Ladyhawke Back with Vibrantly Glam Wild Things

“In 2016, when pop has never sounded moodier or more austere, Ladyhawke [aka Pip Brown] continues to operate outside of the norm, her [new] album [Wild Things is] an unabashed explosion of colour and joy written in the aftermath of a dark period,” Harriet Gibsone writes for the Guardian.

“While many of her previous songs were caught up in hedonism and emotional turmoil, Wild Things is full of love songs, many of which were written about her wife, the actor Madeleine Sami. The pair were introduced at an awards ceremony by Lucy Lawless – best known for being Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica’s Number Three – who was presenting a prize to Brown, and had brought Sami as her plus-one. Seven years later, the pair were married.

“‘She was going to get a celebrant license and marry us,’ Brown says of Lawless, who couldn’t make it to the wedding in the end. ‘I’m actually an ordained minister in America – I’ve married my friends. I’m called Minister Ladyhawke. That’s my official name.’

“Guitars are notably muted on the new record, in contrast to the glam stomp of her last album. She says the guitar was something she hid behind, especially while playing live, which she has always found traumatic. Brown was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in her 20s, and it has prevented her from enjoying the intensity of being on stage. She would often drink to overcome the discomfort.

“Another liberating aspect of her new life [in Los Angeles] has been setting up her own label. Her 2008 debut, Ladyhawke, performed well, reaching No 1 in New Zealand and No 16 in the UK, but 2012’s Anxiety sold significantly fewer copies. She has since got out of all her old deals and licensed her album to various labels around the world. She now feels unshackled from the bureaucracy. ‘It’s the most freeing experience for me,’ she says.”

Original article by Harriet Gibsone, The Guardian, June 9, 2016.

Photo by Cybele Malinowski.