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lady Luck proved to be Baron-Gracie ’ s sounding board on personal plaints , like “ You Don ’ t Own Me ,” which is not the Lesley Gore classic but a similarly-defiant take . “ On so many songs , we would stay up late talking about then , so I feel like her , and I kind of co-wrote this album more than anyone ,” she sighs contentedly . “ It ’ s like our masterpiece , together .”
Baron-Gracie has come a long way in four dizzying years . In 2017 , when this writer first spoke to her , she seemed cocksure , full of piss and vinegar , even though Pale Waves was only three singles old . The idiosyncratic singing voice was already there , alongside her unusual thrift-shopbased , mostly ebony fashion sense , which — along with her signature white face powder , black lipstick , and Munch- “ Scream ” eye shadow — gave her the look of an old silent film star . She didn ’ t so much appear onstage as flicker onto it like an otherworldly projection from German Expressionist cinema . It all smacked of brash , almost swaggering self-assurance .
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But now , in — ahem — 2020 hindsight , it was more like an act , the small forest animal puffing up its fur to look more fierce and ferocious to predators .
At the time , the whippersnapper still understood where she was coming from . Namely , the tiny town of Preston , where she instinctively kept to herself in school . “ I ’ m just not a very sociable person ,” she ceded at the time . “ I just don ’ t seem to click with a lot of people , so I don ’ t have too many friends . I actually have just four or five best friends , and that ’ s more than enough for me .” Fortunately , Doran was one of the first kindred spirits she met while attending the BIMM Institute in Manchester . Like mad scientists , they set about discovering their own sound , pouring sonic test tubes into percussion-fortified beakers . Early Baron-Gracie solo experiments resembled Avril Lavigne ; Her first with Doran — after the addition of guitarist Hugo Silvani and bassist Charlie Wood — pulsed with an ‘ 80s-retro playfulness , simultaneously tapping into Goth , Punk , New Romantic , and even gentle , diary-honest folk , as well . All with a modern but emo-morose modern twist .
“ I listened to a lot of depressing music , and Ciara listened to a lot of upbeat pop ,” Baron-Gracie recalled in 2017 of Pale Waves ’ genesis . “ So then , as one , we fused the pop music with my depressing lyrical content . Plus , I was into a lot of acoustic music , like Lucy Rose and Ben Howard , so I was intrigued by different tunings of the guitar , and now I love songs in an open tuning .” And as for stage garb , she added , “ People always say we look like we walked out of a Tim Burton movie , and we think that ’ s really cool .” The band had already been taken under the wing of 1975 anchor Matty Healy , who helped get them signed to Dirty Hit and then invited to open for his stadium-big band on tour . By 2018 , they ’ d won NME ’ s prestigious Under The Radar Award and finished their My Mind Makes Noises bow , which debuted in the UK Top 10 . Pale Waves was on its way . But where ?
That ’ s what the new Who seeks to address . Recorded mostly in Los Angeles
with savvy American producer Rich Costey ( of Muse / Sigur Ros / Biffy Clyro renown ), the disc is all about restraint and thematic focus , as it gleefully bounces through more romantic paeans , like the rubbery shuffler “ Easy ” (“ I can ’ t believe that you ’ re alive at the same time as me ”) and the fluffy “ I Just Needed You ,” wherein Baron-Gracie lists all the things ( fame , money , fast car , big house ) she ’ d wrongly equated with the real deal , true love . But Pale Waves ’ instinctive gale-force cacophony never once drown out each cut ’ s emotional wallop , as on the sinewy “ You Don ’ t Own Me ” (“ I don ’ t need you / ‘ Cause I ’ ll be whoever I want to ”), the synth-rocking “ Tomorrow ” (“ Sexuality isn ’ t a choice / Don ’ t let anyone say it ’ s wrong ”), a buoyant , finger-popping “ Change ” (“ I wish I ’ d never seen your face ”), and a closing thesis summary of a title track ( with a poignant chorus of “ Who am I / Does anybody know / How do I live a lie / Where I don ’ t feel this low ”). At some points , the record sounds like a collection of old Primitives outtakes ; at others , it reaches for the Ariana
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THE LOCKDOWN INTERVIEWS
G
iven the turbulent , truly batshitcrazy year that we ’ ve all just staggered through , it was easy to overlook a lot of great , often idiosyncratic albums that continued to be released , pandemic be damned . And we ’ d like to pause , catch our mask-in-place breath , and bring you up to speed on a few obscure aural delights you might have otherwise missed , starting with Hen Ogledd ’ s Free Humans , one of the most delightful — and decidedly surreal — records to emerge from out of nowhere in 2020 . Picture , if you can , The Flying Lizards in a switchblade fight with James White and the Blacks in a No-Wave New York alley , presided over by Swedish supergroup ABBA . Then you might start to grasp what this lovably eccentric UK quartet is attempting to do on this , its latest progfolk-pop long-player . Led by electric , pedalmanipulating harpist Rhodri Davies , the group also features guitarist-vocalist Richard Dawson and his vocalist-keyboardist missus Sally Pilkington , plus covocalist Dawn Bothwell on glockenspiel and drum machine , and its unusual name once referred to the Old North , Britain ’ s Celtic Southern-Scotland / Northern England region in the Middle Ages . All of the members have other projects going on — Davies is a popular session musician . Bothwell is a solo artist , and Dawson recently issued his sixth solo set , 2020 , and began tracking home-studio albums with Pilkington during the lockdown , as a duo dubbed Bulbils . But when they come together as Hen Ogledd , the creative sparks start flying , landing on “ Free Humans ” marvels like the sing-song “ Trouble ,” the sinister creeper “ Feral ,” a gossamer synth twinkler called “ Crimson Star ,” the cobra-hissed “ Paul is 9 Ft . Tall ( Marsh Gas ),” and a blipping , bleeping , vocally-chanted “ The Loch Ness Monster ’ s Song ” ( and hey — it ’ s about time he got one !). The member ’ s lyrical and tonal influences are just as diverse , and they run the gamut from evil-studying author Mary Midgely to 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen , the paintings of Agnes Martin , James Lovelock ’ s Gaia Hypothesis , the films of Werner Herzog , and even the sleek autotuned pop of UK diva Hannah Diamond . And if that doesn ’ t make immediate aesthetic sense , don ’ t worry — it doesn ’ t have to . Just put the record on , draw the curtains , switch the black light on , and drift away into the experimental sonic stratosphere like Phileas Fogg . Davies , Dawson , and Pilkington teamed up on a conference call to help draw any lost listeners a map .
IE : You guys are certainly having fun , turning the concept of pop music on its ear . RICHARD DAWSON : I think with the last
HEN OGLEDD record ( Magic ), we talked about the different ideas that that could mean . Like , obviously , “ pop ” being pop music , but also bursting some kind of bubble , and how would we approach each of those things . And then with this record — at least in this household — we were thinking more about dance and the idea of party music . But party music for what purpose , because what purpose could party music possibly have right now ? And then , since none of us are really coming from pop backgrounds , we quite liked the idea of working in a field that none of us are familiar with .
IE : What are your backgrounds ? RHODRI DAVIES : I ’ m a harpist , so I play a lot of contemporary classical music and do free improvisation . Then Richard is a troubadour . SALLY PILKINGTON : Well , I ’ ve never finished or recorded any music before , so it ’ s all quite new to me , really . But now I play the keyboards in different ways , and I play the church organ , which is very simple , with no beats — just the organ . But I ’ ve been doing that in a very improvised way , so this is my first time being part of something that ’ s actually finished . DAVIES : And then Dawn has her own band called Pentecostal Party , which is kind of twisted art-pop , and it ’ s just her solo , using pedals .
IE : How did all of you meet ? DAVIES : I used to live in Newcastle , and I met Richard there , so we started playing together first . And then Dawn joined us for our second album , and then Sally joined us for the last album , so we ’ ve stayed a quartet . But I ’ ve since moved to Swansea , in Wales , so only three of us live up in Newcastle . PILKINGTON : And we ’ d all been friends for some time , but now me and Richard are a couple .
IE : And Free Humans is rooted in Lovelock ’ s crucial Gaia Theory , which states that the Earth is a living organism , essentially , and we are its stewards , tasked with looking after it . A role we seem to have forgotten . PILKINGTON : We ’ ve been inspired by Mary Midgely , and she ’ s really into Lovelock and Gaia . But we were all kind of thinking along those lines anyway . But she ’ s really been on our radar in particular over these last few years .
DAWSON : And there was a book that had a big effect on me called The Vorrh , by Brian
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By TOM LANHAM