CURRENTMOODGIRL
Skin Stretch
A NORTHERN VOICES COMMISSION
CURRENTMOODGIRL has created a new track for voice and electronics, taking the story from Schoenberg’s ‘Transfigured Night’ as her starting point. In the 19th-century poem, a woman confesses to her new lover that she bears another man’s child. Her words are full of shame and regret, echoing societal expectations of the time. The resolution is a happy one, with the man vowing to look after the unborn child. In ‘Skin Stretch’, the story is reimagined from the woman’s perspective – enabling the protagonist to reclaim her agency.
Supported by The Granada Foundation
MEET THE ARTIST
CURRENTMOODGIRL. Photography: Brandina Chisambo
You’ve selected something out of the recording of ‘Transfigured Night’ and built upon that to produce the song. Can you just talk a bit about that process?
Well, I actually had a bit of a difficult time with this project because my laptop died, so I had to work in a really different way. I had to keep booking into computer suites; it was quite strange, because whenever I left, I had to leave my ideas there.
I ended up using this really old synth that they had in the suite. I’d never used a synth like that before, and I could hardly get any noise out of it at first. Most of the sounds are from proper instruments and synths, and I brought lots of bells and random things. At one point, I smashed glass on the floor and changed the time signature on it, then made it really small so it sounded like a little kick.
And what were you trying to do there?
I was trying to create noises that made me think about skin. Transfigured Night is a story about a man, walking through the forest with a woman. She’s pregnant – not with his baby though – and she’s really scared to tell him. In the end, he’s really nice and says, “Don’t worry, I love you, so I’ll bring up this child with you.”
There’s always this male hero who appears. When actually, she’s the hero. She’s the one that is carrying the baby. And her body is going to stretch and change, and I just started thinking about how women’s bodies change lots through their lives. I saw it as her asking him a question, about her own body, and him making the decision. And I was just like, you know what, I’m gonna look at this song in a different way. It’s another example of how men are in control of women’s bodies.
I was very angry about the way I got treated in Manchester as a woman. I’ve been a musician for 12 years in Manchester, but whenever I look back at the city’s history, there’s no women at all. It’s terrible. I don’t want to have to go: “Oh, there’s one woman!”
I guess it’s music written by a man, based on a poem written by a man. So even when it’s about the woman, it’s double-infected through men’s perspective.
I know, and the woman is just there as a piece of furniture almost. She’s part of the story but the story is not about her. It’s about the man. I just imagined this woman, with her body deforming and changing, and she’ll always be feeling shame. So, the whole song is basically about this. Because she is made to feel shameful.
I also thought about how many women at that time were probably making music, and felt restricted and not able to put anything out, just silently falling through the gaps. How many women have slipped through the cracks? How many men have copied women, and then never given them credit? How many men just think women can’t do things?
Listening to ‘Skin Stretch’, at times it’s intense, it’s unnerving, there’s a lot of distortion… What is it that you want the listener to feel?
Something I’ve noticed at the minute is how fast music culture is, flicking straight onto the next thing. We all do it, I do it – we’re used to the internet being fast. I want people to sit and close their eyes and just think of the images they see. I think it would be good for people to give it a bit of time and listen to all the subtleties. I do everything by hand, every single beat is drawn in by me, or it’s played by me, so it’s slightly off and out of time, which I really like. I love the beauty in the ugly. That kind of hideous beauty, I love that.
Your new EP ‘Side Split’ is out now, what can you tell us about it?
I made most of the songs a long time ago… I feel like the EP ties everything that I’ve been going through for the last few years together. It’s been quite a challenge. You can hear I’m learning to make music on it, and that now I know how to do it.
Interview by Joe Ronan
