After spending the last few years releasing a wave of bold and impressive alt-pop offerings, Belgian artist Fiona Brown recently returned to share her latest slice of dark-pop genius with ‘My Void’.
With notable nods to the likes of St. Vincent and Banks, ‘My Void’ sees her channel a truly atmospheric and brooding demeanor. With eerily rising production and a dense approach to instrumentation, this new release showcases her as one to watch for the year ahead.
So with the new single available now, we sat down with her to find out more about her past, present, and what she has in store for us in the future
Words by Chris Bound
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris) Hi Fiona, how are you today?
Fiona) I'm great, thanks!
For those that haven’t heard of you yet, how would you best describe your sound?
That's always a tough question. I think other people describe it as electronic indie music with an industrial rhythm and soft vocals.
And who would you say has been your biggest inspiration in music so far?
Last year's been mostly about being inspired by female artists such as St. Vincent, Fiona Apple, Kae Tempest and Anna Calvi but also Nick Cave has been a huge inspiration.
I love how the scene is changing and women and non-binary artists are stepping in to level the playing field. Or maybe my view has changed and I see a different part of it but either way, it's been an inspiring journey.
You have just released your new single ‘My Void’. Can you tell us how that track came about? Is there a story behind it?
Lockdown has forced most of us to deal with loneliness and it's easier to pretend when you create an alter ego. When I wrote the song I could see the story unfolding of someone's day from start to finish. I wrote the song from home and when it was finished we went into the studio and recorded with the musicians to add the extra layers.
And was there a particular style you were looking for when you wrote it?
I usually have an atmosphere or feeling in my head when I'm writing but it's the song that takes me from there. I never know what I'm going to end up with when I write. It's only during the very final stages that there's a clear image of where I want it to go.
It also comes with a very cool new video. Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind that?
Well, it's quite literally someone taking off the layers of bling to show their true face. I wanted to work with more actors for the video but Covid dictated the rules and so we had to write the script around just me. Which in the end, as always, turned out great. Very often it's the limitations that make something special so I try to embrace that.
Can we expect a new EP, or even an album from you in the near future?
Yes, my debut album 'Mundane' is finished and will be released this year.
The coronavirus outbreak has obviously affected everyone’s plans, but what have you got in store over the next few months?
We'll be doing concerts to support the release of the album, hopefully live but if not definitely live stream. Also there will be a new music video, which I'm still thinking about.
And finally, what is the most important thing you would like to achieve in 2021?
Well... all I want really is to write and perform music so let's hope we get to do that again in 2021!