Artist Of The Week #166 - Wyldest
This week’s Artist of the Week is dream-pop indie artist Wyldest, who has just released her album ‘Monthly Friend’ via Hand In Hive. She took a moment to talk to us about womanhood, writing film soundtracks and how the album came together.
Hey there Wyldest, how are you? So your album is out now - how does it feel to have it finally out there in the world?
It feels pretty surreal. This whole year has been surreal in fact...It was a year of learning for me - there's been so many ups and downs regarding this album and putting it out...But now I can confidently say that it was the right thing to do and I'm just feeling so grateful to have such a wonderful team of people around me to put it out with.
So it’s called ‘Monthly Friend’ - what is the meaning behind that?
I wrote a song back in 2020 and before I knew I would end up making an album, I jokingly named it 'Monthly Friend' as the song was about is about the temptation I’ve felt to succumb to society's expectation of me as a woman and the acceptance of my body. I then liked this idea that I would refer to my monthly cycle as my 'friend' - just because it's something that shouldn't be shameful or resented...The entire album ended up with the entire theme of what it means to be female in this world and it just seemed fitting to use this title for that.
Where was the album recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process?
Honestly? It was recorded underneath a loft bed in my London flat. I recorded it at a time when i couldn't even get to my studio. Much of it was actually supposed to be 'rough takes' - but then on the most part they ended up making the cut and I decided I'd lose the charm and the sporadic inspiration if I tried to re-record them. After I spent a month or so recording all the instrumentation, I spent about 6 months gearing myself up to mix the thing...So glad I put in the hours to do so, but it was a pretty anxiety-fuelled process, trusting my ears to get this right.
How does it differ from your debut album ‘Dream Chaos’?
I suppose it's a little more intitmate, becasue it really is that. Dream Chaos was born out of more of a collab with my band, I'd bring songs and we'd jam them out and I'd have two of my best friends to support me...Monthyl Friend is just me pouring my little heart out. I also decided to ease off on the reverb a lot more, keeping things a little more organic and raw.
This album feels a little more honest. I just want to be honest now. I think I used to have an ego to maintain, a desire to please, and be ‘cool’ maybe. Now I spend most of my days in tracky b’s, bra-less, I havent shaved my armpits in about a year, so perhaps that’s why my ego has disintegrated almost completely. Hopefully by the end of Covid I’ll be completely detached from my ego. One can dream.
There is a big theme of womanhood on ‘Monthly Friend’ and feels almost like a concept album - can you tell us a bit more about that?
Monthly Friend is a concept album in its entirety, with themes relating to womanhood, the physicality of it, the different ideas around it and it’s limitations and the advantages.
Throughout the album, I visit these feelings through metaphors, largely related to nature. I always found it really ironic that women commonly get compared to fruit, when in fact they’re nothing like fruit. Peaches for example get over-ripe and people throw them away, discard them
Do you have a favorite lyric from the album? If so, which one and why?
Everything that falls from me has roots you see, I am nothing on my own.
This is a line from Hollow. I like the lyric because it serves as a reminder that everything we do has consequences (good and bad) and everything is connected. Whenever I feel a little isolated or anxious, I love to remember this line and remember that everything is a result of everything else and we're all kinda in this together.
Along with the album - you have been helping with a few soundtracks - what films have you been involved with recently? Does your writing style differ when you work on those projects?
Yes for sure! Writing film soundtracks is such a Zen thing for me, it's so freeing and I don't feel bound or pressured to make things catchy or structured. It's more of a stream of consciousness, I'm always completely in 'flow' when I'm working on a soundtrack in the first few days. The kind of soundtrack stuff I've been writing tends to have a 'songy song' at the end and then more ambient drones throughout the piece - It's so much fun, as I get to incorptae all of the soundscapes from the score to the song...I think because of this, I've written songs that I otherwise wouldn't have
Now the album is out there - what next for you?
Good question... Sleep... Not a chance. I've just done a socially distanced tour round the UK, so now I'm back in the gig flow I gonna get the band back up and running for some summer shows - got Liverpool sound city which should be fun. Then October, I'm going on tour with one of my fave bands of all time, Lanterns on the Lake - which is a dream. The tour has been postponed 3 times, so I'm gagging to do it.
Music-wise, i already have a few projects up my sleeve, I've been making some wonky pop, kinda more in the ballpark of my earlier stuff like Dark Matter and Hitchhiker... Also, on a completely opposite trail of thought, I've been making some ambient folk music, Sufjan vibes...Just can;t get enough of soundscapes.