When someone joins the Bright team, alongside the regular onboarding stuff and their tea/coffee order, we ask them one important question ‘What album do you want added to the office vinyl collection?’. Partly because it’s a good reason to bolster our growing library, but we believe that you can tell a lot from a person by what they choose.
The brief is relatively simple - choose something important to you, either past or present, whether that’s a pivotal moment, a funny memory or just an artist you really, really like.
Kicking off this series, we spoke to our Marketing & Special Projects Manager, Jardine, about what they chose and why.
What album did you choose and why?
I chose Samson & Delilah by VV Brown.
Without being too pretentious, it’s because VV Brown is one of those artists who I feel like grew up with me. I jokingly say I didn’t develop an actual music taste until I was 20 - basically, before then, if it wasn’t in the Top 40, I wasn’t listening to it.
Samson & Delilah is such a contrast to her debut doo-wop pop album, both in terms of sound and commercial success. Seeing a pop artist go in a completely different direction, and caring less about being mainstream, really hit me at a time when I was also working out who I was as a person. Plus, it’s just a great album, and it's one that I come back to time and time again.
What’s your favourite track on the album?
‘The Apple’. It’s angsty and dark, while still being poppy and catchy.
Were there any other albums you considered choosing?
Art Angels by Grimes was the album that made me want to start performing, and both Goldfrapp's Tales of Us and Robyn's Honey remind me of some of my best holiday memories.
Also, I could have easily picked any of the Carly Rae Jepsen albums (post ‘Kiss’) because she has been one of my most-played artists every year since 2015.
Who is on repeat for you at the moment?
I am convinced that Jessica Winter will be the next big thing in UK Pop - in her own words, she’s a Big Star and she’s right. I also discovered Saya Grey this year, and haven’t been able to stop listening to her since.
