Dilettante shares new single 'Easy Does It'
Life of the Party is set for release on October 11th via Launchpad+ / EMI North
UK tour dates announced
"'Easy Does It' captures Pidgeon’s ear for idiosyncratic melodies, placing her elastic vocal lines above a rubbery bass hook, and buzzing synths."
- Under The Radar
"A white-knuckle ride of gloriously tuneful 20-something angst. A jazzy, brassy paean to modern anxiety. (Dilettante) is a consummate multi-instrumentalist, making brilliantly extravagant art-pop soap operas."
- Electronic Sound Magazine
"One of my new favourite bands."
- Tom Robinson, 6Music
"The North-East's favourite up and coming angst-masters - Dilettante's set is an exceptional performance piece, an unreal amount of live layering. Francesca spits vocals with deft pronunciation; this level of art wouldn't work with sunshine and smiles. Exceptional."
- NARC Magazine
Today, Northern outsider-pop project Dilettante has shared her new single ‘Easy Does It’ via Launchpad+ / EMI North. The single, which premiered via Under The Radar, is a rousing slice of danceable art-pop. The single follows the release of ‘Fun’ back in May, which earned support from Chris Hawkins, Marc Riley & Gideon Coe on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Dilettante is the project of Leeds born multi-instrumentalist and Paul Hamlyn award winning composer Francesca Pidgeon. Known for her loop heavy live shows and contagious art pop, when not making music as Dilettante, Francesca also moonlights as a member of BC Camplight and enjoys slamming into people at roller derby.
Of the new single, Francesca says:
“I was cycling to the studio space where I wrote this record (in the rain because Manchester) when this double decker bus drove past me and completely soaked me. So I got into the space, totally wet through and I was thinking of all the times I hadn’t been drenched by an errant bus driver and I just thought ‘God, I didn’t know how good I had it back then when I was dry’. So that became the sort of core of the song, it’s all about not appreciating what you’ve got.
A lot of it came from thinking about the way I saw someone I know being treated by their partner - it just seemed very condescending and like they were being taken for granted - and I was thinking “What are you doing? They’re great just as they are, stop nagging at them to change, you don’t know how good you’ve got it!” but then kind of reflecting that back on myself because I know I’ve treated people that way in the past.”
A self-proclaimed megalomaniac, Francesca taught herself to play guitar, clarinet, saxophone, piano, bass and trumpet and bought a loop pedal in an attempt to avoid human contact. However, this proved difficult and she soon enlisted the aid of Aaron Collins-Wood (bass) Jack Mee (drums) Katie Pham (guitar/percussion/vocals) and Caitlin Laing-McEvoy (bari sax/synth/vocals). 2022 saw the release of Dilettante’s sophomore album Tantrum which garnered widespread support from BBC Radio 6 Music as well as sold out headline shows in Manchester, Leeds, Halifax, London, Hull and Liverpool.
Now Dilettante returns with her second album Life of the Party, Pidgeon’s first totally self-produced record and her most personal one yet. Made in the confines of a converted freight container, the album is an outpouring of frustration towards societal pressures and the acceptance of realising she sees the world differently to others. “I went to see Poor Things and I really felt like Emma Stone’s character made sense to me,” explains Francessca. “She’s really literal and sort of just looks at the way polite society always does things and says, ‘why are we doing that? That doesn’t make sense, let’s do it this way’.”
Life of the Party covers a range of topics, from turning thirty and feeling the pressure to start a family, to feeling constrained within monogamous relationships as well as the more weighty matter of speaking out about sexual assault and dealing with the associated repercussions.
Sonically, the album maintains Dilettante’s signature art pop sound and impressive loop pedal skills whilst also diving into a more synth heavy realm. In parts, the record also sees Pidgeon exploring a gentler sound, reverting back to a more traditional and raw songwriting “I’d been listening to Andy Shauf and Harry Nilsson a lot and I was trying to actually write from the piano”. Life of the Party sees Dilettante continue to push boundaries, “This record is, at times, the weirdest stuff I’ve ever put out and at times the poppiest,” she adds.
Life of the Party is due out on January 24th, 2024 via Launchpad+ / EMI North, and you can catch Dilettante live later this year, dates and details below.
Tracklist
1. Fun
2. Easy Does It
3. Stone
4. To Make Me good
5. Twice As Clean
6. In The Taxi
7. Cake
8. My Toothpaste Ajar
9. I'm In Love With Falling In Love
10. Honey
11. Life Of The Party
12. The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
Dilettante Tour Dates:
27/09 Manchester, Bridgewater Hall (Solo)
07/11 London, The George Tavern
09/11 Winchester, Railway Inn
22/11 Halifax, Grayston Unity
23/11 Glasgow, Hug & Pint
24/11 Manchester, Gullivers
30/11 Middlesbrough, Teeside Uni Bar
Dilettante Online:
