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Telegraph
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Self Esteem, A Complicated Woman, review: deserves to be heard live
'Be very careful what you wish for.' Rebecca Taylor, who performs as Self Esteem, begins her third album almost in medias res, with spoken word that picks up the thread of 2021's I Do This All The Time. That lightning-in-a-bottle single, and its parent album Prioritise Pleasure, won over a generation of women and sent Taylor skyward: Mercury and Brit nominations, casting in the West End as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and another West End run of five sold-out theatrical performances of her new album, one of which saw Madonna in the audience. No wonder that A Complicated Woman's opening track is more stage monologue than pop song, given her recent experience treading the boards. 'I'm not complaining, I'm whinging in a new way,' she tells us, examining the trappings of fame. Fame, for 38-year-old Taylor – who found recognition in her mid thirties, which is unusual for this youth-obsessed industry – has been complicated. 'Call me anything you want,' Taylor sings. 'Time's not on my side.' She finished A Complicated Woman at the height of Brat summer last year, and felt self-conscious about making such an earnest album at the opposite end of her thirties to 32-year-old Charli XCX. Tracks such as Mother, Lies, and 69 — a roll call of favourite sex positions — lean into that clubbier sound, but it's clear Taylor doesn't need to pretend to be a messy party girl to win accolades. On Self Esteem albums, the message, though a vital one — exposing the contradictions of being a woman in your thirties — tends to outshine the music. Take away the empowering lyrics of lead song Focus Is Power, and what's left might sound like a corny charity single. Taylor aimed for 'sing-along stadium tropes' on this new album, mainly achieved via a sizeable chorus who lend their lungs to many of its tracks, often to rousing effect: the chorus bolster guest Moonchild Sanelly's cry of 'what the f— you want from me?' on In Plain Sight, and add sway to alcohol dependency ode The Curse: 'I wouldn't do it if it didn't f—ing work / but it really works / and that's the curse.' Occasionally, the voices cloy. 'If you know, you know,' they croon on What Now: the kind of platitude that only Lana Del Rey can get away with. Despite the choral boost, Taylor's music only really unleashes its full power on stage — it deserves to be experienced live. Just listen to The Deep Blue Okay, the final track on A Complicated Woman: its exultant, urgent piano chords that build and build — like those of LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends — beg to be danced to with all your friends, in a room full of people who feel the same way. Kate French-Morris Best New Songs By Poppie Platt Addison Rae, Headphones On With her debut album set for release on June 6, pop's hottest new star and former TikTok mega-influencer Addison Rae goes for full-blown glamour in her new video… by strolling around Iceland. I don't get it either. But Headphones On is another banger: a deliciously nostalgic hybrid of Janet Jackson and prime-era Britney. Future Utopia (featuring Lava La Rue), The Pleasure Trap Producer to the stars Future Utopia – who has worked with Adele and grime veterans Stormzy and Dave – teams up with rising British star Lava La Rue on this infectiously trippy, synth-heavy anthem. Lorde, What Was That She wrote pop masterpieces Royals and Ribs when she was just 16, released one of the 21st century's finest albums with 2017's Melodrama, and last year broke the internet with her feature with Charli XCX on Girl, So Confusing. Lorde is, usually, one step ahead of the curve; a singularly interesting pop star. Which all makes her hotly anticipated new single What Was That even more disappointing. There's cringey discussion about mainlining MDMA and idolising cigarettes that make her sound like a Christian youth camper trying to be rebellious. It'll probably be the biggest hit of the summer regardless. Pearl Charles, Just What It Is A gorgeously wistful Americana track about forgiving your past self and accepting the dark elements of your past from one of LA's rising stars. PinkPantheress, Stateside Another garage-influenced slice of Y2K euphoria from PinkPantheress, her whispery, deliberately cutesy vocals offering welcome respite from the frantic bass. Charli XCX collaborator and indie darling The Dare co-produced. Sam Fender, Tyrants Not content with having scored another Number 1 with his third album, People Watching, North Shields' answer to Springsteen finally drops this searing, guitar-led fan-favourite that was previously only available on vinyl and is now sure to storm up the charts.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Self Esteem live in London: Rollercoaster ride of a theatre show kicks off new era
Is this a sermon, a theatre epic, group therapy? Whatever it is, A Complicated Woman at the Duke Of York's Theatre feels defining in the already accolade laden career of Self Esteem. Is there anything Rebecca Lucy Taylor can't do? Hearing these new songs feels like a rite of passage on Easter Sunday. The room is not only part of a movement, but witnessing something inspired, destined for glowing reviews and affirmation. So much so, even Madonna has been spotted in attendance. Is she now a 'Steemer' too? It's easy to gush over something so emotive in a hotly immersive theatre setting. But the post hype that's coming from ticket holders and critics alike is well founded. In 75 minutes, you're taken on a rousing rollercoaster, a ride that flips your stomach, soul and emotional equilibrium. You don't know which way you're going to go, but be sure you're going to feel it. The show opens in theatrical spectacle, a follow on from Rebecca's Sally Bowles at The Kit Kat Club, meeting The Handmade's Tale square in the face. A Complicated Woman, or what we've seen of her so far, is brought to life; set free. The choreography from here on in is genius, rave-pop belter 'Mother' is fearsome, funny and executed in quite terrifying convulsive movements, rippling throughout the meticulous ensemble. This is what the crowd came for, a ride only Self Esteem can stop – strap yourselves in. The show is sprinkled with some hits from her second album Prioritise Pleasure. There's subtle twists though, Easter eggs for fans. So much thought and detail have been poured into this, where do you find the time Rebecca? But what's apparent here is that she's welcomed help now, even she recognises this on stage, stating the process of collaboration as 'healing'. Kudos to theatre designer Tom Scutt and the folks at Empire Street Productions. The new songs don't just hold gravitas within the crowd but recent single 'Focus Is Power' propels everyone into rapturous ovation and embrace. Even the back rows stand in collective appreciation, singing back to the stage 'I deserve to be here'. It's all quite euphoric, even cathartic. What are we witnessing, is anyone else doing this right now? 'In Plain Sight', a song with Moonchild Sanelly is jaw dropping, spine tingling stuff. Moonchild on the big screen, tears rolling down her face with the ensemble staring back in worship. Light cascades through the stage, across the crowd and goosebumps are triggered. Rebecca breaks character, or so we're led to believe as she sits down to have a chat with the audience. Can we take a breath? You must be kidding! She seamlessly merges this casual convo into the spoken word prowess of 'I Do This All The Time' and the audience are in the palm of her hand, chanting this fierce feminist gospel back to her. It's time now for the men to be quiet and listen: 'Be wary of the favours men do for you'. After juxtaposing fragility with power, comes a crescendo in the jubilant form of 'The Deep Blue Okay', another new track and one befitting an encore. It's easy to see why this new work found a place on the theatre stage. After all, it's a story, a journey, one of turmoil and captivity that leads to the ecstasy of freedom. No doubt the latest album will work on the road and in festival fields this summer too. Combined into a theatre show, it's nothing short of a masterpiece and one that's certainly going to leave its mark. But Rebecca, one question. How do you eat a banana on stage and then sing a beautiful ballad? They're so claggy.
The Guardian
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Self Esteem: A Complicated Woman review
Last week, London's Duke of York's theatre played host to an elaborate four-night live staging of Self Esteem's third album. Devised by Self Esteem herself – Rebecca Lucy Taylor – along with Tony award-winning theatrical director and designer Tom Scutt, it was rapturously received by critics, and seemed to speak of an entirely understandable confidence on Taylor's part. Since 2017, she has completely reinvented herself, from one half of middle-ranking indie duo Slow Club into an on-her-own-terms pop star. Her second album as Self Esteem, 2021's Prioritise Pleasure, was a critical and commercial success, shifting her into the realm of breakfast TV interviews and appearances on The Graham Norton Show and Celebrity Bake-Off. She also has a burgeoning career as an actor, having played Sally Bowles in a West End production of Cabaret opposite Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears. Her success has meant that, on Prioritise Pleasure's follow-up, she was finally afforded a recording budget sufficient to do what she always wanted: grand ambitions involving choirs and orchestras. But, by her own account, the making of A Complicated Woman was fraught. Taylor was racked with self-doubt and plagued by twin worries: that if it took too long to make, her career would lose momentum, and that at 38, she was too old to be a pop star anyway. She apparently considered quitting music entirely. Some of those concerns have evidently seeped into the songs. The music on A Complicated Woman reaches for feelgood stadium singalongs, evokes sweaty dancefloors and aims itself at the dead centre of 21st-century mainstream pop. There are moments where the lyrics match the sound: 69 combines distorted rave-era-evoking beats and an explicit checklist of what Taylor does and doesn't enjoy in bed (winningly, given that it variously mentions pegging, scissoring and the reverse cowgirl position, it was released as a single); Mother's grimy house pulse is topped with a blistering dismissal of a self-absorbed ex that contains the impressively sick burn: 'Are you interested in growing? There is other literature outside of The Catcher in the Rye.' But for the most part, the songs thrash about and contradict themselves as if Taylor is, right in front of your ears, working out exactly how she feels about ageing, drinking or her career. This approach sometimes feels brave and fascinating – The Curse's examination of a complex relationship with alcohol is affectingly realistic and relatable, declining to resort to either wellness bromides or let's-party nihilism. But sometimes it feels confusingly opaque. The tellingly titled I Do and I Don't Care revisits the spoken-word approach of her breakthrough single I Do This All the Time, but in place of that song's chord-striking list of sexist remarks there's a brain-dump stream of consciousness. It's tough to work out what she's driving at, whether the song's string-laden conclusion ('We're not chasing happiness any more, girls / We're chasing nothing / The great big still / The deep blue OK') is positive or incredibly bleak. To which Taylor might reasonably respond: that's the point, stupid. This is anthemic-sounding music about ambiguity, perhaps striving to bond people together without providing pat answers in deeply uncertain times. She has mentioned Elbow's reliably roof-raising One Day Like This as a model for part of the album's sound and you can hear its influence in the massed vocals and swelling orchestration that liberally pepper A Complicated Woman. But you're occasionally struck by the sense that it's trying a little too hard to rouse its audience into a mass singalong. There are moments when the choir arrives and you think 'them again?' – closer The Deep Blue Okay marries them to a fidgety piano line and ends up sounding like a cross between LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends and something off The Greatest Showman soundtrack, a deeply peculiar cocktail. The likes of Mother, or the noisy Nadine Shah-featuring Lies, are more powerful for the choir's absence. A Complicated Woman is a bold experiment that you couldn't call a failure – there are good things there, that underline how vastly improved the world of pop is for having Self Esteem in it – but doesn't always come off with the efficacy Taylor might have hoped. As the reviews of the Duke of York's show suggest, it might well work better live, aided by the fact that Taylor is a fantastic performer – you can easily imagine Cheers to Me's defiant coda ('but mostly cheers to me') being bellowed back at the stage by a vast crowd, taking on a new potency in the process. Its author has recently talked about pursuing her acting career further: perhaps A Complicated Woman belongs on the stage too. A Complicated Woman by Self Esteem is released by Polydor on 25 April Lady Wray – Be a Witness Lady Wray continues to pilot her own peculiar path through soul music: Be a Witness is lush, summery and synth-heavy, but intriguingly lo-fi, as if it were recorded off the radio decades ago.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Singer Self Esteem: There were moments I considered giving up
"Please be upstanding for the world's most confusing House of Games contestant and Bake Off failure, Self Esteem!" This is how Rebecca Lucy Taylor – aka celebrated pop singer Self Esteem – is introduced to the stage at London's Duke of York's Theatre. It's a typically irreverent comment, an example of the dry wit she uses to sweeten the sincerity and anger of her music. "You can take piccies and videos," the off-stage voice continues, "because she needs all the help she can get." That, too, is strictly tongue-in-cheek. Three years ago, Taylor released her second album, Prioritise Pleasure, a body-shaking manifesto for female self-worth that bristled at society's expectations while acknowledging her own shortcomings ("Sexting you at the mental health talk seems counterproductive," she observed on Moody). After 10 years in mid-ranking indie band Slow Club, the album propelled her into uncharted realms. There were magazine covers, nominations for the Mercury Prize and Brit Awards, a starring role on stage in Cabaret, a support slot with Adele and, yes, an appearance on Celebrity Bake Off – where, unfortunately, she burned her crumpets. "The week that Prioritise Pleasure came out, my whole life changed," she reflects. "Not financially or in terms of fame, but it's like there was a knot in my stomach that untied. "Then everyone was like, 'Right, can you do that again, please?'" Taylor tore herself in two to make the follow-up, A Complicated Woman, which comes out on Friday. After playing it live for the first time in the West End on Wednesday, she describes the album's gestation process as "horrible", "lonely", and "painful". "It just felt really stressful to execute what was in my head," she explains in a phone interview the next morning. "I was thinking so big, but I still don't have access to the resources I need to make it as big as I wanted." Part of the problem was a punishing, but self-imposed, time limit. "The music industry is like, 'You've got 10 minutes, then you're over and someone else is going to take your place'," she explains. "So I felt like I had no choice [but to commit to another record] if I wanted to build on what I'd done. "But as painful as it was and as dark as it got, the second I'm back on stage performing it, I'm like, 'Oh, this is why I love it'." She hasn't just made a new album - she has also created a daring, jaw-dropping theatrical experience to go with it. It's set in a sparse recreation of the community centre where eight-year-old Becky from Rotherham learned to tap dance. "You just wanted to sing / You didn't know what that would bring," recalls an older, more cynical version of that child – as she assesses her life at the age of 38. "This really is all there is, and that's what you've got to get comfortable with." As the show opens, 10 dancers line up on either side of her, dressed in austere outfits that recall The Handmaid's Tale. Initially, their movements are stiff and restricted but, as Taylor describes suffocating relationships with emotionally-stunted men, they start to thrash and jerk their bodies. "We start in that world where we're shackled, and then we exorcise it," Taylor explains. "Over the course of the show, it all unravels and everyone ends up being themselves instead of conforming to these societal norms." A four-night theatre residency is an unusual way to launch an album. The audience is unfamiliar with most of the songs, and no-one's sure whether to absorb the performance attentively, or sing along and dance. Several times, laughter ripples through the theatre as the singer's more acerbic observations hit home. The following morning, she's not quite sure what to make of the reaction. "Every time people laugh, my heart sinks," she says. "But then I'm like, the lyrics are funny, aren't they? "And I love changing the laughter into emotion. It feels like people are laughing because it's uncomfortable." In the end, the audience members mirror the on-stage narrative. Shaking off their discomfort, they rise out of their seats and start making an almighty racket. The music becomes a soundtrack to solidarity - which, it transpires, was Taylor's intention. A Complicated Woman might be as cutting and powerful as its predecessor, but the melodies were designed for stadiums. "Do you remember the Elbow song One Day Like This?" she asks. "The one that goes, 'Throw those curtains wii-iide'? "I went mad for that song when it came out and, honestly, I played it over and over in the studio and said, 'I want to do this'." "I was very inspired by trying to make it onto World Cup montages. That's a genre of music that I really, really enjoy." That's only half the story, though. The album is all about capturing the complex and contradictory impulses of a woman in her mid-30s. Recent single 69, for example, is a thumping house track on which Taylor talks with withering candour about her sex life. Imagine Madonna's Justify My Love, if she was really being honest. "It's an idea I had for ages, of listing sex positions and scoring them so that there's no grey area [for prospective partners]," the singer laughs. "But there's a more political element, which is that women still aren't saying what they want in the bedroom. And I'm like, I can't bear this any more. Please let us just enjoy having sex. "It's not exactly going to win an Ivor Novello Award for lyrics, but I think it stands on the album with moments that are more emotional and deep." Those moments include The Curse, a rousing ballad about using alcohol to dull her anxiety, which is possibly the best song Self Esteem's ever written. Her personal favourite, however, is called In Plain Sight. A collaboration with South African musician Moonchild Sanelly, it's a response to the criticism they've both received for speaking their minds. "The world is saying who I am, but I thought I knew myself all these years," says Sanelly in a semi-improvised rap. "I shrink to keep the peace, hoping I don't shake my purpose." It's a feeling Taylor immediately recognised. As excitement built around Prioritise Pleasure in 2021, she started getting "nasty messages" on social media, which shook her up. "I was really shocked the first time I got grief, because no-one's ever been that bothered about what I'm doing," she says. "People say you should ignore it, but if you went to a wedding and had a nice day and one person called you an [expletive], who would you go home thinking about? It's just human nature." Eventually, the criticism took its toll. "There were moments where I considered giving up, which shocked me because I've been this defiant, angry thing for so long," she says. "But over the last few years, especially with the world being like it is, I've definitely had feelings of protecting myself and shutting up. "That's the saddest part of the album, really. But I found a way through. "And if I can, then I hope the rest of the world can too, you know?" That realisation is the connecting tissue of A Complicated Woman. Life is never easy, she says. No-one is ever truly satisfied. Relationships are hard work. You can't please everyone. But that's OK. You're OK. Trust your gut. She sums it up on Focus Is Power, held aloft by the sound of a gospel choir: "And now I see it clear with every passing of each year / I deserve to be here." On stage in London, she sings those final lines a capella with her dancers and backing singers, arms wrapped around each other in a display of female solidarity. It's a cathartic moment after the bruising process of putting the album together. "There's so much joy in being a woman and just being yourself can be beautiful," she says. "You've just got to find a way to do it." With that, she's off to make tweaks for the show's second night. After that, she has to find a way to scale down the West End production for a UK tour. "I'll do what I can to make it continue, but it's a huge risk because there's so little revenue from anything else," she says. Ultimately, though, her ambition is undimmed. "I want to make 20 albums, I want to do bigger theatre shows," she says. "Of course it'd be useful if I could 'cross over' because everything gets easier when you've got more resources. "But last night I was like, 'Bloody hell, you did what you set out to do'. So I'm good." Self Esteem: The bigger I get, the more threatening I seem Self Esteem is better off on her own Self Esteem's Meadowhall dome T-shirts go global Self Esteem shines as Sage hosts Proms festival
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Self Esteem on new album A Complicated Woman: There were moments I considered giving up
"Please be upstanding for the world's most confusing House of Games contestant and Bake Off failure, Self Esteem!"This is how Rebecca Lucy Taylor – aka celebrated pop singer Self Esteem – is introduced to the stage at London's Duke of York's a typically irreverent comment, an example of the dry wit she uses to sweeten the sincerity and anger of her music."You can take piccies and videos," the off-stage voice continues, "because she needs all the help she can get."That, too, is strictly years ago, Taylor released her second album, Prioritise Pleasure, a body-shaking manifesto for female self-worth that bristled at society's expectations while acknowledging her own shortcomings ("Sexting you at the mental health talk seems counterproductive," she observed on Moody).After 10 years in mid-ranking indie band Slow Club, the album propelled her into uncharted were magazine covers, nominations for the Mercury Prize and Brit Awards, a starring role on stage in Cabaret, a support slot with Adele and, yes, an appearance on Celebrity Bake Off – where, unfortunately, she burned her crumpets."The week that Prioritise Pleasure came out, my whole life changed," she reflects."Not financially or in terms of fame, but it's like there was a knot in my stomach that untied."Then everyone was like, 'Right, can you do that again, please?'" Taylor tore herself in two to make the follow-up, A Complicated Woman, which comes out on playing it live for the first time in the West End on Wednesday, she describes the album's gestation process as "horrible", "lonely", and "painful"."It just felt really stressful to execute what was in my head," she explains in a phone interview the next morning."I was thinking so big, but I still don't have access to the resources I need to make it as big as I wanted."Part of the problem was a punishing, but self-imposed, time limit."The music industry is like, 'You've got 10 minutes, then you're over and someone else is going to take your place'," she explains."So I felt like I had no choice [but to commit to another record] if I wanted to build on what I'd done."But as painful as it was and as dark as it got, the second I'm back on stage performing it, I'm like, 'Oh, this is why I love it'." It all unravels She hasn't just made a new album - she has also created a daring, jaw-dropping theatrical experience to go with set in a sparse recreation of the community centre where eight-year-old Becky from Rotherham learned to tap dance."You just wanted to sing / You didn't know what that would bring," recalls an older, more cynical version of that child – as she assesses her life at the age of 38."This really is all there is, and that's what you've got to get comfortable with." As the show opens, 10 dancers line up on either side of her, dressed in austere outfits that recall The Handmaid's their movements are stiff and restricted but, as Taylor describes suffocating relationships with emotionally-stunted men, they start to thrash and jerk their bodies."We start in that world where we're shackled, and then we exorcise it," Taylor explains."Over the course of the show, it all unravels and everyone ends up being themselves instead of conforming to these societal norms." A four-night theatre residency is an unusual way to launch an album. The audience is unfamiliar with most of the songs, and no-one's sure whether to absorb the performance attentively, or sing along and times, laughter ripples through the theatre as the singer's more acerbic observations hit home. The following morning, she's not quite sure what to make of the reaction."Every time people laugh, my heart sinks," she says. "But then I'm like, the lyrics are funny, aren't they?"And I love changing the laughter into emotion. It feels like people are laughing because it's uncomfortable."In the end, the audience members mirror the on-stage narrative. Shaking off their discomfort, they rise out of their seats and start making an almighty music becomes a soundtrack to solidarity - which, it transpires, was Taylor's intention. A Complicated Woman might be as cutting and powerful as its predecessor, but the melodies were designed for stadiums."Do you remember the Elbow song One Day Like This?" she asks. "The one that goes, 'Throw those curtains wii-iide'?"I went mad for that song when it came out and, honestly, I played it over and over in the studio and said, 'I want to do this'.""I was very inspired by trying to make it onto World Cup montages. That's a genre of music that I really, really enjoy." That's only half the story, though. The album is all about capturing the complex and contradictory impulses of a woman in her single 69, for example, is a thumping house track on which Taylor talks with withering candour about her sex life. Imagine Madonna's Justify My Love, if she was really being honest."It's an idea I had for ages, of listing sex positions and scoring them so that there's no grey area [for prospective partners]," the singer laughs. "But there's a more political element, which is that women still aren't saying what they want in the bedroom. And I'm like, I can't bear this any more. Please let us just enjoy having sex."It's not exactly going to win an Ivor Novello Award for lyrics, but I think it stands on the album with moments that are more emotional and deep."Those moments include The Curse, a rousing ballad about using alcohol to dull her anxiety, which is possibly the best song Self Esteem's ever written. Her personal favourite, however, is called In Plain Sight. A collaboration with South African musician Moonchild Sanelly, it's a response to the criticism they've both received for speaking their minds."The world is saying who I am, but I thought I knew myself all these years," says Sanelly in a semi-improvised rap. "I shrink to keep the peace, hoping I don't shake my purpose."It's a feeling Taylor immediately recognised. As excitement built around Prioritise Pleasure in 2021, she started getting "nasty messages" on social media, which shook her up."I was really shocked the first time I got grief, because no-one's ever been that bothered about what I'm doing," she says."People say you should ignore it, but if you went to a wedding and had a nice day and one person called you an [expletive], who would you go home thinking about? It's just human nature."Eventually, the criticism took its toll."There were moments where I considered giving up, which shocked me because I've been this defiant, angry thing for so long," she says."But over the last few years, especially with the world being like it is, I've definitely had feelings of protecting myself and shutting up."That's the saddest part of the album, really. But I found a way through."And if I can, then I hope the rest of the world can too, you know?" That realisation is the connecting tissue of A Complicated is never easy, she says. No-one is ever truly satisfied. Relationships are hard work. You can't please everyone. But that's OK. You're OK. Trust your sums it up on Focus Is Power, held aloft by the sound of a gospel choir: "And now I see it clear with every passing of each year / I deserve to be here."On stage in London, she sings those final lines a capella with her dancers and backing singers, arms wrapped around each other in a display of female a cathartic moment after the bruising process of putting the album together."There's so much joy in being a woman and just being yourself can be beautiful," she says. "You've just got to find a way to do it."With that, she's off to make tweaks for the show's second night. After that, she has to find a way to scale down the West End production for a UK tour."I'll do what I can to make it continue, but it's a huge risk because there's so little revenue from anything else," she says. Ultimately, though, her ambition is undimmed."I want to make 20 albums, I want to do bigger theatre shows," she says."Of course it'd be useful if I could 'cross over' because everything gets easier when you've got more resources."But last night I was like, 'Bloody hell, you did what you set out to do'. So I'm good."
