Castlemaine-based musician Felicity Cripps explores long lost loves and ones that could have been with her new single 'Werewolf'.
Dreamy yet melancholic, and drenched in nostalgia from a bygone era, 'Werewolf' was recorded and produced by Nick Huggins (Dirty Three, Jess Rebeiro, Jen Cloher) and features the dulcet tones of Bones Sloane (Courtney Barnett) on backing vocals.A blues-flecked guitar riff that could have been trawled directly from the 1960s-70s with its golden hue, country-flavoured rock & roll tone is melded to Felicity's husky, honeyed vocals that entrap you with a lulling charm, the wistful nature of the lyrics creating tingling rushes of thrilling exhilaration.
The guitar solo also arrives with a noodling, psychedelic embrace that gives the song extra character almost as if it is slow-dancing with a jaunty partner.
"There's a sweetness that feels lost, but also a sense of elation in letting go and moving on," shares Felicity, who runs and owns local arts institution and venue Theatre Royal Castlemaine with her husband.
Ahead of the song's release tomorrow (30 May), today scenestr is stoked to premiere 'Werewolf'. Enjoy.
'Werewolf' joins previous single 'Inside A Keyhole' as tasters of Felicity's upcoming LP 'Chasing Volcanoes' that's due for release 22 August.
"I was listening to Lana Del Rey's album 'Chemtrails Over The Country Club' quite a bit when we were recording this song, and that really inspired the vocal sound," adds Cripps, discussing 'Werewolf' further.
"I love the nostalgic feeling the 'Chemtrails' album evokes – I hope 'Werewolf' captures a similar vibe. I wanted it to be heady and sparkly, like a warm summer's night."
Felicity's storytelling takes you on a journey, reminiscing on past unattainable lovers, and the gradual dissipation of youthful innocence. Drawing on inspiration from her own experience, what she describes as her 'werewolf in Paris', she touches on the dangerous euphoria in the moments that could have been, from dancing on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur to riding under the Parisian sky on a motorbike.
"This song began as a series of montages of past love interests – magical interludes during the formative years of my youth," Felicity says. "I wanted to remember the euphoric, slightly dangerous feeling of romances that were never quite attainable.
"But as I wrote the song, I kept reverting back to the memory of a boy I met in Kuala Lumpur on a 24-hour stopover. I was 22. The boy was French and very beautiful and barely spoke a word of English. I was stranded, not sure where to go, standing in the rain outside a bird sanctuary on the city's outskirts.
"I saw him standing with two other friends, the only other tourists in the nearby vicinity. He invited me to share a taxi with his friends to a local food market and from there we spent the rest of the evening wandering the city, eating, drinking and dancing, gesticulating and laughing a lot when we couldn't understand each other.
"He had big, brown eyes and long, dark hair. I likened this boy to a werewolf – a dangerous attraction that could have taken my life in a very different direction.
"I felt so disjointed and between worlds and so intoxicated by the werewolf. But I was also on my way home, after seven months abroad, with a boyfriend waiting for me. The moon was full, we were dancing, I remember fish tanks and neon lights and salsa music.
"He was a very good dancer and our mutual attraction felt acutely palpable. Fearing I was about to lose control, I left hurriedly – jumping into the nearest taxi. The boy raced out and took down the licence plate of the driver and told him he would be checking to make sure I made it back to my hotel.
"I had his email scrawled on a bit of paper and so we stayed in touch, writing to each other from time to time. At one point he wrote from Dublin, living there on a soccer scholarship. Gradually his English seemed to improve.
"Years later I was touring Europe with my band and so I got in touch with the werewolf and we stayed with him in Paris. . . I had no idea what to expect after all those years and having known him for only a few hours, but he was every bit as dreamy and dangerous as I remembered.
"One night, after a big house party, we rode through Paris on his motorbike and we lay beneath the Eiffel Tower, not another soul around, watching the sun slowly rise. I spent a surreal and quixotic week in that city. Then I was off, to play more shows, to visit more cities.
"I saw him again, nearly a decade later – but this time he had a family of his own. I was on tour again – this time I had a fiancé of my own. I was welcomed into the werewolf's home like an extended member of the family.
"It was at a flea market in Paris that I found my wedding dress. I brought it back to the werewolf's apartment and he asked me to try it on. He grinned widely as I stood there in a white embroidery anglaise, nodding in approval, murmuring, 'tres tres beau'.
"I don't know if kindly werewolves typically exist, but this one was surely an exception."
