Heather Nova has been spending time back in her native Bermuda, settling into the simple life that was her upbringing. The break will be short-lived, as with the release of her fourth album, "South", on September 24th 2001, she will be back on the road, and the tourbus that has become her more common home over the last seven years.
In explaining the title, Heather describes it, "as more of a feeling than a concept. In my life I feel myself moving further South; that pull from where you come from seems inevitable, and at some point you want to go back. I feel myself being pulled back down south to the islands. I wrote most of the songs on the album back home in Bermuda. I wanted the album to feel warm."
Heather's last two studio albums, "Oyster" and "Siren", have each sold in excess of 500,000 around the World, but the making of "South" has more in common with her home recorded debut album " Glowstars".
"The making of an album never seems to go as planned! With this one I went into a tiny studio with my touring band and Felix Tod for a couple of days to make some demos of the songs I had written. It was so cramped we were tripping over eachother, but we just knocked out the songs. The vibe in the room was just great, a lot of the tracks on the album are from that session. It was just so relaxed and harmonious and I hope that comes through in the warmth and simplicity of the final record."
With most of the record recorded, the rest just fell into place.
"I wrote a few more songs over the next few months, and different opportunities came up to work with different people; I recorded a track with Eve Nelson in New York, "Like Lovers Do", and finished it up with Bryan Adams in London . "Heaven Sent" was recorded with Peter Kvint and Simon Nordberg while I was on a trip to Sweden to write and sing on another band's record . I'd been wanting to work with them for a while. I went to LA to record a track, "Virus of the Mind", with Paul Fox."
The record was mixed in New York with "Bassy" Bob Brockman, which may seem a strange choice, as he's most known for his mixing work with such hip hop artists as Biggie Smalls and Mary J. Blige amongst many other hip hop credits, or as a member of the Brooklyn Funk Essentials, but the intention was to keep the recordings uncomplicated and rootsy.
