Introducing Interview: Chloe Foy

Following acclaim from the likes of BBC Introducing and BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, Manchester-based artist Chloe Foy has just released her enchanting new EP.

An introspective collection of reflective offerings, Callous Copper showcases Foy’s smooth, rich vocals and stirring heartfelt emotion alongside glistening sweeping string arrangements.

We caught up with Chloe to find out more…

Hi Chloe, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a singer-songwriter living in Manchester, originally from Gloucestershire, trying my best to do what I love.

How did you start creating music?
I had always been musical, and started off learning classical music, but then picked up a guitar when I was about 14, learnt a few basic chords and started to write my own songs. A lot was going on in my life then and it was my most instinctive form of expression.

Your new EP Callous Copper is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout the album?
There’s not a lyrical theme as such, other than the fact my songs are all inspired by this weird thing we do called life. There’s themes of love and death and mental health too. Really, it was an opportunity for me to realise this idea of doing a record with a string quartet, which I had wanted to do for a while.

You’ve been compared to the likes of Laura Marling and Lucy Rose, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
I think they are probably up there with some of the big ones, as well as Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
Manchester is great for live music. There’s usually something going on every day of the week that you can go to. These days I’m busier, so I don’t get to see as much as I’d like but I still try and see a fair amount.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Heartbreak.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
There are some great North West artists who I love – Caoilfhionn Rose, Katie Mac, Hannah Ashcroft, Lindsay Munroe – all amazing female artists making diverse and beautiful music.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
I think it’s tough. There’s an abundance of music out there so it’s hard to be heard above the noise. I think it’s easier than ever to get your music onto platforms like Spotify and start to make a few little waves, but to get further and make a sustainable living I think is tough without a strong team behind you.

Finally, what does the rest of 2020 have in store for Chloe Foy?
A headline tour with my string trio in March, to get out and play songs from my forthcoming EP, and hopefully some trips further afield, as well as some festival slots to be announced!

 

Callous Copper is out now. Catch Chloe Foy live at The Islington on 4th March via AntiFraglie.

 

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

Five Favourites: Maija Sofia

Following the success of last single ‘Flowers’, Irish artist Maija Sofia has now announced the release of her debut album, Bath Time – a collection of songs that were written in the run up to the Repeal The 8th Movement, and all addressing the issue of the silencing and misrepresentation of women.

Creating poignant, stirring slices of alt-folk, filled with beautiful melodies, rich luscious vocals and a raw emotion, Maija Sofia is fast becoming a firm favourite and we can’t wait for the album release.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them or influences their writing. We caught up with Maija, who has shared her “Five Favourites” – five tracks that particularly resonate with her. Check out her choices below, and scroll down to listen to latest single ‘The Glitter’ at the end of this post.

Katie Kim – ‘Day is Coming’ 
Katie Kim is one of my absolute favourite songwriters and this song is from her incredible album Salt. I love how dark, foreboding and ominous her work is while managing to be tender and emotive at the same time. She marries heavy, droning, gauzy harmonies with strange, unexpected vocal melodies and it creates an atmosphere in her work that’s like a sliver of sunlight trying to push through heavy black storm clouds. I love how the chanted refrain “day is coming” towards the end of this song sounds like a wild, horrific pagan ritual, but also sounds redemptive and oddly reassuring.

Radie Peat – ‘Katie Cruel’
I first heard Radie perform this song with the above mentioned Katie Kim when they did a really special collaborative performance in the Pepper Canister church in Dublin, and she’s since recorded an amazing version with her band Lankum who I would include in this list as they are probably my favourite band at the moment, but they surely need no introduction. I knew this song first from Karen Dalton’s gorgeous version but I love how Radie’s drawling almost terrifying voice merges with the harmonium and fiddle drones and makes it a totally new song.

Rachael Lavelle – ‘Perpetual Party’
Rachael Lavelle is an up and coming artist also based in Dublin that I’m really excited about. She has one of the hugest most eerily expansive voices I have ever heard and her songs are dark, gothic, evocative but also euphoric and have a strange, off-kilter sense of humour. This song is a perfect example of what makes her work so singular; she blends aspects of influence from Laurie Anderson, Jenny Hval and Julia Holter, but just makes it completely her own. Every time I see her live I’m more blown away.

Lisa O’Neill – ‘Along The North Strand’
For one reason or another I have a deep love of murder ballads in which the roles are reversed and it’s the women doing the murdering; same goes with folklore, the bible – Judith and Holofernes, Salome and John the Baptist, you name it, I love them all. This is a song Lisa O’Neill learned from a little-known traveller singer Kitty Cassidy and it appeared on her last album, the brilliant Heard A Long Gone Song. Lisa is also an one of my favourite songwriters, and that last album is a perfect mix of original songs and traditional songs, blending her wild, jagged mountainside stormy sea of a voice, her plaintive, poetic lyrics with accompaniment from some of the best trad musicians in the country like Cormac Begley and Christophe Capewell.

Rising Damp – ‘Rising Damp’
Rising Damp is the solo performance project of Michelle Doyle who also plays in the great punk band Sissy. I’ve been lucky to share the same bill with Michelle a few times now and every time I’m blown away. I can’t really describe it properly, but a Rising Damp show consists of synths, drum machines, vocal effects and fervently anti-fascist spoken word/shouting, all delivered with Michelle’s wild, hypnotic feral energy. If you ever get the opportunity to go to a Rising Damp show – go!

Huge thanks to Maija for sharing her Five Favourites! Listen to latest single ‘The Glitter’ below:

Bath Time, the upcoming album from Maija Sofia, is out 22nd November via Trapped Animal Records and Cargo Records.

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment

WATCH: I SEE RIVERS – ‘Collide’

Impassioned vocals and delightful melodies combine on Nordic trio I SEE RIVERS‘ latest single, ‘Collide’. The track is accompanied by a set of beautifully choreographed visuals, featuring two dancers clashing before finally resolving their differences and coming together again.

The trio, formed of Eline (Keys, vocals, percussion), Gøril (guitar, vocals, drum pad) and Lill (drums, vocals) met whilst studying in Liverpool, despite originally coming from Norway. The band have since relocated to Pembrokeshire in Wales, and are recording their debut album in the newly renovated Carmel Chapel with the aid of Owain Jenkins.

Speaking about their new single, the band explain: “The themes of ‘Collide’ are of conflict and reconciliation, turbulence and transparency. In contrast to the familiar voices and relatable lyrics, the production of the song is both more contemporary and more adventurous than our previous releases, focusing more on creating space using a combination of gritty, acoustic sounds and sweeping, synthesized elements.”

We welcome this new direction in sound from I SEE RIVERS’, and embrace their pitch perfect voices and developed “float pop” sounds here at Get In Her Ears. Watch the video for ‘Collide’ below, and follow I SEE RIVERS on Facebook for more updates.

Listen back to our radio show with the trio here.

Photo Credit: Ollie Couling

Kate Crudginton
@kcbobcut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

LISTEN: Rozi Plain – ‘Swing Shut’

Picked right from her latest release What A Boost, Rozi Plain’s ‘Swing Shut’ sets the tempo for the new album as a chiming, musically sophisticated record. Combining flowing melodic vocals with new-school jazz brings about a beautifully peaceful tune that would go perfectly alongside a summer day’s stroll.

Prompting the listener to reflect more on life and the importance of looking to the future, rather than reminiscing about things gone past, ‘Swing Shut’ juxtaposes sombre lyrics alongside a lilting instrumental to really pack a punch with its meaning.

Rozi Plain explains that the new album draws on homely roots while focusing on a life on the road, and how undoubtedly beautiful existence can be. Plain expands: “I feel like you do a lot of looking back, looking forward, looking at your life, and looking out of the window.“

 

What A Boost is out now via Memphis Industries.

Bekky Smart
@bekkymays

Get In Her EarsLeave a comment