WYLDEST, the intelligent, dreamy pop project of London’s Zoe Mead, has revealed a new album will appear in the world at the other end of May; and by way of throwing open the French blinds and telling the world, she’s shared a first single from that, “Hollow”, which you can hear below.
She takes a line in intelligent pure pop which, and bear with me here, is full of sound; deftly-placed sonics that light up your ears and brain as that silky smooth voice drips smooth dreampop honey from the bee.
Wholly written, mixed and produced by Zoe, the forthcoming album, Monthly Friend, we’re told documents her empowerment not only as an entirely self-sufficient artist but also as a woman overcoming stereotyping and societal constraints; the title itself is a reference to something society taught her to be ashamed of which she now regards as a blessing.
“Hollow”, she says, is her self-defined ‘empowerment song’, which she details further: “Society and corrupt governments are helpless to the strength of what we collectively will become. I like to think that we’re all just sowing the seeds of what’s to come and it’s a pretty unstoppable thing.
“I wrote this song about change, something that I believe is the only way the human race can continue to exist, so I’m celebrating it, believing that it’s happening.
“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; peaches, for example, get over-ripe and people throw them away, discard them, when in fact they are probably at their most delicious and nutritious.
“A lot of the time, women are unfortunately subject to a similar fate. When they are young, they are sexualised and therefore their actual intellectual and creative worth can be overlooked. As they age, they get disregarded almost completely, and for what? Because they aren’t as useful to men anymore?
“Perhaps. But why does our ability to reproduce have to dictate our worth? It doesn’t and it shouldn’t.”
Zoe is also looking forward to taking that acerbic political statement out on a eight-date British headlining tour in the spring before joining up with Lanterns of the Lake in October; the dates are as follows.
Friday, May 21st, Manchester, Factory251;
Saturday, May 22nd, Liverpool, Grand Central;
Sunday, May 23rd, Stockton-on-Tees, Georgian Theatre;
Monday, May 24th, Birmingham, Castle & Falcon;
Thursday, May 27th, London, Oslo Hackney;
Friday, May 28th, Bristol, Bristol Beacon;
Saturday, May 29th, Southampton, Joiners;
Sunday, May 30th; Brighton, Hope & Ruin.
Find out more about those dates and that forthcoming album by connecting with Wyldest on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
