John Waters, Charli XCX and a bouffant wig: Introducing Alfreda
Backstage at London’s Lower Third, Alfreda’s dressing room looks exactly how a dressing room should look.
Lipstick, eyeshadow and wig stands fill the vanity table, all lit by the mirror bulbs. On a clothes rack, various feather boas are draped alongside a suit jacket entirely covered in bras and thongs. It’s the dressing room of a true showgirl, and Alfreda is exactly that.
When you witness true star power, it’s often hard to put a finger on what the cause is or where it all comes from. In the case of London’s Alfreda, it’s difficult to narrow it down. It could be chalked up to the uber-hooky, uber-gripping opening lyric of her track ‘White Elephants’ as clips of her singing “my boyfriend’s first girlfriend is a famous actor, she was a child star, like I wanted to be,” hit TikTok hard, immediately leaving people wanting to know the rest of the tale.
It could come down to her theatrical tunes, bringing the dose of fun the pop world has been basking in more than ever lately with Chappell Roan’s drag influences and Sabrina Carpenter’s sheer silliness. Taking that and adding in some more alternative references, like David Bowie and Kate Bush, Alfreda was bound to be on to a winner. Or, honestly, it could be put down to the gigantic wig piled on top of her head that has a whole room saying, ‘Who is that?’ before she even opens her mouth.
“I think I’ve leant into more of my weirdness that I discovered when I was 11 and then ran away from,” Alfreda says as the genesis for this entire project. It’s a case of her finally allowing herself to just go for it, casting off the typical singer-songwriter or indie stuff any artist starts off playing safe with. “I’m exactly the person I was then,” she said, “Just spoken word and strange storytelling and putting everything that’s me out there to be judged, even though that’s the scariest thing in the world.”
Alfreda plays along two contradicting yet hypnotic lines. On the one hand, you have that candidness and openness as she does put it all out there, singing about unfulfilling sexual encounters on ‘Lie Back & Think Of England’ or toxic relationships on ‘Punch & Judy’.
But each time, those revelations come with a velvet curtain raising and a full theatrical production. “Stephen Sondheim, John Waters, still probably a bit of Gaga, early Gaga. She’s kind of always been around in my project,” Alfreda lists off as the key, essential references.
From outright musical theatre to scandalous cinema, the titans of the big and the bold influence her, adding Charli XCX, Lily Allen, Andy Warhol and other directors like Sean Baker to the mix, as well as “my granny and my mum.”
With those out-there influences, humour naturally exists as a huge factor in Alfreda’s world. “I think I’m just really funny, so I can’t help that,” she says outright, sounding exactly like a future lyric. But obviously, there is more to it.
“I think when you’re talking about things that are actually really vulnerable and scary to talk about, it makes it a lot easier if it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek,” she said, “I can be open to being judged and seen if I’m in on the joke. Like, no one can say anything, because I’ve already said it to myself.”
Candid revelations in a big bouffant wig with a wink-and-a-nudge. It’s a classic schtick, but one that timelessly hooks us in because everyone knows that a laugh and a spectacle will always deliver a good time. But as Alfreda merges that with a fresh musicality, from disco influences to Led Zeppelin references, this is a showgirl for a new age and a bigger audience, as long as they can keep up with the punch lines.
