Lonnie Gunn announces debut EP 2013 horsemeat scandal with new single Babytooth
Lonnie Gunn will release her debut EP, 2013 horsemeat scandal, on 6 August, with the Brighton-based artist sharing new single Babytooth as the latest preview of the seven-track record.
Written across a year, 2013 horsemeat scandal centres on impermanence, anxiety and grief. Gunn describes the songs as emerging from a period of holding tightly to the people and moments around her, caught between a pull towards nostalgia and an awareness of loss in both the past and present.
“Over the course of the year I spent writing this EP, I was holding onto everything and everyone around me so tightly, as if any moment would be our last moment together,” Gunn says. “I always feel as though I’m in constant flux between nostalgia and grief, not only over the past, but also the present.”
A rupture at the heart of Babytooth
Co-written with Oscar Lang, Babytooth pushes Gunn’s sound towards pop-rock while retaining the warped, emotionally frayed edges of her earlier work. Vocal chops and glitches inspired by Mitski, Caroline Polachek and Evil Adeline were layered onto the track after its initial framework came together in four hours.
The song examines dependence, validation and the loss of self inside an enmeshed relationship. Its central image, “Babytooth tied to the door, knock it loose”, frames separation as a necessary, if painful, act.
“The song, named after my favourite stuffed toy lamb, was born on reflection of a deeply enmeshed relationship – the idea of life without one another feels impossible: you’re a little kid abandoned, desperately waiting for someone to come back to you,” Gunn says.
Babytooth joins previous singles Good Girls Go To Heaven and Photocopy on the EP. Listen to Babytooth here.
Seven songs from Gunn’s first full release
The EP follows a run of singles including Dog In A Hot Car, Lucky Girl and lovebite, with Gunn’s mix of sweet melody, distortion and unease often described by the artist as “bubblegum grunge”. The full track listing for 2013 horsemeat scandal is below.
- I Miss Everything
- Photocopy
- Babytooth
- Pink Butterfly Wing
- Taxidermy Swan
- Good Girls Go to Heaven
- glow in the dark star
Pre-save 2013 horsemeat scandal here.
Brighton release party follows London date
Gunn will play London’s Shacklewell Arms on 15 July before marking the EP’s arrival with a release party at Brighton’s Rossi Bar on 7 August. Further appearances are scheduled for Brighton Psych Fest and St Albans’ Escape to the City in September.
- 15 July – EYOE Recommends, The Shacklewell Arms, London – free entry
- 7 August – The Rossi Bar, Brighton – EP release party
- 4 September – Brighton Psych Fest, Brighton
- 12 September – Escape to the City, St Albans
Details for the London show are available here, while tickets for the Brighton release party can be found here.
