As the brand new and confronting album FILTHY TIMES drops today, there’s no better moment to dive into an interview with the fearlessly raw and honest creative and performer PRI.
We talk about the inspiration for the album, the songwriting process, the topical issues within, and plenty more. Here’s how it went.
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Hi PRI, great to catch up – congrats for the new album. How did you come to decide upon the best lyrics to explore the dark theme of Nobody Believes a Victim, and how does it feel to listen back to this in hindsight?
I was watching lots of news reports about accusations of sexual assault against people who were very rich and it struck me that the victims had no recourse because the accused had money behind them, whole teams and structures.
“The way trauma is processed can be fragmentary and doesn’t necessarily fit with fitting into a legalistic framework of being questioned. In these cases, nobody believes the victim.”
What was the idea behind the artwork for the project?
I do a lot of therapeutic collage. This was a photo of me from school and I was being asked to pose in a sexualised manner. I couldn’t have been older than 8. So the arms and hands and lips are sort of commenting on that feeling, that your body isn’t yours. And you’re disconnected from it.
What sort of mood did you hope to create with the visuals for these tracks, and how does the visual artistic process compare to the audio for you as a performer?
I started reluctantly doing visuals for Spotify’s canvas section but then I ended up enjoying the process. It’s quite hard work and you have to be the right frame of mind but I think it can be interesting to explore some of the moods in a song through movements and characters. Again I’m limited by tech and budget but it’s fun to experiment a bit with it. And I love music videos, I find them really relaxing.
What’s the story behind FILTHY TIMES?
The world is falling apart – the climate catastrophe is getting worse, fascism is back, billionaires are running things, there’s a genocide going on and we’ve lost our empathy. It feels…filthy, the times we are living in.
Why did you choose to reference the Suzanne Vega song Luka within this story and progression?
I wondered what would happen if Luka grew up and had to confront his abusers as a grown up or not even confront them, maybe just see them again?
On this and most other tracks, it feels like a solo voice and instrument capture – you mention that you use a cheap guitar, household objects and a broken drum machine to make music. Is that pure necessity, or also for the creative and conceptual value?
I think I love rawness. Some of my favourites at the moment have a rawness to them… Suicide, White Light White Heat, Cabaret Voltaire…
There are some clear moments of soulful talent to your vocal style – does a fully mastered and smooth production appeal, or does this more confined and personal style help represent your intentions better?
I’m interested in exploring different sonic textures. So maybe a version of ‘smooth’ production that’s a bit broken and messed up! Smooth with a rough edge!
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Find PRI on TiKTok & Instagram, read our previous interview, or visit the Website.
