Five Favourites: Peggy Sue

Set to release their upcoming fourth album next month, London duo Katy Young and Rosa Slade – aka Peggy Sue – create beautifully captivating offerings filled with luscious harmonies and a shimmering energy. A celebration of self love, the reverb-strewn, uplifting sound of latest single ‘In Dreams’ showcases all their is to love about them, a band who have now found themselves again after a four year hiatus.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspires them or influences their writing. We caught up with Katy and Rosa, who have shared their “Five Favourites” – five tracks that particularly resonate with them. Check out their choices below, and scroll down to listen to watch the new video for latest single ‘In Dreams’ at the end of this post.

Porridge Radio – ‘Lilac’
Katy:
I fell in love with this song last summer, when we played a show for She Shreds with Porridge Radio at Great Escape. The refrain “I don’t want to get bitter, I want us to get better, I want us to be kinder to ourselves and to each other”, really spoke to me then and is a pretty good rule for life to be honest. I may or may not have recorded a sneaky bootleg on my phone at the time, but luckily it’s now out for real and sounds much better. They have a new album coming this year that I’m excited for.  

La Luz – ‘Sure As Spring’
Katy:
We did a support tour with La Luz in 2018 – there wasn’t really any reason for us to do it because the record wasn’t finished, but it was exactly what we needed to kind of force us into being a band again properly. I think their music has been a big influence on this new album – their sound is obviously incredible but it’s also clear and cohesive and consistent in a way that I think we strived for. Taking influence from lots of places is really important, but there’s something really powerful in turning all of that into one continuing sound that is all your own, which is something we’ve really tried to do on Vices more than we ever did before. But probably even more than any of that, being on the road with those girls was really inspiring, and their encouragement and support was a massive confidence boost exactly when we needed it.

Big Thief – ‘Paul’
Katy:
It feels like it’s so much rarer that I become totally obsessed with a band now – something that felt like it happened about once a week when I was younger. But Big Thief have been a bit of an exception to that in the last few years. At least five friends sent me this song, knowing I would love it. It’s so beautiful and tender and catchy as hell. I have probably had the first line in my head for three years straight. 

Beth Gibbons – ‘Tom The Model’
Rosa:
It’s kind of a cheat to choose this song; the chorus borrows so much Nina Simone’s ‘Do What You Gotta Do’, another of my all-time favourites, it’s a bit like sneaking two songs into one choice. When it bursts into that chorus, it’s the ultimate release after the slow creeping verses. The horns and strings are lush and kind of ominous. Beth Gibbons’ voice soars – walking that line between delicacy and pure force. I’ve always liked that she embraces darkness so unapologetically, and can make sweetness or desire as threatening or powerful as they are gentle. Listening to her music always feels like a solo experience. It’s impossible for me not to enter into the world her songs create wholly.

Landshapes – ‘Red Kite’
Rosa:
I love this song – it has made me cry perhaps every time I have watched Landshapes perform it. There’s a deep feeling of pride watching close friends play a song you think is truly objectively beautiful. The song just builds slowly and surely like this swelling wave. Jemma’s guitar solos have the ability to shift Landshapes’ songs into a totally different place, and when Luisa sings “in the face of everyone I swear this time I’m done”, it’s like this wave crashing down in a sort of haunting catharsis. Dan, Landshapes’ drummer, also played drums on Vices, and it’s a joy watching and listening to the different things he’s brought to both bands.

Massive thanks to Katy and Rosa for sharing their Five Favourites with us!

Vices, the upcoming fourth album from Peggy Sue, is out 21st February via French Exit. Watch the new video for ‘In Dreams’ here:

 

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VIDEO PREMIERE: Mevrouw Tamara – ‘Jij Fantaseert Liever (You’d Rather Fantasize)’

Sang in her native tongue, Dutch artist Mevrouw Tamara released her latest single ‘Jij Fantaseert Liever (You’d Rather Fantasize)’ earlier this month. Now, she’s shared a beautiful accompanying video that she collaborated on with Dutch dance collective, MAN||CO.

Taken from her recent album In Je Hoofd (In Your Head), Tamara’s track is centered around the theme of depression. She hopes that by singing about mental health, she will “break the taboos” surrounding it, so it “becomes easier to solve the obstacles that are going on between our ears.”

The music video for ‘Jij Fantaseert Liever’ is a cinematic affair, featuring wonderful choreography from the dancers at MAN||CO. Their movements are the perfect mediator between Tamara’s soft, tentative vocals and the gentle orchestral elements that permeate the track. Even if you’re not fluent in Dutch, Tamara’s exploration of low mood translates in both her voice and the movements of her collaborators.

Watch the video for ‘Jij Fantaseert Liever’ below, and Follow Mevrouw Tamara on Spotify & Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Fenna Jensma

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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EP: Eliza Shaddad – ‘Sept – Dec’

Ringing in 2020, Scottish-Sudanese singer Eliza Shaddad releases her new EP Sept-Dec. The songs focus on different forms of connection with other people, dealing with sex, normalcy, and friendship. 

Opener, ‘One Last Embrace’, is a grungy and atmospheric exploration of the swirling emotions of desire. The chorus and scratchy guitars surge throughout the song to a powerful crescendo like “a tidal wave, pulling me asunder”. 

‘Same As You’ has a lighter, dream-pop sound, featuring chiming guitar and layered vocals. The mood is bitter-sweet, capturing the nostalgia of a craving a connection between two people, despite their differences. In a similar vein, ‘Girls’ explores the memories of a close female friendship, both good and bad. The song builds slowly before the sound fills out to an emotional chorus – “I know you’re lying when you say you’re alright”. We get a sense of someone or something breaking down. 

There is much to cherish in this EP; a collection of confessional songs which allow a connection with the listener through a sense of shared experience, delivered through the lens of late ’80s/ early ’90s-inspired guitar pop. 

Sept ~ Dec is due for release on 24th January 2020. Eliza is currently on tour supporting Keane, see all the details here.

Fi Ni Aicead
@gotnomoniker

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Five Favourites: MEI

South London-based vocalist, bassist and producer MEI, is on our radar. MEI recently released her double a-side project ‘No Dim Lights’, the second installment in her Antonio Vivaldi-inspired seasonal trilogy. The project expresses the “fight to not give up, even on my gloomy days, my light still shines and nothing can dim it.”

We asked MEI to name her ‘Five Favourites’ – five artists or albums that have influenced her songwriting techniques, and we let her chuck an extra one too! Check out her choices below, and make sure you give ‘No Dim Lights’ a listen out now.

Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
This album really changed my life. I studied it like it was a school project! I learnt so much about singing, songwriting and rapping from it, and it was the first time I’d heard all three be done so incredibly well. She definitely put the fire inside me to rap as well as sing, and it wasn’t until years later I actually had the confidence to do it. The honesty in every lyric also made it impossible not to connect to it. The album really had a profound impact on me personally and my songwriting.

Coldplay – Parachutes
I still remember clearly hearing ‘Trouble’ on the radio for the first time and feeling such a strong wave of emotion. I don’t think I even took in the lyrics because I was too young but sonically it was just so moving. When I revisited the album in my teens I was so gripped by how talkative they were and how they hit you so deep. The chord progressions too!

Laura Mvula – ‘Show Me Love’
I truly believe this is outstanding songwriting. It inspires me so much. It’s so honest and tragically beautiful. Wow. The vocal is mesmerising, you feel every word and the arrangement tears you apart and brings you back again. I wish I wrote it.

Ms Dynamite- ‘Dy-Na-Mi-Tee’
I absolutely love this song. I’ll never forget feeling so empowered by it. Here was a young black girl from London being herself all over my TV screen and I loved it! She was so unique and unapologetic and always bringing a positive message to her music, which was so inspiring to me.

Ebo Taylor – ‘Love and Death’
This song takes me straight back to my childhood! Growing up in a Ghanaian household meant I got to hear a lot of highlife and afrobeat music. Especially at family parties; you would have all the old school high life playing in the background and I’d never know any of the titles or artist names. I loved the horn line on this tune so much, so when I rediscovered it a few years ago I was so happy! I also loved the concept of a sad song that made you want to dance. The polyrhythms in highlife and afrobeat music really inspires my production.

Kendrick Lamar – ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’
Kendrick is definitely one of my favourite artists of the last decade.

Massive thanks to MEI for sharing her Five (or six!) Favourites with us. Listen to ‘No Dim Lights’ below.

Follow MEI on Twitter for more updates.

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