Eileen Francisco’s new project Midnight is a combination of dreamy alt-rock and shoegaze sounds wrapped up in a nine track LP that snakes its way through solitude, isolation, and grief.
The self-titled maiden album is set to be released on Friday August 4. To celebrate the release of the album, Eileen has constructed a unique performance that will incorporate movement-based theatre, accompanying a start-to-finish unveiling of the album in its entirety. It will be showcased on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 August at the Motley Bauhaus in Carlton.
Eileen is entering new territory with her presentation of a theatrical-based performance. For the artist who pursued music by studying Opera singing in Canberra, she is continually looking for ways to challenge herself, grow and in turn present her artistry.
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“There’s one particular artist who did a musical performance and dialogue in the theatre workplace,” says Eileen. “It was just her on stage with some props. Her performance was actually about grief. I thought that was really fascinating and it stuck with me. I thought it was a really great form of presenting a work. I basically wanted to tell a story and I thought of many different ways of how to do that and came to the conclusion that my theatrical piece was most fitting.”
The decision to present the album in this way meant that Eileen could lean into the gentler sound she was intending within the album, as well as her desire to share a sense of vulnerability.
“I want to be very gentle with it because I think there’s a really strong emphasis, especially in pop and mainstream music, to be loud. I’m not that sort of artist. I lean into the gentler moments of things, and this is the most vulnerable I’ve been. It is scary though. I don’t see a lot of work presented in such vulnerable ways.”
And the vulnerability that Eileen speaks of is woven into the moment in time she endured to work through grief and loss. After all the concept of Midnight, was generated from a challenging period that she went through. A period spent navigating new motherhood, another child on the way, a marriage breakdown and relentless insomnia.
“Midnight saved my life,” she says. “That is 100% true. I don’t know where I’d be without music. I just wanted to not be afraid of that side of me because in my day-to-day life, I am Eileen, who is bright and bubbly. I have kids, so I’m always on for them and being really playful and quite social. But then I have Midnight who is what I call the shadow side of me. Midnight is just there. It’s so weird because when I talk to people about Midnight, I talk about her in the third person even though it’s about my experiences.”
It was this conscious compartmentalisation by Eileen in separation from Midnight that allowed her to segregate the grieving process from her everyday life as a mother and someone immersed in the arts.
“It feels more comfortable for me to separate her from me, from Eileen,” she says. “Because there is this really deep, I don’t even know how to explain, feeling that makes me think I’m a bit crazy. But this person that I’ve created, I almost wish that I was like her in a way. Being deeply vulnerable and being OK with doing things a certain way.”
It seems within society there is an expectation that any individual should not be willing to share their grief with others in the community, yet Eileen, in her processing of it all has dealt with it in an exceptionally healthy and inspiring way. However, despite the mechanism employed to protect herself and her children, Eileen still remains hesitant about the impending album release.
“I was really afraid of releasing this record because it’s so sad and because there are so many gentle bits in there. It’s not going to be mainstream. The younger person inside of me wanted to belong and be included, but actually it’s more about healing for me now that I’m a bit older and I’ve experienced a bit more. Putting it out there is really for me to let go of that period of time.”
Albeit subject to a sense of nervousness, an anxiety that only the creator can feel, Eileen’s new album Midnight remains an important story to be told. A tale of experience that many will resonate with from an existential perspective, but at the very least from an artistic standpoint.
Get your tickets to the album launch here.
This article was made in partnership with Eileen Francisco.
