WILLOW ditches genre-hopping for a funk-fuelled exploration of self-love on ‘empathogen', an album bursting with new-found confidence after a cathartic rock era.
Words: Ali Shutler.
Photos: Salomé Gomis-Trezise.
"I’ve never given up on the idea that if I practise enough, I can make music that can change people’s lives,” says Willow. It’s an outlook that can be found across her back catalogue, but that ambition really sits at the forefront of WILLOW’s sixth album, ‘empathogen’.
“I’ve never made a record that’s sounded the same as what’s come before,” she continues, having comfortably pulled from conscious pop, psychedelic folk and R&B since the release of 2015 debut album ‘Ardipithecus’. 2020’s ‘lately I feel EVERYTHING’ was inspired by urgent 00s pop-punk, while 2022’s ‘’ was a proggy, intricate purge of heartache and uncertainty. Those two guitar-driven records inadvertently exposed Willow to a wider audience, coinciding with a new generation discovering the cathartic power of heavier music.
Despite being one of the few artists to break through the nostalgia of that scene and offer something new to the genre, WILLOW’s got no interest in staying in the same space. “I want to challenge myself,” she says. “I felt like if I made another rock album, it wouldn’t help me grow as a person or as an artist. Every album I’ve ever done is driven by the desire to make me more than I was before, and nothing to do with external circumstances.”
She knows it’s a risk to change things up, but at the same time, “good music is good music,” she offers. “And I feel like my fans just really like good music.” ‘empathogen’ is built around funk and jazz, with flourishes of pop.
Despite those different sonic explorations, every one of WILLOW’s records has the same hopeful spirit. “I feel like all of my music is characterised by a reaching and a yearning for something greater than what we’re experiencing in the present moment,” she offers. Album six is no different. “I’m really excited; I’m really hopeful,” she says.
Empathogen is the scientific name for naturally occurring substances that people have been using for thousands of years to “connect to each other, connect to the earth and live with a deeper sense of awareness,” says WILLOW, listing marijuana and a number of plant medicines as examples. “I wanted to channel that energy into this album,” she continues, building community throughout the recording process. “Let’s come together, let’s sit in a circle around a fire, let’s have the plant medicine and let’s sing. It was all about getting deep down into this mysterious thing called the moment,” she explains.
It might sound intangible, but WILLOW has twisted those sprawling, baggy ideas into something fiercely relatable.
Piano-driven lead single ‘symptom of life’ is a lush slab of self-reflection that takes the mantra “life is pain” and switches things up. “Yes, there is a lot of pain with living, but there’s also this inexplicable beauty to be found,” says WILLOW, while the lyrics vibrate with uncertainty. “While beauty is a symptom of life, gotta decide if I’m gonna see it,” she sings.
That struggle between growth and fear also provides the backbone for follow-up single ‘big feelings’, which is a beautiful, empathetic song about overwhelming emotions and hard-fought acceptance. “All my life, I’ve had these explosive emotions. When you’re a kid, you’re constantly told not to cry or scream.” As you get older, you’re pressured to make yourself and your feelings small, explains WILLOW. “The way people react to how you’re expressing yourself can really mess with how you view yourself,” she says.
