| Self Esteem | |
| Caption: | Taylor performing in October 2021 |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Name: | Rebecca Lucy Taylor |
| Birth Date: | 15 October 1986 |
| Birth Place: | Rotherham, England |
| Years Active: | 2006–present |
| Label: | Polydor Records, Fiction Records, Kick + Clap |
| Past Member Of: | Slow Club |
Rebecca Lucy Taylor (born 15 October 1986),[1] also known by her stage name Self Esteem, is a British musician, songwriter and actress.[2] First known as one half of the band Slow Club, she launched a solo career as Self Esteem with the single "Your Wife" in 2017, followed by the albums Compliments Please in 2019 and Prioritise Pleasure in 2021. A multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter and theatre composer, she is winner of the 2021 BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year Award and Prioritise Pleasure was nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize. From September 2023 to March 2024 she performed the lead role of Sally Bowles in the West End production of Cabaret.
Taylor was born and grew up in Rotherham, England. Her father was a steelworker and an amateur musician in a band,[3] and her mother was a secretary. She attended Wales High School in Rotherham where she credits music teacher Antony Wright with teaching her to sing.[4] Her main interests as a child were music, dance and cricket[5] and she has described herself as a "choir nerd" while at school.[6]
See main article: Slow Club. Taylor was previously a member of folk duo Slow Club, which formed in Sheffield in 2006. The band consisted of multi-instrumentalists Charles Watson and Taylor, with Watson on the piano, Taylor on the drums, and both performing guitars and vocals.[7] [8] The band paused working in 2017,[9] following an extensive tour to support their last album, owing to differing musical interests and Taylor feeling unfulfilled.[10] [11] Slow Club's final tour in the winter of 2016, and Taylor's dissatisfaction and unhappiness with the band, was captured in the documentary Our Most Brilliant Friends, directed by Piers Dennis and released in 2018.[12] [13]
See main article: Compliments Please. Taylor started posting art and short notes on Instagram under the name 'Self Esteem' in 2015.[14] [15] Prior to releasing music under the name, she used 'Self Esteem' for a range of artistic projects including an exhibition of paintings and prints,[16] and short films.[17] [18] Speaking about her stage name, Taylor has said she decided on the name around six years before she started using it, and that "I wanted to call it Sex Appeal or Self Esteem...cos band names are bad, there's no good ones. But I probably should have just called it Rebecca Lucy Taylor!".[19] A big fan of Queen, she based her logo on Freddie Mercury's signature.[20]
Taylor was inspired with the confidence to pursue a solo career after watching RuPaul's Drag Race – "that whole ethos of not being ashamed to be confident or brilliant".[21] She credits Jamie T with encouraging her to release her music after she shared some of her early solo work with him; his 2016 album Trick ends with a track called "Self Esteem". Taylor released her first music under the Self Esteem moniker, the single "Your Wife", in September 2017, with "OMG" as a B-side. The track was released on Kick + Clap, a label run by Django Django member Dave MacLean.[22] Her first live show as Self Esteem was in October 2017 at Margate Arts Club.[23] Taylor went on to feature on the Django Django track "Surface to Air", which appeared on the band's 2018 album Marble Skies.[24]
Tracks for the Self Esteem debut album Compliments Please were recorded from January to September 2018, and Taylor signed a solo deal with Fiction Records in April 2018.[25] During the period of recording she played live at Latitude, Tramlines and a sold out show at Omeara Theatre London,[26] followed by an eight-show UK tour in autumn 2018.[27] The first single "Wrestling" was released in July 2018 followed by "Rollout" in September 2018, "The Best" in January 2019 and "Girl Crush" in February 2019.[28] Compliments Please was released on 1 March 2019 on Fiction Records.[29] It was well received critically, with an average rating of 80/100 according to Metacritic.[30] A deluxe version was released in October 2019 with an additional track "Rooms".[31] In March 2019 Self Esteem completed an 11-date UK tour in support of the album release[32] and played at UK festivals including Glastonbury, British Summer Time and Latitude.[33] [34] In December 2019 she released a standalone single, "All I Want for Christmas Is a Work Email", recorded at Abbey Road Studios.[35]
On 1 May 2020, Self Esteem released the Cuddles Please EP,[36] with stripped down versions of tracks from Compliments Please – "Favourite Problem", "The Best" and "In Time" – along with a cover of "Miami Memory" by Alex Cameron. The EP features Neighbourhood Voices, a Sheffield-based female choir. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 she organised an online all-female festival, Pxssy Pandemique, to raise money for Women's Aid.[37]
See main article: Prioritise Pleasure. Much of the Self Esteem second album was written before the COVID-19 pandemic that caused intermittent public health restrictions in the UK from March 2020 onwards. These restrictions delayed its recording and release. The record was co-written, recorded and produced with Johan Hugo Karlberg, the producer who also worked on Compliments Please.
The first single from the album, "I Do This All the Time" was released in April 2021.[38] Largely spoken word, and consequently compared to Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)",[39] Taylor said that "I went into this studio in Sheffield just to experiment, and I ended up building the backing track up, and just reading out my iPhone notes in a row".
The single was a huge critical and commercial success, and was praised by Tracey Thorn and by Jack Antonoff. It represented Taylor's first big music industry breakthrough. In a 2021 interview she said that she had previously lied about her age and said she was 25, and that it took her "a while to be proud" of breaking into the industry in her thirties.
In July, she released the title track and announced that the record, Prioritise Pleasure, would coincide with a UK tour in October of the same year.[40] In August, Self Esteem released the third single, "How Can I Help You".[41] Taylor directed the music videos for those singles, filming all three at the Almeida Theatre. In September, the single "Moody" was released.[42] The video for "Moody" was directed by Louise Bhose and features comedian Alistair Green alongside Taylor.[43] [44] In October, Self Esteem released "You Forever", the final single preceding the album.[45]
Prioritise Pleasure was released on 22 October 2021. The UK Self Esteem tour started on 6 November 2021 in Edinburgh.
The Guardian, The Sunday Times and Gigwise ranked Prioritise Pleasure as the best album of 2021.[46] [47] [48] NME ranked the album as the fourth best of 2021.[49] The Guardian named "I Do This All The Time" as the best song of 2021.[50]
During 2022 Self Esteem played a sold-out Prioritise Pleasure tour and they also played 30 festivals. Taylor composed the soundtrack for the West End Production of Suzie Miller's play Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer, which was released on 14 June 2022.[51] She described her connection with the production by saying the play "deals with similar issues" as Prioritise Pleasure, including heartbreak, sexism and misogyny. Prima Facie was awarded Best New Play at the 2023 Laurence Olivier Awards.
In an interview for the podcast series Talk Art in July 2022, Taylor discussed the demo for a new song that contains the refrain "I can't be arsed", a phrase also included in the video for "Moody", stating that "essentially, album three has begun now".[52] Speaking about the budget constraints she has faced as a new artist, she has said that "I'm so glad I haven't achieved what I want to achieve quite yet, because imagine if I had access to an orchestra or a full choir. That's what excites me about album three".[53]
The 2023 live tour in support of Prioritise Pleasure, the I Tour This All The Time tour, was announced in March 2022 and originally consisted of 11 dates.[54] Due to popularity of ticket sales, another 10 dates were added to the final tour which sold out before it commenced in February 2023.[55] The tour played to 43,000 people including three nights at London's Eventim Apollo, three nights at Manchester's Albert Hall, and two nights at Taylor's home town O2 Academy Sheffield. During the UK tour Self Esteem performed two new, unreleased songs – "Mother" and "Love Second".[56] [57]
Self Esteem played UK festivals in summer 2023 including Neighbourhood Weekender, Green Man, Bristol Sounds, Standon Calling, Parklife and Truck, and supported Blur at their Wembley Stadium gig on 8 July.[58] On 21 July, Taylor performed at the opening night of the BBC Proms festival in Sage Gateshead, the BBC's first outside of London.[59] Her performance consisted of 12 songs from her two solo albums, plus a cover of George Michael's "Praying for Time".[60] The tracks were arranged for the Royal Northern Sinfonia by Robert Ames, who also served as conductor, and Matt Rogers.[61] In September, Self Esteem headlined a tour-closing show – billed as the last of the Prioritise Pleasure era – at Don Valley Bowl in Sheffield.[62]
A number of standalone songs, many collaborations, were released by Self Esteem during 2023. In February, Django Django released "Complete Me" which features Self Esteem on vocals, from their album Off Planet.[63] In June, Self Esteem released an acoustic cover of "You Are So Beautiful", originally written and recorded by Billy Preston and popularised by Joe Cocker. With Craig Armstrong, Taylor recorded a cover of "Black Eyed Dog" for the Nick Drake covers compilation album, , released in July 2023.[64] Taylor was also one of the singers on the unofficial anthem for the England Women's World Cup team, "Call Me a Lioness".[65]
Taylor was made an honorary Doctor of Music at the University of Sheffield on 17 July 2023 "in recognition of her success in the music industry and public championing of inclusivity and diversity".[66] [67] She has also been recognised with a photographic portrait hung in the National Portrait Gallery in London.[68]
Self Esteem's music is characterised by its prominent drum rhythms, female choral elements and powerful, precisely articulated lead vocals, often alongside organs, distorted guitars and string arrangements. Taylor has said "I love heavy beat and heavy bass, I love strings, I love choir, and I love big, cinematic sounds". Self Esteem has been described as pop, art pop, experimental pop and indie/alternative pop; Taylor herself has said that she dislikes it being described as "indie". Her lyrics and vocal delivery are central to the songs: she has been described as "one of the best lyricists of her generation" and as having live vocals "so clear and pure they could wake bears from hibernation". She writes songs on guitar before arranging them with other musicians. Taylor has described herself and her producer Johan Hugo Karlberg as being "obsessed" with Kanye West,[69] and she has cited a range of other influences including Madonna, Destiny's Child, Rihanna, Outkast, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Max Richter, Arctic Monkeys, and Lady Gaga.[70] [71] [72] Although she has worked with other musicians on Self Esteem, Taylor has used the project to channel her own undiluted ideas, in contrast to her experience with Slow Club where she felt she constantly had to compromise, saying "I hate this idea that compromise and collaboration is the only way to make something good".
Taylor's lyrics are typically written in direct, colloquial language: "All I care about are people and the things they do. I'm interested in horrible life, and lyrics are the horrible life bit for me".[73] Lyrically she explores themes around relationships, self-criticism, sex, mental health, misogyny, objectification, female empowerment and feminism. Her lyrics are unusual in that they are self-critical and confessional, embracing and exploring her own shortcomings and mistakes, as well as those of others.[74] They often contain reference to internet culture including texting, sexting and social media; in images and videos she is often pictured holding or using a mobile phone, and she frequently releases lines of lyrics or poetry on Instagram in the Apple Notes app.[75]
Since they first started touring in 2018, the Self Esteem live band has featured Taylor on lead vocals, 2–3 dancing backing vocalists, a drummer and keyboard/bass player. Taylor has said that she began to be bored by live music performances, and became determined to put on an entertaining show with Self Esteem. The live shows are known for their energetic performances,[76] with Taylor and her dancers performing choreographed routines throughout. Taylor has said that the Prioritise Pleasure tours were inspired by Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition Tour,[77] and other writers have drawn comparisons with Pussycat Dolls choreography.[78] Since the release of Prioritise Pleasure, audience members have taken to barking at Self Esteem shows in homage to a voice note at the end of "I'm Fine" in which a woman describes herself and friends barking like dogs when approached by a group of men, as a form of self-protection.
Self Esteem members coordinate their clothing at live shows often wearing identical slogan t-shirts (see below) and on occasions in Sheffield Wednesday shirts. Taylor has worn notable outfits at Glastonbury performances – in 2019, a dress made from Boots Advantage (loyalty) cards,[79] and in 2022 a corset with a bra shaped like the domes of Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre.[80] In December 2023 she released a limited edition t-shirt depicting the Meadowhall corset, to raise money for breast cancer charity Breast Cancer Now.[81]
Ten of Self Esteem's singles have been accompanied by music videos.[82] Many of these have been directed by Piers Dennis who worked on the Slow Club documentary Our Most Brilliant Friends. The video for "The Best" was filmed on the set of an art installation by Taylor's good friend Lindsey Mendick. Videos for "How Can I Help You", "Prioritise Pleasure" and "I Do This All The Time" were filmed at Almeida Theatre and directed by Taylor.
Self Esteem makes use of recurrent slogans that appear on clothing worn by the band live and in videos, and shown on the live backdrop which is usually black with white capital letters. Some of these slogans derive from Self Esteem lyrics and others make related political and artistic statements. These include:
Taylor has emphasised the importance of her collaborators on Self Esteem, saying "I like to think of [Self Esteem] as a sort of collective of people...I've got this real, like, family which is something I've always dreamed of".
| Award | Year | Nominee(s) | Category | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attitude Awards | 2021 | Herself | Music Award | [90] | |
| BBC Music Introducing | 2021 | Artist of the Year | [91] | ||
| Brit Awards | 2022 | British Breakthrough Act | [92] | ||
| Mercury Prize | 2022 | Prioritise Pleasure | Album of the Year | [93] | |
| NME Awards | 2022 | Herself | Best Live Act | [94] | |
| Prioritise Pleasure | Best Album In The World | ||||
| Best Album By A UK Artist | |||||
| Q Awards | 2019 | Herself | Best Breakthrough Act | [95] | |
| South Bank Sky Arts Awards | 2022 | Prioritise Pleasure | Pop Award | [96] Television appearancesSelf Esteem has appeared on major TV entertainment shows in the UK and the US including Later...with Jools Holland,[97] The Graham Norton Show,[98] Jools' Annual Hootenanny[99] and The Late Late Show with James Corden.[100] A fan of the UK TV show Taskmaster,[101] Taylor appeared in the 2023 New Year's episode in which she came joint second to winner Sir Mo Farah. Taylor has also appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks[102] and Celebrity Gogglebox.[103] In March 2024' she appeared as a guest judge on series 2 of , a long held ambition of hers.[104] ActingEarlier in her career, Taylor acted in live[105] and filmed[106] sketches for the comedy group Seldom Differ. The group subsequently produced a short promotional mockumentary interview for Compliments Please.[107] Taylor appeared in series two of I Hate Suzie in 2022, which starred Billie Piper as the title character Suzie Pickles.[108] She featured as Farrah in the 2023 Sky TV comedy series Smothered[109] and appears in the Film4 romance film Layla to be released in 2024.[110] Taylor played Sally Bowles in the West End musical revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre) from 25 September 2023 to 9 March 2024 opposite Jake Shears as the Emcee.[111] Personal lifeTaylor has been a supporter of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club since a child, a club that her great-grandfather played for.[112] Taylor has spoken about how working with a therapist has improved her mental health, and its importance to the development of her career as Self Esteem.[113] In interviews Taylor has described herself as bisexual and has discussed how her sexuality relates to her music, characterising "Girl Crush" as a "bi-bop". DiscographyStudio albums
Soundtrack albums
Extended plays
Singles
Bibliography
External links
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