PAUL EPWORTH
“I knew I was going to be sort of a jack of all trades and master of none.”Paul Epworth has received awards on stage at the Grammys, the BRITs, the MPG Awards and even the Oscars. Having worked with the likes of Adele, Bloc Party, Friendly Fires, Glass Animals, and Lianne La Havas, his productions have left an indelible mark on British culture. Yet despite his deliberate, crunchy sound he’s also been able to fall in line with even that most formulaic of musical sub-genre: the Bond theme. Epworth co-wrote 2015’s Skyfall with Adele. Its grand Shirley Bassey stylings saw it reap a bevy of awards and become one of the most beloved Bond themes in the franchise’s history.
But all the while, Epworth has yearned to do something more experimental, more personal. “I’d always had this idea that I’d one day make an album where I was able to take the time to explore the records that I’ve loved over the years,” he says, “and really explore the art of record production.” The result of that yearning is Voyager, an unabashed sci-fi concept album in the vein of 1970s space-rock epics, centred around themes and sounds driven in part by Epworth’s childhood musical experiences. But though his first-ever album of original music has been on his mind for a long time, by music-industry standards at least, it took light-years to materialise.
“I signed a deal 10 years ago,” says Epworth, “and then a lot of other things just got in the way.” “With suddenly being in demand, and people wanting to work with me, and me then having a family, I put it the album on the back burner.”
Being in demand is an understatement. Over the past decade, Epworth has worked on scores of high-profile projects with many of the biggest names in the music business, including U2, Stormzy, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Mumford & Sons, and Beck. But the push to summon Voyager into existence came while working with Lianne La Havas, during the writing of what would become her 2015 album Blood.
“I’d made a track with Lianne La Havas called ,” says Epworth. “We wrote, the notion helped crystallise the idea that he could one day be a recording artist himself.
