The strange rise of obscure celebrity references in indie songs
I’ll admit that when I was sent the press release for Wet Leg’s latest single, I had to go back over it at least three times to make sure that my eyes weren’t deceiving me.
The band have been known to take a slightly left-field approach to their sound and lyrics, but was titling a song from their new album Moisturizer ‘Davina McCall’ a step too far in the indie canon?
You can certainly say, without hesitation, that this was the first time the Big Brother presenter and fitness DVD guru would have found herself immortalised in the form of indie pop, perhaps coming as much of a surprise to her as to the rest of the world. But this seemingly bizarre crossover is not actually as quirky and random as it may initially look, as it’s just the latest in an increasingly burgeoning trend of indie music making obscure celebrity references.
In the spectrum of celebrity, the scale of A to Z-listers is one that is fairly rigid in its classifications. Traditionally, Hollywood mega stars and prolific musicians would climb to the top of the tree, while the regional trinkets and reality TV personas would scramble for any desperate publicity they could get at the bottom of the pile. Yet more recently, this balance is beginning to tip, in a zeitgeist world where anyone can quite literally be paired with anyone.
‘Davina McCall’ by Wet Leg is just one example of this, with one of the most exciting new indie bands of the current landscape leaning into the universe of trashy TV and acutely British culture as a selling point of their latest brand. You wouldn’t think it to be something that would travel well – no one outside these isles will know who McCall is or understand the reference “Fancy another one?” – but that seems to be besides the point.
Another artist who has launched themselves straight into the Z-list zeitgeist is CMAT, who, so far, on the singles for her upcoming record Euro-Country, has made a double-whammy of obscure celebrity references. Her song ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ is the most pertinent example, taking aim at the celebrity chef and his notorious children’s healthy eating campaign, which decimated the culture of school dinners during the 2000s.
Then, in her titular track ‘Euro-Country’, she also compares Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona to the Irish mythological warrior Cú Chulainn; an unlikely pairing if ever you’ve heard one. It’s undeniably funny when these references crop up, but with more and more of them appearing in the current indie pop canon in explicit form, it begs the question of exactly why.
If you cast your mind back to the 2000s fad of indie sleaze, you would find similar sentiments. Artists had an obsession with giving nods to the everyday facets of life in their songs – vis-à-vis Lily Allen creating one of the greatest lyrical masteries of all time by rhyming the word “Tesco” with “al fresco” – that even though they were stars rolling in royalties, they went to pains to come across like any other guy or girl you’d meet down the pub.
In today’s landscape, humour in song has been making its resurgence for some time, and only within the past few months has become much more on the nose. Thinking back to The 1975’s song ‘Wintering’, Matty Healy made references to his mother, the Loose Women panellist Denise Welch, and even Lorde gave a nod to Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape on her recent song ‘Current Affairs’. Although these examples were more discrete, they still illustrate the same point – that even renowned artists love trashy celebrity culture as much as everyone else.
Of course, there are discussions still to be had about where the line should be drawn, lest it risks objectifying or fetishising the working classes. As much as we all enjoy it for a laugh, no one ultimately would want to hear Wolf Alice singing about Jenny and Lee from Gogglebox or Sam Fender dedicating a song to his love for Alison Hammond. There is a point where it would become too much.
But with social media, viral videos, and more mundane aspects of life taking hold of cultural trends, it is something we’re bound to hear more and more of before the 2020s are out. Suddenly, the private members’ club of celebrity has had its doors flung wide open, and anybody from every possible walk of life could arrive.
For those already sipping on the martinis, it’s perhaps a bit of a wake-up call: either make it look like you’re embracing the Z-list, or be accused of sitting on your high horse. It’s not difficult to see the path they decide to take.
