Rebecca Lucy Taylor aka Self Esteem is approaching the release of her highly anticipated second album Prioritise Pleasure in October, and following on from amazing singles “I Do This All The Time” and “Prioritise Pleasure”, she’s shared a third taste called “How Can I Help You”. She says:
“‘How Can I Help You’ is one of the first songs I wrote for the second album. After touring the first record and most weeks being told that I am underrated or intimidating I just felt very fed up. I guess I’ll be eternally angry for the way, as a woman, unless you’re sweet, nice, settled and quiet, you’re considered ‘different’ and ‘difficult’.”
Where “I Do This All The Time” featured Taylor sardonically repeating words she’d heard from condescending men during her time in Slow Club, “How Can I Help You” is a bold and cutting riposte to those people, who doubted her. Blasting forward on a “Black Skinhead”-inspired beat, it features a hook of “I don’t know shit” – but with a fierce glint in her eye like ‘I dare you to say that to my face’. Now that she’s a solo artist and killing it, she sees those some cowards eating their words, and she looks down on them with merciless glee; “I am a god / I am a king /I never wrote a single thing / Now I’m the enemy / ’cause you all made a queen of me.”
The video finds Taylor slamming out the beat on drums, and getting very sweaty in the process. She says:
“I wanted to play the drums in the video to reclaim how often I used to feel self conscious playing them. The physical act of a woman playing a drum means your tits move – all I ever wanted to do was play but it always came with this fear of being looked at in that way. Now my tits move for me, my song, my video. I’m also aware it’s probs a nice watch if you’re that way inclined, but I’m afraid if you wanna watch it you have to hear what I’ve got to say. Click for the tits, stay for the feminism!”
Check it out below or listen to “How Can I Help You” on streaming platforms.
Self Esteem’s new album Prioritise Pleasure comes out on October 22 through Universal (pre-order/save). You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
