Sadie Dupuis aka Sad13 is releasing a new album called Haunted Painting on September 25, and following the single and video “Ghost (of a Good Time)” from last month, today she’s sharing the next encounter, “Oops…!” She explains the inspiration:
“We recorded “Oops…!” at New Monkey, which was Elliott Smith’s studio. This one has a magic drum sound – thanks entirely to engineer Sarah Tudzin (of Illuminati Hotties notoriety), and Zoë Brecher’s impeccable playing. Just before writing it, on tour with CHVRCHES, a venue employee became physically and verbally violent with one of my Speedy Ortiz bandmates. He directed his fake apology at me instead of the person he harmed, presumably because I am smaller and present feminine. My vengeance complex kicked in and I got a scary adrenaline high making sure this unsafe person was removed from the show. While I’m glad I have protective instincts, I wrote the song to process ways in which I’ve used people’s assumptions about me and my body to wield my own version of toxic masculinity. Kimber-Lee Alston, who directed remotely via Zoom, turned this story and song into an allegory about a 1950s prom queen vampire who lures in her bad boy victims with delicious, blood-filled treats.”
“Oops…!” more akin to the guitar-led tracks of her other project Speedy Ortiz, but Sad13 makes use of studio wizardry to add brightness and depth. The song is curiously bubbling, while Dupuis’ vocals flutter and slice with alternate sugar and spice, until the song reaches its cathartic conclusion – like she’s pulled you in close just to twist the knife
It’s a dynamic performance, which is only enhanced by the video where she plays the “1950s prom queen vampire” to perfection – we’ve known she’s felt kinship with the occult since Speedy Ortiz titled their debut album Major Arcana, so it comes naturally to her.
Sad13’s Haunted Painting is coming out on September 25 via Wax Nine. You can follow Sadie Dupuis on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Bandcamp.
