Melody Maker Interview with Marijne and Paul
Salad have a new single, "Granite Statue", released by Island Red on September 4. It's a new version of the song from the band's top 20 album "Drink Me", re-recorded and remixed with producer lan "Lightning Seeds" Broudie. The cassette format, and one of two CD versions, also features a cover of "It's For You" - a Lennon / McCartney song which became a hit for Cilla Black in 1964. The first CD also includes "Ici Les Amigos". Bonus tracks on the second CD are "Rip Goes Love and Lust" and "Roadsex".
Singer Marijne van der Vlugt told The Maker: "'Granite Statue' is basically about a woman who's madly in love with someone, but every time the opportunity comes up to show that person that she really wants them, she just turns to stone and can't do anything about it. I was that statue before I started going out with the man who I've been going out with now for six years. It took me five years to pluck up the courage to talk to him. The video is set at a fictitious Salad sports event. It looks as if we're in this red and white stadium. It's very glammy, even though we're in training clothes!"
Asked about the Cilla cover, Paul Kennedy said: "Cilla has a voice like a car accelerating from 0 to 70mph in five seconds,and I think Marijne emulates that."
'Ici Les Amigos' said Marijne, "is about a South American drugs cartel operating out of St Tropez, and the inhabitants of St Tropez feeling a bit uneasy about it. Paul sings most of that."
"Rip Goes Love And Lust' is about a girl on the Tube ripping up her newspaper and stuff because her love affair is on the rocks. Rob Wakeman, our drummer, wrote that. It's a real-life thing that he saw."
"'Roadsex'... well, that's what being on the road is all about, isn't it? Sex on the road." Paul: "Well, that's what Rob would like."
Marijne added that the band were planning a special live show at which the entire set would consist of their B-sides, and a compilation album of all the bonus tracks that have appeared on their singles - "because we love our B-sides. They're the more experimental side of Salad. I think the next album is going to go towards that side - letting ourselves go a bit more."
