The Artist Explains: Amelia Dare - Wrong About Me
Burgeoning South East London based alternative R&B artist Amelia Dare recently dropped her second single to date, "Wrong About Me," an empowering and smooth jam set to soundtrack your summer. We caught up with her to chat about it, and her plans for the future.
Your track ‘Wrong About Me’ is out now, which you mention "was inspired by a need to reclaim power and break the cycle of toxic relationships.’" Can you speak any more to that and the track overall?
When I wrote Wrong About Me I was in the midst of quite a toxic, cyclical relationship. I was going back and forth with someone who wanted me one minute and not the next, it was exhausting and emotionally draining. At the time, I wrote it to empower myself in a moment where I felt powerless, to give me the strength to walk away and not give them another chance. When that relationship finally came to an end, the song became a remedy for my heartbreak. It propelled me into a place of reflection and self-love and I wanted to share that with people.
These days relationships can be seen as disposable. We’re part of a generation that can easily gain a connection with anyone at any time, which can put pressure on relationships to be this perfect picture. I wanted to combat this with Wrong About Me, and shed light on the importance of communication and give people who find themselves feeling at the disposal of another person, the chance to reclaim their independence.
Where was it recorded and any stories from the writing process?
I brought the chords to Jasper back in November at a studio in Southwark that we were working in at the time. He started to build some production elements around them and that’s when I came up with the chorus hook. After that, I went away and fleshed out the rest of the song structurally. I wanted to enhance the contrast of mood in the song, from slow/downhearted verse to upbeat/empowering chorus, and felt the momentary dropout, along with the gentle laugh, helped achieve this and also helped highlight the pinnacle of the whole song; “you’re so wrong about me”.
The final touches were done in lockdown, I’ve got a recording set up at home and so does Jasper, so for a good couple of weeks, we’d just be back and forth sending notes and bouncing files over to each other. Was a shame we couldn’t get in the studio, but overall I was really happy with the final sound we produced and thought it reflected the song's meaning just how I wanted it to.
What do you hope your listeners take from 'Wrong About Me’?
I believe that you’re ALWAYS allowed to change the price of what it costs to access you. Just because you may have forgiven certain behaviours in the past doesn’t mean you have to again. You are worth more than half-arsed effort, confusion and stress. If someone cannot see that, then they are not deserving of access to you. I hope that my listeners are inspired to break these toxic cycles within their own relationships and find strength in being on their own.
Is it part of a bigger project? If not or if you can't say just yet, what can we look forward to from you next?
I’m currently working on a new project, things have shifted since lockdown and I don’t want to rush my next move. I’m just enjoying trying out some new things and collaborating with new producers and artists, I’m constantly looking to develop and hone my sound so I’m excited to see where this goes. I’m hoping to have something out later in the year from this new project, but it’s early days so we’ll have to wait and see. I do have a couple of songs in my back pocket though, so who knows…