Larger-than-life pop artist Pastiche heralds a new era for her sleek and sparkly sound with her biting single ‘Appetite’ , out today, Friday, 24 March, 2023 . Her first release since the runaway success of her 2022 EP Freak Show Symphony , ‘Appetite’ is sexy and flirtatious on the surface, however, darker themes lurk just below.
Inspired by the cult classic and iconic 2009 film Jennifer’s Body , ‘Appetite’ might seem like your quintessential radio pop song that you can passively pump your shoulders to in the car, but attentive listeners will notice that it is in fact a fantasy of gender role reversal in a world where women are seen as prey. ‘Appetite’ is more than a banger; it’s a war cry.
“The track is full of cannibalistic imagery, not only paying homage to Jennifer’s Body, but also exploring how women are seen as meat in this animalistic world. I think all women from any background can relate to this feeling,” Pastiche says of ‘Appetite’.
After the release of her EP Freak Show Symphony in May 2022, Pastiche was ready to settle into her new life in London by gigging and taking advantage that all the metropolis had to offer her. She’d matured as an artist, but found herself plagued by insecurities. Pastiche felt like she was working from a place of fear rather than fearlessness, more concerned with fitting into a certain box than truly expressing herself. She’d found incredible success with the EP – her single ‘Disco Junkie’ amassed over 7.6 million radio impacts – but felt a pressure to outdo herself with her new music.
“I was trying to write something that would keep people happy; something punchy, but not TOO punchy. Something sexy, but not TOO sexy. Something authentic, but subtle enough so that I don’t come off as an ‘angry woman’ with an axe to grind. But what’s wrong with being an angry woman with an axe to grind? I soon realised that everything I was writing was trash because I was creating to please everybody else. It’s not my job to keep people comfortable,” Pastiche says. That realisation and Pastiche’s unadulterated desire to be herself spawned ‘Appetite’.
“This song is the start of a turning point for me professionally and personally,” she shares.
As she threw herself into a summer of gigging – from the main stage at Dublin Pride to festivals like Primavera Pro and Sea Sessions – Pastiche also underwent a personal transformation, which she dubs “an anti-beauty journey”. She grew out her armpit hair and bleached her eyebrows, wholesale rejecting the male gaze.
Pastiche explains: “I dress how I want for me, not for anybody else – and it’s the most empowered I have ever felt. This journey has really made me learn to be assertive and cut the bullshit. People having an issue with how you look or present yourself says a lot more about them than it says about you.”
Now, Pastiche is ready to take on the world with a newfound sense of empowerment. She’s a Keychange 2023 artist, representing Ireland on an international level. Pastiche has a whole host of gigs lined up: she recently played the Mother stage at the St. Patrick’s Day Festival on 16 March and is set to perform at the legendary 3Olympia Theatre on 26 May as part of Rock Against Homelessness (purchase tickets here ).
The new Pastiche era is here, and she most certainly has a few axes to unapologetically grind.
