“Isn’t based on memories or reality”: Beth Ditto’s favourite Paul Simon album
If there’s anyone who understands the visceral power of energy and human connection, it’s Beth Ditto. As the frontwoman of the dance-punk group Gossip, Ditto gets it when it comes to sitting at the intersection between the political and the artistic. Perhaps it’s because she regards nothing as mere happenstance or the fact she occupies many roles, but if there’s one thing she’s not, it’s uncertain.
In fact, being a leader happens to run bone deep, and for that reason, most of the time, she’s happy to step into the limelight, even if it’s in place of others. As she explained: “I’m protective of [my band]. I think it’s why I like to do stuff like this [interview] by myself. I know I can answer any question, and if it’s shitty or bad, I don’t care. But I don’t want to expose them to that stress.”
Since their formation in 1999, Gossip has picked up where the punk and riot grrrl legacy left off, introducing aspects of soul, dance music, and electronica into a space previously regarded as too traditional to experience a transition of any sort. But that was before Gossip and the impact of Ditto came and ripped up the 2000s rule book with the only song that could do the job: ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’.
With someone as inexplicably groundbreaking as Ditto, it’s insightful to look at her own influences, which happen to range from “queercore bands” to the musical pariahs of the world, including Lauryn Hill, Roberta Flack, and Missy Elliot. One of the most personally defining albums that changed her life, however, happens to be Paul Simon’s Graceland, mainly because it felt like a much-needed companion when she first discovered it.
Discussing the record with TIDAL, Ditto explained: “I can’t explain exactly why this record changed me. I guess it was just there for me when I needed it.”
She continued, “I feel some sort of nostalgia when I hear it that isn’t based on my memories or reality. But it was still there for me like a person to give me beauty and heartbreak when I needed a friend who knew what I was going through.”
There are many reasons why Ditto likely became drawn to Simon’s opus, the first of which is its displaced resonance, in which emotion and physical presence can exist as two separate entities. After parting from the beloved duo Simon and Garfunkel, Simon sought to explore musical territories previously unexplored, and in doing so, he landed on some of his most career-defining tunes like ‘You Can Call Me Al’, ‘Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes’ and, of course, ‘Graceland’.
The musician himself once described the album as “the peak” of his career, and Ditto’s adoration of it likely stems from the viscera he evoked in both his lyricism and accompanying arrangements. Graceland, for many, is far more than just a record to stick on and enjoy; it’s a journey, a long road trip to somewhere you never deemed accessible by mere imagination.
