Swedish musician Thea Gustafsson – who writes, records, and produces under the moniker Becky and the Birds – has recently turned a new leaf, entering an era of creative freedom and emotional release with her forthcoming self-produced debut album, Only Music Makes Me Cry Now, due for release on 15 November.
Gustafsson has shared the record’s newest single, ‘Anymore’, a beautifully transportive sound bath of sleek hazy hooks and hypnotic drum tracks, levied by her echoed, bird-like vocals delivering a cathartic message on starting anew. Speaking on the track, she explained: “This song is for anyone who has reached a point in their relationship when they’re setting themselves free. When you have no more tears left to cry and when there’s nothing left to say. You have finally reached the realization of your own worth and are no longer a recipient of anyone else’s rules or needs. You can see the person for who they truly are, once and for all, and realise you deserve more.”
Earlier this year, Gustafsson introduced her forthcoming debut record with two previous singles – an ethereal and intimate track entitled ‘When she holds me’, and a gorgeous post-breakup lament entitled ‘I made my baby cry’
Praise for Becky and the Birds
“A contemplative and tranquil look at all the complexities that come when you allow yourself to be vulnerable to your own emotions” – Pitchfork
“Resplendent” – Gorilla vs Bear
“A hazy mix of pitched-up vocals, rangey bass, and angelic, compressed woodwind” – The Fader
“You’d do well to find a better debut” – The Line of Best Fit
“Beautifully hypnotic… undeniably breathtaking.” – Variance Magazine
“Stunning, soulful debut submerges us in an atmosphere of layered synths and bird-like vocals that are careful, yet hit with chilling intensity” – Vinyl Me Please
Thea Gustafsson — who kickstarted her musical career as Becky and the Birds in 2016 after taking on production with sheer self-determination and a vision — began laying the groundwork for her upcoming album, Only Music Makes Me Cry Now, in 2021. At that time, her creative process was largely informed by a wide array of sources, including: insight from past collaborations with Dijon, Seinabo Sey, and Lapsley; obscure Bandcamp deep-dives; visits to live sets at clubs and dive bars across her two homes at that time, London and her native Stockholm; a variety of media fixations (including Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth); and the crushing vortex of emotions she had been encountering in the aftermath of a life-altering breakup. During that time, she needed to “let it all out to take it all in”, motivating her to return to the studio to wipe the slate completely clean and fully process everything she was experiencing. The songs she crafted during this period, which later became OMMMCN, therefore allow listeners to follow her through that time of intense healing, with the record’s exploratory, desperate, passionate, romantic, and heart-wrenchingly vulnerable lyrical backbone supported by a varied collection of sampled audio-bites from her everyday life (from old demos and phone recordings to natural city noise).
With Only Music Makes Me Cry Now, Gustafsson has returned to her roots, recalling the carefree, experimental mindset she inhabited when she first picked up producing, in addition to utilizing the boundless skills she’s gained since then. With this newest collection of ethereal, erratic, heavy-hitting, and hypnotic tracks, she creates sonic worlds with the intention of staying curious, eager, and above all, brave. In retaining her universal drive to push the boundaries of her production, her innovative and distinct style shines more than ever today. With her new record, she forges forward with some of her best Becky and the Birds material to date.
Only Music Makes Me Cry Now will be available to purchase on Standard Black vinyl exclusively via the 4AD webstore. Find more information HERE.
15 November 2024
4AD0741
Tracklisting:
1. Star
2. anymore
3. to trust you
4. I look at the choices I made
7. London is not the same
8. everything
9. Elsa 4-ever
10. won’t do that
11. celebrity // don’t leave
12. only music makes me cry now
About Becky and the Birds
Thea Gustafsson is a disciplined person by nature, with her formal musical education at Musikmakarna Songwriters Academy of Sweden and avid violin-playing as a child inspiring her unending need for perfectionism. Armed with the skills of pop songcraft and production, Becky and the Birds came to life in 2016 in reaction to frustrating and fruitless encounters with male producers and songwriters, which took form in 2018’s self-released EP Becky and the Birds. With the release of her debut 4AD EP, Trasslig, in 2020, Gustafsson used Becky and the Birds as an outlet for songs about complex women – strong, independent, sensitive and romantic women that are both powerful and vulnerable at the same time and who are ‘trasslig’ (Swedish for ‘entangled, messy, intricate’).
Following this, Gustafsson was nominated in the Breakthrough of the Year category at the Swedish Music Publishers Association Awards, the equivalent of the GRAMMYs for songwriters and composers in Sweden. She has also collaborated with the likes of Dijon, Seinabo Sey, and Lapsley, among others, and in 2021, Gustafsson then released the single ‘With You’ as an exclusive for Spotify’s Studio Oyster.
BECKY AND THE BIRDS ONLINE
