Zo Lief are a dream pop duo from North London, made up of Dutch Vocalist and Songwriter Laura Chen and British Multi-instrumentalist James Attwood. GIITTV caught the band live (supporting Temples in Birmingham) on a very special day for them – 1st February – the day that their debut single ‘Fool’ was released, and asked them about their desert island preferences…
You are allowed to take two albums to your desert island – what would they be?
Laura:
Humbug by Arctic Monkeys. Arctic Monkeys are my all time favourite band, I love how they continue to reinvent themselves with every album – they always surprise me with what they do next. Every release has its own mood, so depending on how I am feeling I have different options and places to go to.
Everything That You’ve Come To Expect by The Last Shadow Puppets. Whatever project Alex Turner is involved in turns to absolute musical gold for me (I also love his co-production of Alexandra Saviour‘s debut album). Alex Turner and Miles Kane have a great chemistry that combined with the 60’s film score and crooner influences, creates a unique modern take on this musical mood. There are no filler tracks on this record for me. I also love the offshoot EP, The Dream Synopsis, with several cover versions including a take on Leonard Cohen‘s ‘Is This What You Wanted’ – an artist I have grown up with playing around the house.
James:
Scott 4 by Scott Walker. I love Scott’s unique, operatic voice and am so grateful that I could trace him back through the influence on so many artists that I admire, from Richard Hawley to The Last Shadow Puppets and Johnny Marr. The surrealist songwriting and production of this album makes it sound, even in this day and age, so ahead of its time. With its 60’s film score influences, a genre I love – it creates a mood that I can explore whenever I feel like listening.
Grace by Jeff Buckley. I love Jeff – his journey, his voice, his songwriting and particularly his guitar playing. This album was so ahead of its time and I’m so sad that Jeff didn’t get to put out another album that he was happy with. He also soundtracked my final year as a student in London, a time when I was figuring a lot of things out.
You also get two singles…
Laura:
‘New Kid In Town’ by The Eagles. I love The Eagles’ harmonies for one. In this particular song, the melody is very sweet and nostalgic, and the bold rock guitar solo is so seductive that I could listen on repeat.
‘Across The Universe’ by The Beatles always gives me instant shivers whenever I hear it, from the soft guitar to the ethereal chorus melody which makes me feel like I am floating, everything is beautifully balanced.
James:
‘Vancouver’ by Jeff Buckley. I love the underlying eeriness of this song, which are counteracted with Jeff’s angelic, soaring vocal delivery. I love that this track was played on his tours as an instrumental and got recorded finally before he passed, even if it wasn’t the final version he was happy with, as it remains the only indication of where he was heading musically before he died. The 12 string guitar arpeggio is possibly my favourite guitar part of all time.
‘On Days Like These’ by Matt Monro. I love 1960’s film scores, and this song’s combination of a melodic pop track with operatic vocals, grandiose string arrangements and production by Quincy Jones really transports me to this time period whenever I listen.
You are also allowed to take a TV box set…
Laura:
Life On Mars. I love John Simm, in fact we both do. I live for detective series / books. This combined with 70’s fashion and interior design means this show has it all.
James:
Friday Night Dinner. I am usually not one to rewatch things but I could watch Friday Night Dinner forever. The combination of actors and how they bounce off each other is brilliant, it reminds me a lot of my family. I also love that it’s filmed not far away from where we live.
How about a film? Which one are you taking?
Laura:
Submarine by Richard Ayoade. The acting is spot on, it’s just hilariously dry and Richard Ayoade’s wit is all over the film. The cinematography is also beautiful, and of course the soundtrack by Alex Turner. The songs capture the mood of the film very well and make me feel so calm due to the soft, almost whispering vocals on some of the tracks, as well as the stripped back production.
James:
The Italian Job (1969), have loved this film since I was a kid and will continue to do so forever. Michael Caine is one of my favourite actors.
You can also take a book (or all books by one author)…
Laura:
Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker. I’m reading it currently, and am purposefully reading it very slowly because I don’t want it to end. He’s a fellow virgo and I can relate to so many things he discusses in the book, from childhood experiences and tendencies of collecting all sorts of curiosities, to his views on songwriting and music overall. He delivers his thoughts very effectively and I have laughed out loud numerous times whilst reading.
James:
Any book by Bob Mortimer. I was really excited to read his new one, The Satsuma Complex which I have just finished. I love the injection of himself he puts into everything he does that is so blunt, but also sensitive and relatable on a humanity level.
How about a radio station / show…
Laura:
I mainly enjoy listening to artist interviews on the radio, particularly Zane Lowe‘s interviews – on whichever show they are nowadays.
James:
If i’m feeling nostalgic, I would probably say the Loz Guest show on Kerrang Radio circa 2009. It was a real varied playlist of music that was actually not that heavy, I found so much good music from that show and would listen to it every night before I went to sleep.
You are allowed one of your own creations / records…
Laura:
‘Familiar Strangers’. I’m really proud of that song lyrically, it’s a song that helped me discover my style of songwriting. Hopefully you get to hear it soon when we put out our EP. It’s been wonderful seeing people’s reaction to this live, who have loved the story element to the song.
James:
‘Believe What You Believe’. We actually wrote this song years ago before we had officially started a project together, so it feels pretty special and we have been closing our live set with it this month on our UK tour supporting Temples. Seeing the consistent positive response this song gets also adds to the feeling of proudness I have towards the track. I also love the string line midway through the second chorus. I think this is an inside scoop that we’re releasing an EP, I guess it’s official now?
Finally, a personal live stream gig by an artist (alive or dead!)…
James:
Jeff Buckley, 100%
Laura:
The Shadows, I would love to see and hear such classic guitar lines live.
‘Fool’ is available now on streaming platforms and a new single ‘Familiar Strangers’ will be available from 1st March 2023. The EP Believe What You Believe, produced by Temples’ James Bagshaw, is available on 23rd March 2023.
