Fenne Lily invests herself in contemporary discomfort on “Solipsism”

British singer-songwriter Fenne Lily is just a few weeks away from the release of her new album BREACH, and today has shared one final teaser. It’s called “Solipsism” and Lily says:

“A lot of situations make me uncomfortable — some parties, most dates, every time I’m stoned in the supermarket. ‘Solipsism’ is a song about being comfortable with being uncomfortable and the freedom that comes with that. If you feel weird for long enough it becomes normal, and feeling anything is better than feeling nothing.”

Although constructed around peppy percussion, bouncy bass and a vivid guitar churn, Lily’s quotidian worry is written large in her voice, which drapes itself across the song with melodramatic beauty. “I’m one and twenty,” she sings with such a sigh that you might think she’d received notice of a terminal illness – but it’s all part of the grandiose emotion of the track. We all feel heavy in our bodies sometimes, even with nothing in particular dragging us down other than life’s unending duties, and on “Solipsism” Fenne Lily has captured that contemporary affliction in beautiful and rousing hues.

This is explored further in the video, which takes the thought of being stoned in the supermarket literally. She says: “I wanted this video to be a reflection of the scary thought that I’ll have to live with myself forever. It’s surreal to realise you’ll never live apart from someone you sometimes hate. Dad, if you’re reading this you killed it as shopper number 2.”

Fenne Lily’s new album BREACH is out on September 18 via Dead Oceans. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. She also has these tour dates coming up:

Fri. April 30 – Brussels, BE @ Grand Salon
Sat. May 1 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Mon. May 3 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
Tue. May 4 – Copenhagen, DK @ Ideal Bar
Thu. May 6 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz
Fri. May 7 – Munich, DE @ Mila
Sat. May 8 – Zurich, SE @ Exil
Sun. May 9 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
Tue. May 11 – Frankfurt, DE @ Das Bett
Wed. May 12 – Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up
Mon. May 17 – Leicester, UK @ The Cookie
Tue. May 18 – Liverpool, UK @ Phase One
Wed. May 19 – Dublin, IE @ The Workman’s Club
Fri. May 21 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club|
Sat. May 22 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
Sun. May 23 – Birmingham, UK @ Dead Wax
Tue. May 25 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
Wed. May 26 – London, UK @ Omeara
Thu. May 27 – Cambridge, UK @ The Portland Arms
Fri. May 28 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla