Unveiling Maeve Bluebell Wells: A Journey into the Mystical Soundscape

Dive into the enchanting world of Maeve Bluebell Wells, the West Wales artist who has just unleashed her latest spellbinding track, "Lucifer's Dream." Transported from the pre-pandemic era, this gothic and captivating single unravels a tale inspired by a charming yet troubled man who introduced himself as Lucifer at one of Maeve's shows in Notting Hill. The resulting dreamy, synth-centric track with delicate lyricism is a gem waiting to be discovered this winter. Maeve, a captivating singer-songwriter rooted in the mysticism of Welsh mythology, leads the musical ensemble 'BlueBelle,' featuring talents like Chloe Beth Smith and Tom Griffin.

Their debut release, 'High Priestess,' hinted at staggering promise and charming eccentricity. With influences ranging from Kylie Minogue to Stevie Nicks, Maeve crafts a unique blend of electronica, folk, and rock, promising a dark pop and atmospheric journey. To delve deeper into Maeve's visionary world, explore the links below and get ready for an immersive musical experience.

1)Lucifer's Dream' is a fascinating blend of synth-centric sounds and delicate lyricism. Can you share more about the creative process behind the track and how the encounter with the mysterious man in Notting Hill influenced the storytelling in the song?

I guess I would describe Lucifer’s Dream as a lullaby. This song has journeyed with me through these past years as a sort of melodic companion and has witnessed many twists and turns. The song itself was sparked out of an encounter with a troubled soul who came to a show of mine at the Notting Hill Arts club. He was dressed in a tail-coat and had a cane, there was a Dorian Gray look about him. He declared his ‘good intentions’ by attempting to cut his skin with a cigarette and introduced himself to my friends as ‘Lucifer’. I think I was so taken aback that the encounter became a snapshot of time, one that would make me curious about the stories we tell ourselves and others to make sense of our shape in the world. It was something I asked myself a lot, I could not always marry the versions of myself.

I have enjoyed flirting with the idea that this song has become an alchemist. It has been with me for such a long while in the not-quite-ready-to-release pile in my brain that it has transformed into somewhat of an anthem in having patience and faith. It has made me look into all the ways I would try and hurt myself and punish myself and it told me I could bring softness and curiosity to it just like I could bring softness and curiosity to the song’s troubled muse. I could relate to him, I have a birthmark on my face that I would always try to cover up because I was afraid of being different, I was so afraid of being seen. So in many ways, I created a character of myself to survive in the world, just like this Lucifer had done.

2. Maeve, your music draws inspiration from mysticism and Welsh mythology. How do these elements contribute to your artistic vision, and how do you incorporate them into the sonic landscapes created by ‘BlueBelle'?

‘Y Mabinogion’ is the name given to a collection of wonderful ancient Welsh stories. I remember reading these tales as a child and feeling the magic to be so real; stories of wizards, giants, women made of flowers, kings and queens and best not forget a magical wild boar. A lot of the Welsh landscape is connected to these stories so as a child, walking through the forests and over the hills, I could really feel these stories to be real. To feel the aliveness of my homeland is a great source of inspiration. It made me think of how melodies and sounds belong in different worlds and that’s something that has inspired the early BlueBelle work and my own solo releases too. I believe each song is its own universe and in order to honour the song, a universe has to come alive and so finding the perfect sounds and textures is really important. That’s why I love making music videos, they’re a chance to convey in film the imagery of the sound. Leon is really fantastic at this too so it was a delightful process to work with him.

3. The debut release, 'High Priestess,' showcased the promising and charming eccentricity of 'BlueBelle.' How has the band evolved since then, and what can listeners anticipate from your upcoming creations and musical endeavors?

The band started with the guidance and grace of Steve Levine, who is such a legend. He’s worked with the likes of Culture Club, The Beach Boys and The Clash to name a few. We began writing together and these songs just started emerging, it was such an incredible learning experience. There’s still a load of material that we haven’t released yet which we will hopefully return to at some point. I owe a lot to Levine and to the man who introduced us, Steve Margo. They have both been sages of knowledge and wisdom over the years.

The band’s latest formation is with Tom Griffin, Chloe Beth Smith and myself and we are planning on something a little different for 2024. We have these synth-centric, bilingual, disco tunes and their aim is to make you feel delicious. It’s good to feel delicious!

Griffin (Panthalassa, Lady) is an incredible producer and riff maker, he plays with unusual guitar sounds and has been the catalyst for the new dawn of BlueBelle. Smith (Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Skinny Pelembe) is a genius and is forensic as an engineer and keys player. She can hear the most minor detail that transforms the entire song. I’m so excited to release this next collection of music.

4. Maeve, your vocals have been likened to iconic figures like Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Stevie Nicks, and Blondie. How do these influences shape your vocal style, and what aspects of their artistry do you find particularly inspiring?

They are totally flattering comparisons and it's an honour because each of these artists have such personality to their voices, I hope that’s why the comparison is being drawn! Each and everyone of them has something so creatively different about their work that is so uniquely them. These women have inspired me as tour-de-force figures who have navigated the industry with intelligence, theatrical presence and a lot of charisma.

5. Leon, you have a diverse background that includes dropping out of school, discovering music production, and exploring the relationships between sound and image. How do these varied experiences inform your approach to music production, especially when collaborating with artists like Maeve Bluebell Wells?

School and the area I grew up in was rough, and definitely influenced a taste for moody and aggressive music! Dropping out of school was a risk and obviously caused some problems but thankfully there were great community resources around me and a strong curiosity and attraction to creating gave me a lot of drive in the long run. Before I started producing music I was always drawing and I eventually became really compelled to explore ways sounds could be understood and represented through image. I think music is essentially visual, we use visual language to talk about sounds for example. Music production I think is a process of piecing together shapes, textures and movement with complimentary atmospheres into a collage, and collaboration is a process of understanding each other’s shapes so that the influence of each other’s atmospheres creates an image with more depth than you might be able to do alone.

6. Lucifer's Dream' has a dreamy and captivating quality. As a producer, how did you work to capture the essence of Maeve's storytelling and bring out the atmospheric sensibilities in the track?

The atmosphere of anything for me is either essentially attractive or aversive and that sense completely informs creative decisions, I feel lucky because my choices are made by simply guiding my work towards the atmosphere that feels most captivating, and that’s the way I make anything. When Maeve sent over her demo for Lucifer’s Dream the atmosphere already there was immediately clear and engaging and I knew how I wanted to reinforce that while reflecting the abstract lyrics literally through abstract production. For example, detaching vowel sounds from her performance to create the rhythmic chopped vocal loops is symbolic of intrinsically detached, abstract dreams. These kinds of ideas reinforce the story and help to build the world of the track.