Lelia is back with another deliciously provocative slice of dark disco, and we’re becoming ever more convinced that she’s one of the most exciting new artists on London’s underground scene.
We fell hard for her previous single ‘Hair’, a wonderfully camp feminist statement about taking up space and refusing to be diminished. Now ‘Satisfy Me’ takes that same unapologetic attitude into the bedroom.
Built around thick synth bass, jagged electroclash rhythms and a generous helping of 70s funk, ‘Satisfy Me’ explores the delicious excitement of a new lover, that intoxicating feeling of having a secret that makes you walk a little differently.
Lelia explains:
“I wanted this feeling of cool that you have when you have a new lover, and you’re walking down the street, and it’s almost like you have a secret in the way you move. It’s about intimacy and abandoning inhibition and ultimately optimism. It’s almost archaic in how dramatic it is, and I chose this because when you do have a new lover, you’re so infatuated and life becomes dramatic. It also lays out this is how I desire, this is my sex, and it’s an honest confession of that.”
And once again, the accompanying video is every bit as interesting as the music. Reuniting with filmmaker Imi Laurence, Lelia draws on the camp excesses of 70s exploitation cinema and the lurid aesthetics of Giallo horror to explore female sexuality on her own terms.
Rather than being the object of someone else’s desire, Lelia takes control. The male character becomes little more than a prop, while symbols of violence and destruction are turned into expressions of freedom. It’s kitsch, confrontational and knowingly ridiculous in all the right ways.
Where ‘Hair‘ was about refusing to make yourself smaller, ‘Satisfy Me’ is about refusing to let anyone else dictate your pleasure. We’re very much here for both.
‘Satisfy Me’ is the fourth single from Lelia’s debut album Dark Disco, released on 6 November through her own label, Peace Dragon Records.
And we’re delighted that Lelia will be joining the LOUD WOMEN Radio Show on Resonance 104.4FM on Tuesday 27 October, with Piney and Constance presenting. Tune in from 6–7.30pm to hear more from her!
