Melanie Baker's debut album has arrived
Newcastle-based slacker pop newcomer Melanie Baker releases debut album ‘Somebody Help Me, I’m Being Spontaneous!’, out now via yours truly.
Listen to - or order - the album here.
Recorded in a small, feverish cabin in rural Wales, ‘Somebody Help Me, I’m Being Spontaneous!’ is a wily exercise in cartoon realism and sees the enigmatic musician turn to absurdist humour, highlighted by the album’s Truman Show-referencing title and the carnival chaos of its cover art. In Melanie Baker’s world, the chaos of teenage bedrooms and old-school rock videos meets a confessional, emotional core. It’s a visual universe steeped in the scruffy, high-energy nostalgia of the 90s and early 00s, where humour and heartbreak coexist in equal measure, with the songwriter reclaiming its grit and spirit through a queer, modern lens.
Speaking ahead of her LP release, Baker stated:
“The album is largely about me becoming myself, learning who I am, what I want to say, and how I want to exist in the world. The album title “Somebody Help Me, I’m Being Spontaneous!” is actually a quote from The Truman Show, which is my favourite film, and a film that felt like the perfect representation about what I was writing about in the album. Feeling trapped in a life and an identity that I didn’t feel fully myself in and wanting to break free from that to experience the true joy, silliness, and spontaneity that I know the world has to offer. With each new song I wrote for the album, I felt like I was getting closer to myself. I gave myself permission to have fun and just create.”
Listen to - or order - the album here.
Tour Dates
- Fri 10th April - Reflex Records in-store, Newcastle
- Sat 11th April - Crash Records in-store, Leeds
- Mon 13th April, Wax & Beans in-store, Bury
- Tue 14th April - Banquet Records in-store, London
- Sat 18 April - Rough Trade Nottingham, Instore
- Fri 8th May - Focus Wales Festival, Wrexham
- Fri 22nd May - Gullivers, Manchester
- Sat 23rd May – Dot to Dot Festival, Bristol
- Sun 24th May – Dot to Dot Festival, Nottingham
- Fri 29th May – The Brickyard, Carlisle
- Sat 30th May – The Grove, Newcastle
- Sun 31st May – Sneaky Petes, Edinburgh
- Thu 4th June - Oslo, London
- Sat 27th June - Coventry Central Library
- Thu 9th July - 2000 Trees Festival (main stage), Cheltenham
- Fri 24th July - Gadabout Festival, Cumbria
- Fri 23rd October - Left of the Dial, Rotterdam
- Sat 24th October - Left of the Dial, Rotterdam
