FEATURE:
Second Spin
Ladyhawke – Wild Things
__________
I wanted to include this album…
PHOTO CREDIT: Cybele Malinowski
as I am a big fan of Ladyhawke. Real name Pip Brown, her most recent album, Time Flies (2021), is full of typically fantastic moments. The New Zealand artist is someone I am really compelled by. I don’t think her albums have ever really got the full and proper credit they deserve. That is definitely the case with her third studio album. Wild Things was released on 3rd June 2016. It is one of my favourite Ladyhawke albums, and it is one that warrants another spin! I am going to come to a couple of the more positive reviews Wild Things received. 2016 was an odd year in general for music. We lost two icons unexpectedly in the form of David Bowie and Prince. In the middle of this, Ladyhawke released an album. Maybe not a superfan of either, it was still a weird time for artists and fans alike. I remember when Wild Things came out, and I was a bit muted at the time. I have grown to love the album more outside of 2016 and as time has passed. Maybe the general mood and shock of the year affect some of the reviews. In any case, six years later, Wild Things is an interesting listen with some incredible songs. I am going to start by bringing in an interview from The Guardian. They spoke with Ladyhawke (Pip Brown) in promotion of Wild Things:
“In 2016, when pop has never sounded moodier or more austere, Ladyhawke continues to operate outside of the norm, her album an unabashed explosion of colour and joy written in the aftermath of a dark period.
While many of her previous songs were caught up in hedonism and emotional turmoil, Wild Things is full of love songs, many of which were written about her wife, the actor Madeleine Sami. The pair were introduced at an awards ceremony by Lucy Lawless – best known for being Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica’s Number Three – who was presenting a prize to Brown, and had brought Sami as her plus-one. Seven years later, the pair were married.
“She was going to get a celebrant license and marry us,” Brown says of Lawless, who couldn’t make it to the wedding in the end. “I’m actually an ordained minister in America – I’ve married my friends. I’m called Minister Ladyhawke. That’s my official name.”
Guitars are notably muted on the new record, in contrast to the glam stomp of her last album. She says the guitar was something she hid behind, especially while playing live, which she has always found traumatic. Brown was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in her 20s, and it has prevented her from enjoying the intensity of being on stage. She would often drink to overcome the discomfort.
“I was always quite drunk on stage, and I used to go quite hard and rock out. That was my way of hiding it. It became a crutch for me – I was dependent on my guitar. Unhealthily so. I would never put it down. It was always there and it almost became a symbol for my stage anxiety.”
Another liberating aspect of her new life has been setting up her own label. Her 2008 debut, Ladyhawke, performed well, reaching No 1 in New Zealand and No 16 in the UK, but 2012’s Anxiety sold significantly fewer copies. She has since got out of all her old deals and licensed her album to various labels around the world. She now feels unshackled from the bureaucracy. “It’s the most freeing experience for me,” she says.
She feels the music industry doesn’t know how to support artists who might be vulnerable, who might seek crutches. “It encourages … drinking and partying. You don’t have to pay for alcohol ever, it’s always free. You get given anything you want, really. Especially when you get to a certain level. Everything is there for taking, so why not? You’re so used to being poor, scraping by, and the second you get free stuff, you take it all. The unfortunate thing is that mental illness and creativity seem to go hand in hand. So many of my musician friends have depression and anxiety – it’s getting talked about more, but there’s no support network”.
A terrific album that people should give their time and attention to, it is curious listening to Wild Things after reading interviews like the one above. I think it provides more context and gives the songs and themes more shape and depth. What is great is that Wild Things, as the title suggests, is about a hedonistic and slightly reckless time. One that Ladyhawke emerged from and manager to make positive changes. It seems moving to Los Angeles and marrying Madeleine Sami helped Ladyhawke sober up so that she could record a new album. As one might expect, most of the songs written about Sami. I think that there is that sense of new purpose and energy in Ladyhawke after a difficult time. The transition and transformation from 2012’s Anxiety to 2016’s Wild Thing is clear. This is what DIY said in their review of one of the best albums of 2016:
“Back after four years away, Pip Brown packs more of a punch than ever. From the kitschy slogan tee on the front cover, to the loomingly gigantic synth-pulses of title-track ‘Wild Things,’ Ladyhawke’s third album sets out with the words ‘brilliantly good fun’ practically scrawled across its mood board in bright gold glitter pen.
Everything on this record is turned up to technicolour ten. ‘Sweet Fascination’ – the first new music to land ahead of the record’s announcement - hits on a joyful abandon somewhere between Yazoo at their most garish, and CHVRCHES in stadium-bothering mode. It’s a pursuit that continues to coarse through the pop-propelled veins of stand-outs ‘Golden Girl,’ ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Hillside Avenue’. It’s just a bit of a bummer that ‘Sweet Fascination’ isn’t on the record; it’d feel more at home than Peggy Mitchell (may she rest in eternal soap opera peace) behind the bar of EastEnders’ Queen Vic.
That’s more or less the only downside to this album, mind. Witty and quick-smart, Ladyhawke’s lyrics consistently take on infectious lust and undeniable infatuation, getting straight to the point with little faffing. Occasionally, she serves up rejection with a wry smile, too. “Her dollar bills come with Benjamin’s name,” quips Ladyhawke on the brilliantly wry ‘Money To Burn,’ - a pop jam dedicated to idiots with more hundred dollar bills than sense.
Ladyhawke has always had an ear for gigantic writing like this – just take one look at ‘Paris Is Burning’ for ripe evidence. ‘Wild Things’, though, sees her step up to another new level of ace. Her most consistent album to date, and let-loose like never before, blimey it’s good to have her back”.
The final review I am bringing in is from Back Seat Mafia. They pointed at some slight weaknesses but, overall, they were impressed by a fantastic album that needs to be revisited and given some love and celebration. I think that Ladyhawke is a terrific songwriter with a voice that hooks you into every song. Go and check out the incredible Wild Things:
“Ladyhawke is back and celebrating life with an album as sugar-coated and colourful as a pack of party ring biscuits.
Ladyhawke, aka New Zealand songstress Pip Brown, has gone all synthesised on us with third album ‘Wild Things’ (out now via Mid Century Records). Her self-titled debut album was a delicious slice of indie pop that blended electro influences with a Stevie Nicks-esque rock attitude. Her 2012 follow-up, ‘Anxiety’, was as brooding as the title suggests. ‘Wild Things’ is pure pop that can only be interpreted as a sonic demonstration of her current mindset – joyous. Brown confirms this, saying “I feel good for the first time in 10 years. I have a clear mind! I have a wife. I feel stable. That is what I’m celebrating.”
While ‘Wild Things’ may sound a bit throwaway in places, Brown has actually taken her time in crafting this poppier sound. The album began life back in 2013, but Brown decided to scrap the full album of material that she wasn’t proud of before taking a year to create what we hear now. It has obviously been a labour of love, and about love, but was it worth the wait?
In short – yes. Do I miss indie-rock days of her debut album? A bit. Are there other artists producing better electro-pop right now? Maybe. But these songs still get in your head and, most importantly, are as moreish as ice cream on a hot day.
‘A Love Song’ is a perfect opening track with its blistering pace and pounding bass line. The lyrics are as delirious with good old-fashioned romance as suggested by the title – “You’ve opened my eyes to the oldest tale of time. This is what a love song sounds like”. ‘The River’ shifts us from 80s influenced electro to something more akin to pure radio-friendly summer pop with the singalong backing vocals of “na na nah”. ‘Let It Roll’ is dominated by a dirty bass line and the infectious chorus of “let it roll like a newborn soul”.
‘Chills’, ‘Golden Girl’ and ‘Wonderland’ all have the bubblegum pop sound that is reminiscent of Gwen Stefani’s solo debut. ‘Wild Things’ and ‘Hillside Avenue’ seem to directly channel Chvrches (the latter beginning with a similar sound to ‘Never Ending Circles’). There are sure to be negative comparisons made regarding jumping on the bandwagon, but why should that be a problem when an album is this much fun?
I think Brown is at her best on this album when she channels some attitude. ‘Sweet Fascination’ is a song about infatuation – “I know you’re watching me, but it could never be”- that refreshes your ears with Brown’s icy vocals cutting into the darker synth undercurrent. ‘Dangerous’ is the standout track of this album, despite being left until last, with a beginning that sounds like it’s about to kick into ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’ before Brown’s vocals take hold.
Celebratory albums aren’t always easy to relate to lyrically – they naturally sound like they lack the depth associated with struggle and pain – but ‘Wild Things’, feels like Ladyhawke at her most engaged with the music. Where on her debut she sounded almost detached, here she is vibrant.
Most importantly, if you’re looking for an album packed full of summery tunes (and who isn’t right now?), ‘Wild Things’ delivers. It’s a sugary treat to be savoured”.
Released in June 2016, I really like Wild Things. I hope that there is more music coming from Ladyhawke following last year’s Time Flies. The New Zealand artist is a remarkable talent and someone whose music warrants a lot of love. Go and seek out Wild Things and…
GIVE it a spin.