Daphne Guinness has released the new video for But I’m Not, lifted from her latest album Daphne & The Golden Chord, produced by Tony Visconti and now available on CD & vinyl formats via Agent Anonyme/Absolute). Watch But I’m Not below!
Filmed in Paris, the black & white clip for But I’m Not reflects the track’s ye-ye informed brush-off, alongside performance footage which captures Daphne with longtime David Bowie collaborator Visconti and her own band, which also features co-writer Malcolm Doherty and Terry Miles (both of Go-Kart Mozart), alongside Gary Liedeman (Thin Lizzy).
Speaking about But I’m Not – across which her lyrics flit between French & English – Guinness says; ‘It turns out you can rhyme a French line with an English line, which I wanted to do because I love a lot of French music, although most English songs are based on iambic pentameter, so it isn’t easy. The track came out fully formed – it came from a place a deep pain for me. I wrote it when very angry with someone, and still am – but it sounds rather nice, like Françoise Hardy.’
Daphne & The Golden Chord was released digitally earlier this year, alongside the premiere at the London BFI IMAX of music videos created for the album by Nick Knight and The Fashtons ((Aluna George, Maya Jane Coles, Django Django). Visconti also worked on Guinness’ debut album, 2016’s critically acclaimed ‘Optimist in Black’, having been introduced by David Bowie. Bowie was so impressed with her music that he recommended her to his long-time producer, and another chapter of Daphne’s life began.
The new album captures Guinness’ songwriting brought to life by a new band including Doherty, Miles and Liedeman, alongside Generation X’s James Stevenson and Andy Mackay of Roxy Music. ‘Daphne & The Golden Chord’ was recorded live to analogue tape at London’s British Grove Studios, on consoles previously used on The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’, Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ and Wings’ ‘Band On The Run’. ‘I can’t sing a single word I don’t believe in,’ says Guinness. ‘It’s the closest thing I can get to a memoir without making people I know very cross indeed. It’s all there: love, hate, nervous breakdowns.’