Wally Badarou Simple Things

• 1. It Couldn't Be You
• 2. You Can't Hide Always
• 3. We'll Make It Again
• 4. Walk Straight Ahead
• 5. PainIng My Life Blue
• 6. Just Two Lovers

Wally Badarou is a synth pioneer and musical polymath. But rarely does he sing over his sumptuous tracks. The 6 songs that comprise new record Simple Things finally realise Wally's vision for select backing tracks from his beloved Colors Of Silence.

The tracks were originally developed back in 2001 for the release of the original CD;here, Wally has “simply" added overdubs and vocals to their mastered mixes withsome discerning edits. Simply put, Simple Things is another slice of simply stunning Wally Badarou genius.

Simple Things has been decades in the making. Indeed, Wally struggled not only with the idea of singing these wonderful songs himself but singing them in English and wriIng his own lyrics, while wrestling with the sensaIonal backing tracks, which themselves seemed to have taken on a life of their own.

A synth specialist, there can be few arIsts more under-appreciated given their vast influence than Wally Badarou. His solo work pracIcally defined the sound of the Balearic DJs of the 1980s, and thus the more sophisIcated sound of dance culture thereaqer. He was one of the Compass Point All Stars (with Sly and Robbie, BarryReynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "SIcky" Thompson), the in-house recording teamof Compass Point Studios responsible for a series of albums in the 1980s recorded by Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru, Gwen Guthrie, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs. Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull, Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads, Manu Dibango and Miriam Makeba. He also produced Fela KuI. Phew!

When we asked Wally about the significance of this collecIon's Itle, he explained: "These are "Simple things” that everyday’s life seems to build upon. The simplest are the harder to describe, but when saIsfactorily described i.e. with simple words, they are the more genuine and authenIc to express and share. I’ve immersed myself in other classic song lyrics, something I hardly did before, just to appreciate the genius behind the simple words they were made of, and had a great Ime studying how powerful they were in expressing complex ideas such as love.

"Recording was twofold: first, most of the backing tracks were recorded in 2001, in Wally's studio in Normandy, mostly using hardware synths and Yamaha digital consoles. Then, he fine-tuned the melodies and wrote the lyrics in late 2023, then added some overdubs and sang them all during summer 2024. States Wally, "Digital Performer was and remains the DAW I’ve been using throughout, ever since the 80s."

Wally's sophisIcated synth textures and expressive keyboard runs are so full of character, so full of life, that this work of art transcends any easy genre categorisaIon. MeIculously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respecIvely, it has been pressed to the highest possible quality at RecordIndustry in Holland. SomeImes, the simple things are the most extraordinary.