Despite the plurality implied by the moniker, Becky and the Birds is the project of Swedish songwriter Thea Gustafsson which—in the tradition of Florence Welch, Marina Diamandis, and Rahim Redcar—sees its sole mastermind pushing their singular vision for the future of pop music. Her debut album Only Music Makes Me Cry Now pairs the vulnerable, post-breakup lyrics implied by that title with instrumentals constructed by Gustafsson, all inspired by emotionally loaded films like Blue Valentine and Aftersun, past collaborations with Dijon, and deep dives on obscure corners of Bandcamp. New single “To trust you,” though, ultimately came together collaboratively.
“I originally had the lyrics and the melodies for ‘To trust you’ finished with a different production that I felt was lacking the rawness that the lyrics have,” Gustafsson shares of the new track, which opens with little more than ambient sound design and dreamy guitar backing her manipulated vocals before a tight beat drops in the final minute. “After that, I went to LA to write with my good friend Nick Velez. We were working on another song and by the end of the session, I asked if Nick wanted to come up with some ideas for the production on this track, too. We got completely lost in the song and ended up making the whole production in an hour or less. It was such a beautiful and relieving moment.”
Find a lyric video for the track below, and pre-save the new album before its release via 4AD this Friday here.
