Sunny Ozell
Monday 6th July 2015
The Social, Little Portland Street, London, United Kingdom
On a warm July evening I set out to see New York singer-songstress Sunny Ozell perform an intimate London showcase in support of her upcoming debut album ‘Take It With Me’. I entered the venue and straight away noticed the mirrored corridor and the classic American diner and bar which had a classic 1950s jukebox in the corner and served burgers and hot dogs which came with sides like beer and cheese sauce. As incredible as the food sounded I had no time and ended down the flight of stairs to get to the main performance space. Now the first thing that hit was the air conditioning which was a pleasant surprise especially after walking from Oxford Circus Tube station. My friend Lewis explained to me that the interior decor of the room included large tables made completely out of concrete and he believed that they contributed to the great acoustics in the room.
The room was completely packed with Sunny’s family, friends and members of the UK press as well as her other half Sir Patrick Stewart who had also appeared with Sunny on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch the day before. After an introduction Sunny and her four-piece band arrived onstage and kicked off the set with their take on Leon Russell’s ‘Manhattan Island Serenade’ with soft keyboard, funky bass guitar and her textured vocal at the forefront.
The thing about Sunny’s new album is although on paper it is mainly a covers album, they aren’t not-for-note function band type covers but rather ‘versions’ of classic songs which each have Sunny’s own ‘musical stamp’ on them. A clear example of this is when the band transitioned seamlessly into Randy Newman’s ‘Louisiana’ and the thing with Randy Newman is he is very much a lyricist and this song is no different with lyrics like “With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand, The President say, “Little fat man isn’t it a shame what the river has done, To this poor crackers land.” The song is definitely thought-provoking and actually seems relevant today in the 21st century. So it is quite a challenge to take on one of his songs and do justice to it, but Sunny and her tight band took it on and passed with flying colours as they turned it into quite a blues number with the electric guitarist sounding like he should be in one of the Blues Brothers films.
The real talent though appears on Sunny’s, for one of a better word, reinvention of the 1986 electropop song ‘No One Is To Blame’ from the UK eighties heartthrob and musician Howard Jones. They completely stripped it down to just the essence of the song removing any electronic sound which was so key in the eighties music scene and her vocals just soared like a bird flying in the sky. ‘He had such a cool mullet! I don’t have a mullet, but I’m trying to grow one!’ Sunny joked.
One track that Sunny seems particularly excited about on her debut album is ‘Kill Zone’ as she tells us ‘This song was written by Bob Neuwirth, Roy Orbison and T-Bone Burnett!’ It has quite a tribal drum sound courtesy of Ethan Eubanks who is not only Sunny’s musical director but also the producer of her album. It is a dark song but the tone of the song suited it perfectly.
‘Move Along Train’ had the audience singing and clapping along as the electric guitar is played with a distinctive country twang that makes you thing you are by the railroad tracks somewhere in America in the 1900s. The entire band created rich vocal harmonies that were extremely well-received by the crowd.
A highlight of the set was ‘Git Gone’ written by Aaron Lee Tasjan and is a sassy country/rockabilly song. I have to say, it is probably the funniest track on her new record and you can tell that Sunny and her stellar band are enjoying themselves (it is also incredibly catchy too).
Although this was the first time these songs had been performed in the UK from her confidence, attitude and stunning vocal talent you would’ve thought it was a return musical visit rather than a debut showcase. In conclusion, she has the songs, the exquisite band and the raw vocal talent to carve quite a successful career in the UK especially if she can get more live shows booked and some radio airplay from individuals such as Bob Harris who champion emerging artists. She definitely brought the sunshine to London and I for one can’t wait for her to return.
Glenn Sargeant
Sunny Ozell’s debut album ‘Take It With Me’ is released in the UK on Friday 31st July 2015 on Man In The Moon. For more information visit: www.sunnyozell.com
You can also follow Sunny on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sunnyozell
(Thanks to both Lewis Fromberg and Dan Deacon at Deacon Communications for help with this review)
