Q&A: Litany on the Raw Honesty of 'Sadgirl'
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
SELF-DISCOVERY AND THE COMPLEXITIES OF MENTAL HEALTH are well-worn themes in pop, often presented with a polished sheen. However, Litany, the artist and songwriter from Harrogate, distinguishes herself by fearlessly stripping away the gloss and delivering unfiltered truths. Her music resonates with a rare honesty, and this is powerfully evident in her debut album, Sadgirl, out today via Nettwerk. This album, heralded by the bold single “I Need A Man”, is an unapologetic exploration of personal battles and the arduous journey toward self-acceptance.
Sadgirl is born from the aftermath of breakdowns and the long, difficult process of healing. Across its 11 tracks, Litany invites listeners to witness her peeling back layers, unearthing both despair and defiant joy. Tracks like “Kingpin” unflinchingly address her struggles with inner demons and the pressures of the music industry, while “Jelly Tot” offers a burst of sassy empowerment. The album's journey navigates the listener through the haunting introspection of “Vertigo” to the hard-won self-awareness of “Alright”, ultimately presenting a bittersweet yet hopeful message: owning your story, in all its pain and beauty, is a powerful act of resilience.
Read below to learn more about Litany's creative process and the profound personal narrative that shaped this compelling debut.
LUNA: Sadgirl is described as an unapologetic exploration of love, heartbreak, and self-discovery. What does it mean to you to finally release this deeply personal body of work into the world?
LITANY: Everything! The album is centred around my experience with the black dog. If you’d have told me in 2021/2022 that I would have gotten better let alone be releasing my debut album, I’d have laughed you outta the room. I’m so immensely proud and grateful to be able to release such a personal yet absolutely banging pop record.
LUNA: The album is said to capture the vulnerability of feeling lost while embracing the strength in vulnerability. Can you elaborate on this central theme and how it weaves through the different tracks?
LITANY: Like with anything, when I make my mind up that I’m going to do something, I go all in and its the same with writing about my struggles with depression and anxiety. For me it wasn’t just one feeling, there were stages as you’d find there are with grief - grieving your former self and/or the life you could be living in my case. I wanted to really delve into these stages on a track-by-track basis all the way from the initial nervous breakdown in Nashville (as detailed in the album track American Dream) to the coming to terms with coming out the other side (Jelly Tot). My favourite song on the record is another album track called ‘Liar Liar’ where I touch on how difficult it became to mask the struggles I was facing.
LUNA: How do you find the balance between emotional rawness and creating an anthemic, pop-driven sound?
LITANY: On a whole, I find it much more interesting to be articulately vulnerable over a funky bassline and sparkly synthesisers than I do a grand piano. More legwork is needed from a lyrical standpoint as you aren’t relying on a sonically melancholic landscape. I like the challenge of it all! I Need a Man is a real departure for me in this sense as it is exactly not how I usually choose to attack songwriting.
LUNA: "I Need A Man" is a bold anthem born from "a slew of shitty dates." Can you talk about the specific moment or feeling that sparked this particular song?
LITANY: To set the scene, I had indeed just been on a slew of shitty dates and also just found out my ex had a new girlfriend. I did what any girl growing up in the age of Adele’s chart supremacy would do and sat at my piano and wrote a ballad whilst bawling my eyes out… I was (obviously) emotional and just exasperated to tell you the truth. The men I’d been dating were, to put it politely, a total waste of fucking time and the way I was feeling in that moment, was that the person it would take to convince me that there are in fact decent men out there, does not exist. Its a stream of consciousness written in my loneliest hour.
LUNA: The single blends your signature glossy pop sound with raw, self-reflective lyrics. How did you approach crafting a song that is both defiant and vulnerable?
LITANY: When it came to fleshing the album out and taking the songs from rough demos to polished, anything we tried just didn’t sound right. We replaced the piano with a wurlitzer, a mellotron, nothing in the usual Litany arsenal worked so we agreed to keep it super simple and let the emotion do the talking - I’d be lying if I said that didn’t make me uncomfortable. That level of vulnerability massively freaked me out and it took A LOT of convincing to not only include this song on the record but release it as a single. I’m glad we did as it led to it being given one of my favourite accompanying visuals we’ve ever done. The video done by James Mack is such a perfectly heartbreaking companion to this song - its a home run.
LUNA: What kind of connection do you hope listeners will have with "I Need A Man," especially those who have experienced similar frustrations with dating?
LITANY: I think any single woman can resonate with this song. I sense we all share in this frustration and perpetual disappointment when it comes to dating. The awful thing is that what I’m asking for in this song; the qualities I’m yearning for are BASE LEVEL SHIT. Someone who respects my body, someone who sees me as their equal, someone who isn’t gonna cut and run the minute something else comes up… how is it that we all feel this way?
LUNA: You've already achieved significant success with sold-out shows and support from major radio platforms. How does it feel to be stepping into your debut album release with this momentum?
LITANY: I don’t think there’s anything cooler than 1. hearing your songs on national radio and 2. selling out shows! The last run of shows we did were mind bogglingly good - especially London. Its always a cracking night but this time felt even more massive. There was just the most immaculate vibe in that room - it felt like an actual community and having that feeling going into my debut album is priceless.
LUNA: What intentions do you have for this spring season?
LITANY: Ooooooh definitely to keep applying everything I’ve learned about maintaining a healthy relationship with my brain. This job is crazy and its so easy to slip or burnout but I really can’t let that happen again - I wanna write album 2 about a slightly cheerier subject matter for starters!
