Singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin has returned with the release of her new single ‘Call Me’.Throughout her career so far Aplin achieved a UK #1 smash hit with her cover of ‘The Power of Love’ which launched her career, as well as a further four international #1 singles, a Gold-certified debut album ‘English Rain’ plus her most recent album, 2020’s ‘Dear Happy’, has now exceeded 200 million streams on Spotify alone. I spoke to Aplin about her new single ‘Call Me’, releasing music on her own label, touring and if ‘Call Me’ is a taster of a new collection of songs to come.
‘Call Me’ is an exciting glimpse into Gabrielle Aplin’s approach to writing and recording new material. Having moved back to Somerset late in 2020, she began to write alone at home and ‘Call Me’ is the mesmerising result of this writing process. It’s a wonderfully cinematic tune, however, at the heart of this beautifully vibrant track is a delicate piano melody.
“I’m so glad you said it was cinematic. That’s exactly what I was going for. I actually wrote just on piano on my own in lockdown at the start of last year, and it was really loose, and quite old-sounding in a way. We just put the whole band in the studio and we all played it and recorded it and that was it, you know. But I didn’t really want to make a retro-sounding album. I wanted it to be inspired by all the things I love and some of those things happen to be, retro, but I still wanted to make a modern record. I came in one day and Mike [Spencer] the producer had told me to sit down he was like the song’s not on rails. There’s nothing railing it everything’s just floating all over the place. So he put in the sawtooth synth part and then it suddenly made sense and I was like, oh my god this is it. So yeah, it kind of came about from Mike.”
How to introduce a song is a tricky decision because it’s those few seconds at the beginning of a song that captures the listener’s imagination. Aplin creates a unique and refreshing intro to ‘Call Me’ through the use of droning synths that chop and drag before the softer elements of the song are introduced.
“ I did imagine it as this pretty piano intro and Mike just came up with that. It sounded so gnarly when I first heard it because the rest of it was just piano and strings and whatever. When that happened, it suddenly made more sense. But yeah, it kind of scared me because the song was so delicate before that synth came in. I respect that feeling when I get it because it’s usually a good one you know?”
Aplin has proven herself as a diverse artist who isn’t defined by a genre and ‘Call Me’ showcases this superbly. Within the track, cinematic pop elements blend with warm country tones on guitar, indie embellishments, synths and almost gospel choir vibes in the backing vocals. The track is simply a musical delight to listener’s ears.
“ I didn’t want to adhere to a trend that was happening now because I wanted it to feel timeless. So we had our pillars and one of them was that it had to be very human and have loads of real musicians. Everything had to have a space so any kind of non-acoustic instrument, any of the synths and whatever all had to have a space so we weren’t plugging them into the computer. My producer Mike had a Fairchild machine built so everything can pass through all these valves and pass through air and the same with the synth on ‘Call Me’, he went and found some man on eBay who had a certain speaker that we could run it through in a hall. It was just so important that everything had space, was human and true [and] organic. We didn’t really listen to anything trying to steer us any way. We genuinely made it as if we were artists not trying to make anything for anything other than to create something good.”
It’s an honest track with clear and emotional lyrics and Aplin explained to me how the lyrics developed.
“Most of it was like a stream of consciousness and then I flesh it out. The idea was there you know, I don’t really know what I’m writing about. I just, like you say stream of consciousness, kind of blurting stuff out and record it. Any that stand out to me, I’ll finish them and with that one [Call Me] it just felt like I had to do that one. But it’s like filling in the gaps when I work out what the song is, then I can finish it, you know? And for me, it was that feeling that I had where I was quite isolated in the second lockdown and was just writing because I had nothing else to do. That’s where I was like, Oh God, now that I’m sitting here and I can’t go out and I literally can’t do anything and I can’t see anyone I wish I didn’t bail on all those times I could have had human interaction. It was a longing for human connection, I guess.”
“I think most of my favourite songs come from little streams of consciousness. I just sit there and start singing any random stuff, sometimes a chord pattern or you know, something I’m playing might spark a melody and I might just do a little scatter of something. Then that scatter, I might listen to it back and it might sound like a certain word. So then I start with that word and you know, it will stem from there. I literally am just going somewhere meditative when I’m doing it and, I pick out the bits that stand out to me.”
‘Call Me’ marks a new era in Aplin’s career, one which has seen her hit a massive landmark of one billion streams.
“Yeah, I feel so lucky and as an independent artist, it’s just really nice to know that people care. Yeah, it’s mad.”
“It’s nice to know that artists can own their work and still have a career and not feel they have to sign their masters away. Apart from that, for me, it was also really important to work with a team who really cared and were really enthusiastic about what I wanted to create and what I wanted to achieve. So keeping it close to me, and just having people come into our team that want to work on it is really nice. It also means we’re not tied to anything”
Aplin’s last release ‘Dear Happy’ was released independently on her own label, Fade Records, in January 2020 and ‘Call Me’ follows in its footsteps. We discussed how the freedom of releasing music on her own label gave the singer-songwriter more confidence in her work to do what felt right for her.
“Absolutely. This is the most confident I’ve actually ever felt as an artist. I’ve been left to just become who I am and make what I make where I’m at now. No one wanted to hear it until it was finished and when it is done, you know, I will go into people in the label and I will tell them all my ideas and they don’t want to start working on anything until they’ve got my ideas because they want it to be based on everything that I’m creating. Everything has to be real, and they really care about making sure that artists are looked after and treated like artists. It’s really nice to be working with a really supportive group of people. It definitely helps to be left [to] yourself to make something because that’s what your job is essentially. I’m here to create something, just leave me to it and I’ll come back [with] something. I think it does show when artists are nurtured in that way they create really good work.”
A striking and instantly recognisable aspect of Aplin as an artist is her effortless vocals and sweet emotive vocal tone. Within ‘Call Me’ we see Aplin command an eloquent vocal delivery that exudes passion and charm over a bittersweet melody.
“Even now, I get really nervous performing. I find it quite daunting, but in a studio, I’m much more confident maybe it’s because I feel a bit more free and more private. I haven’t always been confident. I really have to gear myself up, especially when I’m performing in front of people. I have to really get pumped up. I find it really scary. I do enjoy it though, once I get going.”
In March Aplin finally got to finish her ‘Dear Happy’ tour that initially started in March 2020. Aplin told me how surreal it was to sing the songs from the album as they were no longer new to her.
“It was so bizarre. But it was amazing though. So much time [has] passed since. I had different people on the road with me and that was weird, but then also at the same time we just stepped back into it like there was no time at all gone. It was bizarre, but it was amazing to finish it. It’s just mad though because when I started that tour, that setlist you know, those songs were brand new and when I finished the tour, I’d made a whole new body of work and I was playing ‘Call Me’ at the shows. I did that to honour who I am now because I felt, [people] myself included, are not the same people they were a few years ago. It’s been a mad few years so I really wanted to honour those things with those shows but yeah, it’s amazing to have it done.”
‘Call Me’ is a teaser for a new collection of work to come. I wondered how soon fans could experience the artist’s music in a live setting. Aplin explained the pandemic gave her time to re-evaluate the tiring manner in which gigging used to be approached by artists.
“Definitely yeah, I’ve made a body of work. I made a load of songs and they were all part of one project. I think it’s really exciting how there are so many ways in which artists can release music now. So I really like the idea of coming up with a cool way of releasing it but I don’t know if it’s an album or not. But there’s a collection of songs that will come out together at some point. I just don’t know in what format”
“ I’m really excited to play new songs but I haven’t got any festivals planned this year. I’m looking forward to going to shows as well and I’m going to a few festivals and stuff.”
“With touring I always found this is not normal…a lot of stuff was just not sustainable. For me, I’m much happier when I have a very solid routine. Everything’s planned well in advance, having nice people around you and looking after yourself. My whole band and crew you know, want to be comfortable and happy and not you know, ruin themselves over something that should be fun and should bring joy to people. We shouldn’t be feeling awful about ourselves after doing something like that. So, yeah, it’s more important for us to take care of ourselves and not overdo it now.”
Before we ended the interview Aplin bestowed some solid advice for any budding artist looking to start a career in music
“I would advise [you] to just do whatever [you] want and make the most of all the resources that are available to you to get your music out there. There are so many, try them all and use the one that sticks or what works for you. Also, I think it’s really important to read up on music law, rights, ownerships, and publishing royalties, and make yourself really familiar with all of those things so you don’t get messed over.”
Gabrielle Aplin is a passionate and dedicated songwriter who clearly pours all she has into her art and the result is compelling, emotive music that is a delight to listen to. Her dedication to creating sincere first-rate quality songs makes her a timeless songwriter and a musical treasure to cherish. ‘Call Me’ is a glorious addition to her sparkling repertoire.
Stream ‘Call Me’ below
Author: Danu
