There’s nothing temporary about Tina
Tina Harrod doesn’t mind getting personal — in fact the singer with a voice like melting velvet leaves an astoundingly personal mark on her latest album, Temporary People.
So it is hardly surprising the Erskineville resident doesn’t flinch when pushed on the topic of same-sex marriage by Sydney Star Observer.
“I don’t see why we would want to legislate against this other than for purely political reasons. It will happen eventually, it’s just a matter of time,” Harrod said of the follow-up to Worksongs.
While Temporary People isn’t gay music in the stereotype sense – there’s no doof doof beats or synth chord progressions – there is an honesty and a grit to the collection of original tracks that resonates with people of all musical tastes.
“I envisaged this album to have more of an edge than Worksongs, but to also be an evolution of that,” Harrod said.
“I tried to keep the instrumentation the same, but the idea was to set it apart from the album before by adding different instruments, like electric guitar, bass, backing vocals and strings.
“The music is all newly written too and the material is very close to me. The rich warm sound of the album was captured by working with the world-renowned engineer Helik Hadar, who is based in LA but was in Australia at the time.”
There’s a unique depth to both the music and the lyrics on Temporary People. Harrod tackles everything from love lost to every drag queen’s nightmare – strutting down a hill in high-heels.
It may be Harrod took the inspiration from a few Sydney drag identities given her close personal relationships with a few of the family.
“Over the years I’ve had good friends and house mates who happened to be gay. Like all of the people in my life, they come and they go,” she said.
“It can be more intense than heterosexual friendships – at least it was when I was younger.
“Now if there’s chemistry between myself and somebody it won’t have anything to do with sexuality, it’ll be based solely on who they are.”
info: Temporary People is out now.
