Rebecca Lucy Taylor, also known as Self Esteem, won the Ivor Novello visionary award this year for her third album, A Complicated Woman. From March she stars in David Hare\u2019s Teeth \u2019n\u2019 Smiles at the Duke of York\u2019s Theatre, London, for which she has written music and lyrics<\/p>\n
Go large \u2014 and relatable<\/p>\n
A pop song should be inclusive and have a lyric that connects with the listener, and musically it should be big, beautiful and feel passionate. Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) does that: it felt complex and challenging enough for my taste and so fresh, while also having a relatable lyric. Add that level of performance and artistic ability and you get supreme pop. <\/p>\n
You can start with words or melody<\/p>\n
Some artists start writing a new song by playing chords and singing nonsense \u2014 \u201cScooby dooby doo, turn it, cucumber\u201d \u2014 to find a melody. But you can also let the words take the lead: I do. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to be honest and real in your lyrics. I can get a buzz out of writing a depressing, weird song that still feels \u201cpop\u201d and like it would connect with the listener. I want my songs to be anyone\u2019s story. On Cheers to Me I thought, let\u2019s write a sugary Taylor Swift-style pop song but with horrid lyrics: \u201cThe worst idea I had was you\u201d or \u201cWhen you\u2019re a sucker for a skinny motherf***er\u201d. I\u2019m trying to write music that makes you feel pumped as you go up an escalator, or that you can scream along to, or that\u2019s as close as I can get to being on a football terrace. It doesn\u2019t get better than singing something you really mean to a big, yearny melody.<\/p>\n
Traditional structures work<\/p>\n
I always say there are no boundaries \u2014 do whatever you want \u2014 but then I\u2019m pretty trad about things such as song structure. The natural structure of a pop song goes: verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse two (half the length of verse one), pre-chorus, chorus, middle eight (the contrasting bit), chorus. <\/p>\n
Don\u2019t neglect the verse<\/p>\n
A lot of people say the chorus is the most important element, and I love a big anthemic chorus but verses are my thing. I love to write them and often connect with them more in other people\u2019s songs. So although there\u2019s a pressure on the chorus, verses deserve as much attention. <\/p>\n
Save ideas as they come<\/p>\n
My iPhone notes is a constant Rolodex of thoughts. I wrote the line \u201cfocus is power\u201d years ago \u2014 it\u2019s now the title of a song on my latest album. In a studio I\u2019ll start with a beat or chord progression then I\u2019ll go through the Rolodex until I find something that fits. On a good day I can start with one line and have a full song written in an hour. <\/p>\n
Musical training is not essential <\/p>\n
Too much virtuosic musical talent doesn\u2019t make a good pop song. Just because you can play some obscure chords or a complicated line, it doesn\u2019t mean the song needs it. Having said that, it\u2019s a travesty that I can\u2019t play the piano because it would make things much quicker for me. But I know exactly how a song should go in my head. <\/p>\n
When I\u2019ve got to try to explain to other musicians how I want a song to go, it\u2019s horrible at first. My teeth clench \u2014 it feels like my trousers are too tight. I explain my musical ideas in colours, or times of the day. Anything, really: the intensity of trying to find something in your bag; how it feels taking your bra off. The thing that keeps me doing music is hearing what\u2019s in my mind become a reality \u2014 it\u2019s just the best feeling.<\/p>\n
Technology can be your friend<\/p>\n
If you can be bothered to figure out how to use it, recording software such as Apple\u2019s GarageBand is really good. I\u2019ve got buddies who make songs on it for fun and it would be fun for me if tech didn\u2019t stress me out. AI can probably write a helluva lot better \u201cglobal crossover pop hits\u201d than I can, but it won\u2019t write great pop songs. I don\u2019t think it can feel the horror of being a human and we will always need to put that into existence. <\/p>\n
Persevere \u2014 and experiment<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t let go of a song until it\u2019s finished \u2014 it\u2019s a compulsion; you fight for that song to exist. Recently I\u2019ve been working with Eg White, who co-wrote Adele\u2019s Chasing Pavements, and he has validated these feelings. If it doesn\u2019t come immediately he\u2019s, like, \u201cWe\u2019ve not lost it yet! We\u2019re going to get her!\u201d It\u2019s beautiful to watch him work. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s also taught me a bit. I love a classic chord progression but because he\u2019s been so prolific for so long, he will go, \u201cNo, no, no, that\u2019s boring. Let\u2019s try this.\u201d I\u2019m someone who thinks they\u2019re right all the time \u2014 I often don\u2019t want input on lyrics or melody \u2014 so it has been nice to be shown there\u2019s wiggle room for other ways.
As told to James Stewart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rebecca Lucy Taylor, also known as Self Esteem, won the Ivor Novello visionary award this year for her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-351762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}