In the current climate, music is arguably more important than ever, and amidst social-distancing and self-isolation, inner-strength is an invaluable trait.
So, it feels somewhat fitting that Abbey Stone’s third EP Badlady – an ode to self-empowerment – has arrived amongst all the current chaos and uncertainty.
Stone had been working on her EP for 12 months before penning the would-be title track. The product of “word vomiting and just hoping that something would make sense”, ‘Badlady’ spilled out and serendipitously summarised everything she was trying to say with her new collection of songs.
“It was really exciting writing that one, because then everything sort of fell into place,” she says. “I was like, ‘Okay, well this is what my EP is going to be about, this is going to be the title’. It just felt like more of what I was trying to say.”
Written as a means of shaking off a bad day, ‘Badlady’ stands as a reminder that we all have the power to withstand whatever life throws our way.
“I’m so obsessed with like, taking a really crappy day and then dusting yourself and being the one to empower yourself, so that what I was really just trying to do,” says Stone. “I was just trying to get out of my bad mood and remind myself that I’m stronger than that.”
The EP also sees Stone exploring her struggle with anxiety, which was unchartered territory for her prior to writing Badlady.
“It’s not because I haven’t felt comfortable talking about it, it’s something I talk about to anyone face to face, but I’ve never written about it,” she says. “I feel like when I write about something, it’s real, you know?
“So this time around, I think I let the barricades fall down a bit. It was really nice to write about because it made me feel like I was allowed to. It gave me permission to do that.”
In another first, Stone used the recording process of Badlady as an opportunity to learn the ropes in the studio and really inject herself and her creative vision into every facet of the record.
Where her previous releases were recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles with a range of musicians and “no-nonsense” types, Badlady saw Stone producing her own synth-based beats and taking the technical process of putting a record together into her own hands.
Having started writing and singing at the age of 12, music has consumed over half of Stone’s life and still, she’s constantly looking for ways to grow as a musician and dig deeper as a songwriter.
“With every song that I write, it’s a clearer representation of who I am,” she says. “It’s very easy, when you’re young, to get lost in what somebody else is saying. So with everything new that I write, I think it evolves with me as a woman.
“The more that I learn in my life, the more that’s reflected in my songs.”
While her EP launch was cancelled as a result of venue shutdowns, Stone remains positive that there is something to be gained from the crisis facing her and performers across the world who have had their careers “put on pause”.
“As crap as this weird time has been, it’s also been really nice to see how we actually can help one another,” she says.
“It goes to show that music really is a community and when we are hit with these really weird and confusing times, we really can come together and use it as a language to speak to and support one another.”
Badlady is out now on all streaming platforms.
