Sarah Meth - Steps/Leak Your Own Blues

STEPS is the Londoner’s third EP and features six new tracks that recollect her personal, painful experiences of sexual trauma, albeit painted and portrayed with unexpected splashes of colour, character, and Sarah’s ability to own those disturbing experiences through her own strength and power. She explains further, “STEPS EP is about moving forward into the unknown. I never intended to create a project around sexual trauma, but making these songs at the time played a big role in helping me process a way of accepting and taking ownership over some things that have happened.

I hope it brings a distinct vulnerability and playfulness to the subject matter, juxtaposing these qualities with exploring the lived experience of sexual trauma. Steps is ultimately about ‘making it through’ to define new versions of ourselves after such experiences. “I initially thought it was going to be a self-produced project but ended up taking about half of the songs to my friend Louis [O’Breyen], who I feel very grateful for providing a space to elevate those songs in the way we did.

My production and recording style for this EP was similar to my Midnight Snacks’ project of demos - made on Logic and singing into my laptop microphone tucked up in bed. However, it felt necessary to have some of these songs, such as ‘Fucktoy’ ‘Sister You Said’ and ‘Red Hands’, production elevated in a way that made these songs feel less discreet, in a “saying them with my chest” sort of way. Me and Louis ended up bonding over a much-loved mutual obsession with Nina Simone, yet the songs we did together ended up being made up of more electronic influences each of us had.

“Grimes’ album ‘Visions’ inspired me to make a project like STEPS. Both sonically and practically, being made through playing with synth-y sounds on her laptop. I was also inspired by the way she spoke about her song Oblivion. She went through similar assaults and said “I took a typically violent cultural situation and made it pop and happy.’ Which was the natural reaction I had too, toying with sounds and songwriting styles that were new for me. I hope this project can make people feel seen in what they relate to from it, or in a non- threatening way, gauge people to ask questions of themselves upon listening.” Musically, STEPS EP dips colour into the noirish, shadowy hues of her Leak Your Own Blues EP. It recalls,  in part, the instinctive rawness of early Cat Power recordings, with a loose, lo-fi charm that portrays Sarah’s words with emphasis, feeling and meaning.