South London duo Sandhouse release their second EP, Pollyanna, diving deeper into their off-kilter sound.
Anna Sutherland and Caspar Holloway explore romantic fantasies, where fairy tales and female demons collide. The songs create an escape into a world where an inner heroine is ready to fight back.
“Writing this music was part of a healing process and a way to untangle all the complicated feelings that arise from escaping from a terrible situation.”
Anna Sutherland
The EP’s title is inspired by Eleanor H. Porter’s optimistic heroine, who finds hope even in darkness. Further inspiration comes from Hans Christian Andersen’s original The Little Mermaid, succubi and sirens, and Fullmetal Alchemist. Pollyanna is a world where imagination and fantasy become weapons against the harsh realities of life. Sutherland shares:
“We often talk about the songs being spells or me having magical powers. For the vocal recording for parts of the EP I imagined I was a giant monster that was part woman, part crow when I stepped up to the microphone.”
Grungy guitars, slick basslines, biting yet playful lyrics and siren-like vocals meet intoxicating trip-hop production. The result is a sound that moves between the dark and the dreamlike, finding strength in paradoxes.
“A lot of our process is creating a powerful sound and then trying to figure out how to make it human, or find the complexity within it. Or creating something very vulnerable and then adding the power to it.”
Sandhouse
With Pollyanna, Sandhouse are at their best, leaving plenty of room for whatever comes next.
Live dates:
28 Nov – BBC Introducing Live, Leeds
03 Dec – The Courtyard Theatre, London (Headline)
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