Succeeding the release of her debut album, ‘ANGIE,’ Spill Tab season is in full swing

 Experimental pop artist Spill Tab spoke with Pleaser about experimentation, incorporating her French identity into her music, and of course, the house of ANGIE, her debut album released on May 16. Although she’s released a flurry of EP’s and singles, ANGIE is Spill Tab’s first venture into a project of this caliber– a project worth waiting for.

 ANGIE is rich in textures both sonic and seen. They’re tied together by introspective lyrics that pull flashbacks with former flames from deep pockets of our memories. The 12 tracks immerse us in Spill Tab’s world, illuminating the emotions of all different kinds of relationships she’s slipped in and out of.

PHOTOS BY JADE SADLER

In between the varied layers of ANGIE, listeners of any sub-genre of pop can uncover a pleasant surprise. The first song, “PINK LEMONADE”, bursts open the project with a bouncing energy delivered by boingy synth sounds. Ballads like “wet veneer” choke us up with sultry-smooth vocals and a waning trumpet solo. Combinations of gritty guitar and drums on “De Guerre” need not be explained, just head-banged to. Although well-loved elements of modern music infuse seamlessly into ANGIE, Spill Tab elevates them into eccentric songs that carve lanes of their own. 

Personal touch is an equal shaping force of the album. Formally known as Claire Chicha, the French-Korean artist is colorful in contradictions. She’s quick to drop a swear word, but is also sophisticated conversationalist. She presents herself with a nonchalant demeanor, but when it comes to her craft, she’s ignited with enthusiasm. As for her own style, she says, “All I can tell you in a moment is what I don’t like.” Yet, under the roof of ANGIE, it seems as if Spill Tab’s got her love for the weird, the funky, and the colorful all figured out. 

Spill Tab is often squeezed into the box of bedroom pop. Perhaps that title speaks to past projects, but ANGIE is pop within the whole house. A few weeks prior to its release, Pleaser joined spill tab for a tour through every room. 

PLEASER: Listening to your discography leading up to ANGIE, it sounds like there’s a progressive integration of more texture, more variety of noise. What does that say about how your sound and identity as an artist has grown?

Spill Tab: Texture is the exact word I feel like I’ve been using in my head. I love the textures of synthesizers and drums. Sound design is so interesting to me. When it’s done really well I feel like it scratches the right parts of my brain. It’s funny you say that, because I have had some people say: ‘It really feels like you dialed back from distortion on this album’. I feel like earlier when I got my hands on heavy distortion I wanted to use it all the time. It’s like when you’re a kid and you learn a new curse word, you just say ‘f*ck, f*ck, f*ck’. This album feels like a more mature expression of distortion and experimentation. It’s a bit more reigned in in the sense that I want to use it more intentionally.

Hearing that some people viewed it as more ‘dialed back’ is so surprising, especially considering songs like “PINK LEMONADE”. On the subject of this evolved expression, describe where you feel you’re at in your career awaiting ANGIE’s release. 

ST: I feel like I’ve not yet reached the point of being on the outside looking in. I’m still running around in my head. As soon as I finished the core of the music we went right into production, and then straight into mixing and then straight into mastering…right to the roll out of the first single and then the second. I’ve been in this push and pull of the waves for the past few months. It feels weird to say I’m putting out my first debut album when I still feel like a little kid in terms of longevity in the music industry. 

Now something that jumped out to us about ANGIE…there isn’t a single feature.

ST: Yes! Which I feel appears a little odd because I’ve had EP’s where half the tracklist had features. The collaboration [for ANGIE] came from the production element of the whole thing. I haven’t counted yet but I think there’s upwards of 15 people across the album in terms of co-production. The album was already so collaborative I don’t think there was ever a moment in which I was like: ‘You know what this song needs? Another person on it.’ I’m so bad with second verses my *ss gets so lazy…so there were some songs that didn’t have a second verse at some point. We reached out to a few people for that and I feel like nothing that felt right ever came of it. It has organically become a no feature album, which I’m stoked about. This is my first venture into a project of this size, and I kind of like that it is just me. 

It seems that the album artwork reflects having your personal stories fused with collaboration on the back end. Does this portrait tell listeners anything they’re about to listen to?

ST: We actually made it so that for each song on the album there’s an action or an element happening in the painting. I wanted to take the chance to work with my friend Alex [Rizk]¹ who’s an incredible painter. We had a bunch of friends come out and created a reference picture for Alex to paint. Nothing I do in this industry I do alone. 90% of what I do is in collaboration with others, whether it’s running through music with my co-producers² or touring with my bandmates, [etc]. It really does take a village and I wanted the artwork to be an ode to that.

Do you have a favorite Easter egg on that album artwork?

ST: There’s a French lyric tatted on my friend Grace’s arm from one of the songs…it makes her look so hard. 

As for the contents of ANGIE, listening felt like following an involved storyline of falling in and out of love with someone. Is this what you were going for?

ST: It’s sick because the album was made and written over the course of years. So I’ve been in and out of relationships, gone and did my hoe sh*t, found love again. I feel like I’ve moved through a lot of life– love and grieving.

Some of the songs about heartbreak are about different kinds of heartbreak, different people. [ANGIE is] actually built across many emotions and eras of my life, which is really special.  

So it’s a mosaic of stories?

ST: Yeah, and the order of it too is significant in calling back to these feelings. “Athlete” is about feeling sexy and doing hoe sh*t. It’s towards the end. Whereas, if ANGIE covered one relationship, you would put it towards the beginning when you’re meeting a person and coming out of that ‘hoe era’. The goal of this track listing was to take you from feeling something new to something lost. It’s a lot of disjointed moments.

With a lot of these relationships, some allusions are stronger than others, like those on “De Guerre”. There are specific events and artists mentioned in that. Is there a fear that comes with being so direct?

ST: I think short of saying someone's name…there are lyrics that are very specific to certain people. I wouldn’t say that I have any terrible standings with people I’ve dissolved relationships with. There’s a lot of love and respect still there. Truthfully, there’s lyrics I probably have changed before letting them make it to the album, just because you have to think, ‘is the lyric worth what it could do to someone’. For the most part I try to be honest and hope that it lands with love.

 

While we’re talking about “De Guerre”, both that song and “Assis” are sung in French. Have you noticed anything about how the switching between two languages resonates with your audience?

ST: What I feel really grateful for, in releasing this album at this time, is that the appreciation for music in foreign languages has grown so much in America– my primary market. Especially in the past five years. It’s really nice to have those songs appreciated for just the sonic textures of it by people who don’t speak French. Even if people don’t understand what I’m saying, there’s a want to support music in foreign languages. It’s cool to find a place within that. I am half French, so being able to put out music that has some sort of life in France is really special to me. I always want to keep that part of my identity intact. 

When you’re writing lyrics do they come to you in one language or another? Or do you take a story and match it to the language you feel best expresses it?

ST: For “Assis”, the instrumental sparked the choice for writing it in French. The instrumentals reminded me a lot of old 50’s Euro films. Amalfi Coast convertible driving vibes. For “De Guerre”, that felt like an experience in a warehouse full of noise and you’re on so many drugs, which I associate much more with being in Europe than America. The music with no lyrics already brings so much attitude and so much identity and sometimes it’s just about letting that speak for itself before layering lyrics. 

How do you plan to integrate that attitude and identity as you bring ANGIE to life on tour?

ST: The biggest addition I’ve been implementing is having the synthesizers more represented on stage. The goal is to have the live instruments [of the album] be played live as well. It’s hard because touring is really expensive, but this time I want the audience to have a visual representation of what they’re hearing more than I’ve been able to do in the past. I’m really excited for the song, “wet veneer” because there’s a trumpet solo in it, and the goal is as many times as I can to have a live trumpet player. 

And you’ll have the opportunity to take Europe by storm with ANGIE in the early summer. Are there any cities or stages you’re looking forward to playing in particular?

ST: There’s this festival called “We Love Green”. It’s so sick…all these incredible artists in a forest right outside of Paris. It’s rained almost every year it’s happened so it’s these masses trekking through mud for the music. I’ve never been but I’ve been told it’s a great sense of community because ‘everyone’s in this shit together’. 

That’s how you know they’re really there for the love of the music. This is your first time touring an album, so do you plan to integrate your past work with ANGIE?

ST: I would love to play the whole album, but I’m also aware it’s coming out in May so many people will not know all the songs [by the time of tour]. I do want to be cognizant of including the songs people love. When I get to play a song for the audience to sing along it sends that energy back. It fuels me, it fuels the soul. Finding a balance between these new songs that I think better represent me as an artist while still being able to give these people the best time will come with time and trial and error I think. 

What have you learned from opening stints vs. your own headline shows?


ST: Man, it’s tough because it depends on the audience. When I was opening for Wallows and Sabrina Carpenter, that audience was really young and open. I’ve had a few people from those shows be like, ‘you’re the first person I’ve ever seen on a stage’. That’s crazy. They’re really attentive and they give you the space to share the music. Those shows have been f*cking incredible. There have also sometimes been shows when you have a 30 min set and it feels like an hour… I have to remember that the point is not to win everybody’s heart. You just gotta get a few people that mess with you and want to check out your stuff…be converted to the church of Spill Tab.

In the modern industry, that comes a lot with world and image building. What’s the inspiration behind yours?


ST: The thing that goes hand in hand with the image of this album, is that for better or for worse I don’t think that I have every detail of my brand hammered in. I’m still exploring…also deeply indecisive…it’s [about] trusting my gut on what’s working for me. As for the visuals of the album, I wanted everything to mirror the textures of ANGIE. The album has very gritty and dusty features in a literal sense in that a lot of the synthesizers are vintage and actually collect dust because they’re so f*cking old. It’s dusty also in the textures of the bass and drums. They have a warmer quality to them. I wanted the videos to represent that. We shot in Lancaster and Palmdale, junkyards and old houses. ANGIE revolves around a world that’s worn in, but at the same time there are elements that are bright and sharp. 

Lastly, what are your hopes for this album release?


ST: I think the hope is that it’s appreciated in its entirety. I did not want to have one song on this album that is not my favorite song. The goal is that people can feel that love put behind it.

I hope the attention to detail comes through…the experimentation behind it. I hope in general just that people enjoy it, and feel that it’s something special. I wanted to feel like I was putting this out knowing there’s nothing else like it out there. It’s carving a space for itself in the music scene. If a fraction of that comes through I’d be happy. 

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