Artist Of The Week #214 - Maripool
This week’s Artist of the Week is Lisbon-born, London-based singer songwriter Maripool - who has just released her debut EP, ‘It All Comes At Once’ via Practise Music.
Filled with emotive charm and drawing from the canon of 2010s jangly guitar-centric pop, 1990s shoegaze and midwest emo, the EP is an energetic, romantic and accomplished interpretation of the extremities of human emotion and Maripool’s own inner demons.
She took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there Maripool- how are you? So your EP is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hey! It's very strange but also very exciting. I feel like this EP represents an old version of me so it's very nostalgic in a way. Having 'Coming Back' out is definitely very strange to me. I never play that song live even though it's my favorite song I've done, it's also the only one in the EP that was recorded by me so seeing it out there for everyone to hear now feels very overwhelming. But overall releasing music is always fun so I can wait to see what comes from it!It is called ‘It All Comes At Once’ - what is the meaning behind that? The songs in it were written from the end of 2020 to mid 2021. I think it was probably the strangest time in my life so far, I felt I was living on the edge most of that time. There was so much happening that I could feel extreme happiness and extreme sadness all in one day. When I wrote the lyric "It All Comes At Once" on 'Softly' it just felt very fitting of how I'd felt during that time. Everything would happen at the same time whether it was good or bad.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
It was recorded by Euan Hinshelwood at Vacant TV, which is an analogue studio in Greenwich. I actually recorded this EP 3x, I'm really specific about how I want things to sound but also very bad at describing what I want. I basically just want someone to read my mind haha. The first two times I recorded the EP it just didn't sound how I wanted it and that made me really sad for a while but then Euan recorded it and he's the only person I've worked with who can transform my songs into something better than I imagined.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
I got really into drawing devilish things at the time I was writing the songs, so it all kinda just came together as a world of my inner demons. It's a recurring theme in all the songs and all the covers have 'demons' in them. But I didn't want it to be too dark and sad, so everything from the covers to the songs is done with quite a childlike approach and naivety to it.
If the EP could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
I really didn't know what answer to give so I had to go and ask my band, they answered with Lord of The Rings so I guess we'll have to go with that.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP - if so, which one and why?
It would probably have to be in 'This Time Again' - "and I would like to see you cry, yeah I'd like to see you die", when I wrote it I thought it was great but got conscious when all my friends got really taken by surprise when I started playing and singing it live. It's definitely the song everyone talks about after we play, it has a special power to it and I think a lot of it comes from the lyrics.
Now the EP is out there - what next?
It's always hard to know what's next! For the time being we are just gonna try and gig as much as we can, I love hanging out with my band and playing gigs so it always feels very rewarding, after working so hard on the EP, to be able to just do that for a bit. In terms of writing I always go through phases, at the moment I'm more into writing just simple acoustic songs and I've recently acquired a 4 track recorder so maybe something will come of that.
