16 August 2024 - 0 Comments

Sarah Illingworth has released the lead single from a collaboration with Manchester artist Dan B. Hill under the pseudonym Body of Work. Bottle To Go is the first from a small collection of break-up songs, titled Secondhand Blues.

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Communicating the pursuit of connection within the context of loneliness, Bottle To Go pays homage to multiple relationships, acknowledging the importance of each of those influences to the artist.

Birthed in 2019 by the Birmingham-born, West Yorkshire-based Hill, who asked Illingworth to write lyrics for the pop tracks he'd banged out on Logic, the songs have finally been finished – several years after she moved back to Aotearoa c/o Covid.

With initial support from 2023 APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film | Tohu Pūmanawa finalist Cam Ballantyne, the songs were rearranged as live entities, mostly performed and entirely produced by Shannon Fowler (Tom Lark, Shannon Matthew Vanya, The Fuzzy Robes). Fowler engineered the tracks, assisted by Maude Morris (Lexxa, LIPS) on Bottle To Go and Thinking Of You. Julien Dyne (himself, The Circling Sun, Half Hexagon) plays drums on all three. Jeremy Toy (Leonard Charles, She's So Rad, Leonard Simpson Duo) mastered them. Thanks also to Big Pop and Big Fan for being supportive and generous, and providing studio space.

"Bottle To Go is a personal anthem, for better or worse. And – thanks to Dan – so catchy!" says Illingworth. "It harks back to my only long-term romantic relationship, but also to other chapters along the way."

"I wrote the lyrics to fit the shape of what Dan had hummed against his track, and somehow that turned into a song that feels key to me. Thanks to every man that's had a crack at standing by me. We do our best!"

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