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 the announcement of her forthcoming self-produced debut album, Only Music Makes Me Cry Now, due for release on 15 November.

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In celebration of the record’s announcement, Gustafsson has also shared a new track entitled ‘I made my baby cry’, a gorgeous post-breakup lament that swells with emotional catharsis that arrives alongside an accompanying visualizer, made by Gustafsson. Meshing delicate keys and stirring strings with a soaring choir of the songwriter’s own pitched, layered, and manipulated vocals, the huge-sounding self-made symphony highlights her effortless command of the studio. As Gustafsson explained: “I wrote this song after a breakup. To me breakups are the worst, seeing the other people die inside, knowing that you caused that death.”

Earlier this year, Gustaffson shared the first cut off Only Music Makes Me Cry Now, an ethereal and intimate track entitled ‘When she holds me’. This summer, she additionally began hosting a regular residency on Foundation FM radio.

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 as a means 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.

Becky and the Birds – Only Music Makes Me Cry Now
15 November 2024
4AD0741

Tracklisting:
1. Star
2. anymore
3. to trust you
4. I look at the choices I made
5. I made my baby cry
6. When she holds me
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