By Stevie Connor. Photo Credit: Rachael Sage and Howard Jones by Amanda Rose.
Alt-folk-pop singer-songwriter Rachael Sage has released an artful video for "I Made A Case" from her new 15-track full length studio album, The Other Side. Featuring legendary UK hitmaker (and Sage’s frequent touring mate) Howard Jones on duet vocals, and a Bacharach-esque orchestral arrangement, the poignant ballad captures the age-old dilemma of would-be lovers meeting at the wrong time.
Sage enthuses: "It was an enormous honour to have Howard Jones involved in recording the duet version, and he couldn’t have been any more encouraging or positive throughout the process! I’m still pinching myself that one of my very favorite artists and humans agreed to collaborate with me on such a delicate ballad – and was so protective of the song, as well."
Throughout the song Jones & Sage have beautiful vocal chemistry, and heartbreak never sounded so sweet.
Directed by Tobias LaMontagne (with additional performance footage shot by Mikhail Pivovarov), the melancholic video is set in a deserted house on the edge of a bluff overlooking a desolate sea. Devoid of people, Sage appears as an apparition while she plaintively performs the song at a piano – a haunting image of a person coming to terms with unrealized love.
Of the song Sage explains: "'I Made A Case' Is definitely the saddest song on the record. When I first started writing it I had it flipped around: 'you made a case / for me to love you…' but then I spent a couple hours working on it with my old friend, Nashville-based songwriter Jeff Cohen, and he really pushed me to tell him exactly what I was trying to convey from as vulnerable a perspective as possible. Shifting it to 'I' really forced me to confront the meaning of the song, which is essentially: 'in spite of best intentions, we are not in the same place and are not going to be able to argue our way into that changing.' So, unlike most songs I’ve written, there is really no resolution to this story other than confronting the truth with compassion, which is in itself a kind of catharsis."
Sage’s latest studio album The Other Side is the most grounded of her illustrious career, recalling the classic, retro-warmth of the ’70s and ’80s, with memorable Americana-infused pop hooks and folk-fueled poeticism. Blending a myriad of genres and instruments into a cohesive and captivating whole, the album’s musical collaborators include guitarists Jack Petruzzelli (Patti Smith) and James Mastro (Ian Hunter), trumpet player Russ Johnson (Elvis Costello), bassist Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo), and guest vocals from UK pop icon Howard Jones. Track highlights include: “Whistle Blow,” an Americana palette of slide and acoustic guitars, where Sage muses on power dynamics and boundaries; Sage's folk-pop anthem "The Other Side", whose memorable gospel-tinged chorus and rapid-fire poeticism make it an instant classic; while the ‘60s-influenced “Flowers For Free” is poetic pop-rock at its most adventurous. The record also includes Sage's interpretations of Yazoo’s classic "Only You", and Maria McKee’s "Breathe". Sage's timeless writing reminds us what's most important is always worth waiting for, via songs steeped in just the right amount of best-is-yet-to-come optimism.
TOUR DATES
(please see rachaelsage.com for ongoing US and UK tour dates)
11/12/23
Towne Crier Cafe – Beacon, NY *birthday extravaganza
11/18/23
Northwest Park Concerts – Windsor, CT
12/06/23
Int'l Human Rights Art Festival @ The Tank – New York, NY
12/07/23
Arts4Resilience Event @ Studio Theatre – Washington, DC
12/18/23
City Winery Loft – New York, NY
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