CULTURE CLUB
Grandma Grooves MIRIAM BALANESCU MEETS JENNY HOLLINGWORTH OF AVANT-POP DUO LET’S EAT GRANDMA, BEFORE THE BELOVED BAND BRING THEIR SOUND TO CAMBRIDGE ON THE SCENE
t’s relatively rare for friendships to stay constant from early childhood into adult life, let alone surviving the pressures of fame and tough personal struggles. But that’s the focus of Let’s Eat Grandma’s latest record, Two Ribbons – a contemplation on growing together, and apart, in euphoric electropop. “The album’s hugely about overcoming things, but there’s so much energy involved in those kinds of emotional processes,” explains Jenny, one half of the band, comparing their music to the “sad crying dance bangers” of Robyn. “We still wanted it to be a positive album in many ways.” There had been fractures in Jenny and Rosa Walton’s friendship since the arrival of their second album, I’m All Ears , in 2018. Suddenly, having released their debut as twin-like teens aged only 17, they were no longer quite on the same wavelength. After Jenny’s boyfriend passed away in 2019, things came to a head, and their upcoming US tour was cancelled. Having taken a break for a couple of years, Two Ribbons is fuelled by the pent-up emotions of this difficult period. “I started writing a bit later than Rosa for this record, because of what was going on – as a result, it was hard in the beginning getting used to the idea that Rosa was writing on her own,” recalls Jenny. “As it went on, it allowed us both to have more space to fully express ourselves. It’s quite hard to explore the deeply personal things that the other person might not understand as a shared experience, whereas previously our lives were very similar.” Two Ribbons becomes almost dialogic, a back and forth between the friends, with some unexpectedly harmonised themes – maybe unsurprising since the Norwich natives share a whole history. “We’d often write lyrics which had similar words or imagery,” reflects Jenny. “Me and Rosa wrote a lot about nature – and that comes
COMING UP Starting their music-making journey as teenagers, Two Ribbons sees the pair develop their sound
“Rosa spent time refining her production and her pop songwriting,” says Jenny. “I think that was inspired a lot by Sophie, not even necessarily in a sound way. Sophie taught us a lot about structuring pop songs. We used to always have really long intros – working with her showed us that you can be more immediate, straight to the point.” This October, the pair will begin a tour which sends them across the Atlantic – Cambridge is among the first stop-offs. “We have retained a low-level sort of chaos as a band, even now – although things have calmed down a bit as we’ve gotten older,” Jenny laughs. “That definitely comes across in our live shows. “Each record represents a time in our lives and in our relationship with each other. It does feel special to have three records that emotionally sum up these periods. It’s a very unique and special thing, especially because music carries so much emotion that you can’t capture in something like a photo – although photographers would argue with that!” See Let’s Eat Grandma live at Mash on 16 October at 7pm.
from the landscape in Norfolk and more generally in East Anglia.” While this is certainly their most stirring album to date, the playfulness and experimentation that underpinned Let’s Eat Grandma’s adolescent years remains. “One of the benefits of starting the band as teenagers is that we cared less about looking silly,” says Jenny. “Our first record is very much us trying things out for the fun of it.” The duo’s creativity was fostered by Norwich’s Community Music East, a tight-knit hub that, unlike the potentially intimidating London scene, “allowed us to grow as a band without as much pressure”. One change, however, is the influence of pop pioneer Sophie, who produced songs on their previous album – including one which sampled an old Nokia ringtone.
We have retained a low-level sort of chaos as a band
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