Artist Of The Week #320 - Rosie Carney
This week's Artist Of The Week is Irish singer-songwriter Rosie Carney - who has just released her new album ' Doomsday… Don’t Leave Me Here'. The album was co-written and co-produced with Ross MacDonald of The 1975 and acclaimed producer Ed Thomas (FKA twigs, Cat Burns, Amaarae) and mixed by Jonathan Gilmore (The 1975, Beabadoobee, Biffy Clyro).
On her fourth record (her third original), Carney pushes beyond the intimate folk foundations of her earlier work Bare (2019), creative full-length reimagination of Radiohead classic The Bends (2020), and the rockier i wanna feel happy (2022) forging a vivid sonic world in collaboration with MacDonald and Thomas across months of sessions in London. The album explores female rage, nostalgia, existential dread, and the complexities of love and loss through a sonic world that pulls from shoegaze, alt-pop, and electronic textures.
Carney says about the album: “Although the songs are essentially bigger and louder, they feel almost more personal and more intimate than anything I’ve created before. The bigger sound worked as a shield while I was writing - it felt safer to dig deep and explore themes of grief, heartache and isolation. This album is like a body of armour, and the softness lives protected within it. It’s a dream collapsing into a nightmare, and a nightmare dissolving back into a dream.”
She took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.
Hey there Rosie, how are you? So your album is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?
Honestly I have mixed feelings. Of course I’ve been so eager to release this album for the longest time, but having sat on this body of work for about 3 years, I’ve grown so attached to it that I became almost reluctant to release it. Overall, I’m really happy to have it out though.
It is called 'Doomsday… Don’t Leave Me Here' – what is the meaning behind that?
It means a few things to be honest. While we were in the studio writing these songs, a lot of the time the sessions would start with Ed Thomas talking about these different doomsday podcasts he’d listen to, which led us to talk about things of that nature. So that, mixed with the amount of grief and existential dread I was experiencing at that time in my life, left me feeling quite a lot of doom and gloom. It just seemed really fitting and honestly, it seems pretty fitting considering the state of the world right now too.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
It was recorded in Ed and Ross’s tiny studio in Harringey. Honestly, from the outside the space seems pretty uninspiring and bleak (no offence, Ed) but it ended up being a really inspiring space for me. As for BTS stories, there are a few - but something that stood out to me a lot while making this record was how much we laughed. I’m a pretty dry person, but as soon as someone matches my energy and humour I’m all in. It was nice to write about such heavy themes in such a light hearted environment that felt safe. I think it’s so important to be silly and playful.
What are the key influences behind the album?
There are many, but thematically the thing that inspired me most was heartache. I didn’t really realise that until a year after finishing the record. I went through a lot painful losses and then a breakup, so the record feels almost prophetic in a way - as if subconsciously I knew what was unfolding before me. So that, and a whole load of 80s/90s shoegaze.
If the album could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
This is actually really tough question, but for some reason the first film that popped into my mind was The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. On paper that film looks beautiful like a spectacle (which it is) but it’s actually quite terrifying and sad. The themes of isolation and journeying into a dark, barren territory to retrieve yourself or parts of yourself is something I really resonate with. I really appreciate the juxtaposition between light and dark which for me is the production and sonic world versus the themes and lyrics. Anyway. That’s the one.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
Probably “Don’t leave me here.” I’m not entirely sure why - I think the vulnerability and desperation behind that sentence is really human.
Now the album is out there – what next for you?
Well the album may be out, but I am absolutely not done with it yet. I’ve been working on a way to dig even deeper with this album which I can’t wait to show everyone soon. Seems cryptic I know, but it’ll be worth the wait. I guess I can say I’ve taken doomsday into my own two hands - like a real doomsday prepper.
