Findlay
announces her storied second album
‘The Last of the 20th Century Girls’
due on May 13th.
This new journey sees Findlay at her most open, transparent, and introspective yet, drawing upon her own personal experiences since the release of full-length 2017 debut ‘Forgotten Pleasures’. With complex, fully-realised themes ranging from grief and loss to the struggle of losing and re-building one’s confidence, through to the challenges and pitfalls of the past couple of years, all serve to inspire a range of tracks across the album. And there’s technological prowess across the board, with mastering by five-time Grammy Awards winning engineer Antoine ‘Chab’ Chabert (Daft Punk, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sebastien Tellier).
Throughout the rest of the album’s broad ethos of independent musicality and self-awareness, Findlay explores the weight of her own evolving identity and the depths of her vivid imagination. Self-described as a “late coming of age story”, drenched in nostalgia, melancholy and the kind of strange experiences only a misunderstood millennial could have; the album effortlessly blends a diverse melting pot of breezy alt-indie, psychedelic pop, dreamy lo-fi chill, indie-rock and expansive cinematic sounds.
Findlay – Ride Video directed by Natalie Findlay
The latter is supremely explored through Findlay’s focus on self-directing her own visceral music videos and, as seen here and on prior singles ‘Strange One’, ‘Life Is But A Dream’, “Night Sweats” and “The End of the World” – she’s the epitome of ‘DIY Artist’, having “made the decision that the next music I released I had to own, I had to be in control and I didn’t want to ask permission or opinions from anyone else on the making of”.
Creating her own defined, no-nonsense narrative, Findlay explains: “The last few years were tough for me, navigating the death of someone close and dealing with the aftermath, then the pandemic, the lockdowns… my mental health took a big hit. I was totally burnt out. I had to work very hard on myself to get back to a place where I even felt comfortable releasing music and trying to summon the mojo that’s needed to carry a record and put it out into the world. Finishing this album was a really healing experience for me, it was great having something to work towards between all the chaos and heartache”.
‘The Last of the 20th Century Girls’ is a stark reminder that there can always be a light at the end of the tunnel, and Findlay beautifully harnesses the light, dark and every moment in-between – “You can choose to grow from it or let it ruin you. I’m choosing to grow and I’m choosing it now on my terms. It’s like I’ve been rolling around in the dark for the last ten years and suddenly the lights just came on”.
IG @@findlaymusic
Lyrics Ride by Findlay
I was in a summer mood
Walking through the neighbourhood
On a bright blue afternoon
Call you up with a view for two
So I can swap my writers block for brand new dancing shoes
On we ride into the sun
Dance til they’re sore
Free love for the young and the dumb
That’s what it’s for
We were singing summer blues
All the roses now in bloom
For generation doom
Now we got nothing to lose
So you can swap your sweat shop pop
For an underrated muse
On we ride into the sun
Dance til they’re sore
Free love for the young and the dumb
That’s what it’s for
I don’t wanna know the future I’m sick of the culture
Bittersweet in the sun
My feet barely reach the ground
Stand up to sit back down
We used to be on the run
But we held on for the dream
Through lonely times indeed
We’re not the only ones
Gazing towards the horizon
The look in your eyes
Says the best is to come
On we ride into the sun
Dance til they’re sore
Free love for the young and the dumb
That’s what it’s for
The Papers Blog 