Making a welcome return to the spotlight, the singer-songwriter is back with an atmospheric new single for the soul. Here, she speaks to Tara Pilkington about this stunning new release.
At its heart ‘Orange Rose’, the new release from Karima Francis, is a love song straight and true, and like most all love stories, this one isn’t without its complications.
Offering a touching and insightful look on how mental health can send shockwaves through even the most intimate and entwined of relationships, ‘Orange Rose’ balances the meditative and melancholy of creating a song.
“I think the subject matter is kind of romantic and it also touches on mental health within relationships as well you know and how it can be difficult to be in a relationship when someone has a mental health problem you know. In terms of the production, I wanted to make a more analogue sounding record, something more or organic. I think the process [of making this track] was focused on the production and the sonic was the key inspiration of the track.”
After releasing her debut album ‘The Author’ in 2009, Karima discussed how she was keen to explore the production side of creating a new song when it came to her new material: “When I listen to music I get super excited by certain tones and very experimental sounds. I’m quite fascinated by it all and yeah I definitely want to dive more into that realm.”
She added: “I’m a huge fan of Adam Granduciel, the lead singer of The War on Drugs and I just think that his music production is so, almost like 70s sounding but with a modern and contemporary production. And, I think that he’s one of my key inspirations. I’m also a fan of The National and the music structure on their record as well. I also really like Blake Mills. I think that he’s an amazing guitarist, I love his style and the kind of things that he does.”
Her new track ‘Orange Rose’ was written last year during her time in Venice Beach, which feels like a world away from a world that was under lockdown upon the songs release: “I think the song was one of those that just came naturally at the time, and I think it’s a good message to get out now! I think it’s quite relevant, there are probably a lot of people that are not having the best time during quarantine. I’m just excited to get it out and hope that it’s something that can make people happy.”
Before the end of our interview, Karima shared her advice for any young creatives who may be struggling to make their art during lockdown: “Don’t beat yourself up, try not to be so hard on yourself and take time to do something different. Read something, or watch your favourite TV series and have a binge and not worry about it. I think as an artist myself, you can’t be creative all of the time and I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older that you have to allow yourself to not be creative sometimes and it will return!”
Listen to Orange Rose below:
