Beyond belief

Faithless duo Maxi Jazz and Sister Bliss have always made for rather an unlikely musical pairing.

Today is no different. Catching up with Hot Press at Dublin’s Clarence Hotel, Jazz has folded his huge frame onto a couch, while a heavily pregnant Bliss sits beside him, feet in the air.
They’re here to promote their latest album To All New Arrivals. The thing is, nobody has much of a clue about the LP, least of all the record company. Which is just the way Faithless like it.
“We present what we do and they have to work with us,’’ explains Bliss.‘‘That was the great thing for us. We didn’t get signed by a major until we had completely developed our sound. It’s advice I’d give to any band: expand yourselves and your audience before you get signed, then it’s harder to be manipulated."
For a multi-platinum band, Faithless are, in fact, surprisingly indie in their outlook.
“Everybody wants that management or record deal but it’s not the Holy Grail everybody thinks it is,” says Maxi. “Unless you are an exceptional talent anybody who wants to manage you is looking to rip you off. Our advice is to carry on writing your songs, save your money, make your own records, put it out on the internet. Once you’ve written a great record, they’ll come to you and you’re in a much better position.”
Faithless have always been a superb singles outfit. Lately, though, they’ve started paying closer attention to their albums too. And they’re confident To All New Arrivals will prove to be their most complete work yet.
“It’s basically a welcoming album,” explains Maxi, “for all new arrivals to our pretty fucked up world. It’s simply trying to explain how the world works to someone who has just stepped foot into it.”
Is it a positive record? Jazz isn’t really sure.
“Optimism is an essential element of any Faithless album but it’s also quite an angry record," he reflects. "You have to write from the heart and whatever’s in there comes out at album time. You look at the finished article and you first want to know, does it say what I want it to say? If the answer’s ‘yes’, does it do it poetically? There’s your lyric. Sometimes I look at it and go, ‘That is a bit harsh,’ but it’s what I feel.”
Bliss, for her part, believes the album addresses some quite grandiose universal themes.
“It’s about the locating of self in the grand scheme of things," she proffers. "By accident Faithless is a totem of multiculturalism. My grandparents were immigrants, Maxi’s parents were immigrants. To All New Arrivals addresses that. There’s too much mistrust being fed by political misdeeds. I don’t see why you can’t bring that into an album.”