SUZI WU RELEASES ERROR 404 EP VIA AMF RECORDS/DEF JAM
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “HIGHWAY” HERE
ANNOUNCES US SHOW DATES INCLUDING GOVERNORS BALL ON JUNE 1
“On the surface scattergun, these songs are in reality precision-tooled and pretty much perfect.” – Sunday Times Culture
“Suzi Wu is the badass pop music needs” – Pigeons & Planes
“She’s presenting a sound that’s very new, yet – in the best of way – still manages to feel familiar.” – MTV
“Her lyrics are full of charisma, and will resonate with anyone who’s ever been young and directionless in the city.” – Noisey
21-year-old Londoner Suzi Wu drops her EP ‘Error 404’ (mixed by Mike Dean) and video for “Highway” today via AMF Records/Def Jam Recordings. Suzi explains, “I wrote this EP in a time of transition from my previous releases to something more electronic. I was writing poetically about things that are artificial. Trying to write romantically about the blue glow playing across my bedroom and big open luminous- grey spaces like the M25 motorway, where I spent a lot of my childhood in between the departure and the destination.
The video for “Highway” is just me and my mates having a good time in a warehouse, which is sort of reminiscent of squat raves for me. I’m in tiny little Mercedes Benz because although, like everyone else I love the idea of having money, I’m a little bored of clout culture and everyone flexing. I’d prefer to drop a few grand on a pinball machine compared to a diamond necklace. It’s just more fun.”
Born in Blackpool, Suzi Wu grew up in London and spent the summers back up north, learning as much in the big city as she did in the never-ending car journeys she’d take on the motorway. Driving back to extended family, Suzi (surname: McDermott) earned another extended family in the car where she enjoyed the company of her mother’s extensive record collection: from Beastie Boys to Riot Grrl, Beck to Patti Smith. You can hear all and none of those influences in Error 404, her second EP; the sound of pop turned inside out.
After school, Suzi decided to pursue a course in production. The inequalities that exist behind the scenes in the music industry didn’t even occur. For her, production skills would give her the keys to the car. She had been writing songs on guitar from a young age but had a vision for how she wanted it to sound. She excelled at the course. “That was a new good feeling,” she laughs.
Pop culture is deeply important to Suzi. From the bands she’d listen to growing up, to the “collective” she considers herself part of in East London currently, she recognizes the power of music in its subversion of societal norms and in its welcoming of outcasts; outcasts who manage to outsmart old industry tropes. With her second EP on the horizon – the follow-up to 2017’s ‘Teenage Witch’ – she’s following in similar self-possessed, fan-base building footsteps.
Error 404 is a far more electronic collection of songs and more unashamedly pop. Suzi, however, strives to buck trends. The EP is chopped and screwed with a hip-hop edge. Suzi’s vocal delivery has been compared with M.I.A. and King Krule. Those comparisons both feel limiting and reductive. Particularly given Suzi is 21 years-old and living her own unique experience. The four songs are rooted in her plainspoken swagger, which she carries out in her lower register and doesn’t pretty up to render it more feminine.
With Teenage Witch having already racked up a wealth of praise and attention from radio, press, and streaming services, tongues are wagging with anticipation for Suzi’s follow-up. Error 404 bridges the gap but definitely transports Suzi to an even bolder stop on her journey to pop notoriety. “I’m always writing,” she says, always another move ahead.
Catch Suzi Wu On the Road
5/29 – DC9, Washington, DC
5/30 – Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA
6/1 – Governors Ball Festival, New York, NY
6/5 – Schubas, Chicago, IL
6/7 – Popscene, San Francisco, CA
6/10 – Moroccan Lounge, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets on sale Wednesday, March 27 at 10am local time
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