The NIGHT Issue with Eartheater

Dancing between the realms of avant-garde music and performance art, an artist stands out as a true pioneer within the Worldwide Underground: EARTHEATER. Her ethereal melodies, which blend elements of pop, folk, and electronic music, simultaneously relax and disrupt her audience. A siren to the scene; mystifying yet deadly, Glamcult has been avidly tracking Eartheater’s journey since the release of her debut abstract-electronic album, Metalepsis. This early chapter in her story, while still reflecting her current style, provides only a partial glimpse into her craft as it exists today, having since released iconic albums such as Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin and the deeply successful Trinity. In this long-awaited interview, we sit down to discuss her latest upcoming project and sixth studio album, Powders. Navigating through the artist’s wild, enrapturing and enigmatic universe, we explore the forces that drive this home-schooled “farm girl” to reshape the musical landscape in which she exists. Notoriously shrouded in the unknown, join us as we unravel the enigma behind the evocative name who has become one of the most innovative voices in contemporary music.

As the process of creating this album is coming to a close… how are you doing?
I’m good actually. I’ve been dealing with a lot of the last little fun adventures that are coming to be on this album.

The final little touches—
—I wish it felt like little touches! It’s like you think you’re done, and then there’s always something else glaring you in the face.

I want to work backwards a little, beginning our conversation with your upcoming record—Powders—and the lyricism of the album. The song Crushing felt especially poetic.
I do love those lyrics, and I’m excited about that song (and the album!). When writing, it’s a very autobiographical process for me. Crushing, in particular, is about a feeling that I, and many others, have had; when you’re with somebody and so deeply intertwined with them and so in love with them, essentially. With this feeling, comes the idea that everything around you reminds you of them, as our minds have this uncanny power to only reflect what we want to see. Usually, it’s frustrating trying to encapsulate this kind of feeling within my lyrics without sounding corny. So that’s why I’m proud of these lyrics; to be able to translate this feeling purely.

This feeling of infatuated obsession is certainly a collective coming-of-age experience, but at the same time, it remains a total mystery to everyone who feels it.
Absolutely! I mean, there are more songs about love than any other type of song. This is also why I feel like I’ve been refraining from writing love songs for a long time. But now I feel like maybe I’ve become sharp enough that I can do it in a way that projects how I see love and can hold up to the magnitude of what it feels like… and also maybe bring something new to the table. There are so many beautiful love songs, but mostly corny ones, and so whilst trying not to be corny or cliché, I also had to allow myself to step into these stereotypes, at the right moments.

Is that important to you?
The notion of bringing something new into the world? I would say not as much now, but in the past? Absolutely. However, I think I was almost too hell-bent on trying to push myself down the unbeaten path. Even now, I feel like I’m still in this mindset sometimes. For instance, the sonic structure and material in Crushing is very archetypal and historically formulaic. Allowing myself to relax and do something more ‘typical’ on the instrumental side— this beautiful, reliable form—enabled me to have the energy and space to think about the lyrics.

How did that freedom feel?
I think I’m making it sound like I was crunching on the lyrics. But essentially, I think I kept trying to write things that weren’t quite right. But as soon as I had the idea to take the first subject and turn it into the object in the next sentence, boiling down the hierarchy of the apples of our eyes, it all came together. It allowed beauty to be the dominant factor.

It takes confidence, right? To be able to not overthink, and to just allow what is to be what it is?
For sure. And this comes with time. In my early 20s, I was frustrated in the music scene for all kinds of different reasons… even though I always trusted myself, I also knew that people were sceptical, and with this scepticism, I felt like I had something to prove. Wild, but I don’t feel that way any more.

That’s amazing. Because you’ve proven yourself? Or because you’ve let that pressure go?
I think it’s because I’ve proven myself. But, also, maybe it’s just because I’m fucking tired? I’ve been doing this for so long. I’m like, “I don’t give a fuck!” I’ve been able to do what I felt was true to me for so long without having to compromise, so why change that now?

… Read the full interview in The NIGHT Issue here!