The Music

Twenty questions with Clare Bowditch

There's an old saying that goes, 'The unexamined life is not worth living' - so I was always told by my Gran, and she nicked it off the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, so it must be true.  And judging by the detailed examination of life and the world around her on new album, Modern Day Addiction, Clare Bowditch would probably agree.

"The theme [of the album] was me questioning - these big questions of what means something and what doesn't, what has value and what doesn't," Bowditch explains. "We're the most fortunate, most privileged, wealthiest people ever to live in the history of the world... and yet there's this itching dissatisfaction. What's that about?" Good question indeed.

Over a rich and expansive soundtrack, written primarily on a Casio keyboard then embellished to varying degrees with layers of orchestration and vocal, Bowditch considers the themes of love, sex, money, war, politics, pressure, status anxiety, consumerism and addiction. "Not the hardcore [addictions], not the crack cocaine - we gave that up when we were thirteen," she jokes "- more just the everyday ones that we use to distract ourselves from the potential for happiness or knowledge."

That's a whole lot of concern for one album, and she's spot on when she sings 'of course, I worry too much' in A Lucky Life. "Yeah absolutely! I do, and I always have - that's part of my genetic make-up; I'm a hard-core carer," she says. Despite these weighty lyrical sentiments, however, the album is certainly not all earnest contemplation. "I needed to have fun with it and explore it in a humorous way."

Having previously handled all production duties herself (alongside musical collaborator/drummer/husband Marty Brown), Bowditch used outside producers for the first time in her career, and admits to being terrified at the prospect of working with the likes of Mick Harvey of The Birthday Party/Bad Seeds and Mocky (Feist, Jamie Lidell).  Furthermore, the recording process saw her band The Feeding Set morph into The New Slang - complete with a trio of backing vocalists.

But this leap into the unknown has paid off handsomely, and when all the questioning is done, Bowditch couldn't be happier with the results.  "We took our time with it and we got it where we wanted it," she reflects.  "I'm thrilled with it." Socrates would be proud.

By Rob Cannon for Groupie Magazine.