FEATURE:
Saluting the Queens
Allie X
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RETURNING to this feature….
I wanted to salute the amazing Allie X. The Canadian artist released her new album, Girl with No Face, on 23rd February. It follows on from 2020’s Cape God. An amazing and inspiring artist, I will bring in a few interviews with her. I am starting out with this one from Eurphoriazine. There may be some who have not heard of Allie X. I think she is one of the most compelling and important artists in music. Someone who is so intriguing and fascinating;
“Congratulations on your third studio album, Girl With No Face. You’re really close to unleashing it into the world. How are you feeling?
Good! Especially with this one, I do feel quite good about it. It’s such a long time coming. I just wanna get it off my chest and get that crucial part of the equation, which is the audience. It becomes something else once there’s an audience and I’m ready for it to make that transition.
It’s your first self-produced album. For that reason, does it feel like your most rewarding too?
I just feel so proud that I managed to get it done [laughs]. I did have a little bit of help at the end there with a fella named Justin Meldal-Johnsen. I definitely couldn’t have gotten it completed without him, but largely the process was me alone in a room for years and I really didn’t think I was gonna make it during a lot of points. It will be very gratifying to have it out in the world. I can’t say that response doesn’t matter. If this was like my most hated album for some reason, it probably would change how I feel about it. I just can’t help that. Or if it was my most celebrated and successful, that would probably have a bearing as well.
You’re very interactive with your fans and always have been. Media-wise, are you someone who likes to read your own press?
Yeah. I’ve never had an experience where I’ve been completely brutalized in the press. So maybe if I had I wouldn’t. Generally, I’m reading my reviews and the articles that come out about it. One thing I’m avoiding is fan forums, like, that is too much for me. That is a bit too intense. I made a mistake of looking once, years ago, and I was like, never again [laughs]. But other than that I generally do read and I’ll even search myself on Twitter just to see what the honest opinion is. I feel like that’s a good place to sort of see if fans truly like it or if they’re just saying that they are when they’re tagging you.
You previously explained this album has no clear theme or concept. Was that a cautious decision or did it just work out that way?
You probably read that in the Rolling Stone article that came out in October. And at that point, I hadn’t really wrapped my head around it enough. That interview came a bit early for me. At this point, I would say that it is more sort of thematically and conceptually together in my head. For me, this one is about this whole process of making it and sort of where I’m at now. I feel that this was a transition in my life that kind of liberated me. The act of taking on all creative responsibility as well as most business responsibility in the last few years, for better or for worse, has completely taken the reigns on my own life and my own career. It’s kind of giving myself a blank slate and a fresh start in terms of absolutely everything coming from me. I guess conceptually in the music, there’s a lot of identity exploration as usual because I always kind of have an aspect of that in my records. There’s definitely an element of fantasy and layers of anger being released. I would say Girl with No Face, as a concept, has something to do with this seed inside of me that I uncovered over the course of a few years. She almost became another presence in the room that guided me through writing it.
I remember you said in a 2020 interview that you were still on a journey to discovering yourself. Now that it’s four years, I was wondering how much has changed during the creative process of this album?
Yeah, I do think a lot changed. I think I just let certain things be about myself now that I wanted to hide before or wanted to change. I now just sort of let it be. I’m trying to be very honest with both my fans and with the press or with anyone in the industry that I speak to. That would probably be the thing I would identify as the biggest change in me.
The latest release, “Off With Her Tits,” is having a moment with fans and even new listeners on TikTok. What’s it like witnessing that in real-time?
It’s good. I mean, these are really good numbers for me. They’re still not numbers that are like taking the world by storm or anything, but for my standards and, and what I hope for, I’m very happy with them. I felt really glad that the community just got it and that I didn’t have to explain anything, really. It was just sort of understood. And I feel like that song is very me. I feel like I found a tone there that found a balance between darkness and then just ridiculousness and camp. I was able to get some monkeys off my back by making fun of them basically, you know? That’s been a really gratifying process for me to release this song.
There are so many standouts on the first listen and I wanted to talk about a few of them. Let’s start with the opening track, “Weird World.” Tell me about this song.
That was the first song I wrote for the album because “Girl with No Face,” the seed of that started in 2014, so I guess technically that’s the oldest song, but “Weird World” was the first one that I sat down and wrote for this project in the summer of 2020 where I was like, “Oh, I think there’s something here. I think this is worth pursuing as a body of work.” The reference to 1984 and the lyrics, it’s got dystopian themes. I think without me knowing it, it really set the stage for what became sort of a theme of my writing over the next few years, which was coming to terms with reality and sort of seeing the world differently than I thought it was. And then dealing with all the emotions that came with that.
You previously mentioned when announcing the album that one of the songs had an “early Madonna” vibe. Were you referring to “Galina?”
Yes! I’m specifically referring to the synth baseline because if you listen to those early Madonna records, whoever was producing those baselines or play or the session player that was doing them, they were so all over the place and brilliant. I really was thinking about that type of synth face when I programmed that line. I don’t know if the melody or anything is very Madonna but I definitely took inspiration from the track.
“Hardware Software” is an obvious standout just for its production alone. It’s so wacky, I love it.
I was watching, I forget what film it was, it was some French film and I was listening to the soundtrack and realizing that French contemporary music, not pop music, but contemporary classical, they have these really wacky chord progressions and modulations and voicings. The next morning I sat down and I was like, “I wanna try to write that kind of voicing.” That’s where that came from. I just rapped over it and then “Hardware Software” came out. It is a whole another level of wacky. It was kind of just an improvised half-day at my parents’ house. I wrote that and thought, “Yeah, I think this could be on the album” [laughs].
Was there any reason why you wanted to close the album with “Truly Dreams?”
Because it’s the only one that’s a bit of a more of an optimistic song. Whereas the other ones are a bit of a punch you in the face, punch you in the gut, take off your tits, take off your face, you know, at the end of this, the record I wanted to say, “But I’ll keep dreaming.”
You tend to tour your albums. You’ve already got in-store record shop appearances planned. Is a tour announcement on the horizon?
I’d like to but I’m also like scared to tour. I’m scared of the loss of money and I’m scared of getting sick again. I had to cancel a big tour in 2022. I feel like I can’t afford to do that to people again. Like, I don’t wanna lose. So I don’t know. And I have PTSD about the whole thing but I also love to perform and promote my stuff, so I’m struggling with it actually at the moment. We’re looking into touring, but we haven’t made a final decision.
Lastly, what are you hoping listeners will take away from the album when they do hear it?
You know, first and foremost, I think what I always want listeners to take away is a sense of belonging. A sense of feeling something. I like them to have their own personal experience. I don’t need it to be all about me. I think once music has an audience, it’s meant to become something else. So that would be my first wish is that it gives people some relief or it gives them a chance to express themselves or it gives them something to relate to, something to cry to, something to laugh to. But my second wish, on a personal note, would be that I just put something out there that really represents who I am and very authentically who I am. That chance for me to be seen and understood would be the secondary thing that I would wish for. I think that’s the great privilege of being an artist, is having a chance to really like, take your feelings, put them in the world and have people say, “Yeah, I understand that, I see you,” you know?”.
Moving onto InStyle and their chat with Allie X. This feature is all about saluting incredible women in music. I feel we have this amazing and really strong artist who is also an amazing talent. Girl with No Face is such a phenomenal album from a truly distinct artist. I would urge everyone to check out her music:
“InStyle: We’re less than 10 days away from the release of Girl With No Face; describe your state of being.
Allie X: "I’m definitely enjoying myself now more than I have been through making the record and the campaign; most of my work is done at this point. It’s been an enormous lift. I don’t even know how I’ve done it—producing and writing myself, and then I took over management as well. Every aspect of my business, I oversee. There’s not enough hours in the day, and I’ve been pretty stressed. I’m glad to just talk about it, and be dressed up, and perform. This is fun. It’s a celebration."
InStyle: John first put me on to your music, and we stan. How would you describe your relationship with your fans?
Allie X: "It’s multi-faceted. First and foremost, I’ve come to understand that fans are the only thing that matters—truly. In the music industry, we have as many as 30 people on our extended team at times, and they’re all advising you, and some people are associated with big artists and have a lot of money and can advance you, blah, blah, blah. When I first started in the industry, I really thought those were gatekeepers, right? But what I’ve realized is that all I need is fans. I just want people to consume my music, to buy tickets to my shows, to purchase my vinyls. My fans can provide my livelihood. I appreciate that there are people in the world that want to hear what I have to say and interpret it and relate to it. What a privilege.
At the same time, I do find—and this is in the song “John and Jonathan”—fame sort of strange. And I’m not that famous, but I do find this idea of being someone that’s worshiped or whatever a strange position to be in. Seeing fan culture or being adjacent to it has always been a bit strange to me. People say (and not in these exact words), 'You’re so perfect!' I’m so, so flawed. I barely ever get recognized, and I really like that. I like having some sort of anonymity."
InStyle: So far, you’ve dropped “Black Eye,” “Girl With No Face,” and “Off With Her Tits” as singles, inspired by music legends like Kate Bush, Giorgio Moroder, and New Order. What’s the thematic through-line; what “era” would you say you’re in?
Allie X: "I’ve never written something where I’ve referenced an era so hard (with exceptions): the U.K. in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s; there’s a little bit of New York in it as well, but that transition from punk music into post-punk to synth-pop. I love the spirit of that time, and I love the experimentation that was happening, so if you know that music and you listen to this record, you hear all those references. That’s not something I’m trying to hide. By putting it through my own lens, it doesn’t exactly feel like that time—what came out of me is my eccentric and theatrical side, in my singing style, and lyrically. This is truly a goth-pop record."
InStyle: Right. I understood it to be about being perceived and having fans. I love the lyric, “Jon likes coffee black, and John, au lait,” because it mirrors what John and I actually like and our aesthetic. How did you come up with that, considering you don’t really know us?
Allie X: "There’s a lot of wit in this record and it’s a nice, witty line. I cracked myself up with that one."
InStyle: You seem to be having fun musically.
Allie X: "I am! Parts of me were so fun, and parts of it were absolutely tortuous and that’s because the writing process does not really lend itself... it’s one thing to sit at a guitar or piano and be like, This is the melody or the idea. A lot of writers are comfortable doing that by themselves; it’s another thing to build an entire track from scratch—all the melodies, all the lyrics, come up with all the harmonies, figure out all the gear to use. It was a huge technical challenge and learning curve."
InStyle: How are you thinking of performing Girl With No Face?
Allie X: "I’m not an artist that can dream—maybe for a music video, definitely for stills I can. But in terms of live, I can’t dream of my fantasy production and then go execute it. When I think of live production, I think, full-on hack, full-on thrifty mindset. I really like what I did for my ‘Secret LA’ show, which was sort of a museum vibe. It was basically boulders, red rope, and chalk powder… One day, if I have a huge budget I’ll do amazing things. There’s a clip of Lady Gaga from very early days, when she hadn’t broken yet, and I’ll always remember it—someone in the audience commented on her disco stick, and she was like, ‘Yeah, you love my little disco stick, you wait until you see the things I’m gonna do.’ I don’t know if I’ll ever reach a level where I can actually do all these crazy things, but I feel the same way. You can’t imagine the things I’d do if I had the budget."
InStyle: It seems like you’re shedding past versions of yourself on this record. Who is Allie X, and how has your artistry evolved?
Allie X: "Who’s Allie X today? I wish I knew. I’m sure you guys, John and Jonathan, relate to this idea that it’s one thing to... as longtime partners, you probably see progression in each other better than you see it in yourself, right? I know with my partner, I can see how he’s changed, or where he’s at—it’s easier from an outside perspective. When you’re inside of yourself, you can make certain observations, but at least inside me it's so chaotic—I don’t really know how to analyze, but I will attempt to.
The changes in me from doing this record have been pretty profound. I’ve let go of a lot of dreams, and I’ve found new ones, which has been beautiful. ‘Weird World’ is about seeing the reality of who I am in the world, and that hurts, but it also is so empowering to understand the truth and to see things as they really are. When I started Allie X, I was terrified to even reveal my eyes, I was so, If they see me they'll think I’m ugly. If they know my age they’ll think I’m too old. If they know about my health struggles, no one will want to work with me. It was so much.
At this point—and this ties back into what I was saying about how it comes down to the fans—I don’t care what anyone thinks except my fans. If my fans don’t think that it’s a liability for me to be someone with chronic illness that’s also doing pop, if my fans don’t think that I’m too old, if my fans don’t think that I’m whatever, then I don’t care what anyone else thinks, you know? It feels good to have honest interviews and conversations like this where I feel comfortable just saying that. That’s been a big transition. Looking forward, I’m hoping for some peace that comes into my life. I feel like I’ve been fist-out, fighting for the last few years, in a private and lonely way. I’m hoping to manifest a calmer era, to enter my adult years in a way”.
I am going to round up with a review from The Line of Best Fit. Girl with No Face is a tremendous album. I have been following Allie X for a while now. One of the most original and phenomenal artists on the scene. I think that everyone should know about her and listen to her music. This is a moment when she has truly arrived. Anyone who does not know about this stunning artist yet surely will do:
“The ingredients of pop are all there: conventionally structured songs, well-worn electronic beats, clean vocals. But those same ingredients somehow feel uncanny – and while uncanniness has always been a part of Alexandra Hughes' mission as Allie X, it’s fair to say that she’s never sounded quite so maniacally weird as she does here.
Uncanniness, of course, isn’t just about weirdness: it’s about the familiar becoming unfamiliar, and there’s plenty of familiar sounds here, from cheeky nods to Kraftwerk to flashes of A-Ha and the Human League. The album opens with “Weird World,” an 80s-inspired synthpop track that peppers flourishes of German in amongst X’s trademark sardonic wit (“Hail Satan / at least he keeps a promise”). From there we move at a marching pace through track after track of demented thrills, the inventiveness and glee never once letting up. Hughes has co-written songs for BTS and Troye Sivan, but in the four years since her last album, Cape God, she certainly seems to have saved her best material for her own Allie X persona.
Indeed, for fans of Allie X it can sometimes seem surprising that she’s not better known. Her early music was tipped by Katy Perry, of all people; mixed commercial success seems to have driven her increasingly towards the darker, more bizarre end of her sound spectrum. Girl with No Face is like listening to someone who’s given up on success completely – and the results are electrifying. When Hughes addresses the issue of her success directly on “You Slept on Me,” it’s with bird-flippingly brazen relish: “I’m an icon honey! / This isn’t a chore / And I need to make money / so give me yours!”
Pastiche is a risk for many artists, but for Hughes it’s an opportunity, giving her unsettling, shape-shifting persona full command. Self-defacement (and -debasement) is a key theme of Girl with No Face, as though the only way to take control of one’s own identity is to erase it. That theme is most obvious in the title track itself, but it’s deployed most magnificently on “Off with Her Tits,” an utterly bonkers, completely unique song about… well, cutting your tits off. The lyrics don’t directly reference gender dysphoria – though “My body is a prison” comes close – but given Allie X’s strong LGBTQ+ following, it’s hard not to make the connection.
“Off with Her Tits” also makes the most of Hughes’ astonishing vocal abilities, which are given full rein amidst the wild abandon of these songs. “Truly Dreams” is another great example of this: it’s one of the brightest-sounding tracks on the album, with Hughes’ voice dancing down pentatonic stairways, belting out choruses and howling into its uppermost register.
If Cape God felt like Hughes beginning to create her own universe, Girl with No Face marks her apotheosis as her deity. Still sleeping on Allie X? It’s time to wake up: her spaceship has truly landed”.
I was keen to keep this feature going. Recognise brilliant women in music. In terms of those who we should all be aware of and follow, check out Allie X. With a new album out and some much-deserved recognition her way, so many eyes are trained her way. Girl with No Face is one of this year’s finest albums. Go and follow her on Instagram. I have so much respect and appreciation for Allie X. If you do not know about her, then she really needs to be…
ON your radar.