North East singer-songwriter Lizzie Esau has shared a vulnerable new single, ‘Stay on the Phone’, which reflects on city living as a woman, and specifically the experience of walking home late at night.
It is the Newcastle-based newcomer’s fourth single release of 2022, following the envy-driven ‘Shade of Green’, festival anthem ‘The Enemy’, and alt-rock-driven ‘Bleak Sublime’. Produced by Catherine Marks (Foals, Wolf Alice, The Killers), the new release hints toward a debut EP which is expected to arrive in Spring 2023.
Surprising listeners with a new acoustic-led ballad, Esau has stepped in a new direction with this intimate and vulnerable reflection on the experience of walking home late at night, and living as a woman in a big city. The honest chorus howls in unison with all the unheard voices that fall victim to unprovoked abuse.
“Songs about nothing can be fun, but this isn’t one of them,” Lizzie declares. “I’d obviously felt that helpless fear before, but it wasn’t something that was immediately obvious to write about because it’s so ingrained in everyday life. After the murder of Sarah Everard and activist speeches I heard during my studies, the subdued thoughts in my brain tumbled out and I bluntly wrote exactly what I was thinking.”
You can listen to ‘Stay on the Phone’ here.
Lizzie Esau will be touring the UK in support of Upsahl later this month – tickets are available here, with the full dates as below
November
18 Manchester, The Deaf Institute
19 Glasgow, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
20 Leeds, The Wardrobe
21 Bristol, Thekla
23 Birmingham, 02 Institute 3
24 Camden, PowerHaus
