In two weeks, Low Girl will release their debut album, Is It Too Late To Freak Out? Following months of anticipation, and superb single after single after single, it’s quickly become one of our most-excited releases of the year.
With both of our projects starting around the same time, it’s been great to follow their discography over the years, and witness the progression from solo act into a band that invites any and all influences into its sound. It’s a level of growing up you rarely get to share with artists, and for Low Girl, it culminates in an album that says farewell to life in your 20’s while asking why everything isn’t as it seems in your 30’s.
As someone who’s still setting up camp in their 30’s, this album couldn’t have come at a better time, and it’s why it was particularly cool to have the opportunity to talk to Sarah and Brad about the new album and all of the context that surrounds it for this month’s Peeled Back.
Check out August’s Peeled Back with Chartreuse.
Hi Low Girl! I wanted to ask you about Lazydays Festival. It was the first time I saw you guys live, and it was great. What were your thoughts on it? Sarah: I thought it was really well run. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and despite it being so humid in that tent, it was nice. It was a good vibe, and as a gluten-free girl, it was nice to see the Nugs van.
Brad: Yeah I had really good fun. I think it was one of the hottest weekends of the year, and then it started chucking it down. It was a nice vibe. It was very efficient, which isn’t always the case when you turn up to these festivals as a smaller band. Sometimes they’re like “Who are you? What are you doing here?” but nah, everyone was really nice. Our performance went well. It’s one of those things with festival: you can never tell how it good it sounds from the front.
S: Because you don’t get to live check, it leaves a lot of interpretation to the sound person and they might not know you too well, but I think on stage it was good.
B: One interesting thing that did happen is we saw Pete Doherty. S: He watched us for about 5 seconds and I think he was like “This is not for me”. B: He was wandering around backstage and then the whole festival because he was playing later in the day, and we were carrying around the amps and were like “Oh my god that’s Pete Doherty!” and then we saw him later in the day and it was like “Oh yeah, it’s Pete.”
Your debut album, Is It Too Late To Freak Out? is out soon. What can you tell us about it? S: It feels weird that it’s coming out so soon, because I think it’s had such a long build-up at this point. I think it’s something quite relatable to the time we’re in, where we’re transitioning from our 20s to 30s and think we have everything figured out, but then everything goes wrong. Having things happen that change your understanding of the place you’re at and maybe humbles you a bit, and makes you realise that there’s still quite a lot to learn.
B: I think you’re right in that it’s a reflection of the awkward phase of life, where you’re too old to see yourself as a young person, but are also not old enough to be taken seriously as someone people might go to for advice, and navigating that. It does feel weird for it to be coming out so soon, as we were recording it for six months last year. We were desperate to get it out ASAP, and when we agreed in October that it was a really long time from when we finished the album, the last few months have flown by. Especially now the first three singles are out.
As it relates to self-reflection and a shift in how you thought things were in your 20s to now, has that affected the way you’ve written each song? S: Yeah. Some of the songs were written the Summer before we started recording, so that gave me some distance and time to process it, and reflect on the feelings I had been feeling, as well as the heartbreak I’d been going through at the time. Some of the songs have older ideas that I wrote when I was younger. Not all of them, but the odd song has a melody that I still remembered, which usually means there’s something in it.
Rewriting the lyrics, and translating them to the place I was in when we were working on the album was quite, not necessarily nostalgic, but it did create a space for reflection in of itself. There was a lot of processing during the making of the album, where I was looking back on periods of time where I was getting to a better place already, so it was interesting to revisit some difficult feelings in the studio and throw myself back into them.
B: It feels like a summation of the last almost ten years, from when Sarah and Toby started writing music back in 2017, which is the bulk of our 20s. One of the songs – the final track (“I Love All My Friends”) was one Sarah and I started working on in 2018, and had shelved and returned back to, making it into a full band song, so it definitely feels like a conclusion of a period of time, for sure.
Going off of the singles released so far, and with all of this context, is that why they each sound so different from one another? And is that the case for the rest of the album? S: Yeah. I think we pieced the album on if we felt there was enough to correlate each song to. So if each song was tied to the same theme despite having different sections and emotions involved. I was exploring the different emotions of that time, so some of them are more angry. ‘Overgrown‘ doesn’t sound that happy at times in the lyrics, but it’s meant to be more like “I’m on the other side of something now”, and some of them are a lot more sad.
There are different modes we can go into, and while it’s all around one theme, I think we do worry about consistency. It’s something we think about, but it also feels natural to make stuff that doesn’t necessarily sound super consistent all the time. We just explore what we want to…whether that’s a hindrance or not.
B: It’s hard to be subjective about it from the inside, but I think one of the things we struggle with is focusing on one style. For the four of us, there’s a lot of overlap in our music tastes but also a lot of differences too, and we bring those influences into the band, and try to shove them into different parts of songs, and I think the album does reflect that.
We did intend to try and make an album where you listen through it and think “This is this kind of song. I wonder what the next one’s like?” and then the next one comes and makes you go “Whoah! That’s weird! I didn’t expect that.” That was definitely intentional, especially in the way we ordered the tracks. We didn’t want it to feel too samey.
And with all of that context, and the emotions and experiences you’re bringing into the songwriting, does that make the process easier knowing that you can explore those different styles and genres? B: We don’t write songs in a particular way. A lot of the time, it’s Sarah coming up with something, like a structure of a song with lyrics and melodies and we’ll experiment with it, and other times Sarah will have a song basically finished, and it’ll be a case of amending certain details. Me and Tom will sometimes jam on our own and have a basic outline of something, and Sarah will go away with it and come back with a vocal melody. So yeah, there’s no exact way. There’s no set formula.
S: You can tell there’s different partnerships in songs, where it started with me and Toby, or me and Brad, or even back in the beginning where it was me and Tom. That usually effects how rhythm-heavy it is, and how live it’s performed. If Toby’s on a track early, I think it’s usually more atmospheric. It’s interesting because it does shape how the song turns out.
For the likes of ‘No Reasons’, I feel that’s one of the heaviest songs you’ve written. B: It’s definitely the angriest. S: Someone I know who listens to quite heavy music said to me that he was expecting it to be angrier, but it’s relative to us. I think it’s probably the angriest but also the more petulant. Like, I look at the lyrics and think “I know I’m not being mature in this song” – it’s not even trying to hide the immaturity of it, it’s very honest…but probably isn’t a good look for me.
B: Hopefully it’ll resonate with the target demo of younger people, who we feel we’re slowly – rapidly – slipping away from. I think “No Reasons” was interesting, because when Sarah originally sent the demo over, it was just the softer sounds. Like the piano chords and vocal melodies. S: Yeah. That was mainly a Toby and me song and then you added the “More! More!” that people wanted and built it up. B: It was the first one that was recorded and ended up on the album, as we recorded it back in 2023. S: Yeah, it was a late addition. B: It was one that took a lot of revisions. It got to the point where there was too much happening, so we sat on it for about six months and decided to build it back from the bottom again. Tom had this instinct to add a House beat, which completely changed the perspective of it, and with the Bass, I didn’t want to add counter-melodies, as I thought the ones from the vocals was strong enough, so followed them.
How did ‘Handbrake‘ become the lead single? S: It was interesting. There were so many different opinions that there was an even split on what we thought should be the single. Tom and Brad tend to align on things, and Toby and I align on different things. The singles that we wanted were different to what they wanted, and I think it ended up being what they wanted.
B: Ultimately, we reached a consensus through discussions with our manager, Gareth. At that point, we hadn’t released a song for about a year and a half, and the last three singles were quite upbeat, Poppy songs. I don’t think of us as a super, super, happy band, but the singles always go that way. I think because we knew we were going to have three or four singles for the album, we wanted to start with something different to anything else we released.
S: I think we all wanted it to be a single, and it was a surprise for it to become the leading one. Eventually, we came to the conclusion that it’s a nice way to set the tone for the album, and not exhaust people too early. It captures a lot of the themes, and it was nice to open with one of the live ones, so it sets a different tone and is a gentle introduction. I think in the end it was the right thing to do, although there’s been a lot of anxiety and doubt since.
B: ‘Handbrake’ set the tone of the album without blowing beans too early. You don’t wanna blow your beans too early – take that advice.
It’s interesting to hear the perception is you’re quite Poppy and upbeat. When listening to ‘Overgrown’ it is like that instrumentally, but when you get into the lyrics it’s like you can hear they’re other things happening. S: I quite like a lot of bands that are quite playful with difficult themes. Like Metronomy – they could talk about anything. Like a lot of The English Riviera is playful and I dunno, to me it’s quite a weirdly healing thing to talk about something difficult but remove the tension from it, and make it a bit light. But there are a few songs, like ‘Driveway’, that are upfront about what it’s trying to make you feel.
Are Metronomy a big influence? S: I think so, especially starting out. Things like The English Riviera had an art to it, like it sounds like it wasn’t easy to make and it’s quite sparse in places, and when I was starting out, it was encouraging to me that it was like that. Like “Oh, you can make something that doesn’t need loads going on.”, and when you’re getting started with recording, albums like that and the likes of SALES, The XX, it made it seem possible for me.
B: It’s also one of Gareth’s favourite bands, and that was why he was interested to work with us initially.
Now that you say it, you can really get those English Riviera vibes, but Love Letters aswell. S: Yeah, I love Love Letters. B: Kinda like Bombay Bicycle Club, which is a band we all really like. There are a handful of bands we all love. S: Yeah. A very small handful.
Is there a particular song on the album you’re most excited for people to hear? B: I’m most excited for “White Gown” to come out, because for me, that’s the most in line with the genres I loved growing up, and I’ve no idea how I got away with it ending up on the album. We’ve played it love a couple times already – we have a terrible habit of not waiting until songs are out before playing them live – but there’s also “2007”, which is my favourite on the album. It’s a shame it’s not a single, because I’d love to see it get more attention, and again we’ve been playing it live and enjoy playing it…(To Sarah) you don’t enjoy it as much? S: I find it a lot more stressful.
B: That’s another thing. Because a lot of songs come from different scenarios, sometimes our parts are really easy for some of us, but really complicated for others. S: “White Gown” is very straight forward for me. B: “White Gown” for me and Tom is exhausting and incredibly stressful, and whereas on “CTRL”, I’ve got the simplest bassline possible and everyone else is going crazy.
S: I’m really excited for people to hear “I Love All My Friends”, as that’s always been quite a special part of our live set for the past few years, and one I think people will know of if they’ve seen us live before. It’s one of the songs we’ve performed the longest, and have no regrets with the way it’s turned out. I think I felt like we got everything down with it, and do the performance justice, and that’s elevated the song. It also captures everything I wanted to try and say.
It’s sad to think that when you’re performing live, there’s at least one of you having a terrible time. S: So true! You gotta try and figure out who it is. B: I genuinely don’t think there’s a song where we all think “Yep! This is easy!” Maybe the first track on the album “This House On Fire” is the one where we’re most relaxed…really? Oh…maybe not then.
You guys have touched on it already, but your discography kinda lines up with how long Dead Good’s been around. I wanted to ask if you still revisit those early EPs? S: The first EP was a blend of late me and early band stuff. I remember a lot of the stuff being very orange and I remember your blog being another orange thing. That was a stupid idea that stuck around. S: I like it. It’s been nice to run alongside your blog and pop up at the same time together. I definitely revisit stuff sometimes as I think with hindsight, it’s really nice listening back and I’m always most critical of something I’ve done as it’s coming out, and I’m always overthinking it the most. Then when you listen back you think “Oh actually, I’m really proud of this”, sometimes it takes a bit of distance. Sometimes when you’ve been working on something, you hear it so much that it’s hard to really hear it naturally. Like, I do particular enjoy listening to stuff from the So Cool EP, as that felt very consistent and stuff like “Living Alone” I’m always like “Ahh! That’s a great one.”
B: I love listening back to the old EPs. We had a big debate with Gareth about whether to get rid of the back catalogue on Spotify. Some bands do it, where they start a new era and want it to be the only thing people know them for, whereas I think if an album does well, then those older tracks get a little bit more love than they did before. My vote was to keep them up there.
S: I can see it either way, I was on the fence about it. I do think it is part of the journey. B: For sure. You can see a progression in the sound between each EP, and it becomes more of a band. The first EP was the remains of Sarah being a solo artist and then becoming the band. It’s the favourite EP of the three, and I didn’t do anything on it! S: My voice sounds really young to me, but I can still respect the ideas on it.
It seems cool to keep the EPs there, as a lot of the songs, including ones on the album are from the same time-frame. S: It is like a bookmark to a certain time of life, and it’s cool to have something to show for it too. B: It makes you remember things, and the process of recording it, the gigs, the trauma…the arguments…good times.
And finally, what’s your favourite fruit? B: I’ll go Raspberries. I absolutely love raspberries, I think they’re the best. They’ve got the best combination of taste and aroma. They’re super sweet as well, but you also have to get them in season too. If you’re getting ones delivered from Argentina in February then they’re not gonna taste that good, but if you get them in July/August – they’re unreal. Another one that’s not native to this country is Mango. I love dried mango. They’re banging.
S: I am notoriously more vegetable than fruit, but if I had to pick, I’ve always been enchanted by the humble Lychee. There’s an element of danger because of the centre, there’s the “Am I gonna choke?” element which really forces you to pay attention. The taste is unlike anything I’ve ever had, and I also enjoy the process of having to peel it and the texture of the outer skin.
B: I don’t think I’ve ever eaten one. S: I’m not like you, I don’t know the best season for it, but it’s not something you have everyday but when you do, it feels like a mystical experience.
Is It Too Late To Freak Out? is out October 24th via AWAL.
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