Look at us now dad

Description

'Look At Us Now Dad', the debut album by Banoffee, is an exhilarating and optimistic journey that celebrates survival in the face of abuse and adversity. Featuring collaborations with SOPHIE, Empress Of, CupcakKe, and Umru, and co-produced by Banoffee and Yves Rothman, the music is a kinetic hybrid of experimental club sounds and earworm pop. "Each song uses the human experience to speak to more complex concepts such as addiction, obsession, grief, and resurrection," explains Banoffee. "Not to dwell in sadness, but to reach out." The album was written in the two years after the artist moved from Melbourne to Los Angeles, seeking a fresh start after a nervous breakdown. By meticulously studying what caused her collapse, Banoffee examined her life in order to reclaim her narrative and move from victim to survivor. 'Look At Us Now Dad' tells a story of triumph—over violence, sadness, and loss—and bears witness to the possibilities of rebirth. As Banoffee says: "Each track tells a struggle and a success that anyone could experience, ones that sometimes seem trivial. We are all survivors for one reason or another." The title track "Look At Us Now Dad" is a bittersweet ballad addressed to her father that examines how trauma is passed between generations. In "Permission," she directly confronts abusers while singing in an auto-tuned glissando amidst haunted chasms or empty space. "Count On You," a full-throttle anthem fueled by blasts or shredded synths and written at the height of the #MeToo movement, is an unyielding declaration of solidarity with survivors. "Ripe," co-produced with SOPHIE, is a pop banger where Banoffee's shimmering angelic vocals plunge into a maddening belly of fluorescent synths and twisted club sounds. Throughout the album, the textural focus of the production on crunchy sounds and smooth transitions serves as a darker, more experimental film for Banoffee's narrative lyrics and catchy melodies. "It's an exciting time for pop music," says Banoffee, who savors the position at the border between avant-garde art and airy sounds. The expansion of the pop landscape to include more radical and queer artists like her is encouraging—and playing in Charli XCX's band during the Taylor Swift tour taught her a lot about how commercial music brings people together. "Pop isn't politically lyrical like in the '60s," she says, "but now, the existence of these avant-garde artists advocates for non-conformists."