FOE - Bad Dream Hotline

In amongst the solo female artists that have dominated the music industry in the past 12 months, FOE - a.k.a Hannah Clark - is probably the least conventional of the lot. Hand-making the album artwork for her ‘Hot New Trash’ EP, and an online advent calendar full of visual treats for her fans; it’s obvious that Clark has an artistic edge and strives to make her music as personal as possible. It’s an overwhelmingly likeable trait in a society in which fans beg their musical idols to tweet them back to establish a connection.

The title ‘Bad Dream Hotline’ sounds like the attempted phone calls Audrey Horne made from One Eyed Jacks in the vain hope that Dale Cooper would rescue her, from the cult 90s show Twin Peaks. Hannah Clark is obviously inspired by director David Lynch as one of the songs is named ‘The Black Lodge’, although it all sounds too sugary sweet to be influenced by the terrifying scene from the aforementioned show as she retells the story of Hansel and Gretel without a hint of malice.

FOE acts as if someone’s just pushed all the toys out of her pram, taking on a bratty persona as she talks about ‘popstar trash’, living fast and playing childhood games. On ‘A Handsome Stranger Called Death’, Clark references The 27 Club, which includes the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and more recently, Amy Winehouse as she pleads ‘I’m a kid full of history / I don’t want to be another dead at 20 something or another.’

FOE is essentially the anti-hero of solo female artists, much like St. Vincent, as she criticises fame and brings up the loss of innocence at a young age, an important issue in this postmodernist age in which 10-year-olds own iPhones and wear high heels. But she also brings up capitalism, commenting that people have forgotten about the more simple things and just spend ‘millions in marketing of popstar trash.’ FOE is perhaps highlighting disposable culture, especially music, in which something is there one week and forgotten about the next.

‘Bad Dream Hotline’ carries a clear warning message about the dangers of the media and celebrity culture but sometimes this becomes too much of the focus and overshadows the instrumental. It’s packed full of pop culture references and Clark’s distinct vocals as she takes elements from her influencers - including Nirvana and PJ Harvey. All in all, a fine album from this 20-something Fleet-based musician who’s proved she’s in this industry for all the right reasons.