A CHILDHOOD spent in the rural beauty of Nannup was the inspiration for Holli Scott’s latest album Weather and Weeds.
The Perth jazz singer grew up in the sleepy WA town and its old railway bridges, wildflowers and majestic trees inspired songs with poetic lyrics and a bitter-sweet vibe.
“I spent a lot of time outside exploring, and I’d go for bush walks often with my nan while mum worked in the post office on Saturdays,” Scott recalls.
“Walking over the old railway bridge and spotting wildflowers in amongst the big trees felt nothing short of magic, and I think the images I absorbed in my time there are things that I draw upon in my writing.”
There’s a wistful, melancholic air to the album, which has the feel of falling autumn leaves or someone reflecting on their childhood from afar.
Scott delivers poignant, heartfelt vocals, and her decision to ditch technical precision in favour of raw emotion was a wise move.
“Sometimes you can listen to something that isn’t perfect, but full of emotion, and it moves you more than anything else,” she says.
“It’s tough not to lose sight of that, and there were some moments on the album where I’ve had to hold myself accountable and opt to keep takes that felt like right, instead of doing another one and making the vocals a bit more perfect.”
For Weather and Weeds, Scott enlisted some jazz heavyweights – Grammy award-winning US pianist Tal Cohen and renowned Aussie sax player Jamie Oehlers.
The trio created a sparse, intimate sound, particularly Cohen whose delicate, tasteful playing is reminiscent of the late jazz pianist Bill Evans. Oehlers gets to show off his chops from time-to-time, but always serves the song with demure, reflective solos that complement the melody.
It’s not a jazz record per se, touching on folk and pop, and at times the vocals are reminiscent of Adele, minus the bombast.
Standout tracks include Back the Way We Came, which evokes images of Scott floating through the Nannup countryside, peering down at old faces and friends.
Sounding a bit like Billie Eilish after ten cigars and a few brandies, her rich, smoky voice is on top form.
There’s a strong visual element to the album and it’s punctuated with spoken word tracks by Scott, who loves poetry and literature.
“A lot of my songs (or parts of them) start as poems. Sometimes, I write things that have a really different flow, and recently I’ve ended up making the call to keep them spoken, where they can have more of an impact, rather than forcing them into melody and rhythm that doesn’t feel right,” she says.
“I also think speaking is a great way to connect with people and that our brains are wired to pick out the speaking voice, which can sometimes be more exposing and vulnerable than the singing voice.”
Outside of jazz, Scott is a big fan of artists like Fiona Apple, Joni Mitchell and Nick Cave.
She’s also into Tom Waits and covered one of his songs on Weather and Weeds.
“I think Waits’ gritty, dark, magical writing and the creative way he gets his bandmates to achieve the ideas inside his head have had a huge influence on me,” she says. “My arrangement of his tune Tango Till They’re Sore features on the album. It’s reimagined and quite different from Waits’ recording, but the story in the lyric really drove where I went with it.
“One of the most special things about Wait’s writing is that you can really see and feel the images as the words unfold, and I think even if my overall sound and style is very different from his, that idea is central to my writing.”
Scott divides her time between creating music – she’s recorded two albums and was previously nominated for a WAM Award – and working at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, where she is about to start her PhD research on ‘lyric-driven’ composition.
The creative gene runs in the family – her mum is visual artist Wanda Comrie.
“Partly due to my mum, I think I learned to appreciate simple things and see beauty while we lived in Nannup, and that mindset still has an impact on me now,” the singer says.
Scott is doing a special album launch gig for Weather and Weeds at Camelot Memorial Hall in Mosman Park as part of the Perth International Jazz Festival on Sunday October 27. For more info and tix see perthjazzfest.com.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK
Perth Voice Interactive 