Pixie Saytar

#305
Pixie Saytar – Substate & Grab All You Can (In Session)
28th April 2016

They Say: “Substate is a pretty serious song but it has some very delicate moments and I like to think it’s quite light on the ears. It’s a rather fearless tale of a woman immersed in a love so deep, it’s in her very breath, in her veins. And when she finds herself without it, she feels weak, unable to even stand. When she’s been set free, she feels trapped. It’s secretly one of my favourite songs on In Hindsight. There’s something about its simplicity that I find settling.

In this live session, I played the piano and ran a loop on my laptop (created by Chris McCorry who wasn’t able to be with us on the day). Ben McAuley plays a simple drum kit made up of only a snare, floor tom, and symbol. He does anything but keep a beat. Rather, he creates a slightly chaotic - yet beautifully controlled - soundscape, filling the room with percussive emotion. He swells with the feeling in my vocals; wherever I go, he comes with me. For that reason, I love playing this song live. It’s always just a little bit different each time depending on how deep I feel like taking it.

'Grab All You Can' is very simply about the fact that life is short. We’ve got to make the best of our time on earth; to do everything we can to make ourselves happy and get what we want out of life. And most importantly, to be true to ourselves.

In this session we really stripped this song back to basics. The album version includes piano, guitar, bass, drums, concertina and prim (a Croatian instrument that’s been in my family for generations). But for the live session I played piano and Ben McAuley played acoustic guitar. It was very chilled out - I thought it had a sort of quiet, end-of-the-night vibe to it. I made the decision to drop the final verse for the live session to keep it a bit shorter which was strange but I think it worked. All in all, I think it’s a really nice version of the song. Clean and simple."

We Say: “Illustrating the ‘less is more’ approach beautifully, Pixie’s session - complete with Ben McAuley’s subtle percussion and then guitar - acted as a wonderful showcase for her unique - and slightly quirky voice. A quiet riot."

Both these tracks come from Pixie Saytar's album, 'In Hindsight', available to buy now. - BBC Across the Line

#245
Pixie Saytar - It’s a Good Thing (It’s Just Us)
Tuesday 26th January, 2016

They Say: "It’s a Good Thing (It’s Just Us)” is a really playful song. I had a lot of fun writing and recording it. I tend to write pretty slow, lengthy songs (the final track on “In Hindsight” for instance, is over nine minutes long). This is the shortest and possibly the fastest song I’ve ever written. It’s about a woman in a… complicated relationship. One with a lot of games, but she likes it. She revels in it. She’s saying, “Go ahead and be your worst self. I’ll take you anyway. I know what you are and I’m not afraid of it.”

I remember sitting across from Ben McAuley (producer, percussionist, and a whole lot more) in the beginning describing what I thought this song should sound like. I’m a huge fan of everything Jon Brion ever touched and that was my main reference point when it came to production. I wanted playful sounds that people don’t expect to hear. I kept repeating that I didn’t want a “classic set up”. The same went for every song on the album. We treated them individually using a different set of sounds on each of them. It was a very fulfilling experience. With this song I knew I wanted a clarinet (played by Richard Hill) and I was dying to use this portable reed organ I have but never got a chance to use (played by Chris McCorry). Ben’s drumming, for me, is the glue holding the whole track together. He doesn’t just keep a beat. He’s a very thoughtful player. He adds to the intrigue of the song. I’m really happy with how it turned out. There’s a lot of variety on “In Hindsight” and this song showcases a childlike part of it that I’m quite partial to.”

We say: “Theatrical and quirky, this is nothing like anything else we’ll play on the show - possibly this year. A mash of rolling piano, strings and Pixie’s utterly unique and wonderful voice - makes for a short and sweet blast of vivid colour.”

Pixie Saytar’s album ‘In Hindsight’ is available for pre-order and will be launched at the MAC, Belfast on 27th February, in a double album release alongside Heliopause. - BBC Across the Line