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Belinda Carlisle\u2019s latest covers album, <\/span>Once Upon a Time in<\/span><\/i> California<\/em>, <\/span>is her first English language album in 29 years.<\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s previously expressed love for her state of origin through song (see: 1997\u2019s \u201cCalifornia\u201d), but this one<\/span> collates new recordings of songs from the \u201870s that shaped her musical identity.<\/span><\/p>\n The album process began in 2017, with Carlisle estimating that she culled from \u201cprobably about 100 songs\u201d down to the final ten. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Just because I liked the song didn\u2019t mean it was gonna work. So we would demo everything and see if we could keep the integrity of the song, but make it like a song that I would do \u2013 the sound that I have\u2026 <\/span>I<\/span>t was a good eight years in the making.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Her<\/span> Once Upon a Time in California<\/span><\/i> project was interrupted not only by the global pandemic but also a chance meeting with <\/span>long-time collaborator Diane Warren (who wrote \u201c<\/span>I Get Weak<\/span><\/a>\u201d and \u201c<\/span>World Without You<\/span><\/a>\u201d for Carlisle\u2019s second solo album, 1987\u2019s <\/span>Heaven on Earth<\/span><\/i>, for example), which resulted in the pair\u2019s collaborative five-track <\/span>Kismet<\/span><\/i> EP (2023).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So how did Carlisle typically consume music as a child? \u201cMy mom, she liked show tunes \u2013 Rodgers and Hammerstein and big band music \u2013 and didn\u2019t like the Beatles when they came out \u2013 didn\u2019t like any of that pop music,\u201d she tells us over Zoom. \u201cAnd I loved it. So my transistor radio introduced me to that whole world. And California radio was a big part of the culture at the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I would go to my best friend\u2019s house \u2013 his mother was working \u2013 and after school we\u2019d just go lay in front of the speakers and sing along to every single song that was on the radio. And then during summer it was from 8am to 6pm \u2013 until I had to go home. So that was my life. And it was like music provided an escape for me, into my fantasy world of wanting to be a singer one day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Carlisle says <\/span>The Association\u2019s <\/span>\u201cNever My Love\u201d reminds her of \u201cgrowing up in California.\u201d A <\/span>Once Upon a Time in California<\/span><\/i> highlight, Carlisle\u2019s take on this song commences with some glorious vocal harmonies \u2013 transportive and airy, like a feather caught in a slipstream. \u201cI always loved the song and I wanted to put more of a twist on it,\u201d she explains<\/span> of the vocalisation choices. \u201cSo I thought, \u2018Well, maybe let\u2019s do some Beach Boys harmonies and layer vocals.\u2019 So that\u2019s what we did and it totally worked with the song.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian\/New Zealand music and globally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nLove Music?<\/h2>\n