Interview Heartworms: “Its quite hard to feel relaxed listening to [the EP], but I want that”

Jojo Orme is rising out of a freezing cold lake. The singer behind Heartworms - the latest buzzy signing to Speedy Wunderground – is clad head-to-toe in antique military gear, and flanked by her very own regiment in the black-and-white video for ‘Retributions of an Awful Life’. It’s quite the entrance. “I’m not a good swimmer, and I don’t like cold water - especially if you’re in full military gear,” she grins. “But the thing is, the whole music video is my idea because I was like, ‘I want to fight the fear, I know I can do it, and when I do it I’ll be so happy with myself’. We had to do that three times, and the last time I just started crying, but I was so happy because I did something that I never thought I’d do. Welcome to Heartworms!”

It’s a fitting opening statement for her debut EP, ‘A Comforting Notion’, and neatly reconciles many of the idiosyncrasies that punctuate Orme’s music. Her obsession with military iconography, for a start, has a far quainter origin than the imposing lake-filming might suggest. It turns out Jojo is a regular volunteer at RAF Hendon – cleaning the aircraft, no less. “I read The Code Book by Simon Singh, and got into Enigma, Alan Turing, Bletchley Park. It kind of spiralled from there. I used to live in Harrow, and I found out that I was living near RAF Hendon. I called them up, and from then on I was just completely obsessed with it.”

She’s clear though – Heartworms might be a vessel for her day-to-day fascinations, but it’s by no means a static thing. “I’m not gonna do the military thing forever, I know that. But I wanted to do it because I wanted to show myself, my passions. Heartworms is quite theatrical, but it’s not fake. I’m not faking it. It’s really me, but stronger.” She pauses to chuckle. “At the moment I’m changing my aesthetic more to a leathery, Sisters of Mercy kind of style, because I love it - and it’s annoying wearing a hat all the time.”