NYLON - January 2009 - (Page 133) mixed signals Let’s be honest, it’s never much fun being stood up. It is an unseasonably warm day for October in London, and Ebony Thomas, who performs as Ebony Bones and has been tagged the U.K.’s answer to Santogold—i.e., a hugely idiosyncratic singer whose music takes a fistful of conflicting styles and forces them together in drunken celebration—has suggested we meet for a 1:30 p.m. lunch at a fashionable East End diner. But, a slow hour later, Thomas is nowhere to be seen. Fast-forward a day, and her disarmingly buoyant voice is bursting from the telephone at high volume and great speed. “Oh God, I’m so sorry, I felt horrendous about missing you, but, but, but a photo shoot, it overran, I didn’t have your number, I’m really sorry, you must have been cursing me all day,” she says. Suddenly, she brightens. “Anyway, how are you? Me, I’m exhausted. I think it’s because I’m so busy these days, and I’ve not been taking care of myself. I just signed on for a course in Bikram yoga, actually. I started to notice that my ass is growing and growing, and I need to do something about it! Wish me luck.” Ebony Bones is a 24-year-old TV actress–turned-singer, whose sense of style is every bit as colorful and frenetic as the music she makes. She is currently working on her EBONY BONES HAS A SOUND AND STYLE THAT’S SO ECLECTIC IT SHOULDN’T MAKE SENSE, BUT, SOMEHOW, IT DOES. BY NICK DUERDEN. PHOTOGRAPHED BY NEIL THOMSON debut album (due in spring 2009)—which she is writing and producing herself—and regularly posting new songs on her MySpace page. She prefers this DIY approach because, she says, “all record companies want these days is just another Pussycat Dolls, and I am not another Pussycat Dolls.” This is true. Nine years ago, Thomas was a regular on a British daytime soap called Family Matters. Between takes, she would retreat into her dressing room to work on music, and when the show was axed a couple of years ago (because nobody watched it), she immediately seized the opportunity to take up crafting songs full-time. “I grew up in a real mix of cultures, British and Caribbean,” she explains, “and listening to everyone from the New York Dolls to Parliament, from punk to funk to reggae. I love pop music, I love rap, I love loud clothes, and I’ve always loved the idea of meshing them all—style and music—together.” She pauses. “Does it show?” Yes. Of the songs featured on her MySpace page, “Don’t Fart on My Head” is pretty typical of Thomas’s stuff. Imagine Gwen Stefani with food poisoning, or the last few climactic moments of a particularly chaotic Mardi Gras. She yelps, the music clatters around her, and the overall effect is exuberant, effusive, and irresistible. Her songs have already found their way to famous ears, and Massive Attack, Grace Jones, Timbaland, and Basement Jaxx are all vocal admirers. “Every so often a woman comes along to redefine femininity in music. Björk, Joni Mitchell, Santogold, and now, hopefully, me. I want,” she says flatly, “to be noticed.” It’s entirely likely she will. And not just for her songs, either. Anyone who refers to herself as “Harry Potter with a vagina” clearly knows how to grab the public’s attention. “Ah, well, yes. That Harry Potter thing was a mistake,” she says, laughing loudly. “Somebody asked me to sum myself up, and that was the first thing that came into my head. It kind of stuck.” makeup: kerrieann murphy. all clothes by alison gaukroger.
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.