Ahead of new EP ‘Swan Songs,’ this is a beautifully crafted taster.

Francesca Brierley, otherwise known as heka, is an elegant addition to the growing selection of lowercase musicians, as demonstrated most recently on new single, ‘Monkey’. Produced and distributed by Practise Music, this single’s use of multi-layered, looped sounds internalises the sensation of passing time. It brings to the imagination a sense longing associated with the recognition that some people are best left within the chrysalis of memory. Flashing gently forwards and back, her compounding vocals and heartbreak guitar tone create a narrative, almost physical impact. A corporeal quality to ‘Monkey’ is built upon this, with gently rumbling sounds passing from organ to organ as they make their way deeper into the listener’s system. 

The intimate and melancholic representations of memories and longing are supported in heka’s lyricism. “Monkey don’t say no, monkey don’t see none, monkey don’t wanna hear none, monkey don’t wanna feel none;” the narrator doesn’t want to remember what she is so desperately trying to forget. These words act like a winding spell against the evil perception that time, in relation to another, has reached an end. Utilising the familiar Japanese iconography of the three wise monkeys, heka brings forward the melancholy of mimicry. She re-opens an unsutured wound by recognising “you are the part of me that don’t feel good” and in the same breath bats it away, closing her senses to the truth and separating herself from the pain hidden beneath. Driving the meaning into our eardrums with trip-hop influences and delicately elongated vocals, ‘Monkey’ is partnered with a visually stunning and carefully choreographed music video, featuring a kinetic art installation by Tobias Bradford.