INTERVIEW | NATALIE McCOOL by Ruby Stewart
From managing and performing in the massive, critically acclaimed Welcome to Eurotopia show for Liverpool’s Eurovision Festival, Natalie McCool is back with a stunning new album that marks a profound creative evolution. Self-produced following a dedicated period of learning, the new record – set for release in September – is a beautifully crafted, two-sided sonic exploration. From the bright, cheeky, and summery vibes of Side A to the deeper, introspective, and orchestral-backed landscapes of Side B, it’s an album about growing up, making peace with your shadows, and ultimately learning to feel comfortable in your own skin.
Featuring stunning collaborations with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and a curated lineup of guest artists, this is McCool at their most courageous, wise, and musically free.
We sat down with Natalie to dive deep into the inspiration, the learning curves, and the collaborative magic behind the new album.
Natalie McCool (Credit: Robin Clewley)
What does this album mean to you as an artist?
It means stepping outside the box and having the freedom to experiment with different musical flavours. It means having the courage to invite other artists into my world. It means trying something I have never tried before.
What would you want fans to gain from listening to your album?
I want to take them on a journey! The album has themes of growing up, becoming yourself, recognising yourself, celebrating the brighter parts and also making peace with the darker parts of yourself. So I would want someone to listen to it and feel as though they have been on a journey and by the end of it feel a little bit more comfortable in their own skin.
What brought you to the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as a collaborator on the album?
I worked with the strings from Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra previously as part of an avant garde show I did at Liverpool Pier Head – and honestly absolutely loved arranging strings for some of my songs, and wanted to continue that thread through this album, because I think some of the songs really suited that texture and I was already writing midi parts and thought… why not get the real thing in!
Do you have a favourite song? If so, what is it and why?
That is a very hard question! The album for me is definitely in two parts, I think it’s very clearly got a Side A and a Side B – so I’ll pick one from each!
Side A is has to be ‘I Fantasise’ – it’s cheeky, summery, I wrote and produced it and it just has such a special place in my heart! From Side B – probably a track called ‘Sleeping Beauty’ because it goes deep and was the sort of gateway track to exploring the darker themes of the record.
Do you think your music has changed as you have grown as an artist and person, if so how?
Definitely. I think I am writing songs more often from a place of wisdom & peace – which comes with life experience, so I feel like my songwriting is quite well rounded these days.
I taught myself how to produce over the last few years, so this record was definitely manifested from that period of learning! As a person – well, same – I feel like I am a lot better at listening and giving advice to friends, and yeah just a bit calmer within myself, I try to stress less and see the brighter side of things.
Was there any experience that you had that influenced the album?
Yes definitely, as I mentioned above in 2023 I project managed and performed in a show Welcome to Eurotopia which was a collaboration with Culture Liverpool and Stealing Sheep, commissioned for the city’s Eurovision Festival, when we hosted on behalf of Ukraine. It was an incredible experience, took a lot of courage, stamina, self belief!! It was a big collaborative show celebrating Liverpool with flavours of Ukraine’s culture, featuring orchestra, guest artists, choir, dancers, marching brass and a ten piece female supergroup. This collaborative aspect of the show and the scale of the production and performance definitely inspired the album. Dreaming big!
When writing songs how do you go about getting inspiration for lyrics?
A lot of my songs are autobiographical about experiences and my inner narrative. A lot of them I guess are written like a conversation with yourself. A big theme on the album is the idea of becoming yourself so this is one of the main lyrical threads throughout it.
What was your favourite part about working with the people you collaborated with in the album?
One part I really loved which took a bit of time to get right was deciding which artists I wanted to feature on the different songs – sometimes a song would have a gap for the vocals in the bridge section, or the second verse, and sometimes I knew who I wanted to feature on the track, and sometimes I didn’t – so it took a bit of time to get it right. Some of the tracks don’t have a ‘vocal gap’ but added instrumentation and backing vocals from artists. So was quite varied in that respect. I really loved arranging all the strings and taking a main role in producing the album. I also want to shout out my artistic collaborators IXIOD (James Kirkham) who does all my visuals and music videos, and Robin Clewley who photographed for the album and singles. I love working with both of them.
You recently learnt how to produce and mix for this album, did you enjoy it? What other skills would you like to learn in your career?
I’m really happy I took on the role of recording & producing most of the album, it’s made me more confident with how I approach making music and working with collaborators, and given me a lot of free reign. I learned how to produce because I knew I had the ideas, just needed to work on the practical skills, which takes time – so I took 6 months just to focus on this skill. Shout out to Arts Council DYCP fund who made this possible – thank you – you do so much for creatives and make so many things possible.
Natalie McCool‘s latest single ‘Coming of Age’ is OUT NOW and her new album Good For The Soul is set for release on September 9th
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