Julia Fordham jazzes up Ayala Malls

“Talk about a fine line between love and hate/We’ve lost more than our direction of late/Talk about a fine line between lovers and friends/We’ve never been lovers and now we’re not even friends”           — Invisible War

Twenty years ago, Julia Fordham released her eponymous first album that broke through the charts and broke through many hearts — alternately purveying anthems of love and heartache. With the distinctive pained vocals on brooding music, Julia stylistically positioned herself diametrically opposed to the pop ilk of Gloria Estefan and Debbie Gibson. Yet off her debut album, Fordham scored a UK Top 40 single, Happy Ever After, and from whence struck a chord in a discriminating minority of listeners eager for beautiful and deeply emotional material bereft of cloying production or instrumentation.

“When I started singing I was very young and I left school really early. And I was firmly entrenched on a career path. When I got to about 35, I felt like I missed something. I dreamt of meeting someone. I was always traveling and I wanted to settle down and have a family. So now, I have a family and my beautiful baby. She’ll be three in six months. I would also like to travel more. I have creative goals for my music and my songs. I think that the world is a remarkable place and we all get stuck in our everyday lives that we forget that there are these glorious countries, different people, different cultures and different ways of looking at things. And I like being involved in something like that as I was involved in a charity project called Happy Ever After in India. I went there, it was hard work but after I went there I felt like wanting to do something more useful,” she bared — almost as if summarizing her life in a nutshell — at the Glorietta Activity Center press conference.

Fordham attributes her go-getter attitude to a hands-off her parenting style her folks employed. “To be really successful at something, you’d have to want it. You can’t have someone bring it to you. And when I told my mum and dad about this, they were like ‘Get on a bus and go then!’ And it was an incredible gift from them because it made me fiercely independent. By 14, I had my own guitar and I saw how hard it is to forge your own music destiny.”

 And what marvels fate had in store for Julia Fordham, indeed.

Half a world away, Fordham, in a pretty purple top and floral flowing blue skirt, was clearly at ease among Filipinos — gamely answering questions from the press. Ten albums since 1988, Julia Fordham is in town anew for a concert tour courtesy of Ayala Malls. Hailed as the “jewel of pop jazz,” the California-based British singer-songwriter will perform at the Alabang Town Center Activity Center tomorrow, Feb. 8, 6:30 p.m.; TriNoma Activity Center, Feb. 9, 7 p.m.; Glorietta Activity Center, Feb. 10, 7 p.m.; Ayala Center Cebu’s South Surface parking area, Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m.; and Greenbelt 3 Park, Feb. 15, 8 p.m.

Her second album, 1989’s Porcelain, saw Fordham dig deeper into her vocal and songwriting prowess, yielding the hit Manhattan Skyline. But Filipinos ought to be more familiar with the classic Swept of 1991, with the track (Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways. Yes, this is exactly the song local artist Nina re-tooled into a hit of her own.

Fordham, who has a substantial 30s-something following here, holds her Pinoy fans in special regard, exclusively releasing for them in September last year via EMI International the Songbook album — featuring previous studio cuts, live recordings and rarities. “Filipino people are romantic. They have excellent taste. I love the Philippines!” she gushed.

Fordham impressed many with her introspection and intelligent replies. When asked how she deals with sad or low episodes in her life: “I think that we are actually meant to have (low) moments in life. So we have to have positive thinking to move ahead and look into the bright side. I’m an artist and a lot of the times a song comes to me in a mood of melancholy. I actually savor the cycle of life and the mood swings are part of the artistic journey. As you get older, you can sit more comfortably in the knowing that this too shall pass.

“The songwriting (process) to me is peculiar because I don’t seek it. I think the more time that I have had to evolve artistically and creatively have made me realize that when it’s coming, I should make space for it. Up until I had my beautiful baby girl, I used to find that the songs would come more during melancholic times. Since I had her, I started writing tons of happy songs! I had an abundance of creativity come about from being so happy. It’s not just happy songs — it’s an interest in energetic, internal dialogue,” she narrated.

Daughter Marley Rose is undoubtedly the happy catalyst in her life, and Fordham beamed when she talked about her. “She’s my No. 1 fan,” she explained. Marley Rose would even ask her to put on the car stereo her “Mama Julia CDs.”

Fordham gamely sang a number of tunes a cappella, including an excerpt from one of the songs on heavy rotation (or, rather, repeat) in her iPod, Peace at Last by The Blue Nile. She jested: “I’m the technological retard. Somebody had to give me a fully loaded iPod. I feel like I was living in the Stone Age and they had to drag me.”

Motherhood and age have clearly rubbed off on the artist’s perspective in life. She would even hazard some advice to the much-troubled Britney Spears when prodded. “Run, run, run. She is a young star who had all the potential. She is being expected to perform with the spotlight on her, shining through her skeleton. It’s not just possible to function well with that kind of scrutiny. I say run, and this is coming from someone blessed with age, and she doesn’t have that on her side. She’s not blessed with hindsight yet; she’s trapped in the moment. She may even say, “I should have listened to that Julia!” She needs to get out of the spotlight, go to rehab, take a ton of therapy and not even try to pursue a career when you are crumbling in the inside. She’s a mother who must be desperate to be with her children, and everything she does fails,” she said.

As for the most romantic gesture she has ever been given: “It’s a bit shameful that I am having a hard time remembering. It was an early boyfriend. I love collecting teacups and he bought me a vintage pink Minnie Mouse tea set for Valentine’s. I thought that was impressive,” she said with a smile. “My partner, who is here today, when I first met him gave me a China teapot. My sister said it was the perfect teapot.”

Definitely not doleful. Here’s happy Julia Fordham. We’re happy to have her back.

(For inquiries, call Alabang Town Center (842-2782, 772-1860), TriNoma (901-3000), Glorietta (752-7272), Ayala Center Cebu ([032] 231-5342 local 324) and Greenbelt (757-4853).