but it was definitely film-soundtrack sounding. And so that was where a lot of that atmosphere [on the album] came from. Meditations On The Sun was a song I wrote while I was still in Moonmilk, so it’s kind of a transitional song between Moonmilk and this Melodie Nelson stuff. It sounds like a bit of both, and that’s something that that previous band brought to this project.”
When I suggest Lia should probably look into scoring a film, she is very enthusiastic. “Yes! That’s my number one ultimate dream job! Writing the album, it really begins as a tune in my head, but in order to write the whole song, I have to arrange it all before it’s finished. So, I definitely like the idea of arrangements and composition.” She adds, “I love those movies. I love Morricone especially, and a lot of those weird sixties Hammer Horror [old British horror movie studio] sort of films, as well.”
So now the album’s out, and the touring is going to start – is she getting excited? “Yeah, I’m looking forward to it,” Lia exclaims. “In Melbourne I’m bringing my band – guitar, drums, bass, me on keys, and a backup singer; as well as Robin, who is going to be playing cello. It’s going to be really special, and I’m excited to play [in Melbourne], because the last time I came it was just me and a guitar with some backing tracks. I’m really looking forward to bringing the whole band down.”
