Into The Grid

The strength of Jess Cornelius and her “not quite a solo act, not quite a band” Teeth & Tongue is the intricacy that goes into both the craftsmanship of the instrumentation and the sinuous emotion in her lyrics, bound together by her buoyant yet beguiling delivery. After the depth of construction that went into 2011's Tambourine, Cornelius was intent on making the creative process for third album, Grids, much more fluid and simple. That didn't go as planned…

“Far from it!” Cornelius laughs. “There are certainly drawbacks to having a complicated process of making music; maintaining focus over a long, protracted period can be really difficult. But there are a lot of benefits that come from it too I think. I didn't come to the studio with 11 succinct, mapped-out songs. Instead I had a handful of songs that I could play around with and I kept writing. I didn't think I was ready to make another album; in fact I didn't want to make another album. I was so withdrawn from it all; I didn't want to embark on that journey, that process again.

“I had finished Tambourine but that is really only the start; you have so much work to do pushing that record even if you want to go and do other things. So I was tired and pretty unsure of myself, and wanted everything to be simple, but as soon as I got into writing songs again I found the process kind of needs this layering, because I would enjoy writing the songs but then keep changing my mind on things. I would cut songs, add guitar, take out lyrics and add more. It's maintaining consistency at the end of the day that's the real worry, the real struggle, but I think the perseverance shows. I still maintain that I'd like to make an album in a week; that is a lovely round-sounding figure, but we will see whether that ever comes about.”

Grids is indeed an intricatel -layered pop experiment, yet there's a marked shift between a Teeth & Tongue performance and her recordings. Cornelius' voice becomes at once playful and assertive, and a lot of that has to do with her band.

“It's always fun, but there is always that bit of trepidation too where you aren't quite sure how things will pan out. But we are all good friends in the band. Marc [Regueiro-Mckelvie] and Damian [Sullivan] I've been playing with for quite a number of years, Marc in particular played all over Tambourine. So we played as a trio for some time before James [Harvey] came on board, and he is playing all the drum machine parts in a more organic drummer's role. He is the difference; we are playing in real time with him, so there is a flexibility and spontaneity that comes along with that, we aren't hindered by what the drum machine does. And with Jade [McInally] now joining us to sing harmonies, there is a shift of balance – it's nice to have another lady in the band.”