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SADIE DUPUIS A debut solo album featuring consent, friendship and surviving Speedy Ortiz linchpin Sadie Dupuis, aka Sad13, While there are more women in audio is discussing the impetus behind her excellent Slugger: ‘I don’t know if the record itself had a specii c manifesto but I certainly had thematic goals for each song, most of which i t under the broader category of “the world would be a better place if there were more songs about afi rmative consent / the power of friendship / surviving abuse”.’ production these days (Dupuis cites Computer Magic, Grimes, Alison Wonderland, Emily Reo and Sammus as big inspirations), the battle is very much ongoing. ‘The gender ratio in terms of who gets credit as a producer, both on records and in press, very much skews towards men. I’m not a trained engineer, but I guess I wanted to show other people who might feel intimidated by the male-dominated world of recording studios that it’s very possible to make a pretty cool record at home on a small budget if you follow your own artistic instinct.’
And lo, Dupuis has made it so. From the kaleido-rock sisterhood love-in of ‘Hype’, to the tech-pop groove of ‘Get a Yes’ (‘I say yes to the dress when I put it on / I say yes if I want you to take it off’), Slugger is a vital album. She wrote, played, produced and recorded the LP, a process a statement in itself. ‘I didn’t really plan for the recordings to come out,’ she says. ‘But once they were i nished, it felt like they could be released as they were. I was surprised at how my ability to record at home had developed over the past few years.’
The making of Slugger, she says, was fuelled by heartbreak and pho, and ‘reading and re- reading Maggie Nelson, sharing demos with Allison Crutchi eld, Jessica Jones, bell hooks and eating bagels. Even though I’m allergic to bagels . . . ’ (Nicola Meighan) ■ Slugger is out on Carpark Records, Fri 11 Nov.
3 Nov 2016–31 Jan 2017 THE LIST 99