INVITATION
First song on the album is ‘Tell Me’ This is the only song on the album that’s not actually written directly from my personal experience… but opens up the conversation of bravery & control. I wrote ‘Tell Me’ early one morning sat with my guitar on a cold stone garden wall after having done an all-nighter at one of Kathryn Williams’ songwriting retreats. The words and melody just flowed out of me all at once as if the song already existed, and I was just the voice to make sure it was heard. In that moment, I was suddenly, unknowingly, given this responsibility to do right by the song.
“_Are there any of the other sides to me that you couldn’t love” _
When I sing these lyrics now… I’m asking myself to love all the sides of me. There are many sides to all of us. We can hide our vulnerabilities behind this protective sense of control and composure… but this song wants to capture finding your voice in the heat of a moment: a brave conversation between the truth and lies of a relationship. A love affair in denial.
The video for ‘Tell Me’ filmed by Emma Holbrook.
Folk Radio UK Premier - Visually, I wanted to create a sense of change and transformation in the video. The hands represent all the ways we can be thrown around or pulled into situations… How we can be manipulated, hurt or muted, yet also cared for and cherished. There’s a subtle dance to it, sometimes gentle and beautiful, other times messy and uncontrolled. The crow’s feathers continue the theme of the artwork and illustrations for the album (drawn by Joni Bellaruski), where the image of the crow appears repeatedly – a shapeshifter representing transformation, change and freedom.
Michele xx
TELL ME
Michele Stodart: Vocals / Bass
Romeo Stodart: Piano
Dave Izumi Lynch: Synths / Mellotron
Track Two on the album is called:
‘The House’
_“Now the garden’s overgrown
And the weeds have taken hold of the windows
Where no light now shines through
Still I’m outside looking in
Can’t help from wondering
Will there be no trace left of her
Won’t she be hiding in those walls of yours
Did the music leave the day we closed the door”_
The house that loses the essence of what makes it a home. Its warmth, soul, the heart that beats, it’s life. ‘She’ who wanders on the outside ‘The soul’ - almost like a ghost...
The house is a metaphor for life and what we want to bring into it, how we want to live our lives. The internal space within you, your head, your body, your heart. The core of your being… that grounds you.
When it loses its spirit, that lust and love for life. That feeling when you go numb, when dissociated and you’re not there. All that’s left are the traces of what’s been left behind. The shell. The dust marks remains under the photograph that no longer exists.
The powerful image illustrated by Joni Bellaruski for this song gives the feeling of hope and release in these changes … as the crows fly outside of the door which is now wide open… open the door to your mind , body and heart.
All the songs I hold dear for the things they have taught me and helped me overcome but this song ‘The House’ in particular continues to hit home in my every day.
Michele xx
THE HOUSE
Michele Stodart: Vocals / Acoustic & Electric Guitars / Bass / U-Bass
Romeo Stodart: Piano
CJ Jones: Drums
‘Push & Pull’ (Track Three) - is a conversation between mother and daughter. About my experience of being in my band The Magic Numbers, who have been playing, releasing records and touring the world for more than two decades now…. and for the last 15 of those years, I have been a mum.
This song is almost an imagined confessional declaration between two loves: one being my daughter and the other love being for music…These two loves seem to intertwine musically and lyrically like a dance through separation and reunion. The haunting & compelling illustration by Joni Belaruski speaks of freedom. The crow's wing represents the veil being lifted releasing the shame in hiding.
When recording my album ‘Invitation’ with Dave Izumi Lynch Echo Zoo Studios we tried to create an immersive experience with every song. I really thought about the arrangements that worked with the lyrics. So when you listen to the track you can notice a haunting heartbeat atmospheric soundscape, this was to create the 'heart to heart' exchange between mother and daughter. The whispered vocals tell the story which builds in intensity to create a sudden relief as the song opens up into the violin and piano-led soaring melody line (co-written with my pianist Andy Bruce) breaking through and creating a yearning musical push & pull like a dance entwined through separation and reunion.
As a working single mum there have always been many judgments passed and I have felt almost apologetic for having things in my life I work hard for and cherish.
Working creatively and in the arts is still a valid profession. I want my daughter to grow up believing and seeing that dreams are possible. To dream big and love big! Life is what you make it … to do what you love doing, learn grow and be kind when doing it ♥️
To parents out there - Stay strong in what you do that fills you up and makes you happy!
Michele x
PUSH & PULL
Michele Stodart: Vocals / Acoustic Guitars / Bass
Andy Bruce: Piano
Will Harvey: Violin / Viola
Joe Harvey-Whyte: Pedal Steel
CJ Jones: Drums
‘These Bones’ (Track Four on Invitation)
For me, as a songwriter, there has to be an element lyrically that can evoke an image or a memory. The opening line of ‘These Bones’ begins with “In our double bed you lie alone at night”
I couldn’t stop imagining this image of a bed shot from a great height with tall trees surrounding it… it would represent all the wild abandoned freedom of nature and that connection to mother earth again - when given the chance to feel alive and wholeheartedly conscious. Musically & visually I wanted to create a feeling of dragging, pulling and rising up from this weighted experience and the power of what the bed becomes in a relationship … like a much needed rescue!
In the video for ‘These Bones’, I am pulling a very thick, heavy rope… scrabbling through the dirt and leaves with a desperate need to reclaim the person I was losing… “no, ain’t hanging around to die” -the spirit that was dwindling & a reminder to find that strength to overcome it.
Writing the song and filming the video has both been quite a spiritual experience for me in many ways. Digging at the earth and soil, climbing out of the roots of nature's cave… I felt connected to my body for the first time in forever… being so close to the ground, and surrounded by the silence of the trees took the song full circle.
When I was in the moment filming I wasn’t thinking about being half naked or showing parts of my body I would usually hide. It was freeing, it was healing… and then it was suddenly very interesting that on the day after when we were editing the shots together, I felt completely different about it - my worries and body insecurities came rushing back in… So I had to remind myself what this song was all about, and what was all this trying to tell me.
Both my friends Emma Holbrook & Niamh Murray who filmed the video really helped with this 🥰
THESE BONES
Michele Stodart: Vocals / Acoustic & Electric Guitars / Tubular Bells
Andy Bruce: Piano
Nick Pini: Double Bass
CJ Jones: Drums / Percussion
Artwork: Joni Bellaruski