Terrified of crowds, guitar wielding, pop-rock goddess Ladyhawke, is massively talented and painfully shy. Today she proudly announces the release of her second aptly titled album; ‘Anxiety’.
Fresh and rejuvenated from some downtime spent kicking back home in New Zealand, Pip Brown, stage name Ladyhawke, temporarily retired from the limelight to focus fully on the follow up to her massively successful debut, eponymous album. Discovering the direction this new material should take whilst travelling, recording and chilling out, Pip wanted to create a record that reflected how she has matured as an artist since her first single drop. Growing out her statement bangs but holding on to her signature plaid shirts, band tees, smokey eyeliner and well-worn jeans, the girl on stage remains the same, but the lyrical focus of her new music is more inward-looking, reflecting more on the way this accomplished singer/songwriter has learned to cope with life.
Getting to grips with being the centre of attention has proved to be the biggest obstacle the Island/Modular signed artist has had to overcome to realise the level of fame she enjoys today. Still a bag of nerves at gigs, Ladyhawke is a fragile performer and her music is all the better for it. Honest, raw, powerful, occasionally frail but always brilliant she is part lady, part bird of prey, an all killer, no filler artist with a mane of gold. i-D online got the exclusive lo down on what Ladyhawke will be getting her claws into in 2012.
Tell us about the name of the album ‘Anxiety’… I guess it was sort of a tongue in cheek poke at myself. For those who know me know that I have really annoying and unpredictable anxiety, it doesn’t really give me any warning when it’s going to rear it’s head, but when it does I’m not really much use to anyone! The whole process of making this record was filled with a lot of anxiety and pressure – mostly from myself – but it was all this pressure I put on myself that ended-up manifesting into what felt like a two year long anxiety attack! It wasn’t really as bad as that but at the end of the process I figured it was a perfect title for the album!
What makes you anxious? The list is massive! But I think one of the main things with my anxiety is I find it really hard to deal with the unpredictability of people and certain situations where there are heaps of them all together in one place, eg: an aeroplane, festivals, markets etc. It’s quite hard to explain that in more detail, I know it sounds really weird, but I find it to be like a sensory overload sometimes!
How has your sound evolved since your debut album? This one is definitely more guitar-driven. I wanted it to feel lo-fi at the same time as feeling big, so made sure that was reflected in the sound of the drums, and the fuzzed out guitars.
What were the musical inspirations and references when you were writing the new material? It varied massively on this record, everything from The Zombies, David Bowie to Nirvana, Joan Jett and the Dandy Warhols.
What is the standout track from the new album? I’m not sure what other people would say, everyone probably has their own favourite track, but I would say Cellophane.
Anxiety is released on 19th March on Modular Records through Island/Universal feast your eyes on the teaser here…
Text: Milly McMahon
Photography: Rebecca Thomas (originally appeared in The To Die For Issue, September 2008)
