Self Esteem – A Complicated Woman
In 2017, Rebecca Lucy Taylor split from her indie duo and ventured out into the wide world of pop. Known now as Self Esteem, Taylor has released two projects and has amassed a cult following who adore her fun lyricism, evolving sound and feminist hype. Her third release, A Complicated Woman, is an interesting addition to her catalogue. It is at times messy and at others, fantastically original. Regardless, it’s definitely worth a listen.
A Complicated Woman opens with I Do and I Don’t Care – and it’s an immediate hit. Kicking off with a choir and several punchy pauses, the theatrics amp up excitement for the rest of the album. She delves into spoken word, a feature she’s long-since loved to include, while violins thrum in the background and her voice, warm and raspy and thick with a beautiful Yorkshire accent, welcomes everyone in. The anthemic Focus Is Power is up next and, in this one, Taylor seeks to uplift her audience: “I deserve to be here,” she repeats. It has the kind of jaunty optimism mixed with a side-step, knee slap beat that would have become an all-time classic on Glee. There are a couple of tracks with this same formula, If Not Now, It’s Soon and The Curse, for example. The latter has some of the more interesting lyrics in this group; Taylor laments her relationship with drinking, a subject which adds a layer of sorrow.
The other subset of songs is wildly different. The jump from Focus Is Power to Mother is jarring. It’s a droning house track with synth beats and repetitive phrases, made for a smoky dancefloor. Lies (feat Nadine Shah) evokes FKA Twigs, its vocal effects and reverb leaning into an industrial twang. 69, in which Taylor lists her opinion on different sex positions, builds into a Jungle-esque festival experience that will surely explode live. While the lyrics are somewhat surface-level, they do the job.
A Complicated Woman is, true to its name, pretty complicated. While it lacks cohesion, most of the tracks are solid on their own – and maybe that’s the point. It’s her third full-length solo project, an era in which one would expect an artist to have found themselves and sit comfortably in their skin. Taylor, however, seems more lost than ever. This is not, though, an outright negative; in fact, it allows space for her to see-saw through sound and produce an album that will certainly resonate with many.
Talitha Stowell
Image: Scarlett Carlos Clarke
A Complicated Woman is released on 25th April 2025. For further information or to order the album, visit Self Esteem’s website here.
Watch the video for the single The Deep Blue Okay here:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
RSS