INTERVIEW: Nessa Barrett on her second album 'Aftercare'
Interview: Jett Tattersall
Image: Jenna Marsh
Published: 15 November 2024
Rising US alt-pop singer Nessa Barrett rose to fame via TikTok just before the pandemic, with her debut single ‘Pain’ dropping in mid 2020.
In the past four years Barrett has become one of the biggest young talents in the music industry, twice being named one of Billboard’s ‘21 Under 21’, featuring on Forbes’ ‘Top Creators: Fashion 50’ list and accumulating over 2 billion streams worldwide.
Today she releases her second studio album Aftercare. Featuring 15 tracks, the album explores the complex emotions surrounding love, sex and the aftermath with Barrett saying it is an album of female empowerment. “I want this album to empower women and whomever needs it, to feel confident and comfortable with themselves and sex,” she says. “Sex is something that has always been taboo and uncomfortable for me, but making this album healed that and I hope it does the same for the listener.”
The album’s soundscape builds on Barrett’s previous work, with a beguiling mix of synth pop, alt-pop, indie and emotive ballads. There is a noticeable shift in confidence with Barrett the artist, with bigger sounds, more experimentation and expertly crafted lyrics.
The album begins with a dreamy, one and a half minute title track teaser before launching straight into ‘Pornstar’, a gritty electro track with dashes of rock which see Barrett take ownership of a sexual relationship while also using the experience to shed layers and show your authentic self to your partner: ‘I want to hear you talking dirty / I want to see it on your face / I want to see you put the work in…show me who you are.’
‘Heartbeat’ switches between a sparse electronic beat and ethereal vocals and a powerful chorus with Barrett singing of a relationship that brings her back to life after years of trauma. ‘I’m dead inside…Want me / Save me / Make my heart beat again’.
First single ‘Passenger Princess’ is as addictive as ever as it mixes a perky synthpop sound with a tinge of darkness as it tells of the early days of a relationship where you will do anything for the person you love, wanting to be with them minute of the day. ‘Say you're all mine / Touch me under streetlights / Don't you know I'd die for you?’
The album moves into a different gear in the middle with the ballad ‘Russian Roulette’. Beginning with just a piano and Barrett’s voice, it gradually builds with strings and a subtle electronic beat. The emotive lyrics speak of both the overpowering and unpredictable nature of love ‘Finally I‘m not afraid to die / As long as you’re the last love of my life…love is Russian roulette’.
The glitchy electro thrash ‘S.L.U.T.’ reclaims the infamous word as ‘sex, lies, ugly, truth’ and infuses it with sex positivity ‘So pull my hair and call me names / I don’t care, I’m not ashamed.’ Almost to drive home the point, the song ends with Barrett proclaiming ‘Wanna be a S.L.U.T. for you’ before the song switches into lush,. orchestral strings for the closing 20 seconds.
‘Edward Scissorhands’ is an album highlight, a gorgeous electronic ballad that Barrett sings in a charming, drawling vocal of the realisation her partner is too broken to make their relationship healthy: ‘I know you need me desperately / And oh it breaks my heart / To leave you with your scars / Fixing you would just break me…you’re not a monster, just a broken man.’ There is a beautiful melancholy to the song, emphasised by the occasional build up of instrumentation and soaring vocals that are never allowed to take off completely, mirroring a relationship that is full of emotion but cannot go any further.
‘Stay Alive’ is a glorious synth and disco tinged pop track, right before the album ends with the second single ‘Dirty Little Secret’, a indie-electro mix with grimy beats that brings in a delicious synth breakdown in the final minute. It is the perfect end to an album that has female empowerment and sex positivity running through its veins as Barrett questions why women can’t have a relationship that is simply sexual with no other complications. ‘I like your attеntion, yeah, I like it when I'm borеd / But I know your intentions, yeah, you wish that I was yours / But that's not why I call you…I don’t wanna be the one.’
Aftercare is an incredibly strong second album and is proof of exactly why Barrett is en route to becoming one of music’s biggest stars. With songs that are instantly captivating sonically and lyrics that are powerful and purposeful, it is a truly compelling listen. We recently sat down with Barrett to chat all about the creation of this absolute gem.
Hi Nessa! Thank you so much for your time, and also thank you for Aftercare, because it's brilliant. Congratulations!
Thank you so much, that’s so sweet of you.
I really, really love it. Edward Scissorhands is probably my album favourite.
Oh, my God, I love that one!.
The slow build, your haunting vocals and then the brutal simplicity of the lyrics, it's perfection. The whole album feels like this examination of image and self and wants, but also turning the tables on desire and forcing it back on that uncomfortable male gaze. It's threaded through with such power. That was my take on it, but I'd love for you to talk to me about it.
Yeah, I was just snapping right now as you were saying this, because that was just spot on. It's just so beautiful to hear someone else also get that perspective of it. I really just wanted to write about sex in a way that was freeing and shameless and empowers women - and men as well. And also showing the deep and vulnerable sides that come with it and turning it back onto the male gaze, I love that you said that, because my song ‘Pornstar’ really is just switching it on the other person. You would think that I'm singing about me being a porn star, wanting to be a porn star for someone else, but I flip it around. On the surface, a lot of these songs seem very sensual and vulgar, but there's so many deeper meanings behind each lyric.
With last year's EP, Hell As A Teenage Girl, you explore those complexities of girlhood and this is obviously that next stage. I was wondering how Aftercare further navigates those themes of discovery and vulnerability in an industry that often puts a lot of pressure on young women. Was it a natural trajectory for you move into Aftercare and just push that question further?
100%. Everything that I write is something that I really end up facing in real time. I feel like my listeners are watching me navigate, not only myself becoming a woman, but also growing into the industry and finding my voice. As things go along, there is this shift in maturity and topics that I'm writing about.
On that, wanted to talk to you about another great track on the album ‘S.L.U.T.’ With this one, again there’s the shock, but then the melody and the lyrics,, this repetition of ‘cross my heart, cross my legs’. Can you break down that track a little bit for me? Because I think it's got this beautiful dichotomy.
Thank you so much! Well, I wrote a beautiful ballad that didn't make it on the project, but I spent my whole session writing this beautiful ballad and then we had like, 15 minutes left. So we were like let's just make a gag song for fun, no limitations, let's not overthink it, let's just throw things at the wall and just have fun for these last 15 minutes. And we made ‘S.L.U.T’ and I feel like there's just this weird beauty behind not overthinking lyrics and at the end of it you see what is really being said. ‘S.L.U.T.’ is really just all about shamelessly wanting someone.
I love that, Take away the shame. With the imagery you use, you're always pushing buttons and I feel like your music really pushes down on a nerve in people, and I meant that in the most complimentary way. It's very raw. How do you balance that vulnerability with the pressures of constant visibility and the almost constant demand from your audience to keep saying the things that people don't say, to keep going and keep crossing those lines?
I just constantly have to remind myself that I'm an artist, and that it’s very important for me to stand behind what I want to say and not really be affected by the opinions of the public, or be scared of the judgment, especially with this album. I'm pushing so many boundaries and doing things that are so outside of my comfort zone, and I feel like once you break that boundary, it gives you so much freedom. I plan on doing this for the rest of my life, and so if I'm gonna limit myself, I won't get that far. And so I feel once I break down all these boundaries and really cross the lines, it opens up this space for me to be able to say so much more, and to feel free and confident in my art. At the end of the day, we're all human and I feel la lot of the stuff that I talk about I know deep down, even though it's scary, so many people have thought the same things and have gone through the same things. I always like being that voice that sheds light on things that most people don't want to admit or be open enough to talk about. Even myself with this album, sex is a topic for me that made me severely uncomfortable, I'm not a sexual person at all, so it was really healing for me to write about something that was so taboo. It's been so healing in a way that now I just feel so confident in myself, and it has really changed things for me. So when I start pushing the buttons and breaking boundaries from what I want to say and not worrying about other people, it does something for me personally as well.
Aftercare is out now via Warner Music. You can buy and stream here.
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