04 October 2024 - 0 Comments
Sarah Illingworth (AKA Body of Work) has released her second single from a collaboration with Manchester artist Dan B. Hill. Maudlin To None is the next track from a small collection of break-up songs, titled Secondhand Blues.
Maudlin To None is a reflection on the pull between places an ex-pat can feel, as well as how easy it can be to romanticise a person when you're not around them day-to-day. It's also a nod to depression, and a nudge to keep on going, for those who find it hard to do sometimes.
Maudlin To None follows Bottle To Go, which was released on 16 August 2024. 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 Cam Ballantyne (We Were Dangerous, Nude Tuesday), 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.
"I struggled to feel a sense of home for a long time," says Illingworth. "I did it to myself in many ways, moving around and moving on, but it's a bittersweet thing; having the opportunity to explore can leave you feeling disconnected, even while you're connecting with new people and communities – like you belong everywhere and nowhere all at once."
"I feel lucky to feel grounded now, close to family and friends, and like there doesn't need to be one individual that anchors me – other than myself and the person she's become."
Photo Credit: María Inés Manchego
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