PAIGE KENNEDY Explores Their Male Childhood Alter-Ego On New Single ‘He Is’
What the press are saying:
"Infectious…Phoenix or Roisin Murphy fans, I think you’re going to love this one” - Tara Kumar, BBC R1
“Knows how to deliver melancholy in rich, sonically expansive ways…omnivorous songcraft” - MEN
"Quirky indie with shades of The Slits, Neneh Cherry and a diverse bunch of influences" - Fresh Net
“We’ll know we’re at the right joint if the DJ drops Paige Kennedy’s new alt-pop disco bop” - Vanyaland
“Remarkable songwriting talent...exciting to see what she’ll do next” - Complete Music Update
“Super wonky, funky indie-pop…totally unique” - Abbie Macarthy BBC Introducing in Kent
“Unapologetic and highly individual…disturbingly brilliant” - Cene Magazine
“A bit of a star in the making” - Chris Hawkins, BBC 6music
Kent-raised, London-based alt-pop songwriter PAIGE KENNEDY is pleased to reveal the video for their new single ‘He Is’ which is released on 21st March 2023.
The track is the latest to be taken from their new EP Doubles, which is set for release on 14th April 2023 via Open Sandwich Records, with Kennedy appearing live in London on 19th April 2023 supporting queer dance music duo NIMMO.
Doubles’ closing track and delightfully moreish lofi-R&B gender-queer single ‘He Is’ provides the most reflective and introspective moment of the record, exploring Kennedy’s own gender fluidity in childhood, through the ethereal character ‘He’. Set at the onset of puberty, ‘He’ has a growing awareness of the fact that their days are numbered due to social pressures and body changes. The song also touches on the demand to perform masculinity both through idealised body image and appearing powerful and brave for men of all ages.
The official video was directed by Katie Grenville, who says of the visuals, “When Paige described to me the inspiration for this song it resonated with me a lot. For me, the song captures very sensitive and complicated notions about gender identity. The song is about a person in two halves—it’s about developing out of childhood, and the trauma of feeling like a foreigner in a body that is changing and developing beyond your control. It’s about navigating a body in a state of flux, and the loss, and grieving, of a past self that is no longer recognisable in a body that has experienced the changes of adolescence.”
“It’s incredibly difficult to express through art what it means to experience gender fluidity—to try and describe something that is, by nature, constantly realigning, rebalancing and reluctant to classification. I’m extremely happy to have worked on a project where the goal was to bring attention and representation to this particular kind of queer experience. I hope that the song and video resonates with people, and that it communicates what I see as the beauty in recognising and celebrating all the nuances and idiosyncrasy of queer and non-binary gender identities.”
Kennedy’s highly-danceable and deeply listenable new set of songs pushes the envelope in terms of sonic influence and range, and is shot through with themes of doubles, which came as something of a surprise to the songwriter.
“The theme had been running through the EP without me even realising it,” says Kennedy. “The Mulholland Drive-inspired lead single ‘This Is The Girl!’ is about doppelgängers in the music industry, a theme we explored with the doubles in the music video. ‘Love You From A Distance’ is about getting so close to your partner you lose a sense of where you end and they begin, and ‘He Is’ explores my childhood male alter-ego.”
Written and recorded remotely at home, Kennedy borrowed and clubbed together the recording equipment to get the project off the ground, mixing and producing all of the tunes themselves, and enlisting the help of mastering engineer Nic Nell (Orlando Weeks, porij, NZCA Lines) for the finishing touches.
‘He Is’ follows on from the EP’s well-received lead single ‘This Is The Girl’ and follow up ‘Love You From A Distance’ which has picked up a groundswell of enthusiastic radio support from Tara Kumar, Jack Saunders and Gemma Bradley at BBC R1, Gideon Coe, Lauren Laverne, Chris Hawkins and Tom Robinson at BBC 6music, multiple spins from Abbie McCarthy at BBC introducing Kent, and more.
Closing out 2022 supporting Chester indie-pop faves Peaness and Adwaith, Kennedy has also recently been working on co-writing and production sessions for rising stars Nell Mescal and Phoebe Green.
New EP Doubles is released 14th April 2023 via Open Sandwich
Paige Kennedy Live Dates:
19.04.23 - London - The Lower Third (w/ NIMMO)
Doubles EP tracklist:
1. This Is The Girl
2. Love You From A Distance
3. Whitstable Harbour
4. He Is
Pronouns: they/them
Paige Kennedy online:
https://www.instagram.com/paigekennedymusic/
https://www.facebook.com/paigekennedymusic/
https://twitter.com/PagsKennedy
https://soundcloud.com/paigekennedy-1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJyefT4sMz8VhOsdx8_2erA
https://www.tiktok.com/@paigekennedymusic
https://tinyurl.com/y4vwohaq
More info:
A hotly-tipped artist and producer originally hailing from Kent with an energetic, alt-pop sound drawing on an eclectic mix of funk, electronic and indie influences, Kennedy has been gigging regularly in London and Manchester supporting the likes of Peaness and BC Camplight, making it to the Top 5 out of over 3000 applicants for the Green Man Rising competition in 2021, performing at the live streamed finals.
The first glimpse of new material since their well-received 2021 EP 4 Degrees, ‘This Is The Girl’ is the initial offering in a string of singles to be taken from a forthcoming soon-to-be-announced release.
Previously featured by Complete Music Update, Fred Perry, Fresh On The Net, Manchester Evening News and more, the songwriter’s impressive back catalogue of standalone singles and show-stealing support slots has meant a steadily growing word-of-mouth buzz building in their adoptive homes of Manchester and now London.
Landing on Spotify’s ‘Fresh Finds’ and ‘young & free’ editorial playlists, Kennedy’s previous singles have also received stationwide airplay support at BBC 6music from a host of presenters (Tom Robinson, Chris Hawkins, Steve Lamacq, Mary Anne Hobbs, Lauren Laverne, Sean Keaveny, and Gideon Coe), and they’ve also performed live in session for BBC introducing Manchester and been interviewed by BBC Kent.
