New Music DNA - Pt. 5: A Constellation of New Music for Olivia Rafferty

The 5th installment of New Music DNA: a series where I pick a cool person, dig up their musical nostalgia, and create a mixtape of brand new music just for them (...and everyone else reading along).

Skipping around?
• Jump to the interview.
• Jump to the playlist preview.
• Jump to full mixtape.
(But you really should read the interview; you won’t regret it.)

Have you met

Olivia Rafferty ✨

?

There are a few reasons her name might ring a bell.

Earlier this year, she released her debut record — a concept album (my favorite type of album!) about geology called Typical Forever.

She also runs a newsletter called 100 tiny songs, where she hosts monthly workshops for people who want to make cool things on the internet¹, sends out random nostalgia-blasts in the form of Charity Shop Album Reviews, and just generally delights and amuses with her perpetual creativity and (suspiciously?) magical aura.

You may also know Olivia because she was one of the first (and certainly the best) to teach us how to quit Spotify; not just that we should.

I don’t like to pick favorites. But let’s just say this is the most fun I’ve had making a New Music DNA playlist. I hope you enjoy the discussion we had, and the new music I chose for her.

An Interview with Olivia Rafferty

Gabbie: A musician? On New Music DNA? What has the world come to?! That’s not your first question. That was rhetorical. What’s the biggest difference between the kind of music you make and the kind of music you like to listen to? That’s your first question.

Olivia: Wow that’s such a hard question… genre-wise I think I’ve made a lot of Americana/folk/indie music up until this point. Acoustic guitars and all that. But I listen to a lot of pop music. Not so much current pop music (but I do have a Swiftie tendency and Addison Rae’s album has been on repeat since it dropped) but pop music from the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. Also I listen to a lot of stuff that I liked when I was fifteen. I dunno, maybe wait a year or two and you might get an Olivia Rafferty alt-rock album?!

Gabbie: What music are you most nostalgic for? Give me 5 of your favorite artists that you had on constant repeat when you were in your teens and early 20s.

Olivia: I was, to quote my diary at age fifteen, “a wannabe emo kid”. Bahah! As in, I was too afraid to actually dress like one. But I was, in my heart, an emo.

My first concert was My Chemical Romance on my sixteenth birthday, so they will always have a big place in my heart. Fall Out Boy deserve a mention, too (Infinity on High was my favourite of theirs). I also loved Imogen Heap’s album Speak For Yourself and anything Regina Spektor did, although “Ghost of Corporate Future” was a particular favourite (“maybe you should just kiss someone nice, or lick a rock, or both”).

In university something ‘clicked’ and I became a fan of all the music my parents love – Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan and Prince… but mostly Bruce Springsteen. My friend Ian was a big fan of the Boss and I’ll never forget the night we walked with our pal Holt around Calton Hill in Edinburgh at midnight, and then went back to Ian’s dorm room where he had us listen to “New York City Serenade” in the dark. It was the most perfect way to be introduced to that song. From then on, we were big Springsteen-heads and we loved him to the point where he basically became an inside joke. You could catch us saying “tonight… in …. jun… gle… LAAAAAND” at any moment. I saw him perform twice in the space of about 3 years during that time and it was transcendental.

Gabbie: Are there any other songs that still trigger specific memories for you?

Olivia: My first relationship had a ‘song’: Sweet Thing by Van Morrison. Every time I hear that lilting guitar I remember falling in love for the first time. Similarly when I met my now-boyfriend, he made me a mix CD which had “Downtown” by MaJical Cloudz and that always makes me think of those first few months of dating: “is it really this fun when you’re on my mind? Is it really this cool to be in your life?”

I have music that’s associated with illness, too. There were times in my life where I was coming to terms with my chronic illness² and spent a lot of time in bed – the first time that happened coincided with when Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die had just come out. And then a year or so later I was spending a lottttt of time on Tumblr whilst dealing with a lot of fatigue and anxiety. One Direction and K-pop bands Super Junior and EXO also got me through it (a lot of EXO. a LOT of EXO… chogiwaaaaaa to any of my EXO-Ls reading this). And Disney movie soundtracks.

Finally, I will never forget [name redacted] who I fell in love with at university… absolutely doomed from the start, but one evening he texted me the whole first verse of The Mountain Goats’ “No Children”³. God. The one good thing that came out of that beautiful tragic clusterfuck was that I discovered The Sunset Tree by the Mountain Goats, which is still one of my favourite albums to this day.

Gabbie: I’m a huge fan of your Charity Shop Album series. What’s your method for picking these albums out? Are you just shoving your arm as far down into the sale bin as possible? Are you focusing on your early 2000s favorites? Take me on a journey.

Olivia: I have learned that I love pop music and will never stop loving pop music, good, bad, ugly, stupid, funny, whatever. And I’ve realised that all of my Charity Shop Album Reviews (apart from one), including one in my drafts currently, is the solo debut of an artist after they’ve left a band. For example: Darren Hayes’ album after he left Savage Garden, Gwen Stefani’s album after she left No Doubt, and I have an N*Sync one coming up… but mostly I just want to find something that sparks nostalgia in me, or the album cover and album title is questionable or funny.

It has become a lot about early 2000s music, as well. I think the early 2000s was a very funny time for pop music because there was a lot of circus around it – the X Factor and Pop Idol were in full swing at that point.

Gabbie: Do you have any musical gaps you have always meant to fill? Any particular artist/genre/scene that you always wanted to get into, but haven’t gotten around to?

Olivia: Metallllll! I have tried again and again to get into metal and every so often I will get ONE TRACK which hits just right, but otherwise I force myself to listen to it and then as soon as I turn it off I feel an overwhelming sense of relief. So, can I listen to metal without needing to turn it off?

Also I have a BIG MASSIVE gap in my hip-hop knowledge. I think it’s mostly because I love melody so much, I really love melodies and stuff I can just BELT OUT and sing. I know that a lot of hip-hop is about rhythm and lyrics, and to me it feels repetitive? Or not very hook-y? What can I grab on to and sing? The only rap song I feel like I get excited when I hear is “Changes” by TuPac because it samples Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is”.

Gabbie: I choose to believe that you are the sole person responsible for everyone on Substack (realizing that they should be) quitting Spotify. How has your relationship to music changed since the breakup?

Olivia: Haha I’ll take that! My relationship to music has definitely changed. I am not discovering stuff as much anymore, which I know is a major reason for most people to stick with the streaming service. But, maybe it’s okay to discover things more slowly?

I think quitting Spotify has also made me think more about the music I already own (on my computer) and stuff that I want to add to my CD collection. I’m thinking, what albums do I know I love? What artists do I want to discover more deeply? Anything new that comes into my world is normally either through the radio (I listen to MPR’s The Current at work a lot), Instagram (artists I follow or on reels), and stuff my boyfriend or friends recommend me. I don’t make playlists really right now. I used to make one every month on Spotify, so I miss that too, but I’m happy with the change because I don’t really want to go back to ever using Spotify.

Gabbie: Is there any music that you love, but consider a guilty pleasure?

Olivia: THERE ARE NO GUILTY PLEASURES.⁴ To me, at least. But some of the music I listen to would definitely be considered a guilty pleasure by others. And people will try to shame me. I’m talking about Utada Hikaru’s incredible album This Is The One, which contains the most ridiculous lyrics. I just love anything with dumb lyrics which makes you go “are they for real?” as you listen along.

Hmmm. Who else? Phil Collins. Meat Loaf. ‘80s men singing passionately. Another guilty pleasure is that I can spend a lot of time listening to lo-fi or videogame soundtracks on Youtube. Like, I could easily just have Animal Crossing or Kingdom Hearts music on for a whole day and be chill with that.

Gabbie: How does music fit into your daily life? As a musician? As a fan?

Olivia: In my daily life, I’m probably heading to the studio at least once a week or so. I’m currently writing my second album so I am often working on several different songs at a time – writing lyrics, recording vocals, making demos or producing and co-writing things with my friends. As a fan, I listen to music on my commute to work (on my phone with the app Foobar2000, current albums in rotation include Madonna’s Ray of Light and Audrey Hobert’s Who’s The Clown?), I am the office DJ at work and will put on different radio programmes throughout the day, I listen to music on my way back from work, and then at night I will put a CD on as I get ready to go to bed. Currently my favourite bedtime CDs are Kate Bush’s Aerial, Coldplay’s X + Y, and Peter Gabriel’s melty face album.

Gabbie: I’m going to make you a playlist of brand new music! What’s your ultimate goal for it?

Olivia: Honestly, I think it’s gonna be really interesting to see what you come up with based on the answers I’ve given to these questions so far… I’d like to see you fill in some of my musical ‘blind spots’ and give me more of what you think I’d love.

Gabbie: What is a question you want to answer that I haven’t asked you already?

Olivia: I’d like you to ask, “what’s inspiring you to write your next album?” And to that, I’d answer: ‘80s and ‘90s pop, being on the computer in the late ‘90s, Encarta ‘95, dramatic synth pianos, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Dido, FKA Twigs’ EUSEXUA, trip-hop, William Orbit, the movie Labyrinth, the books ‘The Starless Sea’ by Erin Morgenstern and ‘The Bright Sword’ by Lev Grossman. I want this album to feel nostalgic, bittersweet, fantastical and a bit like a quest.

A Sneak Peek of Olivia’s Playlist

Olivia’s mixtape absolutely poured out of me. I think it’s the longest one I’ve made for any of my victims subjects interviewees.

I had to physically stop myself from making this mixtape five hours long, especially after reading the absolutely enchanting list of influences for her forthcoming album. I know we’re at opposite ends of the millennial divide, but my god is she speaking my language.

Emo? Pop? Drama? Labyrinth?! Say less.

1. The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore

Not to let my Philly pride encroach on literally every post I make, but let’s be serious — is there any more perfect “new” band than The War on Drugs for somebody who loves ‘80s men singing passionately?⁵ If there were a song I could play for Olivia to recreate her midnight stroll in Edinburgh, with echoes of both Bruce Springsteen and Phil Collins, this would be it. Are those grandiose, reverb-drenched drum breaks too ham-fisted? Whatever, I don’t care!

2. Pinkshift - Evil Eye

For a wannabe emo kid, Pinkshift is almost a guaranteed slam dunk new music pick. They certainly wear their lineage on their sleeve, and it’s filled with a lot of Olivia’s early 2000s staples: My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and No Doubt chief among them. What I like about their new record, Earthkeeper, is how they’re leaning in to a bit of a metal-adjacent sound.⁶ I have a similar initial aversion to metal that Olivia does, but this seems like a good way to ease in, no?

3. Sudan Archives - MY TYPE

As with metal, I needed a “gateway drug” to get Olivia into hip hop, so I turned to one of my favorite discoveries of 2022 — Sudan Archives. Though her last release was far more of a pop/R&B/classical hybrid, she describes “MY TYPE” from her upcoming record as “her first ‘rap rap song’.” It’s also just a very catchy, hooky track that I hope will be easier for Olivia to “grab onto and sing.”

4. Weyes Blood - Grapevine

Okay, maybe I’m being slightly incepted by the album cover of And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow in how much it makes me think of Sarah’s gown in Labyrinth.

I'm not being blinded by fashion, okay?! The music is a good fit, I swear.

But to me, this song sounds like Aimee Mann run through a Kate Bush filter. You tell me if I’m wrong about it having a logical place on this playlist.⁷

5. Saya Grey - ..THUS IS WHY ( I DON’T SPRING 4 LOVE )

Many of you were spellbound by Saya Grey’s debut earlier this year, and for good reason. What makes her so hard to pin down is also what makes her so magical. I guess art pop is the easiest (or laziest?) descriptor for what is actually a weird, dreamy genre-fuck that blends Americana, folk, trip-hop, psych, and pop. She’s as much a spiritual successor to Prince as she is to Bjork or, yes, Imogen Heap and Regina Spektor.

6. Frost Children - Don’t make me cry

I’m not a K-Pop connoisseur, so I won’t pretend to be able to scratch that exact itch, but I did find the infectious energy of this track a great fit, especially for somebody nostalgia-prone for the early 2000s. Even setting aside that Stüssy “S” on the album cover for a moment, Frost Children have a certain way with shameless maximalism and — at least on this track — evoking that pre-game character selection screen anticipation that might remind Olivia of Animal Crossing… before it goes full glitch pop, anyway.

7. Hatchie - Lights On

For somebody who listens to a lot of pop music, loves pop music, and will never stop loving pop music… well, I couldn’t just not throw in a few straight up pop bangers, right? Hatchie gets a lot of bonus points in my book not just for being incredibly catchy and singable (as all pop songs should be), but also for having a gauzy, shimmery quality that reminds me of Kate Bush, Dido, or even a bit of ethereal wave.

8. Keygen Church - La Chiave Del Mio Amor

I can’t miss an opportunity to include a mostly instrumental Italian metal band on this list. With no throaty screaming or even any (discordant) guitars to discomfit Olivia, this organ-heavy track is pure Medieval drama. Imagine if the Phantom of the Opera had been written with Black Sabbath fans in mind instead of musical theater kids. I could easily see this on a soundtrack for some kind of beautifully rendered gothic video game, too. (Encarta wishes it had gone this hard.)

The Full Mixtape

In the spirit of Olivia’s eschewal of streaming platforms, I will NOT be sharing a Spotify playlist like I usually do.⁸

You can find all 30+ songs of Olivia’s mixtape on Soundcloud and Youtube.

(Use YouTube, though — there are more tracks there.)

There’s no way to embed from SoundCloud, so you’ll just have to *imagine* how amazing it is. Or, you know, click the link.

I truly can’t wait for you to see the rest of this playlist and let me know what you thought of it.

You may also like…

New Music DNA - Pt. 1: Can I Turn Nostalgia Into Bespoke Mixtapes?

New Music DNA - Pt. 2: When a Music Snob Wants to Go Mainstream

New Music DNA - Pt. 3: Dragging Stat Significant’s Daniel Parris Out of His 2000s Rut

New Music DNA Pt. 4 - A Mixtape for Your Oldest Brother, Justin McElroy

1. Where I’m led to believe that she leads many whimsical creative exercises, and you should totally sign up.

2. Editor’s note: Oh, I know how that goes.

3. Editor’s note: God.

4. Editor’s note: It’s true, this is a trick question, and I judge people based on their responses.

5. With thanks to

Geoff Neill

for the timely reminder.

6. Metal is a gap for me just as much as it is for Olivia. I recruited the help of

JustSomeMustard

and

Seth Werkheiser

, my resident metalheads on the New Bands for Old Heads Discord server, who helped me find some genre-bending, melodic metal that I hope will intrigue her instead of making her feel relieved the moment it’s off. You’ll have to check the full playlist for all of it!

7. I’m right, though.

8. Don’t worry, I know there are reasons many of you do hang on to Spotify, and I will make it available there too, but only for paid subscribers (generally these are only available for paid subscribers full stop, so putting it up for free elsewhere is an extra here, not a punishment!)