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Ms Neville has been living and working in Sydney for the past 16 years. Before that she spent her youth in New Zealand. She went to school, spent summers on the beach, fought with her sisters, danced, sang, got beaten up by her brother, argued with her parents, did a bit of tv and a lot of musical theatre before she hopped on a plane with a bottle of brandy, a packet of cigarettes and far too much luggage and landed in Perth W.A. six hours later. There, she studied Musical Theatre for 3 years at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and lived just the sort of life a teenager who’s just moved out of home should, including spending a few hours in jail. After studying hard and working with some excellent people like the late Nick Enright and the wonderful Robyn Archer she hopped on another plane and moved to Sydney.
She moved into a lovely little house in Annandale with some lesbians and lived next to a glassblower, went on the dole and acclimatised to the heat and tried to get work as an actor. She also started writing songs with her boyfriend. She got her first acting job in a rock musical with Doc Neeson (The Angels), Chris Bailey (The Saints), Christine Anu & Belinda Emmett and got to wear a gold sparkly dress and dye her hair black and sing on stage at The Enmore. Next she found herself dressed as a fairy night after bat infested night at The Botannical Gardens in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ a few years in a row. She also ran the backstage bar and everyone christened her Madam Tangles. A bit more Shakespeare, a bit of TV, a couple of commercials, a few original gigs and the beginnings of The Tamarama Rock Surfers peppered her nineties, before writing more songs, going crazy as one does in their twenties, breaking up with aforementioned boyfriend and scoring a tiny role in a big budget production of ‘South Pacific’ with Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jnr.
Returning from a couple of months in Far North Queensland she settled in Maroubra and started writing songs for real. Along with a lovely bunch of boys she played lots and lots of gigs, recorded an ep "Finally..." (2003/Independent), launched it at The Hopetoun Hotel, played at The Basement, and rocked out in red sequins at The East Coast Blues & Roots Festival, where she talked to Michael Franti and fell in love (again) with Ben Harper. She also fell in love for real and by chance had a beautiful baby girl.
Now it is a few years later & she has written some excellent new tunes, settled into the imaginative life of a mama and has been recording a new release with the musically inspiring Syd Green (TonksGreen, Drew Sutherland, Mantissa, iOTA). Conceived on the wonderous South Coast at Mononest, in creative grabs over the last few months and many cups of tea, "Thunder" is a taste of things to come.
Ms Neville also paints and is hoping to have a book of contemporary poetry published by the end of 2008, which coincidentally is a year of the rat, which she is. All this rolls along while she tries to keep a smile on her face and wonderfully creative dinners on the table. Enjoy.
REVIEW:
" Mesmerising and technically superb seem to be the only two phrases that my mind can muster to describe the voice I am hearing at the precise moment that I am penning this article.
The Australian music industry, over the last 5 to 7 years, has learned to accept, embrace and nurture the powerful, flexible and sometimes ever so dainty voices of formally trained, well-practiced voices of unique female artists like Katie Noonan and Kate Miller-Heidke. Now, in the early stages of 2008, I’m realising I may just have discovered another one that we as a country are oh-so ready for!
Angeline Neville is a well-trained, seasoned performer in many artistic pursuits and genres. Originally hailing from New Zealand, Angeline came to find a home in Australia when she began studying at Perth’s acclaimed W.A.A.P.A (or for those not familiar with that acronym, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts). During her time at W.A.A.P.A, Angeline studied musical theatre, was, in her own words “blessed†to work with such inspiring and talented people as Nick Enright, David King and Robyn Archer.
Since graduating, Angeline’s career has been well varied, and lends her an impressive resume. As I am sitting at my computer listening to her latest demo – which as an aside, I might mention is a work in progress, I am well aware that the most successful years to come are the ones that lie ahead of her.
Armed with immense vocal control, Angeline’s voice is deceptively easy to listen to in the sense that it is easy to imagine that it lacks power. This however, would be a fool’s assumption, as demonstrated in the quirky What a day. Beginning with subtle almost Jazz-like or folk lines, the vocals showcase brash lines of harmonic intensity performed with such precision and perfection that they appear subdued; lending to the afore mentioned illusion of tranquillity.
At that exact moment, the tracks aptly placed bridge begins and the tremendous power of Neville’s voice is revealed, as the song momentarily moves into a surprising, but very fitting flash of rock.
Perhaps the most satisfying aspect to the music of Angeline Neville (and perhaps the aspect lacking the most in acknowledgement) is the universal appeal of her well-crafted writing and obvious lyrical talent.
Imbued with a sense of calming gentleness, Neville’s lyrics also contain the element that Aussies everywhere embrace: Honesty. Her song writing is so clearly entwined in her everyday life that almost anybody can walk away having established a connection of some form.
With recording still underway, we will hopefully see a release from Neville mid-way through 2008, as she works through the process of gaining private support and engaging business plans as the next part of the recording process takes place.
Like many emerging artists worldwide, Angeline’s endeavours are self-funded, and having taken that into consideration – I am even more impressed by the level of sheer talent and raw musicality. Angeline Neville is certainly an artist I would happily recommend, and one I personally look forward to hearing more from as the year progresses. "
© 2008. By Catherine Whitington on behalf of 8ve MagazineTM
