Lady Pills
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Album: What I Want, out now via Plastic Miracles
There’s this toxic idea floating around artistic and professional circles that the pandemic created an opportunity to learn a new skill, foster a new hobby, or get some new pursuit accomplished. Fuck that: if you survived, that’s a victory and more than enough. Doing anything, truly one thing besides what is absolutely necessary feels like climbing Everest. All that is to say Lady Pills, aka Ella Boissonnault, are one of those new pursuits that not only feels like an accomplishment, but actually outstanding art regardless of the time in which it was created. This is the kind of post-Sleater Kinney alt pop that just lifts your spirits in a magical way. It’s not an optimistic or even happy record, but it’s clear that Boissonnault finding a way to get these songs out of herself and into the world resulted in triumphant, heartfelt jams. She explains the challenge of making this album a reality:
“When the pandemic hit and lockdown began, all of the pillars in my life kinda fell apart and disappeared at the same time. I was living alone for the first five or six months of lockdown, and the prospect of performing and touring felt so distant. I really let myself drift from my identity as an artist. Eventually, I just had to stop myself from wallowing and kick it into gear because I wasn’t working, I wasn’t seeing anyone, and days were really melting into each other. I set the goal for myself to make a record and revitalize my relationship with music. I needed to do it to stay sane and to remember who I am.”
On the ‘unique’ way she writes songs:
“Honestly, every song I ‘keep’ is generally just vomited up. I wish it was more elegant than that. But it’s a very clear moment of ‘time to write,’ and then it all comes pouring out at once. I guess it starts from a little creative rumble, and then I sit down with an instrument and crank it out. I definitely have drafts, but generally, if it doesn’t all come out at once, I throw it away. Those tend to be the songs that are more of a therapy session, and I keep them to myself.”
Watch the video for “My Weight” here:
For more from Lady Pills, find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Photo courtesy of Lady Pills and The Artist
