Just a few hours ago today, we could listen to the full version of the ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ with Stefan broadcast on Polish Radio 357. Stefan talked to the radio presenter Piotr Stelmach shortly before Placebo’s second single ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฌ was premiered on this radio station on November 9th, at the midnight.
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Photo credit: Mads Perch |
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: Thank you! You know, that means a lot because you’ve been supporting us since day one. I can only congratulate you on your efforts and sticking to the good fight. It wasn’t easy. You have all the Placebo support.
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: I can tell you the last year, well, a few latest years were quite complicated for us here. How was it for you?
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: I think the only constant that we have in life is change. And it’s not just for bad. It’s going to be good and bad… Over the latest years, we went through heavy changes, unpredictable changes, and it was kind of bad for writing these new Placebo songs. So yeah, it’s been turbulent. In our songs, we try to battle chaos and negativity but hopefully, we can keep hope alive. That’s, in the end, what keeps hope in us - to keep music alive, see the hope, see the light in all of it.
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: Remembering your other singles, don’t you think that Surrounded By Spies is kind of an ‘anti-single’?
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: I think life would be too safe without taking risks. We’ve got very eclectic taste fan base, they don’t like one type of music. Surrounded By Spies is very different to our first song, Beautiful James. But it’s still us. It was good to do things slightly different, not to make two same songs, to let the fans taste yourself what’s to come. But as I said, it’s all still Placebo.
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: Surrounded By Spies… Haven’t you already played and talked about voyeurs in your songs? It was in Peeping Tom from the album Black Market Music. There, a person was spied by another person, this time it’s being done by the system. Do you agree with that?
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: You see, I haven’t seen it from that angle, that’s interesting. This title is kind of claustrophobic because, you know, it’s hard to avoid prying eyes nowadays. It’s kind of crapped off on us. The character of Surrounded by Spies is feeling that pressure of modern age, what it can do to you, how it can slowly turn your world very dark. And it can start to feel at times that there’s no escape. There’s some kind of a darkness in this song. We wanted music to be very expressive, evil… We’re trying to find the hope, trying to find the cracklings of light in our songs but I think that Surrounded by Spies is probably one of the darker moments.
When it comes to Placebo lyrics, throughout the albums, there were elements of personal and emotional honesty. I think that we’ve realized that it’s what makes the song universal - if you make it personal, sing about you’ve experienced on this planet, whatever the feeling may be. We always explored the darkest sides of human psyche and human’s emotions that aren’t necessarily easy to talk about, to acknowledge that we have sometimes. So I think this track is continuing in that way.
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: Now, how did your first single, Beautiful James, come to being?
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: It’s kind of hard to tell because it was made out of such a long period of time. We were interrupted as everyone was with what was going on in the world around us. So the process was kind of piece-mail. I think it’s started off very slow on a piano and kind of grew into this pop monster. I think doing many songs on this album we took a different angle than we did before. We like to take kind of a new way with every next album.
I remember Brian came in with a picture and said ‘Let’s use this photograph and create the album around it’ and he kept throwing the song titles. Beautiful James, I think it was one of those great titles he had in mind for a while. Sometimes, it’s just through the whole creative process you can see the final effect. And with Beautiful James, it was one of those songs with a very turbulent process of creating. But when we finished it at the studio, it just told us like ‘Hi, I am your first single!’ So, I think that’s why a lot of you reacted to the song same way. As you said, you felt like it was the essence of Placebo, and there’s nothing bad. People react emotionally to our music. We also felt that was right, that was true Placebo, the track was very much us.
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| Photo credit: Mads Perch |
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: We have since a few years back a British drummer called ๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐, Matthew Lunn, in a live band. At the studio, we’re back with Brian as we kind of started 25 years ago, a two-piece. Matt Lunn is also on a record and another drummer, ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐. So we’re not pretending we can play drums but those guys can. [Pietro Garrone is a drummer of Husky Loops, an Italian art rock band based in London]
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: I’ve been asked to not ask too much about the new album, time for that is yet to come. We’re waiting for you and Brian before the album release. But – Never Let Me Go – I think it’s one of the most popular phrases in pop music.
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: It could be. It’s certainly one that describes something romantic, enormously desperate, it’s just four little words. It was a phrase that kind of grabbed us for a long time. I have it written on a piece of paper at the studio where I am now. I think we wrote it down and it kind of stared at us for all the time we created the album. It’s also very open title, it could be interpreted in many different ways. Even right now, I can think of many fast interpretations.
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: It’s positive.
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: Yeah, it’s surely a dramatic phrase.
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: I said positive…
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: Well, yeah, we can say so. Such a love pleading, it could be applied to, you know, heavenly bodies as well as human bodies.
๐๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก: We know that Stefan is originally Swedish who lives in London for many many years. So, it’s quite nice as it’s happening now, famous Swedes are back: Stefan Olsdal is back, ABBA are back!
๐ข ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ: (laughs) Yeah, I think we were never expecting a new ABBA album, so we’re blessed by new music from these four Swedes. Good on them!
…At the end of the interview, Stefan told a little anecdote. Long time ago, he met Bjรถrn Ulvaeus and said something like ‘You know, I’m so proud, you’re from ABBA and I play in such a band Placebo - can you hear your influence in our music?!’ And Bjรถrn answered with one short ‘NO
๐ ๐๐๐๐ 357, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ 13๐กโ, 2021
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐
