7 hours ago
2
First teased in a radio broadcast for New York art publishers Montez Press Radio, Balderdasch welds her own disconcerting take on experimental pop. Eerie synths ram into spiky guitar against a backdrop of sexual repression and reclaiming autonomy. An agitated chorus nudges, “you don’t know how good you have it”.
Matthews and a friend drove to Sherkin Island to take photos in brightly colored lingerie and dip in the water. With only a digital camera and silence, they built a world for the song to inhabit. “It was important to me to shoot the visuals in Ireland, styled in this way,” she says. “When I was growing up in Cork, the repression of sex, desire, and queerness at the time, mainly in my immediate surroundings, really inhibited me. It followed me into adulthood.”
In an attempt to break free from a monotonous relationship, the free-flowing track lacks a precise formula. Clashing textures conjure a nagging discomfort you can’t quite put your finger on. As soon as there’s a beat or pattern to latch onto, it slips from grasp. “This song is about standing on the precipice of ending a relationship, and beginning a journey towards understanding how to let myself give in to my own desires without shame.”
“I think this song is a launchpad for the journey I took trying to get myself out once the misalignment had started in a relationship,” Matthews reflects. “Once that ended, I was completely misaligned within myself, even when it was just me alone. The work that's to come is a lot more about exploring sex and desire and what makes someone tick.”
Balderdasch is eager to gush about her collaborators, her partnership with Pete Wareham, an “incredible experimental jazz saxophonist,” understood these creative desires. Mastered by Jamie Highland from feminist punk band M(h)aol, the finishing touches crystallized her vision for the song to “vibrate through your chest cavity”. A headline London show at The Victoria, Dalston is confirmed for February 21.
English (US) · 