Polly Scattergood
Words by Rosie McArthur
Polly Scattergood is not your average Essex girl. Fragile, intelligent and understated, it’s hard to imagine this impish singer songwriter from Wivenhoe wearing her knickers as ankle-warmers. With her floaty blond hair and quirky dress sense, this 22 year-old graduate of the famed Brit school has little in common with the likes of Jade Goody and Jodie Marsh. But it’s not style that sets her apart from her fellow Essex girls, it’s talent.
Scattergood’s uplifting, fairytale-like melodies have an ethereal quality that draws strong comparisons with one of her principle influences, Bjork. On her breakthrough single Nitrogen Pink she combines dark, mysterious lyrics with rousing acoustic harmonies. The effect is one of beautiful contradiction, the driving force behind her whole creative process. Inspired by the ‘dark humour’ of Leonard Cohen, Scattergood likes a bit of mischief in her music, and not just her own: ‘I like to listen to people who don’t take themselves too seriously’.
Partial to a few Bombay Sapphires to calm her nerves before she goes on stage, Scattergood views her arrival on the music scene with characteristic self-effacement: ‘I hoped I would be allowed to go into the studio and be creative but I never imagined finishing an album and having it in a physical format’. And what about the side-effects of fame? ‘It scares the shit out of me’, she giggles, though you get the feeling the glare of the media spotlight will have little effect on her refreshing modesty. ‘It sounds quite naive but I didn’t really think people would be listening to my little song’.
In ‘I’ve Got a Heart’ she reveals the secret to her lyrical poetry, ‘I just sit with a pen and paper writing shit until I fall asleep’. The end product is by no means as humble as the song-writing process. Her songs are filled with such intensity you can almost see her ripping out her delicate tresses as her whispery voice tells stories of pain, love and frustration. But despite a chequered history of ‘unsuitable’ men (cue ‘you can take the girl out of Essex’ gag), not all her songs are biographical, and her culturally incisive lyrics give her a depth that helps her to soar high above her peers.
So, after two years in the studio ‘playing around with stuff’, what can we expect from her upcoming release? ‘It’s kind of a real mixture. A little bit electro and a little bit acoustic - it’s very wordy and lyrical’. Speaking about her art with the confidence of an established icon, she explains that music - like a relationship - revolves around an element of trust: ‘You have to trust somebody. I don’t think trust comes quickly, you have to build it up over time. It takes time to know the people around you’. With an album out early next year, you get the feeling we’ll be getting to know Polly Scattergood a lot better in months to come.
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Posted Thu, December 04, 2008