60 Seconds With... Shapeshifters
With their hot new single 'Pusher' out now and soul chanteuse Jenna G joining the ranks, The Shapeshifters' soulful sounds have taken a more electronic turn.
They play live at the SW4 festival on London's Clapham Common, 25th August. In the meantime, DJmag collared Simon Marlin from the band to get the skinny on their change of direction.
On recent single 'Pusher' and the forthcoming 'New Day' you've gone in a more electronic direction but retained your soulful edge. How did this come about?
"It was just a natural progression, really. We wanted to make the music a bit more edgy with this album, and that's the natural sound that came out of our new hardware - we're really pleased with it."
How did you hook up with Jenna G?
"We've been friends for a while and we'd already co-written 'Back to Basics' and 'Incredible' together so it just kind of naturally evolved. We had five singers on the last album and we definitely didn't want to do that again - we wanted to hone the sound. Jenna's the best upcoming singer in the country and absolutely amazing live. Because we're already friends she felt like the natural choice."
What do her vocals bring to The Shapeshifters' sound?
"She brings power, she brings a UK soul sound, and from a live side of things her vocals makes The Shapeshifters complete."
You're playing at this year's SW4 festival after famously debuting your live show there last year - looking forward to it?
"Yeah, last year was a real eye opener for us, it was the first time we'd done anything live, so to be standing in that tent with 5000 people singing back our records to us was a real moment. That was the moment we recognised that Jenna was the right girl for us, so to do it again this year on the main stage should blow our heads off!"
What can we expect from The Shapeshifters' live show this time out?
"There will be the new songs and, visually, there will be a much bigger impact because I think that's what makes a show complete. And just fun and good energy - we're not trying to over-educate anyone, we just want people to have fun and rock out with us."
What can you tell us about the forthcoming new album?
"It's coming out in January. First there will be a couple more singles, the next one is 'New Day' in October, and we've got a mid-tempo song that might be a single, it's quite a big departure for us. It's stuff we feel strongly about and hopefully people will get what we're saying."