The wonderful Andrew Roachford talks to Music News at The Arts Club, Dover Street after his album launch show on 25th February 2020.
Having recently collected his MBE for Services To Music at Buckingham Palace, Roachford releases new single ‘High On Love’. With echoes of Womack and Womack in both its celebration of the purity of love and the acknowledgement that love can often come from a dark place, ‘High On Love’ follows the Radio 2 A Listed single ‘Love Remedy’.
Throbbing with musicality and soul, ‘Twice in a Lifetime’ is the sound of someone at the top of their game, of one who knows his craft inside out, and is the album Andrew Roachford been gearing up to make for decades. Produced by Jimmy Hogarth, who has previously worked with Paolo Nutini, Duffy and Amy Winehouse, and featuring several members of Winehouse’s band as well as a duet with Beverley Knight, it’s full of grit and the most tremendous sonic energy.
Since Cuddly Toy (a mainstay of radio airplay for over three decades now) reached number four in the charts back in 1988 Roachford has carved out a career for himself as one of the most compelling, and consistent, rock and soul artists the UK has produced. He has released 10 studio albums and several greatest hits collections, been sought-after as a songwriter by the likes of Michael Jackson, Joss Stone and Chaka Khan, and consistently toured on his own and with contemporaries including Terence Trent D’Arby and The Christians. For the past nine years, he has been part of Mike + the Mechanics, recording with Mike Rutherford’s post-Genesis band, playing live with them across the world.
And so, in 2020, Andrew Roachford finds himself writing and recording the best songs of his life. He’s come a long way from the giddy chart success of Cuddly Toy, with his deep-rooted desire to work at his trade and to make great music ever-present and never stronger. Those efforts have been duly noted: in January Roachford received an MBE for Services to Music. When the Princess Royal asked him what he does Roachford replied “I said that I try to evoke emotions from people through music.” He also said that he started playing piano when he was four years old and “never looked back” adding that he still enjoys playing the piano, “it’s an extension of me.”
Roachford is someone who channels the energy of James Brown before going on stage each night, and who, on record, summons up the spirit of everyone from Al Green to Joe Cocker. When he sings, you listen. And he is always performing, always playing live somewhere. To coincide with the album release Roachford will embark on a run of UK dates.
“I like to improvise,” he says, “so no two shows are the same, and even when I play the old hits, I always play them differently, so I never get bored, and neither, I hope, does the audience. I like to think I know how to interpret a room, how to connect with a crowd, and I always give it 100%. The moment the music starts up every night, the moment I walk out onto a stage, I’m right there, I’m completely inside it.”
26/03 Norwich, Waterfront 27/03 Manchester, O2 Ritz 28/03 Newcastle, O2 Academy 02/04 Bristol, O2 Academy 03/04 London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire 04/04 Birmingham, O2 Academy2 05/05 Brighton, Concorde 2 10/04 & 11/04: Glasgow, Oran Mor See http://gigst.rs/Roachford and Ticketmaster for tickets
“All I ever wanted to do was make great music” he says. “I suppose I’ve always been quite muso in that respect. It’s never about the fame, the moment in the spotlight; it’s about the work. I’m inspired by people like Elton John, Stevie Wonder; those artists who endure. The desire to write and perform has never left me, and the gift has never gone away.”
‘Twice In A Lifetime’ will be released on CD and heavyweight vinyl with signed copies available from the official artist store.
‘Twice In A Lifetime’ tracklisting 1. High On Love 2. Love Remedy 3. Too Much To Lose 4. Give It Up And Let It Go 5. Roachford & Beverley Knight - What We Had 6. Won't Think Twice 7. So Long 8. Are You Satisfied? 9. The Truth Hurts Too Much 10. Gonna Be The One 11. Once In A Lifetime 12. Written In My Heart 13. You're The One
