Rodney Reardon
2010-06-16 02:38:59 UTC
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100615/ap_en_mu/us_music_karen_elson;_ylt=AhLKrdN25zMHBXHIixV4hoOVEhkF;_ylu=X3oDMTJyNnZsZGZ2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNjE1L3VzX211c2ljX2thcmVuX2Vsc29uBHBvcwMyMARzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNrYXJlbmVsc29uY28-
Karen Elson comes out of closet for debut album
By CAITLIN R. KING, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 15, 10:47 am ET
NASHVILLE, Tenn. It has taken at least a decade, but British model
Karen Elson finally is out of the closet with her debut album, "The
Ghost Who Walks."
The closet literally is where she would go, time and again, to write
songs and until recently, that's where they stayed.
"My closet is a completely messy, disorganized place filled with way
too many clothes and mess everywhere, but it was a safe place on many
different levels," she said. "First of all, it was a quiet place,
which I really need to be quiet when I'm writing a song, or at least
feel like I'm completely alone, but maybe on a subconscious level I
just was sort of hiding myself."
One reason Elson hesitated to reveal her work is because she's married
to uber-rocker Jack White, front man and guitarist of The White
Stripes and The Raconteurs and drummer for The Dead Weather.
"I'd never heard her talking about making an album or recording a song
or even writing a song," said White in a separate interview. "I'd
never heard her talking about any of those things. She'd been in this
political cabaret group called the Citizens Band for years, and I'd
always known she sings like an angel, gorgeous voice."
"But then I came across that she had been writing a couple songs
she'd just been hiding them," he added.
"I was," admitted Elson. "But it wasn't that I was purposely hiding
them from him. ... The way I write songs I've come to realize is that
it's a very, very isolated experience for me, and I keep it very
private until I feel ready to let them go."
Elson felt "daunted" when she finally played White the first couple of
songs she had written for the record.
"It was so many different emotions," said Elson. "... to be so
vulnerable as well and show the person that you're in a relationship
with another side of you, something they know about, but maybe he
didn't know how deeply involved I was."
After hearing a few songs, White coaxed her to reveal more, and they
eventually went into the studio to record them.
"I put together a band and I played drums for her. We just thought,
'Let's see where we can go with this. Who knows what it's going to be
like?' It turned into something incredible," he said, describing the
album as a mix of folk, country and gothic music and a "beautiful
voice on top of it."
Raconteurs, Greenhornes and Dead Weather bassist Jack Lawrence played
on Elson's record, which was released on White's label, Third Man
Records, last month. He hopes that Elson's career as a supermodel
doesn't cause possible listeners to pass judgment prematurely.
"I hope people aren't cynical about it and dismiss it," said Lawrence.
"It's a really good record, and if you take the time and really listen
to it, I think you'll find out that there are good songs there."
Elson hopes people will focus on the music as well.
"I hope that people will just take it as the record it is," she said.
"If people listen to it and say, 'Oh, it's that model singing,' fair
enough. Ultimately I can't change people's opinions, and I don't
really care to, either."
At 31, Elson acknowledges that she has had a "surreal" life, traveling
the world as a model for the past 15 years and living in what she
calls "some really strange places." But these days, Elson, White and
their two children live in Nashville. Elson says it is "the most
natural and relaxed day-to-day life" she's had since she was 16. As a
result, she has had the time and space to reflect upon her life, pick
up a guitar and write songs about it. And she plans to continue
which will mean a return to that unkempt closet.
"Everytime I write a song I still go in the bloody closet and lock the
doors," she said. "For whatever reason that's become the unofficial
office I guess."
___
AP Entertainment Writer Chris Talbott contributed to this report.
Karen Elson comes out of closet for debut album
By CAITLIN R. KING, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 15, 10:47 am ET
NASHVILLE, Tenn. It has taken at least a decade, but British model
Karen Elson finally is out of the closet with her debut album, "The
Ghost Who Walks."
The closet literally is where she would go, time and again, to write
songs and until recently, that's where they stayed.
"My closet is a completely messy, disorganized place filled with way
too many clothes and mess everywhere, but it was a safe place on many
different levels," she said. "First of all, it was a quiet place,
which I really need to be quiet when I'm writing a song, or at least
feel like I'm completely alone, but maybe on a subconscious level I
just was sort of hiding myself."
One reason Elson hesitated to reveal her work is because she's married
to uber-rocker Jack White, front man and guitarist of The White
Stripes and The Raconteurs and drummer for The Dead Weather.
"I'd never heard her talking about making an album or recording a song
or even writing a song," said White in a separate interview. "I'd
never heard her talking about any of those things. She'd been in this
political cabaret group called the Citizens Band for years, and I'd
always known she sings like an angel, gorgeous voice."
"But then I came across that she had been writing a couple songs
she'd just been hiding them," he added.
"I was," admitted Elson. "But it wasn't that I was purposely hiding
them from him. ... The way I write songs I've come to realize is that
it's a very, very isolated experience for me, and I keep it very
private until I feel ready to let them go."
Elson felt "daunted" when she finally played White the first couple of
songs she had written for the record.
"It was so many different emotions," said Elson. "... to be so
vulnerable as well and show the person that you're in a relationship
with another side of you, something they know about, but maybe he
didn't know how deeply involved I was."
After hearing a few songs, White coaxed her to reveal more, and they
eventually went into the studio to record them.
"I put together a band and I played drums for her. We just thought,
'Let's see where we can go with this. Who knows what it's going to be
like?' It turned into something incredible," he said, describing the
album as a mix of folk, country and gothic music and a "beautiful
voice on top of it."
Raconteurs, Greenhornes and Dead Weather bassist Jack Lawrence played
on Elson's record, which was released on White's label, Third Man
Records, last month. He hopes that Elson's career as a supermodel
doesn't cause possible listeners to pass judgment prematurely.
"I hope people aren't cynical about it and dismiss it," said Lawrence.
"It's a really good record, and if you take the time and really listen
to it, I think you'll find out that there are good songs there."
Elson hopes people will focus on the music as well.
"I hope that people will just take it as the record it is," she said.
"If people listen to it and say, 'Oh, it's that model singing,' fair
enough. Ultimately I can't change people's opinions, and I don't
really care to, either."
At 31, Elson acknowledges that she has had a "surreal" life, traveling
the world as a model for the past 15 years and living in what she
calls "some really strange places." But these days, Elson, White and
their two children live in Nashville. Elson says it is "the most
natural and relaxed day-to-day life" she's had since she was 16. As a
result, she has had the time and space to reflect upon her life, pick
up a guitar and write songs about it. And she plans to continue
which will mean a return to that unkempt closet.
"Everytime I write a song I still go in the bloody closet and lock the
doors," she said. "For whatever reason that's become the unofficial
office I guess."
___
AP Entertainment Writer Chris Talbott contributed to this report.