Sixpence None the Richer on Reuniting the Original Band and the Longevity of ‘Kiss Me’
Some ‘90s rock bands reunite for the paycheck of a festival appearance or an alternative rock package tour. The original members of Sixpence None the Richer got back together simply to make music again.
As singer Leigh Nash and guitarist Matt Slocum tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast, the band members’ lives happened to intersect again for the first time since 2002. The result, the group’s new Rosemary Hill EP, was released on Oct. 4 through Flatiron Recordings, and the band is currently on a U.S. tour that concludes in Los Angeles on Dec. 15.
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“Leigh and I had started working on new music during the pandemic,” says Slocum. “Dale [Baker], who’s our drummer, started reaching out. He was coming into Nashville periodically, because he still works as a session musician here in town and in his hometown of Durham, North Carolina, and he tours a fair amount.”
Before long, Nash, Slouch and Baker were talking about making music together over dinner. That conversation led Nash to reach out to bass player Justin Cary. “That ended up being very serendipitous,” says Slocum, “because he and his wife own a bakery in Albany, New York, and they had made the decision to close the bakery.” Nash called to ask Cary if he wanted to make music again, and “he was more than ready to jump in.”
Truth be told, Sixpence None the Richer never really went away. The band’s 1998 breakthrough hit “Kiss Me,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year, was streamed 70 million times and played on radio nearly 48,000 times in the U.S. last year, according to Luminate. The song has consistently been featured in television shows, too —i ncluding a 2016 episode of The Simpsons —and most recently can be heard in BLACKPINK member Lisa’s new song “Moonlit Floor,” which uses an interpolation of “Kiss Me” and takes its title from the song’s lyrics (“Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight / Lead me out on the moonlit floor”).
Nash is hopeful “Moonlit Floor” helps the band reach new fans and introduces Rosemary Hill to a younger generation. “I have seen a pretty big uptick in people and followers on our social media platforms and and no doubt those are really young people. So, I’m excited to perhaps affect a brand new generation with the new music that we’re putting out. That would be an insane blessing.”
“It’s been really cool to see how it’s connected with people all over the world and has done this generational jump,” adds Slocum. That “Moonlit Floor” songwriters Ryan Williamson and Jessie Reyez chose to utilize “Kiss Me” “shows that it’s just timeless,” he says.
Listen to the entire interview with Leigh Nash and Matt Slocum to hear more about the writing and recording of the Rosemary Hill EP, performing again for the first time in more than a decade, covering The La’s “There She Goes” and meeting The La’s frontman Lee Mavers in London in 2015. You can listen in the embedded Spotify player below or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everand.
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