Ladyhawke "Ladyhawke" 2008

...Not one to stay still, Brown headed to Melbourne, where she met Nick Littlemore, vocalist with Australian band Pnau. They were soon collaborating, calling themselves Teenager. Their style was an amalgam of art rock and punk, with Brown on guitars and vocals, and Littlemore on keyboards and vocals. After two singles, ‘Pony’ (Timberyard, 2006), and ‘Bound and Gagged’ (Timberyard, 2006), the duo released Thirteen, which was recorded in Paris, London, Sydney, New York and LA, and featured musicians such as Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth, and Roland S. Howard. To promote Thirteen, they toured with an extended band line-up, but afterwards Littlemore returned to Pnau. There were no hard feelings, and Brown provided vocals for one of their most well known songs, ‘Embrace’ (etcetc, 2007), before finding her solo voice as Ladyhawke...
...The name “Ladyhawke” came from the 1985 Michelle Pfeiffer film, giving Brown a cool one-word moniker, and implying a supernatural ability. For this new incarnation of her career, she took inspiration from 80s superstar musicians and songwriters Stevie Nicks, Kim Wilde, Pat Benatar and Cyndi Lauper – women who valued style as much as substance. To temper these influences, she made her image more androgynous, though still feminine: jeans, T-shirts and boots – her stylistic nod to the 80s being eyeliner, and layered blonde hair. After demoing material at home, Brown (as Ladyhawke) released ‘Back of the Van’ in 2008. The song became an online hit, and soon she found herself with a major record deal, moving to the UK later that year, building her fan base through sold-out gigs in hip venues. This was only the start. Singles ‘Paris is Burning’ (Modular, 2008), ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ (Modular, 2008), and especially ‘My Delirium’ (Modular, 2008), gained her an ever increasing audience, and she could count Kylie Minogue and Courtney Love as fans. The striking artwork on the singles was by close friend Sarah Larnach, who Brown met while living in Melbourne. Larnach also illustrated and helped design both Ladyhawke album covers.Her debut album, Ladyhawke (Modular, 2008), was co-written with producer Pascal Gabriel among others, and was a synth-filled, hook-heavy record. The album was a success, and reaped the rewards for her hard work, giving Brown critical acclaim, and making her the Next Big Thing – something she wasn’t comfortable with. Ladyhawke went platinum, and straight to No.1 in NZ, and charted at No.16 in the UK and Australia, going gold in both countries. 2009 was definitely the year of Ladyhawke, and was capped off by Brown’s success in winning six NZ Music Awards, including Album Of The Year. She also won two ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) awards – Breakthrough Artist of the Year in both single and album categories. Along with these wins were nominations for Brit, NME and MTV Australia awards. After these successes, Brown toured the USA in 2010 with Norwegian musician Ida Maria, a tour sponsored by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Brown has come under scrutiny for her social difficulties and reticent manner – one of the effects of her mild form of Asperger’s syndrome. She is open about the condition, and the accompanying difficulties, telling Paul Lester from The Guardian, “It was the reason I was so solitary. I’d say completely inappropriate things. The other kids thought I was a weirdo.”
After a significant hiatus to recover from exhaustion, Brown collaborated with Junica (Nick Brinkman) on his single ‘Living in My House’ (Warner, 2011). She also worked with Tim Burgess from The Charlatans on the unreleased ‘Just One Kiss’ – though remixes of this track have appeared online...to be continued... - audioculture
trax:
01 Magic 02 Manipulating Woman 03 My Delirium 04 Better Than Sunday 05 Another Runaway 06 Love Don't Live Here 07 Back Of The Van 08 Paris is burning 09 Professional Suicide 10 Dusk Till Dawn 11 Oh My (Bonus Track) 12 Crazy World 13 Morning Dreams 14 Danny & Jenny (Bonus Track) 15 Paris is burning (Acoustic Version) 16 Dusk Till Dawn (Acoustic Version) (Bonus Track) 17 My Delirium (Acoustic Version) (Bonus Track)
…served by Gaius…