Undercover speaks to Adalita of Magic Dirt about the late Dean Turner and his input on her evocative solo debut.
It has now been around 18 months since beloved Magic Dirt bassist and producer Dean Turner passed away.
Turner had encouraged singer Adalita to assemble the songs which have finally come together as her solo self-titled debut, and he even worked on some of the album's production.
Yet Adalita says that while listening to the band’s albums has hit hard, listening to her own album has helped her connect with Dean’s memory.
“I’ve been listening to some Magic Dirt recordings recently and that’s kind of really hit me hard,” she admits, “The solo record was a project Dean and I worked on so I feel really happy and relieved that it’s out, but I’ve had a very strong emotional reaction to listening to the Magic Dirt records because, of course I would, which I haven’t really listened to.”
“The solo record I’ve been living with for a while so I don’t react to it as full-on as I do as listening to Magic Dirt recordings.”
Since he was there in the studio at the beginning, she says, “It feels warm and fuzzy and like I’m close to him even though he’s gone. That connection is there and it’s strong and it almost feels like he’s here, in a way, through the creative process.”
She also speaks about how the songs emerged, recording in the dark, the beautiful photos in the artwork, the divergent sound of the album, dealing with her bare vocals, meeting her heroes Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde, and even talking about a follow-up.
Check out the entire chat below.
