Karamelien - Digital Imogen
Ahead of releasing their debut album 'Living With The Moon', indie pop-rock duo Karamelien presents their new single 'Digital Imogen', a feisty in tongue-in-cheek warning of the dangers of society's worrying obsession with filtering our own photos on social media.
Based in East Grinstead, Karamelien is singer-songwriter Léanie Kaleido and guitarist Mark Foster - two long-time friends, whose music has forged an even stronger bond between them.
Bassist Lee Pomeroy (ELO, Take That, Rick Wakeman, Yes) also plays on this ballsy tune, giving an appreciative nod to indie goddess Shirley Manson of Garbage, a huge influence on Léanie in the 1990s.
The track was recorded and produced by Ian Caple (Massive Attack, Tricky, Mansun, Tindersticks, Vanessa Paradis). As EMI's in-house engineer back in the day, Ian was privileged to have worked with Kate Bush on her demos (and don't tell anyone but Simon Cowell was allegedly his tea boy back then!)
The track came about when Léanie was thinking about a friend called Imogen and her love of wordplay led her to conjure up Digital Imogen. With social media-fuelled pressure on young people to use filters to change people's features and airbrush impurities, Léanie decided to use this title as a semi-lighthearted protest at this unnerving pressure to look 'cartoon perfect' all the time.
"I once interviewed Shirley from Garbage back in my days as a music journalist, and I always admired her gorgeously unflinching power and attitude. I'm hoping this song has shown that side of me, just a little bit. And Mark Foster's immense guitars have really brought this track to life and given it the balls it needed. He's such a dude!" says Léanie Kaleido.
"Imagine getting so obsessed with your 'perfect', filtered online self that you actually get too scared to even go out any more, in case you're seen as your true self? That's what Digital Imogen is about. Even though the name was inspired by a friend, she's nothing like Digital Imogen - she's a really cool person who doesn't give in to the crappy obsession with changing how we look. We should all be like the real Imogen, not the Digital one."
Mark Foster adds, "We wanted the guitars to sound pretty processed, and a little bit ugly - which I think we achieved! I was definitely channelling the spirit of Sonic Youth, J Mascis, and a host of other beautiful noise-niks on this one".
This follows the album's title track 'Living With The Moon' - an upbeat, breezy guitar-driven anthem that gives the musical finger to the armchair critics. At the same time, it addresses coming to terms with the ongoing struggle with mental health and embracing the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of life and all its mysteries.
Earlier, Karamelien released the single 'Wait For Me' featuring piano, mixing and production by Chris Mars (A Flock of Seagulls, Damian Wilson) and two tracks produced by RIDE's Mark Gardener at OX4 Sound Studio - 'Lionhearts' and the epic 'Ascension Heights', which features a guitar sample from Léanie's late father Top Topham (original founding guitarist of The Yardbirds). This particular song also features bassist Mo Pleasure (Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson) and involved Paul Statham (Dido, Simple Minds, Kylie Minogue).
