Half-Danish, half-English singer-songwriter and producer Ydegirl proves she’s on the cusp of success with her latest video, out now on Escho.
“Fuck wholesome,” Ydegirl sings confidently in her new self-produced single, released earlier this summer with an accompanying video directed by Thinh Petrus Nguyen. The project of Copenhagen-based musician Andrea Novel, Ydegirl enthusiastically steals inspiration from the past, present, and future. Perhaps best known for her ability to place Nordic baroque music in conversation with contemporary R&B elements, Ydegirl‘s releases so far have been inventive and unprecedented– No one’s making music like Ydegirl right now. “Zodiac” is an exciting addition to this trend, as it combines staggering, even awkward instrumentation with Ydegirl‘s sheeny vocals and meaningful songwriting.
“Zodiac” is a song that is curious about duality. Ydegirl sings, “Often I’m full of joy but feel like crying / Cause the joy I’m feeling is alone inside me / Often I’m blue and I’m smiling / Cause I feel the tickle from the lazy tear in my eyes.” Beyond the lyrics, this balance between happiness and despair is apparent in the musicality of the song. The instrumentation is crowded yet reserved, peppering in woodwinds, horns, and strings while embracing quiet. Though the video features the all-girls Norwegian marching band and seems primed for a cacophonic fanfare, Ydegirl never allows sound without silence. There is a hush looming beneath the loud surface of the track. She alludes to this when she sings, “I often speak but wanna be silent / The words leave me before I try them.” The track is rife with conflicting imagery and clashing sounds, resulting in a track that feels like it’s teetering on stilts. The balancing act is exhilarating.
The inspiration for “Zodiac” came from a French philosophy text originally published in 1999. Novel explains, “At the time, I was reading Theory of the Young-Girl… This non-gendered concept of the Young-Girl as everyone was on my mind and infiltrating with the image of the marching band in their uniforms. ‘Zodiac’ hides behind this coming of age theme, but really it’s about everyone experience [with] poly-moodiness.” At its core, “Zodiac” portrays the fickleness of modern life.
“Zodiac” is not just a song– It’s a statement. When Ydegirl proclaims, “I’m a woman not a mono-thought,” she’s letting her audience know that– physically and artistically– she can’t be contained.
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