Writing back in April, we introduced Arena Rock Appetizer, the forthcoming EP by Los Angeles-based artist Bridey (AKA Bridey Hicks) on Anxiety Blanket Records. “A release which explores the sensation of ‘coming out of a fog’,” as we put it, with Hicks searching for lights at the end of a variety of personal tunnels through a mixture of emotion and energy. This is brought to life with help from Cam Mahai (lead guitar), Kevin Fairbairn and Garrett La Bonte (bass), Alex Collyard (drums) Abby Santourian and Michael Macdonald (keys) and Melina Duterte of Jay Som (additional drum assembly), resulting in something both confessional and cathartic.
Previous single ‘Her‘ was a song “written after travelling to stay with her sister and newborn niece after a downer spell,” as we described, “finding some healing magic within the act of caring for other people,” and while new track ‘7-Eleven’ finds itself among strangers, it too finds solace in others. “I was feeling lonely and shy having moved to a new city, and was thinking about ways I could make my environment feel more comfortable,” Hicks explains. “I had kind of a funny and familiar dance with a 7-Eleven store clerk, and I was reminded that the whole experience from entering to exiting is, in most scenarios, so consistently comforting. I wrote half the song, and contacted Melina to help me produce the rest, and we went from there.” The result is a propulsive indie rock song that hits like an intravenous shot of cathartic confidence.
Photo by Christian Heinzel