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Interview: UK alternative band Daughter explains process behind new album
Daughter’s Elena Tonra talks about acceptance and peace, overthinking things and navigating time and space in working on the new album
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Voices: 'Stereo Mind Game' has no actual meaning according to Daughter's guitarist Elena Tonra. (4AD/Courtesy of 4AD/Daughter)
I
n December 2022, British alternative trio Daughter, then on hiatus, deleted (or archived, rather) all their past Instagram posts and posted a washed-out outline of something that resembled a flower. It told viewers to sign up to “receive some junk mail in the post.”
Something was obviously on the way, and I immediately thought about them coming back together, but it was still quite a fun take on being mysterious. A love letter to our younger selves, nevertheless.
The band announced a new studio album, Stereo Mind Game, on Jan. 9 along with the release of a new track, “Be On Your Way,” followed by “Party” and then “Swim Back.” The album, released on April 7, is a gripping follow-up post hiatus: still immersively sorrowful yet embracing a newfound sense of hopefulness in exchange for a grain of bitterness.
Postage paid
“‘Be On Your Way’ was a pressed flower, ‘Party’ was a bunting decoration and ‘Swim Back’ was a swimming badge!” said guitarist Elena Tonra. She was referring to the contents of the “junkmail” that the band posted on Instagram. Each of the singles was represented by an item. “We wanted to do something that connected with the album as a surprise and gift for listeners.”
I shrugged off the opportunity to sign up for the junk mail due to my past bouts (which I had lost) with the local post office, but a tinge of regret did come unexpectedly. Oh, the possibility!
“We wanted to do something that connected with the album as a surprise and gift for listeners,” Tonra said. “It gave us a lot of joy to see them arrive and surprise people and hopefully spread a little bit of that joy with the junk mail [...] that was a fun way to let people know about the upcoming music.”
