Frankie Archer releases new EP 'Pressure and Persuasion'
Frankie Archer releases new EP 'Pressure and Persuasion'
Out today 4th October
Stream HERE
- The Guardian One To Watch
- Support dates with The Last Dinner Party
- October/November UK headline tour
- Winner of 2023 Christian Raphael Prize
STREAM 'Pressure and Persuasion' EP:
https://singinglight.ffm.to/pressureandpersuasion
NEW SINGLE "Fair Mabel Of Wallington Hall":
https://youtu.be/R2m1CNIIrys
BUY 'Pressure and Persuasion' EP on CD:
https://frankiearchermusic.com/shop
"One To Watch"
The Guardian
"Utterly hypnotic"
The Quietus
“Extraordinary”
Jools Holland
"Truly other-worldly...remarkable"
CLASH Magazine
“New Bangers”
NME
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(4th October) Northumbrian electro-folk musician and producer Frankie Archer today releases her new EP 'Pressure and Persuasion'. The new EP arrives amidst dates this autumn supporting The Last Dinner Party (following a personal invitation from the band) - and a full UK headline tour of her own running through October and November.
Frankie Archer's new EP 'Pressure and Persuasion' tells the stories of four women and girls from centuries past who navigate the same expectations that are put on women today. The EP's closing track and new single is a piece of "treacle-bop electrotrad" - in Frankie's own words - and places the focus on a North East icon.
Melding otherworldly electronic production that snaps and darts between age-old prose, across her new EP Frankie utilises harshly chopped and distorted fiddle, pitch-shifted vocals, swinging drum samples and a rich assemblage of analogue and digital synths, as the subject matter encompasses joy, bravery, defiance and helplessness, and challenges ideas about how womens’ stories are told and perceived.
Taking cues on her production style from the electronic and alternative pop worlds of Little Dragon, Hannah Peel, Rosalía, Björk, Bat for Lashes and James Blake, drawing further influence the Bulgarian folk of Ensemble Trakia, the electrotrad of collaborator Jim Moray, the creep-folk of Emily Portman, and fellow Northumbrian trad folk musician Kathryn Tickell; Frankie Archer's pool of inspiration is wide, but there's a singularity and magic to her delivery.
The 'Pressure and Persuasion' EP is completed today with the release final single "Fair Mabel of Wallington Hall". A chilling retelling of a Northumbrian folk song, Mabel defies societal pressures to marry and die in childbirth like her sisters. However, her mother and patriarchal systems eventually force her into marriage, ultimately leading to her own tragic fate. The song serves as a stark reminder of the historical and ongoing harm inflicted upon women by systems of male privilege, crystallised within the harrowing lines: "My duty’s done and as you wished, here’s Wallington’s new heir / but though the cradle is full up, the bridebed is left bare".
On the release of the previously unheard "Fair Mabel Of Wallington Hall", Frankie Archer said:
"This is a definite ‘fuck the patriarchy’ song, and at the same time shows the desperation and helplessness of women living in a society that pushes them down and puts them through awful shit for the sake of keeping things the way they are. Maintaining the power imbalance. The story might seem outdated but the core of it - women being harmed and their opinions dismissed, upheld by society and our power structures - is happening now."
Speaking on the release of new EP 'Pressure and Persuasion', Frankie shared:
"These stories tell of girlhood and womanhood. Pressures to behave, to speak, to look a certain way. To be attractive but not try too hard. To be chatty but not too opinionated. To be sexy but not a slut. To say ‘thank you’ to a creepy advance because it’s just a compliment. To smile when a man tells her to - because women shouldn’t look miserable, god forbid angry. To marry the right person. To support a man. To be a mother. To give their body in exchange for flattery and gifts. To be persuaded after saying ‘no’ because women should be nice and agreeable. Listen to the parallels between these stories from hundreds of years ago and womens’ experiences right now and think - what’s going on here and why can’t we move on?"
"Sonically Pressure and Persuasion is really broad, ranging from feminist trad-pop to doom-folk to treacle-bop. Each song is built around the bare bones of the traditional words and/or melody, with the core of each story influencing how the track ended up sounding. I worked on my sampler-sequencer and digital audio workstation to arrange and produce each song, and while each one is totally different the common strand is the vocals and the story. Around that I chose various synths, drum tracks built from a mix of drum machine samples, and as always, a lot of heavily chopped and glitched vocal and fiddle snips. Manipulating sound using LFOs, manual editing, pitch-shifting, distortion, granulation and delay is something I get really into when I’m producing and there’s a lot of it on Pressure and Persuasion. I worked with Jim Moray as co-producer and his wisdom and skills as a producer and mixer brought the whole thing together and brought the tracks to life. The EP was mastered by the excellent Piper Payne assisted by Colby Gustafson at Neato Mastering and voila, it lives."
Frankie Archer's new EP 'Pressure and Persuasion' is out now, released 4th October. Frankie supports The Last Dinner Party in London on 16th October - and embarks on an extensive tour of her own throughout October and November.
More about Frankie Archer
Frankie Archer has exploded onto the electrofolk scene with music that transcends stereotypes using a combination of manipulated samples, synths, drum tracks and earthy Northumbrian fiddle and voice to capture her audience. Her aim? To shake up genres and traditions, challenge perspectives and call for a fairer future.
Winner of the 2023 Christian Raphael Prize, Frankie Archer has been featured on ‘Later... With Jools Holland’ and championed by tastemakers at BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music. Frankie has received keen press support from The Guardian / Observer, who recently named her a One To Watch, The Quietus, NME Magazine, CLASH Magazine and more. Following the release of her debut EP ‘Never So Red’ (November, 2023), she has supported the likes of The Futureheads and The Last Dinner Party.
This year, Frankie Archer played Glastonbury and performed a live televised version of new EP track "Lovely Joan" for BBC Two. Frankie also performed at this year's BBC Proms alongside Hannah Peel, Beibei Wang and Hania Rani. With her unique live set turning heads wherever she goes, Frankie is quickly establishing herself as one to watch in the alternative space.
LIVE DATES
4th October - Newcastle, Cobalt Studios
5th-6th October - Hartlepool Folk Festival
6th October - Otley, Otley Courthouse
11th October - Birmingham, Kitchen Garden Cafe
12th October - Cheltenham, Everyman Theatre
13th October - Brighton, Komedia
16th October - London, Eventim Apollo (supporting The Last Dinner Party)
18th October - Peebles, Eastgate Theatre & Arts Centre
19th October - Edinburgh, Summerhall
20th October - Glasgow, The Glad Cafe
24th October - London, Kings Place
27th October - Sheffield, The Greystones
30th October - Liverpool, Philharmonic
1st November - Bristol, Gaia at Bristol Cathedral
2nd November - Cardiff, Norwegian Church Arts Centre
3rd November - Oxford, The Taproom
9th November - Lindisfarne, Pilgrimage to the Islands
15th November - Londonderry, New Gate Arts & Cultural Centre
16th November - Dublin, Tradition Now Festival
"Pressure and Persuasion" - EP artwork and track list
1. Barbara Allen
2. Lovely Joan
3. Fair Mabel Of Wallington Hall
4. Elsie Marley
Follow, Frankie Archer
Instagram: @frankiearchermusic
X/Twitter: @frankiearcherm
TikTok: @frankiearchermusic
frankiearchermusic.com
