Simultaneously a ‘bitch’ and a ‘fairy’ (she defines her style as such), nostalgic yet politically current — Connie Constance is surrounded by such fundamental contradictions as these, blurring the lines of her art in much the same way as other seasoned rock stars. Of course, this is only her second album (following English Rose in 2019), but the 27-year-old British singer already has everything it takes to go big. Her lyrics don’t shy away from sensitive subjects: heartbreak, her complicated relationship with her father, her mental health struggles… The music itself is both a nod towards the indie rock scene she has always admired (The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys, Blur…) and a medium for catharsis. To that end, don’t be fooled by the record’s opening track, ‘In The Beginning’, where she sets the pace against a backdrop of chirping birds and chanting from some ghostly monastic choir.
Feminism - and issues of human dignity more generally - is another of Connie Constance’s concerns. In ‘Hurt You’, she sings for all those who have ever felt ‘trapped, scared or crushed’. She adds, in her own unique style: ‘I hope they hear it before and after they tell their oppressor to get fucked’. The other feminist anthem on the album is ‘Kamikaze’, in which she warns: ‘I’m not your perfect little princess and I have my own unique vagina’. The Watford native doesn’t beat around the bush, but she knows how to handle irony. Take ‘Heavyweight Champion’, for example, the title of which is juxtaposed with her silky (yet powerful) voice and accompanied by delicate synth layers, a heavenly chorus and gentle guitars. British indie rock has a new queen in its midst: Qobuzissime! © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz