This programme contains some strong language
Greetings and welcome.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
It's Sunday evening. We've got a brand-new series.
Let's begin with Skunk Anansie.
# An artist is an artist
# When an artist is an artist
# And she don't stop being an artist
# Cos she's old, you know
# She don't roll down her sleeves
# Pick up her Zimmer frame and leave
# Put down her pen, put on her hat
# Because of menopause
# An artist is an artist
# Till her heart and all its arteries
# Clog up and white blood cells
# They unsuspend themselves
# An artist is an artist
# Till death do us depart-est
# Till the brain has a cessation
# Of its functionals
# An artist is an artist
# So go figure it out
# An artist is an artist
# Cos an artist is an artist
# And she don't stop being an artist
# Cos of you, you know
# She don't do all you say
# Pack up her life and die away
# Because of all your little views are educational
# There are days when they suspend ideas
# When reticence begins to wear
# Upon a tired mind and they feel bad, of course
# And then they read your shit
# And lose the fucking will to live
# Cos your stupidity is raised above their principles
# An artist is an artist
# Oh, an artist is an artist
# An artist is an artist
# Go figure it out
# So go figure it out
# Go figure it out
# An artist is an artist
# Without followers, without fartists
# Without comments, without views
# Without consequence
# They ain't here for your pleasure
# Changing up like British weather
# Cos today you don't like mayonnaise
# On chips again
# And while I'm here
# It's chips not fries
# So don't get fucking butterflies
# I didn't hang around
# To be my own echo
# Cos an artist is an artist
# When they wanna be anarchic
# Cos the narcissist in artist
# Is beautiful
# An artist is an artist
# Yeah, an artist is an artist
# So go figure it out
# Go figure it out
# Go figure it out, out, out
# Go figure, go-go-go go figure
# Ou-ou-ou-out. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, Skunk Anansie.
An Artist Is An Artist from their new album, The Painful Truth.
So, are you ready to meet all of our guests in this room?
CHEERING
From South London, we're delighted to have Cynthia Erivo.
From Cheltenham, Heartworms.
From Vermont, Sam Amidon.
But now, from Dunboyne, it's CMAT.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Maestro.
CHORD PLAYS
Oh, that sounds so good.
# Ha ha-ha-ha hai-ya
# Ever since I was a little girl
# I only wanted to be sexy
# Nine years old, trying to wax my legs with tape
# There were some things only I can see
# A little spot that can't be lifted
# On my left hand, dig in like a car key
# So you see
# I've been having a horrible time
# Of late, I get none of your sympathy
# But all of the pain hits and the fog lifts
# And then it's too much for therapy
# Oh, baby, heed my solution
# And take a sexy picture
# Take a sexy picture of me
# Ha ha-ha-ha hai-ya
# And make me look 16
# Ha ha-ha-ha hai-ya
# Listen, I did the butcher, I did the baker
# I did the home and the family maker
# I did schoolgirl fantasies
# Oh, I did leg things and hand stuff
# And single woman banter
# Now tell me, what was in it for me?
# Oh!
# I've been having a horrible time
# Of late, I get none of your sympathy
# But all of the pain hits and the fog lifts
# And then it's too much for therapy
# Oh, baby, heed my solution
# And take a sexy picture
# Take a sexy picture of me
# Ha ha-ha-ha hai-ya
# And make me look 15
# Ha ha-ha-ha hai-ya
# You haven't looked at me the same
# Since I turned 27
# Where goes my potential?
# Oh, she's up in heaven
# Rest in peace to any chance of me
# Dating within the station
# Ah-ah, ooh-ooh, ah-ah, ooh-ooh
# And no doctor or Pope can grant diagnosis
# I've peeled through the forums
# And there's no cure for old sis
# But here's a message to the party girls
# Dragged out by their ankles
# I'm here if you need me, deep in your afters
# Oh, I've been having a horrible time
# Of late, I get none of your sympathy
# But all of the pain hits and the fog lifts
# And then it's too much for therapy
# Oh, baby, heed my solution
# And take a sexy picture
# Take a sexy picture
# Can't you see me wither?
# Take a sexy picture of me
# Ha ha-ha-ha hai-ya
# And make me look 14, oh
# Or like ten, or like five
# Or like two, like a baby
# Whoever it is that you're gonna love
# So you'll be nice to me. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, CMAT. More from her later.
And now, at the piano, let's welcome the extraordinary Cynthia Erivo.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Welcome to the show.
So marvellous to have you here.
And first of all, thank you, because you've got the most perfect dress
for this decayed setting.
Thank you. Like a lovely Dickens novel.
It's a good way to... It must be...
You're a multi-award-winning musician, artist,
film and theatre star,
the lead in the recent blockbuster Wicked.
Your life must be a complete roller-coaster at the moment.
Is that what it's like? A little bit, yeah.
A little bit, but I'm enjoying it.
I'm enjoying all the lovely things that come this way, yeah.
And what came first for you, was it music or acting?
What was the first? Music came first.
Music came first. I started singing when I was about five,
and then I would do little shows in the playground
and then I would do talent shows
and, you know, like, mic nights and stuff like that,
so, yeah, singing.
And what was the music you were listening to when you were little?
Lots of R&B. Brandy Norwood was one of my favourites.
Brandy and Monica, Mary J Blige, Aretha, Diana Ross.
All of those, yeah.
Wow, what fun that must have been. Yeah.
And did you ever dream that you would be in films and things like this?
I don't know if I dreamed about being in films.
I knew I wanted to perform but I just didn't know
all of this would happen.
Yeah. This... Yeah.
Tonight you're going to be playing something from your new album,
I Forgive You. That's right.
What inspired that title?
I think some of the stories that I was...I'm telling in that album,
some of the things that I've been through,
sort of warrant a little bit of forgiveness for others
and for myself and I wanted to be able to
tell that story and allow other people,
if they're a bit afraid to say those words,
to say the words, too.
That's a great thing to do. Yeah.
Have you been chatting to some of the people...?
Had you meant Skin before?
It's the first time, innit? Yeah! Yeah.
I've loved her forever.
It's a mutual appreciation society via DMs.
It's a mutual appreciation society. Yeah. Exactly, exactly.
That's right. Lovely. Yeah.
Yeah. You've got fantastic nails there.
I do. Am I right in that you use them
for percussive purposes as well as...?
Yeah. SHE CLICKS HER NAILS
Yes! That really is great.
It's almost like a washboard groove, isn't it? That's right.
I've read as well, when you're going to play a character,
you'll create a playlist.
I'll create a playlist for them, yeah.
Well, like, give us an example of the sort of... Sometimes,
sometimes it sort of tells the story of what they're going through,
sometimes it gives me the sort of sense of who they are
and gets me in the mind-set of who...the kind of person
that they are, yeah.
Give us an idea of a character and the songs you've chosen for them.
So for... Let's say for Elphaba,
there were lots of, like, love lost songs,
so, like, anger songs.
So there's a song called, erm... SHE CHUCKLES
There's some songs with swear words in it,
I don't think I'm allowed to say that. It's all right on this show.
We're late at night. So, She's A Bitch was on there,
by Missy Elliott.
Nice. And then there's sort of long-lost love songs.
There's a song by YEBBA on there - Evergreen.
Just a lot of emotions, and anger and emotion,
cos she sort of, like, goes between the two of those things
so I tried to make sure that I could cultivate that.
Well, it's a great method of using for the acting thing,
but when you were doing music,
how did you jump from doing music and thinking,
"Well, I'm going to try acting as well"?
Because I ended up doing musicals,
so it was like a combination of both of those things
and it just sort of bloomed, yeah.
What are you going to be performing for us later on this show
from your album?
One of my songs called Worst Of Me.
Now, I've been watching you and following you,
cos I do... I love your voice. Thank you.
It's one of the most wonderful voices. Thank you.
And there was something that I saw that you did,
I think you did it at the Grammys,
then you did it at the Lincoln Center
and it's one of my favourite songs ever.
Yeah. Which was a Beach Boys song.
Yeah. When did you first hear this song?
Ooh, a while ago. I think I heard it when I was quite young,
maybe 12 years old,
and we used to listen to the radio in my mum's car,
it was Magic FM and they played everything,
including The Beach Boys. Right.
Yeah. Well, would you give it a go for us now? Of course.
We'd like that very much.
Cynthia Erivo.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I may not always love you
# But as long as there are stars above you
# You'll never need to doubt it
# I'll make you so sure about it
# God only knows what I'd be without you
# If you should ever leave me
# Though life would still go on, believe me
# The world could show nothing to me
# So what good would living do me?
# God only knows what I'd be without you
# Oooh
# God only knows what I'd be without you
# Oooh
# Ooh
# Oooh, oooh
# God only knows
# Ohh
# God, oooh
# Oooh
# If you should ever leave me
# Well, life would still go on, believe me
# The world could show nothing to me
# So what good would living do me?
# God only knows what I'd be without you
# God only knows
# God only knows what I'd be without you
# God only knows what I'd be without you, oh-oh
# God only knows what I'd be without you. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Cynthia Erivo!
What a voice!
A room packed with wonderful artists this evening,
and so now, for the first time on British television,
with a song from her debut album, Glutton For Punishment,
please welcome Heartworms.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Oooh, ee-ee, ooh
# Ooh, ooh, ooh
# Ee-ee, ooh
# You have intentions of a bird
# Teach me your logistics on to fly like that
# You came to me so suddenly
# Now you're here and I like it like that
# I don't have the time of day
# To tell you what I want to hear
# That's why I cover both of my ears
# Your intentions are a bird, I fear
# What came to you so importantly
# All the wings above my head
# I confide to all or nothing
# And to everything I said
# I don't have the time of day
# To tell you what I want to hear
# That's why I cover both of my ears
# Your intentions are a bird, I fear
# Ah
# Self-destruct
# Extraordinary wings
# Cold murder
# I destroy the fallen
# From view
# I destroy the fallen
# Oh, I destroy the fallen
# From view!
# I don't wish murder cos I've got no right
# I don't wish murder
cos I've got no right
# I don't wish murder cos I've got no right
# I don't wish murder
# I destroy the fallen
# Oh, I destroy the fallen
# Yeah
# I destroy the fallen
# I don't wish murder
cos I've got no right
# I don't wish murder cos I've got no right
# I don't wish murder. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you, Heartworms!
APPLAUSE
Before we have our next artist,
I'm just going to quickly barge in to say hello to CMAT.
Here's CMAT!
CHEERING
Superb group. I was very happy when you came on the Hootenanny...
I had the same tie on, actually.
It was left to me by Robbie Coltrane, so it's my lucky tie.
It's a beautiful tie. Thank you.
And did you enjoy being on our New Year's Eve programme?
I certainly loved it.
I certainly don't remember the second half of the evening,
if I'm being perfectly honest. And that's why it was
such a great night. Absolutely. One of the best vocal performances
I ever gave. Yes. Can't remember a second of it.
And you were, at one point, lying on the floor and I stepped over you.
Yeah, yeah. That was a highlight. Never done that before.
My mam loved that. Excellent.
Now, Euro-Country is the title of your new album. Yeah. Great title.
Very nice picture on the front. Nice. Very good picture.
Tell us where the title comes from.
Euro-Country kind of reverberated around my head as a couple
of things and they became the main three points of the album.
Euro-Country is Ireland, the country that - I don't know
if you know - I come from... Whoop!
Shout out, the one person.
Euro-Country is I think the genre of music that I make.
I think it's, like, European pop and indie-influenced country music.
I think it's a mix of all three things together and I was
really trying to, like, nail on and define the sound on this record.
And Euro-Country is also the name that I've given to the kind of pain
and loss associated with the last 25 years of, like,
late-stage capitalism and all
the urban isolation that it's brought
and how we have less community now than ever.
I feel like all those three things really are interlinked
and are the main three things I've been thinking about for the last
couple of years, so I just wanted to nail it.
Well, thank you for nailing it. We welcome back community any time.
Yeah. It's very lovely to have you here. Thank you.
And also I did do a warm-up exercise with your band,
didn't I? You did, you did our meditation.
Yes. Led by Hannah Morgan, everybody.
Hannah Morgan, my meditation guru. APPLAUSE
Thank you so much. Lovely to have you back in the room.
Thank you, Jools. Thank you. Nice to see you.
OK. So, now, with her new single, Worst Of Me,
please welcome the incredible Cynthia Erivo!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Oh-oh-oh Mmmm
# Oh-oh Ooh-ooh
# 4am and it's dark in the house
# And I cry and I cry
# And I screamed about a hundred times
# I want you out of my mind
# Cos it's been so long since I knew what it was
# To be held in the arms of a human that was warm and kind
# You were so unkind
# I wish I was honest for a moment, yeah
# Bruises only heal when you apply some love and tenderness
# You could cut me deeper than the ocean
# But I refuse to drown I'm comin' up
# I wanna breathe again
# I gave you my all
# But you took the worst of me
# Lightning and scars is all I got left of me
# I came here for love but now I don't want it any more
# I gave you my all
# And you took the worst of me
# You took the worst of me
# We ended up like Romeo and Juliet
# A curse on both our houses, oh
# I know you feel alone
# But I won't be the one to desert myself
# I deserve to be loved No fear that it would disappear
# You were never here
# Oh, I wish I was honest for a moment, yeah
# Bruises only heal when you supply some love and tenderness
# You could cut me deeper than the ocean
# But I refuse to drown
# I'm comin' up I wanna breathe again
# I gave you my all
# But you took the worst of me
# Lightning and scars is all I got left of me
# I came here for love
# But now I don't want it any more
# Gave you my all
# But you took the worst of me
# You took the worst of me
# You took the worst of me. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Cynthia Erivo! Thank you so much.
CHEERING
A lot of amazing artists in the room tonight,
with all beautiful different stylings of music.
Next, an artist from a notable folk family,
who is a great collector of songs.
Here he is with the Lou Reed song Big Sky,
taken from his latest album, Salt River.
Please welcome Sam Amidon.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Big sky holding up the sun
# Big sky holding up the moon
# Big sky holding down the sea
# But it can't hold us down any more
# Big sky holding up the stars
# Big sky holding Venus and Mars
# Big sky, catch you in a jar
# But it can't hold us down any more
# Big sky, big enormous place
# Big wind blow all over the place
# Big storm wreaking havoc and waste
# But it can't hold us down
# Big sin, big original sin
# Paradise where I've never been
# Big snake, break the skin
# But it can't hold us down any more
# Big sky holding up the sun
# Big sky holding up the moon
# Big sky holding down the sea
# But it can't hold us down
# Any more... #
One, two, three, four!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
The excellent Sam Amidon! Got as having a jig in the room.
Well done, Sam. What's your drummer's name?
Chris Vatalaro. Chris Vatalaro on the drums as well!
Thank you, Sam Amidon.
I like a bit of a jig, a bit of a knees-up.
So, it's now time to chat to another very special guest
on the show at the piano.
I'm delighted to welcome Skin from Skunk Anansie.
CHEERING Welcome back to the show. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Fantastic shoes.
Big shoes, you've got. Oh, yeah, always a big blocker.
You said there was a difficult choice between the trainers,
so you could jump about, and the big shoes for the percussive effect.
Well, yeah, because, you know, a bit of a stomping
when you're doing a rock song is quite nice.
THEY STOMP
That's right. Exactly.
So, I went for these. I was going to wear my trainers,
but I thought it was a bit too chill, you know? Yeah, that's right.
Exactly. You've got to make the right choice with
the footwear... Exactly. ..and everything else falls into place.
That's right. I have to wear these shoes if I'm playing something
percussive on the piano cos then I can...
JOOLS STOMPS
..make the sound.
Yeah, otherwise, where's the groove? Where's the groove? Yeah, exactly.
The groove's in the foot, right? I'm rooted. The last time you were on
the show, actually, was in 1999...
Wow! Yes. Really? Wow, exactly. And I haven't changed today, have I?
Not... You really haven't, actually! And nor has my piano.
But earlier you played An Artist Is An Artist from your new album...
Yeah. ..The Painful Truth.
Both good titles, both The Painful Truth and An Artist Is An Artist.
Where did they come from, those titles? Well, you know,
The Painful Truth just came from post-Covid realigning ourselves.
You know, we had a manager who we loved for a very long time
and she retired, and we almost had to kind of regroup and start
the band again physically and spiritually as well.
So, I think we just kind of got together on it. We got a sneaky
little place in Devon, surrounded by sheep,
staring at you out the window, and we just went there,
just the four of us, and just had a lot of painful truths.
You know, what is Skunk Anansie for? What are we here for?
What we want to do...
And out of that came this album, so I think, hopefully,
given what's going on in the world, people will have
a lot of painful truths as well that they want answered for themselves.
And what about An Artist Is An Artist?
Yeah, well, that just came out of pure venom. Good place to come from.
Why not? Cos it's like... We're living in an age of social media
and sometimes you just read in the comments and you're like,
"Who's the artist and who's following the artist?"
So, it came out of a poem that we did
and it's kind of cheeky-chappie because you can't just
shout at people, you know, you've got to make it funny.
We've got to come up with something, you know?
You have said in interviews sometimes that bands
and artists need to remember about authenticity... Yeah. ..and purpose.
What do you mean by that? Well, I just think that there's so much
kind of commentary on what artists do, because of social media
and stuff, that you can end up following that
and then you end up chasing your tail.
And I think that we become artists
because we love whatever we're doing, whether it's film,
whether it's books, whether it's poetry. Whatever we're doing,
we love being an artist.
And it's up to us to come up with stuff that people enjoy.
You've been a great trailblazer.
Do you see that in new artists doing that today?
I mean, I think that there's some
incredible music being made right now.
Look at these bands that are here.
You know, it's just a joy to see
because out of all of that noise that the world...
It's a very noisy place and you see people making beautiful music
and bands making beautiful music, as well as some artists that have been
around a long time making beautiful music, like Bon Iver -
is my favourite right now.
Or Bon "Eev-air", I should say!
Yes, exactly, Bon "Eev-air".
Any goals you've got now that you'd like to achieve?
Do you know? There's a lot, there's a lot.
There's so many places we haven't been.
You know, we haven't been to Asia, we haven't been to South America.
And I guess this new album has in some ways kind of given us
a bit of a kick up the bum and there's a lot of things that
we want to do again and just do in a different way, I guess.
What advice would you give to young artists starting today?
I mean, I think the important thing to remember is that
individuality is key,
you know, you're amazing because you're you,
and that's something that AI can't repeat, it's something that no kind
of software or anything can repeat, so you've just got to really
hone down on what makes you different
and who you are and just go for that.
Very good. It's really great to have you here tonight.
Thank you very much. Thank you for joining us.
Skin from Skunk Anansie, who will be on at the end of the show.
Great to see you again. Thank you. APPLAUSE
Lovely to see you again. So...
..so, now, with another lovely song from her upcoming album
Euro-Country, we welcome back CMAT!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Call you my baby
# But it calls alarm
# I call you my angel
# But you've caused some harm
# There's nothing to you
# You're really not a man
# You're just a vision
# Some girl once had
# Some girl in her bedroom
# Practising guitar
# YouTube tutorials only go so far
# She prayed to God in school
# For a perfect friend
# He looked just like you
# Wonder where he went
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning, yeah
# I'm on the Underground Tube
# You're in the bath Bubbles
# I'm legging after you
# But you can't turn back
# Or I'll turn to reed again Reed
# Woven in the lamps
# That your ma will buy for us
# Oh, if I take your hand
# Then I'll rip the head off you
# Give it a new name
# Buy you that Nintendo
# And get it all the games
# And I'll make you dance for us
# To an old tune
# Find you a girl to love who'll kinda do
# Oh, I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning, yeah
# It runs along on a loop
# It runs along as is truth
# Along the bottom of the news
# That I'm not good enough for you
# And I can't take care of anyone
# Cos all I have are smoking guns
# The foot and mouth, Diana's gone
# God bless my mouth and ginger mop
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running, planning
# Running, planning, oh, yeah
# I keep on running Planning, yeah... #
Woo!
# Ooh-ooh... #
Huh!
VIOLIN CONTINUES
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Lovely. Thank you, CMAT!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you to all of my guests this evening
and let's finish with Skunk Anansie!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I got stuck
# Glued to misfortune
# Hooked on distortion
# Down on my luck
# Head in a daze
# Thought I was killin'
# Drinkin' and pillin'
# It lasted for days
# Cops are comin'
# Yeah, they're shakin' me down
# Heavy is the crown
# Down to hit the bottom
# Smoke 'em if you got 'em
# No need to run away
# All debts gonna get paid
# Lost like a kid on a sign
# Lost like a murderer's mind
# Lost like a dog in the street
# That's where you'll find me
# Cracks in the sidewalk
# Cracks in my brain
# Think I'm goin' insane
# The shadows can talk
# Afraid of the morning
# Hide from the sun
# Life on the run
# Came without warning
# Lost like a kid left behind
# Lost like a murderer's mind
# Lost like a dog in the street
# That's where you'll find me
# Afraid of the morning
# Hide from the sun
# Life on the run
# Came without warning
# Afraid of the morning
# Hide from the sun
# Life on the run
# Came without warning
# Lost like a kid left behind
# Lost like a murderer's mind
# Lost like a dog in the street
# That's where you'll find me
# Afraid of the morning
# Hide from the sun
# Life on the run
# Came without warning
# Afraid of the morning
# Hide from the sun
# Life on the run
# Came without warning
# Lost like a venomous deed
# Lost like a murder of crows
# Lost like a dog in the street
# That's where you'll find me
# Afraid of the morning
# Hide from the sun
# Life on the run
# Came without warning
# Afraid of the morning
# Hide from the sun
# Life on the run
# Came without warning. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE