Beauty in the loss

I've been listening to Corinne Bailey Rae's 'The Sea' on repeat this week. Very different from her self-titled debut album because she has embraced the pain she has experienced in the intervening period and this, ultimately, has meant that 'The Sea' is a collection of songs about grief and hope, despair and inspiration, loss and love. These interview extracts come from her website:

"I wanted to be open," explains Corinne. "I'm really aware that I can't hide any of my feelings. With music I feel like it's the one time when I don't have to think and I don't have to contrive anything. So that's how this record turned out. It's not contrived. It's just open."

Jason Rae, a gifted saxophonist and Corinne Bailey Rae's husband, died in March 2008. 'I'd Do It All Again', a sweeping, defiant but woozy song - and the first single - is one of the many songs written before this.

"It's a love song, but a difficult love song - it's about when things are really difficult, to the point where they're actually hurting your pride. I wrote it after this big argument we had. And it just sorta came out of me as I was playing my guitar. It's really special to me because of how it came about. It didn't feel like it was a really conscious thing. It's just a demonstration of my commitment. Despite what happens - you might get trampled or destroyed by it - it's a love you can't stop. And," she adds, "I really like the way the song's come off. It all builds to one chorus. I love playing it for that reason," she smiles. "It's the one shot."

One of her favourite songs on the album is the jazz-flavoured lament 'I Would Like To Call It Beauty'. She loves playing it live, loves the almost telepathic interplay she and her drummer enjoy. "I guess that song is about my experiences of late. It's about grief and what it does and the things it makes you aware of."

The title comes from a late-night conversation she had with Jason's younger brother comparing their views of the world. Corinne was speaking about God and Jason's brother said he believed in a force that binds everything, holds everything. He said, "I would like to call it... beauty". She was flabbergasted. "What a thing to say! Really we were talking about the same thing..." So powerful was the sentiment that she took it for the song title, and duly credits her late husband's brother as its co-writer.

"I have experienced a lot of beauty in the loss," is her remarkable admission, "in the way that I've been able to survive. The way I feel like I'm being held - held up. I guess the song is about the amount of beauty that is in grief because of the way that people hold you up, and forces and nature, how they hold you up."

Overall 'The Sea' is, she reflects, in part about the uniting bonds of grief, stretching from her aunt to herself and to all those around her. "All the bonds deepened. And all the dross is washed away as well. Only the purest things survive. That's one really beautiful thing about it."

'The Sea' reminds me of the best of Marvin Gaye and stands comparison with other classic 'end of a relationship' albums including: Lou Reed's 'Berlin'; Bob Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks'; Marvin Gaye's 'Here My Dear'; Candi Staton's 'His Hands'; and Noah and the Whale's 'The First Days of Spring'.

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Corinne Bailey Rae - The Sea.

Retail therapy

Just back from Lakeside. Not my usual haunt but I enjoyed a bit of retail therapy after what has been a fairly draining start to the week for various reasons. Came home with Candi Staton's His Hands, Springsteen's Seeger Sessions and Peter Gabriel's Hit; all from the Border's sale.

While in Waterstone's, I was skimming through the Lion Companion to Christian Art when I can across references to four artists - Charles Milcendeau, Henry Simon, Ben Boutin, and Rémy Le Guillerm - which, although uncited, can, I think, only have been gained via my review of Humour et Critique dans l'art d'aujord'hui published in Art & Christianity 48. The artists are not among those who would normally appear in a survey of modern Christian Art as, with the exception of Henry Simon (a regional, as opposed to a national or internationally artist), they do not have major bodies of religious works or commissions. In addition, the works described in the book by these artists are those highlighted in my review and the details given about the works and artists are similar to those in the review.

While the Companion seems to be a generally comprehensive survey of visual arts created by artists regularly using Christian imagery or gaining Church commisions, I was surprised by the relative absence of acknowledgement given to those playing key roles in the visual art produced as part of the French Catholic Revival. Little mention seemed to be made of the works and influence of Maurice Denis and Albert Gleizes or of the artistic circle that gathered around Jacques Maritain.

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Candi Staton - His Hands.