Videos

Lotte Mullan – Can't Find The Words

23rd Nov 2010

'Can't Find The Words' (out Dec 6th) is a triumph of the maverick- this is a girl who worked several record label internships to to learn the industry inside out, before becoming her own one-woman plugging, tour managing machine, and establishing her own label, Rain Dog Records.

The track boasts a compelling beat loop courtesy of Phonat (fans include Annie Mac & Rob da Bank)- the perfect foil to Lotte's charismatic, husky vocals.

Lotte Mullan will release her first single, ‘Can’t Find the Words’, on 6 December It is taken from her debut album, ‘Plain Jane’, via her own label (Raindog Records).

Lotte spent her early years trying to sing exactly like Tom Waits: a resulting throat problem and an enforced-singing ban quickly saw her change tack. Finding her own voice seems an apt metaphor for the sound of ‘Can’t Find The Words’, and the album from which it is taken. The record was inspired by two key events. Firstly, the record collection her Dad left behind after her parents divorced when she was four years old: it contained gems from the likes of Johnny Cash, Kirsty Macoll and The Beatles. Then, at secondary school, Lotte spotted a strange boy with big headphones who would walk around the school in silence. A curious Mullan desperately sought out the music he listened to, falling in love with both the artists and the boy himself.

‘Can’t Find The Words’ is emblematic of an album about growing up, and is intended to sound, Mullan says, “very much like a First Record. I wanted there to be a certain naivety to it.” Musically, though, it is the product of a somewhat surprising meeting of minds. Lotte has worked on the track with Phonat, an Italian DJ and producer who’s been heralded by the likes of Annie Mac, Rob Da Bank, Kissy Sell Out and Norman Cook. The record also boasts production work from Alex Reeves, who, among other things, drums for Dizzee Rascal. So anyone hoping for the missing link between Feist and Swedish House Mafia might be disappointed, but Lotte, Alex and Phonat have found an intriguing middle ground of their own, shaping the song’s gentle guitar and heartbreaking lyrics around a quietly hypnotic beat. The result is a beautiful piece of modern folk-pop.

Lotte’s first single has already been picked up by the likes of ‘Staying Alive’, the world’s largest AIDS charity, and MTV. For Mullan (25), it follows a year spent tackling all corners of the music industry herself, including internships at several labels to find out how they worked. It was here, whilst no one was looking, Lotte would pen lyrics underneath her desk, beavering away on this debut album. Realising that she could essentially do most of a label’s work herself, Mullan consequently become a radio plugger, and a tour manager (booking herself support slots in the process). She has since formed and runs her own label ‘Raindog Records’, on top of a club night at The Fortress in Old Street, London. Judging by her early critical appraisal, it looks like her efforts are paying off.