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After several years of carving a niche as one of South Africa’s most accomplished songwriters, vocalists and DJs, Tasha Baxter, has finally stepped out from behind-the-scenes, onto the solo stage.
And - as those in the industry who hold her in high regard always predicted - it hasn’t taken Baxter long to make an impression on the South African music scene with her debut album, ‘Colour Of Me’.
Already the first two radio singles off the album, ‘Who’s Sorry Now’ and ‘Fade To Black’, are clocking up some serious airtime, the latter track reaching number one on several stations, including regional heavyweight Highveld Stereo and the former remaining a spectacularly strong radio calling card, months after it debuted.
In fact, so damn pop-perfect are these two songs that the one problem facing Baxter, and her record company, is convincing music fans that she’s South African. But once they discover she’s homegrown, Baxter’s indie pop, electronica-tinged music rapidly becomes a firm favourite with fans based in the country, as the growing demand for live performances testifies to.
That ‘Colour Of Me’ has an unmistakably global sheen is, in part, thanks to production, mixing and mastering by Dutch production trio Noisia - widely acclaimed for their drum and bass/breakbeat/electronic productions (and recently commissioned to remix Robbie Williams’ Bongo Bongo, with Lily Allen).
Baxter met Noisia – Thijs de Vlieger, Martijn van Sonderen and Nik Roos– in an online dance community, her reputation as one of South Africa’s most forward-thinking dance, trip-hop and drum ‘n bass innovators earning her the attention of the Dutch production team. Baxter took a chance and sent Noisia some of her music online, and they responded in kind, asking her to put vocals to some of their music. Before she knew it, in February 2006, she was on a plane to Holland, where a collaborative in-studio process saw Baxter create her early demos.
But, as important as Noisia’s contribution is, the real heart of the album’s appeal lies in its songs – and that is where Baxter’s creative collaborator, Andre Scheepers steps in.
Scheepers, a classically trained musician who has worked with several rock bands, had made contact with Baxter after he heard her freestyling over beats, during one of her many DJ gigs. Impressed – strike that, gobsmacked - by her talent, Scheepers gave Baxter his contact details on a paper napkin and the two met.
Nowadays, Tasha Baxter is, in fact, the moniker of both Baxter and Scheepers, who augment their vocals (Baxter) and keyboards (Scheepers) during live shows with a drummer, guitarist and bassist. It’s also the name of a songwriting duo whose varying influences result in a sound that’s defiantly singular and, though diverse, slots together in a way that is never anything less than natural.
Listening to ‘Colour of Me’ and one thing is clear - Baxter and Scheeper’s is a wide-ranging musical hand that’s skilled at bringing in ragga, drum ‘n bass (still a love of Baxter’s), Spanish and elecronica at precisely the right moment – never overshadowing the songs. But for all its sonic sprinklings, at its core, this is a pop album, and one that triumphs in the feat all pop music strives for and that is making the melancholy combine with the uplifting in a way that leaves an imprint in the heart of listeners: whether it’s the swathes of sound that support the cutting lyrics of ‘Useless’ “(please don’t go/don’t make me feel so useless”) or the sweetness that belies ‘Paradise’s’ dark side, this is a defining album that should waste no time in finding a broader audience.
Baxter and Scheepers are the first to admit that recording ‘Colour Of Me’ was a challenging process.
Scheepers and Baxter did pre-production and songwriting, with Baxter returning to Holland in May for more in-studio work. Noisia then came out to South Africa to record in the SABC studios, with the help of well-known producer and engineer, Neal Snyman who laid down the live instrumentation. “It’s was something of a back-and-forth,” Baxter says, ‘but you know, I think that the production speaks for itself – we have managed to treat each of the songs really individually and so each one stands out.” Also part of the process was Scheepers and Baxter finding common ground: “I had to learn to be less uptight about crafting the songs,” Scheepers (who studied classical piano) says. Equally, Baxter was pushed into barriers that she’d previously avoided, being untrained in a formal sense.
It’s not easy to create an album that moves through a wide-ranging terrain yet retains a sense of coherency, but Tasha Baxter has been able to do just that on ‘Colour Of Me’. Central to this is Baxter’s winning voice which can carry tongue-in-cheek lines (“you don’t need money if you look like me” on ‘Don’t Need Money’) as effortlessly as those muddled by emotion (“Catacombs of paranoia/Oh how I adored you/Now I don’t know who you are” on ‘The Journey’).
As a result Tasha Baxter is as at home on a pop stage as in the depths of a dance club or cascading out of a radio. It’s a world-class versatility that is brought home on album closer, ‘The Visitor’, a song that’s worthy of anything Goldfrapp may release that, itself, hides an achingly beautiful, straight singer-songwriter ballad within its folds. That hidden track holds the answer to why Tasha Baxter may just make the leap into international waters: any act that can end a definitely indie pop album with a song as unmasked as this one is has all the goods necessary to wade into the global mainstream.
About Tasha Baxter:
Over the past few years, Baxter has built a reputation as a multi-talented artist, lending her songwriting and vocal skills to many high-profile projects, albums and songs. Chief amongst these was Roger Goode’s ‘In The Beginning’ off his album ‘Coming Up For Air’. It was Baxter who contributed lyrics and vocal melodies for the track which turned into a bonafide global smash hit, earning a chart-topping spot on 5fm’s Top 40 chart and a remix from none other than internationally recognized house DJ and producer, Ferry Corsten.
What many people didn’t know at the time was that Baxter had contributed vocals and songwriting to four other tracks on Goode’s album – including ‘Little Angel’ which she wrote for her daughter, and ‘To Move You’ – more than proving her strength as a composer along the way.
Alongside her work with Goode (which still continues through Baxter’s presence on his Saturday Surgery show), Baxter has made a substantial impact on the Cape Town and Johannesburg music scenes, working with the likes of drum ‘n bass producers, Counterstrike (on the track ‘Questions’), as well as featuring on the Soulsistas album. Her raft of corporate work – composing tracks for commercials and more – is as impressive and she has also performed alongside some of the biggest names in the DJ world, including DJ Vadim, Roger Goode, Diesel Boy, Aphrodite, Cut La Roc and Raiden. Baxter was also resident drum ‘n bass DJ/MC at Trailer Park in Melville, Johannesburg for years and her continuing passion for being behind the decks has seen her play in the Dutch city of Utrecht.
From her days as a teenager in Cape Town when she would steal away from home to play at house parties and then the likes of Sublime, to seeing the release of her album, Baxter’s trip through music has been diverse and fascinating.
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