Shindig! Issue 102

Open Source
On the release of her second album, SABA LOU talks to
GREG HEALEY about family, friends and diverse influences
important thing is not to
look at it as throwing one
style away and adopting
another. I like having all
options,” states Saba Lou
“The
Khan of the stylistic shift
between her new album, Novum Ovum, and
her 2017 debut Planet Enigma.
The solo performances on that debut were
recorded when this daughter of King Khan,
the legendary front man of The Shrines and
The Spaceshits, was only 15 years old. Now,
with several lifetimes of musical experiences
under her belt, accrued during a precocious
childhood in what is lovingly referred to
as The Khan Vortex, this talented young
woman has transposed her incisive, poetic
songwriting onto the broader canvas of a
band. “I still play solo some of the time and
as a duo most of the time, with my guitarist
Oska, but the band is another option that
makes it possible to appeal to larger audiences,
venues and offers,” she explains. “But I like
the idea of variations and intend to make
acoustic versions of this second album.”
“Our home was this
black hole and our
upbringing was the
most colourful, loud –
sometimes exasperating,
sometimes exhilarating”
Saba Lou. Paradoxical
“I have very random influences. I grew
up in this strange paradoxical household in
Neukölln. Neukölln is called Little Istanbul
and has a very large Turkish and Arab
population,” says Saba Lou of the area in
Berlin where she still lives with her father,
mother and sister. “Our home was this
black hole and our upbringing was the most
colourful, loud – sometimes exasperating,
sometimes exhilarating. In general, music
always came from the home and it was a very
different kind of music.”
Those diverse, formative influences can
be heard throughout Novum Ovum. Jazz,
garage-rock, soul, country and blues all rub
shoulders with an effortlessness that springs
from Saba Lou’s talents as a songwriter, as well
as the musicians she has chosen to work with.
“The band gives a whole lot to the music. It’s
a combination of them knowing me well and
the jumble of stuff I want to make. Amit and
Omri are from the Tel Aviv jazz stoner scene
and Oska, who I’ve known since he was 14
and I was five, brings the whole punk thing
in. Oska was a kid who discovered The Black
Lips and my father’s music.”
Dealing with everything, from the
personal pain of her experiences with
endometriosis (hence the title), to the
observed “weirdness and discomfort” of
everyday life, all of Saba Lou’s songs are
surprising “odes” that transmogrify the
ordinary.
Novum Ovum is out now on Ernest
Jenning Record Co/Khannibalism/
Burger
ERIC BURDON &
THE ANIMALS
From brown ale to brown acid. The
Geordie bluesman’s conversion
to psychedelic trailblazer and
proselytizer
CAROLE KING
The pre-eminent ’60s pop
craftswoman’s overlooked solo
debut Writer at 50
KAREN DALTON
The influential folk/blues Zelig’s
journey from Greenwich Village to
belated acclaim
MIKE HURST
Dusty’s sidekick in The Springfields,
hit record producer, cult solo
albums and beyond
PLUS…
PAUL WELLER, THE LEMON TWIGS,
THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF MAY,
IAIN MATTHEWS, WOODS,
MARIE LAFORET
NEW ALBUMS FROM
SONIC BOOM, DAMIEN JURADO,
LAVINIA BLACKWALL,
ONCE & FUTURE BAND,
GUIDED BY VOICES,
THE JACK CADES, VIBRAVOID
REISSUES FROM
ENNIO MORRICONE,
FRANCE GALL,
SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET,
THE BOX TOPS,
PENTANGLE,
MARTHA VELEZ,
THE GROUPIES
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE
PUBLISHED 7th MAY
24