Love: it's the only thing that there's just too little of.
So when Australian singer-songwriter Gyan started putting together her latest album, she decided to give the world what it is lacking the most and compiled a record covering some of the world's best and lesser known love songs. “I think the world needs a bit more love actually so I kept it inside love songs,” she explains.
“Even 'you done me wrong' songs, I didn't want to go there and I didn't want to go political... I felt like 'let's lighten up a bit and take our hats off to romance'.”
The album is called 'This Girl's In Love', a reference to the Burt Bacharach/ Hal David standard 'This Guy's In Love', and includes a loving rendition of their classic, 'Alfie', as well as songs by Neil Young, Peggy Lee and John Lennon. “I chose 'Alfie' because my mum was so in love with that song and it's quite a mountain to climb as a vocalist,” Gyan says.
“It's lyrically so profound, I mean: 'without true love we just exist', that is exactly right. It's the difference between us and animals.”
With countless songs about love to choose from, Gyan says she kept her selections focussed on tracks that fit her vocal, lyrical and stylistic theme, meaning more than a few choices ended up on the cutting-room floor. “There were quite a few David Bowie songs, but they didn't make the cut because they didn't stylistically fit under the banner of love songs.
"I hold him up as such a great artist but when you go deep into the lyrics he's incredibly intelligent and quite political. There wasn't just one that leapt out as a love song; it's so mixed with political overtones that I just said no.”
Gyan released her self-titled debut in 1989, which featured the single 'Wait' that rocketed her to fame. Produced by Gyan and her partner Simon Greaves, 'This Girl's In Love' includes a stripped-back version of the hit as the album's only original song.
Heading out on the road for a national tour in support of the album during July and August, Gyan is both excited and nervous for her return to live performance. “It is a bit nerve-wracking, I won't lie to you,” she laughs, “because the atmosphere is so different now.
“Gone are the days when you make records and people get out of their armchairs. There's no budgets to make records, so you have to crowd fund to make a record, so you're really pulling on your fan-base.”
In the face of changing times and practices in the music industry, Gyan found herself in the position of having to raise funds herself in order to produce 'This Girl's In Love' to the quality she wanted to achieve. “That was like running for office, but in a microcosm world,” she says.
“I just thought, 'oh my god, could you imagine being a politician?' How draining, how awful. I swore I would never do a Kickstarter campaign, I thought 'that's beneath me', like it was putting your hand out and saying 'help!' Then the record label was saying they don't have budgets anymore and I would have to crowd fund. It just shows you it's the wild west now.”
Gyan Tour Dates
Sat 16 Jul - Norwood Hotel (Adelaide)Thu 21 Jul - Beav's Bar (Geelong)
Sat 23 Jul - Paris Cat (Melbourne)
Sun 24 Jul - Flying Saucer Club (Melbourne)
Thu 28 Jul - Camelot (Sydney)
Fri 29 Jul - Heritage Hotel (Wollongong)
Sat 30 Jul - Soul Central (Sydney)
Sun 31 Jul - Lizottes (Newcastle)
Thu 4 Aug - The Loft (Gold Coast)
Fri 5 Aug - The Bison Bar (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 6 Aug - Regatta Hotel (Brisbane)
