{"id":732943,"date":"2026-08-09T23:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/732943\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T23:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:34:15","slug":"the-anchoress-had-a-baby-not-a-lobotomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/732943\/","title":{"rendered":"The Anchoress had a baby, not a lobotomy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Anchoress<\/a>\u2019 strikingly-titled single I Had A Baby, Not A Lobotomy was inspired by her experience as a new mother facing the bewildering attitudes of those around her.<\/p>\n

After her daughter\u2019s birth five years ago, she heard comments \u2013 now immortalised in the song \u2013 including: \u2018I guess you\u2019ll be retiring now\u2019, \u2018You\u2019re getting on, the kid will hate ya,\u2019 and \u2018Guess now there won\u2019t be any more tours?\u2019<\/p>\n

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While Catherina Anne Davies stresses that the lead track from her latest Anchoress album, As We Once Were, humorous rather than a furious or vindictive rant, she admits she found the process of channelling the phrases into art somewhat therapeutic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would jot it down on my phone every time someone would say something to me that pissed me off. Rather than want to throttle them, I would write it down and bite my lip, and it became this litany of comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of it was really well meaning, or they thought they were being helpful, so I didn\u2019t want to make people feel bad. The best thing you can do with satire and humour is to try and get people to think again. I always want to do that with a smile on my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

The Anchoress – I Had A Baby Not A Lobotomy feat. Gwenno (Official Video) – YouTube
\n\"The<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

When the track went live she knew she\u2019d struck a chord. \u201cMy phone has been blowing up, as the kids say, with all sorts of people, including a lot of other musicians and producers who are trying to navigate this shit the whole time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all saying a very big, resounding \u2018Yes! I feel like this, too!\u2019 And other people are saying, \u2018You wouldn\u2019t believe some of the inane shit I\u2019ve had thrown at me \u2013 jobs I\u2019ve lost when they found out I had kids.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo yeah, it\u2019s resonated in quite a serious way, even though my intention was fairly tongue-in-cheek.\u201d<\/p>\n

The song\u2019s parent album is something of a concept set, partly inspired by a family discovery. \u201cI found a lost tape of my grandmother\u2019s voice, talking about her life, which is heard throughout the record,\u201d she explains. That\u2019s the thread that holds it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four generations of Davies women are heard on As We Once Were \u2013 including her five-year-old daughter, of course. And there are other sounds to be heard that might be considered to come from a past era.<\/p>\n

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The Anchoress ft. James Dean Bradfield – Throw Over Your Man – YouTube
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\u201cI was invited to come into Pete Townshend\u2019s studios and use all his vintage synths,\u201d Davies says. \u201cI got to have a whale of the time piloting all these crazy machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s made the album very synth-heavy, but it goes to a whole new level from what I\u2019ve done previously, because I\u2019ve never worked on modular synths before.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a fan of negativity and moaning without some sense of what the solution is<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a real learning curve. On modern synths you can press a pre-saved patch and just play. With these you have to create and shape the sound yourself; and the sound I made that day on that synth, I won\u2019t be able to repeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that chimes in with what the record is about, which is the impossibility of freezing time and holding onto moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, she\u2019s has launch a podcast called The Milk And The Music, talking to working musicians about their experiences of motherhood. Guests include Lau.ra, Charlotte Hatherley and Gazelle Twin.<\/p>\n

Davies hopes it will move beyond storytelling to offer practical solutions. \u201cI\u2019m not a fan of negativity and moaning without some sense of what the solution is,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

As We Once Were<\/a> is on sale now.<\/p>\n

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