Here at Dork, we’re not subtle when we like something. We go on, and on, and on. Our poker face is the worst. We have no idea what this ‘cool’ is we’re meant to be ‘keeping’.
All this is a very long way around for saying, we’re really into Lauran Hibberd rn. The Isle of Wight newcomer is low-key hilarious, with her sideswipes at social faux pas and super awkward life stuff.
And, she has a new EP out today! Get acquainted with ‘Everything is Dogs’ below, with commentary from Lauran herself. Sugardaddy offers to the usual address, please. (Not joking.)
Sugardaddy
For me, it made sense to open the EP the same way I opened this year – with a cry for money ha! I think sonically it makes so much sense, as I feel it really is a great snapshot into the 90s driven open window that is the rest of my EP. There’s an element of trash, and of course a tongue in cheek nature with this one. And the big question of, is she really joking? It’s a real stamp to the way I have adopted humour into my musicality. I always start my live set with this song too, so it made sense for it to open my debut EP.
Frankie’s Girlfriend
This is my latest release and feels like my darkest and more obviously directed in terms of it’s writing style and structure to me. I’d been listening to a lot, and I mean a lot of Weezer by this point. And I fell in love with the way stories are conveyed, like conversations. The song is actually about a sex dream. Can’t say I have them often, but when I do, there’s a song in it for sure. I left this until now to release because I wanted to save this one – It was written in the summer of last year, and I’d been keeping it close to my chest. I re-recorded it three times! I cared about it too much and still do.
Hoochie
By far, the most easily written song on the E.P. It honestly happened in minutes! I was like woah, okay. There might be something in this. I had always had the title Hoochie, named after my hamster and the 90’s slang word for a loose woman. It’s a funny little story about self-worth, I suppose, but lyrically is one of my favourites purely based on imagery. It feels like a movie to me. I wanted my EP to feel like a soundtrack to a home filmed American teen movie, very coming of age. Lots of wistful thinking, first experiences, twisted humour, and even the dryness of it. For me, Hoochie is the titles rolling track. The unhappy ending.
Shark Week
This is my favourite track on the E.P. It’s somewhat beautiful for me, and I don’t really write songs like that so this one caught me off guard. It’s the first song I’ve written that I’ve really stepped back from and been like, Jesus Christ I’m sad. Lyrically, I would say it really stands its ground. I read it back like a poem after I’d finished writing it. The song is about a friend of mine, who I suppose I fell in love with in a way and that was never reciprocated. But it’s almost a reflection on how we got to that point and where we are now, and by the end of the song isn’t even about him or that at all. Life intervenes, things get worse, perspective is set. ‘I stood there crying; my friends are dying, when did the world get big’. For me, it’s that running scene that every great movie has – in slow motion. It’s always so good to play live; it’s such a journey in the sense that when it starts building it seems to catch other people off guard too.
P.S. if you have the vinyl, keep listening. There’s a bonus track on there!
Lauran Hibberd’s E.P. ‘Everything Is Dogs’ is out now.
