The Seven Spirits of Jude Kelly
Not meaning to come across too poetically pretentious, but I have always felt that music (in all its forms) is a mirror and road map with two contrasting faces: chaos and calm, shadow and light. Good music, if we let it, can cradle a broken heart; be rooted yet restless, be reflective yet fearless with each note carrying a dichotomy of peaceful silence and rugged sound.
The duality of good, emotive music stays with us. Dunedin-born, Auckland-based Jude Kelly is an essential New Zealand musical talent that can really tap into that duality. Her music—refined, well-crafted and so damn good—successfully maps her own evolution as an artist and human being.
After a string of singles and shows around the country, her dreamy debut fused-pop-folk EP, The Seven Spirits of Her, produced by Josh Fountain and Devin Abrams, debuted earlier this year, to much acclaim. From the track ‘Monster Truck’ to the anthem-esque ‘Bonnet Bunny’ to the brilliant single ‘Clarence’, the album spans her journey from feeling constrained to embracing her own emotional, unique creative voice and story. The song ‘Siren Song’ off the EP was heralded by Rolling Stone as being an ‘intoxicating and brooding reflection on the magnetic pull of chaos.’
Continuing her music success (with a rumoured new album on the way), Kelly has also recently been announced as one of the support acts for Lewis Capaldi’s New Zealand tour in early December, playing both in Auckland and Christchurch. M2Woman got to sit down with Jude and talk to her about her creativity, her music, her duality, her recent EP and Lewis Capaldi.
Firstly, how did you first find music?
I grew up in a really musical family. Music was a day-to-day thing. My dad gave me my first guitar, and taught me how to play. For me, I learnt the art of singing off artists that I loved, like Adele or Alicia Keys, and other great vocalists. As a teenager I wrote a lot of songs too. It wasn’t really something that I ever thought about doing as a career, but I pursued the dream, and decided at the end of my degree at university to follow that path. I was studying oceanography. I think looking at and looking after the ocean and focusing on renewable energy is a really important thing. I talked to my lecturer because I was like: ‘help, I don’t know what to do. Do I do postgrad or do I try this music thing?’ And he was supportive—‘uni will always be here’, he said. ‘So go and try music and see how you go.’
I then started playing a lot of live shows and, through word of mouth, started doing more around Christchurch. I’m from Dunedin so started the South Island circuit. It’s the importance of creative pursuit, right? Having the realization that there is no time limitation on anything, really.
Who would you say inspires your creativity the most?
I would say I’m very self-inspired. I’ve taken in a lot from a lot of different artists and a lot of different people. And something that inspires me is often people’s ways of life, or style of living, if that makes sense. I see that a lot in what I read. I’m in a pop world, but I’ve also got a folk background, which means that it can be interesting and challenging working with some people because of my different style of writing.
Florence Welch is a huge inspo for me. Same with St Vincent. She is currently living in my brain and I am really inspired by her creativity.
Patti Smith, for example, is always someone I fall back on. I’ve just finished Just Kids and M Train. She is such an amazing writer. After reading or listening to anything she has made will then result in me going away and writing several pages of my own stuff. Even a few pages of hers will get me going, just because I’m so inspired.
How would you describe your own sound?
It’s probably unique, founded on soul and pop. Very vocally driven, theatrical, dramatic and emotional. It’s flourished with the folk lyricism and then the Western sonic world that we’re sitting in. In my opinion, that’s what really builds it, and makes the voice carry.
Your debut EP, ‘The Seven Spirits of Her’, came out earlier this year. Loved it. I could really feel the emotive energy pulsing through it. The song ‘Clarence’ is beautiful, by the way, and you got some great feedback by Chris Martin from Coldplay on it!
Yeah, that was very cool. I got the chance to play him the song and we talked about it creatively. He gave some interesting notes and takes, but ultimately was just like: this is great.
The name of the song was actually going to change. My management thought the name didn’t make sense. I played it for Chris and his team, who loved the title. So it stayed. The music community is so connected and everyone is so supportive that you end up working with these people you may have known from four years ago. By the time that you end up working with them you’ve got some rapport and friendship and it’s really beautiful. Anytime I go into the studio, there’s always a level of fandom of who I’m working with.
I started writing The Seven Spirits of Her three and a half years ago with producer Devin Abrams. He’s great. We onboarded Josh Fountain too, who has produced BENEE’s stuff. The feeling of it was born through a lot of improvisation.
We’d start with a little track, and I just sang and whatever happened happened and I would make a song from that. That’s how ‘Clarence’ was written. ‘Clarence’ was one of the first songs that started the EP.
The EP then became something within the first six months. I didn’t really know what it was about at that time. I was a bit confused of how to make it all work.
I come from a Christian background. I grew up in the church. I think I realised that what was being projected through my songs was a lot of questions and conflicts that I had growing up. It was a really organic, self-reflective process. In the Book of Revelations, there’s the Seven Spirits of God, with the number seven symbolising this completeness and perfection in biblical tradition.
So in the studio I joked about calling the EP The Seven Spirits of Her, to reclaim that power a little bit. Each song then was built and created to represent a part of us that makes us who we are as women. Whether you want to be soft and sweet, or dynamic, powerful and strong, like Clarence, who gives a don’t f**k with me kind of attitude.
Or you may want to be fun, hot, flirty, going out with your friends, and be silly. That’s like in the song ‘Bonnet Bunny.’
I wanted The Seven Spirits of Her to give the message that we are all these things and it’s beautiful that we are all these things. The message applies to both women and men. A man can be masculine and feminine. There should be no definition of what someone should be. We as a humanity can encompass all these things. I guess, with this EP, I just wanted people to take away and see a little bit of themselves in some of it.
If it speaks to them, that’s awesome.
It was so exciting to see what a collaboration of creatives can do. Whether it was me and Devin, or Josh coming onboard, or Chris Martin…The Coldplay thing was wild. A highlight. The Lewis [Capaldi] thing might change that, though…
Yes, it jolly-well might! You’re playing support at his Auckland show in December! How’d that come about for you?
When international artists come there’s an opportunity to put yourself forward, in a way. I’ve known of Lewis for so long. I remember watching his YouTube videos from ages ago. When I asked to play support, it took ages for them to reply. I kind of assumed that I hadn’t got it because I hadn’t heard anything. Finally, I got the call (braced myself for the worst), but they said they wanted me, and it was pretty freaking awesome.
What is your definition of creative success?
Creative success is when you’re proud of your output and that’s the fundamental driver of what you’re doing. A real key pillar of creative success, I feel, is lifestyle. It is really important to me to know and rely on who my friends and my family are.
Being able to live off your creative work, as a career, is a creative success as well. Being able to support yourself.
Obviously you’ve got the Lewis Capaldi show (which is gonna be great). What next for you in the future?
I think I’ll probably get in another few more shows in the next few months, and another song in the works for summer. Over the last few months, I’ve been writing a second album-EP-body of work that I’ve written most of the words for.
We’re in the process of getting the right sonic world for it. Hopefully that will be a mid-year project for next year, but we’ll see. Other than that, I’m trying to go overseas and do some shows and do some writing overseas as well. It’s all currently oiling the engine, to start to move some things.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
I’ve always wondered what I would answer this with…It’s probably just like a really general one. I think you just have to trust yourself and not put yourself beneath people. Know your worth in those environments. I think that that is what carries through when you’re really confident in your work.