How did we get to the edge of the world? Brooke Combe in interview
For an artist, finding their sound can be as difficult a task as any, but through returning to her roots, embracing her authenticity and having an innate ability for contemporary soul songwriting, Brooke Combe has irrefutably defined herself as a must hear. Ahead of the release of her debut album, Dancing At The Edge Of The World, I chatted with Combe to delve deeper into the album’s meaning, her songwriting process and just how we got to the edge of the world in the first place.
Immediately the apocalyptic title grabs you and pulls you in, with the story of its origin mimicking the authenticity Combe displays across the album.
“There was a book that my producer James Skelly was reading about Marilyn Monroe’s life, and someone described Marilyn as so beautiful, she seemed like she was dancing on the edge of the world. James brought that to me, and I thought “at” was better and pretty fitting for what I was going through at Island Records because I finally felt free, and the chains were gone, giving me full artistic freedom. So yeah, it just felt very fitting for that time. It’s quite beautiful.”
The shedding of skin is evident from the prelude to the final note of the title track closer, but this newfound Brooke Combe is not so newfound for Combe herself.
“It’s been recorded for a year now. We did it last January so I’m just desperate for people to hear it, have their opinions on it and I’ve already got album two on the brain now.”
Looking to the future is where Combe thrives, with the final single for the album ‘This Town’ being an anthem for small town dreamers who just can’t be contained. An infectious guitar riff and painfully genuine lyricism play their parts in a contemporary soul masterpiece, which channels the voice of Dalkeith’s finest.
“For a few years my manager was asking me to try and write a song about home and he wanted it to have Scottish characteristics or something personal like a street name near mine and I was struggling with that, it just didn’t feel right at the time. Then when the album was almost finished, we still needed more types of tunes. My producer gave me some chords, I didn’t love them, but there were a few chords in the progression that I thought could work, so I started messing about and noodling on that. Then, I got on my girls group chat going, “Right girls what do you think about the boys from Dalkeith” and they came back with, “spice boys, still living with their mum, sun beds” and things like that and I basically just put it all together and it just worked.”
As glowing as these character references are for the men of Dalkeith, comfort can be found by them in knowing they’re immortalised in as catchy a song as you can find. The track is indebted to Combe’s time in Dalkeith, a debt repaid by Combe returning to the streets of her hometown to film the single’s music video.
“It was bittersweet. I’m proud to be Scottish and I’m proud to be from where I’m from. I think being from a small town shapes you in a lot of ways and gives you a lot of different ambitions that maybe somebody in a city might not have. I also don’t want the people where I’m from thinking that I hate them, so we were trying to find that balance and I think we smashed that. It was very low budget and felt small town.”
Combe’s pride in her roots is apparent, both in her words in this interview and the authenticity she lets shine in her music. Whilst her passions and drive led her to make that jump out of Scotland, her music remains a constant irrespective of geography.
[In response to ‘is your songwriting affected by your location?’] “I’ll be honest, I think not really. I’m pretty much somebody who just goes for what they’re feeling in the moment. I like being at home [Dalkeith] because there’s a lot more space i.e. field, forestry, reservoirs, the lot. So, I like having my downtime to give me the headspace to think about what kind of songs I want to write. The last project was very circumstantial the way I wrote that in terms of it being about what my dad was going through and seeing him go through struggles. I think it will be interesting this year as I’m hoping to buy a house in Liverpool so it will be interesting to see how my circumstances play into that.”
The emotional principles Combe has used to craft her sound are cultivated both in isolation with her guitar and collaboration in the studio, allowing her to balance both emotionally deep lyrics and incredibly groovy melodies. When asked on the role of both, she had this to say:
“I think musically its quite 50-50, actually maybe not 50-50, maybe 60-40, but it is the music which gives it that soul and funkiness. We recorded it as a live band like how all my favourite old bands from Motown did it so that creates the sound. On top of that, I think with the songwriting, specifically on songs like ‘This Town’, I tried to write it more souly with the groove and lyrics, whereas with a song like ‘Dancing At The Edge Of The World’ I wouldn’t necessarily say the melody or lyrics [are funky]- but you can put them into soul. It’s more the track that comes with it being sort of cinematic.”
This sonic prowess has helped craft a variety of tunes across the album all with their own edge, however there is one which Combe is particularly eager to give to the masses.
“The song is called ‘Butterfly’. It goes into escapism; the good, the bad, the ugly, plus it was a completely different writing style for me. My vocals don’t sound like me basically, I’m using a lot more of my top voice, my falsetto, so I’m really really excited for people to hear it.”
Whilst the album is a brilliant trip down the avenue that is modern soul, Combe refuses to be defined by her production alone, boasting a stellar knack for live performance. This ability has already led her to play some of Leeds’ biggest stages such as Leeds Festival in 2022, O2 academy and her personal favourite, a sold-out Brudenell.
“On the tour, we had to reschedule that show, as when we first got there and set up my agents said they didn’t want me to sing out of fear I’d mess up my voice [due to strains she had at the time] and so we had to cancel. So, we rescheduled and came back and that left us in the old room on this tiny stage, but it was class. The fans and the crowd were just great.”
Combe returns to Leeds in April to play Project House on her Dancing At The Edge Of The World tour and her debut album of the same name comes out January 31st.
Written by Dan Brown