This past February, avant-pop artist Allie X released her most ambitious work to date, the entirely self-written and self-produced Girl With No Face.
GWNF is Allie’s third full-length studio album. With its dark, post-punk, synthwave sound inspired by Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Joy Division, and The Human League, among others, it has received critical acclaim and become a favorite among Allie’s fans (a difficult feat when every release within her constantly evolving catalog slaps).
Standouts include the slinky, earnest, melodic, catchy “Galina”—an ode to female relationships about an old Russian woman who cured Allie’s eczema—and “Off With Her Tits” with its enticing dance beats, madcap lyrics, and piercing vocals delivered with rock opera intensity. In fact, the vocals across the album are of note. They’re dramatic, formidable, and mostly untuned, allowing both the silkiness and power of Allie’s voice to shine, especially on the cool, vampiric “Black Eye” and the goosebump-inducing soft ballad “Saddest Smile.”
Following the release of GWNF, Allie embarked on her Weird World Tour with Violet Chachki. Indianapolis Monthly had a quick Q&A with her ahead of her upcoming stop at The Vogue on Monday, November 18.
So, a fun fact about Indianapolis: Our two most prominent nicknames are Naptown and India-no-place, but a lot of people embrace these titles because they allow us to fly under the radar while booking acts like you. What do you like about playing seemingly-sleepy-but-actually-very-cool cities like Indy?
It can be really fun! Kind of the opposite of playing a city like LA or NYC where the room is packed with industry folks, the pressure is high, and nothing you do really feels good enough. Playing a “sleepy town,” you usually feel a real appreciation for being there and a sense of pride about the community. Similar to playing foreign markets sometimes.
After Girl With No Face, where do you think your sound will go next, and do you plan to fully write and produce the next release, as well?
I definitely don’t plan on doing it all next time. That was a bit too scary and intense for me. I’m glad I did it, but I’d like to do something that moves faster and is more fun and collaborative. Knowing me, the sound will probably change quite a bit.
You’re known as an “artist’s artist,” and you have an incredibly loyal fan base. You’ve gained enough love to give you cult status but also achieved enough independence to do whatever you want. You’ve also said you have a lot of anger toward the music industry. Do you feel a sense of catharsis with GWNF finally being out, the reaction the album has received, and this tour?
Thank you. I am in a very fortunate position to now own the lion’s share of my rights and have an incredibly loyal fan base who allows me to evolve artistically and make a living doing what I love. I feel only at the mercy of streaming, no longer at the mercy of the industry. Because of this and the rage I let out writing GWNF, I feel like the anger has subdued. I’m not proud of my anger, but I guess it needed to be acknowledged. Hopefully now I can move to deeper, more important feelings.
A tweet from a few years back is stuck in my mind: “Adults are just elderlychildren.” I like it because it makes me feel like the sense of wonder and optimism you have as a kid never has to go away. You said in a recent interview that you think you’re too old to be a pop artist, but you also don’t give a shit. What inspires you to keep going and making music that excites?
Well, I guess when I say that, I mean “technically” I am too old to be a pop artist. Like by typical industry standards. And when I say I don’t give a shit, it’s because I think it’s silly to have an expiration date on when you can and can’t be a pop artist. I think Caroline Polachek is about the same age and doing some of the most innovative, sexy, and exciting work. Things are changing largely because we put music directly in the consumers’ hands now, and they don’t care how old you are but if they connect to the music or not. That said, I do feel like an elderly child!
During the Beatles’ only set of performances in Indianapolis in 1964, Ringo Starr disappeared for an entire night. It turned out that he was out joyriding in a police cruiser with some state troopers and ended the adventure in the early morning with a breakfast of coffee and eggs. If you could go on a midnight joyride in Indy, what three songs are you playing during the ride, and what breakfast are you eating in the morning?
How iconic. I love the Beatles. I’d be eating bacon, eggs, and coffee (they’d all need to be high quality, though; I’m a health food snob). Songs—maybe “A Forest” by The Cure, “Big Shot” by Fontaines D.C., and “All Mirrors” by Angel Olsen.
