Rebecca Lucy Taylor, better known as Self Esteem, has revealed that she is about “70 per cent” into making her “honest” third album.
The Sheffield singer-songwriter opened up about her time working on new material during a recent interview with Nick Grimshaw as part of his Sidetracked podcast with Annie Macmanus.
As well as covering topics like the long-awaited Oasis reunion and Sexyy Red’s unconventional lipgloss range, the artist confirmed that she is well underway with the follow-up to her BRIT and Mercury Prize-nominated 2021 album, ‘Prioritise Pleasure’, but has taken a new direction to what fans may expect.
“I think I’m 70 per cent through making the difficult third album,” she began, adding that she feels some pressure to keep up the momentum from her last studio release. “No one has ever been that interested in what I’m about to do. The last album had its little moment, so I’ve got a natural amount of stress from that.”
Recalling how the new songs take a different source of inspiration from her previous discography, Taylor shared that the motivation this time around comes from finding herself at a crossroads in her career.
“I used to have a very clear idea about what I wanted… Now the idea isn’t that clear. I don’t know if it’s because I’m burnt out or because I’m 37,” she explained. “My mate the other day was like ‘Is there anyone who has done what you’ve done?’, and I was like ‘That’s the problem, in a way’. Everyone else did it in their 20s so there’s no blueprint. At 40 most women disappear, and I’m just getting started.”
She added: “I’m all about ‘the universe is in charge and we’re not’ – all of that. I’m on that train now, so I’m just trying to believe my own thoughts basically. We’ll wait it out and it’ll come.”
“I am excited. It’s not what you think though. I think everyone thinks I’m going to do a good, poppy crossover. I did want to try and do that but it wasn’t possible,” she concluded. “I made quite a complicated listen. It’s horribly honest. It’s too honest.”
Since she shared ‘Prioritise Pleasure’, Rebecca Lucy Taylor has gone on to team up with Moonchild Sanelly for the collaborative single, ‘Big Man’.
Speaking about working with South African musician and dancer Sanelly, Taylor explained: “Me and Moon wrote a song from the perspective of a good boyfriend. The ones that are just chill and secure so they just leave you to it. The ones that don’t want a medal for doing the bins.
“The ones that see that you’re working your tits off so they go and get yet another thing you’ve ordered and missed the delivery of from the post office. The ones that don’t take your success as a direct threat to their existence. To me, this is real masculinity.”
Taylor also spoke about her “dream” of making a collaborative record with Richard Hawley. Last year, the latter told NME that he would be up for working with Self Esteem at some point in the future.
“Rebecca is amazing. You can throw anything at her and she’ll just perform it so well – like she’s been singing it for years,” Hawley said.
Speaking to NME about her forthcoming third album in 2022, Taylor commented: “I’m still whinging about loads of other stuff. ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ was only the start of the penny dropping.
“I’m still this hyper-emotional person, I find it all a bit hard and that’s where I’ll always write from. You know how Ed Sheeran just sings about loving his girlfriend? One day I’ll just be able to do that. For now, I’ve just got to fight injustice at every corner. It’s difficult, but I’ll do it!”
You can revisit NME‘s video interview in full above.
