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Pleasure Pressure Point [Pop]
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So whatās Black Affair about then? āWell,ā says Steve Mason from a studio in New York, āitās sophisticated, with an air of fashion. But ultimately itās pop music ā with slightly dark sexual undertones.ā
Steve Masonās new solo project is stripped down in all senses of the word, then. The man behind King Biscuit Time and The Beta Band locked himself into the studio, wrote songs about obsession and dangerous sex, rediscovered his teenage love for house music and dodgy Manchester nightclubs like Konspiracy, flew to New York to mix the electro-hot results with Warpās Jimmy Edgar ā and is about to take the whole Black Affair shebang on tour with New Young Pony Club. āIām looking forward to going on tour. Itāll be good for me to get out of the studio at last and in front of an audienceā.
Black Affair is Steve Mason, raw and direct. He recorded the record at home, then flew to New York for a fortnight to mix it with Jimmy Edgar, and even got Edgarās girlfriend to sing a little on āYou and Meā. āIād heard his Colour Strip Warren record and thought it was incredible. He understood what I was doing.ā He also hooked up with West Londonās most imaginative MC Miss Oddkid for āSame Sameā which will be released later this year. āSheās fantastic and weāre going to do a couple more.ā Thereās also a mix of single āTak! Attackā by Brixton punk fusionist SuicideDogz.
Some artists cut themselves off from the outside world when theyāre making a record, but Mason did the opposite. He plugged himself directly into a whole world of R&B, electro, hip-hop, house and techno. āWe had a big R&B thing in the Beta Band and itās stuff Iāve always been listening to but Iāve never delved deeply into. Some of itās cheesy but the melodies and the way they put it together is incredible.ā This specifically involved digging out old Jodeci, Montell Jordan, ā80s electro like Kleer, Neneh Cherryās first album, early hip-hop a la The World Class Wrecking Crew and Detroit techno and weaving it all into his heady electronic mix-up.
āI was going to a lot of clubs at that time, from about 1989,ā says Mason. āBack then people used to give out tapes so I knew the tracks but I didnāt know their names.ā Last year, then, was spent crate digging obscure sites on the internet, going through clips and putting names to lost 12ās heard on the dancefloor. Even before Mason was lured into the bass and bleeps of house and techno, heād been hit by hip-hop. āMe and my group of friends were into B-Boying and electro. We all knew āEgyptian Loverā but going back and listening to it again, itās amazing with itās dark undertones and modal melodiesā.
Itās a very personal record that revolves around a destructive relationship. Some were written during the relationship. The rest were loaded and fired during the bitter, angry aftermath. āEvery record Iāve done has been personal but this is more so. Itās a chunk of a diary, really. Itās also a dance pop record ā the lyrics are something you can take or leave.ā
The albumās an ambitious, powerful, sonic representation of electro-sex and hardcore electronic soul. Take the single, āTak! Attackā. āItās about telling people what you really think of them. I just wanted it to have a Detroit flavour, with ā80s pop in there too ā the melodies and the sounds, and an ā80s bassline house feel holding it together.ā Then thereās āIt Goes Like Thisā, Masonās take on a R&B slow jam, underpinned with shadowy, skin-tight melodies and a super-hooky bass line. āI wanted to make an R&B track, but one where you could strip off my vocal and itād still stand. Itās got a strong feeling, that track.ā
The last year has been all about Black Affair. And about immersing himself in new music like new wave surf fusionist J*Davey, and rediscovering pop music. āI always saw it as something I didnāt want to be associated with. But really, most of the music Iāve ever loved has been pop. I just didnāt want to admit it. For too long Iāve been undone by my own worrying about whether something was cool or not. Itās bollocks. It doesnāt matter.ā Itās a realisation thatās stamped all over Pleasure Pressure Point. Itās in the grooves, itās in the sticky, late-night undertones and itās right the way through it.
(Quelle: Cooperative Music, 2008)
FORMAT: CD
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