“Jehnny Beth is like a work of fiction. If you could draw her from scratch, you would not wish to alter a single stroke of her shape as a character. When she plays live, she walks out into the crowd across a sea of outstretched hands (Google it!) and she looks like my Joan of Arc. She talks about her love of moshpits, dangerous sex (in her lyrics, and a new book of short stories) and of emancipation.” – Mary Anne Hobbs, Grazia
Songwriter, singer, and multi-disciplinary artist Jehnny Beth has released a new single -- titled “Heroine” and produced by acclaimed producer Flood – from her forthcoming album, To Love Is To Live, which has a new release date of June 12.
Click HERE to listen to “Heroine.”
Says Jehnny Beth about the track, “When I think of this song, I think of Romy from the xx strangling my neck with her hands in the studio. She was trying to get me out of my shell lyrically, and there was so much resistance in me she lost her patience. The song was originally called Heroism, but I wasn’t happy because it was too generic. Flood was the first one to suggest to say Heroine instead of Heroism. Then I remember Johnny Hostile late at night in my hotel room in London saying “I don’t understand who you are singing about. Who is the Heroine? You ARE the Heroine”. The next morning, I arrived early in the studio and recorded my vocals adding ‘to be’ to the chorus line: “all I want is TO BE a heroine”. Flood entered the studio at that moment and jumped in the air giving me the thumbs up through the window. I guess I’m telling this story because sometimes we look around for role models, and examples to follow, without realising that the answer can be hidden inside of us. I was afraid to be the Heroine of the song, but it took all the people around me to get me there.”
Additionally, the second episode of Jehnny Beth’s music TV show on Arte, entitled Echoes with Jehnny Beth, is available worldwide now, and features performances and interviews with King Krule, Beak> (Portishead’s Geoff Barrow), and Nilufer Yanya. Click HERE to watch it.
Jehnny Beth’s brilliant debut solo album, To Love Is To Live, was recorded in Los Angeles, London, and Paris, and features a number of collaborators, including producers Flood, Atticus Ross, and longtime co-creator Johnny Hostile. It also features guest turns from The xx’s Romy Madley Croft, actor Cillian Murphy, and IDLES’ Joe Talbot.
Jehnny Beth spoke with the New York Times in February about the genesis of To Love Is To Live; click HERE to read it.
In addition to releasing To Love Is To Live this June, Jehnny Beth will also be releasing Crimes Against Love Memories (C.A.L.M.), her first book featuring a collection of her erotic short stories along with photography from Johnny Hostile, in July 2020 via White Rabbit. The book is a collaboration with longtime creative partner Johnny Hostile, whose photographs punctuate Jehnny Beth’s stories. C.A.L.M. looks set to establish Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile as two of the bravest and most provocative voices in fiction and erotic art today.
Best known as the charismatic lead singer and co-writer of UK band Savages, who received Mercury Prize nominations for both of their now-classic two albums Silence Yourself (2013) and Adore Life (2016), Jehnny Beth’s voice, lyrical perspective, and incredible live performances have captivated audiences since the early Aughts. But it’s in To Love Is To Live that Jehnny Beth truly steps into - and claims - the spotlight. The album is a sonic tour de force, a dark cinematic meditation on the strange business of being alive. Throughout the record, she explores the deepest reaches of her creative consciousness...wrapped in a whirlwind of sounds. Indeed, in accessing those darkest and least comfortable parts of herself, Jehnny Beth has created a piece of work that is stunningly cathartic, fiercely abrasive, delicately exposed, and rich for discourse.
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