Sisters in tune
> Solange Knowles opens up to older sibling Beyoncé in an interview about her latest album, A Seat at the Table
On working with her husband, video director Alan Ferguson, on the music videos for the songs on the album “The experience was one I will cherish for the rest of my life.
“When I go out in the world, I know that when I come home, I’m going to find peace with him.
“And I didn’t want any variable that could interrupt that. “And through the process of making this record, every time I would come home from the studio, I would be really depleted. “And it was Alan who would encourage me and help lift me back up and give me that coach speech to go back into the studio and start a new day. “So he knew these stories better than anyone did. “And when it came time to talk about the visual aspects of the project, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had to be the person to help bring the vision to life. “And he really saw this through in every single detail that he possibly could have. “Only a person who loves me would say yes to shooting 21 scenes in one week and climbing mountains and literally crossing waterfalls with million-dollar equipment strapped to his back.”
On the meaning behind
“It is actually a song I wrote eight years ago. It’s the only song on the album that I wrote independently of the record.
“I was just coming out of my relationship wth Julez’s father. We were junior high school sweethearts, and so much of your identity in junior high is built on who you’re with.
“So I really had to take a look at myself, outside of being a mother and a wife, and internalise all of these emotions that I had been feeling through that transition.
“I was working through a lot of challenges at every angle of my life, and a lot of self-doubt, a lot of pity-partying.
“And I think every woman in her 20s has been there – where it feels like no matter what you are doing to fight through the thing that is holding you back, nothing can fill that void.
“I used to write and record a lot in Miami during that time, when there was a real estate boom in America, and developers were developing all of this new property. There was a new condo going up every 10 feet.
“You recorded a lot there as well, and I think we experienced Miami as a place of refuge and peace. We weren’t out there wilin’ out [acting up] and partying.
“I remember looking up and seeing all of these cranes in the sky. They were so heavy and such an eyesore, and not what I identified with peace and refuge.
“I remember thinking of it as an analogy for my transition – this idea of building up, up, up that was going on in our country at the time, all of this excessive building, and not really dealing with what was in front of us.
“And eight years later, it’s really interesting that now, here we are again, not seeing what’s happening in our country, not wanting to put into perspective all of these ugly things that are staring us in the face.” – The Independent