Halcali in the Japan Times

If ever there was a band crying out for more exposure in the English language press it's Halcali. Which is exactly why Daniel Robson could do with an extra few pats on the back for his efforts.

Here's the first published results of his interview, from the Japan Times (March 23rd). I believe that a fuller version of this will be published in Neo Magazine on the 29th of March, and "probably one or two British websites over the next few months running up to the album". Let's keep a lookout.

The Japan Times article does it's job pretty well- i.e it serves as a quick introduction to the band, hopefully getting a few people interested during the run-up to the release of the new album.
It was a slightly frustrating read in some respects as well though, as potentially hot topics (the reason behind the label switch, and Halcali's thoughts about chart placements in particular) are only glanced through.
Again though, it's only meant to be an introduction, and naturally isn't the place to go into such things. Although Halcali seem to try to dismiss the question somewhat, I don't believe for a second that they don't know why it happened. That's a topic for another time maybe.

There's still things to savour for the long(er) term fan though. One thing I've always liked about Halcali is that there is absolutely zero pretence. Where as a lot of other bands of this type who don't write their own material try to sweep that fact under the carpet, the girls have never been less than open about it, often humbly acknowledging their debt to their producers and writers.
At the same time though, I think they do have a bigger input in what goes on than a lot of others in their position, and with a few lyrics credits under their belt, a bit of acknowledgement of those facts could easily be forgiven. Surrounded by such talent, and with some artist freedom to contribute, they're certainly in a better position than most. If only the pop charts would reflect that.

Anyway, go take a look.