Self Esteem provides update on new album and reveals dream collaboration
Over the past couple of years, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, the singer and songwriter behind the Self Esteem project, has grown from strength to strength following the release of her second studio album, Prioritise Pleasure.
Besides her emphasis on studio work, Taylor has maintained a strong presence on stage, taking on performances at major festivals and arenas around the world. Before taking the stage at Sheffield’s Crossed Wires Festival on the weekend, Taylor discussed the next steps for her recording career with Adam Buxton.
During the conversation, which formed part of the live Crossed Wires Festival Podcast, Taylor revealed her dreams for the future. “I want to never worry about money, I’ve worried about money my whole life,” she offered candidly. “I still worry about it now. There’s loads of themes on the next album about being at the bottom of the next fucking hill, it’s never over.”
The South Yorkshire artist’s other dream is to collaborate with one of Sheffield’s legendary music figures, revealing, “My other little dream is that I’m going to do another album, still living in the same Self Esteem world, but then I wanna do an album with Richard Hawley.”
The singer-songwriter highlighted the collaboration between Alison Krauss and Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, who released the successful 2007 album Raising Sand, noting, “I wanna do something like that”.
Taylor also revealed that she has been working on a follow-up to Prioritise Pleasure, which arrived in 2021. “I’ve sort of got it, sitting with it, thinking about it and then in September/October, we are going to go back and finish it,” she said.
Taylor seemed unsure of timeframes for release but said we could expect a single in the not-too-distant future. Discussing the style of the new material, she revealed that she considered completely reshuffling her outlook: “Everything in my being wanted to do a 180, but then I realised that’s me being a coward,” she stated.
From that, it suggests Taylor will strike a formula similar to that of her previous album. However, the fourth album could offer a change of pace. “I’m always psychologically an album ahead, the next album I want to do a bit more orchestral and stand still a bit more. I want to sing more,” she concluded. After a pause, she added, “I want to be Chris Martin.”
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