James Speechly, 25, is a local artist who is passionate about music and language and has recently released his debut album that features six different languages; English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian. James also works as a translator, primarily translating from from German, French, and Spanish into English. Unsurprisingly, most of his translations are about music and most of his songs explore different languages. The intersection of music and language has played a significant role in James’ life.
James’ decision not to include African languages in his album wasn’t made out of apathy or disinterest. He is currently learning several African languages (including Xhosa, Zulu, Shona and Chichewa) and says that listening to music in these languages is a big part of learning and appreciating them. James explained his decision to Cape {town} Etc, “I would love to explore local genres and languages in my music, but given my positionality, I don’t think it’s my place to contribute to these domains as a solo artist”.
James’ debut album Lost in Transit was mostly produced at home during lockdown; “I was learning how to make music on Logic Pro when I wasn’t translating. I watched tutorials and read articles, but the best way for me to learn was through trial and error”.
In commenting on the process of finding his own sound, James said; “I tried to recreate whatever music I was listening to at the time, and generally failed miserably. After a while, my failed attempts at recreating existing songs started sounding cool in their own way. And then I realised each song I made – regardless of the genre – had a somewhat consistent sound. And I liked that sound.”
From this point on, James would start building his own songs from simple chord progressions and melodies he imagined on the guitar or piano, and allowed himself to get creatively carried away on the electronic side. The results pleased him.
With some encouragement from his good friend, Pierre Stemmett, who is both a talented musician and producer, the pair decided to remix and master James’ body of work into a meticulously crafted 12 song album, Lost in Transit.
James described his album to Cape {town} Etc, “At its core, the album is musically and lyrically experimental, and wanders accordingly through various genres and languages. With that said, the album as a whole consistently explores themes of time and space, loneliness and doubt, love and longing. Each song is dreamy and ethereal in its own way, with meditative synths, bells and ambient sounds lining the overall sound – punctuated by striking guitar solos, crisp trap beats, and distorted vocal effects. Despite the often heavy subject matter, there is a lot of joy and hope in this album. I really hope that comes through“.
Treat yourself to a musical-linguistic adventure with Lost in Transit here.
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Picture: James Speechly