“This was the plan all along, basically, to have each song portray a different type of character that is dealing with the various forms of oppression in the world,” says Remy, U.S. Girls’ sole official member. “Oppression in love, that’s a very lighthearted… it’s not really earthmoving. It is for someone personally, but not in the grand scheme of things for the world. But then to tackle other things like war and plastic surgery, but for it always to be from the personal perspective that can then speak to the worldly effect of these things.”
Musically, Half Free isn’t an entirely upbeat affair, but songs such as Damn That Valley, Sed Knife and Window Shades convey feel-good summertime energy. There’s an essential contrast, however, with the songs’ ugly or depressing core.
“I like a song that you can just get into it if you just want to be into the music and the beat, and just have fun and dance and not think, but if you feel like going the extra step and then investing in the lyrics, then there’s something there to chew on,” Remy says. “Not just lyrical content that matches the sunniness; that’s just not enough for me.”
When performing live, Remy stays acutely aware of this juxtaposition. “We’re not just cheerleaders up on stage. I think there’s often a seriousness and an intensity that is there with us that relates to the serious subject matter in a lot of the songs. Although I do want to entertain, I’m not an entertainer. I’m not really capable of just being an entertainer. So I want people to have a good time, but I also don’t. I like when people feel uncomfortable.”
It’s a prevailing character trait among millennials to be either disaffected or apathetic and distracted. Such an attitude belies the fact we live in a politically crazy time where economic prosperity seems to rely on social inequality. By seeking to provoke uncomfortable feelings with her songwriting, Remy endeavours to wrench people out of their stupor.
“I really believe the personal is political, and I like starting from there because I understand that,” she says. “I haven’t taken tons of classes, I haven’t read lots of crazy books, I don’t read the newspaper every day, I’m not totally up on my history, but I can speak from what I’ve experienced and what friends of mine have experienced and things I’ve seen and those more close to home things.”
To be a human being is to be a political being – it’s an act of wilful blindness to think otherwise, and yet a lot of people fail to accept this fact. By demonstrating the direct correlation between social imbalance and matters of personal import, Half Free emphasises the political liability of every individual.
“I don’t think many people really understand their role in politics. Even when they think they’re not engaged, they are. They’re engaged by allowing something to continue on, or participating in a certain type of system that’s oppressing others, or in the States paying your taxes towards bullshit. You’re paying taxes and it’s not going to the people. The roads are a mess, schools are shutting down, it’s all going to the military industrial machine. And I think people need to stop paying their taxes in the States [laughs], until the money starts being used towards something that’s good – at least healthcare.”
Despite what her moniker suggests, Remy now lives in Toronto, Canada. She moved there to be with her husband Max Turnball (AKA musician Slim Twig), and she’s come to value certain aspects of the country’s infrastructure.
“I can go to a doctor anytime I want to and I don’t have to pay for it. My husband just had to go to the E.R. They thought he had to have his appendix taken out, he had to have CAT scan, all these tests, and we walked out of there with no bill. That alone is incredible.”
There was a Canadian federal election last October, which saw the end of the Stephen Harper-led Conservative Party’s ten year reign. The victors were Justin Trudeau and the centre-left Liberal Party, bringing in progressive policies on abortion, marijuana, women’s rights and indigenous rights.
“Having Trudeau in was a huge win. Thank God having Harper out of there – he was a terrible conservative who was just fucking everything up for however long he was in office. And Trudeau may end up being more talk than walk, but so far things look good. His cabinet is 50/50 men and women, which is unheard of. And having a Defence Minister that’s wearing a turban, it looks good. I’m happy for that. I came here because I found love, but I also came here to escape where I was from, which had begun to disappoint me and has continued to do so.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
