Modern Woman is a new London-based project spearheaded by Sophie Harris, who started the project as solo performances of her stark poetry. However, she soon realised the needed more muscle: “I had a firm idea of the direction I wanted the project to go in, and I knew that couldn’t be achieved without a full band… It was important to me to keep the tenderness and lyricism of folk music but blend this with heavier and weirder experimental elements.”
The first example of their fuller form comes with debut single “Offerings”, about which Harris says: “I wanted to reflect on the primal experience of desire and how deeply rooted it is in everything we do. Deep under all yearnings are animalistic hankerings, obsessive perspectives and religious-like fixations.”
With Harris’ voice leading the charge – part Patti Smith, part banshee – Modern Woman are a fearsome proposition. As she viscerally evokes humans primal nature in both her words and the unpredictably cutting and swooping way she sings, you can hear her eyes roving over her neighbour (who may or may not also be her lover) as she obsesses, menacing and lustful. Throughout, the basis of folk is audible in shanty-like strings and Harris’ imagistic storytelling, but atop this foundation they’ve added layers of dextrous plating. They start with tension-building percussive taps and muted strings that cast her stark shadow, they shift into moody rock, and before long it’s a stop-start post-punk song that echoes her descent into a madness of obsession.
Listen to “Offerings” on streaming platforms or watch the video by Sandra Ebert below.
“Offerings” is the inaugural release of End Of The Road Records, an arm of the beloved British festival. Hopefully there’s more to come.
You can find Modern Woman on Bandcamp, Facebook and Instagram.
They’re playing these dates:
June 19th – London @ Brixton Windmill (matinee + evening)
July 17th – London @ Bad Vibrations All Dayer – Studio 9294
Aug 7th – Sheffield @ Get Together Festival
Sept 3rd-5th – Salisbury @ End of the Road Festival
Sept 4th – Manchester @ Manchester Psych Fest
Sept 18th – Portsmouth @ Psyched Fest
Nov 13th – Glasgow @ Stag & Dagger Festival
Nov 14th – Edinburgh @ Stag & Dagger Festival
