This week, we’re channelling pop perfection, indie pop, pop punk…pop galore!
BY ELEANOR NOYCE, IMAGES VIA ITUNES, ANITA MCANDREW, ISAAC LAMB, KELSI LUCK, LEWIS VORN
Now then, how are we all feeling after that week of heat? Parched for more tunes, we’ll bet! This week, we’ve got a spot of Tiiva, Mabel, Pixey and more for you. Enjoy!
Tiiva – Losing U
Fresh from artist and producer Tiiva, Losing U is a liberating anthem for fans of Charli XCX, fka twigs and James Blake. Unique to the core, this track channels a unique sound, bringing the listener through dark times to a cathartic feeling of happiness. On the track, they state: “Losing u is about loss and identity in queer relationships, the cracks and flaws that we see in ourselves being drawn out and exposed under the light of vulnerability. I wrote this in a small dark room late at night, a stream of self uncovering and cigarettes when everything felt hopeless, it’s always hard to say the words when there’s the chaos of change and perpetual recovery that we hope will come in time. I wrote this about hope and hopelessness, an honest letter with my pride on the floor.”
Mabel – About Last Night
Pop perfection at its finest, Mabel returns with another floor-filling album. These tracks were written as the world entered lockdown back in 2020, narrating those romantic elements of everyday life that we quickly came to miss during isolation in About Last Night. Documenting the small details of nights out from getting ready with friends to stumbling home at 5am, this track in particular will make you long for an evening with your gal pals. Mabel herself has noted that, whilst producing this album, she was influenced by the likes of Paris Is Burning, Pose and RuPaul’s Drag Race, all of which she obsessively binged during lockdown. That sounds queer as hell!
Pixey – Recycled Paper Planes
Liverpool-based Pixey’s debut mini-album, Dreams, Pains & Paper Planes arrives in September via Chess Club Records. For now, we’ve been treated to Recycled Paper Planes, a bold track treated to a world premiere on Clara Amfo’s Future Sounds on BBC Radio 1. The song itself was written and recorded in one day in Pixey’s bedroom, channelling 90s-inspired rhythms and dream pop. On its meaning, she reveals: “‘Recycled Paper Planes’ is a track I wrote, recorded and produced in one day in my bedroom. The whole thing flowed so quickly – I started with the bass line and quickly wrote the corresponding guitar parts. The song is about everybody trying to relive & recreate other people’s dreams, that nothing is ever really original. We’re all just a recycled, repackaged version of the past trying to make a living.”
Rose Gray – Synchronicity
Brit pop babe Rose Gray dropped her new EP Synchronicity a couple of weeks ago, but we still can’t stop listening. Her track Cupid – which delightfully premiered on the same day – is described by Rose as “Carry On meets Barberella meets the Spice Girls”, which sounds utterly camp. “The EP is my favourite body of work to date. I feel I’ve found a world to place myself in. A sound. It’s ethereal, it’s ravey, there’s breakbeat, house and electronic bliss. There’s a little something for every moment of a night. Sunset to rise. Synchronicity has been inspired by some of my favourite nights out in New York and London town”, Rose reveals, going on to thank her mum’s record collection largely comprised of “late 90s Madonna, Slow-era Kylie and Balearic trip hop records like Morcheeba and Air.”
Pale Waves – The Hard Way
Ahead of Mancunian indies turned pop punks Pale Waves’ new album, Unwanted, this week the four-piece released The Hard Way. Described as one of their most “candid and sentimental” tracks to date, this track opens up about lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie’s battle with loss and the accompanying grief and guilt combined. “When I was in high school a girl who was being bullied took her own life,” Heather states. “I got on the bus with her every single morning and I would see her sitting in her same spot. She sat downstairs, and I would go upstairs. The Hard Way is about my regret for not helping her, or standing up for her, that I feel now as an adult.
“As a kid you’re so shy and afraid, but I hope it’ll influence people to stand up for those who need help, and help people understand that their words and actions can be really damaging. You don’t know how cruel you can be sometimes, especially at that age.”
Phoebe Green – Just A Game
With less than one month to go until the release of Phoebe Green’s debut album, Lucky Me, on Chess Club Records, Just A Game dropped this week. At 24 years old, Phoebe is firmly known as an indie kid but this latest track, and by extension the entire album, delves into the deep waters of pop for the first time. “‘Just A Game’ is probably the most obvious pop song on the album, which makes me feel kind of uneasy but excited. I’m still coming to terms with making songs that aren’t entirely alternative because I’m so cautious of my songs making me cringe if they sound too polished, but this one is just a pop bop and I’m here for it”, Phoebe reveals. Sign us up!
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