It wasn’t a super conscious decision it just sort of evolved quite organically after Harry (Mun Sing/Illegal Data) had reached out to me in late 2018 about my EP at the time and then invited me to play an Illegal Data night. I felt so welcomed and valued by them when I went down to play their night so after that point we just kept in touch and as I started to pull together material for the debut album Harry and Arthur said they would love to release it so I just went with my gut instinct which said it would be a really nice project to work with them on as they are so passionate and invested in what they do with Illegal Data. I felt really looked after.

That’s a good question –on a base level it seemed to be one of the more upbeat maybe ‘radio friendly’ songs on the album but on a deeper level I think it touches upon lots of the recurring themes of the album – found sounds, candid spoken word, domestic and surreal imagery merging, a sense of something being slightly askew and off-centre. I also felt that the lyric ‘wake up to my imagination’ is a fitting introductory tag line for the whole album – welcome to my imaginary world. And generally people who I sent it to in the demo stages all seemed to feel it was a bop.

It feels very satisfying and cathartic. I think in earlier releases and projects I was more nervous about expressing myself so I would write perhaps more cryptically or more at a distance from my own experiences. I think an artist that really inspired me to shift my approach was Anne Clark – I discovered her 1990 album Joined Up Writing/The Sitting Room – her vocal delivery is quite rhythmic and in a spoken-style – I was really moved by how frank and vulnerable her lyrics are – there’s an immediacy to it that I felt very inspired by.

It’s funny you mention this ‘specific realisation’ because I still have the original phone note that this lyric is taken from. It was back in 2018, around that time I began to process a lot of very deep seated issues I had related to attachment and men. I started to see a pattern in my behaviour when it came to the relationships and kinds of men I was attracted to. During my twenties I spent a lot of time seeking validation from and emotional connection with unavailable and avoidant men.
Thankfully getting therapy really helped me to understand that a lot of the choices I was making were rooted in needing more consistency from my dad growing up, who was wonderful but also could be described as emotionally unavailable at times – I realised I was seeking out what was familiar to me in a subconscious attempt to try to fix something from my childhood. It’s actually so strange re-reading the phone note now, as I have grown so much and truly feel that this need for validation from men has been exorcised – writing the songs has been a big part of the exorcising.

I guess in a similar way to the other lyric we just spoke about, I think for me a lot of the lyrics on my debut album are very much about facing my own demons, about expressing my own feelings of embarrassment and shame, rather than running away from the difficult feelings. I think I began to realise that in being more truthful with my own inner struggles I was going to be able to heal. I wanted to get to a place where I felt comfortable with my own flaws. And also because I feel like people want to know the truth, people will relate and connect with this because I feel like everyone goes through dark and difficult times.
I think I want people to feel comforted – to know that they aren’t the only one to whitie on public transport after being dumped. And just to be able to be candid through lyric writing, that excites me, I like the idea that it feels like you’re reading someone’s diary, like I am sharing secrets with a friend.

I first met Ben Vince at a strange closing party of an artist studios in an office block in Canary Wharf. I was performing some of my early songs and he was just vibing to it all when no one else was paying much attention. We stayed in touch over the last few years and I played him some of the album ideas. He really connected with The Loft demo and I of course love his material so I thought it could be really nice to collaborate.
I didn’t really have any expectations going into the collaboration – it just came out so nice and yes I think that it is true – that his contribution brings a much more abstract element to the song that contrasts with my very literal lyrical delivery and I love that combination. I definitely am very interested in the space where pop and the avant garde collide. I think this song The Loft on my album has definitely paved the way for what comes next writing-wise.

Saint Torrente is so wonderful. They came to one of my gigs several years back when they were studying music at Goldsmiths, and then I asked them to play a night I was curating when I ran my own DIY label Insecure. I think they are such an incredibly talented song-writer, their music is so emotive and energised and authentic. We get on really well and I love their voice so I thought it would be really lovely to have them sing on the album track Fountain – and they nailed it.

Ooh this is a good question. I guess pop music has always been my first love, it’s what I grew up listening to and also a big old helping of musical theatre which is also where the campness might stem from. I performed in so much musical theatre growing up. So yes I think I would find it hard to fully depart from the more camp, pop elements – I love the immediacy of writing lyrics and trying to hone in on a feeling/a hook/a melody. But like you mention I am very into the experimental and the avant-garde too – I am always attracted to art that subverts, questions and surprises. I guess my dream is to keep exploring the ways in which music can do both these things - a sense of immediacy that pop brings alongside a sense of intrigue and questioning that can be provoked by more experimental musical elements.

Ah thanks so much! It’s funny how the front cover happened very organically. My friend Cat Scriv is such a great photographer who has taken pics for lots of the nights I used to put on in London. We organised a shoot to create some press pics for the album so we borrowed my friend’s studio and I asked a few other talented friends to help with the make-up and styling. The pics were meant to just be the press photos but we ended up doing the more Elizabethan clown-bride shot towards the end of the day.
I think we were all a bit delirious by that point – the head piece was meant to be some kind of neck scarf and we used a dust sheet. It was all pretty spontaneous but when we looked back at the photos I just really felt like that clown shot was the album cover – it just seemed very obvious to me. There’s something slightly menacing and theatrical about it. I like your interpretation of it being some kind of unveiling of Zoee too.

Oh yes it was a joy to work with both of them as they got so invested in it and had such wonderful ideas. Dani had a very clear vision for both of the videos he directed – he created very specific treatments for both of them - I love his concepts so much – the slightly surreal and hand-made feel to things. And it’s so nice when you feel like a director just really connects with your music – we have a mutual love of each other’s ideas so it just slots into place really easily when we work together.
My favourite moment from the Microwave shoot is when Dani had us acting like we were in some spooky forest, with the vultures made out of drainpipes and the whole band in bizarre hats and coats. It felt so fun, like we were in Narnia for the day.
With Jacek we started sharing ideas between us and it took us several months to hone in on what we wanted to create for the Host video – I knew I wanted to shoot it in the stark forest near my mums and that I wanted to be some kind of host-like being – I basically love the film Under The Skin and this was one of the main sources of inspiration for the song. Jacek then brought all his ideas to the table too and took it in the more Twilight Zone direction which I really loved – he has such a spontaneous almost frantic energy when shooting – he makes really impressive creative decisions in the moment which I found really inspiring to witness, and is also an incredible editor.
My favourite part of that shoot is when Jacek and I went to scope out the forest a month or so before the actual shoot day. It was funghi season and there were all these lush red toadstools everywhere – we kept just taking loads of pics of them and then drank G&Ts in a rubbish pub near my mum’s house.

I have lots of sketches on the go, but I also think it might take some time for them to be fully realised. I have various musicians and collaborators in mind already for some of the ideas. I am really happy with the way my album song The Loft came together and that contrast of pop and the experimental that you mention. I think my future work will dig into these two contrasting elements some more. I also need to live my life a bit - do some more throwing up on trains for lyrical inspiration.