Ladyhawke's new album, ‘Wild Things’, lets us hear what real love sounds like.
Since the rise of Tinder, social expectations of what a true relationship is seem to have changed; emphasis is now placed upon late-night hook-ups, Netflix and Chill and other forms of instant gratification.
Ladyhawke’s ‘Wild Things’ is inspired predominately by her discovery that love is not the initial rush of attraction caused by pheromones and flowers, but rather something much deeper.
This theme is clearly evident on first single, ‘A Love Song’. “People quite often write about the beginning of the love when they first meet the person and how that feels but this [song is] a few years down the track.
“You can go through a whole bunch of stuff in your life and if you’ve got someone amazing with you, they’ll still be there at the end of it and they won’t get freaked out or run away. Instead of writing a sappy love song, it was more like acknowledging the fact that in any relationship, if you go through a bunch of stuff together and you are still good at the end of the bad stuff, then that’s a really awesome sign.”
The New Zealand-born singer has gone through some tough times since her meteoric rise to fame with her debut, self-titled album, including the inevitable struggles that came with producing the difficult second album. “It’s a cliché but it’s true; the second one is so hard; it’s brutal," she says.
‘Wild Things’, though, documents her joyous realisation that the storm had passed and the sun was once again shining in her life. “I think of [the album] as the positive stuff that came out of a difficult time. The whole album came after I was feeling great and I was feeling like a human again. To me when I listen to the songs, I feel quite excited.”
Her song ‘Let It Roll’ outlines her philosophy for dealing with the struggles of life. It's basically her version of The Beatles ‘Let It Be’ or Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake it Off’. The song discusses less healthy ways of increasing self-esteem, such as selfies. “For some people taking a selfie might make them feel empowered but for me personally, I’m not much of a selfie taker.
“Sometimes I cringe when I see people putting up selfies all the time. I don’t think you should need the approval of other people to feel good. You shouldn’t need to put up a selfie and then count how many likes you’ve got.”
The ultimate message of the song is that we can be happiest if we strip away all the false messages we have been taught and return to the purity of a new born. “You’re born and it’s a clean slate. I couldn’t word it any more literally.
“Life is so much hard work. I have a lot of great friends and family. I think it’s really important to stay grounded and remember all the things you’ve been through in your life to get to where you are. I try not to lose sight of the fact that I’m just a human, I’m just a person with skin covering a skeleton; skin loosely draped over a skeleton. That’s what we all are and I think people forget that.”
Having spent much of her life as a musician, Ladyhawke has learned some valuable lessons to survive such a cut-throat industry. “Starting off playing in bands since I was 16-years old, I can’t recommend that enough; it’s so fun. It teaches you how to work with other people and I learnt very quickly how to tour and tour rough as well. Like, you know in a van and sleeping on couches. It’s character building and when you’re young and doing that stuff, it’s so exciting and it doesn’t matter if you are doing it on the world’s tiniest budget.”
Ladyhawke has even discovered the elusive solution to sleeping in moving vehicles. “If you’re an anxious traveller, know some calming methods. I’ve got Pink Floyd on my iPod because it’s so soothing. It’s become my soothing travel music. If I’m on an aeroplane or long-haul journey and I just want to zone out and drift off to sleep, I’ll put Pink Floyd on.
“Quite often I have 'Dark Side Of The Moon', 'Wish You Were Here' and 'The Wall' and I just put them on shuffle. You can’t go wrong really.”
‘Wild Things’ is released 3 June.
Ladyhawke Tour Dates
Thu 14 Jul - The Zoo (Brisbane)Fri 15 Jul - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
Sat 16 Jul - Howler (Melbourne)
