Valuable lessons put Sandi in the pink

Jun 3 2008 by Andrew Welsh

SCOTTISH pop sensation Sandi Thom is hoping her new album will make the critics eat their words.

The girl from Aberdeenshire shifted a million copies of her debut album, Smile...It Confuses People, on the back of her number one single I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker - but she’s had to endure more than her fair share of sniping.

On a recent visit to Perth as part of a promotional tour for her follow-up LP, The Pink & The Lily, Sandi told Music Scene she’s put her experiences over the last couple of years to good use.

“Since the first album came out it’s been like a real whirlwind, one big novelty to me,” said London-based Sandi.

“I’m not used to this level of success and it has all really helped me write this second album.

“I wrote a lot on the road and would go home to the studio in my house and record.

“Having that kind of freedom was really great. I didn’t feel any pressure.

“It was really cool to make it gradually come together over two-and-a-half years.”

Sandi believes she has taken valuable lessons on board since her folk-tinged debut release, which she now describes as “like testing the water”.

“I’ve learned a lot,” she insisted.

“The first album gave me an added boost of confidence.

“It made me feel good about what I do and that I was going on the right track.”

She makes it clear she sees her latest effort as a big step forward.

“This is a more assertive album,” Sandi said.

“Every song has had its own story behind it. It’s a real milestone in my career and I’m very proud of it.

“It definitely showcases me more as a singer-songwriter than the first one did.”

Sandi reckons her latest effort owes as much to the giants of soul as the classic rock she listened to in her formative years.

“I started out in a band who were a lot older than me,” said the singer, who lists Duffy, Newton Faulkner and Pigeon Detectives as among her current favourite artists.

“They were all in the thirties and forties playing Fleetwood Mac and I was 14.

“When I went to music school in Liverpool I started listening to soul singers like Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.

“Now I’ve found a really cool place between rock and soul.”

Despite the furore that surrounded her first single, which attracted allegations about dubious promotional practices, Sandi insists she’s not too bothered about chart placings.

“The one thing that’s important to me is having a sold-out crowd,” she claimed.

“While I’d be ecstatic if the record does will in the chart, music is very much about being a live artist at the moment.

“There’s a lot of good songs on there and we could be playing it live for two years.”

So is Sandi worried that other female artists have stolen a march on her in her absence?

“Everybody has got their own individuality,” she insisted.

“I get a lot of comparisons with KT Tunstall and Amy MacDonald but we’re all different.

“Music is so vast there’s room for everybody and there are so many different opinions.

“British music is on the up and people like Amy and Duffy are doing really well in the USA.

“I’m just glad to be part of it really.”

Homespun Sandi said she said she’ll miss her family when she sets off on a six-week touring schedule taking her around the UK and Ireland, starting next week.

“It’s always nice to come back home and I get back quite a bit,” she revealed.

“My mum stays just outside Dundee. The flight up takes an hour and a half so it’s not that bad.

“When I go on tour I won’t be able to come back but my family will come to the nearest gig and we’ll chill out on the tour bus.”

Looking further ahead, Sandi can’t wait to play shows in France later this year.

She’s also appearing at a host of festivals, including a debut in Munich, and still harbours hopes of appearing at Balado.

“The European ones are good,” she enthused.

“I did France last year and it was really fun, and I’ve done Fuji in Japan.

“I’m hoping to go to Australia in September and I’d love to play the Big Day Out, that’d be really cool.

“I’m doing a couple of smaller Scottish festivals but I’ll hopefully manage T in the Park as well.”

Between recording sessions, Sandi recently posed nude to raise awareness about the issue of sex trafficking, but insists she won’t be repeating the experience.

“I would never do anything like that unless it was for a good cause,” she said.

“I appeared in the shoot to help the Helen Bamber Foundation and it does some great work.”