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Fletcher combines her trademark wit and unflinching honesty for a second album that’s both relatable and addictive.
Words: Ali Shutler.
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“I’ve always wanted my art to be a true embodiment of the human experience, which is so brutally glorious,” says Fletcher.
True to form, her swaggering second album came about following a period of intense soul-searching. After being forced to cancel a string of headline shows due to health issues, she found herself asking who she was without the applause and the acclaim that had come with the release of her long-awaited debut album ‘Girl Of Your Dreams’. As much as it sucked at the time, Fletcher now views that forced pause as a gift. “I was able to get back in touch with why I make music and why it moves me,” she says.
“Songwriting has always been a tool of self-reflection,” explains Fletcher, who’s made a name for herself with a unique blend of deep, reflective, heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics and bold, outlandish pop. “I’ve been looking for ways out of my pain. I’ve been looking for ways to deal with my mental health and heartbreak. I’ve looked for ways to feel good, to love myself and experience joy.” People have turned to her music for the same reason.
At different points in her career, Fletcher has turned to girls, tequila, nature, touring and her relationship with her fans to provide some sort of understanding. “I guess I’ve been searching for an antidote my whole life,” she says before leaning back. “Turns out love is the ultimate antidote.”
It might sound like the sort of journey that results in a polished album with a neat beginning, middle and happy end, but that’s never been Fletcher’s style.
“There was a period in my life where I wanted to tie the bow on top of the pretty, perfect package, but that’s just not me,” she explains. “I am this beautiful, beautiful mess of creation, chaos, love, and pain. That is the human experience, and if anybody tried to tell you otherwise… they’re lying to you,” Fletcher whispers.
“I put so much effort into creating this facade of not giving a fuck, but it’s just not true. I’m a crybaby bitch”
fletcher
Rather than chasing a carefully planned vision, ‘In Search Of The Antidote’, just sort of happened, according to Fletcher. “It feels like it wrote itself because I was going through it all at the time.” Even closing track slash album destination ‘Antidote’ stumbled into Fletcher’s lap. “To be honest, ‘Antidote’ came about because some girl said to me, ‘I might just be the antidote to your chaos’.” Fletcher’s instant reaction? “That’s a fucking crazy lyric. It’s where this whole world was born from.”
Fletcher is in London for a pre-emptive celebration of ‘Love Is The Antidote’, with the rest of her day dedicated to meeting fans and signing records. “I’m feeling antsy. I’m feeling nervous. There’s always this level of anticipation before a record comes out,” she admits. “But ultimately, I’m excited for people to hear it.”
Fletcher says this record “feels like it’s from a more evolved space” than ‘Girl Of Your Dreams’ and breakout EP ‘The (S)EX Tapes’. “I’m always shifting and evolving, but this feels like the most healed I’ve ever been,” she says. Sure, fans constantly joke that Fletcher has “never healed a day in her life” because of the carnage that fuels her lyrics “but that crazy shit is the healing,” argues Fletcher. “I can be the most healed and the most insane.”
Much of that healing comes from Fletcher embracing who she is and what she’s capable of, with ‘In Search Of The Antidote’ as unapologetic as they come. Boisterous opening track ‘Maybe I Am’ sees her asking, “What if I believed all the things the internet has said about me?” before taking listeners on an emotional ride through self-doubt and uncertainty. It ends with her “finding my own truth through all that noise”, while ‘Doing Better’ is the follow-up to ‘Girl Of My Dreams’ track ‘Better Version’.
“That song ended with me singing, ‘And now some other person’s going to get the better version of me’, so I was forced to ask what the better version of me is doing, and is it actually better?” explains Fletcher, with the track also dealing with the aftermath of viral hit ‘Becky’s So Hot’. Written about accidentally liking a photo of an ex’s new girlfriend on Instagram, it sparked conversations about what should be on the table for songwriters and what should be kept private.
‘Doing Better’ quickly points out that “your girlfriend never thanked me, for making her go viral” with a shit-eating grin, before referencing Fletcher’s onstage appearance with Miley Cyrus at her televised New Year’s Eve bash. “There was so much going on at that time, but ‘Better Now’ is a song about poking fun at myself for being so cocky,” says Fletcher, who undercuts all that bravado with the line, “Smiling on the outside, dying on the inside”.
“I put so much effort into creating this facade of not giving a fuck, but it’s just not true. I’m a crybaby bitch,” says Fletcher.
“If you give a voice to the icky, sticky, hard shit in your life, that’s what heals”
fletcher
Elsewhere, ‘Lead Me On’ tackles familiar, bittersweet heartache, but ‘Eras Of Us’ finds closure for a past relationship, while ‘Pretending’ is a giddy anthem for falling head-over-heels in love. ‘In Search Of The Antidote’ really is an album that embraces the carnage at every turn. “It feels like a declaration of what Fletcher is,” she grins.
“I think what I love so much about this record is that there really is a mix of everything. Love may be the ultimate antidote, but this record explores love in all its infinite manifestations,” says Fletcher, looking at the l-word through joy, pain, rage and jealousy. “I let any version of me that had something to say have the mic,” she continues. “If you give a voice to the icky, sticky, hard shit in your life, that’s what heals.”
Fletcher’s always been drawn to music. “It’s been my way of processing emotion, but it’s also been an avenue of exploration,” she explains, with songwriting helping her understand things like her sexuality. “Music just pulls this deeper truth out of me that I can’t access in conversations with friends or in therapy. There’s something about being able to put a pretty melody to potentially unhinged thoughts that sugarcoats it.”
Despite how personal it is, though, Fletcher’s music has constantly resonated with fans on a deeper level that goes beyond impressive streaming stats. “I have such gratitude for that,” she says. “To me, that is success.” Her live shows have become “the ultimate celebration of being able to speak your truth.”
“There’s so much beauty in that, and I love that I’m able to curate these environments where people can show up as themselves and be so passionate, loud and outspoken,” she states.
It wasn’t always the goal, though. “When I first started out, I was driven by awards and achieving things. It’s beautiful to have ambition, but I soon realised that what I wanted was to feel connected. I wanted to help other people feel the full range of the human experience, whether that’s rage, pain, anger, lust, desire or elation,” offers Fletcher. “Maybe that’s why my music is connecting, because we all have such a desire to feel it all.”
Taken from the April 2024 issue of Dork. Fletcher’s album ‘In Search Of The Antidote’ is out 22nd March.
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