Personal Journey: Fatima reflects on Yellow Memories

With Floating Points on production duties, Eglo Records key player Fatima's long-awaited debut album, Yellow Memories, is a sumptuous listen. She discusses family, performance, and the importance of taking your time

Feature by John Thorp | 29 Apr 2014

Since 2008, London’s Eglo Records, founded by Alexander Nut, has proved to be a diverse powerhouse for rich and soulful dance music, be it Funkineven’s nasty yet nice acid tracks and, perhaps best known of all, Floating Points’ fusion of soul, jazz and house that came out of nowhere at the label’s inception and still thrills today. But Eglo’s key proponent of soul – and it’s a term that’s almost inescapable for the label – has always been Fatima.

Acting as an unofficial in-house vocalist for any Eglo producer looking to add a lyrical touch to their work, Fatima’s long history with the label has resulted in Yellow Memories, an intriguingly titled new album taking her to the forefront of productions that many lesser performers would simply find themselves lost in.

“It’s Yellow Memories because my grandmother's house is yellow and that house represents my childhood, my time growing up in Stockholm, the past, family and love,” explains Fatima, having just returned from a couple of frostbitten months in New York. “Plus,” she adds, “the colour yellow makes me think of the sun and I love light.”

There is much light and colour throughout Fatima’s back catalogue, and although Yellow Memories, composed entirely of new material, is not without brushstrokes of regret or heartbreak, it remains an affirmingly positive listen as summer creeps in. The LP’s grandiose opening track, Do Better, swells with joy and optimism, and the mood continues while hopping from dubbed-out R'n'B to adventurously constructed, jazzier moments.

The collaborative process for Yellow Memories has worked much like Fatima’s previous releases, in that the instrumental ideas of her producer inspire her lyricism and delivery. Like everything at Eglo, it’s a gentle and fruitful operation. “If somebody has something to say either way, then that can work,” she says. “We’re all in it together, but sometimes you have to meet in the middle. Alex and Sam [Shepherd] are the label, and if there’s something they don’t feel, they won’t put it out, but it’s definitely not the type of label that tries to have a say in every single thing. What I like about it is the freedom.”


“What I’m talking about is a broken thing, so why do I need to be perfect?” – Fatima


Freedom and individualism are abundant throughout Yellow Memories, perhaps reflecting Fatima’s diverse background and taste, which has always fused popular influences with more flavoursome club styles. Born in Stockholm, Fatima resided there until the age of 21, when she moved to London and fatefully – thankfully – soon found herself at the city’s emerging FWD night, where she met Nut, and lost herself in the palette of emerging new sounds at the time. Having hopped between scenes, where does she feel the real genesis of her varied tastes lies?

“I grew up on a lot of hip-hop, a lot of R'n'B and soul music, which has inspired me, and that affected me in the way I sing, certainly,” she admits. “Most of the people on the label appreciate the older sound of different genres, but try and do something new with it, put on a little swing to it and create a balance of those things. I like anything from Missy Elliot to classic Soul Divas, and Wu Tang, Busta Ryhmes, Madlib. I still think that’s dope music that never really fades.”

Certainly, Yellow Memories has a timeless feel to it, having the sheen and the ‘little swing’ Fatima refers to of a modern production – but for all its flourishes, it has an understated vibe, the long track lengths of which won't necessarily appeal to radio programmers outside of the likes of Gilles Peterson (then again, perhaps he's the only radio programmer an artist such as Fatima might need). But with her easy and accessible tone, has she ever been tempted by the broader, 'pop star' role that could surely be available?

“Well, nobody asked!” she laughs. “We didn’t pick the right sounds. It needs some big plastic synths! No, I don’t want to diss anyone that’s just doing their thing, but a lot of it is really braindead and cloned. And sometimes those people still do great music, so it’s a shame that they also have to do anything that lacks quality.”

As a complete contrast, Yellow Memories has been a long time in evolution, including a time gestating in Los Angeles, with Fatima and Eglo sticking side by side throughout at an easy pace. Fatima’s compositions and ideals are designed to hold up to her own personal scrutiny.

“It’s good to take time with things, not stress it, and you get to explore and find out what you really want to do – rather than just feeling something for one day, giving it some time to sit and then coming back to it to see if it’s really worthy. And it’s always been organic finding people to work with,” she says, “but I feel that now is definitely the right time to put it out. It’s so exciting to have the full, physical record in my hand, to put the whole album out there.”

The lead single for Yellow Memories, Family, is a breezy ode to just that – with an understated video by collaborator Husky to match. But within the album, Fatima’s lyrics are perhaps more personal and direct than on previous material. The album’s finale – the bracing Gave Me My Name – is a raw, piano-led track that concerns Fatima’s disillusionment in the wake of her father’s absence throughout her childhood. A seamless performer, her voice finally cracks in the song’s powerful last moments.

“I used the first take, and it didn’t need to be perfect,” she reveals. “We did attempt to re-record it, but then what I’m talking about is a broken thing, so why do I need to be perfect?” Elsewhere on the album, Fatima has taken the force and detail of the production as something of a gauntlet. “On something like Do Better, the music is so full on that I needed to bring everything to it – so it’s cool to challenge myself, to get contrast, and hopefully do something interesting.”

Eglo’s live band have long been a distinctive calling card for the label, taking full brass and rhythm sections to clubs and festivals and, in the process, elevating artists above the standard ‘live’ AV set accompaniment. Not for the first time, they’ll be joining Fatima on the road in support of Yellow Memories, expanding and refining her back catalogue.

“I like being in the studio, but performing has always been special to me,” she says. Indeed, she is a confident (though never showy) performer – last summer seeing hundreds of bleary-eyed revellers at Beacons festival awake on a sunny Yorkshire Sunday to hear her dulcet tones. In clubs, fans and newcomers can expect a somewhat livelier, but varied performance. “The live show has structure, but there’s room for it to be free, to change sounds and speeds,” she says. “But there’s always four of us on tour and we do like to experiment with samples, for example – and some of it is already coming out great.”

Yellow Memories is out 12 May via Eglo

Fatima & The Eglo Live Band play Antwerp Mansion, Manchester, 3 May; The HiFi Club, Leeds, 4 May; and at Dimensions and Outlook festivals, Croatia

http://www.soundcloud.com/fatimasoundslike