D.C. foursome Priests have followed up 2017’s Nothing Feels Natural with a special treat for superfans: three new versions of “Suck,” a saxophone-laced lament about someone who, well, sucks. “How can you tell that I always mean to be mean when you’re not even listening?” reads one tell-tale line from the song. The band noted on Instagram that they originally wanted this six-and-a-half minute version of the song to close out the record, instead of the four-plus-minute version that ended up there. This extended play is a definitively funkier mix. But the real treat here is basically a wholly new song: “Suck” as remixed by Meg Remy of U.S. Girls. Remy slows down the whole track, giving it a chopped-and-screwed makeover. Katie Alice Greer’s vocals are several pitches lower, accented by a funky horn riff and a repetitive, hypnotic dance beat. It’s a perfect offering for late-night summer dance parties.
Meg Remy of U.S. Girls U.S. born, Toronto-based Remy releases her sixth album, the remarkably vibrant and lush In a Poem Unlimited, comes out via 4AD and Royal Mountain Records in a couple weeks. The first single is a funky disco tune called “Mad As Hell”… so she’s been asked about women, and anything about women currently, quite a bit. “It just so happens that right now a lot of the things I’ve been talking about for the past ten years of doing this project are all coming to a head in the mainstream consciousness,” she says.
Talking about #MeToo, is that it could quickly become a monetized and opportunistic hashtag, not at all what Tarana Burke intended. “The real interesting thing could be if #MeToo and feminism, and these kind of topics, could evolve another level where they start critiquing all the systems in place and how this relates to people of color, workers, [issues] across the board. While Remy is fine to ride for causes she’s been championing for years personally, it’s entirely another thing when her politics, especially in today’s discourse, are more prominently entangled with her art.
The second track to be heard from the album, ‘Woman’s Work’, debuts today, accompanied by another
hypnotic video directed and edited by Remy. Following up on the release of the mutant dub of ‘Damn That Valley’ earlier this year, ‘Woman’s Work’ builds further anticipation and intrigue; Remy has delivered a nagging, arpeggio-laced stormer, picking away at the themes of beauty and neurosis, with a video that examines our collective paralysis in the face of ageing.
Her last record, was the critically acclaimed Half Free, was so searing in its portrayal of the female experience—of the Everywoman, as it were—that an expectation is there now for her to contribute going forward.
In A Poem Unlimitedbuilds on and maintains a portrait of a more intimate self but it is a much fuller, ornate record. Remy sings about personally affecting, relatable experiences, like on “Pearly Gates,” a jazzy glam song that got its inspiration from an anecdote she’d heard about a man promising to pull out during sex. (“Peter bragged he was good at pulling out/ He always knew the right time to take a bow,” she sings.) On “L-Over,” reminiscent of a yesteryear pop break-up tune, with a swooping airy intro and horns, Remy sings, slyly, almost a smirk to cover the pain, “Can you imagine trying to get some satisfaction out of a stone?” Her music sounds plucked from 60s pop, a time so emboldened by innocence and nostalgia, While recording “Velvet For Sale,” Remy physically positioned herself in a contorted position for us to vocally hear what the character was going through; that breathy, quiet tone singing, “You’ve been sleeping with one eye open because he always could come back, ya know? And you’ve been walking these streets unguarded waiting for any man to explode.”
Remy’s goal on this record was to push herself out of her comfort zone. “It was more… about being in a studio and working with a band and challenging myself more that way—which was, you know, I’ve not much experienced the studio setting,” she says. “I’m not a technical kind of musician. I don’t really work in that way. Going into a studio with a lot of players who have the experience and know what they are doing was very intimidating.”
“I could never in a million years try to claim that I did all of this. I couldn’t,” she stresses. Remy worked with 20 people on this album. Her husband, Maximilian Turnball (also known as Slim Twig), contributed on the album. Steve Chahley, her engineer and mixer, has production credits on a number of the songs. Kieran Adams from DIANA plays drums. Basia Bulat does vocals. Simone Schmidt of Fiver, whose devastating song “Rage of Plastics” Remy covers on the album, came in to help with the arrangement. Louis Percival, of Onakabazien, has writing and production credits too. Remy emphasizes her responsibility of being the owner of her own stories as a woman but it took a community to make this record and one she was happy to lean on and give credit to.
‘In A Poem Unlimited’, the new album by U.S. Girls, will be released on February 16th 2018 on 4AD Records
One of the most memorable moments on U.S. Girls‘ recent album, Half Free (4AD), isn’t a song but a short skit that interrupts the idiosyncratic outsider pop two tracks in. Illinois-born, Toronto-based Meghan Remy is one of our favourite breakout artists of 2015 and her 4AD debut is a magpie’s nest of mini treasures; part soul, part lo-fi rock and hugely rewarding. In an alternate universe Window Shades with it’s piano stabs would be the perfect Bond theme – seductive, cool and rather raunchy.
It begins with Meg Remy calling a friend to tell her about a creepy dream involving her father, then shifts to the two of them riffing on gender, ending with a canned laugh track that somehow strips all the comedy from the punchline.
“I decided to do a skit almost as a joke, but then it turned into something serious because I can’t really do anything as a joke,” Remy explains. “It’s a mostly improvised conversation between me and my sister-in-law, and it kind of ties the record together. It deals with almost all the themes on the record: family, violence and sex.”
U.S. Girls originally started as a solo noise-pop experiment but has evolved into something more overtly pop. On Half Free, Remy enlists an array of collaborators (including her husband, Slim Twig), which takes the collage concept she’s always worked with in a new direction.
Each song is a small story often focusing on the darkness in many women’s lives. She’s repeatedly cited Bruce Springsteen as an inspiration behind her character-driven storytelling, but she says another key influence is Toronto’s Simone Schmidt (of Hundred Dollars, Fiver and the Highest Order).
“Her bravery and her voice totally inspired this record and inspired me to write from the perspectives of characters that aren’t really being heard from. She’s also unapologetically political, and I think everyone should be in this fucking era we’re living in.”
It’s not surprising that she steers the conversation toward politics, since that seems to be how most of her interviews go. While other artists are often preoccupied with making the dialogue all about the music (or themselves), Remy has other priorities.
“I don’t want to talk about myself. Part of the reason I’m doing this is because I’m hoping to reach people and get them thinking about what’s happening in the world. We’re living in such a crazy time, and it’s getting crazier. Part of that is people’s laziness and inability to get active in what’s going on. Everyone is just staring at their phone all day.”
critics loved Meg Remy’s debut for 4AD. With Half Free, the Toronto-based American expat crafted a heady collage of sonic, political and narrative ideas into nine tracks that explore the lives and concerns of working-class women.
Her sixth album is essentially what a glossy major-label pop album might sound like if turned inside out: it runs a gamut of stylistic influences and is full of simple, affecting melodies and hooks, but the guts are on display in its scrappy samples, psychological complexity and unapologetic realism.
Remy writes and sings from the point of view of characters, but it’s her sonic details and vintage atmospherics that beautifully express how the struggle for freedom and equality spans time.
Half Free is one of those records that gets better the deeper you go with it. Easily the most ambitious album to come out of Toronto this year
Ten years into her career as U.S. Girls, Meg Remy switches up her M.O. for In a Poem Unlimited, eschewing samples in favor of a full live band. She’s still pulling from ‘60s girl groups and R&B, but theres a real ‘70s vibe this time out, adding glam, glitter, disco and funk to her arty mix. (“Sed Knife” from 2016’s Half Free pointed in this direction.) Lyrically, Meg remains a potent voice of protest, mad as hell — literally in one case — and laying into the powers the be. Having road-tested the record with her new band late last year, this year’s tour should be as anticipated as the LP itself.
‘In A Poem Unlimited’, the new album by U.S. Girls, will be released on February 16th 2018 on 4AD Records:
Darlene Shrugg is the point where loads of great artists meet. The Toronto-based outfit originally came together four years ago, but their live shows and recorded output has been sporadic. They also have little to no presence online, so keeping tabs on their movements has involved some extra leg work. Nothing on record, nothing streaming, nothing on YouTube.
The project was put together by Maximilian Turnbull (used to be Slim Twig) and Simone TB, who for a decade, played in the band Tropics. U.S. Girls‘ Meg Remy joined up, along with Carlyn Bezic and AmandaCrist from electro-pop band Ice Cream.
Now, Fucked Up guitarist Young Guv convinced them to get in the studio and record some material. The result is an album, self-titled, coming out on Upset The Rhythm due out on 27th October. For its first three quarters, the song is an intoxicating ambient symphony, atop which Remy’s angelic vocal floats as if awaiting a lakeside baptism. But in its final minute, the swirling strings and choral harmonies are rudely upended by a frenetic, fuzz-rockin’ finale ‘Strawberry Milk’ is the first track they’ve shared from it. Don’t let the ambient beginnings fool you.
The Fat Angel Sings 