PHOTO : TATIANA ZAGORAC
“ We were talking at the beginning about my influences , and I said I really like James Bond themes ,” she says , laughing . Where some people might not get how that plays into her music , Parad understood instantly . “ Matt knew what I meant by that . I also listen to a lot of U . K . -based pop artists , who are very much , individually , uniquely , themselves , and he ’ s worked in that world a lot . My references weren ’ t foreign to him , so he was able to pull out everything that I imagined and more .”
In that process , he helped enable her to take her initial ideas and demos and fully realize them by zeroing in on a sound and approach that felt entirely natural . “ A lot of it was me starting things alone at my home studio – one-and-a-half-minute snippets that I came up with and would send to Matt .” With many ideas to choose from , they determined which were most worth exploring and built the record from there , she explains . “ Matt was there to assist me and help me be better , which was something I really needed .”
Charles has plenty of experience writing alone . Like so many artists , that ’ s how she started . “ I went from that to doing a lot of co-writing , which is amazing . I love co-writing , but somewhere along the way , I lost myself .” But that doesn ’ t mean she doesn ’ t enjoy or see the value in writing with others . “ I love co-writing , especially if it ’ s not for my songs , because I get to sit there , take in what the artist [ I ’ m writing with ] is saying , and try to help them produce their vision and come up with a song that reflects what they ’ re going through .”
When co-writing material for herself , however , Charles sometimes feels reluctant to share 100 percent of what she may be going through . “ That might just be a ‘ me ’ thing ,” she says , but it ties into the kind of trust that she believes is necessary to do the best , most satisfying work . “ When you ’ re in sessions , you have to be 100 percent open and transparent . That ’ s why I kind of prefer being on the opposite end , helping an artist instead of being the artist . So , going into sessions , be open . If you ’ re not open , I don ’ t think it ’ s going to work .”
Working with Parad allowed her , in her words , “ to come back to who I am and to what I wanted to say .”
As for who Charles is and what that sounds like , well , it ’ s no one style or genre . She is adept at seamlessly blending pop , soul , and rock sensibilities and deftly mixing elements of electric rock , electronic , and acoustic textures into her music in a way that gives her work a decidedly cinematic edge .
How Charles telegraphs her message on the new self-titled record is , in part , a product of the degree of freedom , musically and lyrically , she tapped into this time out . The result is a set of beautifully realized and performed R & B-tinged , soul tracks that – although they take inspiration from a wide-ranging set of influences , hang together in a way that exemplifies what Charles has always done with every release . “ For me , a record is a body of work . I want it to be connected , so everything ties together .”
Working with Parad also helped her deepen the connections between the tracks , notably on “ Awakening ,” she explains : “ Originally , that didn ’ t sound anything like it does on the record . Initially , it had a reggae feel that wouldn ’ t have fit the record or me . But Matt
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