Charlotte Lansman - The Cage
By Christianah Jesudass-Roberts @mstiaroberts
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As a child I grew up on Jazz. It ran as a constant in my home, Jazz FM blaring from morning til night , the likes of Nina Simone and Billie Holiday drawing me into the depths of adult emotions beyond my understanding, so much that the passion was instinctive, buffered by childlike innocence. Fast forward 10 years later and I regularly expose my loved ones to tortuous moments, carried by me bellowing Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye, out of tune nevertheless, from the bottom of my lungs. I am quite grateful to have grown up on Jazz and seen its evolution to meet each generation that it greets, uniquely, in a way that suits them. We had the Nina Simone era, the Bill Withers, Barry White, then - especially in the UK, we were pivotal in carrying the genre. We all grew with the queen that was Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone, Katie Melua, Jamie Cullum - they brought this really delicious UK take to the genre, it was morish, relatable, modern and deep all at the same time - a cross between traditional Jazz and RnB, for me it was the music of sunny sunday’s, sprinkled with all the simplistic joys that childhood adorns.
As I have grown in both age and taste, my relationship with Jazz and it’s adjacent genres has continued to expand, Lo-fi sounds, smooth afternoon soul, neo-soul and nu-jazz all help me through my various moods, and are utilised as soundtracks to my (many) Bridget Jone-esque situations. The depth, the sombre-ness, the aloof-ness, the indulgence allows me to feel and entertain my various teenage-like extremes of emotion and thought, in a delicate but mature rhythmic wallowing that adulthood validates. I say all this to say, this week I came across a tune that placed itself in exactly this space and here I was yet again immersed in UK Jazzy brilliance, that I recognised ever so well.
“...it is the perfect track to tune into on these cold wintery evenings, as we long to feel an ounce of freedom that we once took for granted.”
Charlotte Lansman released her new track The Cage, last month, perfectly timed in its comforting, soothing sound, it is the perfect track to tune into on these cold wintery evenings, as we long to feel an ounce of freedom that we once took for granted. Charlotte introduces listeners to the track with an orchestra of sound, highlight by trumpets and built by the sound of the cymbal, she walks us up a hill, to meet another layer of depth provided by her light soulful vocals, delicate, sultry and strong simultaneously.
Listeners are immersed into an ocean of sound. Taking a moment to sit with the song, I found myself sinking in the vastness of the combination of musical elements, that vibrated me in sprit as I indulged in her rhythmic storytelling. For each bridge, listeners are taken across a different level of emotional yearning, highlighted by an emphasis created by the cymbals and carried through by the piano and trumpet notes, in a very nostalgic way as though she sails across the various sounds of Jazz across the generations.
Her lyricism cries in its relatability. It is so apparent that it takes you to that space of mind where you feel that yearning, a call from your soul that is solely found in romantic needs and allows that feeling to situate itself so close without forcing you to indulge in the traumatic experiences that can lead to such a deep meaningful expression of emotion. This is powerful. The tune in aura, has all the romanticism of a stereotypical night of love in France, teamed up with the mellowing energy of a lonely night’s walk by the a London canal. Beautiful and idyllic yet sombre and abrupt, Charlotte captures a very specific sound and feel in this tune that creates a whole energy - a whole existence - if just for a moment.
This Bristol born babe does herself and her musical influences proud on this track. Whilst hearing tones that hold similar appeal to moments within Nina Simone’s and Tracy Chapman’s classics you can hear the very distinguishable highlight of UK Soul, something so delicate and intangible but equally unmistakable and apparent. It is an ode to her various role models, and in many ways to the multiple facets of her sound. Here is modern, quintessentially British Jazz, and a sound we should be all proud of. The Cage by Charlotte Lansman is available to stream on all major streaming platforms.