ALBUM REVIEW: Iraina Mancini - Undo the Blue

ALBUM REVIEW:

 

 

Iraina Mancini

COVER PHOTO Dora Paphides

Undo the Blue

 

 

9.8/10

 

 

RELEASE DATE:

18th August, 2023

PRE-ORDER HERE:

https://needlemythology.tmstor.es/

LABEL:

Needle Mythology

MASTERED BY:

John Webber at AIR Studios

LYRICS:

Iraina Mancini (except Do It (You Stole the Rhythm) (Iraina Mancini and Ed Phillips), and Take a Bow (Iraina Mancini and Ian Barter)

MUSICAL COMPOSITION:

Iraina Mancini, Jagz Kooner, Paul Cousins, Charles Turner, Simon Dine, David Bardon, Oscar Robertson, Ranald MacDonald, Wolfram Brunke, Ian Barter

PRODUCTION:

Jagz Kooner, Oscar Robertson, David Bardon, Jean-Baptiste Pilon, Ian Barter, Erol Alkan (additional)

TRACKLISTING:

SIDE ONE:

Deep End

Cannonball

Sugar High

Undo the Blue

Do It (You Stole the Rhythm)

SIDE TWO:

My Umbrella

Shotgun

What You Doin’ (Featuring Miles Kane & Kitty Liv)

Need Your Love

Take a Bow

_________

I am writing this review….

PHOTO CREDIT: Jason A Miller

on the morning of Thursday, 27th July. In mere hours, we will find out which twelve albums have been selected for consideration for the Mercury Prize. In fact, by the time that this review is online, we will already know the beautiful dozen! I mention this because I think that Iraina Mancini’s debut album, Undo the Blue, is one that should be considered for next year’s Prize – as it has every chance of being shortlisted. I heard the album in digital form before getting a physical copy on vinyl. There is something classic and wonderful when you get the vinyl. Earlier this month, the world said goodbye to the iconic Jane Birkin. A musician and actress that Mancini cites as an influence, you get the feeling that some of Birkin’s effortless and legendary cool seeps through the music of Undo the Blue. It definitely goes into the album artwork and design. James at Schein is responsible for design and art direction. Dora Paphides shot the photos. With an excellent and supportive team at Needle Mythology proudly raving about the album, you know something special is coming into the world on 18th August! The photos of Mancini on the album remind me of Jane Birkin. That same sort of style, seduction and allure shines through and gets into the heart. The colour palette – shades of purple and pink – are perfect. Warm and cool at the same time, you are struck by the tactile wonder and immersive qualities of the physical album! Unlike many albums where you get the credits and track breakdowns in the liner notes, Undo the Blue proudly puts them on the back cover. It is amazing knowing where each track was recorded and who played on it. Who produced and wrote the music. Apologies for any miscrediting above, but with Mancini writing the lyrics (eight solo and two co-writes), she composed alongside some phenomenal people. It is a real treat getting the physical album and admiring its colours, text and photos! It is about time to get down to the business of sharing my thoughts about Iraina Mancini’s debut album. Let’s do some quick housekeeping first. You can follow Iraina Mancini on Twitter, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Having seen her perform live a couple of times – at The Social, and The Lexington in London -, I can attest as to how tight her band is; the amazing chemistry and connection between them. How good she performs live. An extraordinary artist who has incredible stage command and this incredible ability to leave a crowd both spellbound and enraptured after a single song, I would recommend you go and see her live if you can. Undo the Blue is an album that has some studio gloss to it, but it actually comes across like a live album. Something quite intimate and raw through some of the songs. Like you are in the room with Mancini and her band! I love the sequencing of Undo the Blue. Rather than lead-off with one of the newer or more regularly-spun songs such as Cannonball or Undo the Blue, the wonderful Deep End opens proceedings (released as a single back in 2021). I sort of saw the album as a concept piece. Something filmic. There have been videos released of the videos but, if you listen to the stirring and quite epic opening to Deep End, you do think of opening credits. It is almost like a Bond theme. Our heroine says that she always tries to hold back but, invariably, she “always falls off the tracks”. With some standout Farfisa organ playing from Mancini and hornet-buzz and awesome guitar from Charles Turner, Undo the Blue opens with a serious bang. The ‘deep end’ of the song seems to refer to a relationship that is special and addictive - yet it seems to offer up its obstacles and dangers. Maybe some sense of self-regret and reflection: “It's you I adore/Black cherries stains on the floor/I'm over my head/Can't catch my breath/And all of the things that I promised to you/I always managed to undo”. Mancini is brilliant at talking about the relatable and universal…but doing it in a very personal and original way. Her lyrics are so evocative and poetic! Her vocal phrasing and delivery is different on every song. That gives each tracks its own skin and colour scheme – through it is distinctly the sound of Iraina Mancini. With a sound and vibe that places it somewhere in 1970s Italian cinema and some modern-day thriller, it is a wonderful start to an album that offers only solid gems. It was Needle Mythology head Pete Paphides said (of Undo the Blue) that it is an album that has all singles; every track could be a single and succeed. Such is the consistency and brilliance of the songwriting and performances, you cannot argue against that!

I have already reviewed the sublime and unforgettable second track on the album, Cannonball. Suffice to say it is an early highlight. If I had to list my favourite three Iraina Mancini songs, Cannonball would be second – the album’s title track is still at the top of the pile! A musical nod to the whole band, but I am especially fond of Oscar Robertson’s drum work. When I reviewed Cannonball when it came out as a single earlier this year, I noted how there were elements of The Beatles circa. 1966. Before continuing with that train of thought, and keeping with the narrative/film arc, Cannonball seems like having jumped into the relationship and now fully committing. If Deep End was a little nervous and self-reflective in terms of intent and reality, Cannonball is more of an awakening and revelation – “Lost in the floodlights/Hot like a cannonball/Don't let me fall”. The physicality of passion and love shines through already. From the loss and potential disaster of the opening track to the cannonball-hot fall and fly of the sophomore cut, this is one of our finest artists at her very peak. The percussion does remind me of The Beatles’ Rain in addition to And Your Bird Can Sing. That Revolver-period regency where they were untouchable as a band. It is genuine and high kudos to a song that you will revisit time and time again. The sway of the chorus’s start (“So stay true/I’ll be your brand new…”) to the bang and pummel of the end of the chorus (“Don't let me fall/Let me fall/Let me fall!”), it is a magnificent song! Sugar High is a track that Mancini seems to particularly enjoy playing live for eager crowds. A natural stand-out single contender, we are now relaxed into this romance – if we, just for now, continue the story of the film - with this lush and sweeping song. If the first two tracks have a rawness and punch to them, Sugar High has this beautiful and elegant beauty. Like a piece of music one might hear in a French film from the 1970s, Jane Birkin did come to mind when hearing Sugar High. Mancini did say Deep End was influenced by Ye-Ye singers of the'80s, France Gall, and the brilliant Françoise Hardy. I hear some of that influence here too. As a lyricist, there are few who can paint such dream-inducing and smile-widening pictures as Iraina Mancini! A sugar-filled world of deep kisses, sticky fingers, and some candy-rich scents, sensations and colours, this is a sublime song that, like the heroine, lifts you off of your feet – and solidifies Pete Paphides’ claims that Undo the Blue is so good every song could be a single (if I am remembering right, did Mancini say this might be the next single?!).

Three tracks in, and we have already seen our heroine fall wild and doubt her feelings; fall madly for someone very special, now she is enraptured and seduced by this perfect world. Undo the Blue changes directions and adds to the story. Already released as a single, many are familiar with the album’s title track. My favourite single of last year…and my favourite of Mancini’s full stop, I adore this track! Sugar High’s strings came from Clementine Brown. I believe here they come courtesy of Jagz Kooner (one of the album’s producers). Not only are there nods to French and Italian cinema, but I hear elements of the sort of smooth and electric Soul and R&B you’d hear from The Temptations back in the day. Maybe some of the Stax sound with the horns. If this relationship is the same as the one mentioned in Sugar High (or it relates to a former sweetheart), things are more strained and unsure here (“…It burns through the energy/Wade through your mistakes/Oh, I feel it all over/I'll reach up for that remedy”). Again, with such a vibrant, vivid, poetic, beautiful and imaginative set of lyrics backed by one of her lushest and most enticing vocals, you are helpless to resists or question the rush power of Undo the Blue! There is so much detail in the song. From wordless vocal hold and coo to the blend and balance of acoustic guitar and Fender Rhodes, it is a sumptuous and divine offering! The first side ends with the magical Do It (You Stole the Rhythm). A  fan favourite that was released as a single back in 2021. Produced by Jagz Kooner, this gorgeous introduction really brings you into the song. So immersive and spine-tingling, Mancini has said about the song “I wrote this about that feeling of pure joy when you are surrounded by people you care about and there is music, sunshine, laughter and great energy. There is almost a magic in the air when all those things are combined, an electricity that makes you feel truly alive. I tried to capture that in this song as I thought now more than ever we are craving togetherness and joy”. What I said about sequencing. This is a perfect way to end the first side! You have this optimistic note to end on. One of two of the ten songs on the album where Mancini shares lyrical duties (the other is Take a Bow), Ed Phillips is credited here.

Whether flipping the vinyl, letting the C.D. run or allowing a streaming platform to transport you to the second side, it is always hard to both keep the quality high, offer some new dynamic and also keep this sense of flow and balance just right. The perfect second side-opening song comes from My Umbrella. Like Deep End, this might be new to some fans. Kudos for not opening the first or second side with the bigger or more recognisable songs. My Umbrella, though, is a diamond that could be another single. Coming into the song, you have this rush and busyness that sort of places you on the street. Like the heroine is on a street in Paris or New York or Rome. In fact, when hearing the vocal and composition, I got nods to Japanese Disco music of the 1970s or'80s– unless I need to clear my ears out, there are some shades of that. Again, with her pen as sharp and genius as ever, Mancini draws you into the tracks and makes you envisage the scene. A track that has a lot of different elements rushing and entwining (like rain, birds and the wind), shout-out to David Bardon and Oscar Robertson!

IN THIS PHOTO: Iraina Mancini deep in thought during a soundcheck/PHOTO CREDIT: Dean Chalkley

With additional production from Erol Alkan, what a treat and brilliant way to pen the second side of the majestic and flawless Undo the Blue! Shotgun is one of the ‘older’ tracks on the album. Released as a single in 2020, its music video was directed by Iraina Mancini. Inspired by'60s and'70s film scores and soundtracks with hints of Jazz, Funk, Cinema and Soul, there is a 1971 sample from Soft Wind by Gary Pacific Orchestra. I imagine, again, maybe a Bond film themes. Perhaps a 1960s film with this very smoky, cool and slinky sound. Combining something ice-cool, hot, sexy and dangerous, Mancini said this about the track: “Shotgun is sexy and seductive. It’s about being wildly and dangerously in love. You know that moment when it’s unhealthy and dangerous, but it’s just too late, you are under their spell and in too deep. Inspired by the album Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg, Iraina and collaborator Jagz Kooner (Primal Scream/Oasis) have created something that is simultaneously playful, naughty and wildly romantic. Shotgun could be the title track for a 70s porno, found playing in a late-night Smokey jazz cafe in Paris or the soundtrack to a wild night out in the seediest parts of Soho scored by Quentin Tarantino. “Like an old movie scene we drove for miles in summer rain, I took a chance and left it all and my heart it smiled again“ The accompanying video was made by Iraina at home using an iPhone and 8mm footage. Inspired by vintage film titles for James Bond, Old B Movie’s and live at the Fillmore posters, Iraina involved the artist Grigory Grebennikov and animator Russell Agro to make her vision come alive”. I did get a lot of Quentin Tarantino in the song. A cut you could see in Pulp Fiction or even Jackie Brown, it is another remarkable sonic shift with wonderful arrangement from Iraina Mancini and Jagz Kooner.

The final three tracks of Undo the Blue keep the quality high and offer plenty of variation. The current single, What You Doin’, features Miles Kane’s incredible guitar chops and some phenomenal harmonica work from the wonderful Kitty Liv. The only track to really bring in other musicians (not in her band/crew), it is nice that Undo the Blue offers this consistent band and backbone, but it also has one track offering a couple of new faces to the mix. A stomper that has aspects of Glam, I get impressions of classic T. Rex, David Bowie during his imperial and majestic Aladdin Sane period, with some Goldfrapp. The second single released through Needle Mythology, Mancini has said of What You Doin’: “I wrote about someone not being able to see what’s right in front of them, and If they don’t act soon, then you’re not waiting around! It’s got a lot of attitude and confidence. I love the live feel the song has, it was great to have Miles Kane (guitar) and Kitty Liv (harmonica) come down to the studio to jam on the track. Their parts added an extra sprinkle of magic to the song”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Dora Paphides

I am not sure where we are in our film/story in terms of the rollercoaster. Maybe a new love has renewed her spirits and got her heart beating, the opening lines are wonderfully rich: “Take a little bit of my heart too/Open up I’m in front of you/The bloods spinning round my head/So reach out and touch me instead/Oh if you ever want take a chance/I’ll be waiting here with open hands/Your buzz is so sweet all around me/I'll give you my loving up for free”. With the song’s title repeated like a chant or call, it is an instantly catchy track that goes down a storm when she performs it live! The video, shot at Abbey Road Studios, sort of visualises the lyrics and flavour of What You Doin’. There are nods to 1970s Glam and Funk. But there are also bits of Queens of the Stone Age too. Such an original and standout song that does stop you in your tracks, you have to bow down to Mancini’s incredible ability to blend different sights and sounds and make it all hang together! So much variation on Undo the Blue and yet, as I said, it is distinctly the production and sound of one artist.

Need Your Love is the penultimate track. Twanging and sauntering almost like an Italian Western film, again this could be a film score. It is a truly stunning track. I keep coming back to James Bond (my apologies!), but such is the incredible potency and lustre of the song, it could be on the big screen! I sort of see this, sonically at least, as a companion to Undo the Blue. There is that similar haziness and dreaminess in places. In the chorus, I love the backing vocals (from Mancini) that repeats the song’s title. It adds a beautiful layer. With some excellent talk-singing at the two-thirds point, our heroine says: “I’m strong like a lion/Got a fire in my chest”. I keep saying every song could be a single, but this really could be! I see Mancini in darker red lipstick, maybe in a (purple) suit. Almost like a spy or femme fatale, you get something new from the song each time you pass through. This is a song most people would not have heard. It ensures that you get some more familiar favourites with deeper cuts that will instantly stick in the mind and builds a bigger picture of a superb artist.

PHOTO CREDIT: Dora Paphides

Like Madonna’s 1994 album, Bedtime Stories, Iraina Mancini’s stunning debut ends with a song called Take a Bow. If Madonna’s song was sweeping ballad where she compared a cruel lover to an actor who is asked to take a bow after he took her love for granted, then that is not the case here. One of the simpler songs in terms of musicians – Mancini is credited alongside Ian Barter (piano, guitar and bass) -, it is the perfect end. Some might say end with Undo the Blue or What You Doin’, but I think that Take a Bow is a brilliant finale! Also, I do think Mancini had a story or order in her head that means Take a Bow is the ‘end credits’. You get a real sense of credits rolling as Mancini calls out to this unnamed figure. Asking if their “heart is near”, maybe this is someone who has gone through a lot and needs something new. Asking her other not to make things harder, perhaps we are dealing with a break-up. Ian Barter co-wrote the lyrics. Ghostly, atmospheric and seductive at the same time, this is a remarkable song where Mancini and Barter compose, write and mix.

There are a few excellent different producers through the album so, rather than miss any out at the top of the review and it being quite glaring, Needle Mythology write: “Simon Dine (Paul Weller) Jagz Kooner (David Holmes, Oasis, Shakespear’s Sister) and Sunglasses For Jaws (Miles Kane), who have all produced the record along with additional production from Erol Alkan (The Killers, Duran Duran, Ride)”. This is also worth quoting: “Speaking about the album Iraina comments “The songs on my album are all about reinvention and following your dreams. I really felt like the hero in my own movie, creating a fantasy world were anything’s possible. My album is a huge reflection of my passions, filled with references from my favourite music, films and art. I’m thrilled to be finally putting it all together and sharing it with everyone“. A while ago, I listed my top three albums. At the top was boygenius’ debut, the record. Undo the Blue was my favourite single of last year. Cannonball is my favourite of this year. I think that Undo the Blue might have leapt to the number one spot when it comes to my favourite albums of this year – it is very close to the record at least! Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 6 Music) has already professed her love of Iraina Mancini. Her songs have been played and backed on the station by the likes of Chris Hawkins.

There is so much goodwill and passion out there for a staggeringly talented artist (and a very modest and warm human who has such a bright future ahead). Mancini is preparing for her U.K. tour. I think we will see her tour internationally soon. There would definitely be a lot of love for her in nations like the U.S. At such a hard and strange time for us all, we, as a people, are dealing with so much scary stuff. Music is an escape and way to make like seem better and more hopeful. On her tremendous debut album, Undo the Blue, Mancini offers ten tracks of glistening and glorious gold. A banquet; jewellery box. So many wonderful and diverse sounds, sung by an astonishing singer with an incredible emotional and dynamic range. Iraina Mancini is a wonderful and versatile red-hot-cool and iconic queen with one of the sharpest, richest, multifarious, and most intriguing pens in modern music. Undo the Blue is an album to buy, cherish, surrender yourself to, and revisit time and time again. Its fabulous and dreamy title track will undo the blue. It is an album that we all…

IN THIS PHOTO: Iraina Mancini mid-performance and in her element at a spellbinding gig at The Lexington, London on 13th July, 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: Lloyd Winters

SERIOUSLY need right now.

TRACK REVIEW: The Last Dinner Party – Sinner

TRACK REVIEW:

  

The Last Dinner Party – Sinner

 

 

9.5/10

 

 

RELEASE DATE:

30th June, 2023

LABEL:

Universal-Island Records

PRODUCER:

James Ford

Sinner is available via:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfVpq86tOw8

_________

AS we speak…

The Last Dinner Party are preparing for a gig in Switzerland (tomorrow). They are pretty booked up until the end of the year. Consisting of singer Abigail Morris, bassist Georgia Davies, keyboardist Aurora Nishevci and guitarists Lizzie Mayland and Emily Roberts, they are one of the most talked-about and brilliant groups in the country. I did recently feature them as part of my Spotlight feature. I wanted to review their new single as their debut, Nothing Matters, was extraordinary and highly-regarded. Before reviewing Sinner, I am going to cover a few interviews that The Last Dinner Party have been involved with. It is a way for anyone new to the group too discover more about them. I have just written about live videos and how they are replacing music videos. I am not sure whether there is going to be an official video for Sinner, but live videos are a great way of producing a visual for a song and demonstrating how it will translate to the stage. It is a way for people to see what an artist is like in the live setting. I have dropped in the live video in addition to the lyric video, as they both bring in something different. It is exciting getting down to studying and diving inside the new single from The Last Dinner Party.

Before getting to Sinner, there are some interviews that I want to highlight. The Guardian featured the group in May. As I will highlight, there was a lot of unwarranted criticism aimed at The Last Dinner Party when Nothing Matters arrived and blew up. Many thought they were industry plants or were already signed to a big label and were there just to get hype. Rather than this being a fair judgement of a group who got so much buzz after one single, it reveals the way many view women in the industry – and the fact a male band would not be judged and questioned if they came onto the scene and got this instant acclaim:

“If you regularly loiter in the indiest corners of Twitter, or have even glanced at the NME homepage recently, there’s a decent chance you have at least heard of The Last Dinner Party. It’s possibly less likely that you’ve actually heard them: they have released just the one track so far. Despite this, in the last fortnight the band have received breathless write-ups everywhere from Rolling Stone to the Spectator, for their raucous live performances and baroque-inflected pop.

That sudden rush of hype has sparked a backlash: eyebrows raised on social media over the band’s big-name management and major label status; whispers about them being “industry plants” or – even worse – nepo babies. Which in turn has prompted a pointed rebuttal from the band (Not nepo babies! Not manufactured!) and their supporters. All of this, in the best part of a fortnight. The discourse is already in runaway train mode, and if you’ve been following it all you may have already had your fill. But I do think there’s something fascinating about the whole affair – a mix of old-school buzz band hype, and very modern concerns about the music industry and who rises and falls within it.

First though, a quick primer: The Last Dinner Party are a Brixton-formed five piece who have been a going concern for a year, and are signed to Island Records and the management firm QPrime. They’ve spent much of the last 12 months gigging, including a support slot for the Rolling Stones, a detail that has been leapt upon by critics as evidence of industry plant status, although (as this thoughtful Clash piece on the whole brouhaha points out) it was essentially a bottom-of-the-bill slot at a day festival in Hyde Park – a decent get, no doubt, but perhaps not the massive push it has been painted as.

In fact, it’s notable that there seems to have been zero mainstream press coverage of the band until the release of their first single, Nothing Matters, a few weeks ago. Then came the sudden deluge of approving articles. In fairness, much of that deluge is down to the quality of Nothing Matters, a Kate Bush-meets-Warpaint stomp with a chorus you could imagine being belted out at a decent sized festival this summer. But it’s impossible to deny that having big labels and management firms pushing it in the direction of journos can’t exactly hurt.

What’s striking is how atypical this buzz-building feels, compared with how most overnight successes occur these days: through prominent slots on Spotify playlists, canny use of TikTok, a well-placed sync. Compared to the methods used by, say, PinkPantheress, The Last Dinner Party’s method of gigging intensely and earning a glowing write-up in the NME feels about as current as sending your seven-inch to Radio Luxembourg. (It should be noted that all of those other routes to overnight success are usually aided by, or even dependent on, some helpful nudges from labels or/and big management companies – but they’re helpful nudges that aren’t perhaps as easy to notice as a sudden influx of media attention.)

The criticism levelled at The Last Dinner Party feels both very current and highly anachronistic. Objecting to a band signing to a major: how very Gen X of you. And didn’t poptimism wipe away all those concerns about which groups were manufactured and which were not? The difference, I suppose, is that The Last Dinner Party are nominally indie, a scene that can still be prickly around issues of authenticity – particularly when women are the focus (see also: Wet Leg). Some of the criticism though has been thoughtful and valid: see this well-argued Twitter thread from the lead singer of synth-punk trio Kill, the Icon!, who, rather than attacking The Last Dinner Party themselves, points out the wider structural inequalities at play in the music industry that lead to certain bands soaring to ubiquity while others struggle for even the slightest recognition”.

This is a phenomenal group that do not need to be compared to anyone or written off in that way. Whilst many have been quick to, it is clear there is something bracingly and pleasingly original about the Brixton group. Under the Radar sat down with them in May to discuss Nothing Matters and how they have come into the industry with a bang:

“Enter The Last Dinner Party (formerly The Dinner Party), a band with a lineup consisting of Abigail Morris on vocals, Georgia Davies on bass, Lizzie Mayland on guitar, Aurora Nishevci on keys, and Emily Roberts on lead guitar. Their live performances started attracting buzz pretty from the get-go, as rumors spread about an exciting emerging new band. One person who caught wind of the hype was Lou Smith, aka the South London scene’s unofficial videographer. Smith’s YouTube channel is a veritable treasure trove of emerging bands from the area, and he was on hand to capture The Dinner Party’s third-ever gig. It was a pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of the band’s career forever.

I sit down for a chat with bassist Georgia Davies and lead singer Abigail Morris as they enjoy a pint and talk excitedly about The Last Dinner Party’s serendipitous beginnings. “We met in college doing A-levels,” explains Davies. “But we really began bonding after going to gigs in South London and seeing bands at the likes of the Brixton Windmill. It’s such a vibrant scene, and we felt totally inspired by the music that was being made. We definitely wanted to be part of that in some way.”

They began writing and practicing, and within a few months, started playing live. That’s when Lou Smith filmed their third-ever gig. Morris gushes, “He’s our hero! He’s the reason we’re here.” Davies chimes in, “We were a new band without any representation. After that video went online, our email inbox started blowing up! We were getting correspondence from labels, managers, PRs—all of them referencing this one video they’d seen on YouTube.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Sullivan

All new bands face the double-edged sword of journalistic comparison, and The Last Dinner Party are no exception. Some heavyweight names have been bandied about, comparing their sound to everything from Kate Bush and David Bowie to Sparks and, more recently, Marina. Someone even wrote on YouTube that one of their compositions, the beautiful “On Your Side,” had replaced “Starman” as their favorite ever song. “I saw that comment, I was like, ‘WTF! That’s mad!’” says a clearly astonished Morris. “It’s obviously a huge compliment, although I have mixed feelings about comparisons. I’ve always been a huge music fan and was brought up surrounded by music like Bowie, Kate Bush, and Queen, so we’d be lying if we said we weren’t influenced or inspired by such great artists. However, we didn’t set out to sound like the next Kate Bush or Marina and the Diamonds. We want to sound like The Last Dinner Party.”

Davies acknowledges the usefulness of musical reference points for writers. “I can see why writers like to use comparisons, but the variety of them shows that people haven’t been able to pigeonhole us into one particular style or genre, which is a good thing.” Meanwhile, Morris expresses her incredulity at the comparison by some made with ABBA, on the band’s soaring debut single “Nothing Matters.” “I mean, don’t get me wrong, ABBA are legends, but really? I just can’t hear that, at all,” she says with a laugh.

And speaking of legends, it has been widely reported that the band have already shared the stage with greats such as Nick Cave and The Rolling Stones. Something that must have been mind-blowing, given that the band only began gigging in 2021. “Well, sharing a stage with Nick Cave is pushing it a bit,” revealed Morris. “The truth is we played on a little stage, which just happened to be at the same festival. Nick Cave was actually on the huge stage about three hours later. But we did share the same air with the great man. We are huge fans, and we went to his book signing just to get closer to him”.

I am going to move things on a bit. The Last Dinner Party were busy touring and crafting their sound before their debut single came out. Now, with more dates and experience under their belt, it is becoming clear that they are potential festival headliners. Lots of people are already excited about the possibility of an album. It is understandable that there is a lot of interest in the group. NME featured The Last Dinner Party. Highlighting them as a band that will take the industry by storm, it does seem like they will have a very busy future:

“You mentioned you’ve been recording quite a bit. Is there a finished album hidden away somewhere?

Abigail: “I don’t know if we’re at liberty to answer that question. It’s coming, you know, it’s alive. We did it in Church Studios in Crouch Hill, with [Arctic Monkeys and Foals producer] James Ford, who’s a fucking wonderful, kind, talented man, who really just understood us in a way that no one else has musically. It was just a complete dream come true. There’s been so much intensity around us for so long, so it was nice to have that month of peace.”

Georgia: “We’ll have more music by the end of the year.”

Aurora: “Some things that we play now are not on there, but they might come back in the future.”

Abigail: “I feel like the album, in its state now, wouldn’t be the case if we hadn’t been playing live for so long. We were really able to do a lot of experimenting and feeling the emotion of the songs live, and I think that’s informed it.”

Last summer you supported The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, as a band without a debut single. How surreal was that?

Lizzie: “I did wonder if we were all just going to explode.”

Georgia: “It was one of the best days of my life. I remember pulling up to the stage and the back of it was like a cathedral.”

Abigail: “However, now we have a vendetta against Mick Jagger because he snubbed us. I’m going on record, NME: Mick Jagger’s a hack. Sam Fender and Courtney Barnett were also opening for them, and then Mick Jagger got up on stage, and was like, ‘I’d like to thank our support acts’. We were all standing there like, ‘Oh my god. He’s gonna say our name! Everything will be right in the world’. And then he said, ‘Courtney Barnett and Sam Fender… you guys are amazing.’ We all started screaming ‘justice’ and it all got a bit out of hand. His days are numbered.

With a mixture of Baroque Pop and Punk, there is something both edgy and accessible about The Last Dinner Party. One of the reasons why I have selected an interview from The Line of Best Fit  is because, as they state, it is unusual that every member of a group wants to speak in an interview. Whether that is because they want to be seen only as a single unit with no one person speaking for them or they each want to have their say, you get to know each member of the quintet better this way:

“The bandmates all live in London, meeting at keyboardist Aurora Nishevci’s flat to plot new concepts and music. The most unsurprising thing is that they met during their university’s fresher’s week, a time when many bands are formed but hardly commit to following through on making their dreams come true post-uni. That isn’t the case for The Last Dinner Party.

In April, the band’s debut single “Nothing Matters” was finally unveiled, serving us a platter of florid prose tied together with operatic-style notes. The track was the catalyst to a lot of feedback across the UK music scene — the majority of it positive and the rest of it being a little unfounded. As of late, music has felt carnivorous — songs are as easily digested as they are created, quickly moving on to the next big thing. In addition to that, critics and naysayers are quick to jump at the chance to tear apart anything that becomes talked about online, drawing blood before a band even has a chance to find its footing.

If anything, it’s only emboldened the five members to push on — all due to their tenacity and how listeners have devoured the track almost 4.5 million times to date. “It has been overwhelming in a lovely way,” says Abigail Morris, the band’s lead vocalist. “We were excited for it to come out and we hoped that it would be received well because we’re proud of it. We know it’s a great song, but the extent and the ferocity in which it's been enjoyed and sort of blown up is really not what we expected.”

After touching on the fact that their debut single took ages to come out — before they played shows and opened for larger acts — the band laughs. “[The reaction] was suddenly worth waiting to do that,” says bassist Georgia Davies. “People at the live shows were asking for any music at all and it was definitely an arduous process waiting for it to come out. Hearing people who feel connected with us from the live shows now being able to hear the song… It was so worth it.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Brennan Bucannan

The beauty of not having the pressure to release music constantly and, instead, focusing on playing shows first helped inform and perfect the upcoming larger body of work. It permitted them to have the space to try things out and play the songs first to help inform how they were recorded and produced. “Before we get to the final version of the recorded track, we'll play it live,” says keyboardist Aurora Nishevci. “Sometimes we'll make a demo before but then we have to play it in a room and get a better picture of what that song is and what we want it to be. I think playing [the songs] live imbues it with confidence. Last year when we recorded the album, we remembered the things that people like because we played them live so many times. Having that was essential to recording it. “We wanted the energy and the theatricality of our live shows to just be at the very center of the of the record,” Davies continues. “I think that's what was the most important thing that we wanted to capture when we went in [to record].”

The live shows also helped the band shape how they want to approach their music, artistry, and vision for the future. “Everyone here is a songwriter and performer in their own right and has lots of experience doing it in different contexts,” explains Davies. “But the last year has been us figuring out The Last Dinner Party. What does it mean? What do we sound like? Do we stick to certain sounds? What themes do we live in?”

“It’s also been a lot of observing other live music and seeing what we want to incorporate into our live shows too,” says Morris. “Things like songwriting and performance have evolved a lot [since first becoming a band]. The live shows has always been the focus and what defines us. We’ve become more and more confident and the show has developed from there”.

As lovers of visuals and theatrics, the band refuses to hand off their creative control to anyone — resulting in them creating their mood boards for everything from their artwork to videos to their tweets, typically penned by Morris.

PHOTO CREDIT: Brennan Bucannan

“There was no other option for us,” she proudly proclaims. “From the very, very beginning when we started, even before we played live or had more than five rehearsals together, we knew that visuals were going to be half of what made this band important to us. We're very ambitious and very distinct on how we want to look, so it's important for us to just have complete control over everything. We love working with other people and collaborating, that is our thing, and I think that comes through.”

“Sinner,” the band’s latest song, is a call-to-arms of sorts — a declaration to a lover chanting “I wish I knew you / before it felt like a sin.” “I wrote that one,” states Mayland. “The story is about my relationship with London and where I grew up, which is a very, very rural small town. It has prejudices and is a bit small-minded socially. “‘Sinner’ is about converting to a place where you feel freer be yourself and express your sexuality, but also long for that place that you were so at home in. I had a nice childhood and it's something I miss, but those two things don't feel like they can coexist. It’s kind of a made-up story about if I met someone who could represent both those things and like me as an entire person rather than one or the other.”

"One of the huge reasons for us wanting to start this band is so that we can make something that we would have wanted to see at 15 or 16 as young women."

In true The Last Dinner Party fashion, the band notes visual companions to the track: think Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Wuthering Heights (2011) with the lush rocky landscape of the Yorkshire Moors and getting whipped in the face by the wind.

Between the two studio releases and the live clips online, it’s clear how conversational the band’s lyrics are while also maintaining a sense of introspection and a dash of magical realism. When prompted with the question of how they write and carve out a space for themselves while still giving space to listeners to find themselves in the music, Morris says when she writes, it comes straight from her diary. “I tend to write in my diary in a very romanticized way,” she laughs. “I think it's funny because I can be really specific in what I talk about and sometimes, the more specific you are about an experience or a romantic breakup, the more meaningful it is for someone even though they haven't been through the exact same thing. The more distinct a lyric is, the more someone can relate to it in a more personal way”.

There is one more interview I want to bring in before getting to the review. ISIS chatted with a magnificent group who have rightly been heralded as ones to watch. With a distinct passion and ambition, I think we will be talking about The Last Dinner Party for many years more. I am interested to see what happens when they inevitable break America and have a string of dates there. It can not be too far away:

“I wanted to delve a bit more into their songwriting process. As they seem so centred around live performance, I wondered if they were conscious of this whilst writing. But, for Abigail at least, the process begins on the piano and “it has to be incredibly insular. I can’t think about how people are going to perceive it, or if people are going to like it, because then that gets in my head and is quite damaging. The process is pure catharsis and emotion and highly personal.” Once the band starts rehearsing and playing new material, “everyone comes in and adds, and that’s when we start thinking ‘this is going to build here’ and ‘this bit’s more of a sing-along moment’ and ‘let’s do a five-part harmony’. We don’t write to try and impress anyone other than ourselves, we just work to make something the five of us are obsessed with and then we start considering [the live element]”.

Their single ‘Nothing Matters’ began as a piano ballad, and “as we started working on it, it transformed into this euphoric, bombastic thing”, Abigail notes. Aurora is classically trained, having studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She wrote and arranged “huge horn and string parts” and then Emily, also at Guildhall, added her guitar solo which “transformed it into a real beast from this quite soft piano ballad”. The lyrics are both tender and rough, from ‘a sailor and a nightingale dancing in convertibles’ to asserting ‘I will fuck you like nothing matters’, which Abigail believes was “not superconscious, but just happened because I was trying to write the most honest, purest love song that I could, which would then have to include stuff that’s incredibly tender, sweet and delicate. Sometimes saying “fuck” is the only way you can express some passion. I wanted an honest, raw, carnal expression of love. I find it hard to write love songs from a place of happiness and peace, which I was in at the time, it’s a lot easier to write about turmoil and heartbreak, and so I wanted to do my then relationship justice by including all the beautiful and ugly parts of it.” This range of delicate and harsh, turmoil and euphoria, are what future releases promise. “It’s about a dynamic range of emotions, but all of them experienced intensely – emotional ecstasy. That includes pain and joy, and not shying away from either of them. Finding joy in just being alive and feeling every emotion so deeply is what to expect from the rest of the album,” Abigail states –  not only lyrically but musically. The string parts are “tender but also savage” Georgia elaborates, opening a “cinematic” and “theatrical” sonic world: “If the music could speak, it would be saying the same things as the lyrics”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Flora Bigham and Caitlin Smith

As the interview draws to a close, I ask if they have any advice, particularly to young musicians wanting to enter the industry: “Go to gigs, be curious, be open, be interested” Abigail responds. “Take on every opportunity that comes your way while you’re getting started, because there’s nothing better than playing live to get you out there. You can put out songs on SoundCloud or Spotify and a few people will hear them, but if you’re out there on stage, night after night, you’re getting in front of so many new people who will then come to the next one and the next one. Play as many gigs as you can and go to as many gigs as you can”, Georgia encourages. Abigail adds: “Knock on every door. Before this band, I was going around London for about a year, dragging my piano around to any venue that would have me, playing for about five people, which is so valuable. Playing live is the way to go.” I wrap up with a check-in on what they’ve last listened to: Sufjan Stevens, Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.

The band has received much attention in recent weeks, dubbed “the best new band you haven’t heard yet” by NME. Their recent (and only) single, ‘Nothing Matters’, has been described as “unstoppable” by Clash. All this focus has led to online anger, with Twitter users writing them off as ‘industry plants’ and ‘nepo babies’. They are experiencing, it seems, a similar response to Wet Leg, the indie rock band that exploded onto the music scene in 2021. Jessie Thompson wrote in The Spectator that this obsession with authenticity “exposes a strange double standard in music”, with female musicians having to defend themselves for finding success. These conversations unjustly overshadow what’s so great about this band: their music and shows”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning for DORK

Let’s get down to the song of the hour: the brilliant new one from The Last Dinner Party. After the magnificent Nothing Matters singled them out as a force to watch closely, Sinner builds on that but adds new elements into the mix. Since Nothing Matters came out, the band has spent much of its time on the road In addition to playing Glastonbury recently, they have also performed opening slots for Florence and The Machine. They are set to play Green Man, End of the Road, Latitude, and Reading & Leeds. By summer’s end, they will be heading out on a U.K, headlining tour, followed by an arena tour of the U.K. and Europe supporting Hozier. It is no wonder people want to see The Last Dinner Party on the road! In regards Sinner, guitarist Lizzie Mayland explains how (the single) is a story of self-acceptance; a longing for the past and present self to become one. I wanted to have a closer look at the song. I love the piano riff at the start. Summoning a sense of anxiety mixed with racing thoughts and self-doubt, there is something weighty and emotional regarding the sound. Rather than go in with guitars or something attacking, The Last Dinner Party deliver something that has this punctuated and racing heartbeat. A beautiful and intriguing sound that leads into some intriguing words. I am not sure who the person at the centre of Sinner is but, as the first verse reveals: “I wish I knew you/Back when we were both small/I wish I knew you/Now I have gotten too tall/I wish I knew/When touch was innocent/I wish I knew you/Before it felt like a sin”. Maybe referring to a childhood friend or someone who is new into their orbit, I like that suggestion that, had they known each other at childhood, this developing situation or romance would not feel so wrong. Something innocent and playful in their infant years – where there are no romantic feelings – is miles away from a scenario that appears elicit and cursed. The word ‘sin’ has been used a lot through the years. Whether it is the Pet Shop Boys or Madonna, sin/sinner has various connotations and meanings to various artists.

 PHOTO CREDIT: UMG

I am not religious myself. I don’t think many of the artists who use the word either. It seems like a word that has this weight ands biblical heft. Rather than something being wrong and worthy of judgment by society – where the punishment might seem small or temporary – a sin carries much more weight and drastic repercussions. Perhaps The Last Dinner Party feel that this thing is so wrong and unholy that they will lose their soul or be condemned. The opening few lines of Sinner have this jumpy and springy piano. The vocal has a sound and delivery that puts me in mind of Sparks or even Regina Spektor. It is direct yet has this quality and delivery that puts me in mind of those artists. Soon, there is this burst and rush that brings in strings and percussion. Adding something weather-beaten and harder-edged, this sense that “(Felt like a sin)/Before it felt like a sin”. Whether referring to sex or a relationship, or even something like an ill-judged moment of confiding in someone they shouldn’t, even though it was wrong and felt unwise before it happened, there was a part of their heart and brain that urged them to proceed. At under three minutes, Sinner is a direct and economic song that packs so much in. Bringing in religious imagery together with a sense of regret and confusion, I love the lyrics of the song. In addition to so many things, The Last Dinner Party are able to paint provocative and vivid imagery with their words: “There’s nothing for me/Here where the world is small/But how you touch me/For that I’d leave it all/Back in the city/Cold eyes and lips of dust/So turn and face me/Turn to the alter of lust”. It is interesting seeing that blend of the spiritual/religious sitting alongside the modern and romantic. This idea that there will be judgment or penance. Perhaps trying to wash themselves free of sin and something wrong, the line “Pray for me on your knees” is repeated like a mantra. This idea of forgiveness perhaps? Maybe our heroine feels like she is beyond salvation. As the band have explained Sinner relates to the desire for the past and present to become one, I wonder if the track is about a bad decision or darker moment that has lingered and haunted for too long. By merging things together, it gets rid of this black mark and bad event. I think the listener is free to interpret the song how they like and imagine what is being referred to.

As a slight detour before I get back to the brilliant Sinner. I did muse as to whether a debut album was coming soon. I forgot to mention that the band have said they recorded one at Church Studios in Crouch Hill (with James Ford). Spending a month or so in the studio, it offered a sense of peace and concentration at a time when they have a lot of attention and demand coming their way. I am not sure what the track order will be, but I feel like Sinner would sit well as maybe track three or four – and have Nothing Matters as the second track (which would follow on from something new that would give the album a fresh and unfamiliar start). With incredible guitars, punchy beats, and some great melody and elasticity from the bass, it all supports and illustrates the vocals from Abigal Morris. Such a tight group with a distinct and incredible sound, they are also very much in their own league when it comes to lyrical imagery. Maybe with a slight nod to Florence + The Machine in terms of some of the lyrical inspiration, you get this almost ancient and historic religious heft against something common and modern. That idea of self-acceptance and cleansing after moments of doubt and ill judgment. It is something we can all relate to. Words like “The crystal stream/Wash the sin from your back/Cleanse my soul/Make me whole/Dance in/the morning glow/Hold me we can’t go back/Before it felt like a sin” actually puts you down by the water and in this moment of rebirth; wondering what happened to compel such a need for affirmation and transformation. Just before those lines, there is a shift in pace – the group are masterful when it comes to dynamics and almost giving their songs different acts! – as we get some spiritual and ghostly backing vocals as the instruments are taken down. Almost a prayer and sermon being delivered amidst the noise and rush of chaos and fire: “Stay through the night/I’d spend the mornings by your side”. There are so many things to highlight in Sinner. The instrumentation is brilliant and balanced. You get so many different moods and a few shifts, but it seems cohesive and focused. The more you play Sinner, the more that is revealed – though the song’s truth remains in the heart and mind of its authors. There is this nice end that puts to mind a preacher punching the air down on their knees. It is a bit Heavy Metal without having that needlessly huge intensity. Punchy and epic, it closes the second single from the mighty The Last Dinner Party!

I want to wrap up with something that has unfortunately been circulating and dogging a great group since they came through. There is that sexism and misogyny aimed at them that is something that an all-male band would not have to deal with. Although it seems like a rather sombre or negative element to finish on, it is important to show how defiantly The Last Dinner Party have fought back against ridiculous and offensive remarks. Sinner proves that they are very much the real deal and should be beyond doubt and criticism. This final interview, we learn how the group felt about accusations that they were an industry plant. The fact that they had to face sexism and doubts about their credentials:

“I wonder whether the negativity they faced after starting out would be experienced by an all-male band in a similar situation. “No”, they reply in unison.

“There are plenty of bands on the same label as us who are all men, or mostly men, and they don’t get any of this,” Davies shrugs. “They don’t get the ‘industry plant’ or ‘they dress too well’, Morris adds.

The band say they “expected” criticism after seeing what happened to Wet Leg, another female-fronted band who, despite huge success here and in the US, received similar accusations of inauthenticity.

“It’s a strange dichotomy,” says Davies. “You see everyone saying there needs to be more women on festival line-ups, there needs to be more successful female acts, and at the same time, a female band like Wet Leg does really well, cleans up at the Grammys, cleans up at the BRITS and the response has been, ‘oh but not like that.’” Morris puts it bluntly: “You just can’t win.”

It’s clearly had an impact on them, but they’ve “supported each other” and have largely “switched off” from it all, focusing on working in the studio where they’ve completed two albums worth of material. Humour has also helped. Davies, who manages their Twitter account, posted what Morris describes as “the line of the century” when people said they weren’t writing their own songs. “Our boyfriends wrote all the parts we’re just there to look pretty!” the tweet read.

“It’s because you’re just too dainty to play the guitar!”, Roberts mocks. “I can’t hold the microphone because of my tiny wrist!” Morris laughs. “My nails are too long!”, Maylan deadpans.

“Instantly in a band of women, people also want to know how the relationships work,” she adds. “Like, they want to know if it’s more emotional.” They’ve been asked about everything from “being bitchy” to what their “hormones are like.”

“We also always get ‘it’s so subversive that you play all the instruments,” Maylan says. Morris shrugs:“No one asks male bands ‘what’s it like being in a male band’. This is what we get as women.”

Still, says Morris, “if at the end of the day we can make young girls feel better about wanting to play an instrument, that’s a bonus… I just want people to imagine ‘rock band’ and it’s women, rather than it being like ‘oh how unusual is that’. I want to live to see the day where the fact we’re all women is not a crazy or unbelievable thing.”

“The playing field isn’t level,” Davies adds. “Which is still the problem.”

They have met allies in the industry, like Courtney Love who offered support and advice when they met at a festival. “After our show we were talking about Nothing Matters and about how we had to change the ‘f***’ in the chorus. She came up with some lyric suggestions written on an empty box of painkillers,” Morris laughs. “She passed them to me and was like ‘think about it,’” she says, mimicking Love’s low, husky tones. “I didn’t use them – sorry Courtney – but I now have this box framed”.

With another huge and impressive single out there, anyone who felt Nothing Matters was a fluke or rarity should be in doubt regarding The Last Dinner Party’s clout and strength! They are an amazing, supremely talented and very close-knit group of friends who are going to conquer the music world. Already being talked about as future legends, Sinner is a supreme slice from a group who are…

ONE you need to know about.

____________

Follow The Last Dinner Party

TRACK REVIEW: Sarah Close – A Little Bit in Love

TRACK REVIEW:

PHOTO CREDIT: Solar Klinghofer


Sarah Close – A Little Bit in Love

 

 

9.5/10

 

 

A Little Bit in Love is available here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6p43OI1omeOD1GXdiBSzOI?si=Ln0HMW_BS9Own5GH7Flj6g

RELEASE DATE:

28th April, 2023

WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY:

Sarah Close

LABEL:

The Kokiad Club Ltd

_________

I am trying to recall…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Dery

the first time I encountered the music of Sarah Close. It may have been around 2018. I was instantly struck and in awe of her! One of the reasons why I was so compelled by Close’s music was because it was accessible. Someone who always wrote and sung from the heart, you felt like you were listening to someone you knew. Maybe I could not exactly relate to what she was going through in many songs, but the honesty and power of her music, coupled to the way her lyrics and vocals draw you into the song, meant that I was an instant fan! There are a few things that I want to explore before I get to her awesome new song, A Little Bit in Love. Close’s mini-album, And Now, We’re Shining, came out in 2020. That was one of my favourite releases of the year. At a time when the pandemic was making us all scared and separate, this at least brought me closer to an artist that I had long-respected. Originally from the Isle of Wight, Sarah Close is someone who I can see touring quite extensively around the world. I know that she has fans in the U.S. Definitely one of the most distinct voices you will ever hear, go and follow this wonderful artist. Here is some background and biography about the stunning Sarah Close:

“Sarah Close is from the Isle Of Wight. When she was just 14 she started sneaking her mum’s guitar into her bedroom at night and taught herself to play Taylor Swift songs.

From there her love of songwriting began and she wrote song after song after song. At 18 she moved to London to do a songwriting degree before dropping out so that she could spend all her time focusing on her own music.

The first single Sarah released was Call Me Out followed by debut EP Caught Up – EP. She thought she had hit the jackpot when soon after she was offered and subsequently signed a record deal, but within 5 months, the new label head had dropped her.

After a while writing, she independently released a mini album called And Now, We’re Shining. It came out 3 days before the UK went into it’s first national lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of lockdown, she moved out of London and back to the island.

Sarah has set up a home studio in the room where she first started writing songs and spent the entire year working on new music for herself as well as writing for other artist artists , learning production skills, and landing”.

Before I dive into other subjects – after which I shall get into the review -, I want to bring in a couple of older interviews. We get a sense of where Close came from and how she has progressed. In 2019, GoldenPlec chatted with an artist who started out uploading covers to YouTube, signed to a label, and become independent again. Even though it was tough at times, she came out the other side as this incredible artist whose music was connecting with so many people:

“Close studied songwriting for two years before dropping out, a move which she sticks by as she thinks it was the right decision at the time. "I came to London knowing I wanted to do music but I didn’t know anyone in the city. My parents really encouraged me to enrol in some kind of course so I could have a student loan and have a bit of the student lifestyle and go out and meet friends. So I went on a songwriting course.

Close had it in mind that she wouldn't make it the whole way through the course from the outset, "I kind of made it my goal that I wouldn’t have to make it the whole way through. That I would work hard enough that halfway through my career outside of uni would be so busy that I could have the opportunity to drop out. So I worked really hard, saved money so I could quit uni and be okay.

"by the end of second year it wasn’t really giving me anything any more. I don’t think you can teach music, I think you have to have passion and drive - you can be taught to write a song but unless you’re going to go out and practice, what’s the point? So I was just like, this course isn’t doing anything for me and left."

 That being said, she is still very glad she did the course as it pushed her creatively in directions she might not have gone before, "“Caught Up” for example, I wrote that on the course as a rap song. We were given the brief to write a rap song and I was like… I’m never going to write a rap song, I can’t rap, but then I wrote that song and thought it was so much fun. I think the course made me expand my creative boundaries and find out more about what I like and what I don’t like. But I think you get what you can and when something stops giving you love or teaching you anything you say “okay, you’re not for me any more, goodbye!”"

By this point her online presence had grown dramatically, and the music industry started taking notice, "I started getting interest from labels. So I decided I wanted to make an EP and get that out then I signed my record deal with Parlophone in  2017."

Adjusting to a label life was another learning curve for Close who was unsure of others taking over her previous responsibilities, "I had never had a team before - I had made everything myself. All of sudden there’s a group of people that are like “hey, you need tour posters? We’ll make them!” And it was amazing… but it was also hard for me to not have to do everything because I was so used to it”.

Part of what made her departure from the label easier to take was that she was now in control of what she could release, so what exactly does that entail? "What you see is what you get with me - I’m an idiot on Instagram stories and I post videos with no makeup on and in my pyjamas and I always want to keep things very intimate and not too polished, but I definitely want my music to go in a slightly more intimate manner. I think that my covers online were just my voice and my piano and I really enjoy the songs in my set where it’s just me and the piano, so I would love to strip things down a bit more. But then I really love the big pop songs so it’s kind of finding the space between”.

I have loved everything she has put out. At the moment, there are not a lot of videos on her official YouTube channel (or they are set to private), but there is something about her videos that draw you in and leave an impression on your mind. I will come to that soon. With a growing army of loving and loyal fans around the world, I think we are going to see a lot more gold from an artist who is among my favourites. I am not too sure whether an album is coming this year, but there would definitely be demand from fans. I want to slip back to 2018. This was quite a big year for Sarah Close. The Student Pocket Guide highlighted Close’s 2017 debut E.P., Caught Up – which just turned six in fact! Since then, Close has confirmed herself as one of our brightest artists:

“What are you biggest aspirations in life? (career and lifestyle wise)

I want to play shows around the world, there’s no better feeling than being on stage for me (apart from maybe fresh bed sheets…) and I’d love to be able to make music and keep writing my songs for years to come. I’m super interested in business too, I’d love to develop my record label The Kodiak Club and one day sign and help other artists out, especially any aspiring musicians from where I grew up- the Isle Of Wight. Whilst I love London and this city, I want to end up living back by the sea, and I also want a dog.

Have you always been passionate about music since a young age?

Yes. I recorded my first ‘album’ age 5/6  on a cassette tape of songs ‘I had written’ (I made them up on the spot), but no seriously, my parents always had music playing and are musical themselves and very early on I knew I wanted to pursue singing.

 Any advice for students out there who are considering taking the musical route?

Practice and hone your skill! Go out and start gigging to get your confidence on the mic up and try meet people who are interested or could be helpful, people like aspiring managers or producers etc. I would just try to learn and get everything out from your environment that you can!Sarah Close

So you started your music career with your YouTube channel. What was this time like for you? Do you think it was difficult to move your music from YouTube to other channels such as Spotify/ITunes for your fans?

I think I’m still in the process of trying to move fans from my YouTube to other channels but I think it’s been helpful that I was really honest from the get go about wanting to pursue music with my own songs and not just stay on YouTube making covers, but I definitely get a comment every now and then from someone who wants me to stay doing that. Starting on YouTube was great though, it’s taught me so much about social media and the business behind it, as well as making me get better at my instrument.

Talk us through an average week in the life of Sarah Close…

Every morning I wake up, play piano for half an hour or so and make breakfast before I begin whatever is happening that day. I normally have 3/4 writing sessions a week, and if they’re not at someone else’s studio then I will stay in my flat and write on my piano. I’m very active and I have a lot of energy so I like to do things like rock climbing, swimming, yoga, I’m pretty much up for anything. One day of the week I spend filming or editing a video for my YouTube channel, and then maybe one day I’ll have a photoshoot or some promo things to do.

If there’s anyone you’d want to collaborate with who would it be, and why?

Shawn Mendes, because I love his voice and I think he’s so cute. Amine, I love everything about him and think he would be so fun to work with. Charli XCX, she’s a mega babe and I reckon we’d made something awesome and then finally SZA, who wouldn’t want to work with her?”.

On Thursday, Sarah Close celebrated her birthday. I forgot to wish her a happy birthday - so I hope that this counts! I think that there is this moment when Close can look forward and what comes next. The twenty-eight-year-old Close has so many successful years ahead. With every single, she reveals a new side to her personality and talent. In fact, in a tweet from 26th April, she revealed how she accidentally uploaded a demo to her public SoundCloud! A few people heard it, so I am wondering what it was and what it will lead to. It is clear that Close is in productive and inspired mode at the moment. I get a feeling we may get more new music pretty soon! I will wrap up with a couple of thoughts. I should get to the brilliant A Little Bit in Love. Grabbing the lyrics from Genius, and  A Little Bit in Love has been listed as track seven as SC2* (2023). I am not sure if this is a filing system they have or whether it is another E.P. coming up. I may have missed an announcement, but a new Sarah Close E.P. or album is a very welcomed thing! A gorgeous song written and produced by Close, she says how (it is about) realising that there’s some people who, no matter how much time and space passes, you’ll always still be a little bit in love with them. I wonder what provoked this. Maybe coming back from meeting someone she used to be with, it seems some old feelings were stirred. Whether it was  reignition of desires and affections, or that sense that you never really lose that love for someone that you were with, it is an interesting question. Can you ever walk away from love and completely lose those feelings?! I am not sure whether Close is in a new relationship, but there is clearly someone that has a dear and special place in her heart that has stirred up these feelings.

I love the production and sound of A Little Bit in Love. There is something about it that has this homemade feel. Rather than it being polished, the piano really does stand out. Like you are sat next to Close as she sings! That intimacy and unstripped sound makes everything sound more natural and powerful. The melody and flow of the song gives me the impression of a Burt Bacharach song. A classic love song that is rich with imagery and charm. Rather than this being too sorrowful, accusatory or heartbroken, there is this relatability. I opened by saying how Sarah Close is accessible as an artist. She puts her personal experiences on the page, and so many can identify with what she is saying and writing. A lot of bigger artists seem detached and lack that conviction and reliability, even if they are talking about love and loss. One (of the many) awe-inspiring aspects of Close’s music is her voice. It is almost hard to put into words, but the way she emotes, accentuates and delivers her words. It is almost conversational. Intimate and shy at the same time. She has such a beautiful, beautiful singing voice. There is so much nuance and personality with every word. A Little Bit in Love instantly takes your heart and stops you still. It seems that, whomever the former sweetheart is, it has caused our heroine to think about the good times. The first verse finds her offer caution alongside reminiscence: “I won’t call you up/Won’t ask to hang with you on Saturdays/I won’t write a Christmas card/To your mother at the holidays/But every now and then/I look at photographs of us, babe/And we look so happy/Where did it go wrong?”. Those piano notes are so stirring and integral. Almost like Close’s heartbeat. On a slight tangent, her production and performance reminds me of German composer and artist, Nils Frahm. The way that he plays and records the piano so that it is high in the mix and has this raw and very powerful sound. It would be easy to give A Little Bit in Love too much shine or bury the piano too low, but this is almost like a live performance. It means the song resonates instantly.

Even if Close is speaking of her regrets or questioning why something seemingly perfect went sour, you feel like she is confiding in you. An intimate talk late at night perhaps over a glass of wine. The beauty her voice possess means you come back to the song time and time again – so compelled and seduced by the tenderness. Even if there is calm and this mature acceptance, Close cannot help but wonder why that spark disappeared. Given the fact that she was inspired to write the song because she realised that she was still holding love for someone she is no longer with, did things end too soon?! I am not sure whether the relationship can be recovered and restarted, but that moving on and looking to a fresh relationship is being haunted almost by the sense that everything was clicking and simpatico – until it just ended and that was that. In the chorus, there is a real sense that there are very real and strong feelings for this person: “But it’s so hard to forget you/When a little bit of me is always gonna be/A little bit in love with you”. With yet more strong resemblances to Frahm – in the most beautiful way; I am not sure if Close knows his music even?! -, you feel and hear that piano. A very physical and soulful instrument that Close can use to find reason and express her feelings through, there is this stirring and almost sensual sound from the keys. In the second verse, Close mentions “that Kacey song”. I assume she means Musgraves, but I was wondering which of her songs that was – if I had to have a guess, I would punt at something from her 2021 album, star-crossed (and there is one particular song I listen to and associate with her). It is interesting that the Texan artist comes to mind. In the way Close describes her memories, it is almost like she is driving through America rather than England: “I’m sat there with my feet on the dashboard/Harmonizing/But now I have to skip that song/In case I end up crying/Is this the way it’s always gonna be?”. There are almost Country vibes at the heart of A Little Bit in Love (particularly in the chorus); definitely when it comes to the lyrical style and the narrative.

So many artists would add layers of strings, drums and electronic effects to try and summon up more passion or intensity. Perhaps feeling that these elements represent something akin to the emotions and weather expressed in the song, Close very wisely keeps things simple. It is much more affecting and affective with that piano-and-voice combination. Whist the lyrics are telling the story and sharing memories, the composition is almost like a conversation between her and this former lover – if that does not sound too pretentious! Whilst the reason behind the break-up is never explained – if Close even knows why things did go bad -, there is a fear that important memories will fade: “Will the day come where I forget the face/Of the first ‘I love you’ kiss/And that sweet, dumb innocence”. Close does say things are getting better and that she is moving on but, as things were good and there are still lingering feelings and an attraction, you wonder whether she can truly forget. It is clear that she does not want to let go of something and someone who was such an important part of her life. I did forget to mention that, in the chorus, there is a little bit of vocal layering. Augmenting the emotions and messages, I am reminded of artists like Kacey Musgraves (plus Taylor Swift). If the verses are more naked and stripped, there is something fuller and warmer in the chorus. What I mean is that the verses are emotive and they definitely give you an impression of someone alone in a room and looking out of the window and letting her mind wander The chorus, whilst not celebratory, do seem to have this sense things will get easier and better in time. Another magnificent song from Sarah Close, I once again wonder whether an album will come. I might have jumped the gun or missed a post where she announced it, but A Little Bit in Love seems like a perfect closing track to a future project. Close, on her latest single, shows why she is one of the most gifted and consistent songwriters, singers, musicians, and producers in music. It is clear why her fans love and respect her so much.

As a brief epilogue, I want to sum up my feelings…but I also want to offer up some other thoughts. Sarah Close’s social media channels are great. I hope that she gets a Bandcamp page too. Maybe an easy way to help monetise future work in terms of digital and vinyl/physical releases, she would definitely have a fanbase there. I am not sure whether there is a music video coming for A Little Bit in Love. I hope that there is. I have always felt that Close would make a compelling and hugely talented actor. I am not sure whether scripts have come her way, but she has this combination of the accessible and relatable (very cool but also someone who has effortless charm and some clumsiness) together with something quite otherworldly and classic (in terms of her voice and beauty). This all comes through in her music. She would make a magnetic and hugely popular screen presence. You get a feeling of that when you see her videos, so I do hope that there is one that goes alongside A Little Bit in Love. It may be the case that it will be audio-only at the moment. A song released a day after her birthday, you sense Close is clearing space and a path to a new stage of her career. The song is about looking to the past and remembering this great love, but also moving ahead and maybe taking a chance with a new love. I do feel that, very soon, Close will get gig requests around the world. Such an amazing and hugely warm human, there is no doubt that many nations will fall under her spell. I think America particularly is someone she will be very much at home. I do not know what the rest of the year holds but, as it seems from that SoundCloud slip, there might be more music in the pipeline. That will be exciting! A Little Bit in Love is genuinely one of the best things Sarah Close has released. Heartfelt, open, emotional, and yet uplifted at the same time, I have listen to the song a few times now and it always feels like you are with Close as she is singing. In her, we have…

A magnificent artist that we should cherish.

___________

Follow Sarah Close

TRACK REVIEW: Iraina Mancini – Cannonball

TRACK REVIEW:

  

Iraina Mancini – Cannonball

 

 

9.8/10

 

 Cannonball is released on 5th April. Pre-save the single here:

https://orcd.co/imcannonball

WRITTEN BY:

Iraina Mancini/Simon Dine

PRODUCED BY:

Sunglasses for Jaws

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTION:

Erol Alkan

LABEL:

Needle Mythology

_________

I want to start out by saying…

that you need to go and see Iraina Mancini live at The Social (34 Little Portland Street, London, W1W 7JD) on 4th April (Tuesday). Here is ticket information. You can also find out more here. She is one of the finest artists emerging right now. I am going to come to a review of her upcoming single, Cannonball. As anyone who reads this blog knows, my favourite song of last year was Mancini’s Undo the Blue. She also released a French-language version of that song, but I think it is the ‘original’ that I come back to more often. Actually, the French version is not random. In terms of her musical tastes and loves, French artists and music is very important to Mancini. An artist who seems like she would have fitted perfectly into he 1960s and 1970s, Mancini’s music does evoke something cinematic, romantic, and beguiling. One thing (among many) that I loved about Undo the Blue is the video. I have also said how it would be good to have a short film featuring tracks from Mancini. A bit of a thread or a concept where she acts as well as has her songs playing. I think that the visual side of things is very important to Mancini. Connecting the messages and meanings into her songs to videos that bring them to life, but they also add layers and possibilities. I have put her social media links at the bottom of this review so that you can follow her, but I have also put links to her YouTube and Spotify, so that you can listen to what she has produced so far. Prior to getting to her forthcoming album, here is biography about the spectacular Iraina Mancini:

“Iraina Mancini has been writing her own songs and fronting bands from a young age. Whilst on the road with these bands, she began digging into the vaults of Northern Soul, Funk, Rhythm and Blues, 60’s Garage and Disco’s rich musical history. Inspired by and building on her father’s 45’s that she had enthused over as a child, she began her passion to DJ and bring back the spirit of these often forgotten but golden musical era’s to dance floors across the globe.

 Iraina has travelled the world DJ’ing and hosting at major film and fashion events such as Cannes Lion, NME Awards, Toronto Film Festival, and key music festivals; Glastonbury, Wilderness, Secret Garden Party, Bestival and for iconic brands such as GQ, Dunhill, Swarovski, Temperley, Film4 and Pretty Green.

Iraina also presents her own popular cult radio show every month on the legendary Soho Radio in London, where she teases a taster of her live DJ sets, interviews her favourite bands and serves up a music history lesson and homage to her love of Northern Soul, Funk, vintage R&B, Ska and Garage Rock. Recent guests on the show have included Lee Fields, YAK, PP Arnold, Ecca Vandall, Mike Chapman (Blondie, The Knack), Garret Shider (Parliament, Funkadelic), Babyshambles and Daddy Long Legs.

Inspired by the music she collects and DJ’s, a new solo project has started to form. Collaborating and writing with a stable of the UK’s most talented musicians & producers, Iraina has now put together her live band and is hitting the road in 2023. Her sound is influenced by her favourite music from the 60’s and 70s, French Pop, Psychedelia, Soul, Ye-Ye Girls, Serg Gainsbourg and vintage cinema.

Muse to influential fashion designers, brands and artists due to her striking vintage style and inspired by Francoise Hardy, Bridgette Bardot and Jane Birkin, Iraina is the contemporary reflection of an iconic retro era that can be re-discovered and celebrated through her style and music”.

Not only is Iraina Mancini a wonderful songwriter and singer. She is a broadcaster and D.J. You can catch her shows on Soho Radio. So passionate about the music she plays, you get '60s and '70s French Psychedelic, cinematic sounds, and vintage gold. You can tune in on Thursday between two and four p.m. She might still be a little tired from her headline show on Tuesday, but there will be an extra spring in her step that is for sure! Mancini will get a lot of love when she takes to the stage at The Social on Tuesday evening. If you can’t get to see her, then keep an eye on her social channels, as I know she will have other headline shows soon. Not only are there other spaces in London that would embrace her with open arms, but I can also easily see her doing gigs in Paris. The American market seems readymade for Mancini. Getting ahead of myself, but there are spaces around New York, California, and other parts of the U.S. where she would be perfect for. She has also recently completed her debut album. I got sent a copy (as I hope to review it nearer the time and interview her), and I can attest to the fact that it is full of pearls. Pete Paphides runs Needle Mythology – the label Mancini is signed to; Cannonball is the debut single on the label -, and he said that every single song on the album could be a single. Sort of like Michael Jackson’s Thriller! Maybe like Shania Twain’s Come on Over in terms of the immense quality and radio-friendly of the album. I know which track I would love to see released next as a single, but Mancini and Needle Mythology have an embarrassment of riches to choose from! The as-yet-unnamed album is going to really captivate people. I am not going to give any spoilers (appropriate, as it is very cinematic and has songs that seem like scenes and chapters), but it is going to get four and five-star reviews across the board. Under the Needle Mythology stable, Mancini is in wonderful hands; ones which will ensure her music is heard around the world!

I am going to get to the review of Cannonball…and then I will end up with a bit about Mancini, her gig at The Social, and what the future holds. Prior to that, I think there will be people new to her and where she has come from. An amazing artist and D.J., there is a musical connection in the family. The legendary Geoffrey MacCormack (a.k.a. Warren Peace) was a friend of the late David Bowie. He performed and recorded with him, so that alone is amazing to know! I know that Mancini is very proud of her dad, and I can only imagine what her house was like growing up in terms of the music and the fact her dad had this special bond with one of the most important musicians ever. MacCormack recently put out the book, David Bowie: Rock ’n’ Roll with Me, that I would recommend everyone gets a copy of. Anyway, I will come to that a bit more in conclusion. The first interview I want to source takes us to back to 2020. In fact, it was published as the pandemic was being announced and the world was changing. Iona Debrage chatted with the sensational and stunning Iraina Mancini:

“How did you cme into doing what you are doing?

I have always had a passion for music, I grew up in a very musical family so it was a part of my daily life listening to old records and going along to the studio with my dad. I naturally started writing my own songs and learnt to play the piano. I also used to record songs from the radio onto tapes and record over the speaking parts with my own chat..Early training for my adult life! 

Can you describe a beautiful moment that has happened to yo?

My dad sung backing vocals and wrote with David Bowie from Aladdin Sane through to Station to Station. Last year he and I were asked to sing guest vocals on Golden Years the record he was originally on with Earl Slick at the Islington Academy ..That was a bit of a moment for me.

How have you seen the music industry evolve since you started out, and where do you see it going?

The music industry has changed so much, I can barely keep up! Its amazing how easily you can push your art out into the world with Spotify, Youtube and all the social media platforms available anyone in the world can listen to your music .. Gone is the time of ‘waiting’ for a record deal, you can have complete control of what you put out. You can make music videos on iPhones, film live sets and stream online and interact instantly with your fans. Its a lot more work but ultimately more satisfying and authentic.

Which three records are you unable to live without?

That is such a difficult question! But if I had to pick 3 records that I never get bored of they would be.

  1. Barrett Strong – Money (thats what I want)

  2. Space Oddity – David Bowie

  3. Bonnie and Clyde – Serge Gainsboug

What do you consider to be music’s golden age?

Im totally stuck in the past. For me the golden age was late sixties early seventies”.

I am keen to get down to some reviewing, but there is another interview I want to highlight quickly. I would urge everyone to go and check out other interviews Iraina Mancini has been involved with - not only as the subject, but also as the interviewer. As someone who knows the industry and has seen things from ‘the other side of the camera’ as it were, she has this knowledge and skillset that few other artists do. Blowout Magazine caught up with Mancini around the release of her single, Do It (You Stole the Rhythm). That was back in 2021. Starting to break through and establish herself as an artist to watch closely, we got further insight into a rarefied and unique talent:

“What inspires you?

Im really inspired by music from the 60s/70s, psychedelia, Ye'-Ye' Girls, Serge Gainsbourg and Vintage film. I love the sound and style in this period of time, I find it so effortlessly cool and cinematic.

How has it been working on your music during these strange (covid) times?

I have used the time I have had during lockdowns to really focus on my songwriting. Its given me a much slower pace of life which has totally freed up my mind.

Whats next ?

I am recording the next single at the moment, im excited to finish it off. Its really beautiful and one of my favourite songs I have ever written. I am also preparing for a show in December at The Lexington in Kings Cross, there are still tickets available through the website direct. Im playing alongside His Lordship and DJ Sunday Girl who are both brilliant so really excited”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Erica Bergsmeds

Let’s move to Cannonball. It comes out on Tuesday (4th April), which is the same day Mancini take to the stage at The Social in London. It is undoubtedly going to be one of the biggest days of her career so far. An artist that has been supported by BBC Radio 6 Music, I know that Cannonball will effortless slide (or shout that be fire?!) its way onto the playlist. I think that it will be on the A-list in a couple of weeks. Not to be confused with or conflated with Damien Rice’s song of the same name, Cannonball, according to Mancini, is about meeting someone and being knocked for six. Having that cannonball-sized impact on the chest and body! A song that is among the finest gems on her debut album, I will talk about the upcoming video very soon. The opening to Cannonball readily and instantly evokes the sentiments and story of the song. If Mancini was writing from a personal perspective – where she was stuck by someone and had that heart-swell and breathless reaction -, then the composition summons up those emotions. I actually got hints of The Beatles’ Revolver (1966). There is that '60s Psychedelia, together with some hypnotic. I detect a bit of And Your Bird Can Sing, She Said She Said, I Want to Tell You and Tomorrow Never Knows in the blend (and that is the highest compliment I can pay!). Mancini’s vocal and emotional range is incredible. On Undo the Blue, it was dreamy and French-inspired. There was a romance, haziness, and dream-like quality. Here, we get something punchier and direct. I guess every listener will have their own image of a music video when they hear the song, but I am not surprised that Mancini was influenced by Sabotage and French thrillers of the 1960s and '70s. Her heart is exploding and banging and she is on the run. Whether she is fleeing and escaping with a sweetheart or trying to run from the overwhelming heat and storm of these new feelings, you are physically pulled into the song. Its insistence and potency is magnetic and moving!

Cannonball has this lullaby quality where it swings and sways. Mancini switches between impassioned calls and declarations and conversion. I love the way that she brings talk-singing into her music. It gives her songs a more layered and personal touch. You wonder who she is speaking to and asking to run with her. Whereas Noel Gallagher wrote about a cannonball in a very illogical and weird way for Oasis’ Champagne Supernova back in the ‘90s (on 1995’s (What's the Story) Morning Glory?), Iraina Mancini uses the image and object in a beautiful and new way. She does not want to fall and hit the ground, but the cannonball also refers to the fact she feels like she has been hit by one. That vulnerability of being heavy and falling aimlessly, coupled with the psychological and almost physical intense feeling of experiencing fresh admiration and seduction. The composition is so busy without ever being crowded. Backed with some wonderful production (by Sunglasses for Jaws and Erol Alkan (additional production), you come back to Cannonball time and time again! Co-written with Simon Dine, the headiness of the song is bewitching. You get scents and smells of the sunshine, open road, and city air. You envisage this image of two people new to one another but compelled to take a leap and adventure. I always set my mind in a cross between 1960s/1970s French cinema (films like Pierrot le Fou, Vivre sa vie (in a positive way), and Le Cercle Rouge) spliced with Woody Allen’s films (oddly, Annie Hall comes to mind) . It is such a headrush and mind-enticing brew that buckles the knees. One is helpless but to resist the French-inspired sway and time signature that you get from the composition. In the sense that I get images of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. I can also see this song being sung in French…and, actually, it would be intriguing not only hearing a remix of this, but also maybe a male vocalist providing a duet or backing. I am not sure whether any of the songs on Mancini’s debut album, feature other voices, but I could see a lover’s voice making its way into Cannonball.

I hope Mancini will forgive The Beatles/Revolver nods – their exploration of cinema and French sounds is not talked about, but it is something that comes up in their work -, but I get that kaleidoscopic and psychedelic combination they perfected in the mid-'60s. Reminiscent of the times, one also gets  views of Soho in the '60s and that magic time - when the people walking the streets would have been so cool. Soho is still cool now, but just think of the fashions of the time! Props to the band as well, as the percussion is relentless. It patters and pummels like the rain, but you get the boom of a cannonball/a heat on fire, and there is some scorching guitar work. Both modern and vintage, the band are so tight and interconnected. The chemistry is amazing. I am not sure which studio the song was recorded out of (maybe AIR Studios in Lyndhurst?), but I feel like there was an intimacy; maybe a studio quite fashionable and suitable for the song – perhaps with Mancini recording her vocals and the musicians layering their parts over her. It will be interesting to see how that song comes to life on Tuesday at The Social and who plays alongside her (I have not seen Mancini play live before). Pete Paphides was not wrong when he said every song on Mancini’s recently-mastered album could be a single! They are all very different but equally intriguing and memorable. I have spun Cannonball multiple times, and I come back for different reasons. You have that composition. I have said it reminds me of songs from The Beatles’ Revolver, and I closed my eyes and imagine Mancini walking towards Abbey Road Studios with Paul McCartney back in the heyday of The Beatles (something that could actually happen one day).

I come back for the production alone, which ensures the vocals are high in the mix, but everything is balanced so that you do not lose an ounce of the instruments and what they are doing. The song switches in terms of pace. One moment, you get a raw and intense vocal, and then it goes to chatting and something softer. Cannonball twists and turns, but it has that focus that means you very much follow the heroine and picture the scenes. There are a couple of particularly good record shops round the corner from where I work in Soho. One is Phonica Records, and the other is Sounds of the Universe. Maybe Iraina Mancini’s debut album will appear there in August!? I also wonder if Cannonball will come out as a 7”, as I would just love the buy the single and have it in my hands - as, sadly, gone as the days of the C.D. single. What we have seen of the video so far looks absolutely must-see and incredible! Iraina Mancini, I think, has delivered a song even more amazing than Undo the Blue – and that was my favourite song of last year! Cannonball is undoubtedly my favourite song of this year so far. And I very much doubt it will be beaten. She is unstoppably and unbelievably brilliant, and I absolutely love her music beyond words. I love her.

I have expended a lot of words about a single, but it is a lot more than that. Iraina Mancini has a headline show at The Social on Tuesday. Go if you can get a ticket if they are still available, but just keep your eyes peeled and follow this wonderful human. Her debut album comes out in August. More details will be revealed in time. It is the kind of album that would be perfect on vinyl, and I know Mancini would have been very happy with the mastered album, as it is going to be such a cinematic, evocative, and wonderful listening experience. I cannot wait to see a photo of Mancini with the final album in its sleeve on vinyl. That image will be one of the most emotion-filled you will see! I love Cannonball so, so much. I have heard the rest of the album. I am already going to say it is going to be my favourite of 2023! Not to get too far ahead of myself, but I would not be shocked if it got shortlisted for the Mercury Prize next year – such is its quality and worthiness. I cannot wait to see the full video for Cannonball. There looks to be French cinema and 1960s and '70s touches but, taking to heart Beastie Boys’ iconic video (directed by Spike Jonze) for Sabotage – from their fourth studio album, Ill Communication (which turns twenty-nine in May –, you are going to get a lot of fun and silliness in the mix! On the video tip, I also think that Mancini was born for the cinema and acting. Something I mooted when I included her in my Spotlight feature a while back, she is someone I can see appearing on T.V. dramas and comedies. Film roles would not be out the question, such is that sense of allure, energy, mystique, and power that she projects. A wonderful D.J. and broadcaster, Mancini is also a sensational artist. She will enjoy a long career. I think Mancini will definitely play France and the U.S., but I know her music will take her to nations as far-flung as Australia. She should prepare herself for a very busy, itinerant, and successful career. From the humble and character-filled studios at Soho Radio, Mancini will soon conquer the world! Go and stream Cannonball on Tuesday and check out the video. When a pre-order link is available, go and get her debut album. She is someone who deserves…

SO much love and admiration.

_____________

Follow Iraina Mancini

TRACK REVIEW: Ailbhe Reddy – Bloom

REVIEW:

 

 

Ailbhe Reddy

PHOTO CREDIT: Niamh Barry 

Bloom

 

 

9.6/10

 

 

The track, Bloom, is available via:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0XWRvgyRwg

 Endless Affair is available here:

https://ailbhereddy.bandcamp.com/

RELEASE DATE:

17th March, 2023

LABEL:

MNRK UK

PRODUCERS:

Ailbhe Reddy + Tommy McLaughlin

TRACKLIST:

Shitshow

A Mess

Damage

Inhaling

Bloom

Last to Leave

Shoulder Blades

I'm Losing

Good Time

You Own the Room

Pray For Me

Motherhode

_________

AN artist that…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Barry Cronin for The Sunday Times

I interviewed six years ago now, I do feel this attachment to Ailbhe Reddy. A remarkable artist who I am keen to catch up with again soon, I loved her Personal History album. That came out in 2020. Released at the real height of the pandemic, it was an unfortunate time for an amazing artist who would have hoped to tour the album quite widely. It did give us a treat, comfort and something beautiful to listen to when we were all going through such a tough and uncertain time! The London-based Irish artist is someone who I knew, even back in 2017, would be a huge proposition! She will be back in the U.K. soon, but she is currently playing in the U.S. It is wonderful (though not surprising) American audiences have embraced her. I am not sure whether we in the U.K. look at Irish music as deeply as we should. Great artists from there such as Fontaines D.C., and Sinead O’Brien are definitely showing what stunning and original music is coming from there. So too are the majestic Pillow Queens. In fact, I could go on and on. Ailbhe Reddy is thrilling and seducing American audiences at the moment, and I know soon enough she will be playing huge venues in the country. I would be fascinated to see a Reddy video diary or documentary where we see her on the road as she goes from city to city. I am going to approach this review in a slightly different manner to previous ones. It has been a while since I have done a review (when I looked at Fable’s astonishing debut, Shame, in July 2022). The brilliant Endless Affair is out now. I wanted to review a single track from it, as I don’t think I can do true justice to the album without writing about 6,000 words – and how many people have the patience to read that?! Suffice it to say, it is a sensational work from an artist who grows stronger with every release. Being someone very fond of Ailbhe Reddy, it is heartening and uplifting reading how people have taken to the album. It is already one of the best albums of the year. I would not be surprised to see it nominated for a Mercury Prize later in the year!

I am going to source from a few interviews with Ailbhe Reddy soon, just so we can get to better know this incredible artist. Before then, I would advise everyone to go out and get her new album. It is gathering so much love from social media, and critics are showing their respect for Endless Affair. Here are some details from Rough Trade:

“A much needed aural tonic for an extended emotional hangover, Irish alt-folk artist Ailbhe Reddy releases her highly anticipated second album, Endless Affair. Inspired by her romantic relationships and her fractured memories of many a fun night spent partying in her early 20s, the record is a tender exploration of emotional resilience that sees Reddy embrace the fact that - in her own words - she's "an absolute melt" when it comes to letting things go.

Written and recorded between January 2019 and October 2020, Reddy paired up with producer Tommy McLaughlin - who also worked on her debut album Personal History - to co-produce the new album. She relished the opportunity to have more input and create a truly rounded sound on Endless Affair, which maintains the raw spirit of her debut, but showcases a development in her intuitive talent for writing songs that continue to tap into both a personal and universal vein. Ultimately, Endless Affair is a poetic reflection on personal growth, and a heartening reminder that we're all just "amateurs", trying to make sense of the bruises that mysteriously materialise on our bodies the morning after we've had too much of a good time. Reddy taps into our need to be with others, to soak up the experience as much as possible, and to remind listeners that they're not missing out - even if they have to leave the party early”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Niamh Barry

Ailbhe Reddy is such an important voice. As a Queer artist, I think that she is giving strength, voice and inspiration to some many in the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. Someone who speaks up against transphobia, injustice, homophobia and inequality, Reddy knows the power of Queer songwriting. She recently spoke with GCN (Gay Community News) about Endless Affair, and how bands like Pillow Queens opened her eyes and ears:

“It looks so cool. And queer! In an earlier GCN interview, you talked about how it felt to perform a love song with she/her pronouns for the first time. I’m wondering how your experience as a queer artist has evolved since then?

Oh, wow! Interesting question. I was 23 during the Marriage Referendum in Ireland and I remember feeling like doing that was the bravest thing I ever could have done. Now I would put “she” in the song absolutely anytime. But it felt huge to me. Ireland has changed so much over the last 10 years, 15 years. It’s such a different place.

What’s cool is, when you talk to younger artists now, they wouldn’t bat an eyelid at that.

Yeah, that is something I’ve noticed with the younger queer community. Even talking about how I was nervous about holding a girl’s hand in public is unrelatable.

Yeah, that’s so fucking cool. I’m so glad that they don’t have to go through that. I’m delighted for them, and that’s why we did it. We had an easier time than the generation before us. There’s been so much progress in the last 10 years.

Hearing that quote from myself back is kind of mind-blowing because sometimes I even forget it.

I remember when it felt so cool and edgy to hear any female artist singing about a woman in a song. It was so rare.

I remember hearing a Lucy Dacus song years ago called ‘Night Shift’. She had such a great song and she says, “call you a bitch and leave”, and it’s like, oh my god, she’s talking about breaking up with a woman. And it was this feeling of just like – this thing is for me. So much popular culture at the time was for everyone else.

Bands like Pillow Queens changed the game. Imagine having a band like that to look up to and you were like, 16, and you see them being so successful and strong and cool.

Totally. Pillow Queens was one of the first queer Irish things that I discovered when I moved here and the experience of growing up with them sounds amazing.

I remember being 16, and I used to watch this YouTube channel called BalconyTV which was filmed in Dublin. They used to get artists in to play a little acoustic song on a balcony; I loved it.

Wallis Bird was on it and there was something in me when I was just like, “I know, she’s gay”. And I immediately became obsessed with her music. It’s not just that she was queer and a musician, she was Irish as well. This person feels like they’re from the same world I am”.

Ailbhe Reddy has spoken about how we need as many voices out there as possible representing the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ umbrella. I want to quickly move to an interview with HOTPRESS before changing the subject slightly. It is fascinating ready interviews and promotion around Endless Affair. If Personal History was a great debut with no real linking narrative or theme, the fact Endless Affair is fresh and has more of a concept shows that there is no confidence emerging. An artist always exploring, evolving, and growing:

“Having earned a major domestic and international following with the release of her 2020 Choice-nominated debut, Personal History, alt-folk singer-songwriter Ailbhe Reddy is back with a raw new single ‘Inhaling’. Her current offering is shared via Ailbhe’s new label MNRK Music Group, an independent outfit that’s home to 50 labels, including world class music brands like Dualtone, Death Row, Last Gang, Indieblu and more.

‘Inhaling’ is about the sense of emptiness felt during the last two years, nostalgically looking back at times of freedom and fun.

“It’s all about being stuck inside all the time,” Ailbhe explains, “feeling bored and wishing you were out being an absolute idiot like you used to be (laughs). It’s the need for liveliness, which we’ve all missed. There was no spontaneity in life. Even when things opened up a little bit, restaurants and pubs had to be booked ahead of time. You’d be doing antigen tests non-stop.

"We’re not out of the woods yet, but it’s nice to have some of those fun moments back. ‘Inhaling’ is about yearning for that again. Now seems the opportune time to share it. I’m sure a lot of people can relate to the emotions and vulnerability within the lyrics.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Bridie Monds-Watson (SOAK)

Ailbhe enjoys working with Tommy McLaughlin of SOAK, Villagers and Pillow Queens production fame.

“Tommy’s really great at getting the best out of everybody,” she nods. “He’s really easy to work with and listens to what the artist wants. I’m co-producing my next batch of tunes, which we’ll release every two months this year. ‘A Mess’ is out in June. I worked super-closely with Tommy on those tracks, but they’ve been finished since February 2021, before Bridie Monds-Watson and Pillow Queens recorded their albums.

“I signed with MNRK, which is great. I’m so excited for everyone to hear the new music. ‘A Mess’ is about not feeling good enough. It’s not like someone is making me feel that way, it’s just my own self-worth. There’ll be a video to go with that.”

Ailbhe is Dublin-based now – and looking forward to the summer months.

“I’m feeling really excited and positive,” enthuses Ailbhe. “I went on tour with Bridie and Tommy at the beginning of the year when things were just getting back to normal, which was amazing. We hadn’t booked flights or accommodation until about 10 days before, because we had no idea if it was going ahead or not, which is mad. It was a beautiful, intimate way to return to shows. To travel with two friends is a total blessing – working with them is just lovely”.

I think things are changing in Ireland, but there has been talk from bands like Fontaines D.C. about how bad it can be. In terms of higher rent and creatives not being supported. So many artists from there are migrating to the U.K. and U.S. We are seeing wonderful Irish artists come over here…but I wonder what the situation is like for homegrown Irish acts that are hoping to break through now. Ailbhe Reddy is someone who shows what can happen for aspiring Irish talent. She will give that hope and focus to so many. I do think that her success should spur the government and culture secretary there to think about how artists are supported. Making it more affordable to live in cities like Dublin and ensure that there are opportunities at home. In 2018, Reddy touched on this when she spoke with Ireland’s District Magazine:

“Would you like to weigh in on the ‘Ireland doesn’t support it’s creatives, so they’re all leaving’ argument that we hear all too often these days? Why do you think this is? Do festivals like Hard Working Class Heroes help combat it?

I think that criticism is levelled towards the lack of funding for modern music from the Department of Culture. It’s also a criticism that isn’t just from creatives, but plenty of young people in other fields too. Rent is impossible in Dublin (yet we need to be in Dublin to avail of opportunities), creative spaces are few and far between. There’s not a lot of support for young Irish people in general, and it’s even worse for creatives as they are often going down the road less travelled.

With regards HWCH, the opportunities are there for you to take. I did it in 2015 when I didn’t really have my act together and didn’t gain much traction. However, in 2016 I had released an EP, had a tight band together and I went to all the industry meet and greets and benefitted massively. Through that I got to go to The Great Escape, and through that I signed my publishing deal, which was my most important career moment to date. First Music Contact in Ireland is an incredible support system that facilitates artists working together, as well as educating us all on how to navigate the industry.

You’re quite open about having to juggle a job and music, this seems to be such a common problem for our country’s top musicians. How do you think this could be combatted?

More funding, which is something Angela Dorgan of First Music Contact has been fiercely fighting for.

Which Irish artists are impressing you at the moment?

I’m sure you’re more than aware of everyone I will name: Maria Kelly, LAOISE, Pillow Queens (I like to act like I’m their honorary fifth member), Bitch Falcon, Basciville, Rosa Nutty… I could name heaps!”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Niamh Barry

Prior to coming to a song review, I want to focus on a couple of new interviews where Ailbhe Reddy talks about the inspirations and ideas that go into the wonderous Endless Affair. I know that she will be looking ahead to a third album already. I can only imagine how great it has been like bringing this material to American audiences – many of whom are discovering her for the first time. I will try and catch her when she is in London. One of the most striking and notable aspects of Reddy’s music is her lyrics. Every song she writes seems to be about love in some way. Whether that is romantic love or that for a family member. When she spoke with Guitar.com this month, Reddy explained her lyrical process:

“Lyrics-first

Going through the ringer of solo acoustic gigs also informed Ailbhe’s direct, lyrics-forward songwriting approach. “I’m totally just hiding behind music to get my thoughts across. That’s what I love in songs, you know, it can sound really good. But if the lyrics are throwaway, I don’t like it. I’m the lyrics-first kind of person.

“I usually come at a song with a concept rather than a riff or a chord progression. Like Last To Leave, for example, had the concept of being the last to leave a party, what that feels like, that kind of arrogance almost going in thinking ‘I know I’m going to be a total pain in the ass.’ I normally try to approach it by just building a track out from lyrical ideas.”

Sometimes this means building sounds that balance out the tone of the lyrics. “For I’m A Mess, I had all of these hangover lyrics I had written on my little receipts. But sonically, I definitely wanted to start with that weird tch, tch, tch, tch snare hit. I just thought it was such a weird way to start a song. And that descending guitar line was so central to the song – it’s so goofy, especially a song like that, where you read the lyrics and it’s this serious thing, like ‘oh, god…’.

“It’s kind of meant to be a bit petulant – I don’t actually believe what’s said in those lyrics, they’re just stupid little insecurities being levelled at somebody else. You kind of need the music to balance that out. So I tried to figure out the dorkiest guitar sound I could possibly get away with.”

But writing concept-first isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. “Every once in a while you get a song that just comes out – it’s not planned. Those are the lovely ones like Pray For Me. That, I just sat down one day, and I was noodling on guitar, and that song just came out in 20 minutes. And that’s special, because it’s not heavily edited or contrived.”

Not all of Endless Affair is as stripped-back and raw as Pray For Me. Like so many great indie-folk records, it’s peppered with extra instrumentation, with horn and synth lines augmenting acoustic and electric guitar parts. “I guess that comes from the people I was listening to when I wrote the album, from 2019 to early 2020. A lot of Julia Jacklin, and Andy Shauf, he has loads of brass in his stuff. And Villagers, another Irish band. I had a friend who played trumpet, and I was like ‘would you ever think of doing something for me on some demos, just to try it out?’”

“So we ended up doing that on a few of the demos for this record. On the more playful songs, the ones I felt were tongue-in-cheek, they same space was filled out by a synth sound – and for the songs that were more earnest, we had the trumpet. So it’s balancing interesting production elements, while also not losing the bones of the song. The best thing about this style of music is – if you take away all those elements, you still have the song. I would never put a song on an album that I don’t think I could get away with just playing a guitar and me”.

For the Rabbits also chatted with Ailbhe Reddy this month (she has had a busy promotional cycle!). There is a lot of fascination around her and Endless Affair. I would urge people to check the entire interview out as, among other things, Reddy discusses her time making music in the wilds of Donegal. I have chosen a few questions that are particularly relevant:

“FTR: What did you do differently with this record compared with your debut record?

I co-produced this record so I was a lot more hands on with the sound.  I had demoed almost all the songs very precisely by the time we went in to record and we actually kept some of the original recordings I did at home on the record because they were impossible to replicate in studio.  There was more of a clear narrative running through this album too, because my debut was made up of songs that spanned a few years, this record had more of a clear concept.

FTR: There’s a real narrative running through Endless Affair, do you consider it a concept album?

I do sort of.  It’s very personal but concept is learning to let go, and coming to understand oneself.  The first half is about chaos and wildness and parties, the second half is more about relationships and the final two tracks are about the people who ground me.

FTR: I was struck by how eclectic the record is, were you conscious of trying to showcase every aspect of your songwriting?

It’s truly not a conscious effort, but I like having a few different styles going. I think they are all tied together by a consistent sonic palette, but certainly sound quite different.  Some songs are quite rocky and heavy, and others are very much soft folk.

FTR: Who were the influences on Endless Affair? What were you listening to when you were writing the album?

Andy Shauf, Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin, Big Thief.

FTR: I love the artwork for the album, where did the idea come from?

I had a pinterest board full of old film photos of people’s parties from the 60’s and 70’s.  So I wanted something that was staged to look like one of those, where only I was addressing the camera, sort of breaking the 4th wall.  I discussed it with Ruth Medjber who took the picture, and she had big ideas to make it happen.  She wanted to pack the image full of people which I loved. It was also cool to have so many friends in the artwork!”.

I have selected a few interview, as we know more about Ailbhe Reddy and the extraordinary Endless Affair. An amazing songwriter and producer, the album is such a rich listen. I have found myself revisiting it after the first couple of listens. As I said, it may well be in with a shout when we find out who is shortlisted for the Mercury Prize later in the year. That is how good Endless Affair is! I wanted to focus on Bloom, as it is one of my favourite tracks from the album and, as track five, it is in the middle of the album. It nicely nestles between Inhaling and Last to Leave. It is a beautiful track that definitely struck me the first time I heard it. It is also a new single from the album. The song is so vivid. In the middle of this party – as part of the concept of Endless Affair, we seem to be taken inside the album cover; that revelry at a party -, this song takes shape and finds its muse. Boasting one of the most beautiful introductions on the album, the guitar has this hypnotic quality. It seems to carry age, emotions, and story. That sounds silly, but you are already transported into the song without any words being sung! It is deep yet bubbling. It flows and carries you along. Reddy’s voice has a note of caution and sadness. The title could refer to a relationship blooming and blossoming, but it seems to pertain to something that could have bloomed or did once, but it has died or stopped. The vocals and guitar summon something riverside and calm, whereas the lyrics take us into something headier and more teenage. There is this wonderful contrast of quite traditional and beautiful Folk sounds mixing with a very modern aesthetic and lyrical palette. Ailbhe Reddy’s voice is soaked in wine and whiskey.

PHOTO CREDIT: Todd Owyoung

There are so many scents and sensations that she summons. Importantly, you cannot compare her to anyone else. She is one of the most original vocalists I have heard. That applies to her songwriting too. Consider the opening verse: “Met you in the bathroom queue/Thought that I'd seen you before/Singing songs that I thought that I knew/But I guess I was wrong/You were so rootless then/And it seemed romantic/But I guess that we all have to learn/I guess that we all have to learn”. Reddy’s voice has a slight weariness and sense of defeat, but there seems to be this longing or regret. It is such a compelling and nuanced song. I do wonder whether there are plans to film a video for this song, as I would love to see what concepts are considered. It is a new single, so this might already been in production or planned soon. In the chorus, Reddy’s voice lifts. There is this passion and declaration, but also a sense of realisation: that this potentially great thing is not going to go anywhere. I am not sure whether Reddy based the song on someone she was involved with or was hoping would be ‘the one’, but you do wonder as the chorus comes in: “To bloom where we're planted/Take love where it's handed/I could still want you could still want you/But my heart's not in it”. The production is incredible throughout Endless Affair. Crystal clear but with a touch of weariness, each song has so much atmosphere and gravitas. On Bloom, Ailbhe Reddy’s voice and guitar are right at the front. It is like you are hearing her play this song live, right next to you in fact. It gives extra weight and vulnerability to a song where you hear her voice almost shiver and crack in the chorus. I can imagine what it is like hearing this song performed on the stage!

Such an immaculate, unique, and superb storyteller, you listen to the three-minute song and want to hear more. You wonder what the aftermath was. If the lyrics give you the sense of a house party or a pretty hectic night, there is a soberness from the vocal. Soft and arresting at the same time, I get more and more intrigued when I hear the lyrics. Was this based on a specific event/woman that Reddy was once in her life? The second verse adds more explanation and answers: “The last time I saw you/We were standing in a crowd/Pills and cold water curing your hangover/Wonder how you're doing now/We were so restless then/And it all felt tragic/But I guess that we all have to learn/Guess that we all have to learn”. When the chorus come back round after that verse, it seems even more powerful and affecting. One of the most stirring and heartbreaking parts of the song comes at the end. The lines “We've all got to choose/A life and live with it” raises so many questions and interpretations – beyond the simple case of a relationship that could have gone places but never bloomed. Reddy did perform this track as early as 2020. It goes back quite a way, and it is obviously one that is important to her. A real gem from the awe-inspiring Endless Affair, I wanted to go into a bit more depth when it came to Bloom. This year is going to be the busiest and most successful of Ailbhe Reddy’s career so far. When she has come back from America, there are dates and appearances in the U.K. She will be welcomed with a lot of love and adoring fans! I am a big fan of her Personal History debut, but Endless Affair moves her story on and is her strongest release. I encountered her music over six years ago, and I am so glad I got to speak with this icon-in-the-making…

BACK in 2017.

___________

Follow Ailbhe Reddy

ALBUM REVIEW: Fable - Shame

ALBUM REVIEW:

 

 

Fable

Shame

 

 

10/10

 

 

The album, Shame, is available from:

https://open.spotify.com/album/36q8JTWPQ2bAHMYUNtDxsk?si=1Q8g_FNuQzGQ8G5trl9VDA

RELEASE DATE:

29th July, 2022

LABEL:

Naim Records

WRITTEN BY:

Holly Cosgrove (Fable)/Jonas Persson

TRACKLIST:

Fall Away

Womb

Guilt of the Act

Sandcastle

Heal Yourself

Shame

Orbiting

The Reaper

Unequal

Thirsty

Swarm 

Onion Brain

__________

I have a few things…

to sort of get out of the way before coming to a review of, in my view, one of the finest albums of this year by any artist. Forgive any sloppiness or oversights in this review but, yesterday, BBC Two dedicated their evening schedule to shows about Kate Bush (or those featuring her music) on what was her sixty-fourth birthday. It was a joy to see so much love for an artist who is an iconic genius who commands such huge respect! I am an obviously massive fan of hers and, to the best of my knowledge, write about her more regularly than anyone else in the world. Not to say that as a way of patting myself on the back. The reason I am so compelled by and dedicated to Kate Bush is because her music keeps revealing new layers. There are always fascinating avenues unexplored that one can write about. It excites me when I see an artist come along that has elements of her, or I can see them reaching similar peaks. Fable is an artist who I am in awe of (and who I recently interviewed). The moniker of the phenomenal Holly Cosgrove, I predict so much success in her future. For a start, I think that she genuinely has an album inside her as mesmeric as Hounds of Love (incidentally, listen to this 2020 documentary about Hounds of Love at thirty-five). I feel she could pen a sweeping and spellbinding suite like The Ninth Wave. Someone who can project the same sort of beauty and awe, everyone needs to keep their eyes on her (I have put Fable’s social media links at the bottom so you can follow and support her). I also know she is a big fan of David Bowie. Like Bowie, I can also imagine Fable adopting new personas and recording albums that explore different sounds and genres. Bowie was masterful when it came to switching guises and landscapes. This is something that I can also see Fable doing. Even if it is hard (and practically impossible) to match legends like Bush and Bowie, there are artists today that can combine the two and add their own stamp and sound (St. Vincent springs to mind).

I am awed by Fable because I can see limitless potential. I am not sure whether she (Cosgrove) has considered it, but she has enormous presence. Many artists go into acting, whether on the small or big screen. I am writing a screenplay myself, and I am currently searching for musicians to act. Sorry to ramble slightly, but as I said to musician Iraina Mancini recently, she is someone who could have a drama or short film specifically written with her in mind. I could see Fable (or Holly Cosgrove) either acting in something phenomenal or putting together a short film. Also, she seems like someone who would compose an arresting, innovative and immerse soundtrack for a film. Not to put pressure on her, but there is this potential adjacent career that could see her head to America and be a success here. Undoubtedly stunning and blessed with a unique and huge talent, Shame is an album that she is very proud of – and rightfully so too! It has been a challenging past week or so for me with various things. Flat-hunting with little success in London, a spell (still ongoing) of quite bad depression, and a general feeling of being directionless and a bit lost has weighed very heavy on my shoulders. Music an act as a remedy and source of stability in our darkest and most unsure and frightening moments. If it simply provides carapace or escapism, that can balm us in the short-term; maybe long enough so we can get our feet back on solid ground. The most remarkable and affecting music can give us guidance, strength and a real sense of purpose and place in the world. One reason why Shame has affected me so deeply is because it sounds like a modern classic. There isn’t an award ceremony in place, but I feel there should be a Mercury equivalent where newer or growing artists only are selected. Shame is an album that would walk away with the prize!

If this all sounds a bit gushing and lovestruck, you only need to listen to Shame and know Fable even a tiny bit to realise what a special and wonderful person and artist she is. In that way, she reminds me of Kate Bush. With beauty of soul, sweetness of heart and almost inexplicable level of talent and ability, one is helpless but to fall for her. I can’t remember the last time I reviewed an album – I normally write single reviews -, but I am going to write a bit about each of the twelve tracks on Shame, in addition to a closing paragraph about the sensational, future-legend that is Fable. I have looked at press and reviews for Shame (and, as not to steal anyone else’s voice, I will not quote those reviews). Fable has been compared with the likes of Portishead (there are Trip-Hop sounds through Shame; though Portishead resented being called ‘Trip-Hop’), and Kate Bush. Set aside any comparisons and understand that Fable is so respected and promising because she has her influences, yet her sound and music is distinctly from her bones and mouth. This is someone who is behold or reliant on nobody! I am going to get down to reviewing soon. Before that, here is some information about Fable and the mighty, majestic, magnificent and moreish Shame:

“The Devon-born singer-songwriter will be performing songs from the twelve track collection at a headline show at London’s iconic venue The Lexington on 6th August - full tour listing below.

Shame is rooted in the present, but draws from the past, taking inspiration from the likes of Portishead and Kate Bush, whilst being acutely aware of the challenges Fable’s generation faces. “Being human is more complicated than it has ever been,” Fable explains.

“I’ve seen so many young people just spinning in information, feeling like they have all the knowledge but none of the power. I think I’m here to say 'Look, keep it simple, fuck all of this hype, delete your social media, empower your own experience, compare notes with your child self. What would they think? Being happy doesn’t make you ignorant to the world's problems. Love yourself and the everyday shit.’ It's all here.” 

Turbulent new single ‘Swarm’, also out today, began one grey-skied Welsh morning in lockdown, listening to Radiohead and strumming the same two chords for an hour. Speaking on the single, Fable says: “I had the lyric ‘Where do I end, where does the world begin?’ scrawled in my notepad. It’s making a stab at a difficult subject: What is I? These are the things that go through your mind when you start self-isolation, before the pandemic’s even begun.” 

Having last year relaunched an impressive fledgling career that had already included performing at Glastonbury and collaborating with Orbital, Fable’s second coming has been met with enthusiasm from tastemakers, including NME, 6 Music, CLASH and The Independent, notably for the trip hop and neo soul blending ‘Orbiting’, which has racked up over a million streams, the emotionally introspective ‘Womb’, and the 6 Music-playlisted  title track ‘Shame’. Signed to Naim Records, the label wing of the award-winning premium audio brand, and an ambassador for mental health charity My Black Dog, she has recorded a debut album of genre-fluid, searingly honest and darkly beautiful music that spans from urgent post punk to introspective electronica, whilst posing questions that are both timely and personal, yet timeless”.

On Facebook, Fable thanked Andy Hollis for being the world's most supportive manager; Jonas Persson for fire production and co-writing; Andy Baldwin and Metropolis insane mastering, and Kenny McCracken and Keith Davey for this beautiful artwork. She has a wonderful team around her. One that will see her share the stage with some of the biggest artists in the world before too long. There are two bits of housekeeping to do before starting. Tomorrow, Fable can be heard on Chris Hawkins’ BBC Radio 6 Music early-morning show. She provides an audio tour of her favourite place: her grandfather’s home in Torquay. Also, if you can get to London and see Fable play The Lexington on Saturday (6th August), then there are tickets available. A debut album to be truly proud of, I feel very touched to add to the incredible kudos (including some five-star reviews!).

Fall Away opens Shame. A gorgeous and tender piano line instantly hooks you in and gets into the head. Such a beautiful and passage is soon joined by Trip-Hop and Neo-Soul colours and layers. Fable’s vocals are extraordinary! From strong and resolute to quivering and emotional, you do actually go on a journey in the song. I love Fall Away’s composition. If it were not for the truly mesmeric vocals and the fact Fable can buckle the knees, you could provide an instrumental version of Shame. Such is the power and depth of them, they show she is an artist who cares about texture, resonance, nuance and every single facet of a song. I think that a lot of modern music puts the vocals to the front and there is not much consideration when it comes to writing an original and interesting composition. Something operatic, choral and almost classical, there is this modern symphony playing out. In fact, Fable has revealed the story behind the truly wonderful Fall Away:

“It’s always been important for me to live in the present, and to make peace with the idea of my own death, explains Fable. “Fall Away tries to accept that all things will come to an end, and that to resist this idea is like swimming upstream. The line ‘long may the grass grow’ is a recognition that even if humanity doesn’t survive, consciousness in other forms will continue,” Fable adds”.

I keep going back to the song for various reasons. I love Fable’s vocals and lyrics. Lines like “Hiding your heart from your head” resonate because they can mean something different to every listener, and yet everyone can relate and understand that line – even if it means something personal and unique to Fable herself.

Womb’s title instantly got me thinking about birth and bringing new life into the world. Maybe the birth of an idea or revolution. Showing her incredible vocal dexterity and emotional range, Fable’s voice is sultry and hugely soulful. Reminding me of Amy Winehouse and Adele, layered backing vocals and this great bass rumble gives Womb such richness and nuance. You come back to the song because it demands repeated listens. I normally try and interpret songs and dive deep but, as there are twelve tracks, the word count would be astronomical! Yet another phenomenal and multi-layered composition perfectly marries with a pure and chocolate-hued vocal that swims in the soul. A very different song to Fall Away, Fable ensures that Shame boasts this variation and sense of movement and journey. That said, each song is distinctly her. There are too many artists who are limited and struggle to find a singular voice. Fable’s incredible vocal and writing gifts fuse with magnificent production values. Womb is an early standout for me. I talked about Fable (Holly Cosgrove) acting very soon because her songs have this cinematic quality. You listen to the composition and it almost has its own life and promise. Whether something quite stirring or gentler, one could see Shame being turned into a short film. In any case, a video was released in May last year. It is a simply brilliant video directed by Matt Hutchings. Credit too to Jonas Persson for his co-writing. I especially admire and love the wordless vocal chant that takes the song down. After two songs, you are already stunned by Shame – excited to hear what comes next…!

One can hear some classic ‘90s Trip-Hop with the cutting-edge today on Guilt of the Act. Again, some marvellous bass gives the song such groove and push. If our heroine doesn’t wanna be selling any dreams to ya, my dream is actually that we get a music video for this song! An insanely catchy and awe-inspiring song, I would love to see what Fable and her team would do with this in video form. You almost get something classic and vintage with the backing vocals. Maybe a classic girl group like The Andrews Sisters. I have seen some media outlets mention the 1990s influences in Fable’s music. She was born in the middle of the decade – making me feel really old! -, so it is natural that music from that time were part of her growing up. She’ll forgive me (I hope) for misquoting any lyrics or misconstruing the inspiration behind tracks. With a lyric video online, the listener can read the words and get a sense of where Fable is coming from. Look what I mean about vocal dexterity and flexibility. Still able to be immensely powerful and soulful, this is a brighter and faster song that, again, keeps the sense of flow, evolution and change firm. “Can’t walk in these shoes, I’m giving them back” is another statement that can be understood by everyone but can mean different thing to different people. Not to compare an innovator and unique artist to anyone else, but I get pleasing tastes and notes of some of the great girl groups from the 1990s. Those who were superior to other artists because of the beauty of their vocals and their innate ability to  produce these life-affirmingly and bright choruses. Although you get the feeling of sunshine, the lyrics do point to something a little more anxious or darker (“But the money keeps holding us back”). It is a remarkable song. Possibly my favourite cut from Shame.

Sandcastle has this woozier and dreamier vibe. Taken us down from the buzz and rush of Guilt of the Act, this is one of the finest vocal turns from Fable! Whispered, sweet, soulful, strong, and so full of emotion, I know that artists will be lining up to have her feature on their songs very soon. Like when Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) collaborated with Massive Attack on Teardrop (from 1998’s Mezzanine), I can see Fable being drafted into a huge collab. That said, she is sort of Elizabeth Fraser and Cocteau Twins (and others) rolled into one extraordinary package, so she does not need anyone else! I do feel like, the more exposure Shame gets, the more attention she will garner from producers and other artists – realising this insane talent who has created an album where each song has a different palette, yet everything hangs together and connects seamlessly! “We want the same/Let’s walk together” Fable sings, her voice imbued with spirituality, a hugging heart and this beautiful smile. You get these visions when hearing a song like Sandcastle. A standalone song that could fit into a film, save someone’s day or soundtrack spontaneous passion, I would be interested to see how this song translates to the stage. Another addictive and memorable song you will be singing to yourself and spinning over and over again, it was at this point that it struck me just how strong and limitless Fable’s voice is. I am not sure how vast and eclectic Holly Cosgrove’s record collection was as a child and teen. I have been reading this about Cosgrove and what she has had to face in her past – and how inspiring she is now and what important work she’s doing. I bring that in here, because Sandcastle seems like a blend of this dream of someone gone or imagined and a call to a departed loved one. Maybe that is way off of the mark, but I get a sense of Fable calling out and reaching beyond the tangible here and now. Again, like all of her songs, everyone has their interpretation and takeaway.

We are about to get to two songs that are very well-known and loved already. Heal Yourself is a track many might not have heard. With a skiffling and almost skeletal beat teaming with moonlight electronics, I get visions of dusk on this song. Meditative and incredibly soulful (a word I have used a lot but applies here), the pace changes and a beat bounces in. Bassy and heartbeat-heavy, Fable’s voice rises. I have listened back to this song over and over. It grows more intriguing and stunning the more I hear it. Another modern classic, as I have said a few times, this could soundtrack a dramatic scene or some cinematic standout moment. Fable’s voice is near its peak. She never lets the heavy and growing beat drown her out. Instead, her voice seems to ride on top of it like a surfer cresting a wave. She doesn’t need to amplify her voice to be heard and make an impression. It is the conviction of her words; the prowess she displays, and the natural talent she has that means her voice is another instrument that can weave between the notes; contrast with the beat and also stand on its own. From the more twilight opening, we get this burst of light and heat. One of modern music’s greatest songwriters and voices adding another chapter to a genius debut album. I have not heard a finer debut album this year – nor do I expect to by the time 2023 hits. The two most-streamed songs from Shame appear in the middle of the running order. The title track comes next…

Shame has been written about a little bit. Its video is wonderful! I get visual vibes of Kate Bush and Lady Gaga (with a bit of Beyoncé) but, with Matt Hutchings directing once more, this is very much an original and incomparable video. I hope Fable won’t mind, but I got some tones (the chorus of, perhaps) of St. Vincent’s Pay Your Way in Pain (from her epic 2021 album, Daddy’s Home). Although, as wonderous as that song is, Shame is on a whole other level! The vocal trips and swaggers. This is one of the coolest and toughest vocals on the album. Almost like it is wearing a leather jacket and bossing the night, this song kicks and slaps! Woozy, weird, wonderful and utterly sh*t-hot, the backing vocals (which chime “shame” and “pain”) are almost ghostly and taunting. I think many have interpreted Shame as a lament of the modern day and what the young generations have to face in terms of reality and struggle. Rather than it being a gloomy and angry song, Fable manages to write such an evocative and stirring song that makes you think but also has this grooviness, ‘60s vibe and a trippy quality that feeds into its stunning and unbeatable video (which has scary similarities with Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun at times!). It is hard to distil the essence of the title track into a few words. This is a song that took my breath when I first heard it - as it continues to do so. I know BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins was a very early champion and lover of Shame. I heard the song on his show and, by the time the chorus came in, I followed Fable and was a confirmed fan!

As the song has been out there for a while, it is no shock that Orbiting has been streamed more than any other song that appears on Shame. Taking us into a different direction altogether, the video is another perfect accompaniment to the song. Matt Hutchings and Fable are a tight and natural creative partnership! Giving the Devon-raised artist the best visual platform for her songs, I love the mix of beats, bass and Fable’s voice on this track. Taking things down a bit into soulful and sensual territory, she can pretty do anything that she wants! The chorus struck me with these lines: “And we're isolated/But we're connected/Because we are one under the surface”. Snarling guitars and a wonderful blend of the old and new, you get invested in the lyrics. The second chorus is one of the most thought-provoking on the album: “It's a lonely life/But I'm still spellbound by the world/And all these lies/Are certain to blow up/So I'm gonna go where no one's ever been before/And it's time to go where you have never been before”. The fact I am writing fewer words about Orbiting than most of the other tracks is because I would recommend people simply listen to it. There is this mood and vibe that you get from the track that is hard to put down on the page. Now past the half-way point, the listener is transfixed and transformed by Shame! I was so hungry to hear what came next.

The Reaper is another song that many might not have heard about. I love the sequencing of Shame. The bigger songs are organised and distributed evenly so that you get this consistent listening experience. Neither top of bottom-heavy, Shame is such a balanced listen in terms of those tracks you know and the ones new. In terms of the best of the best, I think every song is so strong that it is impossible to rank them. Even so, the two most popular songs appear as tracks six and seven – reminding me of the fact that tracks five and six of Kate Bush’s The Kick Inside are The Man with the Child in His Eyes and Wuthering Heights. The Reaper sort of tiptoes and creeps. There are electronic beeps that mix with a thudding beat. Fable’s voice is almost hiding and watching from the shadows. It is an amazing song! You are caught my surprise by it almost. “It can’t stay the same” our heroine sings, as she knows that things are going to change. The composition pulls in ghostly electronics, different beat patterns and an orchestra of spirits, ghouls, clicks, rushes and waves that all swell together to score this head-spinning song. This is a cut that would sound amazing on vinyl. (More on that later). This is an album track whose video could be really interesting. I am not sure whether any further singles will come from Shame, but fans will definitely have one or two suggestions. Such is the – as I have said – cinematic quality of the song, you naturally project videos and all manner of visions!

Four tracks left on Shame. Once more, the mood and direction changes. A more consistent and faster beat fuses clicks and electronic pulses. Almost rising from a slump or the dead, Unequal is a gem that warrants a lot of love and investigation. An artist who can inhabit any song and set of lyrics and completely stun the listener, Fable sings of a sickness that is growing and pooled at her feet. Almost tribal-like, the chorus emphasises how we are not equal. Whether she is referring to our Government and how society is skewed to the rich and privileged, it is another one of those hypnotic songs where you almost lean into the speakers so you can sit inside of it. Unequal has this constant sense of rhythm and dance that swirls and sways. You nod your head, sing along and click your fingers with it. The shortest track on the album, Unequal packs so much in! There is some cool electronic guitar that is subtle to start with. We then get a pause before it comes back in with teeth and attack. Bouncing, bold and physical as hell, you are almost moved off your feet with its power! The guitar and beat stomp their feet as Fable leads a charge. One of the many things about Shame that impresses is how no two tracks sound the same. In terms of their lyrics and sound, you get a completely new experience. Even so, the way the album is programmed and ordered means that things naturally flow and take the story forward. I wonder whether Fable had an idea of making Shame a concept album. In a way one can feel a narrative arc and common thread. Two big songs appear in the final three.

The first is Thirsty (released back in October 2020). With another amazing Matt Hutchings video (that puts me in mind of Kate Bush and Bjork), I get sounds of Alanis Morissette and Jagged Little Pill here. Rather than it being overpowering, it is a nice side to Fable’s voice. Ruling all is her incredible personality and talent…that makes the song her own. One of the finest and biggest choruses on the album, she is utterly jaw-dropping in the video! This song deserves so many more views on YouTube. In all honesty, it is one of the best songs that I have heard in years! It reminds me of a ‘90s classic without it being too indebted. Not many modern songs can match the best of that decade. Thirsty can! Like the most seductive kiss, you will keep coming back for a taste. It is intoxicating and so irresistible in its brilliance. The choruses rises and rushes before a slight down and then another rise. A phat Trip-Hop beat backs Fable’s voice. She throws in so many different sounds and accents in this masterful number! The video helps bring the words to life. At around the 2:20 mark, when you expect the chorus to come back in, the song changes course and this rousing, epic and symphonic rise comes. The guitar claws and strikes; there are layered vocals and a spectral wind that bring the song to close. No shi**ing. This is a modern classic and song that I cannot shake! If Fable doesn’t think she has the same genius as artists like Kate Bush and David Bowie, Thirsty is early proof that she very much does!

I needed a bit of a break before Swarm arrived! Smiling, exhausted and almost post-coital after the sensation of Thirsty, Swarm does not start how you’d expect. A rare line of acoustic guitar delivers something tender and soft. Following a song that burst like fireworks, Swarm has this gentility and purity that shows Fable at her soothing and beautiful best. Of course, a simple acoustic layer would probably need something added to it. We get strings and a great beat that comes and goes. Not a crowded song at all, there is this sparseness and openness that takes the listener to the mountains and river. This is almost like the heroine, at this point of the story or short film, escaping into the wide-open morning. Embracing something more natural. Elegant strings play. I almost heard Swarm as a James Bond theme. Maybe a modern-day one similar to Billie Eilish’s for No Time to Die. I did hear the song with a Bond title sequence moving in my brain. It has that combination cocktail or the sexy and sensual together with the potent and pure. Apologies to Fable is she doesn’t want too many comparisons, but I think Swarm is a song that could have fitted onto Madonna’s 1998 album, Ray of Light. Not because they sound alike as artists – Fable is a much stronger writer and singer -, but I get that sort of vibe. Like William Orbit has produced the track. Shame is an album with variations and so many different types of songs. Even if you have particular tastes, you will find something to love on this album. Swarm does not repeat what goes before or tries to duplicate or mimic. Instead, it is the natural talent of Fable unfurling and shining bright once again. I got to the final track thinking about how others will perceive Shame. It is not an easy album to make. There are so many different ingredients added to each song, this is the result of tireless work and passion! Throw into the fact that the pandemic delayed and slowed things, and the fact that this wonderful artist would have been fearful, doubtful and stressful at times. Shame is out in the world, which means we can hear this debut which would have been in her mind for a very long time. I am very protective of it because of how much work and herself Holly Gosgrove has put into it.

Onion Brain is another recent release from the album. Shame’s swansong is a one that stands as a favourite for Fable. As you can read here, Onion Brain has a fascinating history:

“Onion brain’ came to be one of my personal favourite tracks on the album.” Fable says of the track. “The main theme is the acceptance of loss, and the inseparable relationship of life and death. I titled the track ‘Onion Brain’ with a hint to the Buddhist idea that the suffering we perceive is caused by there being a sufferer, a noun. We believe ourselves to be nouns, static and separate, but as we peel away the layers we realise we are but verbs – living, breathing, digesting our experience, always flowing and affected by the world around us.

“I wanted to capture a feeling of helplessness in the opening line, ‘tied to a lamppost barking at strangers’; a metaphor for how little free will we actually have in our lives. But it’s not about trying to fight this, instead the song breathes a sigh of contentment with the worst to come. Coupled with a musical nostalgia for the Beatles and maybe a little flash of Fiona Apple, I wanted the music to invoke a kind of lugubrious joy. I wrote the track on an upright piano in my producer’s second bedroom. If you listen closely you can hear an Amazon van reversing in one of the verses, but the take had so much truth in it, we kept it in”.

I wonder whether we will see a music video for Onion Brain. It is one of the best songs on Shame. A perfect way to end a pretty perfect debut album. Compare this song to something like Thirsty, and you would swear you were hearing another artist! With a gorgeous vocal that reminds me of Fiona Apple and Norah Jones, there is a nudity and vulnerability to the song which gets your heart racing. Fable’s voice is crystal and breathy. It also has this conversational aspect and so much nuance. A truly remarkable vocalist and interpreter, I love the fact that Onion Brain is quite stripped and leaves the album with a sort of calmer note. Such an intelligent and deep writer, you feel like every song on Shame is from Fable’s soul (I should say ‘Gosgrove’s’, but it is hard to separate artist and the person in some cases!). You close your eyes as you listen to Onion Brain. Almost imagining you are in a room with Fable and holding her as she sings this song, every listener will get that physical sensational and need for embrace. Almost up there with Jazz legends like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, I am intrigued whether we might get more Jazz-influenced songs on the next album. I am thinking about Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett duetting classic tracks. Fable reinterpreting these standards maybe? She is such an amazingly versatile artist that she could do anything in music! I listen to Onion Brain and picture a smoky 1940s/1950s bar and this incredible singer holding the room in the palm of her hands. If Onion Brain does deal with some pretty tough themes, you do get this immaculate vocal performance that sort of lets you know that everything will be okay – and what more powerful message can a song deliver?!

I love Shame (if that wasn’t clear already!). I love Holly Cosgrove. She is an amazing and inspiring human who, through Fable, has gifted the world this very special debut. And I mean ‘gifted’. So many new artists come and go. Many release a debut album that is merely promising. Shame is a debut album impossible to improve upon! That is not to make things daunting and suggest she has peaked. Indeed, being such a wonderful talent who will continue to improve, I think her future material will be even stronger. If that is even possible! There are no boundaries to her limits and talent, so Fable will not have any problems writing (alongside Jonas Persson again, perhaps) a second studio album. Listen to her on Chris Hawkins’ BBC Radio 6 Music show tomorrow morning (you can listen back on BBC Sounds if it is too early for you); go and see her perform as soon as you can. I have reviewed these tracks listening through headphones. I have no idea how they sound live. Getting to experience Guilt of the Act, Thirty or Onion Brain surrounded by other fans; witnessing these songs up close and personal. That is going to be an incredible and unforgettable experience! I wonder whether we might get some new Fable merchandise. I would love to buy Shame on vinyl and cassette. I think you’d get this warmer and richer experience on a physical format. I am not sure if this is an option already, but I cannot see any links. Fable plays Bristol’s Golden Lion this evening; London’s The Lexington on 6th August. There will be so much love for her in those rooms! I would urge everyone to listen to the faultless Shame. Looking at Fable social media channels, and I know how proud she is of the album. She should be, as it is absolutely stunning! In a really crappy week for me (with no end in sight quite yet), I have been lifted and kept stable by Shame. It is an album that ranks alongside the best I have heard in many years. I cannot wait to see and hear what comes next from…

A future icon.

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Follow Fable

TRACK REVIEW: Pip Millett - Downright

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Pip Millett

Downright

 

9.5/10

 

 

The track, Downright, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p23E0O3WKJs

ORIGIN:

Manchester, U.K.

GENRES:

R&B/Soul/Trip-Hop

RELEASE DATE:

5th May, 2022

__________

THIS review…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Hayleigh Longman

concerns an artist who is a major young talent. Pip Millett is someone I have known about for a while - and the music she is releasing now is phenomenal. An artist who is going to go major and last fir years, Millett plays The Great Escape on 13th; she is playing in Amsterdam tomorrow. I am going to come to her latest song, Downright, in a minute. Before that, I want to look back at a couple of older interviews, to provide an introduction to Pip Millett, and to show where she has come from musically. Her Motion Sick E.P. of last year was phenomenal. It helped bring her music to a wider audience, and established her as an amazing and original artist. I will start with the Music Week. The Manchester-born artist was calling for more recognition of Black talent:

“The 22-year-old neo-soul singer is calling Music Week from her recently redecorated childhood bedroom, having relocated back to Manchester from London. The move home has left her in a state of reflection, and with the growing power of the Black Lives Matter movement, she’s been thinking back to her own experiences of racism growing up in the “very white area” of Stockport. Her mum is from the Wirral while her dad, who passed away a few years ago, was from Jamaica.

“It’s strange to think back to times when I felt uncomfortable and didn’t really know why,” she says. “It’s weird but, being mixed race, I guess I don’t feel the full brunt of it. I want to be able to be even louder than maybe some black people might feel like they can be, because we’re rocking the boat right now.”

Through frequent posting on social media Millett is doing just that, but now she’s calling for real change. While she hasn’t felt discrimination in the industry so far, the issue does throw up several questions. “I don’t want to feel too white for a black audience or too black for a white audience,” she says. “I’m kind of in-between.”

 While such feelings could be disheartening for a young artist, Millett is focused on the bigger picture, calling for more black talent to be celebrated. “There’s a lot of white people doing soul and R&B that get pushed a lot, but there definitely needs to be more of a push for those that are black, as it’s where this music actually came from,” she says. “There needs to be more money put into black artists.”

One of Millett’s early champions was Jorja Smith, who added her debut track Make Me Cry to her Spotify playlist. It now has more than seven million streams. “It feels really nice to have a young mixed-race girl supporting another young mixed-race girl,” she says.

In 2019, Millett released her debut Do Well EP and, into the early storm of lockdown, came follow-up Lost In June. Its uplifting sound has been something of a remedy to her fans, but Millett is as humble as can be. “I’m very grateful,” she smiles. “But it may have got even more attention because people were on their phones bored to shit!”

The project spawned from a university assignment to create a concept album (“My concept is my life, what else is there?”) and so featured narration from her family about their lives. The result is a masterful blend of soulful ballads and tantalising R&B, a beautifully candid statement on youth, family and love. It’s a lush, stylish peek into Millett’s musical life, which began as a solitary project with her bass guitar aged 13. Brought up on Joni Mitchell, Bobby Womack and Lauryn Hill CDs in her parents’ car, she says her family has influenced her sound exponentially.

“My mum would have my auntie and uncle round and get me to do the music,” she remembers. “She’d tell me certain things to put on and then I’d click on the YouTube links and I found more of my style that way. Friday night would be the parents drinking and me just playing tunes from a desktop computer! [Laughs]”

Millett’s way with raw emotion has helped sell out her two headline gigs so far. “They sang along to all the songs and I was like, ‘What the fuck?’ That was cool, a real emotional point,” she says.

With touring on ice for now, Millett is dreaming about the future and working on new music. “There’s a lot to think about, which means there’s a lot to write about,” she says. “I’m figuring out how I’m feeling and where I want to be after this...”.

This interview from NOTION is one that interested me, as it concerns a few of Pip Millet’s 'firsts’. It is especially interesting realising when she decided that she wanted to become an artist:

“First song you ever made?

Technically it would’ve been a song I wrote when I was super young and it was likely pretty awful.

First song you released officially?

“Make Me Cry”.

First CD or record you owned?

I’m too young for that! I remember cd’s being given as gifts but I had an iPod nano in primary school and before that an MP3 player with Paolo Nutini and Kings of Leon on it.

First time you realised you wanted to be an artist?

From a young age, I loved the idea of it but felt like it was out of my reach. I was super shy and everyone told me it was a really difficult career path but I went for it anyway and I guess probably over the past few years it’s gradually become more real.

First gig and first festival you went to? And the first festival you performed at?

First gig was either Rihanna or Paolo Nutini – both a great first gig. First festival I went to was either Camp Bestival or Solfest when I was about 11/12 – both were the same year.  The first festival I performed at was Manchester International this year for myself – however, I did perform at Boardmasters a few years ago with Franc Moody”.

Before getting to the review, there are a few more interviews I want to source. This one from PAUSE Her is more recent. There is one I will get to that is a bit older. PAUSE Her discussed her songwriting process and when her love of music began:

“Hey Pip, welcome back to PAUSE. I hear you’re gearing up for yet another release. Without giving away too much, what can we expect?

Hey! Yes I’ve got quite a few songs and I’m putting an album together which is pretty exciting! I’ve got songs with producers I’ve worked with a lot before as well as some newbies… it’s going to be really good. There’s a few different vibes.

Looking at your last project, it was a declaration of love to yourself. What role does music play in grounding you to inner peace and mental clarity in such an unsteady world?

My music helps me get things out and process things which is really helpful. Listening to other peoples music can help me relax, or can be a nice distraction to the weird times we live in. I’ve been listening to my Motion Sick EP recently, it’s nice to hear myself getting those feelings out of my head.

Would you be so kind in sharing your process of making a song?

It varies to be honest, but my favourite songs have usually started at home on guitar and then been taken to a producer.

As you often delve into your past through lyricism, tell us about how your love of music began.

I always loved listening to music. Who doesn’t? I just remember going on car journeys so that I could listen to a CD on the way to wherever my mum was going.

You received guitar lessons as a present from your mother. Was that a mother’s instinct or premonition? What was it about the guitar?

I’d asked for a bass guitar one year and I think the next year it made sense to then get lessons so it was a natural step up I think”.

I want to go back to the beginning, as it were. CLASH chatted with Pip Millett last year. They spotlighted a wonderful artist on the rise. Among other things, she mentioned some artists who were inspiring and moving her:

“I mean, I’ve never heard anyone refer to their music as gravy so that’s a first! I would love to go back to the beginning with you! Talk me through your upbringing and your introduction to music from a younger age?

My introduction to music was from my parents and siblings. There was always music playing in the car and around the house, I remember getting my first MP3 player and eventually moved up to an iPod Nano, this was in Primary school! I had artists like Kings Of Leon, and Bob Marley on it, but I loved it! It was a relatively little introduction, but a large part of my memory was me waking up, walking downstairs in the morning, and seeing my brother dancing around to the music channel in his dressing gown to Beyoncé and Sean Paul! (laughs)

That is such a big mood! (laughs) What about in regard to when you started singing?

I was really shy, I started singing a bit when I was around 13 years old, but before that I didn’t really sing unless it was along to something. Something changed, I started playing bass guitar which bought me out my shell a little bit and then I moved to actual guitar, and it was just a gradual process from there really.

Are there any artists that have helped shape your sound recently?

I’ve been listening to Nas’ ‘King’s Disease’ album a lot, I love it! I think that’s probably come through somewhere. Other than that, I discover a lot of stuff through Spotify. I listen to a lot of Sabrina Claudio and Snoh Aalegra – I always listen to Snoh Aalegra, I’m obsessed with her to be honest! (laughs) She is an older female but she’s killing it! She makes me feel less pressured because sometimes – I mean, maybe I’ve given this to myself – it’s now or never, but in fact I’m looking at all these artists that are in there 30’s and I’m 23! I can calm down a bit”.

I will come to the new track soon. Before that, I will go back to the CLASH interview. They asked Millett about the Motion Sick E.P. (2021). It is a magnificent E.P. that you need to check out. If you have not followed and investigated the work of Pip Millett, then do so now:

“Sonically, this EP has a more old-school feel. Was this something you wanted to encapsulate throughout?

It was definitely something I wanted to do! We had ‘Hard Life’ recorded and written for years and that had an older feel to it, and I wanted to keep that throughout the whole project. Most of the songs apart from one do use samples, I wanted to keep that old, warm, and crackly feeling. We finished all the songs and sent them across to Josh Crocker, a producer in Leeds, that put his own little spin on them. It was cool to hear his input!

This project differs a lot in comparison to ‘Lost In June’. Do you think you’ve grown a lot since then?

I’m never sure if its growth or if it’s just a new phase! I still listen back to some of those songs and wish I could re-write some of them. This EP does sound so different to ‘Lost In June’ and I don’t think they could be compared in any way. I know some people say, “Oh, you’ve grown so much, you sound so much better” and I’m thinking, is this meant to be a compliment? (laughs) For me personally, they are two very different projects and its good to be able to go from zone to zone. It’s a new part of my music! The next project will be a new chapter!

You said earlier that you were quite worried about dropping ‘Deeper Dark’ because you did it on our own. Are you more comfortable now with being as vulnerable in your songs?

It's always going to be a little bit scary because you just never know what people are going to say about it! Even when people are being nice to you, they can say some shadey things. I think people think it’s a compliment to say things like “Oh, I like this one but this one is way better” and I’m thinking, I’ve put so much work into both, so shush! (laughs)

I wasn’t as nervous this time to release the project because I was so desperate to have it out and the nerves had gone, but when you release the first single from any project it can be a bit scary! Each time I go to release, my audience has grown a little bit more! When I dropped ‘Make Me Cry’, I didn’t know who was going to listen to that, I didn’t have a following back then!

What’s your favourite track from the EP and why?

I don’t have a favourite favourite, but my favourites are ‘Running’ and ‘Braid It Back’. With ‘Running’, the journey to make it was it was really gradual, I could go back to it with ease, and it felt naturally formed, it didn’t feel like an effort or a chore! ‘Braid It Back’ is so weird, there isn’t really a chorus, and it feels cooky from most songs, but I like that it is its own thing, it’s warm and soulful”.

I love the KC Locke-directed video for Downright. It is the perfect accompaniment to the song. The introduction is beautiful! Rolling percussion and soulful, arresting guitars, there is a combination of R&B and Trip-Hop in the first moments. It is a wonderful introduction that gets you invested in the song right away. The song is an exploration of her mental-health and struggles. It is also about conflict within a relationship. An honest and open song, the video sees Millett washing her skin and looking in the mirror. It is almost cinematic in its beauty! The lyrics are Millett at her finest: “I was so alone, I was, I was in a sea of it/I wasn't sailin' through, I guess we both should beg/But it's okay now 'cause I'm with you/And I'm okay now/Do you plan on stayin' longer?” There is so much character, emotion and nuance in Millett’s voice. She is such a passionate, soulful and mesmeric singer. Able to bring so much from her lyrics, you immerse yourself in her world. The pre-chorus is the heroine looking for answers and resolution: “I want it to be better/Can't we both be separate pieces?/We can share the same sea/Settin' up on different beaches”. The video sees Millett lying on the floor with another woman, who looks quite blank. It is a tender but striking moment when you wonder what has happened; what has provoked and influenced the song. Millett is seen, through the song, looking out to the water and trying to find some solace. The chorus is the most stirring and memorable part of the song: “I know you still need me when I'm down/But down is just downright/Get the fuck out of my head/And I know you still need me when I'm down/But down is just downright/Sleepin' when I don't feel all right, all right”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Wendy Huynh

One of the great modern voices, Pip Millett is someone who can carry you away in her songs. Even though it is quite personal and has this real relevance to her, every listen is made to feel something and reflect when listening to a song like Downright. The way she phrases these words in the pre-chorus adds so much more weight and depth to a song that is already so striking: “When I don't/When I don't, all-all-all, all right/When I don't/All right”. I really love the composition. That rifling percussion remains. It is almost like nerves racing and a heartbeat going really fast. Although it projects some anxiety, there is this other aspect. The beat adds to the momentum and it has this sort of soothing quality too – whether that was intended or not. I do really admire the layers and all the separate elements of Downright. A song that I keep exploring and really admire.

I love the imagery in the video and what is conveyed. Millett is a natural actor, and you feel for in every moment! The second verse is her at her most bare-naked: “What's happening? You can't be wrong/Yet we're sitting here reluctantly in our broken home/You made the call, I picked it up/That doesn't mean I didn't hurt”. Showing arguments and Millett looking strained and upset, you will come back to the video time and time again. The song itself holds enormous power! I have listened to it a few times, and I get something new each time. Millett’s voice is filled with greys, blacks, and darker hues when it comes to the emotional content. She has this honeyed and silky voice that adds to that spectrum; so many different contours and shades that make the song one that will stay in the head. Downright is one of the best songs of this year! I wonder whether Pip Millett will follow it with an E.P. or album. There are a lot of eyes on her, and rightly so! The Manchester-born artist is primed for some very great things. She is without doubt…

ONE of this country’s finest artists.

___________

Follow Pip Millett

TRACK REVIEW: Nova Twins - Cleopatra

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Nova Twins

PHOTO CREDIT: Arthur René Walwin 

Cleopatra

 

9.8/10

 

 

The track, Cleopatra, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfqaPLU_epQ

ORIGIN:

London, U.K.

GENRES:

Alternative/Rock/Punk/Grunge

RELEASE DATE:

16th March, 2022

The album, Supernova, is available from 17th June. Pre-order here:

https://novatwins.ochre.store/supernova

__________

HERE is a duo…

that I have included on my blog before. One of the most interesting, powerful, inspirational and important acts in music, Nova Twins prepare to release their second album, Supernova, on 17th June. It follows the brilliant Who Are the Girls? of 2020. That album came out mere weeks before the pandemic reached us in the U.K. It was one of the worst times to put out a debut. Such a mighty and stunning album needed to be played live. Amy Love (lead vocals, guitar) and Georgia South (bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) did get to play the album live, though it must have been weird having this debut out and it being overshadowed fairly soon. Now, ahead of their second album, they are in a much better position when it comes to being able to play it live. Singles Antagonist and K.M.B. have already arrived. I am going to get to reviewing the current single, Cleopatra, soon. I am going to work my way towards that track. I want to cover off a few things before I get there. It is worth learning about how Nova Twins met, and what music they listened to when growing up. In this NME interview from last year, we discover how Love and South met:

“Friends since childhood in Essex and London respectively, Love and South’s rise to alt-rock prominence has come from years of gigging around the punk circuit, taking in the Camden Barfly, Lewisham’s Fox & Firkin and The Dome at Tufnell Park. Though they each started out in different small bands and projects, they would take care to get booked onto the same line-ups, cheering each other on before decamping to South’s parent’s house to debrief. When they eventually decided to work together, initially under the name Braats, friends and family encouraged them to avoid conforming or imitating the influence of others. Instead they set about writing songs that felt like them, establishing the blueprint for the individuality that makes Nova Twins so arresting today.

PHOTO CREDIT: Emma Viola Lilja

“I think at the beginning, we were just having fun with it,” says South. “It was just us being best friends, writing a song and thinking, ‘Actually, this is really good – let’s write some more’. So I think that kind of natural energy formed the kind of sound of Nova Twins. And then obviously we had different influences growing up. I loved N.E.R.D, anything Pharrell did, Timbaland productions; all of those electronic aspects of music.”

Love jumps in: “On the flipside, I was listening to a mixture of things, growing up in Essex. At first it was a lot of UK garage and soul, but then at college at 16 I was discovering people like New York Dolls and MC5 and got quite obsessive.” She shouts out British hard rockers Deep Purple and funk and soul singer Betty Davis, whom she describes as “just bringing that energy”, adding: “The first Nova Twins song was written on just bass and top line, then we had some drum beats, and then eventually we got a play-in drummer and that was it. We just kept going and going and going.”

Having found in each other what Love describes as “sisters of the soul”, the pair’s loving dynamic has clearly been the driving force in Nova Twins’ defiant journey through potentially hostile industry waters. Their music might be in-your-face, but the endearing politeness they hold for one another creates an humourous contrast, each waiting patiently for each other to finish talking before adding their own thoughts.

“We’ve definitely gone through a lot with each other,” nods Love. “We love music, but to the core of things, people are what’s important. We’ve gone from girls to women together; it’s really nice to have genuine family around to do this stuff with”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Emma Viola Lilja

I think one of the most distinct things about Nova Twins is their sound. A tremendous blend of Rock and Alternative with other sounds and shades in the mix, there is nobody like them in modern music. This Music Radar interview from September posed the question regarding the sound of Nova Twins:

“We have spoke before but this is the first time we have had you on the site. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with your sound, how would you describe it? Because there is the culture clash of hip-hop and grime with rock and punk, and you really do play around with sound.

Georgia South: “When we record in the studio, we want everything to be played live. With the first album, that was our manifesto. Every riff, every sound, it has to be able to be portrayed live – so no backing tracks or synths, extra keys, MIDI tracks triggering it all. We want to just do it all, tap-dancing onstage, very manually.

“And for our new music, we are following that same kind of ethos, of using sounds only from our pedalboards and our guitars, just because we want to keep it raw and something different.

“A lot of bands, it’s amazing what they are doing, but we thought it was a cool element to just have the pedals and stick with that for this next album. I’m not saying that we won’t change in the future, but for now we are loving experimenting with pedals, and being in our pedal lab!”

There’s also something really traditional and old-school about how you play this new-school sound.

GS: “Yeah, definitely. The way we approach it is very old-school but we love it. We started off that way, playing tons of punk shows…  for years and years and years, just doing it that way as a three-piece, and we just have to…

Amy Love: “Stick to our roots!”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Roach

How important is volume to your sound? It’s something we don’t talk enough about but it can be so exhilarating.

GS: “Yeah, volume is everything! [Laughs] The other day, we had in-ears for the first time, and the volume wasn’t there. I couldn’t feel the bass, and I couldn’t feel the drums, ‘cos everything was quieter. I am used to having all the sound onstage being super loud. But, it’s obviously better for your ears and your hearing, but it was a harder show because you have got to work harder to be in the music, and when you feel like you are naturally just playing, you’re in that pocket, but when you don’t feel that natural thing, it is a whole different thing.”

AL: “Yeah, and I think live, something we like to play with is dynamics and volume. You can really create a moment by giving the track a bit of space and emptying it out to the point where you can come back and hit it hard for a chorus or something like that. We definitely play with dynamics, with volume, to give the audience more of a journey. And we are writing more music with that in mind. It is important. I think dynamics are key to any band, to be able to take the audience on a journey so it doesn’t get too boring”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Corinne Cumming

I might get a bit guitar-nerdy for a bit! The guitar and bass are so integral to the sound and impact of Nova Twins. Going back to the Music Radar interview, Nova Twins discussed their set-up and how they get that unique and potent sound:

“That’s a consideration we don’t talk about enough, how the guitar works with the pedals. We talk about amps taking pedals well but it’s the same deal for guitar and how the pickups work with it.

GS: “The pickups are the main thing. I don’t tend to use active basses that much. I use it on the passive setting. Sometimes it sounds cool with the glitches but other times the pedals are like, ‘Noooo, I don’t want to!’ [Laughs]”

AL: “I think when we started playing, we always stuck to our one guitar, but you don’t really realise how the guitar reacts almost like a pedal, and like the difference between a DI and an amp, and how that sounds with a P-Bass to a Westone, from a Mustang to a Strat. As you start playing different guitars, you use it as another sonic texture to write with. Because, even your fretless…”

GS: “Yeah, I have a fretless Fender. I got that in lockdown and wrote a verse on that, so it’s cool for the verse to go from all super slinky and then into a different bass for the chorus. I don’t know how I am going to do that live. [Laughs] I’m going to have to try do that on one bass.”

AL: “But I love how you just used it in a different way, because everyone just sees it as a jazz bass, and you use it in a different way, man!”

GS: “Yeah, when Fender gave us the fretless people were like, ‘Why? Why did you get a fretless?’ But you’ve just got to use it in a different way.”

Definitely. And there are possibilities with the fretless. You can use it to emulate a synth.

GS: “Yeah! It sounds super synth-y, it sounds cool”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Arthur René Walwin

As artists of colour, Nova Twins have faced prejudice. Not purely a Rock act, many would consider this an area of music dominated by white artists. White men. Maybe things are improving regarding representation, but this idea that guitar music should be for white men or a certain demographic meant Georgia South and Amy Love have had to deal with some horrible remarks and judgements. Coming back to the NME interview from earlier, we learn what it was like for them in the early days:

“Though the pair gigged and worked relentlessly, the barriers of racial stereotype did come into play. Both recall feeling overlooked or discriminated against as a new band, and dismissed by those who couldn’t seem to understand why they weren’t performing straight hip-hop or R&B.

“We really noticed that when we first came on the scene there was this whole new wave of feminist punk,” says Love. “A lot of magazines were picking and choosing. NME actually did cover us when we first came out, but even though we were playing the same shows as a lot of our peers, we weren’t getting included or seen as riot grrrls. It was really strange. I’m not gonna mention names, but certain magazines would cover a full event day stage and they still wouldn’t write about us. It was almost like they couldn’t comprehend that two Black women could be seen as riot grrrls, you know? Or maybe the type of music we were doing was a little bit different”.

Sticking on the theme, and maybe there was this attack and judgment because Rock fans were stubborn when it came to accepting evolution and something different. In this interview from the Evening Standard earlier this month, the sense of fearlessness displayed on their 2020 debut showed they were doing something fresh with the genre of Rock:

“That fearlessness paid off, with the duo’s acclaimed debut album Who Are the Girls? earning them critical acclaim and a legion of new fans – including some famous ones too, like Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello and Bring Me The Horizon, the latter with whom they collaborated recently. Bands as varied as Wolf Alice, Sleaford Mods, Enter Shikari and Yungblud have all invited them to be tour supports, showing just how many different fan-bases their music can reach. Earlier this year they got two nominations at the NME Awards, for Best UK Band and Best Band in the World. Rock finally seems to have caught up too, with more willingness to take a chance on bands doing something genuinely new and exciting with the genre.

“The only reason people were saying rock was dead because it wasn’t as inclusive, as diversified, so it was getting the same, stale repetitive stuff,” Love says of the scene that was rolling out similar headliners at festivals year after year. “Rock isn’t dead. There are so many women driving it forward now and it’s the freshest sounding stuff we’ve heard in f***ing years... We played our hearts out on those stages every time: we left an impression that rock doesn’t have to be for the boys. Now, it’s finally starting to push through”.

Two young Black women in Rock, their additions of Hip-Hop and Grime have opened the door for other artists. It has been a struggle for Nova Twins to gain acceptance. Many embraced them from the start, though there have been quarters that have written them off or discriminated against them. In an Alternative Press interview, Nova Twins recounted how they were seen as odd because, being Black women, they were entering this Rock world. I think, in 2022, there is still this preconceived notion of what Rock should be and who should play it:

“We’re two young Black women in rock music, [so] all the odds are stacked against us,” Love says. “It’s predominantly white male, and it has been for a very long time, and therefore it was a lot harder for us to find a space to exist. We had to really create our own bubble of ignoring what everyone told us and be reliant on looking to each other for support because we thought we were going mad when we were first a band. People just weren’t accepting of it. They weren’t getting it. They just didn’t understand why we [were] doing this kind of music in the first place.”

The absurd notion that people of color have no place in punk rock can be easily dispelled in just two words: Bad Brains. In 1987, when the African-American quartet from Washington, D.C. arrived in London for a concert at the Clarendon club, in Hammersmith, the streets outside were packed with many hundreds, if not thousands, of people unable to gain entry. So no problem there, then.

 Back in the 1980s, racism in wider British society was easily identifiable; it was monkey noises on the soccer terraces or a primetime television show in which light-entertainers donned blackface and sang calypso. But in the 21st century, a new vocabulary has emerged by which base emotions are given cover by dog-whistle terminology. People talk of “social cohesion,” “taking back control of our borders” and the “anglosphere.”

By way of response, London groups such as Nova Twins and Bob Vylan have emerged with a compelling anti-racist counterview that, for the first time in quite a while, manages to reclaim punk’s radical edge. Make no mistake: Good music is emerging from this exhausting battle royal. But what really sets Love and South apart is that the pair are kicking against the pricks on two fronts.

“Being women and women of color is two separate entities,” Love says. “Do you know what I mean? If you turn up on rock bills, or at a festival, as women, that’s already an assumption that you’re going to be shit. Just because you’re a woman. And if you’re good, that’s such a surprise. Like, [feel free to imagine an intelligent young woman mimicking the most patronizing voice you’ve ever heard] ‘Wow, you’re really talented!’ We get that a lot. Why? Because we’re women. But we’re also Black women.”

After concerts, audience members would approach Nova Twins to congratulate them on their dance moves — “We’re like, ‘We’re not dancers,’” Love says — while magazines would omit them from reviews of festivals in which every other band were given coverage. “People would say to us, ‘We don’t see you as rock,’” South says. “They would ask, ‘How can you fit in? Surely you’re more hip-hop.’ If we were silhouettes, if you couldn’t see what we looked like, we’d be rock. But because [people were] confused by our image, they were like, ‘Ooh, how is this going to fit in?’ They don’t really understand what kind of category we’re supposed to be. There were lots of things like that”.

Nova Twins are not solely responsible for bringing about change and carrying the torch. They are in a position where they have captured huge critical acclaim and focus. With their second album arriving soon, it will help to bring about change and awareness. In February, Nova Twins spoke with Kerrang!. It does seem that change is beginning to happen:

“It’s also their turn, they realise, to carry the baton for those who’ve come before and dedicated their lives to enacting real change – for women, for people of colour, for women of colour. Because while the duo undoubtedly march to the beat of their own drum, they do so accompanied by ‘the sound of the dead choir’s roar’, as Antagonist puts it. “In my head, I was seeing the people who have been and have passed on,” says Amy. “But they’re still chanting, our ancestors, the people who have fought for civil rights and fought for women’s rights, which has passed on to us, so we keep fighting for what we think is right.”

Real change is, thankfully, taking place when it comes to representation in rock. The day before this interview, Ho99o9, a POC duo taking their art in less accessible, more incendiary directions, are revealed as the stars of K!’s Cover Story. Meet Me @ The Altar, who graced the cover last summer, are changing the traditionally white, male face of pop-punk. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic the likes of Big Joanie, The Tuts, SPEW, Handle and Best Praxis provide us with not just reassurance of a more diverse and inclusive scene, but viable role models for a new generation of aspiring stars.

“When we see kids like that, we literally look at each other and say, ‘We need to go mental today,’” grins Georgia of the prospect of playing in front of young individuals of colour, who may be seeing people who look like them performing in a rock context for the first time. “It might be the one chance they get to see themselves in a punky setting.”

Nova Twins have led by example on this front too, having curated a bill for their UK and Ireland headline tour (starting this week) featuring DJ/On Wednesdays We Wear Black podcast co-host Alyx Holcombe, Irish/Ivorian rapper Celavied Mai, singer-songwriter Connie Constance, and rapper Kid Bookie. Many of these artists featured on Nova Twins’ Voices Of The Unheard, a project started as a platform for underrepresented artists, initially as a vinyl release, and later as a continually updated Spotify playlist”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Esmé Surfleet

Staying with this Kerrang! interview, and the connection South and Love has is incredible. They are almost like sisters! This affection and understanding is pivotal regarding their incredible music and how they are almost telekinetic. Their live shows prove how in tune they are with one another:

“When Antagonist was first released, Georgia described the single as “the sound of both of our energies coming together”. That’s a statement of fact, of course, given that Georgia and Amy worked on early versions of the song while separated by lockdown restrictions, before eventually convening at Marshall Studios in Milton Keynes to flesh it out. But it’s also the case that Nova Twins are two unique individuals whose combined efforts produce something equally. But what does each bring to the party? What are their separate energies?

To an outsider, the differences between the two seem obvious. Georgia almost always speaks first, which is unusual given that she appears the more cautious, her answers peppered with nervous laughter. Amy, on the other hand, seems to relish the spotlight to a greater degree, whether that’s treating a tricky subject to an irreverent spin, or commanding the attention of 20,000 people at London’s The O2, supporting Bring Me The Horizon, as Nova Twins did last September.

As it turns out, K!’s impressions aren’t entirely wide of the mark; according to the women themselves, if they were to sum up their unofficial roles in the band, then Amy is the witch and Georgia is the scientist. “If she’s got a good feeling that something is going to happen, literally an hour later we’ll get big news,” Georgia says of Amy’s near-supernatural gift for premonition, particularly when it comes to sensing good fortune for the band. “And she’s got very good gut instincts about things, especially around the crazier ideas.” Creatively speaking, those ‘crazier ideas’ tend to begin with Georgia, whose gift for sonic manipulation frequently leaves her bandmate unsure quite what to expect next. “Her ideas may initially seem mental and wacky,” says Amy, “but they’re presented in a way that means they make total sense”.

Before getting to their latest single, it is worth spending some time exploring Supernova. Going back to that Evening Standard interview, Nova Twins discussed some of the songs on Supernova. They talked about how Cleopatra came together:

“New album Supernova is filled with plenty of similarly empowering messages for women, like on fiery gothic standout ‘K.M.B.’ where the patriarchy gets a reckoning and electro-anthem Cleopatra – a bold call to action that sees Love declare she’s a “boss bitch”, a “warrior” and a “fighter”. Puzzles too sees them smash taboos on a track where women talk about enjoying sex. “We just thought why not make a heavy sexy song? It’s about not shaming other people,” Love says of the track. “If we cover up, people are like ‘Oh, you’re good girls’ and we were both like ‘Hang on a minute!’ If we want to wear a bralette or a skirt or anything then we will. If we want to talk about sex, then we will do that too!”

Cleopatra was written under lockdown after the Black Lives Matter protests. The song, like so many on the album, interrogates race alongside gender, with the pair saying that the protests made them challenge discriminatory behaviours more determinedly. Opening track Antagonist is perhaps the most vociferous and sees Love declare “I’m feeling like a riot / If it’s a cure to the cause” over South’s thundering bass.

“The Black Lives Matter [protests] were a big part of these [songs],” Love says. “It was also just us opening a big can of worms having many discoveries too. Some of the things that we didn’t even notice like micro-aggressions – things we’ve always been told are just the way the world is, we started to look at them and go: ‘Hang on, that’s not okay.’ You do have to call it out. People used to look at us and be like ‘They’re moaning, they’re being angry black women’”, she explains, saying whenever they would challenge the status quo, they were met with such oppositional, prejudiced comments. “Black Lives Matter made people take things like this a lot more seriously”.

One of the most cutting, sharp and hard-hitting Rock acts, they are a blend of futuristic and classic. I don’t think there are many Rock groups that have the same punch and riffs as the legends. The genre has broadened and almost softened. That is not to say artists are ignoring big issues or coming across as forgettable. Nova Twins are discussing and raising important themes and have this powerful set of lyrics. They also match it with compositions that are catchy, tough and innovative. With elements of Disco, Grunge and Rock blended into this fiery and fist-pumping introduction (that reminds me of Rage Against the Machine), you are instantly hooked on this wonderful song! Twenty seconds of grit, swagger and a sonic declaration of intent leads to Amy Love stepping to the microphone. With this Hip-Hop bounce and attitude, she is backed by snarly and middle-finger-pointing bass and drums. The opening verse is incredible: “I’m the type of girl who likes taking the lead/I don’t give a fuck what they say about me/They say I’m scary, I’m not ladylike, I act like a queen/And I’ll be wearing the crown whilst I’ll be kissing my teeth, yeah/Blacker than the leather, that’s holding our boots together/If you rock a different shade, we come under the same umbrella/Pharaohs and empresses, our bones made out of treasure/I’ll be twirling on swords, watch me slit and slice and sever”. Insightful, clever and vivid, the combination of South and Love on vocals adds so much charge and unity to a song that is among the most potent and stunning Nova Twins have released. At a time when bands like Queens of the Stone Age have retreated and long-stays like Muse are sort of repeating themselves, Nova Twins are among a small selection (included are The Mysterines) of artist who are diversifying Rock and are doing something interesting and compelling. Maybe a reaction to how Nova Twins are perceived by some. Being Black women in Rock, do they have a place and should they stand aside? I can only imagine the type of attitudes and comments they have had to face. Cleopatra seems like this mission statement and fuc*-you to those who have doubted Nova Twins or pushed them aside.

The pre-chorus is more sensual and smooth. It is slinky, but there is this ongoing buzz, neon punch and groove: “At night, we ride/We come alive/You can’t run or hide/At night, we ride/We live, never die/It’s in our bloodlines”. There is some distortion to the vocals that gives it even more edge and power. From start to finish, Cleopatra never lets off the brakes. The chorus is this statement of intent: Nova Twins are definitely not ones to mess with: “I’m a samurai, samurai, samurai, dancer/Warrior, warrior, warrior, fighter/Ahh/I’m a boss bitch/Ahh/I’m Cleopatra/I’m a samurai, samurai, samurai, dancer/Warrior, warrior, warrior, fighter/Ahh/I’m a boss bitch/Ahh/I’m Cleopatra”. I love the sheer rush and wave that Nova Twins bring! The vocals have a slight touch of Gwen Stefani at her coolest and toughest. Funky, filled with spit and this undeniable swagger, there is this Punk attitude that gets under the skin. The song’s questions and lines about identity, race and finding acceptance are especially moving, memorable and important: “When I was a kid they always called me a freak/And now them little bitches want to look like me/They’ll be injecting, imperfecting till it starts to weep /You can buy your looks, but you can’t change your genes/I’m a straight talker/Fucking say what you mean/Want to know where I am from/And where the hell I’ve been/From Persia to Nigeria, London to Jamaica/Our ancestors were sailors/Crossed over the equator”. Cleopatra then returns to the pre-chorus and chorus. There is this feeling that they would not want to be anyone but themselves. Having faced so much crap and hate during their lives, they are proud Black women who are queens! “Ahh/Ahh/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/Anyone but me/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/Wouldn’t wanna be/I’m the fucking queen”. Taking their lead from the mighty Cleopatra (she was queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 B.C.), this song is the finest and most astonishing release from Supernova yet. It is my favourite track of the year so far!

I am going to finish off with one more point and interview. Going back to the Alt Press interview from earlier on, Love and South talked about the Rock and harder sounds played on the radio:

“On the radio [in the U.K.], what I’m hearing is Frank Carter, IDLES, Royal Blood,” South says. “I don’t really hear any heavy women. [Male artists] dominate. Biffy Clyro. Machine Gun Kelly. Travis Barker.” This is what the pair are up against, you see. This is what they know they’re up against, too. So with their basket of French fries — they call them chips over there — long since emptied, and the hour at which soundcheck will begin at Asylum, in Hull, fast approaching, Alternative Press has time for just one more question.

We cover a lot of bands who believe that their operation is built to last. More often than not, it’s anything but. So what exactly makes Nova Twins tougher than the rest?

“Because we’re not seeking anyone’s approval,” Love answers. Probably by now, you didn’t need to be told that she didn’t miss a beat. “And there’s no other option for us, really. This is it. We’ll make it work one way or another, as we have done for the last eight years — and as we’ll do for the next eight years. In spite of all the challenges we’ve had, it didn’t break us. There’s not been one moment when we’ve thought, ‘We’re not going to do this anymore.’ Not one. Even when it got to the point where we thought, ‘Fuck, how are we going to make an album? Where’s the money coming from? How are we going to do this?’ We never thought of giving up. We were like, ‘Fuck it, we’ll get a bank loan. Let’s fucking do this”.

Nova Twins will definitely bring about change. Although bands like The Mysterines are led by women (in their case, the incredible Lia Metcalfe), they are in the minority. Outside of Hip-Hop, there are not many Black women being represented in Rock. Radio is still playing men and male bands, even though there are a lot of all-female or female-led Rock/Punk groups (from Wolf Alice to YONAKA). I feel Supernova will help to bring about change – change that is sorely needed! It is going to be one of this year’s best and most important albums. On the evidence of Cleopatra, Supernova is an album that you…

YOU will not want to miss out on.

___________

Follow Nova Twins

TRACK REVIEW: The Mysterines: Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much)

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

The Mysterines

Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much)

 

9.3/10

 

 

The track, Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much), is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfG5b8pW3pU

ORIGIN:

Liverpool, U.K.

GENRES:

Rock/Alternative

LYRICS:

Lia Metcalfe

MUSIC:

The Mysterines

The Mysterines’ album, Reeling, is available now. Buy here:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/the-mysterines/reeling

RELEASE DATE:

11th March, 2022

LABEL:

Fiction

PRODUCER:

Catherine Marks

__________

ONE of the problems…

with reviewing a band is that their membership might have changed through the years. Because of that, you get old photos and interviews you can’t use. I am finding more and more bands are losing members or replacing old ones. In the case of Liverpool’s The Mysterines, they have added to the fold. I don’t think I will stumble on old interviews or include photos that are of the old line-up. In their case, the original line-up consisted of Lia Metcalfe and bassist George Favager. It is Metcalfe’s band; she is their electric and wonderful lead. Making up the quartet are drummer Paul Crilly and guitarist Callum Thompson. I am going to come to a review of a song from their album, Reeling. The album was recorded live with Catherine Marks. She is a producer I have interviewed before and have a lot of respect for. Before getting to specific aspects of The Mysterines, I want to start with an interview from DIY. The way they describe meeting the band and the way they set up their aesthetic and operations. This is a talented and promising young band who could have come from the classic fold in the 1990s:

“young PJ Harvey gazes out across The Mysterines’ Liverpool rehearsal space. The framed photo of the iconic rocker from around the time of her early ‘90s emergence is propped against a wall, waiting to be mounted; it was a birthday present from the photographer Steve Gullick, to the band’s singer and key creative force, Lia Metcalfe. Steve shot the fledgling Liverpool outfit recently, and would probably tell you he sees in Lia some of what marked out Harvey as a special talent around the time he first met her.

You’d imagine Polly Jean would approve of what she’d hear if she could gaze out of the frame and into the room, too. The Mysterines’ debut record ‘Reeling’ shares its title with a song on ‘4-Track Demos’, the legendary raw takes that paved the way for PJ’s breakthrough LP, ‘Rid of Me’. It’s that album that The Mysterines’ own ‘Reeling’ recalls; slick but emotionally turbulent, polished without rounding off the cutting edges from the singer’s razor-sharp writing. Its release marks the end of a winning road for the group’s two remaining founding members, Lia and bassist George Favager, one marked by lineup changes and COVID-enforced inertia.

Drummer Paul Crilly arrives first today to the industrial estate about a mile north-west of the city centre that the band currently call their base. He’s marvelling at some bizarre prospective footage that the singer has put together for the video for their next single, the incendiary ‘Life’s a Bitch (But I Like It So Much)’, which looks like what you might expect a tour documentary directed by David Lynch to be.

As the group’s principal songwriter, and with a keen handle on every aspect of their output, The Mysterines is very much Lia’s band - a commanding presence onstage, with a line in conversation that’s thoughtful one minute and wisecracking Scouser the next. If the group started out as a vehicle for her writing, you get the sense it’s because going down the traditional singer-songwriter route was never an option. She seems invested in the idea of what it means to create with like-minded people, particularly when she talks about the additions to the lineup in 2020 of Paul and guitarist Callum Thompson, as well as in the opportunity to build a mythology around her songs that tends to come more readily to bands than to solo artists.

PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Gullick 

Her position as the brains of the operation perhaps explains why the arduous process of putting together ‘Reeling’ seems to have been harder on her than anybody else; today, she talks about the recording with the occasional wince. “We spent three weeks in the studio,” she says. “But they were months apart. July, November, and then March. So there were these long drawn-out months in between where the lockdowns meant we couldn’t really do anything. So that was kind of intense.”

“It was a bit of a double-edged sword,” adds Paul, “because it gave us time to write a few more songs. If we’d done three straight weeks before COVID happened, this would be a very different album.” As much as he’s able to see the positives, Lia isn’t so sure; in contrast to the freewheeling rock’n’roll of their band’s live shows and her dominant presence as frontwoman, doubts crept in during the recording process, something she said she “resented” at times. “Some of these songs were written when I was 16, so I have a lot invested in them,” she explains.

“When something means so much to you, it can be hard to have resistance against it. To introduce it to this new lineup, to then be taking it to London, there’s a lot of pressure on,” she continues. “You get signed, there’s singles to think about, then the album, it’s like, ‘How the fuck did we get here?’ And things have moved so fast since the beginning of 2020 after moving so slow for a few years for me and George. So that was overwhelming. I had some resentment towards the album at times that made me not enjoy it. With a little bit of distance from it, I’m proud of it now. It’s a good snapshot of that time”.

For The Mysterines, life in the pandemic has been particularly strange. Although they did not get chance to gig and play out there much, there was this enforced confinement that allowed them to focus on writing Reeling. I feel a lot of artists had that opportunity to concentrate on an album without the distraction of outside activity or anything else. Upset Magazine chatted with The Mysterines in November last year about their pandemic experience:

“2020 might have been a chaotic one for most of us, but for scuzz rock newcomers The Mysterines, it was an opportunity like no other. A year away from the temptation of touring gave the Liverpool foursome, helmed by the inimitably cool Lia Metcalfe, a chance to focus, and to write and record 'Reeling', their explosive debut album just announced for next year.

"As distressing as lockdown was for the whole world, it was actually really, really enjoyable for me. Got dealt a good card there in terms of writing an album," Lia explains over Zoom. "I don't think a lot of those songs would have been written without that time, which is interesting because it was such a freak moment in history, Covid occurin'. There's nothing I've ever experienced in my lifetime that's been anything like that."

Pre-pandemic, The Mysterines - completed by bassist George Favager, guitarist Callum Thompson and Paul Crilly on drums - were trending upwards and gaining speed. 2019's 'Take Control' EP introduced the then-trio as hooky rock virtuosos while tours alongside The Amazons and Royal Blood gave their already massive sound the stages to match. They'd just ticked off their first headline run in February last year when... well, you remember.

"Everything looked like it was really on a great run, and then a month later, everything closed!" laughs George.

Time away hasn't dampened their momentum at all, though. The first taste of the record, 'In My Head' is a grisly, prowling affair with monster riffs à la 'AM' era Arctic Monkeys and Lia's most commanding vocals to date. It dropped back in July and went straight onto BBC 6 Music's A list”.

I want to go back to that DIY interview. For Paul and Callum, it was an especially odd time. Their first time with this new band, they then were locked down and were not sure when they could play again. In the DIY interview, we also learn about some of The Mysterines’ influences:

“Initially Lia did, in her own way, enjoy the derailment of the band’s plans. After finishing up a UK tour - Paul and Callum’s first - in March 2020, she found herself living alone for the first time, and the isolation suited her: not just because she had nothing to do but write music, but because she had nothing to do besides listen to it, either. More of her heroes have been honoured with photos on the wall, including Bob Dylan and her biggest lyrical inspiration, Tom Waits - although it’s worth noting that not all legends are revered here, not even local ones. ‘BRING ME THE HEAD OF PAUL McCARTNEY ON HEATHER MILLS’ WOODEN PEG’ reads a scrawling on the space’s back wall, with Lia and Paul both quick to deny responsibility.

More time digging into those influences, as well as more contemporary ones such as Queens of the Stone Age, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Strokes, meant that Lia was able to retool lyrics and look for new thematic avenues to wander down. “I didn’t worry about running out of inspiration,” she says. “It was kind of the opposite, because I’d never had that sort of time on my hands since we started the band. I had time to try to craft a definitive story on the album. Just asking myself questions - ‘What else can I say now? What else can I think about? How far can I take my ideas?’.

I am actually reviewing Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much) in a bit. I wanted to spend some time discussing producer Catherine Marks. She is one of the most respected and amazing producers in the world. At a time when women account for such a small percentage of producers (I think there is still a culture where women aren’t respected in studios and encouraged), she is giving inspiration and hope. Marks’ work is always incredible! She brings something special from anyone she works with. Able to bond with artists easily, it is no wonder that there is so much love out there for her. As we learn from the interview in Upset Magazine, Marks not only took control of a group largely comprised of men. It must have been great for Lia getting to work with a woman as producer:

“To achieve a sound that really gnashes its teeth, you call Catherine Marks. The esteemed producer has helmed the control panels for Foals, Wolf Alice and plenty others; with 'Reeling', she adds The Mysterines to her success story portfolio. You hear Catherine's influence on 'Hung Up', the record's relentless latest single which attacks from all angles.

"She's fucking amazing. She's helped us create the album in a way that no one else could have, and we're all very proud of it, so we've got her to thank for that one," lauds Lia.

"I do think that she's fuckin' boss, like!" adds George, whose Scouse accent is as fine as his basslines.

Working with the seasoned hitmaker taught Lia patience, she says. "And that it takes more than one woman to control a group of men!"

But for George, there was a more practical takeaway: "Don't concuss yourself on the last day. I hit me head off the cupboard door!”.

Marks is most definitely one of the greatest producers of her generation. There are interviews with her that give you more of an idea of how she got to where she is and the messages she is sending out to any other producers (especially women). When NME spoke with the band, they discussed Marks as a producer. Over the course of a year, The Mysterines made three week-long visits to producer Marks at London’s Assault & Battery studios to put together the album. It was quite an intense period and, as there were lockdowns, they recorded in bits – having a lot of time to think about the album meant that cabin fever set in:

“All this works thanks to the decision to record ‘Reeling’ live. “It would’ve been easy to go into an expensive studio to build all kinds of crazy synths and guitar sounds, but when you come out of that studio, you don’t sound like The Mysterines anymore,” Crilly says, emphasising the encouragement Marks gave the group to create exactly what they wanted.

The relationship built over the weeks spent together turned into a real friendship. “There was no ego at all,” he adds, explaining that Marks’s expertise came into play when she encouraged the quartet to balance acoustic numbers against the full band tracks. He continues: “[Catherine] was exactly who we needed. She let us play out all of our ideas, and only intervened when she felt like she needed to. By the end [of the process], she trusted us – and we trusted her too.”

“Catherine put in as much emotion as we did,” says Metcalfe. “There are parts of the album that were hard to deliver and perform, but it was just as hard for her to hear and record them. It made for these emotionally intense moments that aren’t something I could ever recreate live again.”

Being bold and giving it their all isn’t something new for The Mysterines, though. They refused to include their older tracks on the album – such their last pre-Covid single, ‘Love’s Not Enough’ (despite its two million Spotify streams) – and picked the heavy-handed ‘In My Head’ as the record’s lead single, even though it was first demoed just a week before they finished the album. The trust they have in each other’s opinions and instincts is unfounded”.

The Mysterines will be more relieved than most bands to know that they have Reeling out in the world. As a relatively new four-piece, most of their life together has been spent during a pandemic. It is only really now that they have been able to get and really hone themselves as a unit. Today (13th April), they play Rough Trade in Nottingham. If you can get out there and see the band, I would recommend it! HMV spoke to The Mysterines about their progression, and how they selected material for Reeling:

“Obviously you’ve released a couple of EPs and you’d had a sold out UK tour just before the first lockdown, then everything stopped. How did that delay shape how your album has turned out, do you think?

Lia: “I mean, it gave me more time to write, and I appreciated that time because we’ve never really been granted that much opportunity to spend time writing anything, really, because we’ve been gigging so much right from the start of the band. We had months on end to think about the songs so it definitely affected the process, but because it’s the first record we’ve done we don’t really know any different. For me that’d be a normal way to make a record now so I’ve got nothing to compare it to, I suppose.”

How far back do the songs on this album go?

Lia: “I think the oldest song on the record is probably ‘Under Your Skin’, actually. When I wrote it it didn’t sound how it does on the record, we’ve changed it quite a bit lyrically, but that riff I’ve had since I was probably about 16. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, pretty much."

What kind of music did you bond over when you were starting out?

Lia: “Me and Paul both love Radiohead and Arcade Fire, Nirvana, but I suppose in terms of our sound we’re closer to Nirvana than the others on that list.”

Paul: “Nirvana would be a big one for me. Queens of the Stone Age would be another, but I suppose there’s loads of different things that we referenced, The Desert Sessions, that kind of thing, Pixies, there was loads of stuff that we were all into at the time but they’re probably the main ones.”

Was there any key track on this album that set the direction of the record as a whole?

Lia: “I reckon the song ‘Reeling’ is probably the one that best summarises the record, which is why it’s also the title of the record. I think it’s probably the biggest summary, lyrically, of what I’m trying to portray, and I think the sound is probably something that people would associate most with us.”

Is it Lia that handles the lyrics for the most part?

Lia: “Yeah, pretty much, then I bring the songs to the lads and we work them out like that, really”.

Prior to getting to a review of an awesome track from Reeling, there is another interview I want to include. Why Not spoke with them recently and noted how there is this dichotomy. The band are charming and effortlessly breezy when chatting, and yet their music has this intensity and energy that you might not expect:

“There’s a real multipolarity to your music. What other artists and mediums do you draw inspiration from?

Lia: Songwriters. I really liked Paul Simon, when I was growing up and listened to a lot of Simon and Garfunkel. My mum and dad were quite young when they had me and were in their prime during the early 2000s, so I grew up hearing a lot of The Strokes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Verve. The 90s as a decade massively influenced the band.

In terms of films, I  love the surrealist director Alejandro Jodorowsky. The Holy Mountain’s one of my favourites, and Santa Sangre. I love David Lynch too – I tried to show Paul Mulholland Drive once.

Paul: I think I fell asleep! We’d had this really heavy weekend and she put that on and I woke up to the most bizarre scene I’d seen in my life.

Lia: Oh yeah you did fall asleep. Then he had a nightmare about the film. A fever dream. I took him to Mass once as well when he was horrifically hungover. I wanted to go and purge my soul, you know, after the weekend, to get rid of all my sins!

Paul: I had to leave and lie down on a bench outside.

Lia: Well I had a great time. I’ve been back since, got some friends there now.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Gullick

You’ve all known each other for a long time, since you were teenagers. Who met who first?

Lia: I was with my mum in Home Bargains when I was 14 and spotted George, our bassist, in there. I thought his jacket was nice, a green parka, and I’d just watched Quadraphenia, so I was enthusiastic about the mod subculture. I half-knew the person he was with an so stalked him on Facebook and asked him if he could play an instrument. He said he could play bass, which was a real rarity back then, and things just took off from there.

Your album, Reeling, is out this Friday, 11th March, what’s behind it from a songwriting perspective, Lia?

Lia: Without getting too spiritual, I channeled all this emotion, energy, influence into songs hidden behind characters. The best example’s probably ‘Old Friends Die Hard’. But in essence it’s supposed to be a funny story, I hope people don’t take it too seriously!

Our aesthetic’s simple – we chose red, black, and white for everything because everybody agrees on it. The overall tone of my songwriting darkened and became more introspective years ago when I started to write more and more and started listening to Tom Waits. I suppose I could really relate, as a 17-year-old girl from Liverpool, to a 50-year-old whisky drinking man from Detroit!

I could identify with the exploratory nature of him, not so much his direct sadness, or his theatricality, but his playfulness. The character manifestation and description. Artists like PJ Harvey and Nick Cave, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, they all do the same thing.

You’re about to embark on a big American tour. Are you all prepared?

Lia: I don’t think we can prepare for it, which is the exciting part and the scary part.

Paul: We’ve done our job now. The album’s done, we’re giving it to the people, and there’s nothing left to do but go out and tour it. Obviously there’s a bit of nerves and apprehension but that’s normal. Most of all I’m looking forward to it”.

Let’s get to reviewing Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much). I have not been able to see any lyrics for the song posted online, so apologies to the band if there are any misquotes at all! The song starts by giving a nice little riff in the left-hand side (ear) of your headphones. The song starts in that ear, and then also joins the right as I get this full experience. A gnarly and cool riff with powerful bass and drums. There are relatively few Rock and Alternative bands out there who I would match to the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, or a band who are renowned for something meatier and more intense. A lot of the new breed seem watered-down, more angular and do not have that ability to write killer riffs, hooks or project much weather. That is not the case with The Mysterines! Right from the get-go – and what you will note throughout Reeling – is that they have this kinetic understanding. Although they have not recorded a whole lot as a quartet, they are instantly in-step and locked together. With each band member giving it their all, Lia comes to the microphone with some wordless vocals. I am not sure who directed the video for Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much), but I like the filming and editing style. It is in black-and-white, but there are pauses, nice cuts and this stylised look that works well. I would say to the band that, if they could produce the lyrics or make them available somewhere online (or the YouTube video description). That said, Marks’ production means the vocals are very much at the centre. Even though there is a nice balance of the instruments, Lia’s voice never gets buried in the mix or is shouted over. She has this lyrical personality where it is quite conversational and personal. Almost like we are in a room with her, she talks about life being a bit crap but all good. There is this sort of mix of the good and bad. I get the feeling this might have been a nod to lockdown and strange times. Perhaps written at a time when there was uncertainty and things were sort of ‘meh’. We did not really know what was going to happen.

In a larger extent, it could be more personal and pertinent to a physical relationship. The video does not give any story and revelation away. Instead, the band are performing on a stage without an audience. That gives me the interpretation that The Mysterines are referencing lockdown, isolation and the constant unpredictability we have endured since March 2020. Lia sings “It’s always the same” as she is joined by thunderous support from the band. One of the most captivating band leads, Lia reminds me of Shirley Manson of Garbage. There is that same power, charisma and allure. A stunning singer who has this ability draw the listener into the song and keep your attention focused on her! Not a slight against the rest of the band, but the gravitas she possesses is cosmic! There is repetition to the lyrics that is befitting of a song that is about routine and this cycle of good and bad. Kudos to Catherine Marks’ production. She manages to make the song sound raw and stripped but packed with layers. The way Lia’s vocals are processed gives them this sort of echo and rawness. When it comes to the composition, it is not too polished, nor is it lacking in punch and sonic weight. It is testament to her instinct and the close relationship she has with The Mysterines. The video does actually switch between black-and-white and colour. Again, that contrast between bad and good; light and dark. It is a great filming style that gives the song personality, energy and plot – without any other actors or participants. An instantly memorable and hook-y song, Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much) is, I think, the best cut from Reeling. You can get the album and decide for yourself.

The opening track of Reeling, I think the band also love the song, as this is the first thing a lot of people will hear! Coming in at under three minutes, it is relatively brief and gets its message across quickly. Showcasing their obvious chemistry and talent, George, Paul and Callum fire things up with Lia. There is this thunderstorm of broken glass, barbed wire, fire, ice and every other weapon, element and bodily fluid! I usually refer to artists by their surnames, but there is this closeness and relatability with The Mysterines that means I shall make a rare exception for them! In any case, some of the words do get lost in the rubble and whirlwind towards the end, which does make another case for having lyrics posted. Lia is singing about life being a struggle, but it is sort of what you make it. Not necessarily a detriment or thing to pull you down, I wonder if she has talked about Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much) in an interview? I would love to know what it is about. I really like the video and song. I keep coming back and watching, as the band are hard to look away from! I have not seen them live, though it seems like it is a sensational and unforgettable experience. Even though there are elements of bands like Queens’, Savages, and Soundgarden, The Mysterines very much have their own sound. Throughout Reeling, they present thirteen tracks of originality. A song with an instantly quotable chorus, this is one that live fans are going to be chanting soon enough! One of Lia’s strongest and most  moving vocals, she reminds me of the iconic women of the 1990s. Someone who can be tender, brutal and utterly possessed but still have this vulnerability, it is a mixture of qualities and emotions that come through in her vocal. Life's a Bitch (But I Like It So Much) is a sensational opening track from The Mysterines’…

AWESOME album, Reeling.

___________

Follow The Mysterines

TRACK REVIEW: Charli XCX - Baby

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Charli XCX

Baby

 

 

9.6/10

 

The track, Baby, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggrYaDxyrGM

RELEASE DATE:

1st March, 2022

ORIGIN:

Cambridge/Essex, U.K.

GENRE:

Electro-Pop/Dance Pop

The album, CRASH, is available from 18th March, 2022. Pre-order here:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/charli-xcx/crash/lp

TRACKLISTING:

Crash

New Shapes (ft. Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek)

Good Ones

Constant Repeat

Beg for You (ft. Rina Sawayama)

Move Me

Baby

Lightning

Every Rule

Yuck

Used to Know Me

Twice

PRODUCERS:

G. Cook/Ariel Rechtshaid/Deaton Chris Anthony/Digital Farm Animals/George Daniel/Ian Kirkpatrick/Ilya/Jason Evigan/Jon Shave/Justin Raisen/Lotus IV/Mike Wise/Oneohtrix Point Never/Oscar Holter

LABELS:

Asylum/Atlantic/Warner UK     

__________

I have included Charli XCX…

a few times on this site over the past few weeks. I wanted to include her again, as her fifth studio album, CRASH, is out on 18th March. It is going to be a huge album from the Cambridgeshire-born, Essex-raised artist. One of the most talented, special and compelling Pop artists of her era, this is a moment when we will see Charli XCX hit new heights. A modern-day queen who has legions of adoring fans, Charlotte Aitchison is going to be making the very finest music for years to come. I will refer to her as ‘Charli XCX’ through his review rather than ‘Charlotte Aitchison’. I am going to look back at Charli XCX’s last two albums, just to give a sense of what she was saying in interviews and how she was being seen through the media. Charli was released in 2019. Her greatest album to that point, it marked a real sense of growth and ambition from Charli XCX. Five years after Sucker arrived – an album that I maintain is underrated -, this was a revelation. FADER asked Charli XCX about, what they say is, her most personal album yet:

“I want to talk about naming the album Charli. Did you go into it thinking that that was going to be the title?

No. I'm actually really bad with album names. I mean, I named True Romance. I named Sucker. I mean, I named Vroom Vroom. But Pop 2, Tommy Cash actually named Pop 2, because I was like, "What should we call it?" Tommy was like, "Hey, it's future pop. You should call it Pop 2." We were like, "Great, all right, cool." So, with Charli, I was throwing around all these names and nothing felt right. I don't know, I was considering tying in the 3 aspect still of like, Number 1 Angell, Pop 2, something 3. I don't know. Then, I just couldn't figure it out at all, and A.G. was like, "Just call it Charli, because it's you." I was like, "Ah, fuck. I did it again."

So yes, we went for Charli, and it just felt right, and we'd been, I don't know, at the time we named it, I was figuring out fonts for the album and that kind of thing and we were seeing my name a lot, and it just felt right. I guess most unoriginal statement ever, it's like my most personal body of work. So, it does make sense. I think encapsulates everything that I've done. There are elements of True Romance. There are elements of the mixtapes. There are elements of Vroom Vroom. Maybe even elements of Sucker and it's most pop moments. So, it kind of just feels like everything that I've been experimenting with over the past 10 years, whatever it is, however old I am, I can't remember.

“This is your 'most personal album yet,' but also there's so many people involved in it. I was thinking about the idea of how the communities around us kind of make us who we are, and that you can be your most vulnerable self on this album. Not because of these people, but I think seeing all these collaborations weave in and out of the album, it kind of has this thread of your peers lifting you up and you being able to get to that place with a little help from your friends.

Yeah. That's actually funny, because the album was going to be called Best Friends. That was a title for a while that we were thinking about, which that's kind of cool you said that. But yeah, it is really that. Like the community that I'm in, and the kind of community that I'm surrounded by, which is basically the LGBTQ community because I really feel like I'm so emersed in that in all aspects of my life. My friends, when I go out, my collaborators, it's really prominent and so important to me. I do feel like I am able to be vulnerable in that space, because I feel so comfortable there, you know? I feel like that is a community that has really embraced who I truly I am and made me feel less afraid to be myself and speak my mind when before I kind of was. So yeah, the collaborators, they really do give me that strength, for sure.

This album would not be possible without them. I'm an artist and I have an ego, for sure, but I can really comfortably say that none of these songs would be possible without the people that I work with, because they are so inspiring to me, and they bring their own worlds and their own flavor and their own insight to the work that I do, and it's really inspiring to me. I never feel threatened. I just feel so ready to learn and listen to people who've had different experiences from me and lived different lives. Yeah, it's really cool. I really love it. The collaborators make me feel very comfortable. Comfortable, but still, I think, allow me to be very progressive at the same time.

Do you have any hopes for how your fans interpret this project, or where you're going to take it from here?

I hope my fans love this album. If they don't, that's okay, but I hope they love it. I hope that they feel inspired and emotional and joy. I hope they party to it. I hope they play it fucking loud. I don't know, I never really think about the hopes. It's just out now. It's out now. I just hope people fucking like it. But also, I don't care if they don't. I don't know. I like it, that's the main thing. I'm really proud of it. I really like it. Honestly, I know I'm not supposed to say this, I'm supposed to be so in it like, "This album's streaming, buy it now." But I'm thinking about the next one. I'm like, it's done. I'm just like, onto the next”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Katherine Anne Rose/The Observer

I do feel like Charli was a watershed moment when we saw this transition. A promising Pop artist raising the stakes and upping the ante. A terrific album that was followed only a year later by how I’m feeling now. Released on 15th May, 2020, this was one of the first ‘pandemic albums’: artists releasing albums during the time that were more D.I.Y. than normal. With a lot recorded at her home and things being a bit strange, her fourth studio was very different to Charli. Overloaded with killer hooks, personal lyrics and some of Charli XCX’s finest vocal performances, I am surprised that she managed to release such a terrific album so soon after Charli. More than that, during the start of a pandemic, many would have forgiven her for holding the album back. As it was, she gave the fans something wonderful at the start of a very bad time for us all. Stereogum interviewed Charli XCX in April 2020:

“The coronavirus pandemic has forced all of us to put just about everything on hold: No matter what you thought your big plans for life in 2020 were, they’re not happening anytime soon. That’s been felt in the music world, too, with festival and tour cancellations and postponements, and with artists delaying their albums to what once seemed like a plausible post-quarantine summer date. But as we move further into this, and as it becomes clearer that normal life isn’t coming back anytime soon, some artists are changing their plans not to hold off but to make things happen in quarantine. Laura Marling and Fiona Apple both already moved their albums up earlier in the year, each feeling like a gift when we could all use new music to distract us from the news. And then there’s Charli XCX, who quickly announced her plans to record and release an album in just over a month.

As New York and LA first settled into the social-distancing/shelter-in-place guidelines, Charli began by sharing a quarantine diary. In the first entry, she admitted that this sort of scenario was daunting for a person like her — a self-professed workaholic accustomed to always being on the move, always having another project in the pipeline. It didn’t take long for her to turn this time into something positive — an opportunity to make an album quickly, at home, during the quarantine and at least partially cataloging her experience with it. She announced she’d release the album, tentatively titled How I’m Feeling Now, on 5/15.

The whole project is, by nature, unplanned and in-the-moment. Charli’s been sending material back and forth with her main producers, BJ Burton and A.G. Cook, as well as other potential collaborators. She’s been uploading snippets of unfinished songs and scattered lyrics from her phone, asking fans to weigh in on what they like and what they want to hear finished next. It’s meant to be an open process — an artist not only working on an album for this time, during this time, but also inviting her fans to take part in it. In a way, it gives everyone something to be involved in.

STEREOGUM: In the beginning when you kind of said this would be more DIY, using the tools in front of you etc., but as these demos are starting to come together and as these tones and themes are cohering, what’s the overall vibe of the album? Obviously it’s going to be a little different than the last one, which was quite big and had all these guest appearances. Do you think this is sonically or aesthetically a thing you might’ve been working on right now anyway, or it feels very specific to this experience?

CHARLI XCX: Before quarantine, around January or February, I was working on a completely different album which I wanted to put out in August or September. That album was probably my most polished, I’ll say, aesthetically and possibly musically, too. I was listening to a lot of Janet Jackson and was quite inspired and leaning into that. This sound was taking quite a different turn for me. But I paused the album when quarantine happened, even though I had written quite a bit for it, just because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to execute the visual side of that album.

 At the beginning of the year I did say I wanted to release two albums this year, so I had actually already begun discussing the idea of doing an album in December, where we would maybe in September go somewhere and really hunker down, me and A.G. and possibly SOPHIE if she was around, and write something in two or three weeks. I already had that idea towards the end of last year, so when this global pandemic arose, I was thinking, “OK, maybe I can do that album now but we won’t be in the same place.” There was no discussion about what that should sound like. Generally I don’t really have a premeditated vision of what each album will sound like. It’s very much like, I make stuff and I feel it out and I see what feels right and run with it. That’s kind of what I’m doing with this one.

STEREOGUM: It’s a bit hard to plan for what comes after all this given we don’t really know when/how we’ll go back to normal life, but do you think you’ll return to these other ideas you had in progress, like the Janet LP and the True Romance anniversary shows?

CHARLI XCX: Honestly it’s kind of impossible to say. The album I was making… I would like to release that at some point. But it really just depends on what feels right. I think another reason why that album wouldn’t feel right for right now, it’s just not the right tone. Revisiting something like True Romance, I would love to do that at some point but it wouldn’t be the right time in the world. I think the reason that this particular album I’m making now, that I do feel comfortable making it, is because it’s so collaborative, because through the creation of the music and artwork I’m also able to support other creatives who are maybe struggling to find work right now, and I’ve always wanted to collaborate with them and now is the time.

There is so much to be done because there are no rules with this project. I can make three artworks for one song if I feel like. It’s about creating as much as possible. The time feels right, because I’m able to give my platform to people who maybe aren’t able to make their work as they usually would. And hopefully through this album we’ll be able to set up some charity initiative, hopefully with LA Alliance. Basically, auction off all the artwork that’s created as originals and rough prints and donate all of that money to charity. It feels like the right tone, whereas doing a big really glossy album within this time period or even planning for that coming later when I don’t know what’s going to be going on, I don’t know that it would feel right for me personally. Who knows”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Bridgland for Rolling Stone

Bringing things to more recent times, it is great that Charli XCX released how I’m feeling now two years ago. The album is her best so far. She did so much promotion around the release of the album and she has been working really hard since. I do feel there is this pressure on big modern artists like her. I will come to it, but Charli XCX recently has said how she has been getting a lot of sh*t on social media for a number of reasons. A recent track she recorded with Rina Sawayama got some blowback. It must be a constant battle (when it comes to social media) engaging with fans and trying to do the right thing – whilst being true to you –, and also having to face negativity and the darker side of thing. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, we discover more about the real person. It is an interview that reveals a lot about the human and down to earth nature of a super-famous, modern-day sensation:

“Charli – whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison – considers this straightforward interpretation of Crash and decides she likes it. It reflects her current state of mind: “I almost just feel like this album title is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. I feel very explosive right now. I feel very on the edge, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way,” Aitchison continues, her voice wavering. “I feel good when I’m rehearsing for tour, when I’m moving my body. I feel safe and at home there. Basically any time I’m not doing that I feel… like a time bomb, I suppose. I don’t really know what I’m saying, sorry…”

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Bridgland for Rolling Stone 

You wouldn’t have been able to tell she was feeling turbulent had you met her in north-east London the previous week. Charli XCX arrives at our photoshoot as every transatlantic popstar should: with an indefinable air of importance and like a blank canvas ready to be transformed (sporting a cap, bleached eyebrows over sunglasses and a puffa coat that could sleep two arctic explorers). The self-professed workaholic was professional and polite. In latex pants and skin-tight leotards, she moved through her poses and angles for hours with precision and energy. Once the Rolling Stone UK mic was in hand, she said, with deadpan humour: “Being a pop icon is very turbulent. The highs are high and the lows are low and the iconicness has to stay at such a high level that sometimes you can really get exhausted just from being so, so iconic.”

Fifty minutes after the shoot wrapped, she posted on Twitter that she was leaving the app and would likely draft tweets and allow her team to post them instead. “I’ve been grappling quite a lot with my mental health the past few months and obviously it makes negativity and criticism harder to handle when I come across it,” she wrote, attributing this criticism to song-release choices, the campaign roll- out and what was necessary to fund “the greatest tour” she’s ever planned.

What she had to do was agree to play at an NFT festival called Afterparty. Fans gave her a “lot of flack” for that decision but, as she later explains over a video call with the camera off, it doesn’t matter any more. “I pulled out of the festival. That was my decision that I made and I didn’t feel the need to announce it or let them know or whatever – but I did pull out.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Rina Sawayama and Charli XCX 

A minority of fans have been vocally critical of the heavily interpolated ‘Beg for You’ featuring Rina Sawayama. “I’ve been feeling quite low throughout 2022, to be honest. I feel like my mental health has really taken a toll,” Aitchison says, becoming tearful. “I’ve never cared if you like my music or hate my music – don’t listen to it if you don’t like it – but I think at a time when I was already feeling quite low, that kind of rhetoric honestly just really hurt my feelings. There is this misconception that people in the public eye are able to take any shit that you throw at them and yes, we do have to learn how to handle negativity and criticism because it comes with the territory, but at the same time, everyone’s a fucking human being. I guess on that day that I messaged that I felt more human than ever.”

As an extremely online artist, she understands that this is the nature of self-promoting yourself and your work on social media. “The second you see something negative written about yourself, I feel like it’s like survival of the fittest to focus in on that and try to protect yourself from the threat, the negative potential danger, in a really animalistic type of way.” On a macro level, someone like Charli XCX doesn’t care what the average person has to say. With a steely air, she adds: “Honestly, you can either get on my level and enjoy the fucking party or you can just not be invited because I don’t really care, do you know what I mean?” She laughs ruefully because posting her statement on Twitter meant a question about it in an interview and though she didn’t want to dwell on answering it for long, she has inadvertently drawn more attention to the scenario. “Obviously, never address anything publicly, that’s the vibe that I learnt from that”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Pandora

I want to stick with the theme of online reactions and how that can affect an artist. An artist always pushing boundaries and exploring new ground, this is someone who, I think, has the same sort of sonic and aesthetic transformation and brilliance as Madonna. Unfortunately, like Madonna, Charli XCX has been criticised and seen to be selling out. This DAZED article asked the question about CRASH: “conceptual art, or a bashful embrace of mainstream pop?”:

“Charli’s latest Crash single – the Rina Sawayama-featuring “Beg For You” – is a perfect example of this “not very current” approach to popstardom, as a spin on September’s mid-00s dancefloor anthem “Cry For You”, with a thumping UK garage beat. “I felt like Crash wouldn’t really be a truthful representation of what it’s like to be a female pop artist signed to Atlantic Records without doing an interpolation song,” she tells Entertainment Weekly. “So I did it.”

Not everyone is buying into the singer’s nostalgic embrace of chart-toppers from decades gone by, though. While many stans stay dutifully hyped for Crash, others’ reactions range from ambivalence to straight-up outrage. “She is absolutely not staying true to her vision and art,” writes one Twitter user. “She’s making mid songs because the label told her to, which is fine go get that bag but let’s not act like she’s a genius for releasing generic radio garbage.”

“The ‘selling your soul to the label’ thing could’ve been done in such a thought-provoking way,” adds another commenter. “But I’m not really sure what these songs are meant to be subverting besides being standard radio songs.”

In true pop star fashion, however, Charli hasn’t taken the criticism lying down, coming for her online detractors like they’re an unenthusiastic crowd at a German music festival. “People be mad that i’m testing the major label system an art piece (sic) whilst still making bops,” she tweeted last week. “And honestly i love it.”

Unsurprisingly, this statement has only added fuel to the fire, with more fans honing in on the “art” aspect of the new album rollout. Namely: is it actually a conceptual art project, or it it just generic pop with arty pretensions? Internet drama aside, this is a valid question. Of course, any artist is entitled to release inoffensive synth pop and beg for streams, but why do some get to do it under the banner of Interesting Art, while others are called out for pandering and posting cringe? Is Charli’s “art piece” explanation all part of the plan, or an all-too-convenient excuse to dismiss the lacklustre response? Can we write off any ill-advised decisions as Art, and get away with it”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Charlotte Rutherford 

How does a young and experienced Pop artist please everyone and manage to do something fresh and engaging?! It is more challenging now than ever for an artist to come through and succeed. I think that CRASH is going to be one of the albums of the year. Charli XCX is moving in new directions and, rather than pandering to a label, she is putting out music that sounds true to her and that she wants people to hear. The new single, Baby, which I shall come to in a minute when I review it, is a song oozing with fire, energy and sexuality! It has touches of the 1980s but is very modern; upbeat but quite shadowy in places. This is a phenomenal artist who deserves nothing but respect, trust and appreciation. Going back to that Rolling Stone interview, we discover more about the lead-up from how I’m feeling now to CRASH:

“For Aitchison to enjoy her new album, she had to surprise herself. The insular, fast-paced construction of how i’m feeling now informed its follow-up: “I knew I had to turn it up to high-octane, ten, pop-star level for it to feel fresh for myself.” Crash should have existed first: ‘New Shapes’, ‘Good Ones’, ‘Every Rule’ and ‘Twice’ were written, at least in part, before the previous album began but the pandemic halted it. She knew she wanted to put her own money into this big, impressive pop album and not being able to travel to collaborate with pop producers or put on her biggest tour yet made the entire venture redundant.

By September or October 2020, a few months after how i’m feeling now was finished and released, Crash became her focus. “This album was originally going to be called Sorry If I Hurt You and I liked that title because that sentence is both past, present and future,” she says. “You can say that sentence to someone as if you hurt them in the past or as if you’re going to hurt them or if you’re about to do it right there and then.”

 Of all tenses, the album is most indebted to the past. While making it, she was listening to Control by Janet Jackson and songs by Cameo (though generally doesn’t consume music while in creation mode because it is a distraction). Inspiration for her retro bombshell look came from watching live performance videos of Madonna, 80s interior design and movies like Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. You can see the research in the campiness of her humping her own gravestone in the video for ‘Good Ones’ or the bouffant hair with deadness between the eyes on the single covers: the visuals are equally indebted to sexploitation films, Elvira and Pat Benatar.

Lyrically and sonically, Crash conjures up the monumental drama of 80s music: sweeping landscapes, thunderous skies, bold colours and the expanse of a dancefloor half-empty and ready to be met with your misery. This mood is obviously felt in the interpolation tracks, like ‘Beg for You’, which uses September’s 2006 hit ‘Cry for You’, a song which in turn mimicked 80s classic, ‘Smalltown Boy’ by Bronski Beat. “It’s become a trend within pop music these days to be very referential of previous hits, which is cool if you’re into nostalgia, less cool if you’re into pure futurism. I feel like there’s a cool middle ground that can be met, which is hopefully what I’m doing,” Aitchison says. It’s also there in the way the 80s references are heightened by her own overwhelming and staggering emotions. Far from adopting the classic tactic of front-loading an album with hits, Crash builds to feature the best run of Charli songs yet, climaxing with stories about lust, love and heartbreak”.

 Initially, messaging around the album indicated that it was about the destruction of the pop star in a manipulative and damning major label system. Charli XCX was using the spoils of her fifth and final record in her major label deal she signed with Atlantic to make a statement about autonomy and artistic freedom. With its album cover of the singer, bloodied and on the windscreen of a car in a bikini, Crash is an obvious reference to the J.G. Ballard novel of the same name. In the book, former car-crash victims seek sexual thrills from recreating the experience of crashes. In the Guardian, Zadie Smith wrote of the British postmodernist classic, “Crash is an existential book about how everybody uses everything. How everything uses everybody.”

“I’d never actually made a major label album in the way that it’s actually done,” Aitchison explains of Crash. “It felt interesting to me to use moments of that process to make this final album as somebody who has really navigated the major label record system since I was 16 in completely on my own terms.” It’s been a challenge for her. Between pitching to streaming platforms, making sure visuals align, waiting for answers to her questions and for drop dates, she has found it painfully slow: “I’m learning about patience and taking things a little bit slower, which is probably why I have so much time to look at the internet now. There’s a lot more promo and talking about yourself which one would think I’d be good at by now but I actually hate it.”

I like how her previous album had lowercase lettering (for streaming services; it was uppercase for physical releases) and was about how she was feeling now, in 2020. A cover that saw her on her bed looking thoughtful, playful and sexy, CRASH is this bold-type title where Charli XCX is on the bonnet of a car as thought she may go through the windscreen. Maybe the comedown from the past couple of years (a mental ‘crash’ as it were), I can see how Charli XCX wants to embrace a different sound and do something bigger for this album. After such a tough time, CRASH is an album that we all need. In a separate Rolling Stone interview, we get a sense of this artist still fighting to be understood and fully respected:

“Charli XCX has long been one of pop’s most galaxy-brained writers and performers, but she’s ready for what she calls her “main pop-girl moment.” With her upcoming album, Crash (due March 18), she presents a brilliant case: It’s an airtight pop project full of top-notch hooks that also functions as a quick tour through the past couple of decades of the genre. Like everything the artist does, Crash is, first and foremost, fun. “I think the people who know me and my work know that 50 percent of the time I’m entirely serious, and the other 50 percent of the time I’m a troll,” she says, calling from the English countryside. Crash follows 2020’s How I’m Feeling Now, an album she made under a tight deadline in Covid lockdown. She’s immortalized that process with a new documentary, Alone Together. Like the album whose creation it captured, the documentary is a deeply personal release, giving a glimpse into her private life and the emotional turmoil caused by the pandemic and a self-imposed deadline for the album. “Sometimes people don’t get it,” she says of her work. “Sometimes people don’t like it. But that’s what I like to do.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images 

I just watched the documentary—
Oh, God. . . .

Why “Oh, God”?

It feels like a different time, a different lifetime. Honestly, it’s hard to watch myself be so upset. Also, unfortunately, me and my partner at that time are no longer together. The whole thing is really emotional for me. I probably won’t be watching it again.

That film is a snapshot of your 2020, so I’m curious how your 2021 went.

I had actually begun making Crash prior to How I’m Feeling Now, but I decided to pivot from making that record when the pandemic hit and it was evident what the global state was. It felt quite drastic to get back into that swing after having made something [How I’m Feeling Now] in the most low-fi way I’ve made music since I was 14 and making things in my bedroom, to go from shooting music videos on a rented green screen in my basement to going to Mexico City to shoot with Hannah Lux Davis. But I always wanted projects to feel drastically different from one another.

Crash has a whole concept and narrative: The “evil pop star” who has made a deal with the devil. Was that something you had in mind when you first started the album?

I’ve always been interested in the idea of what a “sellout” is in modern-day pop music and if it even exists. I’ve been signed to a major label since I was 16. I think I’ve had quite an untypical major-label-artist journey, so it’s interesting to operate within that framework. I suppose this record and the imagery is partially a comment on that. It’s also partially a comment on what authenticity is. I think artists feel they need to really prove that they wrote their own songs, that they direct their own music videos, that they are the brain behind everything. As I got older, I began to care less and less about that because I know I can write a great pop song and I know I can communicate my vision.

When did you grow out of the mindset of needing to prove yourself? Was there a particular project or moment that made you start to say “Fuck what people think about pop music, about me, about what I’m doing”?

I think that’s been my mission station since post-Sucker, really when I began working with Sophie and A.G. Cook. From that point on, until now and probably beyond, it’s stayed the same. It’s hard. It’s not super tangible. Also, I’m constantly changing my mind about what I think, so that’s not very helpful either. I felt like that was beginning to become kind of like an expected sound from me, or an expected way that I did things. The reason making Crash felt so right is because I don’t think people expected me to do that. I always feel most myself when I’m challenging people and maybe sometimes confusing people”.

Let’s move to the new single from CRASH. Following songs like Beg for You and Good Ones, Charli XCX has released another gem! There is not refuting or resisting the sexiness of Baby and its video. Charli XCX has said it is one of her sexiest songs - and that were her intention. Having recently performed it on SNL in the U.S., the song starts with racing Disco strings that gets you hooked right away. The video has blue lighting, sort of giving it a cooler and calmer vibe. Charli XCX rises from a bed with this intent and sultry look on her face. In a moment I found quite comedic, as we have this tight shot of a bedroom opens up as Charli XCX is seen with two other women. They form a line and start this alluring and captivating dance. It is a nice shift between the intimate and something bigger. Baby is going to appear as the seventh track on CRASH. It was teased on a livestream on 4th November, 2021. Seeing it realised in a video is brilliant. Without doubt, it is one of the sexiest songs and videos Charli XCX has released! The introduction consisted of the word ‘baby’ and moans. It is sultry and sensuous. The first verse definitely sets out an itinerary and business plan that few could resist – even if it is going to require a bit of cleaning and straightening of the house afterwards!:  “I'ma love you real, I'ma love you raw/I'ma love you in the kitchen/I'ma put you on the floor/Leave you wanting more/I'ma love you real, you might lose it all/I'ma make you my decision/I'ma put you on the floor/Leave you wanting-“. The composition blends Disco pop with higher notes, together with electronics that are a bit lower and more Pop-orientated. The fact the video features two other dancers and not just Charli XCX adds another layer of physicality, sexual rawness and power. The choreography is brilliant! Rather than having a hero in the video who Charli XCX would be directing her lust towards, this is even more intriguing and teasing. It is a message to a non-specific beau. When you watch the video, you are unable to look away!

More than anything, the song itself absolutely slaps! It is a wonderfully fiery, cool and mesmerising track that is just what we need right now. Although there are some similarities to her contemporaries like Dua Lipa, Charli XCX has her own vibe and lyrical personality. The way she sets the scene and takes control... Her narrative and storytelling is excellent: “I can see it in your eyes/You're nervous, but you know just what you want/If you're feeling scared, that's fine (That's fine)/I've got no problem taking full control/Baby”. The chorus bursts into life. In the video, Charli XCX and her two dancer remind me of Destiny’s Child in their movements, formation and power. This mantra and repeated lines of “I'ma make you my—, I'ma make you my—/I'ma make you my—, I'ma make you my— (Baby)” are delivered quickly and punchily. It is catchy right away. One wonders whether Charli XCX wrote the track about a current love or someone she has her visions set on. Although there is a twinkle and sense of fun in the composition – it is one that will raise the spirits and get you moving! -, the post-chorus let’s us know that our heroine means business: “I'ma fuck you up, yeah”. Running in at less than three minutes, Baby is a tight and fairly short song that packs so much in! Charli XCX does not need to put in aimless instrumentals or say too much. She gets her message out there and has concocted a modern-day Pop diamond. It seems like there may be doubts or hesitations from her crush. The second verses findings her singing “Why you tryin' to fight what's right?/(What's right, what's right, what's right)/You know I'm 'bout to change your life for good/You can play pretend, that's fine (That's fine)/I know the truth, you really wish you would/Baby”. Neon-lit, lush, bouncing and reminding me of a Disco cut that might have been heard at Studio 54 back in its heyday, the video has this simplicity that works perfectly. The lighting and dancing puts you in a club; maybe facing Charli XCX as she puts out her message and is starting the seduction. Breathtaking in so many ways, I think that Baby is the best cut from CRASH so far. It is another tantalising offering from an album that is going to be immense! The fact that the song ends with Charli XCX repeating “I'ma fuck you up, yeah” let’s you know that she means it. She is tough and has this edge that gives her work extra depth and resonance. Baby is an incredible track from an amazing artist that we should all…

 LOVE and support.

___________

Follow Charli XCX

TRACK REVIEW: Mimi Webb - House on Fire

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Mimi Webb

House on Fire

 

 

8.8/10

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Fieber

The track, House on Fire, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-M9_cKCGuM

RELEASE DATE:

18th February, 2022

ORIGIN:

Gravesend, U.K.

GENRE:

Pop

LABEL:

Epic Records

__________

A rising British talent…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Parri Thomas

who is one of the most promising young artists around, Mimi Webb is someone to watch closely. Currently on tour (she plays the Manchester Academy 2 tonight), Webb finished third in BBC’s Sound of 2022. It is clear that she is an artist that is already showing enormous promise. Following her debut E.P., Seven Shades of Heartbreak, last year, there will be calls and excitement about an album. I am going to come to Webb’s latest single. I will work my way there. To start, it is worth looking at Webb’s start and when she became interested in pursuing music. In the Sound of 2022 interview with the BBC, Webb was asked about her musical upbringing:

“When did you discover you could sing?

I think I was probably eight years old. I always sang, since I was a toddler - but I think the moment when I first thought, "Oh, there's something going on here" was when I was eight and doing choir and musical theatre at school.

Who was the first person who encouraged you?

It was my piano teacher at secondary school. In my first lesson, he asked me what could I play and I said, "Oh, I can play Someone Like You by Adele and I can sing it, too." He was probably thinking, "Hang on, this is a piano lesson" but when I sang, he just was blown away. He then called up the guitar teacher, who came and listened too, and they basically got my mum on the school phone and told her, "This is something you need to pursue". I was so excited!

What was the first song you wrote for yourself?

Actually, I've been writing since I was 10 years old. I'd sing these random songs I made up in my head in the back of the car. My mum used to assume they were real songs, but they weren't! And the more I did it, the more she would be like, "Oh my gosh, this is quite cool."

You ended up leaving home at 16 to attend BIMM in Brighton. What was that like?

BIMM was two hours away from Canterbury - so it was very intense and scary. I had to move in with a host family and make a whole new friendship group. But I kept saying to myself, "I want to be an artist and this is the way I need to go about it. If I go two stairs up, I won't be going back down."

Are your family helping to keep you grounded now that your career's taking off?

One hundred per cent. I just moved to my own place in London about a month ago, but I'm always, on the phone to them, FaceTiming, catching up. They keep my feet on the floor”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Fieber

Mimi Webb attended BIMM Institute in Brighton. That seemed like a great experience for her, at least when it came to making connections and getting noticed. I was interested knowing more about Webb’s musical loves, and how she transitioned from a music lover as a child to someone actively pursuing it. In an interview with The Line of Best Fit, we discover more about Webb’s experiences with TikTok, her childhood music fascinations, and moving to the BIMM:

“For Canterbury singer Mimi Webb the pandemic has been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, she’s used the time to cultivate a dedicated following on TikTok that’s translated into streams and radio spins. While on the other, she’s living her success through the lens of Zoom.

“Because people are at home, they're playing more music, they're chilling out more. So you know, it's just so easy to connect with them,” she smiles from her bedroom, across yet another video call. “I think with my music being quite emotional as well, everyone really had that time to look at themselves and hone in on that emotion. I think people wanted to be real with themselves, because when you're working Monday to Friday, you haven't always got time to actually care about how you're feeling and listen to music that gets you in that place.”

The 21-year-old Webb was raised in Kent, falling in love with singers like Adele and Emeli Sandé from a young age. “I grew up listening to all these incredible artists that give that goosebumps kind of big feeling,” she says. “I've always just grown up loving that kind of emotional impact.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Cameron Bensley

Although her family weren’t particularly musical, they nurtured Webb’s passion, enrolling her on a part-time course at the BRIT school and supporting her performances in school choirs, band nights and variety shows.

At sixteen she had a choice between going full-time at BRIT or moving to Brighton to attend BIMM. She chose the seaside music college, as it offered songwriting courses, as well as performance-based modules. Webb left home and moved in with a host family. “For those two years I really evolved and grew off of my own back,” she explains. “You’re out there in the world on your own. You're living and breathing the kind of atmosphere of music and the environment, so you’re really driven.”

Through BIMM and the opportunities her attendance created she met management company Best Friends - the same people behind Billie Eilish, Finneas and Ashe - and signed with Epic Records at eighteen. As they were readying her first single, she took a trip to New York for meetings where she was introduced to Charli D’Amelio. The two went for dinner and showed TikTok to Webb: “I was like, I don't know what I could do on it!” she laughs. “So we did a video together and I just sang one of my songs that I'd written a few months before. It kind of just went crazy from there, like the reaction it had. And I just thought, this is crazy that this app does that. Can actually connect to that many people”.

Like so many artists, Webb started making music during lockdown. Her career started before then - but it was over the past couple of years when she has been going for it with real intent. Although it must have been a struggle, the fact Webb is a noticed artist who is being tipped for big success shows her determination and passion! NOTION spoke with Webb back in May. They asked about making music during lockdown, and what it has been like entering such a demanding industry relatively fresh out of college:

“On the other hand, you only started releasing music last year (which I do not believe), but especially in a time of such chaos, did you ever think I might have to put music on pause or was it just full steam ahead?

I was not putting anything on pause. I remember at the start of the pandemic, I was like, right guys, I’m getting my setup, I’m learning how to do my vocals and how to record it all. We’re just not stopping like this because last year as well, 2020 was very much a year of right here we go. Let’s kick it all off. When we all went into the pandemic, I just thought to myself, no, not having it, I’m still going to do what I can do at home. It’s a very, full gun ahead, whatever the saying is full speed ahead – just very passionate about getting everything going. Every day I was up straight into work, I’ve got my little studio set up at home, and then it’s just back and forth.

At the time, still being new to the music scene and just finished Brighton Music College – was there any time you thought this could not go right, and as a rising artist within such a demanding music industry, how do you overcome those challenges?

There are those times where you end up getting a bit worried, releasing, the time span of how you’re going to do things and, there are so many amazing artists but, I think to believe in yourself and surround the whole thing with love and support for your peers and be happy and great – allowing the love of the industry in. I think that is where I learned, wow this is how it works. But there are definitely loads of times where you sit there and think, oh, and I think that happens with everyone, doesn’t it with anything you do. You’ve just got to be able to filter it all through and go with the things that make you feel good and happy”.

I want to spend a bit more time with Mimi Webb and her experiences during lockdown. Wonderland. interviewed her last April. It must have been such a strange time for Webb to fulfil her ambitions and express her true talents when the world was locked down:

“How has the last year affected you as a new artist trying to establish themselves in the industry?

It pretty was crazy at the start. I remember thinking to myself, how am I going to be able to record my vocals? How am I going to write music? And I had become so reliant on being in a studio and having the equipment there. But I was able to adapt and learn how to use the equipment I had at home and get used to Zoom sessions to keep making music during lockdown. And now my most recent single is a total product of quarantine. Personally, I think I’ve come out of this time as a completely different person. My look has changed, I’ve become a stronger artist because I had time to reflect and work out the details of who I am.

You released your first single, “Before I Go,” a month into lockdown – what was it like to try to start your career in these circumstances?

It was definitely a real stress. We were able to finish the song and the music video right before lockdown started. But there was a sense after that release of where do we go from here? We’ve managed to find ways to work through it. This time has also given people a chance to really listen to music. TikTok has been really amazing for my career in that way, because the platform has been such a big part of people hearing my music and following me as an artist.

How has the time you’ve been able to reflect impacted you as an artist?

2020 was a very strange one for me. I was going through a moment where I was trying to find my feet in the industry. I was trying to find my sound. I was trying to have my own lane that no one else had because that really is a pressure when you are a new artist. But as time has gone on, I have definitely realized that you can really just put out whatever you want as long as the song is really strong, and you believe in it. I’ve been able to drop the pressures of all of those side of thoughts. I feel like an artist now, I feel like I have only just become an artist because of this period of experimentation and finding my sound”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Talie Eigeland

I want to come on to social media and Mimi Webb’s influences. TikTok has been a big and important platform for many artists. It allows access to a large audience; a site where you can share music, clips and short videos seems perfect for a Pop audience. In December, NOTION spoke with Webb once more. We discover more about her musical influence, and how TikTok has played a role in her rise to recognition and success:

“Citing her key influences as powerhouse vocalists Amy Winehouse, Adele and Sam Smith, like her heroes, Mimi’s ability to tap into both vulnerability and strength through her music is winning her legions of fans around the world. Currently, she’s tip-toeing towards six million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. “I never expected it,” she affirms. It’s easy to quantify things numerically since we live in a world where streaming and followers dictate popularity and trends, but Mimi quantifies her success by the resonance her music has with people. Always keeping an eye on new DMs and comments, she cherishes the interactions she has with fans both old and new. “The fact that these people feel comfortable to let me into their personal life and speak to me about it and they want to get advice from me [is amazing],” she says. “You kind of get to know everyone through social media just because you see the name so often.”

However, like any digitally-fed Gen-Z, Mimi knows the importance of a constant social media buzz for artists. Whilst she “gets all excited” seeing new TikTok comments and duets on her videos, she does also speak candidly about the pressure she – and many other artists – feel to be constantly engaged on social media. “You’ve really got to make sure you get information across in the right way and be on top of your game, even though you’re probably doing five shoots a week and loads of shows every month,” she explains. “It’s very intense trying to keep on top of it and share the information that you know your fans need to see. You want to make it look good and you want to come across really great. I’ve always been the girl next door vibe so I’ve just shown what I’m up to and what I do, but I think there’s now that line of making sure you’re keeping a mystery as well and to keep everyone super interested and ready for new information. I think the more you grow, there are definitely more lines you can’t cross. And it’s just getting used to that – becoming an artist and a brand.” Despite this, it seems Mimi’s mind is ahead of the game already: “I’m getting to the point now where I’m making sure I stay organised and on top of it. When I do that, I feel like I’m getting through it all well,” she relays”.

TikTok, as I said, has been key for Webb. Although the platform has its faults and drawbacks, it is a great way to promote music and new work. POPSUGAR. dubbed Mimi Webb TikTok’s most underrated artist. They wanted to know more about her TikTok videos:

“PS: When you first started making TikTok videos, was there a part of you that imagined what it would be like now?

MW: No! I was freaking out. I was like, "Come on, I want to try it, see what it does." I was saying to my mum and dad, "I want to really try this out," and we just kind of went for it, and I didn't really know what would happen. I'd seen that TikTok could do amazing things for songs, because it had really blown up a lot of songs, like "You Broke Me First" by Tate McRae, that was one of my favourite songs. When I started, I couldn't really get my head around it, because you just see all these numbers, and you can't actually figure out what it is until you then see the growth the song makes outside of the app.

PS: Your friends and family make appearances in a lot of your TikTok videos. How difficult was it to convince them to get involved?

MW: They were really up for it! I think because I don't really play them anything, and I don't like to tell them too much. I've always been a bit like that, I think because I moved away at a young age, and I was kind of on my own for a while. For them to even get a scoop of what's going on and to be let into the secret, they were like, "Yes, well, whatever way, we want to do it." I never really played them anything, and I always kept it all to myself, because I just wanted to wait for the right moment.

PS: I'm sure they loved that. What do you think it is about TikTok that has been so helpful for young artists?

MW: It's very welcoming, and everyone wants to hear new music on the app. I think it's a really creative app, and there's not any judgment on what you do, because there's so many different things people can do. TikTok isn't for just one thing — it's for so many different things. That's what I love about it. People do dances, singing, songwriting, jokes, comedy — all those kind of things. It's definitely the best place to go when you're a new or upcoming artist, and it really helps you connect with the fans”.

I cannot discuss Mimi Webb without talking about her excellent debut E.P., Seven Shades of Heartbreak. Whilst it is an excellent E.P., we learn from the BBC Sound of 2022 interview how it was slightly prophetic – the title pointed at some future heartbreak and realisation:

“When Mimi Webb started recording her EP, Seven Shades Of Heartbreak, last year, she had no idea it would prove prophetic.

Writing songs about the loves she'd lost focused her attention on her current relationship - and she wasn't keen on what she discovered, as her boyfriend quickly learned

"The EP helped me realise that that relationship wasn't right for me," she confesses. "It really helped me figure out what I felt was missing... And he probably struggles with it, you know? When he listens to the EP, he's going to think 'Oh, God'".

Still, she wouldn't change a thing.

"It's just so crazy how I look back on that EP now," she says during our conversation in mid-December. "It came out two months ago and I was in such a different place. It's really showed how much can change within a short period."

That applies equally to her personal and her professional life. Seven Shades Of Heartbreak became the 21-year-old's first top 10 album, and she ended the year performing her single, Good Without, on the Top of the Pops Christmas special”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Cameron Bensley

I want to come back to the POPSUGAR. Interview before moving along. They asked Mimi Webb about her debut E.P., Seven Shades of Heartbreak One of the most anticipated E.P. releases of last year, it must have been a relief for her to get it out during the pandemic. It would have been in her mind for a very long time:

“PS: Speaking of new music, your first EP is out today! How are you feeling, and what can you tell us about it?
MW: I'm so excited. It's really about clarifying my sound now and making that really dominant and really understandable. It's about a situation that I'm going through and I've been through, and it's something everyone can relate to. It's got lots of different chapters of that one situation in it.

PS: How would you describe your sound for people who haven't heard you before?
MW: Definitely the emotional ballad, powerhouse sing-your-heart out songs. I love the instrumentation we use and the production, sonically; it's got that pop feel as well. It's definitely got the mix between pop and then ballad.

PS: When writing the EP, was there anyone you were particularly inspired by or listening to at the time?
MW: I'm always listening to Adele, and I think she's always been a really big influence and inspiration for me throughout my years of writing. I also love Lewis Capaldi. I definitely took some inspiration from his album and the emotional songs out there”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Yoshitaka Kono 

Prior to coming to her new song, there is an interview with Official Charts. It was interesting learning which album Mimi Webb first fell in love with, and what her earliest songwriting memory was:  

“What is your earliest music memory?

It was being at school and playing in all the talent show and band nights. Learning instruments, singing in the school choir… I was always really involved in all of it it. I was always known as Mimi, the girl who will never shut up singing! I did a lot of musical theatre when I was young, but my voice was never really suited for that. I think that helped me find my music passion as it took me intro the studio and to that side of the art.

Any embarrassing moments you’d rather forget?

Definitely! I remember when I was around 13, I would be so dramatic on the stage. I would sing Adele’s Someone Like You and literally look like I was about to cry. I mean, I’ve always been a massive drama queen – I’m an emotional person. For me, it was always about selling the show, but I really had no clue what I was doing.

What was the first album you fell in love with?

I was completely obsessed with Adele’s first album 19. There’s not a bad song on that album. I love that her songs aren’t necessarily what you’d expect them to be about. Emeli Sande’s first album as well. Anything with that goosebumps feeling and a really big vocal, I am always there for it.

What was the first you wrote about?

It was called Pinocchio and it was about a relationship I was in when I was really young. I was feeling lied to and I was in a bad place, so the song was all my anger towards that situation. I remember thinking, no-one can hear this!

What music is on heavy rotation for you at the moment?

I’m loving Olivia Rodrigo’s album Sour, she’s just smashed it really, hasn’t she? Taylor Swift’s Folklore is still incredible. To be honest, I’ve been so busy writing and recording that I need to get into some more new music. But that singer-songwriter, real music that resonates with people is the kind of stuff I love – it’s what inspires my music.

Is there an artist people might be surprised to hear you love?

I love Rihanna so much. Her Anti album was just incredible – Needed Me, B*tch Better Have My Money, all of it. I know I would never be able to make that kind of music and create that kind of vibe, but I love listening to it”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Talie Eigeland

House on Fire’s video begins with a man in his house on a laptop. He receives messages from Mimi Webb. She suspects he was lying and was out with a girl called Alice. He says he was at home and not out with anyone else. Webb accuses him of being a liar. The next shot, comically, sees him on a stretcher - as it is implied she burned his house down. We get context to the song before anything is sung. Webb is someone not to be messed with! She has had enough of being lied to and taken for granted. With a fresh and determined vocal, House on Fire never relents when it comes to its energy and bounce. Although I was not normally review mainstream Pop music, there is something about Webb’s music that draws you in. She has aspects of Dua Lipa in terms of her vocal and sound, yet she is very much her own artist. Her lyrics are especially distinct and personal. The first lines and expressions are particularly vivid: “I make friends with the head of police/To make sure he'd suspect me the least/If I'm caught I'll be out in a week/I got my story straight down to a T”.

This is much cheekier, more sinister and slightly American (I got more of a sense of California and U.S. cops than London or someone in this country). Webb professes her innocence as a shady and cheating boy is pulled from a flaming house: “Oh I'd say it wasn't me, hmm/And sure we dated once in a while/But if there was a motive, it's not enough for a trial”. The video is funny and powerful. Webb knowingly winks and smiles as the carnage unfolds. We see her dressed as a firefighter dancing on the lawn. We know that she will get away with arson. The composition keeps it simple with a beat and some electronics. It allows Webb the chance to have her voice at the centre and front of the mix; a sound she can ride on and keep the strut and swagger high. The compelling story continues: “I saw you out, it was zero degrees/And you had your hands right under her sleeves/Oh, you said you don't get cold, you liar/Now I'ma set your house on fire/Running, I'm running back to your place/With gas and a match, it'll go up in flames/Now I know you're not at home, you liar/Now I'ma set your house on fire”.

One might feel it is extreme for Webb to burn the house of her cheating boyfriend after one or two indiscretions, but he has been lying and assuming he would get away with it. Someone who takes no crap, this is a heroine who is not going to sob or get angry and leave it there! A sign that she is someone you do not screw with, House on Fire has this rush and intensity that lives up to its name. I love the fact that, unlike a lot of Pop songs, Webb is more concerned with creating story and plot as opposed simply repeating lines and relying on a catchy chorus. House on Fire has one of them, though it also has an original lyrical dynamic: “If somebody goes and calls the brigade/I'll already be too far away/I bought a map and I planned the escape/I'll dye my hair, change my name”. There is a great mix of funny and horror in a way. It is creepy in the sense that the anti-hero is being taken to hospital, yet we see several Mimi Webbs in the back with him administering oxygen. One could almost see the video taking a truly bloody turn. As it is, it is kept lighter. Having alibis and saying that the police and fire brigade would never suspect her, she has gotten away with the perfect crime! She warns the ailing boyfriend how she is appreciates honesty and decency: “You should've seen this from the start/When you could've been honest, you could've been smart/Yeah, we might have touched, we might have kissed/But, darling, I'm sorry, it's not enough to convict”. A master criminal who has everything planned and is going to extreme lengths to have her revenge, we learn how the relationship was quite new or casual.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Yoshitaka Kono

One might ask, for a relationship that has not progressed that far or got too deep, whether Webb’s ultimatum, fire retribution and her criminality is proportionate! It adds layers to a song that other artists would not inject. Much more than a commercial or shallow Pop song, there is nuance and mystery. Sexy, colourful and funny, the video moves to the hospital as Webb is dressed as a (sexy) nurse. In a hospital that looks like it could be set in America in the 1980s (it has that vibe and aesthetic), we move to a rehabilitation room/centre, - the actual set looks like a gym or sports hall, as it allows for more space and movement -, where Webb is taunting and unapologetic. The man, I bet, would turn back time and do things differently after he is bandaged and sees Webb on a T.V. singing her lines of anger and revenge. Whilst other men might be hesitant about having a relationship with Webb – if she can burn someone’s house down for some light cheating, would they always be looking over their shoulders and afraid to do anything wrong?! -, her message has been clearly made. The liar liar’s house is on fire, and the video ends with him on the roof on a treadmill, precariously placed near the edge. So many shades of black come into this video! Webb plays this cross between a femme fatale and a girlfriend who is speaking for women who have been cheated on, stepped on and not been able to get their kick in (I am surprised there were not references to Basic Instinct or Fatal Attraction (Webb boiling the boy’s phone like Glen Close did the bunny in the 1987 film). The final lines complete the plan, as Webb has a disguise and has made her getaway: “You can look around, but you won't find her/She'll be outta town with the getaway driver/That's the way it feels when the flames get higher/Now I'ma set your house on fire”. In the video, Webb makes a gesture like she is dropping the mic, as she is seen breathing heavily with a sense of relief and victory on her face. Enacting her revenge and ensuring that this one man does not mess with another woman, the song completes. House on Fire is a song you will re-spin and play quite a bit. The video on its own is another to get you coming back, as it is packed with fascinating and standout scenes. I love the concept of the song and how it is empowering and filmic! As I said, one might question the validity and rationale of Webb’s extreme comeback to cheating in a relationship that seemed like it was on its infancy. Regardless, House on Fire is a fantastic offering from an artist who is going to have her busiest year yet. House on Fire, to me, would really come to life on stage. It is a song that is destined to be a fan favourite before long.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Talie Eigeland

I want to end up by returning to the interview with NOTION from December. Although Mimi Webb is quite a new artist, she is pretty ambitious and determined:

“It’s this determination to not just survive, but thrive in the ever-competitive music industry that is surely playing a big part in Mimi’s mounting success. Having already ticked off so many goals early on in her career, including playing Reading and Leeds festivals in August and with her own UK headline show planned for the end of October, what’s left on her bucket list? “Definitely the James Bond theme song. I’d love to write and perform that. That is a massive one for me. But if I’m realistic, I’m like, ‘We’re just gonna have to wait a bit for that one, Mimi!’” she cackles. “I’d love to do a performance at The BRITs next year. That would be incredible. Nominations, that’s just crazy to me. It freaks me out,” she laughs again, also listing off her dreams to attend The GRAMMYs and both play and sell out arena tours. Collabs with Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa are on the manifestation board too, but Mimi is ready to wait until the right song and collaboration comes along. “At the end of the day, for me as an artist, I just want it to make sense and relate and come across well,” she explains. “It’s just making sure you get that right and it works. I can’t wait for those opportunities to start coming in.” Despite her big (yet definitely within reach) dreams, Mimi is as grounded as ever, emphasising: “I’m really, really realistic with it, which is good. It makes me feel like there’s so much more to go for and new opportunities”.

House on Fire is a great new track from Mimi Webb. Someone who is going to have a wonderful and successful career, I am sure we will see something in the way of an E.P. or album this year. Now that touring has resumed, Webb is definitely getting out there and taking it worldwide. Next month, she heads to North America…and she is not back in Europe until the summer. It is going to be a hectic and busy year for Webb. Make sure you follow her and see where she heads next. House on Fire is a suitably hot and intense track from…

  PHOTO CREDIT: Parri Thomas

A talented and bright young artist.

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Follow Mimi Webb

TRACK REVIEW: Caroline Polachek - Billions

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Caroline Polachek

PHOTO CREDIT: Nedda Afsari

Billions

 

 

9.6/10

 

 

The track, Billions, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zEQJrggKgk

RELEASE DATE:

9th February, 2022

ORIGIN:

New York, U.S.A.

GENRE:

Alternative Pop

LABEL:

Perpetual Novice

__________

FOR this review…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Hugo Comte

I am spending some time with one of my favourite artists of the moment. I last reviewed Caroline Polachek when her track, Insomnia, came out in 2019. With the release of her latest album, Pang (2019), we received a wonderful album from a truly compelling artist. I am going to come to her latest single. I am not sure whether there is an album planned for this year. The New York-born artist is one of the most interesting and talented in the world. Everything she puts out leaves a lingering impression. I will come to her new track, Billions, in a minute (she actually released the audio for Long Road Home yesterday, but I might cover that another time). Before that, I want to work my way to it. I will start out with a little bit about her background. I shall come to a more fulsome exploration of her background soon. Prior to that, Harper’s BAZAAR chatted with Polachek a couple of years ago. It is amazing reading about her previous life (in terms of her non-songwriting past) and where she has come from:

“In the early 2000s, Caroline was still pursuing degrees in biology and classical voice.

"I thought I wanted to go to school for either biology or classical voice and I could not decide which one, so I went to the University of Colorado, the only school in America that has great bio and opera departments. And as soon as I got there I realized I didn’t want to study either, and I wanted to study art, but the art department was terrible. I got straight As for two years, 4.2 GPA, and started from scratch at NYU.

"Chairlift started when I was at University of Colorado. Chairlift came with me when I went to New York. When I got accepted to art school, Aaron [Pfenning, Polachek’s Chairlift bandmate] dropped out of school and came with me." 

She’s working with the same operatic voice coach she had when she was 14 years old.

"When I was in high school, I was obsessed with singing. I was in seven music groups at one point, and I was also auditioning for these state choirs. And these auditions, totally counter-intuitively, weren’t choral-style singing, they were opera. It made no sense, but you’d still have to prepare these arias, so I found a recommendation for a voice teacher who could help me. And I worked with this amazing woman named Pamela Kuhn, who had a much more radical approach than any of the choir teachers I had worked with up until that point.

"Fast forward 12 years, Chairlift is in the process of making our final record Moth, and there are these songs that are really pushing me and my high register like ‘Ch-Ching,’ where I’m belting and that’s not what my voice is built for. So, I realize while I’m in the studio that if I take these songs on tour, I'm risking permanently damaging my voice.

"I’m like, ‘I still have my voice teacher’s number on my phone from when I was 14, let’s see if she still has my number.’ I called her up and I’ve been working with her again ever since. She’s become a personal mentor, kind of a godmother figure for me."

PHOTO CREDIT: Lindsay Ellary 

After stripping her previous acts and stage names—Chairlift, Ramona Lisa, and CEP—Pang is more “her” than anything else Polachek has ever made.

"I think it’s a fusion of a lot of different things that I’m interested in, and have always been interested in, but have kind of compartmentalized in the past. I think with Chairlift there was always this soulfulness and playfulness, especially in the sonics, but with RamonaLisa, I really got to flex more on my formalist, romantic side. And with CEP, I just got to be a complete synth-nerd and create a framework for that kind of exploration of sonics. Now, I’m doing all those things in the same ball pit”.

Fashion and music helped build her identity.

"What you put on during the day has so much to do with emotional survival—like how you can keep yourself spiritually intact and go about your day and create an identity for yourself. I feel like music does that for people as well, like ‘Who am I in the world? What are my values? What’s my thing? What’s my scene? Who are my people?’

"Both fashion and music, especially as a teenager, helped give me so much meaning in life, and sense of identity, and what kind of adult I want to turn into, and what I cared about in the world. I think things like fine art and cinema maybe don’t have as much to do with that, but are operating on potentially more important levels. It’s about creating identities”.

There is a lot more to explore when it comes to Caroline Polachek. The former Charlift member has forged this amazing solo career. The New Yorker profiled and interviewed Polachek last year. Their feature focused on her returning to gigs after a year or more away. I discovered more about where Polachek was born and her family history;

“Polachek was born in Manhattan, but she spent her early childhood in Tokyo, where her parents, both of them ex-academics, managed investment portfolios. Her favorite TV show, “Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel,” was about a girl who turned into a pop star after being granted powers by an alien. She resisted music lessons, but could play songs on the piano by ear. Her father was a classical pianist and violinist, and to keep his daughter’s sonic experiments from becoming disruptive he bought her a Yamaha keyboard for her room. When she was seven, her family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, and Polachek, a loner until late adolescence, became a horse girl. She credits riding with teaching her about rhythm and how to map space—to her instructor’s chagrin, she would mentally subdivide the beats of her horse’s gait and beatbox along in the saddle. “You learn to steer with your eyesight,” she said. “Wherever you look, your body weight shifts to match, and the horse matches. I feel like that’s a skill I still have in terms of how I navigate the stage and hold myself—leading with my eyes.”

Her father struggled with bipolar disorder and depression, and he distanced himself from the family. Polachek’s parents divorced soon after the move back to the States. “Even when I was a kid, there were years that would go by without me talking to him,” she told me. But, when she was an adult, they rebuilt their relationship, and after he got sick she talked to him on the phone about his symptoms, trying to encourage him by telling him about her recovery. By late April, it was clear that he wasn’t going to make it. “Saying goodbye to him over FaceTime was one of the most painful experiences of my life,” she said. “And I just really didn’t want to leave the house for a long time after that.” A couple of months after her father’s death, she wrote a tribute to him on Instagram, describing him as “a lightning wit, and a better musician than I can ever hope to be.” Her father, who had been a scholar of the Qing dynasty and taught at Princeton and Columbia, had “hated pop music and never once came to see me perform,” she wrote, “but his belief in the arts as a secret language for transcendent beauty, radical politics, and syncretic spirituality bolstered my faith in making music.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Damon Casarez for The New Yorker 

Polachek began looking for people to sing with when she was fifteen, and ended up in two nu-metal bands, four choirs—one at church and three at school—and an a-cappella group. In 2004, she enrolled at the University of Colorado, where she met Aaron Pfenning, another student and musician. The two started dating, and formed Chairlift. They moved to Brooklyn in 2006; there, they joined up with the producer Patrick Wimberly, and Chairlift became a trio. Polachek worked toward a B.F.A. at N.Y.U. while the band played warehouse shows and put music up on MySpace, selling burned CDs for a dollar. Her mother had made it clear that she would be cut off financially after graduation, and Polachek was too pragmatic and too proud, she told me, to depend on her parents as an adult. She hoped to get a job as a gallery girl, to “eat shit and slowly make my way into the art world,” she said. She was also making art. One of her projects, “The Gothletic Archetype,” which involved reworked photos of teen-age volleyball players, had just been accepted for a group show when a producer at KCRW, in Santa Monica, played a demo of the Chairlift song “Bruises” on the air. Apple soon bought the rights to play it in a commercial for the iPod Nano. Chairlift was signed by Columbia.

PHOTO CREDIT: Tsarini Merrin

“It was a blessing, but it was a curse,” Polachek told me, of the Apple spot. The band was instantly more popular, but people wanted to hear songs that sounded like the one from the ad. Pfenning and Polachek broke up, and he left the band. Polachek kept writing songs, which Wimberly produced, but she was frustrated by the constraints of this arrangement. “I became more micromanagey,” she told me. “I think I started to resent the fact that I didn’t have my hands on the wheel, that I had to go through a boy. There was a side of me that didn’t really play into the idea of a band, that was more electronically-minded, and wanted to play more with the idea of theatre and costume than I felt able to do when surrounded by unshaved guys onstage.”

She recorded an album entirely on her laptop, on her own, and released it, in 2014, under the name Ramona Lisa, an old Facebook alias. The songs had seraphic melodies that melted into discordant static; she called the genre “electronic pastoral.” She had begun dating Ian Drennan, another artist and musician, and they were married in 2015, at the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, on Staten Island. Vogue did a photo spread of the ceremony: the gardens were deep emerald, and the table arrangements were studded with persimmons. Pamela Kuhn, Polachek’s opera teacher, officiated”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: 91 Rules 

I cannot talk about Caroline Polachek without mentioning her fantastic album, Pang. It is definitely one of the best albums of 2019 and one that ranks alongside her very best work. I want to introduce a 2020 interview from i-D. Polachek was based in London at the time. In addition to discussing the writing and creation of the album, we also had described the atmosphere and average day-to-day of living in the city:

“If you wanna create a moment of relief in a song, you have to create something that’s gonna disappear.” A car alarm has been going off outside the window where Caroline Polachek and I are sitting in London with tea and an attention-seeking whippet for about five minutes now. It stops. The sudden silence reminds her of a technique one of her collaborators, producer Dan Carey, uses. “He’ll add this really subliminal track of white noise that builds and builds and then you just take it away. And you can’t tell what just happened but it’s like when that alarm stopped; it just creates this calm.” I ask whether she’s implemented this in her own work. “Me? Relief? That’s not my genre,” she laughs. “I’m all angst!”

After 11 years and three albums at the helm of Brooklyn synth-pop band Chairlift — plus a handful of releases under solo side projects Ramona Lisa and CEP — at the end of 2019, the classically trained musician released an album in her own name for the very first time. This is the most her her music has ever felt, she says. “There are aspects of my personality and my taste that I got to live out in other projects, even in collaborations, but this fuses all of those impulses together.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Ian Kenneth Bird 

The critically acclaimed Pang beautifully explores apathy, taking risks and letting love change the course of your life. It was named after the intense feelings experienced at the time of writing it, feelings that she describes as so much deeper than anxiety. “I was having adrenaline surges that were actually really unpleasant. I was unable to sleep, I lost my appetite, dropped a bunch of weight and was constantly wired.”

When it landed last summer, lead single “Door” blew minds and set the tone with a surreal kaleidoscopic video of Caroline flanked by two greyhounds, the album’s spirit animal. “I’ve always been very attracted to how earnest and beautiful and nervous they are,” Caroline says, looking to the sighthound in the room. “When the album was coming together, it kind of hit me that a greyhound embodies that: it looks like how adrenalin feels. They’re kind of the embodiment of the flight or fight response, and their sharp linear quality felt so synced up with the melodies and the textures and the intention of the album.” It’s a novel thing, to assign a spirit animal to a body of music, but it’s something that Caroline almost always does — Chairlift’s last album was called Moth, and Ramona Lisa’s Arcadia used cicada imagery and sounds throughout. “I thought it was this romantic idea,” she remembers. “Being buried underground for seven years, then you come out and have one summer to find your mate and die. I was just so obsessed with the gothic romanticism of that lifecycle.”

PHOTO CREDIT: 91 Rules  

Caroline describes her vision for Pang as “expressionist storybook goth”. At first glance, a mythical fantasy world; look a little closer and you’ll find something deeper than that. “I’ve forever been a fan of surrealism and the way that psychology and mental states got turned into landscapes, objects and situations,” she says. “Particularly by the female surrealists, who were so overlooked... artists like Dorothea Tanning, Kay Sage and Leonora Carrington. Dali and Magritte get all the hype!” The album’s three music videos, which Caroline co-directed with her artist boyfriend Matt Copson, who — when not accidentally quarantined in London — she lives with in Los Angeles, embrace this fully.

“At that time I felt so polarised: I felt like there was my inner world and then there was my lived experience which was, like, me in a sweatshirt in a studio, which is not what the music felt like. The music was coming from this other place.” And so they created it. First there was “Door”, with the aforementioned greyhounds, yes, but also an infinity mirror, an endless corridor of doors and a swirling wormhole hanging outside her bedroom window. Then came the “Ocean of Tears” surrounding Caroline’s pirate ship. Forewarning that “this is gonna be torture” in the opening line, she feels the distance as she looks to her beloved through a telescope from up in the crow’s nest, the wordless chorus a siren call. Finally there was “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings”, in which a cowboy-booted and school skirt-suited Caroline line-dances through the fire pits of hell”.

Pang made such a big impression. There is no doubting the fact the album was crafted by a real genius and visionary. With songs that seemingly came from a higher place, there was a lot of attention around Polachek following the album’s release. Her third studio album – her debut under her given name -, make sure you check out Pang if you have not heard it already. DOCUMENT spoke with Polachek in 2020. Aside from discovering more about the album, they also observe what Polachek is like as an interviewee:

“There is something magical about Caroline Polachek: a not-quite-of-this-world quality that anyone familiar with her work would first attribute to her voice, a remarkable instrument that is epic and ethereal and elegant, like a cathedral underwater. After 12 years as one half of the beloved indie-pop duo Chairlift—during which she also released two solo projects under the monikers Ramona Lisa and CEP—she came bursting out of the gate with Pang, her debut record under her own name. As a text, Pang is beautifully intense and kind of mind-blowing as Polachek’s introspection toggles between the familiar and banal—“Back in the city, I’m just another girl in a sweater,” she reflects on “Door”—to the idiosyncratic: “I’m feeling like a butterfly trapped inside a plane, maybe there’s something going on, I’m not insane,” she considers, haunted, on “Hit Me Where it Hurts.” Pang is raw and confessional, and it’s only part of what Polachek has to offer. “I think about vulnerability… that felt like a new level of openness,” she says, ruminating on the past year since the album’s release. “In a funny way I kind of find myself pushing back against that right now. Not in terms of being reactionary, and wanting to be opaque. But more like wanting to jump into total abstraction and nonsense as a kind of coping mechanism. Maybe more of a reflection of life.”

In conversation, Polachek is so much more than a bleeding heart. Her observations are suffused with wry, almost synaesthetic parlance; I’m reminded of her episode of Genius’ “Verified,” where she describes “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings”—arguably Pang’s most accessible, dance-floor ready track—as “a sneeze” for how quickly it came out of her. Her comic timing is dead-on, and she keeps making me laugh even when I don’t think she’s necessarily trying to be funny. Above all else, I feel a prescience when I talk to Polachek that is totally sensical: it’s part of that same magic that she has built from the ground up, immersed in the electricity of her visual and aural worlds.

From the long-distance desire of “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” to the Sisyphean rotation of “Door,” Pang is the quintessential quarantine album, although it was released last October. There is even a song called “The New Normal” that recalls minute quotidian details as the seasons pass: “It’s house arrest, no stopping for dinner,” she clairvoyantly notes at one point. Fans and critics see Pang as a perfect and complete record, but for Polachek the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in some unfinished business with the work. “There’s a lot I wanted to do that I didn’t get to do,” she says. “I was still quite inspired by a lot of the challenges and ideas that that album laid out.” In lieu of planned projects, she released an extended mix of opening track “The Gate,” a textural and cyclical revision that she sees as a “parallel universe or alternate ending” to the original song”.

One thing that many people do not discuss when they think of Caroline Polachek is her as a producer. She was one of the producers on Pang - and she is a producer with a great strength and sense of what she wants to achieve. BRICKS spoke with Polachek at the start of last year. They were keen to ask her about production:

“I think your audience is only starting to realise and appreciate your role as a producer. Do you find that working – or specifically interacting with a computer – changes how you think about music and songwriting?

Yeah, absolutely. I’m such a linear songwriter, so I tend to stay in the “left to right” mode of Ableton rather than breaking it into the interchangeable modular loops which is a more classic electronic way of working. But that makes sense given that I was a songwriter first.

The longer I spend straddling the producer/vocalist/writer hybrid, the more it all gels into one, to the point that I have to be careful if I’m writing songs in front of the computer because I’ll start modifying my voice as I’m writing – using effects as a writing tool. I’m sometimes paranoid about that process slowing down the writing, or watering it down. Not that it has, per se… probably just my own paranoia.

I think that paranoia is really valid. You were saying you were writing songs way before you were doing what you would consider production – I assume you were still using a computer in some sense, right? Did you self-record before you self-produced?

The first instance of that was I had this Yamaha PSR that had six song banks that you could work in, and within those song banks, you had six layers. So, I learned I could have six songs recorded at any given time, but if I wanted to make a seventh song, I’d have to delete one or record it onto my secret tape cassette recorder. That put me in a very ephemeral mindset, where the final form is on a dead-end cassette tape that no one else hears.

For me, that is production, right? Even before you were interfacing with something like Ableton or Logic, you already had this limitation where you were doing these tracklists, and then it resulted in what you call the ‘secret tape’. Sort of exec-producing your own early songwriting, just because of the technology.

Absolutely. If I was thirteen years old now doing that those songs would be online in some form, which I would infinitely regret ten years later! Having a private place to learn is really important”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Vasso Vu

There is new music brewing. The fact that she has put two songs out in close succession (Long Road Home came out a couple of days or so after Billions, and one suspects a music video will appear at some point), I am not sure when her next album is coming, through it is likely to be very soon. Caroline Polachek spoke with METAL after the release of her last single, Bunny Is a Rider:

“When you’re talking about writing your new music and how it’s moving away from words, what is that sounding like?

I always tend to write non-lyrically. At least at first, even songs of mine that are the most on the nose like So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings. That song started with a melodic motif – a synth and keyboard motif – and then everything got written over and then spliced together. I realised that a lot of songwriters are the opposite – they’ll start with a text – but, for me, it’s always either groove, structure or melody, and then words are the last thing. So, in that sense, the stage three of the song-making process has changed, not stage one and two. I guess what it means is that I’m more curious about pursuing the mood in its own right rather than the mood as it relates to external events.

What do you mean by that?

For example, when I write lyrics, it usually feels like decoding, a little bit – like I’m listening to what the melody is already expressing and then I try and put words to that expression. On my last album, I did a lot of very personal work because there was so much going on in my life that I wanted to talk about, but I was very rarely showing up in the studio with the bravery to talk about these things. So, I would write melodically and then listen and say, okay, well, this song is very clearly very sad. What can this be about? And then, well, actually, this was going on and this is very sad. So, obviously, this is where the song came from. It’s like a detective process, but this time around I’m more interested in describing the moods themselves rather than linking them back to ontological events.

Does lyricism still exist at all within what you’ve created? How are you mapping out any sort of words or lyrics when you’re writing these new songs?

It absolutely exists. It’s just looser, more playful and abstract. And this is a mode of writing that I’ve gone in and out of my whole career. There’s a song called Amanaemonesia that I did with my former band called Chairlift which is, completely, free association, but still has a very strong character. And then, Bunny Is A Rider is a song I did just a few months ago now, and that song follows the same methodology as well”.

PHOTO CREDIT: 91 Rules 

Just before moving on to Billions, I want to bring in an interview that looked at Polachek back on the road and touring whilst there is still a pandemic on. Although it is a strange time still, there is a sense of relief that things are beginning to return to ‘normal’. The Current asked Polachek about her recordings during the pandemic and being back on the road:

“Now Polachek, who first made a splash as the leader of Chairlift, is currently on the road on her Heart is Unbreaking tour. She stops at First Avenue on Tuesday, December 7. Here are highlights of her conversation with New Hot host David Safar.

DAVID SAFAR: Let's get started by talking about things we've done during the pandemic, and Caroline, something that you've done that caught my ear is this cover of the Corrs’ "Breathless." Can you tell us about what inspired you to put this one out?

CAROLINE POLACHEK: "Breathless" has been a favorite song of mine since I was little. It came out in the late ‘90s and I remember being a kid in the back of my mom's car looking out the window and listening to these sisters singing. They were doing this really cool vocal flipping technique, which is so idiomatic to English and Scottish folk singing, and that kind of style ended up having a big influence on me later. That song is just so cleverly written because there's actually a sneaky change in each one of the choruses and verse transitions. It's just so well written that you can't even tell. And it just has this kind of windswept sweetness to it that I just love so much.

PHOTO CREDIT: 91 Rules 

I was playing with Charli XCX at her afterparty for her New York Pop 2 show, and Danny L Harle was DJing and I had this idea. [I asked], “Can you do a cover of ‘Breathless’ during your DJ set for Charli's afterparty?” So, we spent about two hours, I got the karaoke midi of "Breathless” online and we arranged out a super simple version in about two hours. I performed it at night, and people were absolutely mental. I was like, “This has to get added to the Pang live show.” We toured it a little bit, and then during the pandemic [...] it kind of was a reminder for me of being back on stage and being at parties. So we did it as a nostalgic act and it was really fun.

I love that story. The other thing you did during the pandemic was you re-recorded "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings," a new version called "So Cold.” How did that come about?

That was all A. G. Cook. He did an incredible series of live streams of parties and events, and for the PC Music Pop Carol Party he was like, “Look, this is about as pop carol as we can get, why don't we do a Christmas edit of ‘So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings.’" He wrote a lot of his lyric changes, including the great line, “don't send me presents” instead of “don't send me photos,” because “you're so cold, you're hurting my feelings.” Funny story about that version, he did my afterparty in London a few weeks ago, and at the peak dancefloor moment of the after party he slammed on the Christmas remix of that song. At a couple shows following that, I've accidentally sung the Christmas lyrics on stage instead of the real lyrics. Which has been extremely embarrassing, but you know, I guess we're all getting into the holiday spirit right now.

You're out on the road right now, and you're coming to Minneapolis. What's it been like getting back on stage?

It's been surreal. I mean, I feel so lucky to be able to talk right now. I think it's still so many people's first shows back out. And, you know, I feel very grateful to say that a lot of my listeners really connected with my music during the pandemic. So we're having a very emotional response to it live right now, and I don't take any of this for granted. It's been very emotional for me as well”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Damon Casarez for The New Yorker 

It is time to get to the song. Billions is another great track from Caroline Polachek. Different to Bunny Is a Rider, it definitely hints at a slightly different sonic and lyrical direction than Pang. One of the things about Polachek’s songs is her delivery. Listen to tracs like Bunny Is a Rider and how short the lines were. Punchier and shorter, it is about the vocal delivery. Billions is similar, in the sense the lines are quite short; Polachek’s presentation and singing adds so many other layers, words and emotions. Before getting to the first verse, it is worth talking about the introduction and video. The intro has percussive pulses, what sounds like tape being rewound quickly, and some slightly far-off heavenly vocals. It is an atmospheric and intriguing introduction that instantly gets into your head. In the video, Polachek is seen picking berries and bunches of berries from vine. Dressed in a baseball cap and an all-white outfit (complete with glamorous jewellery), you will definitely be hooked by the visuals. Polachek looks seductive and beautiful, yet there is something almost mythical and biblical about the scenes and storyline. Whereas Bunny Is a Rider has slightly lower vocals that were quite quickly delivered (they had a definitely sense of punctuation and urgency), there is something breathier and higher-pitched here: “Psycho, priceless/Good in a crisis/Working the angles/Oh, billions/Sexting sonnets/Under the tables/Tangled in cables/Oh, billions/Salty (Ah), flavor (Ah)/Lies like a sailor/But he loves like a painter/Oh, billions”. Whether the song is about wealth and a sense of entitlement and deceit, I am not too sure.

PHOTO CREDIT: Aidan Zamiri

Polachek has always been a wonderful lyricist who creates her own world. The chorus is simple but delivered with passion: “Ah, ah/Say, say, say, say something to me/Ah, ah/Say, say, say, say something to me”. Whereas the first verse was slower and more sensual, the second verse sees the video change from the vines and this setting to the heroine in the bath. What looks like a bath of milk, we see a sink and towels nearby in this interesting set. With her vocals reminding me a bit of Christine and the Queens’ Héloïse Letissier (especially when she sings “billions” in the background), the second verse has a slightly heavier and tauter vocal. In the sense that it is less breathy and romantic than the first verse. It has a harder edge. That is appropriate given the set change and Polachek writhing and moving in the bath. Again, the lyrics of the verse contain short lines and vivid images. With no real inspiration and particular person in mind, what we have are these visions tied together that each listener will get something different from: “Headless angel/Body upgraded/But it's dead on arrival/Oh, billions/Twisted, manic/Cornucopia/Yeah, my cup overfloweth/Oh, billions”. Upcoming from her sophomore album (which we do not have a date for yet), Polachek has played Billions live. I can imagine her having a very eye-catching setting for this number, suggested by the video. The pre-chorus is interesting: “Hand it over (Ah), broker (Ah)/Give me the closure/He's a pearl, I'm the oyster/Oh, billions”. In the video, with this innocent and sense of the spiritual and saintly as she wears white, she can be seen moving around glasses. Drinking vessels that she picks up and there seems to be the sense of attachment to – whether she sees herself as fragile as glass or connects with them in some way -, Polachek seems lost in her visions.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Lindsay Ellary

It is a beautiful video that was directed and edited by Caroline Polachek & Matt Copson. Polachek definitely has a real talent as a director and visual artist! Before the song closes, we see Polachek dressed now in black and looking both dignified and almost widow-like, but also very alluring. She turns the pages of a book. The light changes from a whiter and lighter tone to reds and blacks. It is a change that is welcomed by the Trinity Croydon Choir. One of the busiest and most successful boys' choirs in the world, it is an inspired choice to end the song! They repeat the line “Oh, I never felt so close to you”. It is a beautiful, almost haunting and divine way to end a song that has moved through different stages and worlds. Billions started with a composition and sound that reminded me of Björk’s work in the ‘90s. Polachek, in the video, is almost a biblical figure or temptress. It moves to the bathroom and a sense of temptation. I wonder whether picking berries was like being in the Garden of Eden; her in a bath of milkier water had religious semblance and symbolism? Almost a maid or some historic figure at the end, I love the rich imagery and the colours. It is beautifully shot and edited so that we get this feast of contours, wonderfully nuanced images and an almost filmic representation of this Caroline Polachek song. I cannot wait to see what more comes from her forthcoming sophomore album. Polachek is an artist in her own league that has a distinct and fantastic sound. If you have not heard her music or are new to it, then listen back and see what bounty she has to offer. She is an artist that we…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Danielle Levitt

SHOULD all cherish.

___________

Follow Caroline Polachek 

TRACK REVIEW: Suki Waterhouse - Melrose Meltdown

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Suki Waterhouse

Melrose Meltdown

 

 

8.7/10

 

 

The track, Melrose Meltdown, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDbD_07FLuE

RELEASE DATE:

25th January, 2022

ORIGIN:

London, U.K./Los Angeles, U.S.A.

GENRES:

Baroque Pop/Dream Pop/Alt-Pop

The album, I Can’t Let Go, is available from 22nd April, 2022. Pre-order the album here:

https://www.resident-music.com/productdetails&path=168&product_id=86977

LABEL:

Sub Pop Records

TRACKLIST:

Moves

The Devil I Know

Melrose Meltdown

Put Me Through It

My Mind

Bullshit on the Internet

Wild Side

On Your Thumb

Slip

Blessed

PRODUCER:

Brad Cook

__________

I want to start out with a couple of points…

that I would not normally do for other artists. Because Suki Waterhouse is an actor and model, she comes from a different background and brings a different set of skills to music. It is not unusual for actors to also release music. Today, we have new artists like Maisie Peters who sit between the two crafts. In fact, iconic model Heidi Klum is going to release her first single soon. I think there is a slightly snobby attitude when it comes to actors and models releasing music. Maybe a sense that the purity is distilled or they are not as authentic as other musicians. In the case of Suki Waterhouse, she is a born artist. She released music years ago, yet it is now that she is really looking ahead to a longer and more prolific career. In terms of significant output, she releases her debut album, I Can’t Let Go, in April. I love her music, and I think that her acting experience and C.V. elevates and impacts the songs. She brings new disciplines and nuances into her work. In her early-thirties now, newer songs like Melrose Meltdown (which I will review soon) are not the same as her tracks from a few years back. Rather than present a diversion, I am going to start by discussing Waterhouse as an actor. Last year, she appeared in the supernatural film, Seance. Remix Magazine spoke with her about it:

“Currently based in LA filming an upcoming TV adaptation of New York Times bestseller Daisy Jones & The Six, the charismatic Brit radiates positivity. “It’s SO nice to be back at work again and finally doing stuff!” Suki responds when I ask how she’s doing right now. Refreshingly, her year has been much the same as mine, minus the blacked-out windows and constant sound of drilling echoing in her complex. “Like everyone else this past year I haven’t had much escape. I was in an apartment that had building work going on all the time. After having had blacked-out windows, I think my body is only just reactivating to seeing sunlight! I feel like I’ve been a cavewoman eating yoghurt for what feels like two years…” Again, relatable.

PHOTO CREDIT: RLJE Films 

Suki is playing new girl Camille Meadows at the prestigious Edelvine Academy for Girls in new horror mystery Seance. “A really fun, cool, go-back-to-school horror movie,” is how Suki describes it. “Not too scary that you’ll be terrified the entire time and up all night though. It’s dark but kind of funny as well. I like the way it doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

Marking a change in genre for Suki, she was drawn to the role not just for a new challenge but the nostalgia. The actress drew inspiration for the role by digging into her own school days. “I think so much of our lives as grown-ups is shaped by those years. From being the ‘outcast’ to that mission to help a friend. It was like a full-circle experience going back there, except this time around having more empathy for myself,” she recounts.

In the film, we see Camille (Suki) take part in a Seance to find out what happened to a fellow classmate after a mysterious suicide. The supernatural nature of Seance begged the question, where does Suki sit in terms of the supernatural world in real life? “I’m not super attuned to that world, although in saying that I have certain things I ‘see’ quite regularly. I experience sleep paralysis, which feels quite paranormal." Describing it as that moment before you wake up where you ‘feel trapped in your own body, like you’ve been abducted by aliens’, Suki says it’s as close as she’s got to being ‘spooked’.

Her army of two million fans on Instagram might be surprised to learn, despite fronting campaigns for the likes of Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger and Salvatore Ferragamo, Suki is first and foremost an actress. Masterfully navigating the line between screen and fashion, I asked the multitalented performer where her heart lies most. “I haven’t modelled for years,” she tells me. “I actually started acting, as well as singing, really young before I even got into modelling. Acting for me was always an outlet outside of school that was for me. I never did it in school, I was way too embarrassed. My theatre group was always my secret world.” Turns out, there’s another world that has her heart though too. “Music has been a big focus for me – I’m really excited about that. I’ve been doing it my whole life, working up to an album that’s coming out soon.” … "Stay tuned," she teases”.

Keep an eye out for future Waterhouse acting projects. She is appearing in Daisy Jones & The Six soon (it is an adaptation of the 2019 novel from Taylor Jenkins Reid). Waterhouse is hugely multi-talented. Whether she is going to base herself out of L.A. or London, I think that her music will take on a bigger significance very soon. With a debut album forthcoming, many new listeners will discover her incredible music. Prior to coming more up to date regarding her interviews and exposure, there is a piece from a few years back where we get to know a then-twenty-seven-year-old emerging and coming through. Like so many new artists who were putting out work in 2019 and 2020, the pandemic has delayed things. Waterhouse was building momentum in 2019. Things have taken a bit of a weird course since then. What strikes me about Suki Waterhouse is her creativity and how much passion she has. A multidisciplinary talent, here is someone who turning heads and standing out:

“The allure that 27-year-old Suki Waterhouse radiates is undeniable no matter what platform she is seen on–and she has pretty much all of them covered. The English model was discovered at age 16 and since then has posed for designers such as Tommy Hilfiger, Alice + Olivia, and Burberry. Waterhouse’s modeling career led her to her own photography exhibition at Eb and Flow gallery in London, followed by the launch of her accessories brand Pop & Suki, which she co-founded with longtime friend Poppy Jamie, and helped grow her 1.5 million Instagram following, too. With her cool charisma and bold ambition, Waterhouse successfully made her foray into acting in 2016, earning roles in films such as The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Assassination Nation, and Detective Pikachu.

The creative stamina that Waterhouse possesses is clear from her never-ending and ever-growing list of projects that stretch across industries. “Once I finish something I’m quite like, okay, what else do I have on the list?,” Waterhouse tells me. The multi-hyphenate talent ventured into music in 2016 and has been self-releasing singles every so often since then. “There’s a very immediate reaction when you put out music. But, music is also something that people keep discovering, so it kind of has a really long life,” the singer says.

PHOTO CREDIT: reformation 

Waterhouse released her single “Johanna” in late 2019 with an accompanying music video starring legendary New York City performance artist Amanda Lepore. “I was more nervous with her than probably I would be with anyone else. I used to go and watch her a lot when I first went to New York when I was 17. She’s so larger than life and made a big impact on me,” Waterhouse says of working with Lepore. The video casts Waterhouse as a male bodyguard and Lepore as a glamorous Hollywood darling.

While Waterhouse croons about unrequited love on the song, her portrayal of Fred the bodyguard in the video is a reflection of some of her own internal struggles and insecurities. “I was thinking about how I was going to present myself and I kind of wanted to not look like myself. Maybe because I was nervous,” she says of her role in the music video. Waterhouse dons a dark men’s suit and glasses in the video, a bold contrast to her on-screen counterpart but not totally far from Waterhouse’s actual personal style.

“I sort of wanted to hide behind a suit that feels very authoritative. I think a lot about wearing suits and men’s clothes. I’m either dressed like a cupcake or in suits and boy’s clothes a lot,” she offers. Waterhouse adds that she finds it interesting that in today’s society, a suit is the expected uniform for most bankers and “greedy men” but there is an androgynous and authoritative connotation when she wears a suit.

“It’s like such a basic bitch outfit so why do we associate it with being powerful and strong?,” she asks herself. Waterhouse celebrates both her femininity and masculinity in her fashion choices, but admits that both styles have limitations and a certain level of power to them”.

To confirm how strong Waterhouse is as an artist, she signed to Sub Pop recently. I find that Waterhouse brings a bit of film and acting to her music. When NME spoke with her back in October, they highlighted her Thelma & Louise-inspired song, Moves:

“Suki Waterhouse has signed to Sub Pop and shared her first two songs under the label with ‘Moves’ and ‘My Mind’. Listen to them below, and check out NME’s interview with the British actor and musician.

Waterhouse has been releasing her own music since 2016, when she put out her debut single ‘Brutally’. Over the last five years, she’s shared a further four tracks that marry ‘60s girl group influences with dreamy, melancholy-tinged pop, each showcasing a knack for writing evocative lyrics and songs that linger with you long after they’re over.

“I’ve always been comfortable making music and playing it and even having the life of a musician, but I’ve always been so scared of actually putting out records,” she told NME over Zoom from Los Angeles last week. “The ones I’ve done before it’s been one song a year and I’ve really been trying to push myself to do that.”

Although it’s been a long time coming, Waterhouse’s debut album will finally arrive next year via the legendary Sub Pop. “It really was a surprise,” the musician explained of inking the deal. “I made the album by myself and then was sending it to some labels. I sent it to Sub Pop and didn’t get a response for months, and then nudged them again.” When the label’s team listened to the record, they came on board and snapped up the album.

‘Moves’, the first fruits of her relationship with the historic imprint, shows why. It is a timeless piece of pop that beautifully straddles romanticism and sadness, Waterhouse’s voice a gorgeous anchor as she shares small details from her life.

“That song is like a collection of diary entries put into one idea from over 10 years,” she explained. “Years ago, someone said to me that I looked like Suzi Quatro when I was out one night. I remember I didn’t know who she was at first, but I was like, ‘I think that’s a cool thing, I’m gonna try and keep being like this person’ and then going home and looking her up and hearing the Chris Norman version of her and him doing ‘Stumbling In’ and going down a total Suzi love hole.”

‘Moves’ was also inspired by feminist film classic Thelma & Louise, with Waterhouse imagining “the kind of song they’d be listening to when they drove off the cliff”. “‘Moves’ came from a place of strength, but also feeling a sense of abandon,” she added. “I was listening to a lot of Shangri-Las at the time and ‘60s girl band songs, which had a seduction to them but also a [sense of a] last chance and something desperate. My songwriting all comes from my places of helplessness, even if there’s a powerfulness [to it]”.

A few days ago, Atwood Magazine spotlighted a vulnerable, beautiful, stirring and highly promising young artist who was taking her next steps. Maybe there are similarities with Lana Del Rey or Jazz legends of the past regarding her vocal. Something of the cigarette-lit, smoky, romantic and vintage vision comes from her lungs - like you are in the 1950s or 1960s and walking alongside a hypnotic and hugely heart-stopping singer. I will come to an interview where Waterhouse discusses her influences soon:

“While she’s been content with a slow-burning music career, releasing one single per year since 2016’s “Brutally”, 2022 marks the year where Waterhouse is finally letting us into the musical universe she’s been creating since the age of 13. “I’m the same person that was looking out the window of the house that I grew up in and writing the same version of love songs that I was writing all the way back then”, says Waterhouse, about the confessional and romantic songwriting that’s been helping her navigate life, love, and the pressures of a public identity, among other things.

Waterhouse sings as if she’s pouring her heart out to a dimly lit bar, clouded by cigarette smoke, so entranced by the music that she doesn’t care if anyone is watching her. There’s a folky quality to her sound and the intimacy of her lyrics that hypotizes anyone who listens. She’s been chronicling all these years through music, each song a different chapter of the diary of her life, and now she’s ready to let us in.

“Moves” and “My Mind“, both singles off her album, find the balance between being certain about taking a step towards vulnerability and love and feeling like you’re losing grip of your sanity. “Moves” is bold and a classic, injected with the energy that only someone who is determined to give love a chance has, while “My Mind” is introspection at its best. Waterhouse’s latest single, “Melrose Meltdown” (a song that’s infamous among her friend group), is as gripping as a love story with a tragic ending. Cinematic and remarkable, “Melrose Meltdown” could easily soundtrack the climax of a movie about star-crossed lovers and ill-fated endings. I Can’t Let Go, Waterhouse’s debut album, is set for release April 22nd, 2022 via Sub Pop, and promises to let us in on the other chapters of her story”.

Sticking with that same interview, Atwood Magazine asked her what it was like having a music career when her name was also known. As her output has been slightly patchy in terms of prolificacy, now she is at a stage when things are starting to take off. A unique artist who is going to strike big in 2022, this year seems like an awakening for Suki Waterhouse:

“AS AN ALREADY PUBLIC PERSON, BUT ESPECIALLY SOMEONE WHO’S EITHER MODELLING OR ACTING, TO FINALLY EXPRESS YOURSELF TO PEOPLE AND HAVE PEOPLE BE REINTRODUCED TO YOU IN THIS PROCESS, SO WHO IS THE SUKI WATERHOUSE THAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GET TO KNOW THROUGH YOUR MUSIC?

Suki Waterhouse:I was thinking about this the other day, so I never have actually been very good at, you know, the kind of “using your voice” or taking to Instagram and telling everyone every detail of why something’s wrong about the way you’ve been perceived, or like the exact details. I find it really difficult. I want people to know, how things felt, and I want you to be able to know how things feel. The details I don’t think matter as much as the feeling. And then I love that thing that you get to share with people where it’s like people know how something felt, and they get it, sharing a feeling more than the detail filling in. I made the album for girls, women who have fallen in love many times and lusted a lot, and maybe have also been a bit of a heartbreaker as well. That’s how I can sum it up.

 YOU TALKED ABOUT THE FEELING A LOT AND THERE IS SUCH A UNIVERSALITY TO THE THINGS YOU SAY IN YOUR MUSIC, BUT IT ALSO COMES ACROSS AS VERY SPECIFIC TO SITUATIONS, LIKE “I’M GOING TO PUT SOME MOVES ON YOU”, THAT IS SOMETHING EVERYBODY HAS FELT SOME TIME IN THEIR LIFE. IT CAN FEEL VERY SPECIFIC TO YOU IN YOUR SITUATION BECAUSE IT FEELS VERY GENUINE WHEN YOU'RE SINGING, BUT IT ALSO AUTOMATICALLY IS APPLICABLE TO THE LISTENERS LIFE AND THAT CREATES SUCH A DEEP BOND WITH THE MUSIC. THERE IS SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL ABOUT JUST SINGING ABOUT LOVE AND YOU KNOW, POURING IT INTO SONG.

Suki Waterhouse: When I wrote “Moves” I was kind of in this place where I had been heartbroken quite a few times before and it was sort of about, when you’ve been heartbroken a couple of times, actually the risk of going for somebody and saying ‘I’m actually going to put myself out there and and invest in this and want this and fully go for it’ becomes way more way more risky. There’s a small chance that you might have the reward but there’s also a way bigger chance that you might jump off the cliff and like break all your bones and like fall on your face. So that did have that kind of naivety to where it’s like ‘Oh, I haven’t done this in a long time and I’m kind of ready’ because falling in love a lot is very tiring. You get exhausted by it at some point. That was the gearing up to go for it again.

BEING ABLE TO WRITE AND EXPRESS YOURSELF, AND HAVE THAT MUSIC CAREER START QUIETLY AND SLOWLY, WHEN YOU HAD THIS WHIPLASH OF PUBLIC ATTENTION AND WERE NAVIGATING A CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY THAT BECOMES PUBLIC AS WELL, AND FINDING OUT HOW TO SAVE YOURSELF AND YOUR ESSENCE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. I CAN IMAGINE IT’S JUST INSANE. HOW DID MUSIC HELP YOU GO THROUGH IT?

Suki Waterhouse: I really think it saved me in so many ways, because it’s like making a statue of exactly how you were and how you felt in that time. And it’s memorialising it, and I can listen to the first song that, in that moment, when I was my worst at about 23, I wrote “Brutally” and I was sobbing the whole time while I wrote it. I always had that need to write it down. And I think that, at the end of the day, I’m like, no matter how hard the times that you’re in might be, I always had the inclination to document it. That kind of confessional journaling, just to keep all of it down. And I would take a lot of photos as well of little things everywhere. I have so many photos, just to remind yourself of objects and everything, that always felt incredibly important. So it wasn’t knowing that I was wanting to start a music career or anything. It just felt very important to remember because I didn’t feel like I could like share exactly what where I was with anyone else. So it kind of it was making myself feel alive and remembering what had happened. I think as long as you write it down and make it into something, then who the fuck cares? That’s always more important to me, as long as you’ve made something from whatever you are going through that’s the best.

I READ THAT YOU MADE THE ALBUM AND AFTER IT WAS DONE YOU STARTED SENDING IT TO LABELS. SO YOU HAD FULL CREATIVE LIBERTY AND FREEDOM, IT WAS YOUR OWN PROCESS WITH YOUR PRODUCER. HOW DO YOU THINK THAT HAVING THIS MUCH FREEDOM AND NOT HAVING ANY EXPECTATION ON YOU HELPED YOU MAKE THE ALBUM?

Suki Waterhouse: That was the great thing. So I had  this own thing on my heart weighing really heavy like ‘I have to do this’, but also it was really nice for me just self-releasing, you know, one song every now and then and watching people react to that. Especially “Brutally”, I think that was a big deal for me because I put that song out and it just encouraged me very much to keep going. But the great thing about all of this songwriting, I never had a label being like, ‘hey, like better get this in by this day’. No, whatsoever. You’re never totally ready, but you just get to a point where you’re like, ‘I’m as ready as I can be’.

 It’s funny the way stuff happens. It was more to do with the producer, Brad Cook, who I absolutely like love, like some of the records he’s done with Hiss Golden Messenger and Waxahatchee. I was like, I think that is who it would be. Because before then I didn’t actually know who would be the person to take like the recordings and make them into something that we could do together that would be a cohesive sound. I knew about him. And then my friend Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio, who I’ve written with before, he knew him too. So I managed to send the demos to him and he had two weeks and said, ‘If you can come to North Carolina, then we can do it’. And that is quite a strange thing, in a way, because usually you meet the person and know what they’re going to be like, and you’ve worked with him loads and I had never met him at all. But I called him and he’s like, ‘Well, what are you listening to right now?’ And I said, Lucinda Williams “Fruits of my Labour”, which is like the only song pretty much that I’ve listened to for like years, like every day. And he’s like, ‘Well, that’s my favorite song’.

I just knew, in a funny way, that everything would be okay, but very much just being like, this is something that needed to come out of me, it’s not had any outside force telling me to do it. I didn’t expect to find a label. I was just at the point where I wanted to self-release it. And then I started sending it to labels just to see what would happen. And, I mean, Sub Pop, I would never have fucking thought that they would want to do it”.

There is a lot of excitement and anticipation regarding the new album from Waterhouse. It is going to be one of those L.P.s you will want to own on vinyl (I have put a link where you can pre-order at the top). Coming back to that NME interview that I sourced, she talked about working with producer Brad Cook (who has produced records for the likes of Bon Iver and Waxahatchee):

“Waterhouse flew to North Carolina to start recording with him, with original plans to make her album in a “really old, beautiful church”. “And then someone came in and said, ‘We’ve booked this’ so we had to pack up and move,” she said. “We ended up making the record in a bridesmaid’s makeup room in a wedding hall. Where I sat listening to everything and singing all the vocals was literally a bridesmaid’s dressing room with a pillow that said ‘Live, Laugh, Love’.”

Making an album was something Waterhouse had been wanting “for so long” and reasoned she had pushed herself now, at 29, because she “had all these things I’ve never spoken about that I felt like I had to tie up before I go into my thirties”.

“[Music] is the only way that I really know how to express certain things, so it definitely felt like, ‘I’ve got to get this format’.”

With an album ready to go, the musician can now turn her attention to performing live. She made her first festival appearance at BottleRock Napa in California last month, having “barely done a show” at all before. “I definitely had that feeling where it feels like your teeth are going to be sick,” she said. “But as soon as I walked on, I was really happy to be there and just really comfortable”.

Although some have noticed a possible dig at Bradley Cooper in the opening verse of Melrose Meltdown - Waterhouse herself would probably not shy from this take -, I am not going to interpret it that way! The lyrics are so evocative, poetic and stirring: “Deep horrible blues/Watching you work the room/There's a frequency of trouble/In the car to Malibu/I'll be crying on your milk-white sheets/Hoping one day we're married/In a house you'll build around me”. I detected elements of modern artists like Lana Del Rey, but also of legends like Etta James and Julie London. As someone who grew up in the 1990s and ‘00s, perhaps one might expect Suki Waterhouse to have a different set of influences. Many artists of her age are taking a different musical course. That said, I Can’t Let Go is an album that will explore different genres and musical time periods. Before that first verse arrives, there is a brief rush and drenched beauty of strings. Rather than extend the introduction, Waterhouse’s vocals come in. There is an urgency to them, yet they are caramel and honeyed. Gorgeous and tender, there is also this womanly soulfulness from a strong and dignified soul. Trying to keep straight and her tears away, one can detect emotion and some sense of resignation from her profession and revelation. With some slight electronic stab and injection, we get the strings brooding and slightly haunting. The first couple of lines to the pre-chorus, in a way, seems to nod to the style and musical influence of Melrose Meltdown: “I guess I believe/I believe in old-fashioned things/Imagining us/But the longer I stay, I can see you/What's happening? What's happening?”. The video (directed by Sofia Malamute) sees our heroine in a pink gown with long gloves on a sparse set. Strangely captivating in its simplicity, it adds new dimensions to the lyrics. This sense of a hazy dream or an emotional hit.

The chorus provides the biggest punch and swell. Although most of Suki Waterhouse’s romantic experiences and life memories would have happened in the U.K., it is clear that California’s Melrose Avenue is inspirational and key. Maybe nodding to a relationship Waterhouse is trying to exorcise and project or a more fictionalised investigation of romance and loss in the West Coast sun, the chorus does definitely get under the skin: “Welcome to my Melrose meltdown/Nobody ever breaks up, we just break down/We really fucked it up in diamonds and drugstores/That's what we came for/And when you get it, you got what you need”. The lyrics are almost film-like. I alluded to the fact that Waterhouse’s experience in acting goes into the music. She has this cinematic and widescreen approach that makes her lines so much bigger and more moving. I wonder whether there was a more literal concept for the music video, where we see Waterhouse driving through Melrose, or looking lonely and thoughtful or a balcony as she looks out into the night. Waterhouse’s voice is breathy and alluring.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sofia Malamute

There are definite nods to a certain Lizzy Grant (which is definitely no bad thing!), although Waterhouse very much brings her own experiences and cadences to the vocal. She is also influenced by and channels elements of Sharon Van Etten, Valerie June, Garbage, Frazey Ford, Lou Doillon, and Lucinda Williams. There are scent notes of regret and longing, together with anger, reflectiveness and dreaminess. Stirring all this together, we get a rich vocal performance that beautifully pairs with the stirring strings. The composition almost acts like a film score, as Waterhouse narrates her lines The turn of phrase and wording is brilliant: “Handing out gold stars for tailor-made behaviour/I can see your demons shining like prizes/I'm sat out on the balcony/Too sad to go to the party/It's a crime loving you so, it's a crime letting you go”. The structure of the song is also excellent. We then get a pre-chorus, the chorus again, the bridge and one final chorus. The bridge seems to suggest that her former sweetheart - whomever he happens to be - has taken quite a lot out of her Maybe there is a degree of defeat: “Got what you need/When you hang up and say, "I'll see you later"/Got what you need/Write it down, California paper/Got what you need/Forevermore, my anti-hero/For loving and letting me go down, down”.  We do get a bit of Waterhouse being driven, as the camera focuses on her swaying back and forth in the back of what seems like a truck. Waterhouse repeats the chorus line, “We just break down”;  the madness and torment that has arisen from a challenging experience. A fantastic song from the upcoming album, I Can’t Let Go, make sure that you watch out for the amazing Suki Waterhouse.

I Can’t Let Go is shaping up to be an album that everyone will need to own. Before rounding off, this is what we can expect from an L.P. that is from the heart and soul of the amazing Suki Waterhouse. Make sure you pre-order your copy:

“Nowadays, voice memos, videos, and pictures chronicle our lives in real-time. We trace where we’ve been and reveal where we’re going. However, Suki Waterhouse catalogs the most intimate, formative, and significant moments of her life through songs. You might recognize her name or her work as singer, songwriter, actress but you’ll really get to know the multi-faceted artist through her music. Memories of unrequited love, fits of longing, instances of anxiety, and unfiltered snapshots interlock like puzzle pieces into a mosaic of well-worn country, nineties-style alternative, and unassuming pop. She writes the kind of tunes meant to be grafted onto dusty old vinyl from your favorite vintage record store, yet perfect for a sun-soaked festival stage. These compositions comprise her upcoming 2022 full-length debut album, I Can’t Let Go [Sub Pop Records].

“The album is called I Can’t Let Go, because for years it felt like I was wearing heavy moments on my sleeve and it just didn’t make sense to do so anymore. There’s so much that I’ve never spoken about. Writing music has always been where it felt safe to do so. Every song for the record was a necessity. In many ways, I’ve been observing my life as an outsider—even when I’ve been on the inside. It’s like I was a visitor watching things happen.’

Growing up in London, Suki gravitated towards music’s magnetic pull. She listened to the likes of Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple. Meanwhile, Oasis held a particularly special place in her heart. She initially teased out this facet of her creativity with a series of singles, generating nearly 20 million total streams independently. Nylon hailed her debut “Brutally” as “what a Lana Del Rey deep cut mixed with Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides, Now’ would sound like.” In addition to raves from Garage, Vice and Lemonade Magazine, DUJOR put it best, “Suki Waterhouse’s music has swagger.” Constantly consuming artists of all stripes, she listened to the likes of Sharon Van Etten, Valerie June, Garbage, Frazey Ford, Lou Doillon, and Lucinda Williams. In late 2020, she finally dove into making what would become I Can’t Let Go. Falling in love with Hiss Golden Messenger’s Terms of Surrender, she reached out to its producer Brad Cook [Bon Iver,War On Drugs, Snail Mail, Waxahatchee].

“I’ve been dreaming up this record for years,” she recalls. The weeks I spent in North Carolina with Brad were by far the best of my life.’

The first single “Moves” illuminates the nuances of her sound. Guitar echoes through soft piano and a veil of reverb. The momentum builds, and she warns, “I might put some goddamn moves on you, babe I know you need it.”

 “Moves’ is a song I first started writing one night on the couch, picking up the guitar and seeing what came out,” she explains. “It was a moment where I felt the urge to both sever a previous bond, while putting my faith back in trying a different path. I often think, ‘what happens when you are struck by someone who changes the course of your entire life?’ The song speculates on that journey, one that moves beyond lust and physical longing, where you know that you now have something to give.”

The companion single “My Mind” pairs breathy vocals with an airy riff paced like a tumbleweed as her angelic hum takes hold.

Next up is “Devil I Know.” A sparse beat trudges in tribal-style rhythm, while she leans into the cataclysmic chorus, “Back in hell at least I’m comfortable, need your body when my fire’s gone.”

There is also “‘Melrose Meltdown,” which Suki describes as “A shattering of illusion, undoing from a cage I'd been kept myself in where I'd thought was safe. It’s a sweeter send off, but there is an anger there when I sing it’.

I Can’t Let Go culminates on “Blessed.” Her voice ebbs in and out of the cracks between lightly strummed guitar and delicate synths as she exhales, “I could be something.”

“‘Blessed’ was right at the end,” she goes on. “It’s a song about the delicacy of family, a reflection on the moments that tested the fabric of it, when supposed light contains shadows. Ultimately, you’re cherishing the mistakes.”

In the end, Suki not only catalogs her life up to this point in the album, but she also fulfills a lifelong ambition.

“When I’ve been stuck or feel out of touch with a sense of inner meaning and outer purpose, I’ve found both through searching my memories and finding those events buried in the shadowy areas of the psyche where they were ignored,” she leaves off. “So many times of change in my life have required return visits—especially at the transitions through to the next stages. The album is an exploration of those moments when there is nothing left to lose. What is left and can’t be thrown away is the self”.

A tremendous artist who will release more albums in the future, I Can’t Let Go is an album that I am looking ahead to. With stunning songs like Melrose Meltdown showing what a talent Suki Waterhouse is, there will be a lot of positive reviews. Producing music that is so soulful, heartfelt and memorable, Waterhouse is clearly an…

INCREDIBLE talent.

___________

Follow Suki Waterhouse

TRACK REVIEW: Pillow Queens - Be By Your Side

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Pillow Queens

Be By Your Side

 

 

9.6/10

 

 

The track, Be By Your Side, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vnnhGmvXf4

RELEASE DATE:

19th January, 2022

ORIGIN:

Dublin, EIRE

GENRE:

Indie Rock

The album, Leave the Light On, is available from 1st April, 2022

LABEL:

Royal Mountain Records

PRODUCER:

Tommy McLaughlin

__________

I previously reviewed Pillow Queens…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ciara McMullan

back in 2020. With a new track, Be By Your Side, out, I wanted to return to the Dublin group. I shall try not to bring too much of the same information/interviews to this review as I did for their excellent track, Child of Prague. I am eager to return to the music of Sarah Corcoran, Rachel Lyons, Cathy McGuinness and Pamela Connolly. The last time I reviewed them, it was around their debut album, In Waiting. Now, with the announcement of their second studio album, I am coming back to the brilliance of the EIRE band. Before I get to the current cut from the album, there are a few things to cover. First, the group offer some biography on their official website:

“Pillow Queens formed in Winter 2016 with the immediate release of their demo EP Calm Girls, which sparked a successful string of UK & Irish dates & festival appearances.

Their second EP State of the State made its way onto BBC 6 Music’s playlists, with Steve Lamacq calling them “deceptively infectious, with sharp hooks and sharp nails”. The lead single Favourite picked up lots of great support on the UK’s national airwaves, including plays on BBC RADIO 1, BBC Introducing, RADIO X & Amazing Radio.

After two more UK tours, and two sellout hometown gigs, the band soon found themselves more and more comfortable on bigger stages, opening for the likes of American Football and Pussy Riot, capping off Summer 2018 with a stadium performance opening for Idles & Future Islands.

This quick momentum led to the band working with Mercury Prize nominated producer Tommy McLaughlin for their next single Gay Girls – which received a nomination for the RTE Choice Music Prize song of the year, as well as International airplay on NPR’s World Cafe & KEXP. 2019 saw Pillow Queens venture into mainland Europe, with an appearance at this year’s Eurosonic Festival, followed by an impressive string of European tour dates supporting Soak.

Pillow Queens' debut album 'In Waiting' is out now.

They continued to earn enthusiastic support  at home and In the UK before they independently released their 2020 LP In Waiting. The album was a major breakthrough for the band, earning them praise from outlets like The Guardian, who called them “2020’s most exciting indie rockers,” NPR, NME, DIY, and The Line of Best Fit, a Band To Watch feature from Stereogum, an Irish Album of The Year nomination, and most remarkably of all a US national television appearance on the Late Late Show w/ James Corden.

The band are returning to announce their sophomore LP Leave The Light On, which is due out April 1st on Royal Mountain Records”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Faolán Carey

One of the defining aspects of Pillow Queens’ music is their lyrics. I noticed through In Waiting that the songs’ lyrics really stood out. Always so memorable and quotable, Stereogum discussed the lyrical brilliance in an article from January last year:

“Something else that makes Pillow Queens sound like no other band is Connolly’s literary melodrama as a songwriter, which clashes wonderfully with their DIY spirit. Hearing Connolly wail, “You’ll have my head/ You’ll have my head on a silver plate!” over a wall of distortion on “Liffey” feels like an inverse of ethereal folk acts who sing about therapy and scrolling Instagram. (She has modern moments too, regretting “belly achin’ ’bout a fire sign” on “Gay Girls”). It might just sound folkloric to Americans, but the drama is heightened by Connolly’s studies of Ireland; she describes Dublin as a “sore sad city” on “Handsome Wife” and reaches for comfort in the “embrace of the northern bay” on “Donagmede.” On that track, in the indie rock tradition of romanticizing towns like Stockton, California or Omaha, Nebraska, Connolly begs a lover to “Stay for a week/ In sunny Donaghmede,” her suburban hometown, best known for its shopping malls. “We were very into the Bloomington, Indiana scene when we were like 16 or 17,” explains Corcoran. “Songs always mention Bloomington; we were like, ‘One day, it’ll be Donaghmede and Finglas.'”

The grandeur of her lyrics, Connolly says, is a result of imagery sponged up during her Catholic childhood. “It’s almost just cultural here, biblical language. References to god are just woven into language — I mean look at Hozier’s music” she says, referencing the singer whose sex ballad “Take Me To Church” became a global hit in 2014. The effect is particularly delicious on “Handsome Wife,” a queer fantasy of a marital bliss, when Connolly paints scenes like, “Me and all your fathers’ daughters/ Lay beside the tide to take us/ Kissed the bride and fought you favors/ I may not be the wife you want but I’m pregnant with the virgin tongue”.

I have been a fan of Pillow Queens for years now. It was exciting seeing how they had grown and evolved since their first single or two. Such a phenomenal debut album, it took a lot of hard work and effort to get to where they did. Seeing as my first experience with Pillow Queens was them playing live in London, I got the feeling that they wrote their songs with the live crowd in mind. NME talked about their great progress (in an interview when their debut was released), and how Pillow Queens consider themselves more of a live band:

“All of the four-piece’s tireless work over the last four years has seen them grow into a force to be reckoned with, gradually progressing from the promise of early EPs ‘Calm Girls’ (2016) and ‘State Of The State’ (2018). ‘In Waiting’ bears all the hallmarks the band showed on those first releases – surging, infectious indie melodies, big gang vocals and, yes, that current of positivity – but feels more fully realised and accomplished than ever.

When they were making the album, the group’s focus was on how the songs would translate live. “We were definitely thinking about playing bigger stages, bigger audiences, new audiences, new countries,” says Corcoran. The pandemic, though, has forced them to look at the record from a new angle and, subsequently, consider themselves as more than a live band”.

I will come to their new album very soon. When exploring Pillow Queens, one needs to go back and look at their debut. It must have been quite momentum-sapping putting a debut album during the pandemic. In September 2020, as the pandemic was severe and gigs were not happening, they launched a much-anticipated release. This time around, they get to release an album when they can tour. CLASH spoke with the band about the timing of releasing an album during a pandemic. The group managed to make it work:

“Among all the chaos of COVID-19, it was never going to be easy to release an album - and a debut one at that - but they found a way to make it work for them. Pamela describes her experience. “I think it’s been different for a lot of people. I think it’s hard to complain too much because I’m healthy and all the girls in the band are healthy.”

We spent it separately so it was hard to keep up the creative aspect of the band. Had we at least been within 2km of each other, we could have potentially still worked on [creative] stuff but, in saying that, I think we may have benefited in regards to releasing the album, because there was a lot of admin stuff to do, there were a lot of contingency plans in terms of how we could get enough money to release the album and, during lockdown, that’s when we all did that. I think if the lockdown didn’t happen, that would have been a lot harder to figure out”.

‘In Waiting’ is actually being released independently by the band. Speaking of the debut album, Pamela is “super excited” to be sharing ‘In Waiting’ with their fans. She describes creating the album as “awesome” and a way for the band to really develop their sound. “It was a labour of love”, she jokes. “I think it’s a weird time to be releasing an album but I think it’s the right time for us”.

Pamela explains that the band did consider pushing the release date back but decided against it. “What’s the point when you’re super excited? We are still excited regardless of things not being normal per se. We’re still super excited for people to hear what we have. We’re super excited for people to receive the vinyls that they’ve ordered. I just want people to listen to it and, if they enjoy it, that’s amazing”.

One of the most important aspects of their music is how Dublin feeds through it. The city is deeply important when it comes to the music scene and the D.N.A. in the country. Over the past few years, there has been a wave of great bands from the EIRE capital. Even though a lot of the groups are male, Pillow Queens are offering a stunning alternative and strength that will inspire other groups led by womxn. In this interview with YUCK, the subject of Dublin cropped up:

“It would be silly not to mention Dublin. The Irish music scene, obviously you’re a big part of it. How does the city and the scene influence you as a band?

A huge amount, I think. It influences music lyrically, and Dublin and Ireland in general has a very specific sound, the rock music that is coming out of Ireland right now is probably bigger than it ever has been in the past ten to twenty years, and, it’s not just what it always had been. You know it’s rock music, pop music, R&B, wrap and it’s so much more of a variety, there's a resurgence of an appreciation in music, and because we are a small country the scene is quite small, so you also have relationships with these big names and smaller names. It’s a nice community and there’s obviously a lot of things that go against being from a small country, but I think that community is probably one of the biggest positives.

Going back to Dublin again, I feel like there are a lot of male bands coming out of the city at the minute. That’s obviously not endemic of the scene, why do you think this is?

Well at the moment there is actually a bit of a thing happening, because some data was released with regard to Irish female musicians and the radio play they get against the Irish male musicians and consistently see 2%, 5% airplay from radio stations across Ireland. I personally listen to a lot of Irish male bands, but predominantly I listen to a lot of non-male fronted bands, so I know they’re there, and I know the quality is huge. So, there is a bit of struggle at the moment because we see these male acts, and it’s not necessarily the rock bands that are getting the air play. It’s the Gavin James’ and the Dermot Kennedy’s, that are the huge names that are getting that push forward, and obviously for a rock band we don’t expect to get that kind of push”.

Maybe we do not give Irish music as much credit as it deserves. We still talk heavily about the impact of London, though Ireland is definitely taking a stand and showcasing its very best talent! If we have overlooked Ireland in the past, the country is definitely back at the fore. Coming back to the YUCK interview, we learn about the quality coming out of the country:

“Pillow Queens have cemented themselves at the forefront of a continued resurgence for Irish music; the last five years have seen the emergence of the likes of Fontaines D.C., SOAK, Silverbacks and The Murder Capital, but there’s something a little unique about the noise that Dublin’s latest export are creating. The all-female four piece, made up of vocalist/guitarist Sarah Corcoran, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Pamela Connolly, guitarist Cathy McGuinness, and drummer Rachel Lyons, have seen their stature sky-rocket in the short space of time they’ve been together. As they prepare to self-release their debut album, we caught up with Pam to chat about all things PQ.

You’ve smashed on to the scene this year, creating a fanbase almost without playing any live shows; what’s that been like for you as a band?

So, I think it was the initial over saturation of ourselves as much as possible that kind of allowed us to develop a fan base. Our fan base is quite non-male, although males as well and queer so I guess maybe some of it as well is seeing something different on a stage. Something that they can relate to. But I’m not entirely sure. We could probably do the same thing again and get different results. I think it was just a time. I’m not entirely sure myself why that worked cause we went against the grain, you know we did that thing where you release music right before Christmas, which is the one thing people tell you; if you’re gonna release music, don’t do it at the end of the year. We were like ‘fuck it we have nothing to lose.’ We don’t like waiting around, so I think that was mostly it, really [laughs]”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Vanessa Ifediora

A lot of British acts sing in a forced American accent. I think staying true to where you are from is key. I love when Scottish artists sing in their native accents. It gives the music authenticity and truth. Pillow Queens have never been a band who wanted to mimic American artists or dumb things down. They have kept their accents. Ourculture spoke with them last year. The group revealed why they sing in their accents:

“It seems ridiculous that this even needs to be commented upon, but singing in your accents… it’s something that’s remarkably lacking in the mainstream music industry, particularly in the UK and Ireland. Was this something that was ever discussed amongst yourselves or was it just a given that you would sing in your accent?

It’s certainly something we’re conscious of. Growing up listening to a lot of music from outside Ireland you tend to just end up singing in a fairly neutral accent. We want people to have an instant recognition of where we’re from when they listen to our music as we think it gives a little more context to who we are. We love the way we sing, and we like that people enjoy it but it’s just our preference. If when you sing your accent doesn’t come out, more power to you. Music is escapism and the way someone chooses to express their art is completely up to them”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Miguel Ruiz

I am going to keep on this theme for a little bit. Metro also touched on this in their interview. What defines Irish music is how artists bring so much passion, authenticity and personality to their music by keeping it in their own voice. It is a beautiful and distinct sound:

“Serious lo-fi in the style of The Cranberries or not, there’s no doubt that Pillow Queens’ music is distinctly them. Songs like Favourite, Gay Girls, Ragin’ and Rats mix grungy, gritty guitars with insanely catchy hooks, all sung in thick Irish accents and peppered with Dublin slang.

‘I’ve certainly made music where I didn’t sing in my accent, and that didn’t necessarily get me anywhere,’ Pamela said. ‘It’s something people remember you for. Eventually, I hope it goes over their heads and they think “well that’s just what Pillow Queens sound like”. And that’s just what Irish bands sound like, we’re not the only ones who sing in our accents. I certainly remembered a lot of bands when I was younger because of their accents – like Catatonia, that was gorgeous hearing that thick Welsh accent.

‘It might grate on some people, which is inevitable, but feck them. It is what it is. Even if we didn’t use our accents, we’d still annoy someone.’

In fact, it’s that uniquely Irish perspective that has given rise to some of Pillow Queens’ best songs – and there’s no better example than Gay Girls. Their breakthrough hit, an infectious indie track with a killer chorus, was accompanied by a video showing Irish schoolgirls running riot in their Communion dresses which brought the song to a whole new audience and gained critical acclaim”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Faolán Carey

Politics and the changes in Ireland definitely relate to the band. They cover social and political concerns in their music. Coming back to the interview from Stereogum, and it seems that, in some ways, the group are a product and result of the political movements in their country:

“Corcoran says Pillow Queens is a product of Ireland’s political moment in a few ways. “We grew up and went to school pre-recession, at the height of the Celtic Tiger era when Ireland was very rich. We had it drilled into us that you’ve got to have a career, earn big, own property,” she explains. “When it hit and there were no jobs, we were like, ‘What are we supposed to do now?’ I think a lot of creative people said, ‘Fuck it, who cares if music’s not a practical career?'” Her theory is that this period — when there was little else to do besides start a band — is behind the much-discussed boom in Ireland’s music scene, best known by its artsy post-punks like Girl Band and Fontaines D.C., who were recently nominated for a Grammy. Connolly is cautious about romanticizing the recession — “It’s not like as soon as you get on the dole people just feel creative” — but agrees that something was gestating in Ireland that’s recently been set free. On coming up as a part of the Irish rock renaissance: “It’s more exciting than anything. It shows us what’s possible,” Connolly says, “Hey, we don’t sound like Fontaines, but maybe people will get used to that twang. Maybe they’ll be like, ‘Ooh, I want to hear more of that weird Irish singing.'”

For Connolly, the era didn’t translate into freedom. It took many evenings of Corcoran banging on her door before she relented to try writing a song together. One of their first attempts became “Rats,” off the band’s 2016 EP Calm Girls. The first thing you’ll notice about Pillow Queens is that they’re astonishingly catchy. “If I’m not a rat/ You’re not a rat/ I won’t say nothin’ if you touch me like that,” Connolly mischievously calls (pronounced “rah” and “nuttin” in her thick accent) over thick blasts of guitar and kickdrum on the singalong-ready chorus, a key feature of many Pillow Queens songs. No one in the band will tell me what the vermin-themed line means. (I assumed it was about a secret hook-up, though the music video portrays a mock children’s TV show where hosts share lessons on ACAB and not being a scab). But with their boundless enthusiasm and hooky emo-inspired riffs, Pillow Queens could get a packed bar to scream just about anything back at them”.

One cannot talk about Pillow Queens without discussing queerness. As a Queer band, they are inspiring so many others. There are more Queer artists on the scene compared to a few years back, though I think there is still not as much acceptance and as many open doors as there should be. Attitudes are changing, yet things are not perfect. In their interview with The Line of Best Fit, the group talked about queerness being at the heart of their core. It must have been tough to live in a Catholic country as Queer women:

“It was also the intention that the band would consist of four queer women. Queerness is in the very DNA of Pillow Queens; their foundation built on being visible as queer artists, with In Waiting featuring song titles such as “Gay Girls” and “Handsome Wife”. “That was something that was important to us,” says Corcoran. “I’ve been in bands before where we were approached by a queer publication, and the other members of the band were like: ‘We don’t want it to be a gimmick, we don’t want to make that a thing’. And it’s like, okay, it’s not gimmicky, it’s just a big part of my identity that I don’t wanna be hiding. I don’t wanna feel like we wouldn’t do any queer press. With Pillow Queens it’s the total opposite to that.”

“[We would] welcome it. We don’t get enough,” Connolly laughs, before quipping, “I don’t think people know that we’re gay.”

“This is our coming out article,” Corcoran replies, tongue in cheek.

Following two previous EPs, In Waiting was born from a more collaborative writing process than ever before. “Everybody feels like their stamp is on the album,” Corcoran notes, and it’s as sure-footed as the band has ever been. Lyrically, much of the album deals with watching their beloved Dublin fall victim to gentrification, and concerns around financial and living circumstances grow ever more pressing.

PHOTO CREDIT: Vanessa Ifediora 

Yet Ireland’s influence on the album spreads its roots deeper even than that. Catholic imagery crops up throughout; something they found almost worked its way into to their lyricism unnoticed, merely a language picked up after growing up in a country where it’s so unavoidable.

“None of us really grew up in a strictly religious household,” Connolly says. “But we got a hangover of a very strictly religious country. And we had to grow up as four queer women in a country that didn’t necessarily see us as whole people.”

The conflation of religious language with perspectives that are intrinsically and uniquely queer results in a viewpoint that almost feels like a reclamation; a way of facing and re-sculpting this element of spirituality from which both Connolly and Corcoran felt ripped away. “When I was quite young, I was incredibly spiritual,” says Corcoran, “and there were a lot of incidents—including me coming to terms with my sexuality and realising that that wasn’t accepted—that were really disappointing. I was like, okay, I can’t coexist harmoniously”

As if in answer to those years of grief and shame, In Waiting feels like a celebration of queerness; of queer love, queer joy and queer identity. “Handsome Wife” is a beaming reflection on the glee of being in love (‘The silence is so soft / I’m gonna be free’), while "A Dog’s Life" sees them take pride in identity and community despite the coldness and inequity of the society around them; all of this viewed through a prism of queerness that is recognisable almost innately to those who share in it.

“There’s so much emphasis on negatives, and homophobia and hate, and that’s not what being queer is. There’s so much joy in it,” Corcoran says. “I found myself through queer art and queer performance, and finding that community”.

There is a little bit more I want to explore before coming to the song review. I am using the Stereogum interview again. The group’s blend of religious imagery as Queer artists is not a common clash. Because of that, they are often misunderstood as social warriors or being overly-political:

“I guess it’s a bit of ‘Hey, we’re four queer women using religious references to write songs about fancying girls,'” Connolly says, explaining the band is often interpreted to be making confrontational statements they don’t intend. “But some of it is just quite beautiful. We’re not only referencing religion to reject it. Catholicism was something that certainly affected myself, Sarah, and Cathy a lot when it came to accepting our queerness. It’s nice to be able not to look back so disdainfully and say, ‘I’m going to look back without angst and use these metaphors.”

Pillow Queens are easily misread as social justice punks because all the members are queer and happy to talk about it, as opposed to artists who set firm boundaries to avoid having their identities treated as a trend. Make no mistake, the band’s name is queer slang for someone who likes to get more than they give in bed. They mention the Irish anti-immigrant policy “Direct Provision” in every interview, and little girls don dirty communion dresses in their music videos. But when it comes to the music, they aren’t slogan-shouters, even to the extent of something like Camp Cope’s “The Opener” or Diet Cig’s “Tummy Ache.” Their song “Gay Girls” has been dubbed a “celebration of queer identity” as a result of the title and a few words in the chorus. But “Gay Girls” is really just about “a normal person having anxiety about someone they’re interested in,” Connolly says. The band gets closest to riot grrl rock when Corcoran’s writes, like on “HowDoILook,” a sardonic body-angst manifesto, and “A Dog’s Life,” which is about Dublin’s housing crisis. Part of the fun of Pillow Queens is hearing the band scream-chant, “I! Won’t! Worry! Bout! The! Gay! Girls!” But those moments feel richer and more authentic for all the subtle ones, like on “Holy Show,” when Connolly sings, “I’ve got your eyes and cheeks in front of me/ Filling the space between my thighs.” “We love watching what people like girl in red are doing, because it’s just a different world. We grew up on the edge, where it was still a political statement to sing about ‘she’ and ‘her,'” Corcoran says. “Artists like her don’t even think about whether or not to do it”.

I have touched on how a lot of EIRE’s new wave of music is led by men. I wonder whether if there is a culture in the Irish media of promoting male artists ahead of womxn and other genders. Despite the fact there are not too many (in comparison) womxn in bands from Dublin, Pillow Queens have not faced a lot of sexism. In that interview with YUCK, they said they have witnessed a few digs – though not as bad as many other womxn in the industry:

“What is it like being a woman/womxn in such a male-dominated space?

It’s one of those things where we do get asked that question a lot, or we certainly did when we were starting out, ‘Oh have you experienced any sexism in the music scene?’ and we were very lucky to be like, ‘you know what, we really haven’t’ and I think that’s because when people are asking about sexism you immediately think someone’s saying something to you. We did get that like ‘oh I’m surprised that those are girls and you sound so big and stuff like that’. But as we went on and we got deeper into the structural element of being a musician and getting marginally more successful, it’s not the little quips that you hear on a venue, it’s actually the structural stuff that you only notice once you’ve gotten to that point”.

Before interpreting Be By Your Side, CLASH produced an article announcing the date of their upcoming album. Pillow Queens talked about the inspiration behind Be By Your Side:

“Pillow Queens will release new album 'Leave The Light On' later this year.

The new album will be released on April 1st, and it will be accompanied by a full-on SXSW assault and their biggest ever UK tour.

The Dublin band share the news alongside a fresh single, with 'Be By Your Side' online now.

The cute video features Pillow Queens playing at a party, while love and friendship are enacted on the dancefloor.

Musically one of their most direct moments, Pillow Queens use the lyrics as a means to explore vulnerability.

"This song is about the mechanisms that are used to hide your vulnerabilities and carry on," explains singer / bassist Pamela Connolly. "But also, the feeling of being about to burst and how cathartic it could be to allow yourself to let your emotions out and feel the world around you. This was one of the first songs we finished on the album as it was the quickest to become fully realised by all of us”.

The video is one of Pillow Queens’ best. Directed by Kate Dolan, and featuring Pillow Queens, Jeanne Nicole Ni Ainle, Jordanne Jones, Ben Hackett, Evanne Kilgallon, Molly Cantwell, James Stewart, Nelle Russell, Donna McElligott, James Shannon, Georgia Coulter and Alessandra Diaz, it is a wonderful clip!

Starting with the band playing on a stage and the actresses featuring in the video brushing their teeth and applying make-up, the colours and tone of the video instantly grabs you. The vocal is deeper and focused. Conveying passion with a more composed nature, the lyrics truly rise to the top and get under the skin: “Be by your side, I want to be/Although the times I lied, I cannot read/There's nothing left to show you now to my heart/When everyone around me grows, I just fall apart/Be by your side, I want to be/Haven't got the time to cry though I'm so free/It takes a little time to find when it's so dark/Another little gun to blow, life's supposed to start”. Brooding, cool, sensual and teasing, the band keep things quite light and melodic to start. You do anticipate there will be an explosion or rush, though there is an intensity in the vocal that is there under the surface. I have talked about Pillow Queens keeping their accent in the music. This is true of Be By Your Side. There is a buzz and rumble in the chorus. I love the opening lines of it: “Yeah, I wanna feel/Blood rushing straight to my head/And I wanna feel/Like a dog with no bone to be lead”. I love the actresses and extras in the video. In terms of tone, I get a slight suggestion of the Netflix series, Sex Education. It seems like it is quite modern but, as the series does, the fashion and a lot of the visual aspects are set in the 1970s and 1980s. It looks like it was a blast filming the video! The band are always so tight and connected. I love the composition and how it is both busy and sparse. The sound does not feel too crowded or layered, and yet there are so many elements working together. With a terrific lead vocal and bass, guitar and percussion entwined and driving the song forward, the band are at their finest here!

 PHOTO CREDIT: Kate Dolan

Although the song is five minutes, Be By Your Side sounds like this proper epic. It will stay with you long after you have heard it. In the pre-chorus, the band combine and blend their vocals beautifully. Moving through stages like chapters in a book, the video remains spellbinding! The actresses appear to be tripping as they are sat down eating. Although the images do not necessarily sync with what one would imagine the song is about, this is part of the beauty. Every listener will have their own video concept in their head. I love the direction Kate Dolan took. The second verse inspires images and stirring scenes: “Be by your side, I want to be/Watching another night of flying away from me/We laugh about the ups and downs like they don't hurt/Softenin' the edge so I slip right through the dirt/Be by your side, I want to be/Haven't got the heart to keep up with the beat/Rush to start, I was mistaken/Fool me into thinking I had the chance to run”. Contrasting the impassioned and stirring vocals with the humours and trippy video, you get so many emotions and feelings bubbling to the surface. The incredible lead vocal meshes with the soothing harmonies. I think that the pre-chorus, “All of the time, all of the time, all of the time”, is one of the most purely simple and beautiful sounds and parts of the song. Be By Your Side is a tantalising glimpse of Leave the Light On. It is going to be a stunning follow-up to In Waiting. A terrific band who always produce sensational music, make sure that you keep a watch of the brilliant Pillow Queens!

If you can catch Pillow Queens live, then make sure you do! It has been years since I saw them in London, so I am eager to do it again. There is a lot of excitement around the upcoming second album, Leave the Light On:

“All right then, let me try to rephrase. When I was alive, I aimed to be a student not of longing but of light.” – Maggie Nelson, Bluets

When Pillow Queens set about recording their second album, before, after and during, great spaces were opening. The pauses in living and connection were profound. And so, they went two places: within, and towards each other.

Leave the Light On is an exploration of the uncertainty of emotions as they are in process, and an intuitive outpouring of ideas as they form. It’s about being intimately honest with yourself, and as a band. It’s about trusting that this state of vulnerability can be held as it emerges, by you, by us.

What do queer dream blues sound like? More importantly, what do they feel like? Leaving home at night, driving through the black back roads until the tungsten light starts to glow. “Uaigneas an chaldaigh”, the Irish sense of loneliness experienced on the shore. The confusion and discombobulation of waking and feeling unfamiliar. The liminal space between dreaming and being conscious. The unmooring that happens when a sense of self is being explored and sometimes slipping away.

But gravitating towards the unknown and the ambiguous can often yield the kinds of sounds and feelings that provide creative certainty, where the art is coming to you, as much as you going to it. Leave the Light On fills vast new sonic plains for Pillow Queens. It’s an album that encourages duality; to be soft and hard, delicate, and muscular, intimate and anthemic, alone and together. Collaborating on lyrics, a shared emotional experience fills these songs of hope and home, insecurity and estrangement, songs that track time passing and a sense of reflection grows deeper every day.

When real movement is stillness, when to be stationary feels transitionary, and when the most vital journey in life is to go within, then it’s time to leave the light on, and open up”.

One of the best bands in the world right now, Pillow Queens are going to get better and better. I am looking forward to seeing what they offer on their second studio album. Now that things are opening up, they will get to showcase their album live this time around. That will be a relief! Such an incredible group, I think they will be legends and icons…

IN years to come.

 ___________

Follow Pillow Queens

TRACK REVIEW: Mitski - Heat Lightning

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Mitski

Heat Lightning

 

 

9.3/10

 

 

The track, Heat Lightning, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvIkcN5YMH4

RELEASE DATE:

7th December, 2021

ORIGIN:

New York, U.S.A.

The album, Laurel Hell, is available from 4th February, 2022 and can be pre-ordered here:

https://www.secretlystore.com/laurel-hell-mitski?ffm=FFM_e25855277b7644042dea6c7db466f0b2

LABEL:

Dead Oceans

PRODUCER:

Patrick Hyland

__________

EVEN though there are not many interviews…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Parris Thomas

from this year, I am keen to include some interview details for the Mitski. Releasing new music this year, there is a lot of new interest around the New York-born artist. Real name Mitski Miyawaki, her latest album came out in 2018. Be the Cowboy was a hugely successful album that marked Mitski as a tremendous songwriter and talent. Het upcoming album, Laurel Hell, is out on 4th February. I am going to come to the new track, Heat Lightning, in a minute. Before coming to the single, there is a lot to cover off when it comes to knowing more about this incredible artist. I was interested to know what it was like growing up for Mitski. As we find out from a New Yorker article from 2019, she had an itinerant upbringing:

“Mitski, the indie musician, was eighteen when she wrote her first song. That may not seem particularly precocious in an era when adolescent pop phenoms release entire albums that were recorded in their parents’ house. But Mitski Miyawaki, who is now twenty-eight, had not envisaged a future as a musician, or much of a future at all.

Mitski grew up all over the world. Her mother, whose last name she uses, is Japanese; her father is American and worked for the State Department, in capacities that she does not discuss. By the time Mitski was eighteen, she had lived in Japan, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Turkey, Alabama, and Virginia. Changing schools almost yearly, she was always the new kid, always the foreigner, trying on personae—the studious girl, the party girl—with varying degrees of success and self-alienation. At a suburban school in Virginia, she decided to be the quiet girl, and barely spoke to her classmates all year. Then she signed up for the year-end talent show and performed Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” in the bombastic style of the Whitney Houston cover. Mitski has an astonishing voice—clear and supple and haunting—and so when I first heard the talent-show story I imagined it as a redemptive scene out of a John Hughes movie. She told me that it hadn’t felt that way at all. “When I was planning it, I’d envisioned it as much more cinematic and funny and grand,” she told me in a text message. “But the actual execution of it was much smaller in cinematic scope. I was just singing this melodramatic song to confused and alarmed faces.” Instead of forging a connection with her peers, she felt like a “carnival attraction,” an even weirder version of the outsider she already was.

 Movies offered a refuge. Mitski admired Hayao Miyazaki’s lush animated films, especially the way they never fully explained the mysteries of the fantastical worlds they conjured. We talked about a scene from “Spirited Away” in which a very young girl embarks, alone, on a long train journey. “It’s so resolute, the way she’s looking out the window, especially because she has no return ticket,” Mitski said. “It’s the face of someone who’s made a decision.”

For an isolated child, immersion in movies can sometimes lead to social miscues. Mitski told me, “In tenth grade—this says a lot about how developmentally delayed I was—I had in my mind that it was the proper thing for me to have a love interest. And you’d see in movies where two characters instantly see each other and are, like, I’m in love!, and then it just cuts to them on a date or interacting. So in my brain I interpreted that as, if I just keep looking at this boy, that’s how it will start.” She went on, “A lot of my adolescence was like that. Me thinking I was doing the right thing by re-creating a movie scene that I’d seen but then realizing that’s not how it happens in real life.”

Like many young people, Mitski was intensely preoccupied with how she looked. “I spent all my teen-age years being obsessed with beauty, and I’m very resentful about it and I’m very angry,” she told Jillian Mapes, of Pitchfork, in an interview onstage in Brooklyn a few years ago. “I had so much intelligence and energy and drive, and instead of using that to study more, or instead of pursuing something or going out and learning about or changing the world, I directed all that fire inward, and burnt myself up.”

She knew that she had a good voice—she’d been singing in choirs since middle school, and had always stood out. Whenever she was lonely in a new house or city or country, she’d walk around and hum invented fragments of melody. But these acts of self-consolation were insufficient. “As a teen-ager, I didn’t want to be alive,” she told me. “Everything was so hard. I just wanted to be dead. I didn’t have anything I was good at, because I didn’t know I could make music yet. And I didn’t fit anywhere. And I took a lot of risks, and I just did a lot of things where I didn’t take care of myself”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ebru Yildiz

I think one of the things a lot of people might not know about Mitski is her generosity. This is one thing I found out when researching her. Coming back to the article from The New Yorker, we get a sense of how Mitski has supported her peers and is highly regarded:

“Among musicians, Mitski is known as a quietly generous colleague. Phoebe Bridgers told me that, after she signed her first record deal, Mitski wrote to her to say that being a performer “can be very isolating,” and offered, “Let me know if you ever want to talk about anything.” Bridgers added, “I know she’s done that for a ton of my friends, at varying levels of their careers.” The musician Sasami Ashworth told me that Mitski was “sort of a mother hen.” When Ashworth was about to go on tour without merch—she couldn’t afford any—Mitski told her she’d never make enough money just by performing in clubs, and immediately sent her five hundred dollars to have T-shirts printed. Ashworth also noted that Mitski is “very conscious of who she brings on tour—having opening acts she wants to uplift personally, financially, and professionally.” She went on, “Mitski doesn’t necessarily talk about feminism all the time on Twitter, but she has so many women of color and queer people working with her.” The two acts that opened for Mitski in 2016—Japanese Breakfast and Jay Som—are both fronted by Asian-American women. That triple bill was “sort of legendary,” Ashworth said”.

As an Asian-American artist, Mitski does not want to be seen as a figurehead or start a revolution. If there is reluctance for Mitski to see herself as a role model or leader, her professional confidence is clear. In 2018, she spoke with The Guardian (to promote Be the Cowboy). It is clear that Mitski, as an artist, knows exactly what she is doing:

“Sometimes, though, Mitski is so good at connecting with people that it backfires. Her fans feel they know her more intimately than they actually do and occasionally act as though they are entitled to her time and attention. She recalls walking off stage after a recent concert, when fans grabbed her and shouted at her to take selfies with them. “That’s valid, I really appreciate it, but I was saying, ‘No, please stop, please let me go’, and everyone’s eyes were glazed over. I realised I wasn’t actually a fellow person; I was an idea. That’s what I’m uncomfortable with. People want to take something of me to keep with them, and I don’t want to be owned like that. I want to be a fellow person standing on the same ground, I don’t want to be someone’s little treasure in their pocket.”

Nor does she want to be put on a pedestal, and asked to represent something bigger than herself – though as an Asian American woman in an industry historically dominated by white men, she often finds herself painted as a figurehead. “The US is in political turmoil so people want change. They’re unsatisfied with their life, understandably, and then they see my face all the time and they put it together and think, ‘This person should fix it for me’. But I took like, maybe one American history course. I don’t know anything about politics or law, I’m just a dumb musician. I’m just as mystified as the person looking at my face. I don’t think it’s wise to turn to me for revolution, because I’m not equipped for that.”

But when it comes to her artistic worth, Mitski is self-assured. Though reviews of her work are usually glowing, she finds it galling when they imply the music must “just flow out of me”, as if she has no agency. “People cannot fathom the fact that maybe a woman created something from nothing, and that she has control over what she makes,” Mitksi says. “People have worked so hard to try to make me seem like I don’t know what I’m doing. But I know exactly what I’m doing”.

It is worth spending some time with the remarkable Be the Cowboy. Her fifth studio album, it was one of the very best from 2018. In an interview with FADER, Mitski talked about the inspirations and characters behind the album:

“When did you write and record Be the Cowboy?

“It was done little by little between tours — which was challenging, because it gave me so much time to doubt and second-guess myself. Between each song's recording, I'd go on tour and be left pondering about whether I'd done it right. I don't wanna do that again. If I make another album, I'd like to do it in a limited amount of time so I can be in it and then get out of it, so that by the time I start doubting it'd be too late.

It was mostly just me and [producer Patrick Hyland] in the room. We played most of the instruments except for the occasional horns — that's something you just can't fake. So we got a couple of horn players who we didn't know based on recommendation of the studio owner, but other than that it was very straightforward.

Tell me about the characters that populate the album. Are you the protagonist of the songs?

I think Björk said in an interview that all of her albums are just exaggerations of a specific part of herself. I think it's like that for me. It's not like [the album’s protagonist] is a fictional character, but I noticed a personality in me that was very obsessed with control and feeling like I have power — because I am powerless and don't have a lot of control. So I kind of investigated that person in me. What is the exaggerated form? Well, it's a woman who's incredibly controlled, severe, and austere. But maybe there's some kind of deep desire or emotion that's whirling around in her and trying to get out. Maybe she's losing control.

PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Whitaker

One of the album’s themes seems to be this idea that even with fame, there's still a lingering fear that it's not enough — that we need something more.

I'm less talking about fame in the crude sense, and more [about how] I'm someone who goes on stage and becomes a symbol. People project onto me. Internally, [I’m trying] to understand that dynamic. I think that's something that everyone thinks about. Even in day-to-day conversation, we're projecting onto each other. And [there's] a weird dissatisfaction either way: you want people to project onto you and see you as something bigger than you are, but when people actually do that, it's not what you want. You want people to know you for who you are, but when they actually know you for who you are, you're like, "No, I want you to think I'm great."

Another big theme seems to be loneliness. How does that relate to the other stuff we’ve been talking about?
There's the loneliness of being a symbol and a projection, but I think that loneliness [says a lot about] being a woman, or being an other — some kind of identity that has a lot of symbols attached to it. And there's also just touring. Touring is a very ... it isolates. The longer musicians tour, the more isolated they become from the rest of society, because the way you live is so incredibly different. And no one can really relate to your experiences, so you can't talk to anybody about it and you go deeper and deeper inside”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Koury Angelo

One of the things that is clear about Be the Cowboy is the power of the sound. There is a raw and mesmeric female artist that moves the senses. It is an empowering and stunning album that still reverberates today. In an interview with The Line of Best Fit, Mitski discussed where that powerful female energy stemmed from – or at least one inspiration behind the sound of Be the Cowboy:

“Sonically this violence can be heard on the record. There’s threat in the off-ness of some of vocals, a lot of "brash sounds" as Mitski describes them. “I have leaned into an easiness with vocals that aren’t doubled,” she explains, “keeping vocal flaws in there and not having harmonies, just one voice." Mitski says she’s stopped polishing or rounding things off for the listener, producing a more up-front, bold sound: "Not soft and giving - all the sounds are sort of opinionated." She describes making sounds coming from a forceful female perspective, and it’s empowering.

Mitski adds that part of the record's female energy was inspired by The Piano Teacher, a 1983 psychological thriller novel by Elfriede Jelinek that was later adapted for screen in a film written and directed by Michael Haneke. It tells the story of an unmarried piano teacher at a Vienna conservatory, living with her mother in a state of emotional and sexual disequilibrium, who enters into a sadomasochistic relationship with her student.

"She's very cold and icy, doesn’t form relationships,” explains Mitski. “But then this young student seduces her and she goes for it… then her desires end up being too much for him to handle. He runs, and tells her she's disgusting – the only person she's ever opened up her heart to. In the film, the last scene is of her just stabbing herself." This character seems to have echoes of other 'too passionate', violent women in literature such as Madame Bovary and Cathy of Wuthering Heights. Mitski has taken a figure we're all familiar with and spun a unique musical take on her”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Parris Thomas

Prior to coming to a new track, Mitski is preparing her sixth studio album, Laurel Hell, soon. In this article, we get some more details about the album’s recording. Mitski also discussed her previous single, The Only Heartreaker:

“Mitski has announced a new album: Laurel Hell is out February 4 via Dead Oceans. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the new single ‘The Only Heartreaker’, which follows last month’s ‘Working for the Knife’ and arrives with an accompanying video co-directed by Maegan Houang and Jeff Desom. Watch it below, and scroll down for LP’s cover artwork and full tracklist.

“I needed love songs about real relationships that are not power struggles to be won or lost,” Mitski said of the new album in a statement. “I needed songs that could help me forgive both others and myself. I make mistakes all the time. I don’t want to put on a front where I’m a role model, but I’m also not a bad person. I needed to create this space mostly for myself where I sat in that gray area.”

Mitski recorded the follow-up to 2018’s Be the Cowboy with her longtime producer Patrick Hyland during the pandemic, when some of the songs “slowly took on new forms and meanings, like seed to flower,” and the album as a whole became “more uptempo and dance-y. I needed to create something that was also a pep talk,” Mitski explained. “Like, it’s time, we’re going to dance through this.”

  PHOTO CREDIT: Ebru Yildiz

Mitski co-wrote ‘The Only Heartreaker’ with Semisonic’s Dan Wilson. Talking about the single in a new interview with Apple Music, Mitski said:

This is the first song in my entire discography of however many albums I’ve made where I have a co-writer, and it’s because this song was this puzzle that I couldn’t solve. And I was just sitting on it forever. I have so many iterations of it. Nothing felt right. And right when I was stewing over it, I was actually in LA, doing co-write sessions for other artists. And we had this one day, or I had this one day with Dan Wilson. I had every intention to write for somebody else, but then I just sat down at his piano, and I was like, he’s one of the best, smartest songwriters in the world. Maybe he can help me with this song. And so I brought the song to him, and it turned out he’s really good. He helped me solve so many of the problems and kind of lead me out of the labyrinth of it. And yeah, I’m really glad that I took that chance with him.

Commenting on the song’s video, Houang said: “The worst pain I’ve experienced is when I’ve fully understood the pain I’ve caused another. It’s one of the hardest parts of being human, that no matter our intentions, we’ll inevitably do something hurtful to our fellow man, if not someone we love.  In this case, the harm Mitski enacts in the video is to the world.  It’s unstoppable and destructive, but worst of all, she doesn’t even want it to happen.  She’s a stand-in for humanity as we collectively do so little to save ourselves and our planet”.

The introduction to Heat Lightning features beautiful guitar strings and a tribal drum. It is almost like a tribal song; like something born of nature that is beckoning the spirits. It is a wonderful start that projects all sorts of vivid and beautiful images. It seems that Mitski has been restless. I am not sure whether the heroine has been going through a tough time or not, but the lyrics point to someone who is going through a transition: “Heat lightning/Running outside the window/I’ve laid awake since 1 and now it’s/4 o’clock/Though I’ve held on/Can’t carry it much longer/On the ceiling dancing are the/Things all come and gone”. I wonder whether the words are relating to a relationship end or a personal struggle for Mitski. After that compelling introduction, you are hooked by the story and lyrical development. There is a dreaminess and stillness to the vocals that lull you in and have this haunting quality. On this passage, it sounds like there is a male voice harmonising with Mitski: “And there’s nothing I can do/Not much I can change/So I give it up to you/I hope that’s okay/There’s nothing I can do/Not much I can change/I give it up to you/I surrender”. There is a gorgeous musical passage with twinkling piano that translates and evolves into a more spirited and zippy sound. The chorus finds Mitski’s voice more open and flowing. Rather than it being smokier or more haunted, there is an energy and passion. I love the beauty and gracefulness of Mitski’s voice.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Whitaker

Like the verse, I was wondering whether the chorus was a reaction to a romantic ill, or whether it was more compelled by a dream. There is something quite mystical about the vocal and lyrics: “Heat lightning/Watch it from my doorstep/Sleeping eyelid of the sky/Flutters in a dream/Well I’ve held on/But feel a storm approaching/Trees are swaying in the wind/Like sea anemones”. Visions of the sky and sea combine and entwine. “And there’s nothing I can do/Not much I can change/Can I give it up to you/Would that be okay/There’s nothing I can do/Not much I can change/I give it up to you/I surrender/There’s nothing I can do/Not much I can change/I give it up to you/I surrender”. I have come back to the song time and time again, and I get caught in the warm-tide sound of the vocal. Although the lyrics point to something more troubled under the surface, there is a beauty and tenderness that gets into the heart. Like Be the Cowboy, there is a meticulousness to the composition and a powerfulness in the quieter moments. Even though there is something mordent or scarred at work, I detected something softer and alluring. Following Working for the Knife and The Only Heartbreaker, Heat Lightning is another incredible song that highlights that the fact Laurel Hell will be an amazing album. It is an L.P. that looks at relationships where Mitski did not want to talk about power struggles and win and loss. Heat Lightning shows what we can expect from Laurel Hell: vulnerability and resilience, sorrow and delight, error and transcendence. Above all, and ultimately, love will prevail and is powerful. A lot of different emotions will combine and play out across eleven tracks. One of the music world’s most consistent and important artists, Mitski is someone always blows you away. On Heat Lightning, she delivered a song that, once heard, will not be forgotten…

IN a hurry.

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Follow Mitski

TRACK REVIEW: Wet Leg - Too Late Now

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Wet Leg

PHOTO CREDIT: Hollie Fernando

Too Late Now

 

 

9.5/10

 

 

The track, Too Late Now, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB3PJwPMHzQ

RELEASE DATE:

29th November, 2021

ORIGIN:

Isle of Wight, U.K.

GENRE:

Indie Rock

 The album, Wet Leg, is available from 8th April, 2022 and can be pre-ordered here:

https://wetleg.tmstor.es/

LABEL:

Domino

__________

EVEN though their latest tracks…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Frances Beach

was released earlier in the week, I wanted to review Wet Leg. Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have had quite an eventful and successful 2021! Many people did not know about them at the start of the year. With their debut, Chaise Longue, doing wonderfully well and making them a duo to watch, they have followed it up with several other great tracks. I am going to come to Too Late Now soon. Prior to evaluating that song, there are various aspects that I need to cover off. Many people might be curious to know how Wet Leg started life. In an NME interview from September, we discovered how Wet Leg began life:

“It all started with a pact. Following almost a decade of friendship (Teasdale and Chambers met at college, and played in various bands and as fledgling solo musicians on their native Isle Of Wight), the pair took a spontaneous, mildly drunk ferris wheel trip at 2019’s End Of The Road festival. It is here where they found the embryonic elements of Wet Leg after seeing IDLES storm the main stage that evening – and they decided to start something of their own, on the basis that they “wanted to have more fun than every other single band”.

“We agreed on the premise of our band there and then: as long as you’re having fun, then everything will be alright,” says singer Teasdale. “And we’ve told ourselves that we’ll stick to that, always.” It set them unwaveringly on a path towards experimenting with different styles – including percussive elements and big pop choruses – before they finally nailed the Wet Leg sound while stuck together in quarantine, as Teasdale learned to play guitar in between songwriting sessions and hours of longboard dancing – an intricate subset of skateboarding that the pair say taught them how to be more patient with each other”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Hollie Fernando

I am struck by how Teasdale and Chambers came together and started to plan their musical careers. It is that possibility of fun that pushed them forward. As we can see from an interview with The Line of Best Fit, bands such as IDLES were a source of inspiration and impetus:

“So where did the dream really start for Wet Leg? Teasdale elaborates on the band’s musical origins: both she and Chambers have been writing since they were approximately 17 years old. “A few years ago, we were going around festivals together with a different project, which was more folky - I was playing piano and she was playing guitar. We just spent the summer playing at a few little festivals and seeing music together.

“We'd seen Big Thief and Idles, and we saw that they were having so much fun when they were playing live, we realised we wanted to do that too. We wanted to start a band like Wet Leg, be more punky and fun, so that [we] could play guitar quite loud.” The pair were also inspired by the sounds of Aussie punks The Chats, who Teasdale cites as “a good example” of something that inspired the duo to write songs that “don't take themselves too seriously.”

“Before COVID, I had actually stopped doing music altogether,” Teasdale reveals. “Hester was also really busy making jewellery for the family business and I was in London working crazy, crazy hours doing wardrobe assistant stuff. So, Wet Leg was just a kind of 'as and when' thing. But when the pandemic happened, I came back to the Isle of Wight for it and I stayed in a house on my own and just wrote loads, and that's when we made the video for 'Chaise Longue”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Whitaker

Not to stick too much on this theme but, to give context and background to Wet Leg’s beginning, I will bring in an interview from The Current. The Isle of Wight-formed duo were asked about the reality of going from visualising and suggesting a group to actually making it happen:

“Chaise Longue" has been such a catchy song ever since we've been playing it last summer, we've been wanting to know more about you. So let's start from the beginning, and I know that the beginning is not that long ago with the two of you being in a band. Take me back to how the two of you know each other, and how you decided to start a band.

HESTER CHAMBERS: You go first, I think you're faster.

RHIAN TEASDALE: Ok I'll go fast, and then if I forget anything, you have to butt in and let me know. So we've known each other since college. But we've been in and out of bands on the Isle of Wight, never quite seeming to come together. Then I was doing like a solo thing, and I was sick of it, and sick of doing everything by myself. It was really boring, and I got the courage together to ask Hester if she'd play the last few run of shows with me, before I stopped doing it. Then we just ended up having a really fun summer of just like going to festivals and seeing loads of music and getting inspired. That's where we came up with the idea to start our own band, start something fresh. Start something where we're both playing guitars. For the past projects I was playing keys and sat down, and it was quite folky and a bit subdued and all the lyrics were like, really introspective and sad. So rolling around festivals together in the summer, I think that really influenced our band and what we wanted it to be about.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jono White 

I don't know a ton about where you live--the Isle of Wight, I connect that to a pretty major music festival. Is that something that the two of you have attended together and you felt some inspiration like, "Hey, we want to do that." I mean, it's one thing to say, "Hey, let's start a band!" But then to actually do it is another thing. Hester, I just want to ask you, when the concept of the band came up, how do you decide like, "Okay, well, this is the kind of music we like," or, "This is the kind of music we want to play," because you guys make some really fun songs from what I've heard so far.

HESTER CHAMBERS: Early on, we were just getting to grips with playing guitars in a different way. Well, for me in a different way to what I had done before, and for Rhian to even really pick one up. So it was having the courage, and we started off kind of trashy, like we just wanted to make the sounds and have loads of fun doing it.

So how long between the time that you know, "Okay, we're going to start a band. Here we're going to test out some sounds. We know that we want to play guitars. We know we want to have fun." How long between that and playing your first show together?

RHIAN TEASDALE: Not long. We didn't even have a full set of songs.

When you were going to play your first show together, what did you do? You're like, "Okay, we have to fill a set time." So for that first show what did you guys decide to do? How did you fill the time?

HESTER CHAMBERS: Oh, what was our first one? It was--

RHIAN TEASDALE: It was Isle of Wight Festival.

HESTER CHAMBERS: Yeah, a locals tent, like really great. It was our favorite place to be when we go to the festival. I think we probably had about half an hour, but we definitely didn't hit that. I think one of the songs we did was a cover of a friend's song”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Whitaker

One of the most distinct aspects of Wet Leg is their name. Whilst not one that ranks alongside the best and most memorable, it at least does stem from the duo’s desire not to be taken too seriously – or at least not have people analyse their name too much for hidden meanings. In an interview from The Forty-Five, the duo talked about naming one of their singles Wet Dream. Maybe fearing that some would find the song too raunchy, they explained why they kept the title:

“There was a bit of a discussion about whether [‘Wet Dream’] was a bit raunchy, a bit racy. Oooooh,” says Rhian, mockingly. “Our radio plugger was like, ‘It is a bop, but… is it OK to talk about being in someone’s wet dream?’

“I feel like if it was a guy that segued it in there, nobody would bat an eyelid,” she posits “But it’s because we’re sweet little girls, it’s a problem.”

They’ve not been deterred though, sex is a running theme in Wet Leg songs but the stories are told through a slightly Vic and Bob lens. Does Rhian have to channel her Sasha Fierce alter ego when writing about doin’ the do?

“Yeah, I can’t just be full-on Sexy Goddess. I have to be Sexy Goddess with lobster claws. Lobster Goddess”

Maybe that will come down the line? For album two, you can lose the claws?

“I don’t know. I have to take those claws into the bedroom, otherwise I can’t be that version of myself. My boyfriend is like ‘Please, just for once! Not the claws!” and I’m like “No! I’m a sexual being. They’re staying”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Hollie Fernando

I am not aware of too many other artists based on the Isle of Wight. There is Lauran Hibberd and a few others, yet I am informed that there is a burgeoning scene and a lot of promising artists here. Among the rising artists from the Isle of Wight, Wet Leg are definitely putting the area on the map (though both of them are not based here anymore). Coming back to the interview with The Forty-Five, it seemed that the Isle of Wight was a great area for Teasdale and Chambers to grow up in:

“Growing up on the Isle of Wight, though remote, was a good base for the band. Their youth was spent getting sloshed on the beach and dabbling in music. And though bands typically missed The Isle off their touring route, there was a burgeoning music scene that required its participants to think a little deeper. “The only gigs that happen [on the Isle of Wight] are pretty DIY, which is quite nice” Rhian explains. “You have to get quite creative with it. There’s a festival called Ventnor Fringe Festival. I played one of my first ever [solo] gigs there and back in the day, there would just be pop-up venues. One was a house that was still being built. The floor was all rubble and they put tea lights in the walls. It was a show to only about 20 people but it was great. So while it’s a shame you can’t easily go and see touring bands because it’s so expensive to get over, it’s kind of nice because you have this small DIY scene. People make their own fun, I guess.”

In music terms, The Isle of Wight is famed for its annual festival which ran from 1968-1970 before being revived in the early noughties. For Wet Leg, it marked the start of the summer. “I know a lot of people who failed their GCSEs because they were the same week as Isle of Wight Festival,” says Rhian. “My housemate is 32, and even now is just like: ‘Why did I not go to my Maths GCSE?’ But the festivals were really good. Really inspiring”.

I cannot talk about Wet Leg’s new single without nodding back to Chaise Longue. So many people’s favourite track of the year, it definitely announced an original and promising new musical force. Humorous and catchy, it is no surprise the song has captured such a wave of appreciation and love. When they spoke with Under the Radar Mag earlier in the year, the duo reacted to the reception of their debut single:

“Wet Leg’s tongue in cheek humor abounds on their hypnotic debut single, “Chaise Longue.” Fittingly the track was inspired by Chambers’ grandfather’s chaise longue. “I kind of inherited it,” she explains, “and it now lives in my flat. When Rhian stays over it’s also where she sleeps. She actually wrote all the lyrics to ‘Chaise Longue’ whilst sitting on the chaise longue (all day long).”

It only took a few demos to convince Domino Records to sign Wet Leg. “Given we’d formed pretty much at the start of the pandemic and Domino hadn’t really seen us live,” reveals Chambers. “It’s so great that they have put their faith in us.”

Chambers is also delighted, albeit somewhat taken aback, about how “Chaise Longue” has resonated with people. At the time of this writing its video has over 800,000 views on YouTube, with comments such as “This has got to be the greatest debut single in years,” “Finally something fucking different, that does something new,” and “This is going to skyrocket, and if it doesn’t, it’ll be one of the coolest gems in music history.”

“It’s been a lovely surprise,” she says, “we wrote it in one an evening, just writing for fun and being silly and we had no clue at the time that it would connect with so many people”.

They were perhaps not expecting such popularity and focus after their first single. Being tipped as a band/duo to watch, Wet Leg have followed Chaise Longue with other songs that show they have range and a great sonic locker of new sounds and lyrical wonder. Circling back to the interview from The Line of Best Fit, the duo discuss what happened after the success of Chaise Longue:

“The pair have managed to create equally distinctive visuals which complement their eccentric lyrics and melodies. I ask where her ideas for the visuals come from, as they look deceptively simple. “You're right, they are quite simple. Particularly 'Chaise Longue' where there's just three set-ups that it chops between: it's just vibe - there's no narrative. It's just this little world with us two as these cottage-core characters.

“It was all kind of accidental,” Teasdale recalls. “I ordered loads of clothes from the internet, and we tried on some different looks and outfits. We went for the big hats, flaming sunglasses and pretty dresses just because we thought it was a funny look. We had loads of other setups planned for that video, but after the first evening of taking a camera out and playing around, when we got back and I downloaded the free trial of Final Cut Pro and I dragged it into the computer and put the song to it, it seemed like it was kind of already done.”

After the success of “Chaise Longue” the duo received support from their label for a new video, so were able to take things up a notch with the visuals for “Wet Dream,” which include a food fight and some hand-made lobster claws. “It was weird going from making music videos with just Hester, to having to explain your ideas to proper people when this is their job.” Teasdale explains. “That was a funny transition, but it was really nice to have people on board that knew what they were doing. The ideas we have for videos always seem to come from the outfits we’re wearing. I think it stems from the characters that we create and the world that we build around that”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Whitaker

Since a lot of interviews from earlier in the year, Wet Leg have made announcements (such as the fact their eponymous album is out in the spring) and made strides. Looking at an interview with DORK from September, Wet Leg explained what they did when they learned that word of Chaise Longue reached New York:

“Despite the modesty on their part, there’s no question in our eyes that Wet Leg are soon going to be a Very Big Deal Indeed. We know, don’t count your chickens before they hatch and all that, but with a debut single as cracking as theirs, it really does feel nailed on. It seems we’re not the only ones getting excited, with Chaise Longue getting regular radio airplay and blanket coverage which even reached publications in New York. In true rock’n’roll style, this unexpected success was celebrated with… a beach barbecue.

“It was an eventful barbecue, though!” says Rhian. “After it was done, we wanted to make a little campfire, and I decided to tip out the hot coals onto this pile of wood we’d made, to really get it going. So I pick up the barbecue, and I’m all full of myself like ‘this is a pretty cool idea’. I charge over to the wood holding the barbecue and just put my foot in the sand where the barbecue has been for several hours, and when I turn round to see why my foot is so hot, I realise I’m just in this glowing red sand! So yeah, we had a pre-recorded Radio 1 interview, and I listened to it with my foot in the sink for about four hours, hoping I hadn’t permanently crippled myself.”

“It was so gnarly!” says Hester. “Rhian was so cool about it, real rockstar stuff.”

“I’ve actually got fresh skin coming through now, which looks more beautiful than my skin has in years,” says Rhian. “So if the band doesn’t work out, I’m going to become a beauty therapist and get people to walk on burning hot sand. No pain, no gain”.

The more that you read and learn about Wet Leg, the more that you realise that they are very cool and laidback. Teasdale and Chambers spoke with Stereogum when their second single, Wet Dream, came out. An American publication, they were clearly impressed with what Wet Leg had to offer:

“It’s true: Wet Leg are cool. They might hail from the southern coast of England, but their sound is pure West Coast charm and perverse Midwestern nonchalance — which is to say their closest musical relatives are perhaps the shambling slacker rock of Pavement or the Breeders at their goofiest and most carefree. Debut single “Chaise Longue” is a smart, charmingly nonsensical bop, which blends flipped Mean Girls references (“Is your mother worried? Would you like us to assign someone to worry your mother?”) and bawdy puns (“I went to school and I got the big D”) with an infectious chorus.

In a similar vein, second single “Wet Dream” is an entertaining rebuke to a booty-calling ex, in which lead vocalist Rhian Teasdale’s sultry come-ons (“Baby, do you want to come home with me?”) are entertainingly deflated by her dubious boast “I’ve got Buffalo 66 on DVD.” Their flair for the sardonic and slightly surreal carries over to more vulnerable material like “Too Late Now,” billed as a song about “sleepwalking into adulthood.” Even their band name — which doesn’t mean anything at all, according Teasdale — summons up a tangle of gross, sexy insinuations. Wet Leg are a fizzing tonic for the UK’s indie rock scene, a genre well known for its tendency to take itself a little too seriously”.

Although it would have been harder for Wet Leg to get traction last year, 2021 has not exactly been ideal! As gigs have only come back relatively recently, there are still restrictions and drawbacks. In the Stereogum interview, Wet Leg revealed how they had time to figure out a plan and work on music when lockdown was implemented last year. They have also wasted little time in catching up:

“When the pandemic ground normal life to a halt, Teasdale suddenly had a lot more time on her hands: “Suddenly me and [Chambers] actually had the time to focus on making music. Wet Leg began as just us pursuing our hobbies, because it was a good way to fill our time, but we ended up finding a manager in lockdown, signing to Domino [Records] in lockdown, hitting all of these career milestones in lockdown…” One of the next milestones on tap: the release of their self-titled debut album in April.

Like TV Priest or Dry Cleaning, Wet Leg have firmly joined the ranks of the bands who have had to negotiate the majority of their careers while the world was shut down. Before lockdown, they’d only ever played four gigs, with three of them “on the Isle of Wight, for [their] parents.” By contrast, their fifth-ever gig in a packed-out tent at Latitude Festival, as part of the UK government’s pilot scheme testing out the viability of live events after the pandemic. Wet Leg are wasting no time catching up, though — they’ve just come off a stint supporting Declan McKenna and Inhaler, with the latter celebrating their last set by delivering a real-life chaise longue mid-set, for the band to recline on while playing its namesake. As we speak, they’re gearing up for a UK headline tour — one which quickly sold out, prompting them to dryly tweet, “Big thank you to everyone that’s bought a ticket after having only heard two songs haha.”

While Teasdale described life as a solo touring artist as a bit of a drag (“lots of driving places by yourself, and soundchecking on your own, having all of this lonely weird limbo time”), her experience touring as part of a band has been a very different experience: “It’s been fun, really fun, we’re part of a lovely bunch.” And if it stops being fun, Teasdale makes it clear she won’t be sticking around — this time, she’s adamant that “we’re not trying to achieve anything… we’re just in a band for the fun of it”.

I will end this review by sourcing a review of one of their live shows. It is evident that there are big gigs looming and the duo are going to busy in 2022 (they have announced extensive tour dates on their social media channels and website). Coming back to the NME interview from the start, Wet Leg explained some of the challenges of playing bigger stages; they also want to be recognised as guitar heroes:

“Playing their first real performances to bulging festival tents this summer – including a legend-making Latitude set and more recently, a homecoming show at Isle of Wight Festival – the pair proved that they have enough material to keep the band moving forward beyond being the flavour of the month. With its hollered vocals and squally riffs, they say that second single ‘Wet Dream’ – a punk-leaning number that is equally cheeky as its predecessor – was received ecstatically. But these shows (which included support slots with Declan McKenna) also proved that the band is still in its infancy – despite the fact that they’ve already achieved what so many of their peers could dream of.

“We’ve been playing big stages that we haven’t properly grown into yet,” Chambers explains. “Even on a practical level it’s been a challenge; I’ve struggled with asking for what I want in my monitors and coping with the size of the crowds that have come to see us.” She pauses. “But that’s OK. We’re always learning.”

Wet Leg have come to realise that bearing up to their new everyday reality is an extraordinary experience for any band to process, let alone one that had only played four gigs – “including three on the Isle Of Wight to our family,” says Chambers, giggling – prior to lockdown. When asked if they think that the hype around them is overblown, they agree immediately, and posit that the feverish online chatter and mega-exciting cosigns (from Hayley Williams and Iggy Pop, no less) have burdened them with stratospheric expectations from the off.

“We want to be recognised as guitar heroes, as it doesn’t hurt to win sometimes,” Teasdale says, hesitantly, as though she is analysing her own answer word-by-word in real-time. “But also, you just have no control over these things as music is so subjective, and we’re not ultra competitive people…”

NME interjects: But surely there is no harm in being competitive, though, when the bar has already been set so high by yourselves?

“It’s absolutely nuts – and right now, we can’t even”.

Revealed with another new song, Oh No, the duo announced their eponymous debut album for the spring. Many will look back on the songs Wet Leg have put out this year and explain which is the best. Although Chaise Longue set them on a new path of success, subsequent songs have built their sound and almost improved on that track. Too Late Now is a song that Teasdale and Chambers have said is about sleepwalking into adulthood – something that many of us can identify with! The video for the track is typically memorable and fun. There is a dreaminess to the introduction. With some groove, bounce and pulsating drums, I get touches of 1990s’ music. Elements of bands like The Sundays, perhaps. In the video, we see the duo and others dressed in bath robes and towels. It is like they have just woken up. Walking the streets, it signals this humorous nature of the duo! They are definitely not taking themselves too seriously! That said, the video (directed by Fred Rowson) is beautifully shot and it looks great. The first verse, with lyrics delineated and punctuated precisely and slowly, sticks in the memory: “If I thought that you were cool/We would have hung out more in school/But now that we have all grown up/Well, all my friends have given up”. I wonder if that verse is about Wet Leg aiming words at someone else or something that someone has said to them. As the song is this sleepwalk into adulthood, maybe it attests to the fact that, perhaps, they were not too cool for school and have only recently obtained a level of coolness and credibility – long after many of their friends and peers might have. In the video, the duo move to a supermarket (still dressed in robes and towels) and are piling things from a shelf (in what looks like a chemist) into a trolley. The vocal pace and feel stays the same until the pre-chorus. It seems that, for all the reflection and recognition of life not being quite as bodacious as it could be, there is a certain level of acceptance too: “No, there's nothing left to say/I just get up and walk away/If it ain’t broke, don't try to fix/Well, life's supposed to be this shit”.

The pre-chorus sees the vocal change from this slowly-delivered thing to a faster, talk-sung section. Whilst many bands employ talk singing (including the almost oppositely-named Dry Cleaning (who are quite dull with it), Wet Leg are quite compelling when they are more conversational. It is at this point in the video where we see Rhian Teasdale  peeling what looks like a cucumber (though it could be a courgette!). The pre-chorus mentions a soul-lifting bubble bath, a sort-of nod to Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing, in addition to asking whether the song they are singing is, well…a song: “Now everything is going wrong/I think I changed my mind again/I’m not sure if this is a song/I don't even know what I'm saying/Everything is going wrong/I think I changed my mind again/I'm not sure if this is the kinda life that I saw myself living/I don't need no dating app to tell me if I look like crap/To tell me if I'm thin or fat, to tell me should I shave my rat/I don't need no radio, no MTV, no BBC/I just need a bubble bath to set me on a higher path”. I love Teasdale’s vocals in this part. There is a sense of weariness, yet I can also detect so many other elements and emotions (she would sound great narrating documentaries or voicing audiobooks!). The video remains fun and striking as one member of the cast wanders the streets, cucumbers on eyes (that solves the cucumber vs. courgette debate!) looking zombified. Rather than, like Chaise Longue, there is a more typical structure where the chorus is repeated and is the dominant focus…Too Late Now brings us two verses, a pre-chorus, the chorus and then the outro. The chorus, to me is the best Wet Leg have written. It is quite angry, explicit, defeated and a little harrowing.

I was wondering, reading the lyrics, whether we might have seen the duo in a car like Thelma and Louise, heading for a tragic death. Maybe budgetary constraints put pave to anything like that! Chambers is seen flagging a lift, mind: “I'm gonna drive my car into the sea/I’m gonna drive downtown while looking pretty ordinary/Too late now, lost track somehow/I’m like, oh my god, this world is pretty harrowing/Down we go while holding hands/If I fuck this up, I'm taking you down with me/Too late now, lost track somehow/Well, if I fuck this up, I’m taking you down with me/I'm gonna drive my car into the sea/I'm gonna drive downtown while looking pretty ordinary/Too late now, lost track somehow/I'm like, oh my god, this world is pretty harrowing”. I think Too Late Now is one of the most fun and well-developed songs from Wet Leg. It has a lot of fizz and bounce, whilst the composition is rich and raw at the same time. The outro does sort of return to the pre-chorus where the bubble bath is mentioned; a remedy and way to obtain truth and order. A great song that will appear on the Wet Leg in April, this might be the best offering from the duo so far. Seemingly getting stronger with every release, it means their album is going to be pretty fantastic!

With a series of gigs and a debut album out next year, 2022 is going to be the most successful one for Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. The Guardian caught Wet Leg playing Omera in London in October. It is clear that they are a stunning live proposition:

“Happily, there were more ear worms where Chaise Longue came from: Wet Leg’s second single, Wet Dream, found lead singer Teasdale wringing humour from an ex’s sexual fantasy. Its oh-so-catchy chorus and disco handclaps prove irresistible tonight.

If Wet Leg’s signature move is a kind of sarcastic innuendo (“I’ve got Buffalo 66 on DVD” is one of Teasdale’s come hithers), they perform it while looking thoroughly wholesome. The band’s videos featured the pair dressed as folksy “cottage-core” milkmaids – homespun frauleins who nonetheless sometimes sport lobster claws. They might look like First Aid Kit, but live Wet Leg’s sound recalls bands such as Elastica and the Breeders or a slew of more recent acts Wet Leg have talked up in interviews, Australian punks the Chats, for one.

Tonight, no one is actually wearing a wimple, although the guitarist has a chintzy curtain tassel dangling from his guitar neck. And although it is still very early days – an album is mooted for some time next year – the band Wet Leg probably most resemble tonight is Pavement, a mainstay of the Domino label in the 90s. It’s in the offhand way Teasdale delivers non-sequiturs and the stop-start pacing and fuzzy crescendos of their songs.

‘It’s a miracle no one gets brained by a stray tuning key’: Wet Leg at Omeara. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

Some songs punch out from the default indie rock of this short set. I Don’t Want to Go Out drips with trademark Teasdale snark, accessorised here and there by a spacey, theremin-like keyboard line. A song called Supermarket confirms their skewwhiff indie-rock orientation. Later, Teasdale sings about checking her phone on another off-kilter track that has an unexpectedly heavy, near-psychedelic payoff.

In between are songs that depart from the template in their quietude or straightforwardness. In interviews, Wet Leg have alluded to previous outfitsthat didn’t bear fruit. Some basic internet research reveals Teasdale’s very respectable past as a piano-playing folk singer, Rhain, in the mould of Joanna Newsom – a far cry from the arch, cod-Amish badass she has become.

The “fun” plan seems to be working, though. “We’re going to play the last song now,” says Teasdale pointedly. And the band blast through a joyous rendition of Chaise Longue, the two friends yelling the lyrics at each other, grinning all the while”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Hall/The Observer

Although Wet Leg are a band on stage, it is obviously very much about the lead duo of Teasdale and Chambers. I have been referring to them as a duo because, in all the interviews and promotional photos, that is who were are presented. On stage, there are other members to flesh out their sound. In a DIY from September, Wet Leg talked about their stage ethos. It was clear that, even then, they had much more material than Chaise Longue in their arsenal:

“As those recent shows have attested, however, Wet Leg have more than enough material up their sleeves to keep a crowd on side. More exciting than the initial thrill of their first offering is that ‘Chaise Longue’ isn’t even their best track. Buoyed by the endearing dynamic between their leaders - friends for a decade since college - Wet Leg’s songs are full of playful quirks and giddy kicks; for all that they describe themselves as “painfully polite” people in real life, musically there are moments during their live set that align them more with a British take on Yeah Yeah Yeahs, packed with exuberance and screams.

“Pretty early on we came up with the ethos of, ‘Feel the fear, and do it anyway’. Be scared, that’s fine, you’re always gonna be scared, but don’t let it get on top of you,” says Rhian of their mindset. “And also we shout at each other: ‘THIS IS A SAFE SPACE!!’”

“When we started the band we were listening to The Garden, Big Thief and IDLES,” continues Hester. “Things where there’s something fun in the music and there are no rules, and it’s free.” Even their name, explains Rhian, acts as “a good reminder to not take yourself too seriously”. “And also,” she caveats, “I think it came round because I saw Squid had a little squid emoji and I was so jealous, so we smashed at our phones to see what combinations came up. There were some ridiculous ones but to be safe we went with Wet Leg”.

I will review Wet Leg again when their eponymous album arrives in April. It is already one of the most highly-anticipated albums of next year. Even though the year is not yet done, Wet Leg are going to want to rest and recharge over Christmas. 2022 will be exciting and successful for Wet Leg. It is a year where we will…

PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Baker/Getty

SEE them go very far.

___________

Follow Wet Leg

TRACK REVIEW: Saweetie - Icy Chain

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Saweetie

PHOTO CREDIT: Benjo Arwas 

Icy Chain

 

 

9.4/10

 

 The track, Icy Chain, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYQ1HUEE6q8

RELEASE DATE:

19th November, 2021

ORIGIN:

California, U.S.A.

GENRES:

Rap/Hip-Hop

LABELS:

ICY/Warner Records Inc.

__________

THIS review…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Burak Cingi

is going to be fairly unusual, in the sense the song I am featuring is less than two minutes in length. Saweetie has unveiled her latest cut, Icy Chain. She manages to pack a lot in and, as she is such a compelling artist, I wanted to feature her this weekend. Before I get there, there are a series of interviews and aspects of her life that I want to include. FLAUNT spoke with her in 2019. We discover a bit about Saweetie’s earlier life and why Rap music made a big impact:

“Saweetie was born Diamonté Harper in Santa Clara and raised about thirty miles north in Hayward, California. When she wasn’t enjoying the adoba and pancit dishes of her mother’s Filipino culture, she sat on her father’s lap watching him play bones with friends in their apartment off Tennyson Road. During those games she remembers Too Short and tile slamming, Mac Dre and dro. “We get lit in the Bay,” she rightly proclaims, but her music exposure went beyond the locals. Saweetie’s mom made sure to pepper her with Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown and alternative rock.

Rap made the biggest impact though, and she’s known that she wanted to pursue it herself since her early teens. She still went to college, despite some indecisiveness about the venture, migrating south to San Diego State—where she was the first woman to audition for their mascot—and ending her collegiate run at USC. “When I came out to LA for college, I was a tomboy,” she reveals. “I would wear sneakers to parties. But you get to LA and it’s a different world. I was always fly, but LA is a different kinda fly.” It’s a more defeating kind of traffic too. Some use her father’s Mac Dre and dro combo to deal; Saweetie started streaming freestyles to Instagram.

This was partially inspired by her Young Money fandom and the interplanetary mixtape run of Lil Wayne. Her first video was the “So Gone Challenge,” a freestyle challenge over Monica’s velvet 2003 track of the same name. But her fierce flow over Khia’s “My Neck, My Back” instrumental is what kick-started Saweetie’s career. It caught the attention of Island Def Jam’s Max Gousse, who would become her manager, at a Puma event no less. He insisted on releasing it as a single, and the finished product, “ICY GRL,” has cleared sixty million YouTube views. “ICY GRL” is pure flex, uninhibited female bravado. She sighs at her lack of time for these hoes / Speaking on my name like I’m someone that they know, and she claims her place at the top: I’m the big cat bitch, yes these niggas love me / Is that Gucci on my feet? Shit, bitch it might be!”.

Earlier this year, W Magazine spotlighted the fantastic Californian-born star. I was wondering whether Icy Chain was related her previous work; if it has personal significance. We get a sense of how ‘icy’ is important and what role it plays in the music of Saweetie:

“Her family—Saweetie’s father is Black and her mother is Filipino-Chinese—is connected to both sports and entertainment. Saweetie’s grandfather played for the San Francisco 49ers, and her uncle is MC Hammer, the OG rap superstar. Despite the success of her relatives, Saweetie didn’t want to depend on their help. So when, at 13, she began writing poems that could be set to music, she didn’t tell anyone. Instead, she concentrated on going to college, first attending San Diego State University and then transferring to the University of Southern California, where she majored in communications and business. “I’ve always been a hustler,” Saweetie said, swallowing her ginger shot in one gulp. “And at USC, they taught the art of negotiation and persuasion. I thought, I need these skills.”

In her senior year, Saweetie began making videos of herself rapping in her car, which she shared on Instagram. “I was living in rooms that I found on Craigslist,” she said. “And that was a scary thing. I got tired of the lifestyle where my bank account was at zero. So I gave myself a year in L.A. to be discovered, and I decided that if I didn’t get discovered, I would go back to the Bay Area. In the ninth month, I was signed to Warner Records, and they released ‘Icy Girl’ in 2017.”

“Icy Girl” was a big hit, but, more important for Saweetie, the concept of “icy” became central to her mantra of success. “Icy means confident. Icy means strong. Icy means independent. Icy means you are in charge of your life in every way,” Saweetie said, as if she were giving a PowerPoint presentation. She paused. “I am icy.” The video for “Icy Girl,” in which a very blonde Saweetie raps the words while staring down the camera, was an instant sensation. “It caught like wildfire, and it was a lot to take in,” she said”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: G L Askew II

There are plenty of other things I need to cover off before coming to the review. There was accusation, as we can see in this Harper’s Bazaar interview from earlier in the year, that Saweetie’s music has learned too heavily on samples – and that an original sound has not been as present as it could have been:

“I see people who say, “Saweetie relies on samples too much. Where's her original sound?”

I think greatness makes people uncomfortable. And I think people try to come up with excuses to not like me and to make themselves feel better about their life. I don't get as offended as I used to, because there was a point in time where I was dragged for, like, two years on social media. I was trending on Twitter for some bullshit every other day. I never defended myself, because I'm not really a social media pop off-er—I'd rather just pop off in person. So overcoming those obstacles and those negative viral tweets was just to work super hard. I’m gonna sample for the rest of my life; it’s my specialty. Tons of people sample, but my samples just get the most recognition.

I'm not really a social media pop off-er — I'd rather just pop off in person

“Back to the Streets” has you singing a little bit more, and “Best Friend” shows more of your sassy side. Are there any other new sides of Saweetie on this record?

What I will say is I really appreciate your analytical observations, because those are the exact intentions that I had behind each song. You could definitely expect just more versatility. A lot of people don't know this, but I grew up with a speech problem. So sometimes, it takes me a little longer to deliver my raps, because my mouth just does dumb shit sometimes. [Laughs.]

Was it a speech impediment or a stutter?

I used to have a stuttering problem. My mom was really concerned for me. But she actually trained me to stop doing that. I would just think quicker than my mouth could talk. There's this record that I really want to nail, to rap really fast. So that's something that I'm practicing every day. There's certain things that I don't discuss that have hindered me. But you know what? I love a challenge, and I think how you overcome the hurdle is more important than how it affects you”.

Saweetie is very much a modern-day star. She has this presence and sense of confidence that is impressive to see. She is a businesswoman and inspiring person who is, no doubt, giving strength and motivation to many other women. In this interview from this year, that illustrates how Saweetie is in control and calls the shots (something that was not always the case):

“It's easy to see why that lifestyle sold. Even during our casual video chat, it's clear that Saweetie is deliberate about everything. Yes, she's dressed with simplicity in a white tank top and with a headband, holding back her hair, but she still looks perfectly put together, something many of us gave up on trying to do for Zoom meetings months ago. She also speaks slowly and clearly in a way that makes it apparent how thoughtful she's being about every word that comes out of her mouth — which doesn't mean she's afraid to go to weird places. After we joke for a bit about her now-notorious ranch dressing and spaghetti video ("I have a very eclectic palate. I think I get it from my dad and my grandpa because they be makin' some concoctions"), I ask her to play my favourite game: Fuck, Marry, Kill, featuring mayonnaise, sour cream, and ranch. She didn't skip a beat when she told me she'd marry sour cream, "smash" ranch, and kill mayo, though she did feel conflicted about the choice. Most people might equivocate or hesitate when answering something like this, but not Saweetie: She's intentional and in control, two qualities that have served her well and which she values highly. She has, after all, experienced not being in control.

 There was a time in Saweetie's music career when she didn't enjoy being on set because she had to rely on others to make creative decisions that weren't in line with her vision. Work — which had always been fun — had morphed into a burden. The root of that, Saweetie says, was being too busy to actually indulge her artistic side. She's determined not to let that happen again. "During the pandemic, I realised I had to take hold of my creativity again. I was just working so much that I was allowing other people to execute my creativity," she explains. "But, no one can see what's in my head."

Fans have long been able to get a peek at what's in Saweetie's head via social media; she explains how she uses it as a "vessel," offering a glimpse into her life — though, she says, "I'm not someone who exposes my personal business, so the way that I'm able to be personal with my fans is through my content." But now they can see what's on her mind through her music videos, including the recent "Risky" video, which she co-directed. And what they'll find is a twist on angelcore. It's a vibe”.

Even though Saweetie has yet to release a debut album – which I shall get to soon -, she has seen her stock rise through the years. Coming back to the interview that I just quoted from, Sweetie’s decision to keep control and make her own decisions has paid off when it comes to her social media numbers and the fanbase she has accumulated:

“Saweetie's insistence on keeping her creative vision intact has paid off. "Best Friend" has so far been used as the sound in over 850,000 TikToks, many of which feature actual best friends dancing together. Though she credits the original creative vision she had for the song and video for its success, she says, "I can't be blind to the fact that TikTok does catapult songs. If it catches, I'm grateful, but it's never my intention to make [songs and videos] specifically for TikTok." Still, she wasn't afraid to help push the song's appeal on the platform by posting a TikTok of her and Paris Hilton riding around in a blue Bentley and matching pink Juicy tracksuits set to the song. That's the thing, though, Saweetie has an innate sense about what type of content belongs where, and when she talks about how "social media has played into the evolution of what the new artist is," you realise that she is that new artist, and that she's in control of her own evolution.

While she obviously views the internet as an invaluable tool for sharing her art, connecting with the Icy Gang, and building her brand, Saweetie does admit that nothing is quite as magical as IRL interactions. "Seeing people enjoying my music online is fun, but I think the craziest moments that I really appreciate are when I'm riding around the city and the car next to me is playing my music," she says. "Or even when I'm driving past an apartment complex and I can hear a room blasting my music." There's something poignant about the idea of Saweetie, driving alone, experiencing her art through the lens of other people's enjoyment. It's a reminder of the fact that, no matter how separate we've been from one another in this last year, certain things brought us together. According to Saweetie, sitting at home with herself during the pandemic showed her just how important life outside of a phone screen can be. "Quarantine just made me want to become more self-aware and care about interaction, relationships, and just being a human being," she explains”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Benjo Arwas

I think that lockdown has boosted Saweetie’s popularity and stature. She has reached many more people and, in terms of her follower numbers, that has shot up. Forbes explained how the ‘summer of Saweetie’ was a revelatory thing for the rapper:

“The LA-based rapper’s star has soared during lockdown: At the beginning of 2020, Saweetie had 6.3 million Instagram followers. Today, she has 11.8 million. A whopping 20.6 million Spotify users tuned into Saweetie in May, making her about as popular as her ex-boyfriend’s hip-hop group, Migos. Perhaps most notably, the 27-year-old has achieved this without releasing a full album. And she’s not slowing down: She drops her first EP, Pretty B*tch Music, later this summer. After that, she’ll launch her Icy Baby Foundation, through which she, and her grandmother cofounder, aim to improve the financial literacy of Black and Brown youth. But she won’t be satisfied until her bank statement has three commas.

“I want to be a global mogul,” says the Forbes Under 30 alum. “Eventually, I want to see my brand supersede Saweetie.”

Her brand, Icy, sells clothing inspired by her lyrics, like $100 terry cloth sweatpants emblazoned with the line “rich with no day job” from her breakout single, “Tap In.”

“I’m just really excited to take over,” she says. “What’s great about me dominating is that I’m very inclusive and love to share my light and help other people out”.

Coming back again to Refinery29’s interview, one gets a sense of a real determination that has been present for a long time. I get the sense that women in Rap and Hip-Hop have to fight harder to have their voices heard. This is something that Saweetie has battled:

“Just like she did with her high school volleyball team, Saweetie has approached her career with her eye on the prize, working hard never to be counted out, knowing that she will always make the cut. "I'm consistent with music, I'm consistent with content, I'm consistent with my brand, and I think consistency just always wins," she says. Even when she does something unexpected — from showing off wacky food combinations, like Top Ramen seasoning sprinkled on oysters, or, yes, ranch dressing squirted all over spaghetti, to keeping a full-length mirror in the back of my car so she can pose for the perfect selfie anywhere — there's never any doubt that she knows what she's doing, it's just up to the rest of us to follow her lead. So, we'd better be paying attention, because class is in session. "I'm going to continue working hard, I'm going to continue building out my team, and I'm excited to see what the future holds," she says. One of those things she's working toward is teaching a course one day at USC. What will the subject be? Social media, of course. Sign me up”.

Looking back, and it seems that few people had faith in Saweetie and any belief that she would become a rapper. Maybe there is this sexist view in place, where attractive women (or women in general) are not suited for the field. Back in April, Cosmopolitan wrote how there was this doubt and lack of support. Now, there is this rising artist who is among the most powerful and influential in music:

“That they told her there was no way she was smart enough to get good grades in school. That she was too pretty to be taken seriously. That she’d never be a successful rapper.

“I wish me, or someone, would have thought, You know what? That’s not right,” she says now. Instead, as she puts it, she spent years dimming her light.

Not today though. Today, Saweetie, world-famous rapper, looks like someone you would always bet on. She’s perched in the kitchen of the luxe Los Angeles rental she’s called home for the past year, casually eating a late lunch of steamed mussels and nigiri sushi.

To borrow a phrase from her 2020 hit single “Tap In,” she’s “drippin’ in Chanay-nay”: a vintage cream-color Chanel blazer over a black bra, vintage gold Chanel belt, black miniskirt. A large diamond-studded pendant, shaped like a dripping cross, gleams at her collarbone. Her lip gloss is popping. Even under harsh overhead lights, even through the unnatural veil of a laptop camera, even when she says, “I’m sorry, girl. I keep burping”—yeah, Saweetie is shining bright.

As she should be, because, well, let’s pause for a career recap, very much abridged: Her songs have hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify. She earned a 2020 People’s Choice Awards nomination for Favorite New Artist; she’s had a guest spot on the Freeform show Grown-ish. And then there’s her proudest moment, making the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. It was a huge deal for Saweetie, who earned a business communications degree from the University of Southern California—with a 3.6 GPA, it should be noted—and who considers herself a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur. “I screamed,” she says about when she found out she’d made the list. “It just let me know that I’m on my way to where I wanted to be.”

All that and she’s also The Content Queen. (Self-proclaimed but still.) You already know this because you’re probably one of her 17+ million followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. And you’re probably addicted to her feeds because in a year when other celebrities are cringe-ily doing the most or revealingly doing the least, Saweetie’s posts are an irresistible bright spot of actual, authentic fun. She trades bars with her family (PSA: don’t try her auntie in a game of In the Classroom), flips a full-length mirror into a must-have travel accessory (the mystery of whether or not Saweetie legit brought a full-length mirror to a gas station for selfie-while-pumping purposes remains unsolved, but the legend lives on), and hilariously personifies each of her four (!) Birkin bags (a collection gifted, at least in part, in case you were wondering, by her former boyfriend, the rapper Quavo). It’s like if your group chat were a YouTube channel—real, silly, fun, unself-conscious—if, that is, anyone in your group chat owned a Bentley”.

One problem that dogs Hip-Hop is homophobia. Just to go off course a bit, but Saweetie was in the music news, as she spoke out against the DaBaby's controversial comments earlier in the year. Saweetie is someone who believes in celebrating and respecting gender identity and sexual preferences:

“Saweetie believes in mutual respect, regardless of people's sexuality or gender identity.

In an interview with PEOPLE following her set at Sprite's Live from the Label concert series, the 28-year-old rap star addresses the recent reckoning about homophobia within the rap community following DaBaby's insensitive comments about gay people and those living with HIV/AIDS.

"I think that it's important that we all respect each other. We all bleed the same," she tells PEOPLE, referring to her LGBTQ fans. "We're all human beings. I was raised in a household that believes in respecting everyone, no matter who they are, no matter what they do, because at the end of the day, we're all equal."

"We all need to call out what we're uncomfortable with," she adds. "We need to call out what we stand for and for what we believe is right."

It's a sentiment that fellow female rapper Megan Thee Stallion shared with PEOPLE earlier this month, when the "Body" rapper said, "Representation is important, and it is really crucial for us all to have compassion and acceptance of every human”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: John Edmonds

I alluded to the fact that Saweetie struggles as a female artist. Things are always tougher for women. They are scrutinised all of the time and held to different standards. Never as respected as their male counterparts, it is especially impressive that Saweetie has come so far and has this strength. The Forty-Five spoke with her late last year. There were some passages from the interview that struck my eye:

“I mean, I was very grateful for the attention that I was getting but I was like ‘Ok, how do I become a bigger, more established and respected artist?’ And there were a lot of critics that came with [the fame].

“What people don’t understand is, when you’re a female artist you’re constantly critiqued. You’re critiqued for your music, for your body, for your appearance in general, for the people you may be dating – you’re just critiqued non-stop. I had to realise that what the critics say is not real life, and that the industry is a playground. I know who I am as a person, and I know what I have to offer and I know what my value is, but it’s still hard sometimes. When you’re reading comments all day, it’s just like, ‘Oh my gosh, y’all know I’m a human, right?’”

You’re critiqued for your music, for your body, for your appearance in general, for the people you may be dating – you’re just critiqued non-stop. I had to realise that what the critics say is not real life, and that the industry is a playground.

There’s certainly nothing new about society struggling with the idea of public figures as multifaceted beings, but the backlash Saweetie received for ‘YUSO’ – her 2018 collaboration with Lil Wayne and Kid Ink – still took her by surprise. “It’s a nasty record, but I always told myself if I was gonna talk nasty I would talk nasty like Missy [Elliott], because she would do it in such a creative and fun way… I got a lot of negative criticism because they were calling me the college girl, and educated, and saying why am I speaking like this?” She laughs, “And I was just like, ‘Y’all act like college girls don’t go home and make babies.’

“I’m more than a college girl. I’m a human being. I’m a young woman. I’m a girlfriend. I’m a sister. I’m a daughter. I’m a cousin. I’m all these things and I say all these things because I’m multifaceted and I have different areas of my life where I feel different emotions. So I think when people hear [my album], they’ll be able to understand me as a human being and all the layers that make me me”.

I feel that, all things considered, Saweetie has owned 2020. I am not alone in thinking that. Circling back to that Cosmopolitan interview, and they give us the facts and figures regarding a triumphant year for the twenty-eight-year-old:  

“While we were all on our own 2020 quests toward better versions of ourselves—but from the couch and in sweatpants—Saweetie was soundtracking one of the wildest-ever stretches of time. She owned July 2020 with “Tap In” and then did it again with its mega-remix, featuring Post Malone, DaBaby, and Jack Harlow, a month later. October brought the Timbaland-produced “Back to the Streets” with Jhené Aiko, and then there was “Best Friend” with Doja Cat just this January. Each single has been more compelling than the last, showcasing a different side of Saweetie’s personality—her style swings from bossy to playful, the sounds have range (a hyphy sample here, an 808s banger there), and the lyrics are stacked with witticisms that double as affirmations. Drop one in that group text: “Bitch, you look goodt with a ‘t’ at the end.” Hype yourself up in the mirror: “I’m a 5-star bitch with a price tag / Gotta find me somebody that could match that.” Flex on Instagram: “Icy from my lips to my toenails.” The overall mood, though, is consistent—think of it as “No Scrubs” for the TikTok generation. It’s no wonder she’s topped Billboard charts and cracked the Top 20 on the Hot 100.

Honestly, knowing what went into all this is exactly why it’s so easy to root for Saweetie, who’s somewhere between warmly relatable and wildly aspirational. The idea that we don’t arrive fully formed, that part of the point is to do the work in the face of harmful expectations, is familiar, whether your struggle is broadcast to millions of people or not. What’s also familiar is the desire to reclaim that power, to use it even when it feels easier to succumb to the doubts in your head. “Last year was the year that I finally became comfortable in my own skin. I kind of figured out what my purpose was,” Saweetie says. “I think it’s important to show little Black and brown girls that they can be successful in whatever they want to do. If I can do it, you can do it too”.

There are a couple of other points I want to address before assessing Icy Chain. Saweetie is an aspirational artist who has her own brand and identity. Forbes’ interview that I mentioned earlier asked her about female empowerment and her philanthropic endeavours:

“Sternlicht: Your brand is really all about female empowerment. What do you think women need to be doing to maximize their status in the world?

Saweetie: Networking. As women, we’re shielded, but I think it’s important for women to network and make a name for themselves by forming their own personal relationships. That’s something I learned this past year, and that’s why I love talking to the owners of brands I’m doing partnerships with. I’m a very direct person.

Sternlicht: Tell me about your philanthropic endeavors.

Saweetie: Me and my grandma were inspired during quarantine. Everyone in the world witnessed the Black Lives Matter movement. I hate calling it a movement, because for many of us, it’s a lifestyle. I’ve seen my dad and uncles experience so many injustices. It’s important I’m involved in my communities as much as possible.

Sternlicht: What initiatives are you working on through your foundation?

Saweetie: My grandma’s biggest thing is teaching financial literacy to low-income Black and Brown communities. She’s working on a rollout, and I think we’ll be official in late August or September”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Benjo Arwas

One of the biggest questions fans ask about Saweetie is when her debut album will arrive. Pretty Bitch Music has been held back and rumoured. One gets a sense that she wants to make sure it comes out at the right time and it is as good as it can be. There are a couple of interviews where she mentions her debut album. Coming back to the interview from The Forty-Five from November, we get an idea of what the album is about:

“Expect some inspirational music,” she grins when asked what lies in store on the rest of the album. “Some boss bitch music. Some ratchet music. Some empowering, ‘I’m over you and yo shit’ music.” She laughs, before continuing, “It’s about everything that comes with being a woman. I feel like I touch on a lot of emotion too. I know I make party records, but [the album is] definitely well-rounded.”

The album title further feeds into that idea of inspiring others, with Saweetie aiming to reclaim the word ‘bitch’, transforming it from a slur into a badge of honour. “I love 2Pac and what he did with the phrase ‘thug life’, and that’s what I’m doing with ‘bitch.’ So ‘bitch’ stands for boss, independent, tough, creative and the h is hyphy [a Bay-area phrase] which means turn it up and have a good time.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Erica Hernandez 

I love 2Pac and what he did with the phrase ‘thug life’, and that’s what I’m doing with ‘bitch’. BITCH stands for Boss, Independent, Tough, Creative – and the H is Hyphy, which means turn it up and have a good time.

“All my music is empowering,” she continues. “It’s only right that I had a title that served some form of empowerment for my listeners, because empowerment is so important. I remember being a little girl listening to Destiny’s Child and other songs that empowered me and it can literally change your day. If I can make someone happy or make someone feel motivated then I feel like my job is done.”

Considering how committed she is to using her platform to inspire, I wonder how she squares that with social media’s propensity to mislead, pushing unattainable ideals and impossible standards on potentially vulnerable audiences. “I feel like there’s more pressure for me to get creative, rather than appear perfect,” she replies, thoughtfully. “I think the facade of being perfect is out the window, especially because nowadays the fans want to know exactly who they’re supporting.” The assertion rings true too because, for all the glossy photo shoots, and loved-up pictures of Saweetie with her long-term boyfriend Quavo, there’s plenty of humour and unfiltered-candour to be found on her Instagram grid too”.

More up to date, that Cosmopolitan interview from this year, Saweetie explained how she was still tinkering with Pretty Bitch Music. There have been updates since April - though I get the feeling that we might not see the album drop for a few more months. It will come out next year, but it might be a little while until we see it appear in the world:

“More proof, if you need it: She tells me she’s still not done with Pretty Bitch Music because it’s not completely perfect yet. “I’m always looking at it,” she explains. “It’s like having an essay that’s not due yet. I’m going to keep rereading it, editing it, switching out words for better words.” She’s also been busy, you know, with the responsibilities of being a pop star on the rise: She builds mood boards, works on merch, makes even more content at the clip of a full-time creative agency. She’s also got a jewelry line, an edge-control collaboration fit for “the baby-hair princess,” a co-branded makeup collection with Morphe, and a PrettyLittleThing capsule fashion collection that just counted its third drop”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Sweetie has performed Icy Chain for SNL recently. I wonder whether she will film a music video for the track. I think, through the track, Saweetie is at her peak! In terms of her sound and delivery, I feel like she nods to some Rap icons like Missy Elliott and Ms. Lauryn Hill. The chorus is delivered with swagger, confident and allure: “Twerk that ass for a icy chain/Twerk that ass for a icy chain (Bitch)/Twerk that ass for a icy chain (Hey)/Twerk that ass for a icy chain (Hmm)”. Backed by a bouncing beat and a great production, one is instantly hooked into a song which will be part of Pretty Bitch Music. Already this year, Saweetie collaborated with Gwen Stefani on Slow Clap. There was also Fast (Motion), and Get It Girl. The collaborative E.P., Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1, was the third E.P. from the rapper. With every release – whether that is a single or E.P. – Sweetie seems to get better and more assured. Icy Chain is a typically excellent track, which manages to pack so much in to 1:50 running time! In the first verse, with her voice at its swaggering and brilliant best, we hear scenes of excess, slight conflict and, above all, someone who is very much running the show: “My hair, my money, come bundle/I spent your rent on my frontal (Yeah)/Bitches see me and get humble/Could take your nigga but I don't even want to (Hmm)/Birkin bag, Crocodile Dundee (Ooh)/Mink on my body like I just went hunting/Tell PETA I'm being one hunnid/That icy girl still rock a fur in the summer/Left fashion week, hella casualties (Yeah)/I think I know why they mad at me (Hahaha)/I'm pretty, I'm in every city, but won't hit the club unless it's a bag for me/Daddy, answer me, I need to know why you're mad at me/'Cause you be complaining, you stay in your feelings/I'm starting to think you can't handle me”.

I do love the composition. In the first verse, we get a twanged beat that sort of punctuates the end of every line. Rather than pack so much sound and layers on, there is this simplicity that allows Saweetie’s vocal to be at the front. She is never buried in the mix. Whereas the chorus has more spike and a touch of aggression, the verse is cooler and , if it is the right word, ‘laidback’. One can definitely notice a change in tone and style in the verse. When we do return to the chorus, it takes Icy Chain in a new direction. Having this whirlwind verse where as sorts of images come to mind, the chorus is almost this mantra: simple and powerful, yet compelling every time she delivers the line (“Twerk that ass for a icy chain”). One of the most interesting Rap songwriters, the second verse is even more steeped in bravado and confidence. Definitely someone who is a boss and icon-in-the-making, few can match Saweetie’s flow: “Get love in the Bay like I'm 40 (Uh)/Big C love to sip on the 40's (Yeah)/This Rollie up on me cost forty/I'ma be fine in my forties/Ooh, fake booty galore/Make sure it clap when you see me on tour (Hmm)/He sweatin' me like a sport/I play in Prada whenever I'm bored (That's right)/Concealer, tan, sand, I'ma get these band-bands/Bet' not smell no pussy when you pop it on a handstand (Ugh)/All of my bitches smell good (Yeah)/Don't worry 'bout us, we good/I ain't gon' lie, you actin' too shy/Come pop that shit like a bitch from the hood (Brrt)”. She manages to inject so much personality and character into the lines. So many rappers are quite lazy with their delivery, or they feel that aggression and profanity is a replacement for actual style and substance. Icy Chain manages to fuse something edgy and explosive with incredible cool, confidence, craft and some brilliant lines. Contrasting the assured and commanding chorus with verses that are among Saweetie’s best yet, Icy Chain is a wonderful look into a debut album that will be among…

THE most anticipated and celebrated of next year.

___________

Follow Saweetie

TRACK REVIEW: Amber Mark - Softly

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Amber Mark

PHOTO CREDIT: Nelson Huang 

Softly

 

 

9.4/10

 

 

The track, Softly, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1stAYxwLFHA

RELEASE DATE:

12th November, 2021

The album, Three Dimensions Deep, is available to pre-order here:

https://shopuk.ambermarkmusic.com/?utm_umguk=www.youtube.com%2F&utm_campaign=AmberMarkThreeDimensionsDeep20210915&utm_content=&utm_medium=social&utm_source=YoutubeDescription

ORIGIN:

Tennessee, U.S.A.

RELEASE DATE:

28th January, 2022

GENRES:

R&B/Alternative R&B

LABEL:

PMR Records

__________

HERE is an artist…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Matilda Hill-Jenkins

who I have been following for a few years now. I have already spotlighted Amber Mark, and I have been a fan of her music ever since. Even though I associate her more with New York, she was actually born in Tennessee. She released her mini-album, 3:33am, back in 2017 (which, I think, is when I first heard her) - and she prepares to put out her debut album, Three Dimensions Deep, on 28th January. I am going to come to her new song, Softly, in a bit. It is another incredible cut from an artist who I have a huge amount of love for. I want to explore a few other subjects before coming to that song. I want to start with Mark and her relationship with her mum (who died in 2013). In a Pitchfork interview from 2018, the songwriter was asked about her mother:

“Pitchfork: You grew up traveling the world with your mom. What was your relationship with her like

Amber Mark: Mainly, she was always like, “Make sure you do what you love.” She was very against having office jobs and doing any of that. That’s why she always traveled around and went where work was and still did her passion. Musically, I’ve always taken a huge influence from all the places she took me, especially India, and especially because I was a child, because you’re absorbing things a hundred times more than you would be be at this age now. She definitely would’ve lived the rest of her life out in India.

 She may have been spiritual, but she was also German, so she was very, like, “You have to do this, and you have to do that.” And she’s very stubborn, which I probably get from her. She never really gave good advice, I will say. It was always like, “Just surrender to the problems. Everything will be fine. Life is just a dream.” But I always was like, “No, mom, this is happening right now. I need to deal with it.” But the life that we lived was something that I, to this day, am so thankful for. At the time, when I was younger, a lot of people thought it wasn’t very good parenting, because of the fact that she took me out of school and homeschooled me. Especially in America, a lot of people didn’t really understand. So, I think she would sometimes have a hard time with that, and I would sometimes have a hard time hearing that about my mom.

But now I realize that there are people who dream of traveling to the places I have been to, and they are much older than I am. So it’s such a blessing for me to think back on all those times that I got to live my childhood out in all of these cultures”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Nicky Riley Bentham

I did not know that Amber Mark has travelled so much in her life. She has had quite an itinerant time and experienced a lot of different cultures. Belin is somewhere she spent a lot of time. Amber Mark is twenty-seven now. She lived in Berlin when she was a child. In a 2020 interview, Mark discussed what it was like living in the German capital:

“Living in early to mid-2000s Berlin must’ve been an interesting time. I feel like that was the moment when all the Americans and artistically-minded Europeans started moving to Berlin and obviously, house and techno was always a phenomenon there. What was it like being there?

Amber Mark: I didn’t like it, honestly. This is when I started getting into music. You’re in 8th grade and you’re always thinking of what you’re gonna be when you grow up. That’s when I started feeling that maybe I wanted to pursue something in music and I always wanted to play the piano or some sort of instrument.

My mom couldn’t afford a piano at the time and we were always traveling a lot so this was the first time we had settled down in years. She bought me a guitar and I had started teaching myself how to play guitar and learn basic chords. I joined the school choir and that was my first experience with singing and performing. That’s when the gears started turning about doing music.

Were you in the former East Berlin or West Berlin?

Amber Mark: I was in Pankow, so it was East Berlin. The area I lived in was not as cool. I always remember being like, “why can’t we live in the fancy cool hip area?”

It’s always interesting seeing the divide between the two. West Berlin feels almost glitzy compared to the general East Berlin grayness.

Amber Mark: It’s really funny though. When I moved back to New York and was like 17, I was working at this cafe and I’d tell people like, “Oh, I lived in Berlin.” They’d be like, “That’s so cool! I love Berlin, I always go there.” Because they’re these fashion people, you know. “Love going there, the parties there are great.” I was like, “Really? I did not like it.” But I was 12”.

Going back to her mother, it must have been hard losing her at a young age (Amber Mark was nine when her mother died). Billboard chatted with the remarkable songwriter when she was promoting her 2018 E.P., Conexão. The way Mark talks about her mother’s death and how she processed it really struck me:

“How do you handle having to talk about grief and your mom over and over again with journalists like myself? I imagine it’s not easy.

It gets easier the more you do it, but I’ve never been private about feelings about losing my mom. I’ve always been open about losing my mom. Everyone goes through it - everyone’s been through it. There are obviously certain details that are graphic that I reserve, but on the emotional side of things it helps people. I’m happy to be able to communicate with people who have gone through it - it makes me feel good as well. Yesterday I had a podcast interview and we were talking about my mom and the whole process of her passing away. I said something and he responded in this metaphorical sentence and he started tearing up and eventually he confessed to me that his dad was in the process of passing away. Then it got really emotional and I started crying. It was this whole emotional thing that I hope will be edited out. Sometimes it can be hard to talk about, but I think it’s important”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nelson Huang

Working my way to her work now, it is prudent to look at the remarkable E.P., Conexão. One of the tracks from it, Love Me Right, is among my favourite Amber Mark moments. I think, with everything she releases, you get an insight into her life and soul. That may sound obvious – don’t all songwriters do that?! -, but there is something particularly powerful when you hear Amber Mark sing. The Line of Best Fit spotlighted her in 2019, where she discussed the extraordinary Conexão:

“In 2018, Amber released Conexão, a magnetic four-track EP that recounts a relationship from first bloom to wilt. It graduated from the themes of her first record, exploring a different relationship under her carefully detailed eye. The personal nuances of “Love Me Right”, so intimate yet universal, told the story of one of Amber's romantic relationship in its fading moments, where everything started to crumble and the pieces wouldn’t fit back together. “I really thought at the time that I wouldn’t experience that feeling of such intense love after my mom passed away...” Amber admits. “But then I came to the realisation that I would experience it again; it would come and be just as intense, but in a different form, a new shape.”

Conexão shifted her perspective of what love was in a world without her mother, and she found the heartbreak, the romance and spirituality of best translated through her music. “Even towards the end, when [my partner and I] were really fighting a lot, I would never really talk about it because I felt embarrassed. I felt like a failure.” Music was, for a young woman struggling to come to terms with romantic loss, her form of therapy. “It felt like I was understanding what I was doing and dealing with it, and letting go. It definitely felt like a relief.” After the relationship ended, those lessons she learned in her therapy sessions came into play. By the time she reached the final track of the EP, “All The Work”, she wrote about confidently rejecting an ex who'd crawled back to her after he saw she was prospering. “At the time you really think that you can’t experience something better than that. Going through all of those things helps you to learn and grow and understand yourself and come closer to internal happiness”

I just mentioned the song, Love Me Right. VICE spoke with Amber Mark in 2019. Aside from touching on some of the songs, we discover how Mark discarded some songs for Conexão, as they were not deep enough for what she wanted to convey:

“Soon she’s talking about moving home every few years as a child with her nomadic mother, relocating everywhere from Germany to India, Nepal and Miami before going to high school in New York. This global attitude permeates the songs on both 3:33AM and Conexão. The former was indebted to India and house music. The latter widens its scope, vibing with Brazilian bossa nova and loungey R&B. “I'm glad you caught the Latin stuff,” she says. “I studied a lot from bossa nova, and I used to listen to it a lot as a kid because my mum would play it. I even wanted to learn Portuguese in high school so I could sing in it.” Rather than pilfering samples and cultural musical signifiers, you can tell that Amber delves the sonic histories she’s exploring. That use of bossa nova, for example, isn’t an aesthetic lunge into the Latin explosion in the Top 40—instead, it feels nuanced, careful.

 You hear Amber deploy the genre’s emotional arsenal on something like title track “Conexão.” It’s a song all about intimacy that exudes the rhythmic sensuality and longing of bossa nova pioneer and founding father João Gilberto, as well as his and his daughter Bebel, both of whom were huge influences on the record. And then there’s a thrumming cover of Sade’s “Love Is Stronger Than Pride”, which began life as a gift for her sister and that slots gently into the EP’s ‘boy problems’ story arc. Sade herself co-signed Amber’s version: “I got an email with a note from her saying, 'Wishing you all the success. I love what you've done with the song,’” she gushes. “That was some life goals.”

Coming out from under the dark subject matter of 3:33AM wasn’t easy, though. Amber struggled to match the emotional levity of writing about the loss of a parent, with Conexão. “I was just throwing songs away because they weren't deep enough or good enough,” she accepts. “I wanted it to be bigger. Eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that, after writing for a few months, nothing was ever going to be more meaningful than that EP. It had to do with losing my mother. I just realize that nothing, emotionally, will ever top that first record. And I think nothing should, really”.

I am staying with Conexão a bit longer, as it is her only E.P. To me, one of her most important releases. DIY conducted an interview in 2018. We got some more detail behind a remarkable E.P. One thing that I wondered when listening to the E.P. is whether it was hard to write so honestly and emotionally following 2017’s 3:33am:

“And your new EP ‘Conexão’ is out now - how long has it been in the works?

It's probably been finished for about a month and a half.

And it’s a relief to have it out there, we assume…

Yes, absolutely. One of the songs is really old, so it's great to have that out finally. I'm really nervous for people to hear it, but excited too.

Did everything come together quite easily in the writing process?

It was a little hard at the beginning. I put out [debut EP] '3.33 AM' and that was so meaningful, and I felt like I needed to put something out next that was even more meaningful, and more emotional, so I spent a couple of months really struggling with that, and getting frustrated with myself. Then I had this epiphany, and came to the conclusion that nothing is ever going to compare to what '3.33' meant to me, because of what the subject was, and I came to terms with that and let that all go.

I just started writing what I was feeling. I was kind of against that too though, because, as it turned out, it was about love. I don't really like to talk about that! I was quite hesitant doing that. But people have really appreciated my music because of how honest I was with my feelings, so I ended up just writing about it. I tried to make it as non-cheesy as possible though!

With such honest, experience-driven writing, was it ever a worry after ‘3.33’ that the well might run dry

Oh it was definitely a worry! I'm writing about my life, and I did stop and think 'Oh, what if there's nothing interesting to write about?'. I feel like, especially when with '3.33 AM', I had a few years of processing before writing it all down, with 'Conexao' it's just been one year of writing. I had some more time to experience life. I'm kind of a dramatic person, so there's always drama in my life! I try and spin it positively though! I don't think I will ever run dry, but the fear is real”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Eric White

It must have been different writing on Conexão, compared to her amazing mini-album. In an interview with office, Amber Mark explained how the process was different working on the E.P. and the mini-album:

“Your new EP Conexão is great. What was the recording and production process like? I was delightfully surprised to hear that you produce your own music. 

Yes, same thing for this one. I didn’t mix it or anything like that. I record vocals in my room with a USB mic, so we re-recorded some of the vocals that were clipping. But other than that, the production has all been kept the same and then mixed with an actual professional who knows what they’re doing, and then mastered by somebody else. The production, melody, and all the writing was done by me. 

How was this process different from the 3:33AM EP? Did it feel more put together? 

No [laughter]. I think it’s less put together, honestly. For my previous EP, I had such a set idea on what I wanted to write about, and it was also a three year process that included everything I’ve gone through and stuff like that. So I kind of had three years to think about it, whereas for this I had one year. I think I also stressed myself out and gave myself a lot of anxiety because I was like, “Okay, Amber, you need to make something that’s better than what you previously did, it needs to have more meaning…”  

So I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I realized that nothing is going to top the 3:33AM EP in terms of meaning because it deals with the loss of my mother. So then I let go of all that pressure and started just writing about what I was going through, and it ended up being very romantic.

Did clubbing influence the EP at all?

I didn’t really touch on that on this one, but I do want to write more about fun and not-as-serious things. I’m always like, “This is very meaningful, blah blah blah.” But again, this one is kind of more dramatic. For me, it’s harder to write about happy things than sad things. I want to challenge myself and write about going out and getting wasted [laughter]. It was hard for me to write this EP because I feel like love songs and stuff like that can always be really cheesy, and it has to be done right. I was very hesitant to put all this stuff out because I’m talking about love and being in a relationship, and I find that to be a little cheesy at times. It definitely took some balls to put this out there”.

Many might assume that Amber Mark writes a lot with others and there is a host of producers. A lot of artists do work this way, bit it might not surprise many to know that she writes and produces a lot alone. Going back to the VICE interview, Mark talks about music as being like therapy. She revealed why it can be preferable and less stressful working on her own:

“Still, when Amber found herself writing a bunch of songs about her relationships she recoiled slightly. “I'm very against talking about love. I mean, it was what wanted to be writing about internally, but my mind was like, ‘Ugh, this is so cheesy.’ It really took a lot for me to accept it, but I wanted to be honest with myself.” In person, you can practically see how she toys with those sides of herself. One-on-one she’s shy and a little nervous, laughing awkwardly and often a bit unsure whether her answers to my questions are right. She’s engaged with our chat, but I can see her eyes every so often darting back outside to take in London’s drabness; it’s like she’d rather be sat alone with her coffee to soak it all in.

 This behavior manifests itself in how she makes music, too. Rather than team with numerous songwriters and producers, Amber works in her bedroom, isolating herself. It’s partly, she admits, a defensive strategy to avoid embarrassment—it’s where she feels most comfortable. “If I'm alone, I don't care about fucking up because no one is listening. I can do a hundred takes, get it the way I want to and not feel like people don't think I'm good enough,” she says. “I get so insecure about studio sessions. I am doing more of them and the reason is because there are so many people I want to work with or that I dream of working with. I don't want to walk into sessions feeling like I'm going to throw up.”

Amber’s proclivity for self-doubt is not rare among artists; they can often drown in their own insecurities. She shares how she had to check herself when she feared that people might accuse her of using her mother’s death as a selling point. She also negates her clear talent for producing and songwriting by suggesting that she doesn’t “approach things in the normal or right way”. Her art is just her “messing around” with a computer. Talk about downplaying things”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jack McKain

Amber Mark is an incredible producer in her own right. Bringing in this interview, I was curious to know how she reacted to a question about her being among a wave of impressive female producers. As someone who have travelled a lot and been to numerous countries, it is only natural that some of the sounds from those nations worked their way into her music:

“Amber, I’m such a fan of your music. Sade was a staple in my house growing up, and your interpretation of “Love Is Stronger Than Pride” is so beautiful. There is so much strength in your work. Knowing that female producers are such a small minority, I was really excited to learn that you are part of this new wave of female artists who not only write their tracks but also produce them – and you were nominated for a Grammy this year as an engineer! What is your process and are there other musicians or producers you would love to work with?

It starts with me normally on my keyboard, sometimes I start with a drumbeat or something like that. Then, when I have a foundation of a production down, I’ll sing into a microphone. Then I’ll figure out what I want the melody to be like, whether it sounds like a verse or a chorus and then I’ll write lyrics to that. Sometimes I have an idea of a subject I wanna talk about so I’ll try and make a song based around what I’m trying to sing about. I’ve already worked with him but I always want to work with my friend Gabriel [Garzón-Montano], he’s like a genius to me. Big artists, Q-tip would be one, producer-wise it would Timbaland, that would be amazing. On an artists side, there’s so many!

“You describe your music as having ‘worldly accents,’ and your sister calls it ‘Tribal Soul.’ Listening, there is such a sense of your inner, personal world, as if each song is an opportunity for you to metabolise your experiences. At the same time, musical influences from around the world can be heard, creating this borderless appeal. Having grown up in Europe and Asia, and now living in New York, is this worldly expression as personal as it is universal?

[In “Love Me Right”] I was dealing with an ex and he wasn’t listening to me, so I figured I’d just sing about it. It’s been a little hard recently, I don’t know why. 3:33am is a lot about my mom and dealing with stages of grief. She was German but India was her home, and she would have spent most of her life there so I really try to incorporate sounds and samples from the music there. If I’m going through something [writing is] so easy and it flows very nicely”.

I think one of the coolest things about the Conexão E.P. is that Amber Mark has a cover of Sade’s Love Is Stronger Than Pride on it. Coming back to the Pitchfork interview from earlier on, the British music legend gave her sign-off for Mark to add her stamp to a classic track:

“After being offered too-slick tracks to sing over early in her career, Mark now largely writes and produces all of her own music. Though she does manage a cover on her upcoming EP, Conexão, where she reinterprets Sade’s “Love Is Stronger Than Pride.” After Mark wrote Sade a letter seeking her approval to release the cover, the soul icon offered her blessing, apparently knowing a torchbearer when she hears one. Mark’s ability to craft powerful, gentle songs of love and mourning in the style of the mighty Sade is clear on her own songs, too. Conexão’s lead single, “Love Me Right” is a simmering anthem loosely based in R&B, but with hints of smooth jazz, soul, samba, and pop. “Why won’t you realize you’ve gotta love me right, baby?” she sings to end the chorus, her voice ducking down deep for that last word, pressing the knife in deep on her accusation, but doing it with tenderness”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Rachel Cabbit

Prior to coming to my thoughts about Softly, NME interviewed Amber Mark about a debut album that so many people are excited to hear. I am definitely among that group! Mark, among other things, talked about how the pandemic affected the album’s progress:

“A “really intense Bee Gees phase” has inspired her album

One of the songs on Mark’s new LP was inspired by her listening to disco kings the Bee Gees on repeat. “I went through a really intense Bee Gees phase last year,” Mark admits. “[On] one of the songs I wrote last year, ‘What It Is’, all of the harmonies were heavily inspired by [the Bee Gees]. I love doing harmonies, so I’ll try and put in as many as I possibly can on any song, but that song was definitely very heavily inspired by the Bee Gees.”

Other musical influences on the record include Sade, A Tribe Called Quest, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire, as well as German-Indian musician Prem Joshua. “I look to [Joshua] at all times, any time I’m writing. He was really popular when I was a kid living in India with my mum… and when I was starting to write I really looked to him for inspiration.”

The pandemic afforded Mark extra time to work on her LP

“I was ready to put out the album last year,” says Mark. “We were about to shoot videos throughout the summer and start doing the rollout, and then everything was put on pause because of COVID.”

As a “side project” Mark spent her time instead making beats and posting them on social media, explaining: “It really allowed me to let go of trying to have so much meaning behind everything I put out.”

 But in letting go of this pressure, she conversely realised that she did, in fact, want her album to have a set meaning. Mark then honed in on making sure that her album took its listener on a journey as she herself started to ask the big questions: what is the meaning of life? Why is there so much suffering in the world? “[The album] expanded in terms of what I was thinking about, really. I started implementing [these themes] into the album,” she explains now.

Mark ended up rearranging the record “so that it’s telling a story of my life, and all these questions I’ve started asking myself”. These changes also saw four extra songs being added to the tracklist, with Mark revealing: “I don’t even know what my album would be if it wasn’t for the songs that were added.”

Creating a five-part visual anthology to accompany the album allowed Mark to live out her sci-fi dreams

Mark’s debut will be accompanied by a series of music videos, with chapter one being the lush visuals for her recent single ‘Foreign Things’ which Mark co-directed alongside her pal Satya Zoa.

“This visual side to [the album] is me pleasing my sci-fi nerdy self, and all the dreams of putting myself in those worlds. And because there is a storyline to this album… I think people will understand it more because of the visuals,” Mark says. “I always love when visuals have Easter eggs, and you get to play detective with certain things.

“It’s me being excited to direct, make visuals and make this storyline, and make me look like a Marvel character or bend water”.

I am going to move onto the song review now. Softly is one of her most gorgeous and memorable cuts. Directed by Anima Works, the video is filled with beautiful images and colours! It is a lush and stunning thing! The dreamy composition and tenderly-plucked strings put me in mind of classic R&B tracks from the 1990s (I got embers and suggestions of Brandy & Monica’s The Boy is Mine). Mark’s voice is strong and resilient as she delivers words that made me wonder. It seems like, in the first phase, she is getting attention from someone who she has affection for. That said, there is a sense of certain things needing to be sorted out and put in place. Some compromise needed: “I'm sensin' heavenly tension/You're sendin' that type of message/Oh, I want it bad/But I've got requests for you/So tell me, baby, what you're gonna do”. Amber Mark is breathy and passionate as she delivers her words. Whereas the first lines were backed with what sounded like a harp and a feeling more luscious, the beat sharpens and there is something tighter and more focused as Amber Mark seductively enquires: “Tell me, what's your plan here?/Whisper in my ear/Touch me right there/So soft like cashmere/Know you want it bad (bad)/'Cause, baby, it ain't really up to you, oh, you”. In the video, we see Mark looking dreamy and alluring as she beckons a potential lover in. I am not sure if there is someone particular in her mind. Not having a subject in the video leaves it open as to who she might be referring to.

It is hard not to be impacted and seduced listening to Amber Mark sing these words and watching her in the video! Softly is a song that mixes in R&B with something more exotic and Bossa Nova-inspired. Mark rides the beat as the song gets sexier and sweatier: “You got to love me sweetly/Ooh, boy, you've got to please me/Softly, squeeze me/You can't forget to treat me right/If you do, then maybe I just might/Let you come over and stay the night”. There is that call for respect from her. If they treat her right and there is that appreciation, then maybe they will be rewarded. I like how Mark does tease and there is this allure…yet she is not going to submit or surrender. She is a woman who wants to be given her dues; that man has to be decent and honourable. There is a contrast between Mark wanted something and someone romantic. On the other hand, she is someone who also can get rawer: “Out here like "Hey, what's up?”/'Tis the season of cuff, yeah, yeah/And I need that gushy stuff/Give me a love so soft, la-la/And I'll give it to you rough/All of your dreams in one go, la-la/But you gotta prove yourself/I'm right here, what's good? What's up?/I'm right here, what's good? What's up?”. At the heart of everything is this need for sweetness and tenderness. Riding a funky wave and beat, Amber Mark is beckoning and calling out. It makes me wonder whether this person she is talking about has been in her life a while, or if they are a new attraction. It would be hard to resist her call: “Softly speakin' (softly)/Ask me about my feelings/I'm your genie/Rub me down, oh, so sweetly (if you do now, baby)/If you do then, maybe, I just might/Make my way down to your thighs, oh yeah”. An amazing and hypotonic taste of the forthcoming Three Dimensions Deep, Softly is one of Amber Mark’s sexiest and most memorable tracks. I really love the video and the fact it is her at the centre. She holds your attention and hooks you in. In terms of the song, there is a mix of R&B, Bossa Nova and something more akin to Reggae. It is a wonderful blend that will stay in your head! Softly will definitely build anticipation and excitement for Three Dimensions Deep. This is an album that, I think, will be among…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Nicky Riley Bentham

THE best of 2022.

___________

Follow Amber Mark

TRACK REVIEW: Snail Mail - Mia

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Snail Mail

PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Salacuse 

Mia

 

 

9.8/10

 

 

The track, Mia, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx4vvTgsbuI

  The album, Valentine, is available here:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/snail-mail/valentine

ORIGIN:

Maryland, U.S.A.

RELEASE DATE:

5th November, 2021

GENRE:

Indie-Rock

PRODUCERS:

Brad Cook/Snail Mail

LABEL:

Matador

__________

ONE of the best albums of this year…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Audrey Melton

came out on Friday. Snail Mail’s Valentine is s superb album from Lindsey Jordan. I am going to come to a review of a song from that album very soon. Prior to that, there are some interviews I want to bring in, as Snail Mail’s Jordan is a compelling artist who warrants closer inspection. The first interview is from The New York Times. We discover when Snail Mail (I shall refer to her as such now, rather than Lindsey Jordan) was struck and compelled by music:  

“Ms. Jordan has been playing guitar for 13 years, making her the odd woman out in her nonmusical, but very supportive, family. Her mother, who shares Ms. Jordan’s fascination with fashion, owns a lingerie store called Bra-la-la; her father works for a company that provides textbooks and curriculum for home-school programs; and her older sister is an outdoorswoman. But the artists her mother listened to (Coldplay, the Fray, Lifehouse) and her sister favored (angsty, harder-edged Warped Tour bands) shaped Ms. Jordan’s earliest musical memories. Until she heard Paramore, she said, “I actually didn’t know women were allowed in bands.”

She asked for a guitar when she was 5 and started classical training, forcing herself to practice two hours a day. “It’s an obsessive personality trait,” she said. “My parents were never like, ‘Go practice.’ I was just like, ‘I have to practice.’” She brought a similarly fervent work ethic to ice hockey, which she played through high school.

PHOTO CREDIT: Rinse Fokkema

When Ms. Jordan started attending a rock ’n’ roll camp, her passion became a competition, dulling her interest. “I was like, oh, now I have to learn ‘Cliffs of Dover,’” she said, referring to the Eric Johnson noodle-a-thon often heard in the aisles of Guitar Center. At 9, she began playing at sports bars in her parents’ friends’ cover band, the Eight Balls. Around 11, her spark for the guitar returned in earnest, and she starting writing songs, emailing the owners of restaurants and coffee shops to book her own sets. Then she discovered the D.I.Y. punk scene and didn’t want to play coffee shops anymore.

Precocious and social, Ms. Jordan had a wide network outside of school. Another local musician encouraged her to perform at Unregistered Nurse, a Baltimore punk festival, and before long she was sharing the same stage as Screaming Females and Sheer Mag, recording an EP with the Washington band Priests and building buzz. “Habit,” six loose, lo-fi songs released in 2016, included “Slug,” an especially astute meditation on helplessness and identity that empathizes with the garden mollusk. (Snail Mail is now a trio that includes Alex Bass on bass and Ray Brown on drums.)”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Salacuse

Her debut album, Lush, was released in 2018. Prior to that, she released the E.P., Habit (which came out in 2016). DIY caught up with Snail Mail early in 2018. They talked to her about the upcoming debut album. At that point, the album was untitled. Little did we know that we were going to get this remarkable debut from the Maryland-born artist:

“Some of the songs are aggressively sad, and others are just…shrug emoji,” she laughs through a yawn - which she immediately apologises for - speaking of her upcoming full-length record, her first on Matador and the follow-up to 2016 EP ‘Habit’.

Written over a number of years, and tracking the teenage years of the now-19 year-old, the as-yet-untitled record predictably travels through many transitional states, and it’s self-described as a bit of an emotional mess. “It’s really noticeable,” the singer begins, the day before her debut UK show, playing solo at the capital’s Lexington. “It’s written across a very transformative time in my life, and there’s a lot of different viewpoints, be it on relationships, or whatever’s going on in my life. The writing process started out being a very pathetic ‘Why don’t you love me?!’ but got to the point where it was more ‘Love me or not, I’m a busy, independent person’,” she continues, letting out another giggle.

“I guess it's necessary to develop your feelings on things, but the record is gonna come out and everyone's gonna think 'well, how do you feel about these things?' Every single song is a completely different stage of my life”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Benedict Evans

One of the biggest and most important steps in Snail Mails career was when she signed to Matador. At that point, Snail Mail were a three-piece band - Lindsey Jordan – vocals, guitar, Ray Brown – drums, Alex Bass – bass -, but the music and sound was synonymous with the Jordan. On Valentine, she is even more at the centre and fore. When promoting Lush, Vice chatted with the lead about their career arc and getting to the stage of putting out a much-anticipated album:  

“There are lots of ways that I could introduce this interview with Lindsey Jordan, who leads the indie rock band Snail Mail. I could say that Lindsey Jordan is an 18-year-old musical prodigy from Ellicott City, Maryland, USA. Or I could tell you that Lindsey Jordan is blazing a trail for young women in music. But if I went with either of those things, I think I would be doing Lindsey Jordan a disservice. Not because they aren’t true—they very much are—but just because they feel like lazy ways to describe someone so interesting. So instead, I will simply say this: Lindsey Jordan is fucking cool.

In 2016, her name started appearing in the blogosphere’s general consciousness when she released the six-track EP Habit with Snail Mail, the band for which she’s been the frontperson and primary songwriter since she was 15. Habit is, by anyone’s admission, a striking piece of work: candidly emotional, with a propensity for analysing short moments in time, and endowing them with a sometimes crushing wider significance. On “Slug,” she turns spotting a slug in her garden into a meditation on her own feeling of stillness; on the standout “Thinning” (below), she makes losing weight due to illness a metaphor for her emotional state. It’s all hemmed in by Lindsey’s obvious ear for melody and gritty voice, while her technical proficiency as a guitarist and songwriter is balanced out by a fuzzy, lo-fi sensibility. It rules.

Fast-forward to now, and Snail Mail are signed to Matador Records. They’ve also recorded their debut album, which I am, after speaking to Lindsey, loudly confident will be some of the most exciting guitar music to emerge in quite a while (if the skills she displays on Habit and, later, on an Audiotree session are anything to go on). We met downstairs at venue and bar The Lexington in north London, when, hiding her blonde hair beneath a black baseball cap (which I later notice is emblazoned with the words “Sea Lice,” and therefore recognize as merch from the recent joint tour by her fellow shredders Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett), she plonked down in front of me in a booth. Later that evening, she’d play her first UK show upstairs—a stripped-down solo set—to rapturous reception from a crowd who clearly view her as the most holy future of rock music. I don’t think they’re wrong”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Grayson Vaughan

At the time of 2018, of course there was a lot of interest around Snail Mail’s lead. Lindsey Jordan was part of a wave of strong and compelling women – that also included Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. Going back to that Vice interview, Snail Mail was asked about releasing an album as part of this scene of inspiring young women coming through:

“Noisey: Hey Lindsey. Let’s get to it: the way I see it, you’re part of a wave of young female songwriters-guitarists on the rise now—Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, Sophie [Allison, of Soccer Mommy]. How does it feel to be making a record in the midst of that?

Lindsey: It’s weird because my band are all guys. And I know for a fact that like, most of the bands that we’re playing with are men. But it’s interesting because I know we’re in that wave of women playing music but it still feels like I’m surrounded by men all the time. And it’s out there, but it hasn’t really come to me that much. But it’s so sick to be surrounded by, and it’s totally inspirational, and most of my friends are women in bands and it’s fucking awesome. I think that we’re on an upward slope, but we’re not there yet.

I think a lot of the issues for women in music come from all sides, including critics. Do you find you get pigeonholed?

Yeah I get pigeonholed, and just a lot of attention, I think, because I’m a woman. Which sucks because though a lot of my favourite guitarists are women—like Marnie Stern and Mary Timony and stuff—also a lot of them are men. A lot of my inspirations and friends are men. So it is great to represent women in music, but also it sucks to not necessarily always be grouped with male guitar players—Kurt Vile and Steve Gunn and Mark Kozelek, all these fucking shredders. It would be cool to be grouped in with them more too. But at the same time I’m so glad that we have all these women coming to the forefront. It’s sweet. And people should care! But I wish they cared because everyone was a good guitar player, not because they’re women”.

I was interested knowing more about the voice behind Snail Mail and her musical inspirations. When listening to the music, one might pick up on a few names (some artists that the band/Jordan draws from). NME spoke with our heroine last month about musicians that she connected with when she was younger:

“Jordan doesn’t remember seeing many indie musicians she related to in childhood or adolescence. She was a huge fan of Warped Tour staples and pop-punk bands like All Time Low, but the genre also seemed dominated by “straight white men”. But seeing Paramore live, fronted by Hayley Williams, was a lightbulb moment.

“I distinctly remember thinking: that’s so cool!” she enthuses. “After that I was like, I love Paramore, and I still love Paramore that much,” she adds. “I went through a really big phase with ‘After Laughter’ when that came out – I have full trust in that woman. I remember discovering [2009 album] ‘Actor’ by St. Vincent, and being like, this is fucking cool. I also remember being 13 or 14 when [Lana Del Rey’s] ‘Born To Die’ came out, and I was obsessed.” Jordan laughs: “I was like, ‘Have you guys heard this woman invented music?’”

Another of Jordan’s idols is Chicago legend Liz Phair, whose 1993 debut album ‘Exile In Guyville’ thrust her into the spotlight overnight following its release. Though they only rehearsed together a couple of times, Jordan was once in a tribute band called Lizard Phair, and the pair finally met for the first time three years ago. When I spoke with Phair earlier this year, shortly before she released her first album in a decade, she told me that her return was directly inspired by witnessing a new generation of inventive indie-rock largely led by women and queer musicians.

“I would go so far as to say they pulled me out of retirement,” Phair said. “This group of young women just made it feel like the music business should’ve been when I was coming up. To have supportive, understanding, like-minded people would’ve made a huge difference. I feel like I’ve lived my entire career on the defensive – all the time”.

One interesting aspect I came across when researching was the relationship Snail Mail’s fans have with the songs. The Cut highlighted Snail Mail in 2018. It is curious learning of her reaction to the way in which some fans latch onto and become almost obsessed with certain songs:  

“Even when an artist exerts as much control as Jordan does in the studio, she still can’t determine the intense way fans will latch onto them. She shrugs: “I guess there’s space between me and what I’m writing about that kind of allows for people to add their own context.” She says it with a nonchalance, like the space means she doesn’t care. But it seems that part of her discomfort with people filling up her music with their own context is that she isn’t quite done feeling it yet herself. In every one of her songs, there’s a moment where her voice kind of catches and she sounds like she might cry. She grabs her guitar and plays me some of the moments — on “Pristine,” it’s when she hits the pre-outro and wails, “Out of everyone / who is your type of girl?”

“I have days where I don’t feel like I can get through a certain song,” she says. “They are so heavy and refine such true, up-close things. Sometimes we just won’t play a song, because I’m like, I can’t, and other times when I’m playing it, I’m like” — here she inhales sharply and closes her eyes, as if she’s just barely holding it together”.

There are a few things that I want to cross off of the list before I get to a review. Snail Mail moved to New York last year. I think that artists relocating can impact their lyrics and the way they work. NME’s interview covered how Snail Mail moved to New York. It is interesting seeing how the city differs to her hometown back in Ellicott City:

“In December last year, Lindsey Jordan moved into her own place in New York’s East Village – behind her, a handful of posters pepper the walls, and guitars line the path to the kitchen. When ‘Valentine’ comes out in November, the musician is treating herself to a new rug, and has been learning to cook – lately, she’s mastered steak, gnocchi, and a series of air-fried goods. And for a good chunk of last year, she was in her childhood home, spending lockdown at her parents’ back in Baltimore. While there, she enjoyed the relative anonymity of her hometown.

“People in Ellicott City leave me alone more than any place,” she says, “I don’t feel like there are a lot of indie rock listeners around. I’m good, I’m chill. I feel like it’s a lot more hectic in New York”.

Sticking with the NME interview, and one thing I have not raised so far is Jordan’s (I should actually refer to her by name when talking about this subject) addiction issues and her time in rehab. It is something that is worth reading about when we think about her path to now. There is a lyric from Ben Franklin – a single from Valentine – that refers to her time in rehab:

“When I left rehab, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to talk about this, and there’s no way I’m going to write about it, ’cause it’s nobody’s business,” Jordan says today, “but when I was writing that song… I was like, I don’t really want to write about crushing sadness in a melodramatic way like I usually do. I want to talk about things in a way that’s almost casually throwing some crazy shit out into the mix. I was sitting there with my notebook, and I was like, ‘I’m going to do it.’ At the time, I still didn’t have most of the album so I was like: ‘That’s future me’s problem’.”

Present-day Jordan, she admits, has been struggling with talking about that lyric in particular as she values keeping healthy boundaries: “My life got really complicated and hard within the last year or two, and being like ‘Here it all is for everyone to have an opinion on’ became less of an option for me. ‘Here it all is’ means something different for me now. It means, ‘Here’s what I’m willing to give, and the rest is for me and my personal life. Otherwise I’m gonna feel like a performing clown who’s naked. I want to come home to stuff that other people don’t have access to.

“It’s hard. A lot of people in my life are like, ‘Oh, you did that – you put that in the song, huh?’ It’s not necessarily something I want to advertise about myself, but I kind of just… couldn’t really help it. It was such a monumental thing for me, and such a monumental switch-around. My personality is different now, for better in a lot of ways, but also… that kind of thing is its own trauma, you know? It’s really life-altering and I couldn’t ignore how that affected my music and me, and how I think about things.”

When Jordan needed to take some time to focus on her mental health, her team took it “really seriously”, and she backs the idea of labels actively pointing artists towards the specific resources and organisations out there who can help”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Benedict Evans

One can tell how there has been a development of the Snail Mail sound. More expansive and emotionally different to Lush, Valentine is a revelation! If you have not heard the album, I can thoroughly recommend it. Pitchfork interviewed Snail Mail about Valentine. We get to discover how there is a poignancy that runs through the music of Snail Mail/Valentine:

“Produced by Jordan and indie vet Brad Cook, the new record pushes beyond the wistful rock of her 2018 debut, Lush. The first half of Valentine, Jordan explains, is “almost fun,” led by the title track, a soaring guitar anthem in the lineage of her faves Paramore. Side A also includes “Forever (Sailing),” a hallucinogenic ballad that could slip into a bizarro yacht-rock compilation and “Ben Franklin,” a surprisingly synth-forward track about trying to feign apathy in the face of breakup. When asked about that song’s blasé lines like, “Got money, I don’t care about sex,” Jordan explains with a chuckle that they are purely aspirational: “I really wish I could be that character, but I’m not.”

The album’s second half is “when the party’s over and I’m drunk and alone,” as envisioned quite literally on the last-call rocker “Automate.” As Valentine winds down, Jordan begins to realize that chaining yourself to love comes at a dark price, and there isn’t much fulfillment to be found in the scenes of excess depicted on the slinky “Madonna” and escapist fantasy “Glory.” But all the while, Jordan’s self-awareness is as sharp as ever. “Doesn’t obsession just become me?” she asks at one point on the album, poking fun at her readiness to dive headfirst into a relationship. “I’m the least apathetic person in the world,” Jordan says. “It’s almost a joke.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Emma Swann 

As her music suggests, Jordan is an expressive person. She speaks with a throaty drawl, throwing in the occasional “dude” or “sick” for emphasis. Later, as we cruise around the nearby Tompkins Square Park, she practically does an entire reenactment of a recent encounter with her favorite Instagram-famous dog, Bertram the Pomeranian: With a green juice in one hand and a black coffee in the other, Jordan pantomimes her excitement over spotting the dog and then her melodramatic, wilted dejection as he trotted away. Apparently, on that particular day, Bertram was a busy boy and could not stop for an adoring fan. (But the dog gods were on her side: The day after our interview, Jordan ran into Bertram again; this time, plenty of pets ensued.)

For all of her youthful exuberance, there is also a poignant seriousness to Jordan and her music. On Valentine, she sings of seeking refuge in substances and a stint in rehab. When I bring up the topic, the color drains from Jordan’s face as her voice stiffens and she retreats within herself. For the only time all afternoon, she starts to stumble over her words and asks if we can take a break. As hurricane clouds gather in the distance outside her apartment, Jordan politely declines to get into some specifics of her experience but doesn’t shut down. Talking about why she decided to sing about rehab on the album at all, she puts it simply, “I’m already sort of naked so I might as well get completely naked, because the truth is going to come out eventually”.

I will stay with Valentine and how there has been this improvement and maturation. The Forty-Five spotlighted Snail Mail recently. With the passing of time and more experiences under her belt, it is inevitable that Valentine would be a richer and wiser record (compared to Lush):

“Now at 22 – older, wiser, and a few more heartbreaks down – things are different. For one, Jordan’s lyrics are even more deeply considered and she scatters female pronouns throughout ‘Valentine’ (“she kissed like she meant it”), now unafraid of people knowing she’s gay, but the bigger platform also presents fresh challenges: “There’s always a fear that people will know; that the person you’re singing about is going to be like, ‘hold up!’ Sometimes you have to weigh up: is it the art or the personal life?”

“It’s kind of unfair to everyone else because I get the final say! Sometimes having the final say isn’t even appropriate. Sometimes it’s not warranted or necessary or cute. I want to be respectful to my subjects and keep people in my life so songwriting is always a decision-making process.” With increased scrutiny comes increased responsibility.

For Jordan, the difference between the two albums is one of emotional maturity as well as musical maturity – a metaphorical and literal leap from kid to adult, documented in the public eye. It’s become a choice of when not to confess.

“As a person, it’s really hard for me to not put it all out there all the time. Obviously, that’s great – sincerity is cool, you know – but I also think my perspective on love has changed so much. It’s much less romantic now that I’m experiencing healthy love in my life. It’d be weird if I was 30 and still singing, ‘I’ll never love anyone else,’ but at the same time, I still have a good amount of that inside.”

When committed to music, that good amount of unabashed romanticism still hits like before – “The first time I met you I knew then / That afterwards there’d be no in between,” Jordan croons on the delicately plucked acoustic track ‘Light Blue’, written for an ex-girlfriend who broke up with her the next day. “It’s okay,” she says, abiding by the cardinal rule of queerness. “We’re still friends”.

Prior to addressing a song from Valentine that I especially love, I want to focus on the lyrical themes of the album. That brings me back to the Pitchfork interview. Alongside something more light-hearted are songs and lines that address death and spirituality:

“There are a few really heavy moments on the album, like on “Headlock” when you sing, “Thought I’d see her when I died/Filled the bath up with warm water/Nothing on the other side.” Can you tell me more about those lines?

I’m a deeply sensitive person, and the idea of going all the way down into the pitch darkness and messing with those possibilities is liberating. To be able to talk about it and come out the other side is, to me, the ultimate form of recovery and growth. So that song let me go as dark as I possibly could so I could come out on the other side.

Your lyrics feel so intentional. I particularly love the moment on “Madonna” where you sing, “I consecrate my life to kneeling at your altar/My second sin of seven being: wanting more.” That’s a mouthful! How intensely do you finesse your writing?

I edit my lyrics over and over until I’m 100 percent sure that everything feels right. It’s perfectionism, in a pull-my-hair-out type of way. On this album, it was really important to me that certain lines hit in certain places in the song. If something repeats, it’s absolutely for a reason—like on “Automate,” when I say, “I’m like your dog” twice.

All of the vocal deliveries are super intentional too. There’s certain parts that when you sing them soft, it hurts more, or things that when you sing them with projection or a little more rasp, it’s emotional in a different way. It’s theatrical as hell.

“Madonna” also contains a lot of references to religion. Are you a spiritual person?

My family weren’t extremely devout Catholics, but we went to church most Sundays when I was growing up. My parents wanted to instill those morals in me. As complicated as it has made some things, I’m also grateful for that education”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Lavine

The last thing that I want to cover before doing a song review takes me to an interview with NYLON. They spoke with Snail Mail about promoting the new album. It must have been hard getting back into promotional mode during a pandemic. They asked why there has been a bit of a delay getting Valentine out:

“Have you felt pressure to get back to posting regularly on social media because you have the new album to promote?

It's like a never-ending conversation, whether I should be posting it today. And I think I'm pushed towards only posting when it's necessary, or like if I'm really feeling myself in a picture or something. Having nothing but social media to be out and about during the last year I felt a little over-exposed and over-saturated with Snail Mail content, even though there was none.

I was so about it, and then I just took a step back and realized that there is an unconscious need to be all over the internet and stuff. It's almost a marketing [tactic], Instagram and stuff like that. I started to realize that forming connections that way with fans and stuff, it's just a performance connection. And I just said, "F*ck that, it's weird." If I'm going to connect with people on any level, I would rather feel like it's genuine. Not to be like, "We live in a society" but we are in a weirder position, societally, than I think anybody even realizes. Like, when you take a step back, it's like all faking showing our real selves on the internet, to get people to feel close to us. It's kind of manipulative.

 You finished the album way back in February, but it’s just now coming out. What was that waiting period like for you?

I heard whispers of there only being one vinyl plant in the entire world left, and so like, it's like a line that you have to wait in to get your stuff pressed. That’s the real reason. But It's been nice to have time to get my sh*t together. Sometimes you turn something in, and then you have to churn it out. Having that time was ultimately a good thing, because I really do feel like in order to do a record cycle, your sh*t just has to be unbelievably together. I don't think you can be struggling with anything, really.

How does that mindset apply to tour? Are you looking forward to it?

I'm really excited. we're really tight as a unit right now. We've been practicing for months, and months, and months for sessions and stuff that we've got to do. We have a bus now, which is really cool. It’s just a bigger production. there's more band members, there's a big crew. I haven't felt like myself in that way in such a long time, and I'm really excited to see how different it'll be from the last tour. I’m a lot more responsible.

Do you think all this want for bigger production and the like come from the want to show people you’re no longer that teenager they first were introduced to?

There is something so fun about being a teenagerr. I had this attitude that I was like, "Look at all these label people, look at all these business people. Who cares, I'm going to get super drunk at the company party." And now, to not look at a hot mess, to not be drunk at the company party…. I definitely am not jumping at any opportunities that make me look immature, to not look messy. It's so weird how it shifts”

 PHOTO CREDIT: Benedict Evans

Mia is a song that I wanted to highlight, as it is very lush, beautiful and memorable. One of the standout cuts from Valentine, it showcases the rich and emotive vocals of Lindsey Jordan. The lyrics are among the most affecting on Valentine. The first verse is performed so softly and beautifully: “Isn't it strange the way it's just over?/No late night calls/You're not here to walk me to my door/Now I just love you more/Mia, don't cry, I love you forever/But I gotta grow up now/No, I can't keep holding onto you anymore/Mia, I'm still yours”. I wonder whether Mia is the name of our heroine’s lover. It seems like there is a lot of pure affection and adoration coming from the song. Clearly someone who has made a huge impression on the songwriter, one can hear and feel the sense of entrance and affection that emanates from the delicate guitar strings. We get shimmering and evocative strings that stir the senses and add a sense of rapture and lust to the song. As a songwriter and observer of love and its intricacies and complexities, there are few as accomplished as Snail Mail. My favourite passage came in the form of these lines: “Lost love so strange/And heaven's not real, babe/But I wish that I/Could lay down next to you”. At every stage of Mia, one imagines Snail Mail’s remarkable lead closing her eyes and imagining the scenes that she is singing. So powerful and moving is the song, it is small wonder what many people highlighted the song as a standout from Valentine. It is incredibly inspired and compelling. The sound of the composition and the vocal almost reminded me of Jazz icons from the 1950s and 1960s. The likes of Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, perhaps. Reminiscent of one of those classic standards, Mia is a song one can – and willingly does – lose themselves in.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Salacuse

Bringing together everything I have highlighted and talked about so far, I notice the evolution from Lush and how the music and production has grown stronger and more amazing. I feel the lyrics are also more striking and outstanding. Mixing poetry and something directly personal and urgent, there is so much to adore about Mia. The words provoke images and get into the heart: “Fixing your hair on the way to his place off of Broadway and 9th/If you're waking up slow together/And talking through the night/I'll bet he feels so fucking light”. So elegant, graceful and sophisticated, I love how there is this feeling of the classic, vintage and otherworldly about Mia. I think that the strings combining and entwining with the vocal is the strongest part of the song. The strings emphasise the lyrics and add layers and new elements. I have listened to Mia a few times now. It is a track that becomes more astonishing and moving every time you hear it! The vocal is such a beautiful thing. Full of such meaning and nuance, it is one of these songs that will be heard years later and admired! One gem from an album full of them, I really love Mia. It is a gorgeous thing indeed! A simply wonderful and transfixing song from one of the greatest artists in the world.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Tina Tyrell/Press

To round off, I want to come back to the interview from The Forty-Five that I sourced earlier. Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan is a creative and visionary artist whose videos especially are incredibly memorable and original. She is a phenomenal artist who, no doubt, is inspiring so many others:

“Her most challenging moments in the producer’s seat came on ‘Forever (Sailing)’, a yacht rock track that’s easily the most dramatic musical departure from her previous work. When we call it our favourite on the record, it earns a fist pump from Jordan – “taste!” It was “a bitch to make”, with Brad letting her take the reins after he cut a sample of an old disco track, ‘You and I’, which was suitably also “a bitch to get cleared”. After some claustrophobic moments battling with melodies and time signatures, she finished the song alone in her Manhattan apartment. She’s not sure where the instincts to make yacht rock came from but she revels in the comparisons: “Papa music! It’s a fatherly riff,” she pauses to imitate a guitar groove. “It’s like ‘Lady in Red’.”

Elsewhere, Jordan rode that wave of initiative through to her music videos, channelling her love of horror and queer cinema to the visual concept for lead single ‘Valentine’. From casting to costuming, Jordan found another collaborative partnership with director Josh Coll. The video begins with a blossoming queer love between a lady and chambermaid and ends with a scorned lover’s murderous rampage, stopping only to gorge on a decadent cake. In her very own Gone Girl moment, Jordan finds herself drenched in corn-syrup blood that her stylist had to scrub off with an exfoliation glove between scenes, but the two-day shoot for ‘Valentine’ wasn’t all blood, sweat and tears”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Josefina Santos for Rolling Stone

Just before closing, Rolling Stone gave us a glimpse of the Snail Mail lead in their interview. Down to earth, stylish and growing in confidence, we will see this amazing artist grow and produce some more truly amazing work:

“Jordan, who performs as Snail Mail, takes good care of these deep indigo jeans — later, she’ll stop in her tracks to trickle water on her knee after spilling some coffee. Clutching a black backpack and wearing a lavender sweater with white-and-brown Celine loafers, she looks like an impossibly fashionable middle schooler on a field trip. Even her lace face mask, which she got from her mother’s bra store in Maryland, wins her compliments from the museum guards. “I don’t know why it’s so addicting, getting nice clothes,” she says. “It’s the ultimate cure-all.”

Jordan works with a stylist these days to craft a precise look to get across the feeling she wants in each photo shoot or music video. Take the title track for her upcoming album, Valentine. It’s a blazing rocker fueled by heartbreak and betrayal, sung with a furious new vocal power; in the video, she wears a Regency-style suit while savagely murdering an ex’s new lover and stuffing her face with cake. “I wanted to match the intensity of the song,” she explains. “I had a really good time wearing that outfit, sauntering around”.

Go and listen to Valentine and experience an album that highlights the incredible talent of Snail Mail. A tremendous artist that is among the very best in the world, Valentine is surely one of this year’s best albums. Do go and hear the album if you have not done already. The music has got stronger and more amazing since the early days. After touring and promotional work, I guess Snail Mail will start work on a third studio album. Given the quality of Valentine, it will be…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Tina Tyrell

THRILLING to see what comes next.

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Follow Snail Mail

TRACK REVIEW: Joy Crookes - Trouble

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Joy Crookes

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PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Fieber 

Trouble

 

 

9.7/10

 

 

The track, Trouble, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjKP5VfPkR0

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The album, Skin, is available here:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/joy-crookes/skin

ORIGIN:

London, U.K.

RELEASE DATE:

15th October, 2021

LABELS:

Insanity/Speakerbox/Sony

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IN this review…

I get to spotlight and investigate a fantastic young talent. Joy Crookes is someone who I have been following for a little while. Yesterday, Crookes did an in-store at Resident in Brighton, and everyone was queuing to get (her) records signed. They were eager to chat with her. It is a sign of her popularity and musical power that there is such love and demand for her! I am going to work my way up to details about her new, just-released debut album, Skin. I have selected a track from it to review. There is a lot to uncover and explore regarding Joy Crookes. There is an interview from GQ from earlier this year where Crookes is asked (among other questions) a couple of interesting things:

“The first time you realised you wanted to be a musician…

Never. I don’t think I ever had that moment. This was like a slippery accident. You can’t be what you can’t see and the closest person I looked like on TV was Pocahontas. Maybe I could find some representation in MIA, but I just didn’t think music was a job. I didn’t have music in my family. My grandma was in the choir at church, but that was the closest thing I had. As much as I’m creative, I’m also very pragmatic and my thoughts were that this wasn’t really a thing that people did.

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 How do you earn money from that? There was that classic immigrant mentality of “How am I going to make this work?” I worked part time and then, slowly, it became clear that that was something I could potentially do. I left school at 16 and that might have been the first time when I thought, “I’m going to give this a shot.” I think that also relates to the immigrant mentality, because when you get an opportunity, you’re like, “I’m going to try it, because if I don’t, I might regret it. I have to try my best.” My alternative plan was to study history at university.

The first record you ever bought…

I think the first record I ever bought was Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. I was really obsessed with HMV. As much as I’ve grown up with phones, I was still the generation that [would] go and buy physical CDs. So I used to be at HMV every week on a Wednesday and I think that was when my genuine interest in music was rife. My dad used to take me there from when I was really, really young and we just used to go in and talk with the people that worked there. I remember when James Blake’s album first came out and they were like, “Oh, I’m not sure about his voice.” I was like, “You’re dumb. He’s going to be amazing! Watch when he becomes huge”.

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I want to spend some time Crookes’ early career and her young exposure to music. ACCLAIM highlighted Crookes as an exciting rising talent recently. She was bitten by the music bug at a really young age it seems:

“When your mum left the house as a kid, you used to play guitar and write songs. What do you think originally pushed you to pick up that guitar when your mum was out?

Curiosity, I think, and boredom. There wasn’t much thought behind it. It was just like here’s another thing I could do. Let me just give it a go.

How did your career start building, did you start posting on Soundcloud?
It was Youtube, I did covers and then I did my own songs here and there between the covers, and then one of the covers did semi-well and I got management through that, and then I would be posting on Soundcloud and stuff and then yeah, it was just a really slow-burning process from there.

Do you remember the first songs you wrote or do you try and forget?
No, I remember a lot of them. I wrote one when I was 12 about clouds being a metaphor for depression and when the clouds cleared up so did my brain.

Your family seems to play a huge role in your music. What did they think when you started pursuing it?
I guess they were like me, they didn’t understand how it was a job, which is understandable cause I don’t come from a background, in the sense, that none of my family were in particularly creative roles so, you know, it was like, “but how does 1 + 1 equal 2?” kind of mentality. Which I understand, cause if I had a child I’d be the exact same. So it wasn’t that they weren’t supportive but I think they were just quite sceptical”.

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If you need any proof that Crookes has exploded onto the scene and already has been taken to heart, DIY interviewed the rising star earlier this month. Even though she has gained popularity and is celebrated, Crookes has not compromised her vision when it comes to her debut album, Skin:

“Since the release of her debut single ‘New Manhattan’, then aged just 17, South Londoner Joy Crookes has been adhering to the mantra that slow and steady really does win the race. Nominated for the BRITs Rising Star Award in 2019, she’s sold out multiple shows across the UK and Europe, played Glastonbury and drip-fed a trio of EPs. Only now, however, is the 22-year-old readying the biggest step of all.

“All those notable achievements gave me imposter syndrome. I was so grateful, of course - but I don’t rely on external validation. It’s just not who I am,” she explains. “If anything, it makes me go the other way and go, ‘Fuck - now, we need something else out of me!’ That terrifies me.”

However, daunting as the prospect may have been, Joy has stuck to her guns, taking the time to fully flesh out narratives for this month’s debut album ‘Skin’. It’s a record that sees the singer tackle heartbreak, self-identity and the pains of growing up with an astonishing vulnerability. Full of openness and depth, ‘Skin’ brims with nostalgia, but delivers it in a manner that feels deeply personal - often to a point that’s almost too close to the bone, such as on the sensitive ‘To Lose Someone’ or opener ‘I Don’t Mind’.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Fieber 

“It’s funny, because though lots of thinking goes into the music and lyrics, it’s just as important not to think,” Joy considers. “That’s where the nostalgia comes from - when I’m writing lyrics and I’m not thinking, it’s my subconscious doing [the talking]. The best thing it can do is flow.”

It’s an unassuming way of describing her process, but there’s evidently far more going on here than merely channelling the vibes. Her journey has been a constant evolution of self-understanding, of slowly piecing herself together. “Actually, none of this has anything to do with music - it’s to do with myself and my own healing. I think naturally, that just kind of seeped into my music because I was taking such a personal angle on everything,” she says thoughtfully. “The feeling of longing is something that I’ve always meddled with. Because of my mixed identity and heritage, but also the people I’m attracted to, and growing up in South London - an environment where suffering was such a normal thing. And I think because my life has always been a little bit polarising in places, nostalgia is something that gives me a home when I have nothing else to hold on to”.

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Whilst her musical tastes are important when it comes to Crookes, her heritage and background is also vital. South London is particularly instrumental regarding Crookes’ passion and sound. This subject was discussed in an interview with CLASH a couple of months ago:

“Joy is a South Londoner of Bangladeshi and Irish heritage, and this inevitably influences her sound and the nature of the storytelling throughout her music. You can hear numerous musical influences in her debut, from Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald to Amy Winehouse and Solange, but the album also contains a multitude of personal touches, and a very distinct sense of place that puts further emphasis on this theme of identity.

“London is always a backdrop for me because it's my home. I grew up with Portuguese people, with Caribbean people and people from West Africa – with people from all over the world. And you become a sponge, because you are just constantly surrounded by people from across the world.”

The album is a clear expression of all the things Joy grew up around and so London, in a way, becomes a character in itself, highlighting her innate interest in people and their stories. “Things that seem very normal to you like taking your shoes off when you enter an auntie's house might be very alien to someone in a different part of the world. But you pick up these gestures, you pick up these expressions, you pick up a way of living and a way of carrying yourself that just becomes your identity”.

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 PHOTO CREDIT: Maya Wanelik

The nature and importance of Crookes’ heritage is something that I want to stay on for now. Going back to the ACCLAIM interview, Crookes addressed her heritage. She stated why, when people ask whether her heritage influenced her music, grates. Whilst her upbringing and heritage is in her music and it is clearly at the forefront, it does not really influence her songwriting and individual songs:

“You portray your heritage either subtly or very explicitly within your music and your videos. I’m Islander, and Australian so I feel like I know what it’s like to be pigeonholed. When a publication or a platform describes you by your heritage, say Bangladeshi-Irish Londoner, how do you feel about those labels? Are there pros and cons to that?

I think it depends on the context, I mean like, I think naturally, it’s more “exotic” and “weird”, a weird mix or a country you’ve never heard of, or this and that and the other, and in that it’s annoying cause it’s like, “well actually as much as we’re called ethnic minorities we are just a global majority”, so all of you just need to have some geography lessons, even myself included clearly, but I think that the thing that pisses me off the most probably is when people ask me “How my heritage has influenced my music?” cause it’s a bit like asking me how my breakfast on the morning of writing ‘Poison’ influenced writing ‘Poison’. How the fuck am I meant to make that link, I have no idea. I’ve been this person, I can’t step back from my body. And also that question, when was Eric Clapton ever asked how has your Englishness influenced your music apart from being slightly problematic at times. I just think it’s a really non-specific question and I think that happens to me because I am someone who is of heritage – it just feels like a massive jump, it feels like I’d need six hours to answer a question like that”.

The last interview that I want to source regarding Crookes’ heritage is from Vogue. She explained how her Irish and Bangladeshi culture is incorporated into her music. There is a marked contrast between how each is represented and utilised:

“It just makes me, doesn’t it? My dual identity reflects more about me as an artist. I grew up with so many different cultures and influences around me, but it’s not as if I play the fiddle and sitar in my songs. Irish people have a real way with words, we have incredible writers like Oscar Wilde, Paddy Kavanagh, Van Morrison. Then Bangladeshi culture is different – the way we style our hair, the way we present ourselves, our mannerisms. Sure, it would be easy for me to do lots of Indian scales – they do after all, influence jazz – but I’m more about my lyrics.”

The lyrics are unapologetic and as she describes, “mad honest”. “It’s a personal challenge – I don’t do it for anyone but myself. I put a lot of pressure on myself to reveal so much. But there are some songs that reveal things to me. For example, I wrote “Don’t Let Me Down” in 10 minutes. I had the chorus in my head and the verses spilled out and then I understood things about my relationship with my ex that I didn’t when we were together,” she explained.

Though her lyrics are emotive and deep, they are also brilliantly cheeky, capturing the British wit that helped Lily Allen make her name. A powerful example being a line in "Power", where she sings: "You’re a man on a mission, but you seem to forget, you came here through a woman – show some fucking respect." Genius.

Joy dares to bare her most vulnerable self in her latest single, “Since I Left You". She revealed, “I had broken up with someone who I was with for the majority of my teens. A week after, I shot off to Bangladesh for the first time in six years, and I was extremely hurt and in a place that made me feel vulnerable, because it’s home – where my mum and ancestors are from. The video is actually based off a genuine photo that was taken in my great grandma’s village in Bangladesh – the washing line, my hair, which is a nod to my culture, how my brother was sitting. My mum walked onto set and started crying. My great grandfather is actually buried next to where the photo was taken”.

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 PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Fieber

One subject that I wanted to mention was anxiety and how, for artists like Crookes, the past year or so has been especially tough. For those who live with anxiety, it has been a struggle. Coming back to the CLASH interview, Crookes revealed how she coped with anxiety and managed to channel some of it into something productive:

“I really severely suffer from anxiety,” Joy Crookes tells me over Zoom as we chat about the tumultuous events of the past year. “It's always been something I've had and I have my coping mechanisms but obviously I didn't have a coping mechanism for a fucking pandemic because I didn't know there was going to be a fucking pandemic!”

The past year has undeniably contributed to a collective rise in levels of anxiety, with isolation and feelings of uncertainty impacting even the most calm and confident of spirits. For Joy, 2020 offered a rare opportunity to stop, reflect and progress her own creativity, but it was also a natural catalyst for those intrusive thoughts. “The thing about me is that I'm very solutions-based,” she says. “In order for me to tackle my anxiety, I need discipline. I need routine and regimen and I almost act like I'm at a boarding school but I am the headmaster as well as the student.”

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 To manage and control those anxious feelings, Joy committed to keeping a diary throughout lockdown, where she logged everything from waking up and exercising to seeing friends and sitting down at the piano. “Because if I didn't do that,” she adds, “I physically wouldn't think I had done anything and then that would spiral my anxiety into thinking I was useless and I was lazy and I was all these things that I love to call myself in my head. I knew exactly what I was doing with my days and it felt like I had control in a time where literally the whole world lost control.”

Despite her refreshing honesty about the effects of the pandemic on her own mental health, Joy also believes that it’s been a hugely transitional year, both musically and personally. She was nominated for the Brits’ Rising Star award last year and placed fourth in BBC’s Sound Of 2020 poll, both of which hint at what’s to come for the young singer-songwriter. She’s now readying herself for the release of her debut album, which is due later this year, and is a remarkable body of work from someone that is skilled as a vocalist and musician and has a profound lyricism that displays both vulnerability and maturity.

“I think the main statement of the album is that I just want to be me,” Joy explains. “The album is about identity, and it is as specific and as complex as that. So some of the stories are informed by people that I'm very close to in my life, and some of the stories are informed by my own experience. There's a longing and there's a bittersweet nature in the album. And there's celebration, and there's reality. It's a lived experience, it's my reality, and it's my identity. And it's me performing my identity”.

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Joy Crookes is an artist who brings the subject of mental-health into her music. As someone who lives with anxiety, she finds it important to represent her experiences honestly. Whilst her lyrics are raw and affecting, she is also keen to expound self-care and how vital that is. In a Hotpress interview back in 2019, the topic of mental-health arose:

“Her take-no-prisoners perspective is underpinned by often hard-hitting lyrics and sultry-yet-forceful vocals. “It comes from personal experience. I don’t sit down and go ‘I’m gonna write this political song so I seem political’. I write it because I care about something. And if something has affected me, or hurt me, or hurt a best friend, or I just don’t agree on how people are treating other people, it really comes from just a place of care.”

For the London-based singer, self-care is also extremely important. The taboo around mental health, she says, is damaging to those who are suffering.

“Don’t be afraid to talk about it,” she advises. “Don’t be afraid to feel like you’re different. It’s actually a power, more than it is a weakness. You feel more. You experience more. You’re more intelligent. And if you’re suffering, seek advice.”

As for herself, Crookes explains that addressing her mental health through music has been a cathartic experience. Much of her recent songwriting has had an introspective focus centred not only around emotional well-being but also her relationship, her home, and the interactions she has on a daily basis.

“I’m not afraid to be vulnerable. And that’s empowering in itself, too,” she asserts. “So, fuck it to people who think that being vulnerable is a bad thing. It’s a great thing, it’s very empowering.”

Taking musical inspiration from everyone from Little Simz, Tierra Whack, and BenjiFlow to The Clash and Gregory Isaacs, Crookes’s music lands on a unique island of soulful sound, influenced by R&B and hip hop and strengthened by her powerful lyricism”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Carlotta Guerra

This brings me to Crookes’ Skin. It is an amazing album that will rank alongside the finest of this year. The reviews so far have been incredibly powerful and positive. Coming back to the DIY interview, we get an idea of the sonic blends and inspirations that go into a stunning debut album:

“'Skin’ is a record that blends this core of introspection with a timeless, jazz-infused vocal. It’s also one that gets by with a little help from its friends, recording at the legendary Abbey Road with production from Blue May (Kano, Shygirl) and Stint (NAO, MØ), and collaborating with Matt Maltese for a title track co-write. “I always wanted to have a certain quality of sound with this album, and I was working with someone [Blue] who is incredible and facilitated my madness. So, when we wanted strings, we both said it must happen at Abbey Road!” she laughs. “There was a slight level of ridiculousness that we tried to go for and were allowed to go for, so we took advantage of that. And that over-ambitiousness actually ended up being achievable.”

The result is a mesmerising soundscape of soul and jazz, with a palpable orchestral atmosphere that rubs up alongside Joy’s old-school inspirations, from Young Marble Giants to Nina Simone. It’s an eclectic melting pot of everything that’s at the centre of the 22-year-old’s curious and music obsessed sonic world.

At the centre, though, remains Joy, who speaks humbly and with generosity about the process that’s led to her long-awaited first record. “I think I come across as self-assured because I'm a DIY person; if I can't find someone else to do it, I'll do it myself. But for the first time, I found a family and a community who helped me feel safer - especially when I was going into my brain demons. They believed in me and came together to create this thing,” she says. “More importantly, I fucking stuck by myself when I needed it the most. And then I had my first album in my hands! The only way to describe the feeling of that is the biggest amount of euphoria. It was the first time I ever felt proud”.

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 PHOTO CREDIT: Charlotte Hadden for The New York Times

I want to source heavily from a BRICKS interview. They highlight tracks, and we get to learn more about the themes behind them. I especially like what Crookes said about nostalgia and what it means to her:

“Nostalgia is a theme to varying degrees throughout the album. In ‘When You Were Mine’ you say: “I don’t miss you, it’s not that way / but somebody better want me like that someday” which to me completely sums up the Catch 22 of nostalgia as a concept. It’s like, by virtue, you know that specific person and circumstance wouldn’t work if it were transposed onto today, but you also long for replication of that experience, in this instance that nostalgic love. How much do you feel nostalgia plays a part in the album?

I think I spend 96% of my life reminiscing. Nostalgia is… it’s what we said earlier, it’s a longing to belong, right? I feel like that’s just my kind of sandwich. That’s who I am. My memory is ridiculous; I can go to places I went to when I was eight or nine and remember streets and where the library is and this, that and the other. I think it’s just fundamentally a part of my blood to be nostalgic, and to long for something because I actually get a lot of kick out of longing for things. Maybe that’s quite a Bollywood part of me, I don’t know.”

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 You also play with scale and habitat in a way that makes it distinctly personal to you. Yes, there are plenty of references to London, but it’s not about London, it’s about the significant minutiae within the city attached to your memories that have embossed themselves on your mind, and that do the same to the listener. It’s almost like a scrapbook tour of Joy’s nostalgic London: the 19th floor of the tower, or the bakery table with the “plate of cupcakes to sugarcoat the aftertaste” in ‘Unlearn You’. What was behind the decision to zoom in and out so much throughout the album?

It’s as you said. It’s all those really small things. ‘Unlearn You’ is about my experience with assault and abuse. It’s one of the hardest songs I’ve ever written; I find it hard to talk about my experience with my past in general, so I challenged myself with writing a song about it. What I do as a human being is I deflect, so my way of deflection actually is that I will sugar coat, no pun intended, a story with “Oh and this was the colour of the cupcake” and “this is what they were doing and this is what they were wearing”, to almost push away from having to admit what I am about to say or get into the core of it. The core of that song is “I wanna unlearn you from my body”, but how did I start on cupcakes? I think it’s a deflection mechanism, and also it’s just the way that I speak as a human being. Being Irish, and Bangladeshi too, we tell stories with every fucking detail before we actually get to the point, so I think that that’s just what I’ve done, but I’ve used London as those stories.

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 Despite the vulnerability of the album, you also don’t suffer fools easily in it, and you don’t shy away from challenging the cast of characters we discussed earlier to have more integrity and honesty, especially relating to men. The album kicks off with “You wanted my body not my mind / not just your lover for Friday night” in ‘I Don’t Mind’ and ends on a rallying cry: “You came here through a woman, show some fucking respect. We’re your bitches we’re your hoes, we’re the people and we know, all we want to do is be accepted but we don’t,” before you finish with “You’ve got nothing on me.” Was it significant for you, aside from showing your vulnerability, to have moments of strength and power on the album?

Definitely, because it’s how I am. I am foul-mouthed and dirty-minded, I am all these things but I am also incredibly passionate and deep and love human beings, so I think that was naturally going to be the case. But I do love the statement of intent by starting the album with “You wanted my body not my mind” and ending with ‘Power’ – with the last song almost being a bonus track which has also got funny lyrics like “mattress surfing” and “bound to no beds”. It’s like, you know what, I am going to make mistakes and fundamentally, at the end of the day, I am just going to be a human being. It brings everything back to square one. My favourite people in the whole world – the artists I look up to, be that songwriters or even painters – they’re real-ass people that are kind of shit at times and do shitty things and make mistakes that I think the general human being would make. I’m obsessed with knowing that, whatever I go through as a human on a day to day basis, the people that I look up to go through the same thing too. Like Frida Kahlo, people put her on such a pedestal but she was a bit of an asshole at times, and had affairs and had a foul mouth. She wasn’t the capitalist version everyone’s made her now.

Do you think there is a sense of the political within your introspection too?

I think the political side of the album varies between the obviously political and the personal political. [The content of ‘Unlearn You’] for example is something that unfortunately so many people have to go through inside as opposed to being able to be out about it. You could almost argue that a majority of the songs have that slight political skew. I think for me to be able to be a Brown woman who speaks so openly about my sexuality, and be like, ‘well I don’t want this to be a future ting, I am also just enjoying this casual sex’ – that can also be political too”.

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 PHOTO CREDIT: Elliott Morgan

Sticking with the Bricks interview, the vocals and production were introduced. The vocals are stunning and hugely memorable. The production sound is broad and seems to change between songs. It means Skin is an album that has different shades and personalities:

“Your vocals across the album are timeless in a way that the great vocalists are. In the same way that the album gives us a journey of your life up until now, your voice also carries history in it, alluding to the Nina Simones and the Ella Fitzgeralds while also kind of announcing yourself as the heir to their throne. While you were making the album, did you listen to and try to take inspiration from the great singers in the musical canon?

Not just while making the album, but when I was making myself too. The great female, Black jazz singers are my biggest inspirations because of their unapologetic and fearless voices on and off stage. I get compared to Amy [Winehouse] a lot and that’s a lovely and a great compliment, but my narrative is not anything like Amy’s narrative. My narrative is more similar to those Black women that founded Jazz because they’re talking about their skin, they’re talking about certain topics that fundamentally are not part of Amy’s experience necessarily. I am not saying my experience is the same as the greats – but that I have more of a shared experience with them than Amy. That’s not to take any credit away from Amy – it’s just something that can annoy me sometimes because it’s definitely those women like Nina [Simone], like Ella [Fitzgerald], like Sarah Vaughn that give me that… fire. I’ve been watching their old videos since I was 14, so it’s a part of my makeup.

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PHOTO CREDIT: ASOS x Nike 

The production is versatile throughout the album; at some points it’s very maximalist and it almost sounds like there’s a whole live band behind you, and at others, it’s pared-back so it’s just your voice acapella. The result is very experiential – almost like being plunged into a sort of whirlpool. I remember going to Houston a few years ago for Solange’s album launch and, in the Q+A afterwards, she expressed frustration at being referred to as a singer when, in actual fact, she had spent hours on end trying to find the perfect drum sample for a song, or the perfect strings. I know you had a strong hand in the album’s production, and I wondered whether you ever experienced a similar annoyance at being labelled as a singer when, in actual fact, the way you express yourself in your music is so much more than just that?

It’s a bit of an ‘is the Pope Catholic?’ situation, you know? I hate proving myself, but also it makes me feel like my dick grows bigger when people find out. I am completely on Solange’s side, that’s why I love Solange. Her entire musicality is her, her entire vision is her, her entire brand is her and it’s the same with me. I’m across everything to the point that I was there doing the mastering for the album. Also, funnily enough, I am credited as the co-executive producer on the album. So, it’s fucking lit, you know?”.

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 PHOTO CREDIT: George Voronov

Prior to coming to a song from Skin that I want to spend some time with, I will stick on lyrical themes a bit longer. Race and politics are covered strikingly and memorably on songs through the album. In this interview, we learn about the way in which Crookes discusses politics and race – one of Skin’s finest tracks, Feet Don’t Fail Me Now, is particularly stirring and timely:  

“Like her heroes, her most condemning songs have been the ones to win her widespread acclaim, such as rhythmic, Motown-esque anthem “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now”, a critique of social media activism amid the Black Lives Matter protests last year. “The beauty about a song is you can immortalise that moment in time,” she says. “I was having conversations with my friends who were traumatised at the time and I was thinking, how do I be the best ally but also how do I make sure that I'm not making anything necessarily about me? How am I making sure that I'm using empathy as a fuel to fight and also, why the fuck is this person from my school pretending that they care when I know full well that something dodgy or racist would have happened to me in front of this person? Everyone is guilty of it, and there are times where I definitely haven't said things and plenty of times that I should have. I think that if you grew up in the UK, you're racist, whether you want to agree with it or not. You grew up with the British curriculum. We just have to admit – before we make any progress – we're all shit, and be okay with making mistakes”.

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 Also on the album is “Kingdom”, her biting track written and uploaded straight to Instagram in reaction to the last general election, with lyrics denouncing her perceived bleakness of the future: “No such thing as a Kingdom when tomorrow's done for the children.” When I bring up the motive for the creation of the song, she is impassioned and furious, like so many others. “I think it’s just fucked up because it's been, what, 12 years of Tory austerity? It's got to end at some point. But at the same time, the reality of it ending is…” she pauses, trying to gather her words. “No one fucking likes Keir Starmer. There's no opposition. For me, it really feels like there's no hope. Like I really can't keep relying on Stormzy to be sending Black people to Oxford.” She turns to her friend, who is sitting next to her offscreen, and incredulous laughter erupts from them both as Joy positions herself next to a window to smoke a rolled cigarette.“Why is Stormzy doing the work? Is that not fucking insane – and Marcus Rashford? That in our country, with one of the highest GDPs in the world and crazy rates of poverty at the very same time – you're telling me that footballers and rappers are feeding kids and sending kids to school? That is an indication of a fucked country”.

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I want to select the song, Trouble, for special consideration. This is a song that has two different phases at the start. In the intro, we hear a voice: “Trouble’s the same as, same as/Trouble’s the same as mine, as mine”. It is quite a lo-fi vocal and sparse sound that then leads into the first chorus. The sound is fuller, and the vocal is warmer and faster. Crookes’ performance in the chorus is expressive, beautiful and soulful. She is someone who has aspects of her musical heroines in the blend - though she has her distinct sound and style that means her music is so instantly memorable and appealing. I love the lyrics in the chorus: “You’re all that I need/But we break every time/Birds of feather fly together/Your trouble’s the same as mine/You’re all that I need (Need)/But we break every time (Every time)/Birds of feather fly together/Your trouble’s the same as mine”. It seems that, if the lyrics relate to a relationship, it is one that has been fairly tumultuous and up and down. The two, it seems, share one another’s troubles. There is an intensity, yet there is also passion, tenderness and understanding. I really like the first verse and how there is this great sound. The drums sort of trip and roll like a Trip-Hop/Jazz track. It is a great percussive sound that is accompanied by some deep-sounding brass. Crookes’ vocal is typically soulful and rich. She brings so much life and potency to the words. One is helpless but be caught up: “You have me love with difficulty/It’s in the ringtone when you call me/When we go, it’s like tsunami/Runnin’ your mouth with that malarkey/Well let me take the lead and I’ll show/I’m Villanelle to your Sandra Oh/It’s only for the drama I know/Bitter to sweet the way that we flow/So I play for your reaction/Then you throw your cheap distraction/Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah/Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah”.

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The sense of personality and originality in the lyrics is another distinct aspect of Crookes’ music. She is someone who writes in her own way and one cannot compare to other artists. The roll, funkiness and swagger of the composition takes us into the chorus. With a catchy and compelling composition that will get under the skin and stay in the head, the chorus the second time around seems to have more meaning and backstory. The second verse is assuredly compelling and filled with excellent lyrics: “Bass turn up, can’t hear what we say/Speakers are talking maybe we can tolerate/Cut deep when we play/You’re at your best when I’m in my worst way/Heat’s rising, stay silent/Can we stop trouble mining/We act like the wildest/Really we’re the same, don’t know why we try to hide it”. Listening to Crookes deliver her words, one can hear bits of Reggae, Jazz, R&B, Dancehall and Rap. It is a wonderful and heady brew that makes Trouble such an intriguing and hugely nuanced song. The chorus mantra and message is repeated as we head towards the end of the song. The more that I listen to Trouble, the more that I get from it. At first listen, I was hooked by the composition and all the sounds in the mix. Going back, it was Crookes’ vocal and lyrics prowess that struck me hardest. One can hear many examples through Skin of songs that have these layers and impact one in different ways. Trouble is my favourite song from the album, and it is a prime example of Joy Crookes’ talent and huge promise.

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Before finishing up, I am going back to the Refinery29 interview. Even at such a young age, Crookes is a voice of her generation:

“It’s the telling name of the debut album from the 23-year-old musician. A triumphant body of work, it delves into the very DNA of the artist: her lived experiences as a woman but also as a south Londoner with Irish-Bangladeshi heritage, and as a young person living in the UK, working in the music industry.

“Biologically and scientifically your skin is one of the strongest organs in your body,” she continues. “But socially and externally, your identity is something that can be used against you. I like that juxtaposition between strong and weak, and it’s something that I grapple with a lot on the album.”

Tender and soulful, Joy’s music feels like an intimate conversation between friends at that hazy point of the night that meets the morning, where words are hushed and impassioned and the floor is an open forum for honesty. Through her vulnerable storytelling she offers a nuanced exploration of her multiracial identity, while observing 21st century anxieties and issues, which in a year like the one we’ve just had, is affirming.

It’s no surprise that she has garnered a steadfast fanbase. With just one album under the belt, she is a speakerphone for generational discontent and, whether or not people want to admit it, the face of what Britain looks like now. In between taking to the stage at The BRITs in a lehenga (a traditional Indian garment), singing about mental health, abuses of power and casual sex, and even penning a scathing song the day after the Conservative party won the last general election, her music is positioned to engage in the world around and galvanise”.

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Staying with this interview, Crookes was asked about the future. There will be a lot of eyes on her as she has released such an impressive debut album:

“She hasn’t started working on new music yet but has been into “writing ideas and stuff”, namely covering songs again, almost a return to her YouTube roots. She tells me that the night before our conversation, she was playing around with an old country song called “Neon Moon” by Brooks & Dunn, which has since been covered by Kacey Musgraves and Cigarettes After Sex. Billie Holiday’s “You Go To My Head” has also had the Joy treatment. When I ask her if she would ever make country music, she tells me she would never write it off. “What it always comes down to is if the song is good,” she confirms.

Joy Crookes is poised to be the voice of a generation. It’s evident the music and the messages spill out of her as a matter of urgency – and whether she’s up for the job, there’s no doubt about it. “I just really like the idea of longevity. And I'd like my music to get more unapologetic.” She pauses in thought. “There are people that make honest music for this generation, it's just few and far between. And I think it's really important for me to take that position. Because of the person I am”.

I am going to end there. Go and buy Skin if you can. As she found out in Brighton yesterday evening, there is a lot of love out there from fans! She is an artist who has captured critical ears and public fandom very quickly. I know that Joy Crookes will continue to make great music and grow even stronger as an artist. Crookes is also an exceptional live performer. If you get the opportunity and she is playing near you soon, then go on and…

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CATCH her when you can.

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