Eleanor McEvoy - Naked Music (2016)

"A gallerypassed, an artist admired,a painting bought, a new album born, inspiring new images.
Chris Gollon’s ‘ CHAMPAGNE SHEILA’ bought and collected from a London Gallery and some music left for Chris and his agent to listen to. Eleanor McEvoy loved the painting, Chris and his agent David seemed to love the music. Cut to Norwich February 2015, Chris Gollon’s national touring exhibition “Incarnation, Mary and Women from the Bible” in the beautiful Norman Cathedral has just opened in town with the artist in attendance. Eleanor goes to the exhibition, lunches with Chris and David and squeezes them both into her sold out “ALONE” club show in The Bicycle Shop. The outcome: heaps of chat, mutual respect and admiration and a wish to find some way of working together.
Eleanor was, at the time, wrapping up some recording. In this venture she was “studio-performing” on her own, ie playing hers and others’ songs as she might in her solo show. The recordings have a very exposed intimacy. It seemed a possibility that Chris should be asked to do a painting for the cover in this solitary context.
More to-ing and fro-ing and the recordings as a collection acquired the name ‘NAKED MUSIC’. This gave a better focus to the two artists’ desire for mutual expression. Being offered this title, and with some song suggestions, instead of just one image Chris was so taken with the songs he completed four paintings in response. Two on the ‘Naked’ theme, and two others related to song titles and lyrics. The first ‘Dreaming of Leaving’ was written by Eleanor and Lloyd Cole. The other ‘Lubbock Woman’ a downtrodden cameo, is a song by West Texan legend Terry Allen. The paintings were such a hit, that all four talked their way into the Naked Music CD artwork.
The images, the CD artwork, sat in pride of place in the Metropolis Studio and exerted some influence on the mastering and final track order.Now there is going to be a full Chris Gollon exhibition on the theme of “Naked Music”, with his latest series of paintings inspired by all the new album tracks by Eleanor McEvoy, some co-written with Dave Rotheray (from The Beautiful South) and with Lloyd Cole and Nat Johnson. Visitors can come and experience the new Eleanor McEvoy album and the new Chris Gollon imagery side by side."