Lighthouse Family: Soft sounds spell success
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Lighthouse Family is synonymous with laid-back, yet catchy pop tunes. Formed in Newcastle eight years ago by vocalist Tunde Baiyewu and programmer/keyboard player Paul Tucker, the duo had two years to wait before its 1995 single Lifted was released.
It was worth it, because the debut album ,Ocean Drive, and sophomore effort, Postcards From Heaven, sold 2.5 million and 3.7 million copies respectively.
The duo has just released a new album, Whatever Gets You Through The Day. Although it is less catchy than its forerunner, the album is well-crafted and enjoyable.
They are also popular here, thanks to hits like High and Lost In Space which became, like, the standard songs on the club scene.
Baiyewu visited the capital last week in the middle of the Southeast Asia promo tour for the latest album, and also to perform at the grand launch of Cosmopolitan FM.
Tucker, however, was unable to come, although there was no clear explanation for his absence. Baiyewu, meanwhile, in line with his signature tender and soothing voice, is a humble and very down-to-earth person.
Below is an excerpt of Baiyewu's comments at a media conference.
Why exactly did you guys call your band the Lighthouse Family?
As you know, we come from Newcastle, which is near to the beach. There's something really spiritual about the ocean. Our first album was called Ocean Drive. And so we came up with a name that is related to the ocean, which is "lighthouse". We added "family" because there are lots of people who were involved in making our project and giving ideas to us.
About your latest single (I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be) Free/One, what's with the long title and the bracket? And why did you mix it with U2's One?
The song is an old song from (jazz great) Nina Simone, so we had to put the full title of the original song. If it was up to us, we would just call it "Free".
As for using One, it happened during the recording session. Paul said that Nina's song has a similar progression to One and then he asked why don't we find a way of marrying the song. Turned out it was strong enough to be in one song because both songs kind of belong together.
I actually thought that Nina's song was enough but Paul loves U2 so much, so ...
The new album sounds kind of gloomy.
Well, that's how Lighthouse Family is. But if you listen to it, you can see aspirations of things. That it's green on the other side.
But, yeah, the previous albums are more optimistic. It's just that we don't want to write just happy things because I don't think life is all about (being) happy. We want to project some realistic point of view.
The music style is hardly any different though than previous albums.
We've been around for eight years now and we've developed our own style. We know what we are, so it's the Lighthouse Family kind of style. But it's important to change and the latest album changed in term of sonic landscape. We changed producer in this album. So, sonically and production-wise, it's different. The songs are more organic and not overproduced.
In the past, we often liked a song but after it got into the studio, it became really different. That reduced our spirit.
Why did it take you so long to release this album?
Indeed. When we released this album, we just realized that the last album was in 1997. It was because two years afterwards, we did lots and lots of tours. So we wanted to slow things down a bit and be normal. We need to get back to life.
There were many things that happened as well. My mother passed away through cancer. Paul had a three-months'-premature baby. He also built a studio after that. So, it kind of accumulated. But we didn't stop working. It took us a year to record this album.
You don't like touring?
It's just not a real life. Yeah, right, it's great, but it's like living in a bubble. It's great to be appreciated and praised. No complaints. But still, there's real life out there. Well, so long as you take it in balance ...
Your voice is sort of flat, and you've been coming out with the same style. What if people get bored with Lighthouse Family?
If people get bored, then we've had enough of Lighthouse Family (laughs). Well, that's me. I mean, it's important to embrace the style instead of jumping onto a bandwagon and being trendy or trying to be cool.
People also say the same thing about Sade but it doesn't stop her. I always like Sade. I think as long as it (the music) comes from the heart, it would be fine.
I don't like everything on the charts. I think there's always space for everybody. We'd be silly if we expected everybody to like it. But people do not want to jump around all the time, they also need our kind of music once in a while.
If you were asked to do a duet with a female singer, who would you choose?
I never really thought about that. I mean I'm still learning and finding a way to stand on my own two feet. But I would say Mary J. Blige. I like R&B, everything that Dr. Dre touches turns out great.
At the evening event, Baiyewu performed four numbers: I Wish, Run, Lost In Space and High, accompanied by a keyboard/guitar player and two backing vocalists.
Wearing a gray suit and with his soothing voice, the simple performance highlighted the event, even though it was obviously too short at barely half an hour. However, if you are a fan, watch out for more news about the pair as, according to Baiyewu, the group wants to come here for a full concert soon.