Alice Mary: Will It Ever Be Enough?
I’m a big fan of engaging in deep philosophical questions. Why are we really here? Is there a God? Who exactly is The Real Slim Shady? Is there life on other planets? But the most important of them all is something we can all relate to – can you really have too much of a good thing? Alice Mary explores the possibility in her latest single ‘Too Much’.
Image Credit: Géraldine Nassieu-Maupas
London artist Alice Mary has been releasing music since at least 2014. The first song on her YouTube channel is called ‘Everything To Everyone’ and is an electronic journey with a hypnotising music video. The second is a video for her single ‘Failing In Love’, taken from her debut EP called ‘I Am Here’, released in 2017. Alice Mary also rendered an acoustic version of these songs and has since taken time to record four brand new tracks which will be released over the course of 2021. The first of these is ‘Too Much’.
Immediately I love the production on this single where Alice Mary serves as the primary producer, from the ‘80’s influenced drum sound played by Alex Walker, opened out with a little reverb to synthesized chords and faux brass lines. Alice Mary’s only other bandmate is bassist George Kerridge, in a performance video of the track, his accented parts really add clarity and dynamic to the piece.
If you were to follow Mary’s TikTok account (@alicemarymusic), you’d discover as I did that the regular chords that sound synthesized are actually the creative result of an autoharp tuned to one chord. This is strummed once, recorded and reversed with a ring modulator added to it. It’s a really fascinating production slice of Too Much and the kind of creativity that makes you believe anything is possible.
This is all supportive of the clean guitar sound, and Anxious Club’s filming in the aforementioned performance video highlights Alice Mary’s playing well. I particularly love the ascending notes she plays, which aren’t heard too often, but it’s the variation on her playing which makes it just as exciting and catchy as the vocal melody.
Image Credit: Jan Bernet
Mary is assisted in production by Alex Walker for the instrumental parts, and by Pedro Caetano (who also mixed Too Much) when she tracked vocals. The vocal layers in this song are essential listening, with a single voice leading the verses (and perhaps pre-panic attack breaths), with lower harmonies in the choruses. Caetano’s mixing doesn’t place huge emphasis on these layers, but it helps to bolster Alice Mary’s voice as she reaches into her upper range. This is where the melody is at it’s best and most infectious.
“‘cause you’re too much of a good thing, too much of a good thing, you might be too much of a good thing, but you’ll never be enough.”
The final words in a cappella really helps the listener to understand the importance of good vocal production as utilised in this song, and a great mix. But what finishes all that off is Katie Tavini’s mastering work, helping to make Too Much a track that absolutely should be played on the radio. When is the next single coming?
Read on for our Q&A with Alice Mary. We ask about the production around Too Much, Géraldine Nassieu-Maupas’ artwork, Alice Mary’s previous videos and her upcoming singles in 2021! All this and more below.
Image Credit: Géraldine Nassieu-Maupas
1. I love the sound of your latest single 'Too Much' - where did the inspiration come from for the lyrics?
It’s always difficult to talk about lyrics because you hope that they can speak for themselves, and a lot of writing music for me is finding a way to talk about things that I don't know how to talk about, or don't want to talk about, in real life. So let's just say the song is about sex and anxiety, and see what people want to think about that!
2. Drums and bass on this track are by Alex Walker and George Kerridge, how did they get involved in the project?
Alex answered an ad I put on gumtree several years ago, and now we're longtime collaborators and good friends! George is someone Alex worked with on another project and recommended when I needed a bassist – a good, reliable bassist is hard to come by.
3. Alex also contributes in the production department, as well as Pedro Caetano. What were they like to work with in respect to your own production style? Was there a difference of opinion in the direction?
They are both great, sensitive collaborators and I'm quite clear on what I want, so there were never any difficulties. Pedro recorded all the vocals, there's so much to think about when you're singing – breath, tuning, enunciation, expression – and vocals are really the most important part of pop music, so I much prefer having someone else record me so I can focus on all that and not worry about the engineering and production side of things.
Also its hard to have perspective on your own singing, sometimes I think I did a great take and its awful, sometimes I think it was awful and it was great, so I need someone listening and giving me some direction and support. Also Pedro works out of Hackney Road Studios and they have this amazing Neumann U87 mic that just made my voice sound amazing.
With Alex we were working in a little studio in a shipping container in the docklands, and mainly just adding layers of synths or replacing digital synths with analogue ones. Alex helps me to have perspective too, either encouraging me when I'm not confident with something or telling me if the music is a bit too weird or not really working. And I just love his drumming.
4. I like the single artwork from Géraldine Nassieu-Maupas. Are all those items yours?
Yes! The concept is around things that are personal to me, equipment that was used on the song, and then items related to the meaning of the song. The chorus has this line 'too much of a good thing' which is about over indulgence, so that's where the sweets and whiskey and chocolate come in.
5. You also have a performance video out for 'Too Much'. Does it take getting used to, performing to cameras?
The song is quite difficult to sing and play at the same time so really I didn't have much brain space to worry about the cameras as well, I just tried to smile a bit and not look too grumpy/dead inside! Honestly it was a really easy video to make, we worked with Anxious Film Club who were super professional and on it and we'd practised a load so we just went in and bashed it out in a few hours.
6. Did you film any other songs that day?
Unfortunately no! I'm hoping to film a few DIY solo things in my house over the next few weeks though.
7. During your teen years, you used a four-track tape recorder to put down ideas. Do you ever miss the simplicity of working with technology like that?
Honestly no, I think recording to computer is a lot easier because you have so much more opportunity to fix your mistakes, but I've been getting really into the sound of tape and tape manipulation recently and I've been watching tonnes of youtube videos of people doing tape loops, so I am really annoyed that I sold my tape recorder as they're like £300 on ebay now and I can't really justify the expense of buying one!
8. Who were the artists that were inspiring you in your teen years?
I was a full on guitar geek and not really into singing and lyrics yet so The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jimi Hendrix were my biggest inspirations because of the guitar playing. We also had a cd of classic soul too which I really loved and still do.
9. Your earlier video 'Everything To Everyone' is a little different from what you do now. Is this a style you could return to at some point?
I hope so, I love techno and house and more experimental electronic stuff, I just got more into the songwriting side of things and have focused on that in the last few years.
10. The video to 'Failing In Love' was inspired by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's version of 'The Red Shoes'. What do you like about that film?
I'll be honest, I haven't seen the whole film! The concept for that video came from my friend Simon Clark who directed it. I remember we met up to speak about the song and he had picked out what he thought was the most important line that he wanted to base the video around, and it was 'all that I've got to hold on to / is loneliness in the shape of you', that's also my favourite line in the song, and the one I'm most proud of writing. So his ideas were all around loss and the representation of loss. He showed me a scene from towards the end of The Red Shoes where (spoiler!) the lead dancer in a ballet dies before the performance and they decide to do the performance without her, but to signify her presence (and absence) they use a spotlight to light up where she would be. It's a really beautiful scene. If you watch the video for Failing In Love we basically just took that idea.
11. You have an acoustic companion EP to 'I Am Here'. Could there be acoustic versions of your newer work too?
For some of the songs yes. Too Much and another one I will put out later in the year, Mystery, are too bouncy really and I can't find a way of translating them to acoustic that doesn't just sound really cheesy. But I will have a couple of acoustic/solo versions out of other songs this year.
12. You have some more music coming out in 2021, what can you tell us about that?
Yes, I have 3 more singles coming out after Too Much, one in July and I expect the other 2 in September/October. I will hopefully be recording new music in the summer too which will be more indie/guitar based, and hopefully it won't be too long before that's out.
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Purchase Alice Mary’s latest single ‘Too Much’, as well as her previous music on her Bandcamp page.
For more information about Alice Mary including upcoming live dates, visit her official website.
Follow Alice Mary across social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok @alicemarymusic.
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