Having been M.I.A. these past few years, the London independent that brought you the likes of Neil Hannon, The Chalets and The Frank & Walters, Setana, are returning to the fray on July 2 with Orchestral Variations V.01. Sadly though, it appears to be a swansong rather than a reactivation of the imprint that operated with much success during the 1990s and early 2000s.
The brainchild of PJ Harvey, Glasvegas and The Horrors producer Rob Kirwan, Setanta boss Keith Cullen and acclaimed string arranger Fiona Brice, it features covers of some of Cullen’s fave tunes by artists he’s equally in thrall to.
The stellar line-up includes Ed Harcourt ‘Something To Believe In’ (The Ramones); Anais ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ (The Buggles); Paul Noonan ‘Once In A Lifetime’ (Talking Heads); Mark Lanegan ‘Close To Me’ (The Cure); Joan As Police Woman ‘The Night Has Opened My Eyes’ (The Smiths)’ Jaymay ‘Big Sky’ (The Kinks); Stephanie Dosen ‘Souvenir’ (OMD); Scott Hutchinson ‘Ghost Town’ (The Specials); Martha Wainwright ‘Stories For Boys’ (U2); Charlotte Hatherley ‘Gigantic’ (Pixies); Patrick Wolf ‘Old Town’ (Phil Lynott) and Brian Molko ‘West End Girls’ (Pet Shop Boys). Tasty or what?
“I've run a record label most of my working days and music has been – and continues to be – an enormous part of my life,” Keith explains. “However five years ago I stopped signing bands, making records with them and releasing music with the gusto that kept my record label afloat for the best part of fifteen years. I felt old and had no desire to keep going to the same gigs, going through the same rigmarole of spurting over enthusiastic shite talk about how some new artist was going to be huge. I didn't want to feel embittered about how old fart my taste had become, being the bald old bloke at the back of the venue trying to be enthusiastic about some hot new band who didn't quite have the attitude of the Ramones, the art house take of Talking Heads, the spunk of the Pixies, the youthful energy of early U2, or the kookiness of The Cure. So I stopped releasing records and started writing instead.
“The record is the only music related thing I've been involved with for a long time, and its taken a long time to finish because I've been focused on other non-music things in life. Sometimes I think about how my record label's profile ceased to have any relevance when other like-minded labels, like Domino, Bella Union and Wichita kept going, and through their own perseverance and determination found great breakthrough acts and I feel happy to be out of the game.
“I still listen to music as much as I always did, but now I'm a fan rather than an industry person. The tracks on this record are songs I have always loved, sung by singers I love. Making this record has been a selfish exercise, and all the more enjoyable for it after years of being the person whose spent most of my working life finding an audience for other people’s 'art'. Not that this record is 'my album' in any way, I didn't do anything, just paid the musicians, picked the singers and the songs and paid the recording costs. But it feels like a good 'final' record to put out on my label. I like it, I hope you do too.”
The other pursuits Cullen refers to include God Save The Village Green, a very readable novel of which Roddy Doyle gushed: “The characters are great, the plot is strong and engrossing. I had no real idea of what was going to happen next. I loved that."