Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
London Grammar‘s Hannah Reid has opened up about the impact of motherhood on her artistry.
Speaking in a new interview, the frontwoman explained that she worried that the birth of her son would change her creative output.
“I had this plan in my head,” she told the Independent. “I was like, ‘OK, I’m giving birth around this time, and then a few months later, it’ll be fine. Everything will be really easy: we can play Glastonbury, and then release the album, and the boys [bandmates Dot Major and Dan Rothman] can do the promo, and I’ll just be loving life.’”
Reid, who has often been frank about sexism in the industry, went on to say that six months after giving birth, she was “still covered in baby sick, swimming through a sea of nappies,” and couldn’t “do anything, basically”.
That said, the trio’s fourth studio album ‘The Greatest Love’ is out today (September 13) via Ministry Of Sound (stream the album here). Following its release, the group are also set to embark on a brief UK arena tour in November, after playing a run of headline shows in Europe. You can find any remaining tickets here, and see the full UK schedule below.
NOVEMBER
11 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
12 – AO Arena, Manchester
14 – The O2, London
She went on to touch on the practical demands of parenting, and how difficult it is to balance with a career in pop. “There’s almost an internal glass ceiling when you become a mother, in the first few years, because so much of your time and energy [is taken up], and that hasn’t changed at all,” she said.
“It still falls heavily on the woman. And if you want that, that’s absolutely great. But I think for a lot of women in the creative industries, and across the board, there still isn’t really that support there.”
Reid mentioned her outlook on her art shifting drastically after she gave birth. After spending her pregnancy wondering if having a child would change her as an artist, she has found the opposite to be true.
“Actually, I feel more creative now than ever,” she said. “It’s just so cliché, but it’s given me a new perspective on life and what I do for a living. I used to tie myself up in knots over the art that I would make. Now I don’t.”
This summer has seen London Grammar headline Latitude Festival and top the bill on the Park Stage at Glastonbury 2024, and, in other news, they recently delivered a cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ for BBC Radio 1.
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SOPHIE has been paid tribute by Google Doodle to coincide with what would’ve been her birthday today (September 17).
The hyperpop pioneer and PC Music affiliate (full name Sophie Xeon) tragically passed away on January 30, 2021 aged 34 following her accidental fall from a three storey building in Athens.
Now, the musician has been honoured by Google Doodle with a short video for her 38th birthday. Soundtracked by ‘Immaterial’, taken from her debut album ‘Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides‘, the clip depicts various portraits of SOPHIE and her Monomachine, the synthesiser she used to make her inimitable and evocative sounds from.
In the caption for the video, Google wrote: “This video Doodle celebrates the birthday of Scottish musician, producer, and DJ Sophie Xeon, who is remembered for her acclaimed experimental pop and electronic music.”
Take a look at the video below:
Recently, the eponymous posthumous album for the producer was announced in June this year. It will be released September 27 via Transgressive Records and Future Classic, with the help of her brother and long-time studio manager Benny Long.
Speaking about the forthcoming album in a statement, SOPHIE’s family wrote: “When we, Sophie’s family, took our first steps towards bringing this project to fruition we contacted the dear friends with whom she envisioned the album. We wrote, ‘We have been finding comfort in the music Sophie left us, it is a gift that we truly cherish as we try to find a way forward, with Sophie forever at the centre of our worlds’.
“Sophie didn’t often speak publicly of her private life, preferring to put everything she wanted to articulate in her music. It feels only right to share with the world the music she hoped to release, in the belief that we can all connect with her in this, the form she loved most.”
The statement concluded: “Sophie gave all of herself to her music. It’s here that she can always be found.”
So far, four singles from the record have been previewed, including ‘Reason Why (ft. Kim Petras)’, ‘Berlin Nightmare (ft. Evita Manji)’, ‘One More Time‘ and ‘Exhilarate (ft. Bibi Bourelly)’.
In other news, Sade will release her first new music in years as part of new transgender awareness compilation project alongside a SOPHIE cover courtesy of Moses Sumney.
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