New EP – HELL OR HIGH WATER – also announced (featuring ‘AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL’)
The Road to Great Escape & TGE date confirmed
“If we ever needed a star like SPIDER, now is absolutely the time” – DIY
“Over crunchy guitars and drums that sound like they’re being played at the bottom of the ocean… SPIDER refuses to accept the status quo” – The FADER
“A cathartic anthem about accepting your head’s a mess sometimes, belted out with a massive chorus and scuzzy guitars” – The Face
“The sound of a master pulling at every corner of their web” – Dork
“SPIDER pulls no punches” – Pigeons & Planes
“Coming of age and throwing out the rule-book…already proving herself an artist to be reckoned with” – Notion
SPIDER has dropped her incredible new single ‘GROWING INTO IT, as well as announcing details of her new EP, HELL OR HIGH WATER. The EP will be released on April 27th, and includes raucous introduction ‘AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL’ (which dropped last month alongside a stunning video, and premiered on The FADER). This follows acclaimed, coming-of-age-themed debut mixtape C.O.A – home to viral astrological hit ‘Water Sign’ – plus support across BBC Radio 1, and SPIDER’s first ever live shows alongside the likes of Lynx, Jessica Winter, and as part of emerging all-female and non-binary collective LOUD LDN.
‘GROWING INTO IT’ confirms SPIDER as one of the year’s most refreshing new talents, spinning threads of New Wave, Punk, and Alt-Pop into a cautionary tale of gaslighting. It was written – SPIDER says – “loosely around the concept of men using women as social capital to make themselves look cooler, smarter, better than they actually are.” Exploring dual perspectives with a Swiftian touch – from the girl caught in denial, to the best friend’s efforts to intervene – SPIDER chronicles such visceral formative experiences with a voice which, on her upcoming EP, already feels entirely her own.
Due for release this spring, HELL OR HIGH WATER is SPIDER’s most disruptive and dynamic project to date. It’s about prioritizing honesty and self-expression over consequence, captured vividly on its opening mission-statement, ‘AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL’: written in response to the whitewashing of prominent online platforms, here was a rousing cry for black representation in alternative music, and the collective responsibility for artists to take risks in the digital age. HELL OR HIGH WATER further rejects that need to sugarcoat, or make yourself more palatable – whether in childhood (‘WHY WOULD I BOTHER’ sits at the intersection of family love and repression) or relationships (‘TRAUMA’ is a wryly funny anthem caught between opening up and over-sharing). SPIDER describes HELL OR HIGH WATER as a series of “unfiltered conversations with myself’, ultimately landing at a place where whatever the obstacle, you put yourself – and your art – first. Or as the EP’s memorable closer signs off: ‘FUCK EVERYONE FUCK EVERYTHING’.
SPIDER specializes in unflinching, unguarded but utterly unique pop. Her unorthodox origin-story begins in the Dublin suburb of Tallaght, where she was raised in a strictly Nigerian-Catholic household. Banned from going to gigs IRL, SPIDER instead found community online; running pop band stan accounts and, through her growing obsession with digital fan culture, witnessing the connective possibilities of creating work in her own voice. A self-taught producer, songwriter and visual artist, today SPIDER is drawn to the cathartic confessionals of early Halsey, the generational soundtracks of Lorde, or the left-field vibrancy of M.I.A. She moved to London aged 18, penning her coming-of-age themed mixtape as her own rites of passage were again suspended (this time, by the pandemic). Learning lessons from the past – and finding wisdom all around you – also underpins SPIDER’s alias: in African spirituality and folklore, the spider is the totemic symbol of strong feminine creative energy, representing the timely belief that only you can weave your future.
SPIDER is among the acts confirmed for a homecoming show at The Road To The Great Escape Festival in Dublin on May 8th, and has now been confirmed for The Great Escape in Brighton May 10th-13th. Watch out for more from SPIDER coming soon!
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