Dynamic pop-enforcer Self-Esteem has shared a new single called ‘How Can I Help You’. The song is accompanied by intense percussion and the video sees vocalist Rebecca Lucy Taylor defiantly playing a drum kit, it is the third and final video in a series of self-directed visuals shot at The Almeida Theatre and is in keeping with the unique aesthetic of previous videos such as ‘I Do This All The Time‘. Theme-wise, the track is a response to the misogynistic standards and objectification that women are subjected to. Taylor expands on this:
“‘How Can I Help You’ is one of the first songs I wrote for the second album. After touring the first record and most weeks being told that I am underrated or intimidating I just felt very fed up. I guess I’ll be eternally angry for the way as a woman unless you’re sweet, nice, settled and quiet, you’re considered ‘different’ and ‘difficult’. I wanted to play the drums in the video to reclaim how often I used to feel self conscious playing them. The physical act of a woman playing a drum means your tits move – all I ever wanted to do was play but it always came with this fear of being looked at in that way. Now my tits move for me, my song, my video. I’m also aware it’s probs a nice watch if you’re that way inclined, but I’m afraid if you wanna watch it you have to hear what I’ve got to say. Click for the tits, stay for the feminism!”
She adds that her new album, Prioritise Pleasure, is “13 songs of cleansing myself of the guilt and fear of being a woman who is ‘too much’ and replacing that very notion with a celebration of myself, of you, of being a human and the way that isn’t always easy or perfect, and that’s ok.”
Tickets are still available to purchase for some tour dates across the UK.
UK 2021 Tour Dates
- 3rd September – Wide Awake Festival, London
- 4th September – Neighbourhood Weekender, Warrington
- 1st November – Fleece, Bristol (SOLD OUT)
- 2nd November – Wylam Brewery, Newcastle
- 3rd November – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
- 4th November – O2 Academy, Oxford
- 6th November – The Bongo Club, Edinburgh
- 7th November – Audio, Glasgow (SOLD OUT)
- 9th November – The Workmans Club, Dublin
- 10th November – Gorilla, Manchester (SOLD OUT)
- 11th November – Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds (SOLD OUT)
- 12th November – The Leadmill, Sheffield (SOLD OUT)
- 14th November – Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich (SOLD OUT)
- 15th November – Sub 89, Reading
- 16th November – The Joiners, Southampton
- 17th November – Heaven, London (SOLD OUT)
- 19th November – Elsewhere, Margate (SOLD OUT)
- 20th November – Patterns, Brighton (SOLD OUT)
- 23rd November – Phoenix, Exeter
- 24th November – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
- 25th November – Metronome, Nottingham