Self Esteem and Moonchild Sanelly team up for gender-bending new single ‘Big Man’
Self Esteem and Moonchild Sanelly have teamed up for a collaborative new single, ‘Big Man’. Check it out below.
The song marks the first release from the former – aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor – since her BRIT and Mercury Prize-nominated 2021 album, ‘Prioritise Pleasure’, and “explores the nuances of modern masculinity and gender roles”.
“I’m a big man/ Yeah, I’m a fucking big man/ What are you?” the pair sing over an electronic beat.
Speaking about working with South African musician and dancer Sanelly, Taylor explained: “Me and Moon wrote a song from the perspective of a good boyfriend. The ones that are just chill and secure so they just leave you to it. The ones that don’t want a medal for doing the bins.
“The ones that see that you’re working your tits off so they go and get yet another thing you’ve ordered and missed the delivery of from the post office. The ones that don’t take your success as a direct threat to their existence. To me, this is real masculinity.”
She continued: “We have both collaborated with Johan Karlberg on our records and I’m so grateful to him for introducing us, it was a joy to make this song together.”
‘Big Man’ arrives with an official music video, which Taylor described as “an inverse ‘I Want To Break Free'” by Queen – referring to the band’s iconic 1984 visuals. The clip sees the two artists undertake various household chores while donning oversized suits.
“[Director] Piers Dennis executed this gorgeously cos he’s a fucking Big Man. Self Esteem 3 lez go,” she said, teasing her upcoming third studio album.
Sanelly added: “We were in the studio bonding HARD, having the deepest conversation about relationships and how it’s hard to be bold, loud female artists in a relationship. How you can be the baddest bitch on any stage, but if you have an insecure man he can’t support your success as a woman.
“Instead of celebrating and supporting you, he sees your success as a personal attack and uses it to pull you down and make you feel bad. And we thought… what would it feel like to be ourselves, doing what we do, and have a man who properly supported all that we are.
“So Rebecca and I wrote from the perspective of our ideal partner. The song is from the hypothetical perspective of a man who supports their partner and is happy for their woman. A man that is fully secure. A big man.”
Self Esteem recently revealed that she is close to completing the “finishing touches” on her next album. “I’ve sort of got it, sitting with it, thinking about it and then in September/October we are going to go back and finish it,” she explained, adding that there would be “something by the end of the year”.
“I’m always psychologically an album ahead, the [fourth] album I want to do a bit more orchestral and stand still a bit more,” she said. “I want to sing more, I want to be Chris Martin.”
Taylor also spoke about her “dream” of making a collaborative record with Richard Hawley. Last year, the latter told NME that he would be up for working with Self Esteem at some point in the future.
“Rebecca is amazing. You can throw anything at her and she’ll just perform it so well – like she’s been singing it for years,” Hawley said.
Speaking to NME about her forthcoming third album in 2022, Taylor commented: “I’m still whinging about loads of other stuff. ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ was only the start of the penny dropping.
“I’m still this hyper-emotional person, I find it all a bit hard and that’s where I’ll always write from. You know how Ed Sheeran just sings about loving his girlfriend? One day I’ll just be able to do that. For now, I’ve just got to fight injustice at every corner. It’s difficult, but I’ll do it!”
You can revisit NME‘s video interview in full above.
Last month, Self Esteem joined forces with Becky Hill on a powerful single called ‘True Colours’.
The post Self Esteem and Moonchild Sanelly team up for gender-bending new single ‘Big Man’ appeared first on NME.
Tom Skinner
NME
