We had a chat with kidd noir to delve into her personal and ambitious debut EP Year 19
With her wide range of influences and the unique and ambitious slant that she puts on her distinctive alternative pop sound, kidd noir‘s debut EP Year 19 looked destined to be a memorable and expansive release that sets out her stall as one of emerging music’s most authentic and unique prospects, and has delivered in ways that we could have only imagined.
The collection of tracks delves into themes like coming of age and growing up in poignant fashion, with the artist borrowing from the feelings, experiences and emotions that she has gone through along the way to create a body of work that is steeped in heart and plastered in her memories and the stages of life that have defined her past, ranging from emotions like confusion and self-doubt all the way to acceptance. We love this collection of tracks and her unique style, and had a chat with the artist to find out a bit more about how it all came together and what influenced such an eclectic style.
Hey, we love your new EP Year 19, what more can you tell us about it?
Glad you like it! Year 19 is my debut EP, a collection of songs I’ve been working on over the last year, reflecting said last year. Every song emulates a different feeling or phase throughout, all tying in with each other, retelling my personal experiences, or perhaps even re-experiencing my last year. So, naturally I had to call it ‚Year 19‘. Every song sounds and feels different, it quite literally feels like a journey from the starting point to the end point, so do me a favor and listen to it all the way through (I’m probably proudest of the track listing cause I’ve never done anything like that).
What was the process like putting it together?
When I made the first song ‚rev rhapsody‘, I had no plans for an EP yet. I made it in one short sitting and immediately after I was done, it literally felt like a lightbulb turned on in my head. There were a few old demos I hadn‘t finished, some new ideas, and everything fell in place pretty quickly. I kind of realized all of the songs were about different stages and feelings of my past year and I could replicate that emotional journey lyrically and sonically with the track order, and so Year 19 was born.
What were your biggest influences when creating it?
So many. There‘s so much music I love and so much music I wanna try making that I haven’t yet, especially since I‘ve only recently started. And a lot of the times the original influences turn into something completely different altogether. For example, I really liked the kind of forward feeling bass and rhythm of ‚Good Luck, Babe!‘ by Chappell Roan, and trying around with that turned into the first track of the EP, which is pretty aggressive alternative rock, just completely different overall. But overall I‘d say you can definitely hear the influences of some of my favorite artists at the time, like Mk.Gee, Dominic Fike, The Strokes, salvia palth. Lots of guitar.
So much of your sound fells shrouded in mystery in dreaminess, what inspired that direction?
Interesting. I think I’ve always been more drawn to kind of reverb-y sounds, making space hearable. A good reverb creates a whole world with just one track. And for me personally, the feelings those sounds can evoke are almost unmatched in music. There’s just something special about it. Lyrically, I feel like more mysterious, moody, even ambiguous songwriting is just easier for me. I really appreciate more straight-forward storytelling, and there’s so many songs like that, that I love. I just don’t think I have the ability to do that right now, nor do I think it’d fit with my current sound. Also ‚Two-Star and the Dream Police‘ by Mk.Gee had just come out a few months before I started working on the EP, and that album is a masterclass on everything I just described. Huge inspiration.
What else do you have planned for the near future?
I’m not too sure yet. I’ve actually just decided to go into a bit of a learning phase, get better at production, improve my sound. I’m not convinced I fully know how to work compression for example, that’s about time. A lot to learn still, but I’m ready and I just bought a few Udemy courses lol. And then we shall see. Right now it truly feels like any direction is possible. The music will not come to an end anytime soon 🙂
