When Garbage were on hiatus in the second half of the 2000's, Shirley Manson set about working on a solo album, which reportedly featured a collaboration with Rivers Cuomo, but when she brought the material to her then-label Geffen, she was told it was 'too dark', as they had envisioned Manson having international radio hits and becoming the 'Annie Lennox of her generation'. She and Geffen subsequently parted ways and she continued working on solo material, and also considered leaving the music industry behind entirely, but then Garbage reunited and released albums in the 2010's, and the solo album was put on the back burner. Some of the songs have since appeared online, with 'In The Snow' and 'Pretty Horses' surfacing in 2009, followed by 'Lighten Up' the next year, and Manson posted 'Dark Hearts And Heart Beats' on her Facebook page in 2015, but investigation has discovered that it was copyrighted in 2010, and was therefore part of the solo album recordings. Manson also collaborated with other artists, and provided songs for TV and film soundtracks throughout the decade, and so there are actually enough songs out there to make up a 'solo' album for her. I've done a bit of work on 'Brass Muscles', which was a 54-second piece that appeared on the soundtrack to the TV series 'Wet Hot American Summer', and by repeating the verse and chorus and then adding a coda to fade out I've expanded it to sound like an actual song of almost two minutes. Even on the collaborations Manson takes most of the lead vocals, and so by mixing her own demos with the duets we end up with a very creditable solo album from her, and as she used to refer to it as her 'noir record', that's what I've called it.
Track listing
01 In The Snow (demo 2009)
02 Samson And Delilah (from the 'Terminator' TV series 2008)
03 The Hunger (single from 'Prometheus Bound' rock musical 2011)
04 Lighten Up (demo 2010)
05 Meet The Foetus / Oh The Joy (duet with Brody Dalle from 'Diplod Love' 2017)
06 Dark Hearts And Heart Beats (recorded 2010, uploaded 2015)
07 Queen Of The Bored (with Brian Reitzell from 'American Gods' TV series 2017)
08 Pretty Horses (demo 2010)
09 Brass Muscles (with Craig Wedren from 'Wet Hot American Summer' soundtrack 2015)
10 Shame, You're All I've Got (from 'Cry Is For The Flies' with Le Butcherettes 2014)
11 The Sun (single with Pondus 2018)
Hi Paul - Shirley Manson does not appear on soulseek
ReplyDeleteRebooted, so try it now.
ReplyDeleteAs I had only gotten into Garbage off their debut, and not much past that, I kind of lost touch with Manson as an artist when it did pass they broke up, but I did see her out there off and on...this comp is a great way to reorient yourself with her, I just listened to it the other day, and though I guess I can see where the record company was coming from, I do agree that this would have been a sleeper kind of banger for her, as in you hear a track, like it, then ask who it is and go 'WHOA, really?' 4 stars :)
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