โThereโs so much pressure to constantly better yourself,โ Lydia Night, lead singer and songwriter of The Regrettes, says. โWeโre obsessed with social media, which makes it easy to obsess over self-growth and unhealthy amounts of productivity. That phrase, โfurther joy,โ summarized what it meant to be on the hamster wheel of constantly chasing happiness, but in turn, thatโs what makes you unhappy,โ she adds, acknowledging the shared inner turmoil she, guitarist Genessa Gariano, bassist Brooke Dickson, and drummer Drew Thomsen were dealing with at the start of last year. โI was stuck in a loop of wanting to be better, wanting to be good, and therefore I couldnโt be here. I couldnโt be present.โ The desire to break free of that cycle is what the bandโs third album, Further Joy, is all about.
As the pandemic set in and Los Angeles shut down, The Regrettes were having a full-blown identity crisis. Lydia had been touring since she was 12-years-old, meeting guitarist Genessa when they were just teens in music school. As a band, theyโd been on stage long before their 2017 debut, Feel Your Feelings Fool!. And, by the time they released their critically acclaimed LP How Do You Love? in 2019, theyโd formed a cohesive lineup with Brooke and Drew, setting themselves on a steady upward trajectory. Theyโd spent the past two years headlining sold-out shows across North America and Europe, performing at mainstay festivals like Coachella and Reading and Leeds and playing their hit singles on Good Morning America, Conan, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. As NME said of their sophomore album, The Regrettes were โtruly unstoppableโ until they werenโt.
โSo much of our identity is tied to music and performing,โ Brooke says, adding that without the distraction of playing live, they were forced to answer the question: โWho am I when Iโm not performing?โ That shared inner inquiry can be heard in the bandโs most actualized, collaborative, and vulnerable album to date, a self-aware soundtrack for those interested in what Lydia refers to as โdancing the pain away.โ
In January of 2021, after more than a year apart, The Regrettes reconvened for a 10-day writing retreat in Joshua Tree. They went on hikes, stargazed, transformed their living room into a disco, and had candid conversations, some of which made their way into songs. They left the desert with a vision for the record and demos in hand, slowly bringing it to life through zoom writing sessions, and working separately with producers Jacknife Lee and Tim Pagnotta. They experimented with their sound, pushed their creative limits, and Lydia, who was once skilled in the art of โwriting a song in 30 minutes and then not touching itโ recalls writing then editing her deepest truths. Although the subject matter is anything but light, she still calls it the โpoppiest, and danciestโ album theyโve ever made.
You can hear that levity in โMonday,โ an upbeat track Lydia wrote at the peak of her anxiety disorder. โOnce you accept whatโs going on with your mental health, sometimes it gets worse before it gets better,โ Lydia says. โAccepting I had anxiety and depression was extremely scary because then it became real. This song comes from the validation of those feelings.โ The songโs music video introduces the character โJoyโ โ a pink representation of the unattainable yet ideal self the album pushes against.
In โOut of Timeโ Lydia sings โall of these anxieties come over me/ just let me breatheโ at a panicked pace, sonically capturing the feeling of running out of time. In โBarely On My Mindโ Lydia replays scenes from โa really gnarly, abusive relationship,โ she processed during the lockdown. On the song, Genessa turns up distortion, Brooke experiments with palm muting, creating a tight poppy sound, and Drew lives his โ80s R&B pop dream thanks to the percussion overlaying his drum track. โWeโve all had terrible experiences with abusive men,โ Brooke says of the track. โThereโs no sweet way to put it, that oneโs an angsty banger.โ In, โSubtleties (Never Giving Up On You)โ Lydia discusses her path to self-acceptance. โโSubtletiesโ in particular feels super pretty, and beautiful, but is one of the darkest songs of the album lyrically,โ Lydia says. โIโve struggled with eating disorders for a large portion of my life starting when I was 15, which eventually turned into body dysmorphia. Me singing โNever giving up on youโ is me singing to myself.โ In โHomesickโ Lydia taps into feelings of longing. โIโd been going through this whole pandemic process with my boyfriend and I hate feeling codependent but I felt so codependent when he left. I had gotten so used to, without even realizing it, having that person around and relying on that person.โ Though itโs a love song, โHomesickโ still captures the dangers of yearning too much. โThere are moments and lyrics that still give you a glimpse into that dark place I was in, like the one-line โfetishizing the thought of you lyingโ I love that lyric because I feel like thatโs my anxiety to a T.โ
For Brooke writing โYouโre So Fucking Prettyโ together was transformative. โThat was a new experience for us, both sonically and emotionally,โ she says. โWe hadnโt explored that space together. That was a big moment for us and itโs a really special moment on the album. Lydia recalls the relief of being open with her bandmates without feeling embarrassed or scared. โItโs the first time Iโve ever written directly about a girl I had a crush on and it took me a while for me to even allow my brain to accept the fact that Iโm bisexual,โ Lydia shares. โWriting this was important for me because it just validated my own sexuality.โ For Genessa, โYouโre So Fucking Prettyโ was an opportunity to write a song they wish they had when they were younger. โAs a queer person growing up it definitely felt like there werenโt many songs I could relate to, and I feel like this song would have been something I would have held really close to my heart as a kid. I hope that happens with other people. I donโt think it necessarily has to be this queer anthem but I think someone else could listen to it and feel the same way, or a girl could feel that way about a boy she likes. Boys can be pretty too.โ
The band wrote, โLa Di Daโ to capture what Lydia calls โthe action a kid would have, of putting your hands over your ears and saying โla la laโ to block out everything.โ The call to action was inspired by their impromptu desert dance party. โI have a playlist of 2000s songs and when we were in Joshua Tree, we had a dance party with these colored lights with gels,โ Genessa says. โIt may have been the Black Eyed Peas, some song telling us to put our hands up. You donโt have to think, you have no choice but to dance because itโs telling you what to do. Thatโs such a freeing feeling.โ Drew remembers the song, being a โtotal departureโ from the bandโs typical path in the studio. โI was playing an organelle, this really cool synth with wooden buttons,โ he shares. โThat first thing that comes in on the song, that little synth part I was playing, Lydia heard that and loved it, so I kept playing and she started singing. It was one of those songs that came out very quickly.โ Writing those songs together gave the band a newfound sense of ownership. โThereโs a passion behind the actual music itself now that hasnโt been at that level before,โ Drew shares, adding, โItโs the first album that feels like our album.โ
The song โNowhereโ draws inspiration from an Alan Watts quote, โYou canโt live it all unless you can live fully now.โ The line left a lasting impression on Lydia. โWhat Further Joy means, that chase for happiness, that quote sums it up,โ she says. โYouโre never going to experience real life if youโre chasing something.โ Itโs the lesson that allowed The Regrettes to pause, go inward separately, and still land in the same place together, becoming a tighter unit than theyโve ever been. โSo fucking much has changed on a personal level which translates into my lyricism and the way we are with each other, how close we are with each other,โ Lydia recognizes. โWeโve bonded so much.โ Itโs also the lesson Lydia hopes listeners walk away with. โWe all deserve happiness and to be present, and weโll never get there if we feel so much shame and guilt for not being there already,โ she adds. โDonโt get caught in the hamster wheel of chasing joy.โ
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