Britta Phillips’ first professional gig was as the singing voice for Jem in the cult classic ’80s cartoon, Jem and the Holograms. Following her 2D gig, she co-founded shoegaze band The Belltower, where she sang vocals and played guitar. But perhaps, most famously, she’s best known as the bassist in the dream pop/indie pop band Luna with now-husband Dean Wareham of Galaxie 500. After Luna disbanded in 2005, she teamed up with Wareham and formed the indie pop duo Dean & Britta. She has also done film scores with her husband including both Noah Baumbach’s, The Squid and the Whale and Mistress America.
But now Phillips is striking out on her own and going solo. Her new album, Luck or Magic, is varied and defies categorization. It has elements of shoegaze, dream pop, and indie pop, but really doesn’t fit neatly into any of these genres. Officially, it’s described as sophistipop, spacesynth, and simply indie, but it’s best not to get bogged down in titles; it’s a hypnotizing, airy, and atmospheric debut album that features five covers and five original tunes. We spoke with Phillips about her new record, her influences, and what she thinks of that Jem movie.
You lead off Luck or Magic with “Daydream,” which has a languid ’50s/’60s lounge quality. In fact, it would be right at home as an early James Bond movie theme. Was this parallel intentional or was it just an organic offshoot of writing the song?
I wrote this song years ago on guitar when I was under the influence of Dusty Springfield, and it had a Spanish sort of feel. I’m a big fan of John Barry’s work and decided to try adding a James Bond sounding intro and bring that feeling of “You Only Live Twice” to it. I’m a big Nancy Sinatra fan and I love that recording, so I was trying to bring a bit of that to the track. I love exploring with arrangements and loosely mashing up different influences.
Were there particular artists or genres that influenced you on this album? Who are some of your overall influences, as well as just favorite artists?
When I began working on the album, I was listening to a lot of Glass Candy and Chromatics (both Johnny Jewel), as well as a lot of early soul/disco. When I was recording vocals on some songs, I was feeling a solo Lennon vibe, oddly, since I wasn’t thinking about doing that at all. Sometimes things just arise and you have to go with it.
Yma Sumac even popped out as an influence on backing vocals in the song “Luck or Magic.” My favorite new artists are Cate Le Bon and Chris Cohen (although I’ve only just heard one of his songs). Also Kamasi Washington, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Sinkane. So much great music, old and new! A lot of stuff I love now is just one song by an artist, like “Secret in the Dark” by Monika or “Let It Happen” by Tame Impala.
Your sublimely placid version of Evie Sands’ “One Fine Summer Morning” was the first single released from the album. Why did you choose this particular track?
I have been in love with this song since I first heard it and I just decided to demo it one day. That’s always how it starts. Love. And wanting to get inside the song by recording it.
After original producer Scott Hardkiss tragically died, you shelved the album for a couple of years. What was it about Eric Broucek’s engineering style that made him the right producer to finish this project?
Eric Broucek was like fate. His wife interviewed my husband for the New York Times Magazine and, while we were chatting, we discovered that her husband had produced Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces‘ first two solo albums. Plus he’d worked at DFA Records for years, so that combo of super hip electronic/dance and indie rock female solo artist said it all for me. Plus, Eleanor said he was awesome to work with. And he was. He did an amazing job.
The album has a hauntingly beautiful rendition of The Cars’ “Drive.” What attracted you to that track? Were there any other big hit songs from this era that were also in consideration for this slot?
Scott Hardkiss chose this cover. I never would have, I usually stick to the fairly obscure. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I gave it a try and think it turned out great. The only other cover from this era was “Wrap Your Arms Around Me” by Agnetha from ABBA. Her version is from ’83, but sounds more ’70s to me. My version brings a bit more of the ’80s sound to it, I think.
While we’re on the ’80s, you were the singing voice for Jem from the cult classic cartoon Jem and the Holograms, which was adapted into a feature film in 2015. Unfortunately, the general critical consensus was that the movie did not maintain the essence of the cartoon. What do you think you would have done differently with it?
I have no idea… I’m not a director or a screenwriter. It would have been nice to have a bigger budget and to have seen more of The Misfits, though.
Finally, in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, you stated, “The solo creative process is pretty crazy and magical. I lose track of time like a kid who’s playing.” Does this mean we will eventually be getting another solo album somewhere on the horizon?
I certainly hope so!
