Never one for sitting still, Michael Smyth (Virgins, THVS) found himself with nine recorded but unfinished songs in need of vocals. Written with a female voice in mind, Smyth reached out to a number of female and non-binary vocalists to collaborate and finish the tracks. The result is Orchids, a project that brings a number of the North’s strongest vocalists to these alt-rock creations, which also feature bass from Emma Rose and drums from Matthew Milner. Melyssa Shannon (Wynona Bleach), Rebecca Dow (Virgins), Daisy Johnston, Frances Ellen (Effie, Loris), Clodagh May and Siânna Lafferty (Tramp) all feature, with the latter’s track ‘Mannequin’ a real highlight. The changing vocals add a fresh dynamic to these songs.
Lead songwriter Michael Smyth talks us through the project’s nine tracks alongside Emma, Matthew and a few of the album’s vocalists.
Memoria
Michael: I had the intro riff to this song for months and could never get anything to work with it. I loved how driving it was and I could hear the drums, so I didn’t want to give up on it. I think I’d been listening to ‘Tonight, Tonight’ by Smashing Pumpkins and just that little picky part in the verse I was like maybe that’s what it needs, to pull back and then that opened it all up. It’s got this mid-western emo feel to it which I loved. Having Mel from Wynona Bleach sing on it was a total dream, her voice and delivery on it was just perfect.
Revolutions
Michael: Revolutions is one of the tracks that had been around the longest. It’s a big catchy up tempo punk rock song. The call and response vocals in the verse sound great and having the Emma Goldman quote for the chorus is cool. The drums really drive that song they add so much energy and dynamics. Daisy’s voice really brought something different to track as well. She had spent the whole week prior to recording rehearsing with an RnB cover band and I think you can hear that kind of soulful quality creep into the vocal a little. It’s a really nice addition to the song.
Emma: this was a chance for my to live out my inner pop punk with punchy bass and catchy hooks! My favourite song I’ve ever had the pleasure to play live.
Hourglass
Michael: I wrote the vocals and lyrics to this, and Rebecca was kind enough to sing it for me. I also add some trademark screamy vocals to it. The song is about beauty standards, the pressure to conform and ultimately rejection of those antiquated ideals and then self-acceptance and celebration. My vocals, because they’re a lot more aggressive, are meant to represent the rage associated with how those things can you feel. Theres’ a line ‘new standard issue, wanna feel deluxe’ which is a little play on a line from one of my all time favourite movies Drive. Just a little easter egg in there.
Run
Michael: This is the second of three tracks to feature Rebecca. We play together in Virgins so it was a no brainer to have her on the record and she really delivers on this track. There’s a vulnerability to her voice in the verses but a real intensity in the chorus. Having that gazey approach to the vocals in this song definitely helped take it to this whole new place. I can’t not mention the xylophone! In the studio we kind of placated Matt (drums) by recording the xylophone like ‘sure it’ll be on the record’. Weirdly enough it really adds something cool to the song. This is one my favourites, there’s a lot of cool sonics going on and different layers.
Mannequin
Michael: I love Sparta and At The Drive-In and I think you can definitely hear their influence on this track. Musically, it’s a rhythmic driving post-hardcore song, but as intense as it is there’s a lot of melody to it. Matt came up with a really cool groove for the verses, and Emma’s bass drives those parts as well. I really wanted some chimey guitars for it, the temptation is to dime the gain on the overdrive pedal but pulling back helped give it space. Siânna was cool enough to agree to sing on it and added some little background vocals I came up with after they wrote the lyrics/melody. Their lyrics and voice on it are outstanding and they cathartic delivery really mirrored the energy in the music.
Siânna: These are thoughts from inside the AFAB (assigned female at birth) body about ways we are still unfree. With the lyrics immediately painting imagery of ‘the Red Light District’ – ‘Mannequin‘ brings you to the debate on ’empowerment or exploitation?’ A cathartic scream about the sexualisation, sexual policing, the profiting & the violence towards the feminine. The rage in every lyric surfaces from a deep collective experience. That even the ideal crafted woman; the mannequin – used for selling dreams and maintaining the repression, will never be good enough.
Do Better
Michael: The track starts off with this great drum part Matt wrote, it works really well with the riff that comes in. I’d been listening to a lot of AFI and I think it’s me giving my best Jade Puget impersonation. I love how he write really complicated guitar parts and butts them up against each other, so there’s some of that in here. There’s a lot of weird guitar on this, some swooshy phasers and weird delays. Virgins had played a show with Clodagh before and I had always loved her voice. I thought it’d be cool to hear her sing on something punk rocky to hear her voice in a different context. Her lyrics and vocals on this song are incredible and watching her work in the studio was super impressive, she has such control and range, and her harmonies were jaw dropping.
Clodagh: ‘Do Better’ is a straight up, no nonsense, in your face statement about the every day frustrations of being a fem-presenting person and watching the scene around you explode with virtue signalling, self righteousness and bandwagoning when it comes to women and LGBTQ+ rights. All we ask is that you be better allies…or stop pretending!
Matt: I loved creating interesting grooves throughout the album especially on Revolutions, Do Better and Mannequin. I was listening to a lot of Jeff Porcaro and Travis Barker at the time, so those two were the main inspirations for the drumming on the album.
Sins
Michael: ‘Sins‘ definitely changes the mood on the record, it’s a lot more pulled back than anything else on there and certainly after the fury of the last two tracks it offers a little breathing room. It’s also more overtly poppy than anything else on the album. I spent a lot of time trying to get the structure right for this and having different parts come in. I was really happy with how the track moved and then has this Foo Fighters-esque stadium rock chorus. I’d worked with Frances on a different project and loved her old band Loris. Her voice has such a unique quality to it, and her harmonies are always so stunning. Such a thrill to hear her on one my songs!
Frances: I loved working on this piece. When I heard the track with no vocals, I felt that the music already gave me an idea of what the song was trying to say, it almost wrote itself. Loved being a part of this project!
Smile
Michael: I was determined to get this song on an album. It kind of goes against all the things you’re meant to do when you write a song, the verses have a really busy guitar part, the chorus doesn’t come in for well over a minute and there are a bunch of different parts that keep changing, but I loved this song. Pretty Girls Make Graves were always a big influence for me and I think this is very much in that vein. This is the second song that Mel sings on and I think what’s really cool about this is that she sounds totally different than how she sounds on ‘Memoria’ and different again than how she sounds in Wynona Bleach. That’s part of what makes the album special, hearing all these different voices in a different context than what you’re used to.
And Ghosts
Michael: I got to play through a Roland Jazz Chorus for this track and you hear that unmistakable sound all over the verses. For some reason, this track really has an 80’s power ballad feel to it like, like a Roxette song or something. Rebecca’s vocals are incredible on this track, that gazy airy reverb helps round of some of the abrasiveness of the guitars in the chorus, and feels beautiful and expansive. Emma wrote a really cool bassline to the verses as well, that added this groove and movement to them. It’s a big powerful song to finish the album with. The album is ordered like it was going to be on vinyl so this and ‘Run‘ close out each side and I always thought of them as sister songs. Similar but not the same and complementary of one another.
