Singer Amel Larrieux talks new album and possible Groove Theory reunion
theGRIO REPORT - Singer/songwriter Amel Larrieux, half of the chart-topping 90s duo Groove Theory, is set to release a solo album during this fall.
Singer/songwriter Amel Larrieux, half of the chart-topping 90s duo Groove Theory, is set to release a solo album during the fall.
It will be her first studio album in six years. Titled Ice Cream Everyday, her latest musical offering will be released via BlissLife Records, an independent company founded by Larrieux and her husband. theGrio caught up with the songstress to talk about her new album, her two teenage daughters’ musical talents and if we can expect a Groove Theory reunion.
theGrio: It’s been six years since your last album, what made you decide that right now was the time to put out new music?
Amel Larrieux: Well, we’re not exactly ecstatic that it’s taken this long to put out new music. That wasn’t the plan, but this is the time that everything came together. This is the right group of songs. I’m always on the road with my band, so I’ve had the chance to try out a lot of the new material and tinker with it. I’m fortunate that I have some very nice supporters who will come up to me after the show and give me detailed feedback on what they liked or didn’t like. It’s all very useful and it’s part of the process.
Being able to take your time and massage your music until it’s where you want it must be a perk of going the independent route instead of being on a major label.
It’s kind of the same. I’ve learned that I have pressure either way, whether I’m on a major label or on an indie. I don’t want to pressure myself and not have new product to put out on a regular basis, but that’s how it happens sometimes and sometimes I want a punch card. I want to put in some hours and be done for the day. But then, I think about the years I spent unhappy that my destiny was in the hands of other people, sometimes people I didn’t even know and I didn’t feel like my process and artistry were being respected. I wouldn’t go back to that for anything and my musical fate is in my own hands now.
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How did you come up with the title Ice Cream Everyday?
I was having a day of crappiness and I told my husband “I wish I could have ice cream everyday” and my husband immediately said “That’s the title of the album!” But what’s really funny is that I found out that I’m lactose intolerant during the making of this album, so all that talk of ice cream and couldn’t have any anymore. About six years ago, I started a practice of meditation, a yogic way of life. I learned to just be here. Be present. I began doing meditation because everything was making me anxious. I’m so thin-skinned. Any little thing could send me over the edge. So, Ice Cream Everyday, took on a different meaning. I had to go find my personal bliss. The title is a reminder for everybody to take a moment and stop and say “I deserve to have this one thing that makes me happy. “
What’s the feel of this album? Your first single “Afraid” is out now. Is that the sound people can expect for this album?
The Lovely Standards album is really the only album that had a theme. My own albums tend to have an un-formulaic formula. The only predictably is that it’s music that I really feel. I consider myself to be a songwriter first. So my music pulls from all aspects of life. I pull from everything around me, maybe even to a fault. A friend of mine said that artists tend to be categorized as so sensitive because we’re like sponges taking in everything around us and I agree with that.
