Shygirl has spoken to NME about having a pal, fan and collaborator in Björk, her Mercury Prize nod, and the way “falling in love” is shaping her subsequent album. Watch our video interview above.
The London experimentalist was talking on the launch of the Mercury Prize 2023, the place her acclaimed 2022 debut ‘Nymph‘ was shortlisted alongside albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, RAYE, Jockstrap, Younger Fathers, Jessie Ware, Fred Once more.. and extra.
Requested about how she was feeling to be among the many shortlist, she replied: “I’m so torn, because half of me is like, ‘You totally deserve this’ and the other half is like, ‘I’m so grateful!’ That’s why Shygirl is like a juxtaposition in itself. I do feel like you have to back yourself.”
“It’s just great to be in the room with so many other amazing artists. That, I will speak about the most because it makes me look even better. Everyone else on this list is so amazing.”
She added: “I just wanted it to encapsulate who I was. I had learned so much with my other EPs and being in the studio with so many other amazing producers. I had picked up a thing or two and had something I wanted to say totally off my own back. It wasn’t guided by anything other than my own intuition. That was worth following.”
Identified for her spectacular dwell present, the artist defined how she’s nonetheless rising into her materials dwell.
“It’s really interesting, because I’m still really getting to know it on the road,” she stated. “I’m always so surprised by who turns up at the shows and the crowd is so vast. Even the other day, my grandma was on the front row herself. She was definitely loving it.”
Would you name her ‘Shygran’?
“Not shy at all! But it’s just all been so cathartic: to be there on stage, talk about how I feel, let the energy out and then have people shouting ‘Coochie’ straight back at me from the crowd. There are so many things I couldn’t imagine; like playing Glastonbury. I never saw myself where I right now.”
She additionally reached a brand new viewers by teaming up with Björk on a lot of events – first on a remix of the Icelandic icon’s ‘Ovule’ with Sega Bodega, after which on a reworked model of her personal ‘Woe’.
“It was more nerve-wracking actually when she asked me to book a table for dinner!” Shygirl admitted to NME. “I was like, ‘Where do I take Björk for dinner?’ I ended up taking her somewhere that was completely ludicrous with sword swallowers, so I think it was perfect.”
“Making music collectively has been a loopy expertise. I believe I cried once I heard the primary demo again from Sega [Bodega] on the primary remix we did for her. Then simply having her speak me via the lyrics for the opposite remix we did collectively was superb. We’ve truly spoken at size about her experiences within the music business and the way she appears like she pertains to me. That’s simply been past my wildest goals. I grew up listening to ‘Hunter’ on repeat and imagining I used to be in a world apart from my very own.
“I feel like now I’m really in control of the world I’m creating and the people that are engaging with me have hugely validated me.”
Does she assume they’ll work collectively once more?
“I hope so! I feel like we’ve got a whole record together brewing. I need to get to Iceland. There’s more there, and I love that with my collaborators. It’s not just one and done. We’re great friends and I really want to see what else we can provoke out of each other.”
By the point the Mercury Prize winner is introduced, ‘Nymph’ would have been out for practically a yr – and Shygirl could be very a lot “deep in it” with writing the follow-up.
“I feel very inspired,” she stated. “This has positively given me extra juice. I’m taking the sound in a barely totally different course, and that’s what I like: as quickly as you’re snug, snatch the rug from instantly beneath you.
“I can’t wait, and I think I’m going to play some of the new stuff as the shows go on to keep it fresh and keep my fans fed.”
Talking of the vibe of the album, she revealed: “There’s a lot of guitar. I think you’ll be surprised. Shy does indie! It’s not a joke! I’ve been so eclectic and I want to stick to that. I’m really pushing myself in terms of learning more about the instruments I’m using. That may seem like a no-brainer, but I kind of feel like I’ve walked into the studio off the streets some times and I’ve been learning ever since.”
And lyrically, she’s very a lot been impressed by “love”.
“It’s a cliche but I’m so in love,” she confessed. “I believed it was going to lifeless my lyrics as a result of typically once you’re too blissful you’re like, ‘What do I even say?’ However there appears to be rather a lot I’ve to say. I really feel like I’m being far more poetic. We’re attending to the true root of songwriting. I’m an enormous fan of placing my coronary heart into the lyrics and I really feel like up till now, I’ve been fairly productive to what I’m able to. I can’t wait to present extra of me.
As for now, Shygirl stated that she was simply humbled to be amongst so many different gifted artists on this yr’s Mercury Prize shortlist. Requested who she’d choose to win, she replied: “That’s so hard. I’ve really loved watching RAYE’s journey. Also, Loyle Carner is the nicest person and the sentimentality of his music has really touched me.”
She added: “The shortlist couldn’t be better people. These are people who genuinely live by the music they make and have gone through it to make it. It’s all very genuine.”
The winner of the Mercury Prize will probably be introduced at a dwell ceremony at London’s Eventim Apollo on September 7.