Pillow Queens Talks on Their Newest Album “Name Your Sorrow,” and Their 90s Rock Band Influences
By Zoe Blakeman
Pillow Queens, the acclaimed Irish indie rock band, has been making waves with their latest album, “Name Your Sorrow,” which explores themes of intimacy and vulnerability. Their upcoming UK tour in June and a special performance supporting Snow Patrol in Limerick, IR on July 12, followed by their biggest show to date at Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on July 13, promise to be unforgettable experiences for fans.
Known for their raw lyricism and masterful instrumentation, Pillow Queens immerse listeners in a rich, emotionally charged sonic world, exploring themes of queerness, insecurity, desire, and heartbreak with gut-wrenching honesty.
Read the Q&A below on their latest album!
ZB: How do you perceive the role of “Gone” within the thematic narrative of ‘Name Your Sorrow,’ particularly in terms of exploring fleeting romantic encounters and struggles with self-worth?
Pamela: To me, Gone feels like a moment of petulance. It’s trashy in sound but also in its intent. It feels like it’s leaning into feeling sorry for yourself and not trying to hold it together or over-articulate your emotions.
ZB: “Suffer” delves into the ache of heartbreak and the challenge of letting go. Could you discuss this track’s inspiration and contribution to the emotional depth of ‘Name Your Sorrow’?
Pamela: Suffer was one of the first songs we started working on and it’s one that we’d constantly be like “This reminds me of this or that”. Sonically it feels so moody and almost threatening. It’s giving impending doom before it breaks into a gospel-like chanting. It’s a track that really takes on the job of conveying the emotion of the song through the music itself.
ZB: How does “Blew Up the World” contribute to exploring themes such as queerness, insecurity, and desire on the LP? What inspired the creation of this particular song, and what do you hope listeners take away from it?
Pamela: I think with this song, the main focus is a feeling of insecurity and vulnerability. That, to me, goes outside the theme of queerness. It’s a song about an ache that can be felt by anyone. Yes, it’s a song that details the dismantling of a queer relationship but there’s nothing in the feelings it conveys that are exclusive to that queerness. Lyrically, it’s quite raw and blunt which when creating it felt almost uncomfortable to perform.
Being one of the first songs written for the album, it acted as a trial by fire as we pushed through any reluctance to be so vulnerable. It doesn’t try to cover the emotions with poetics for the most part and maybe that rawness can bring the listener into the uncomfortable insecurity of the song. Desire does go through this album but the particular flavour of desire in this song is a desire to be seen as you once were. A desire for respect. A desire to not be working alone in saving something.
ZB: Can you share insights into the collaborative process behind ‘Name Your Sorrow’ and how each band member’s contributions shaped the LP’s overall sound and direction?
Cathy: To date, this has been the most collaborative writing process in Pillow Queen’s career. The process was very communal in that we sat down together every morning and played through each other’s feelings, whatever they were on the day. We became one entity in that writing process and at times were just communicating nonverbally, solely through music.
Of course, there are themes that this album focuses on which we discussed (relationship demise, grief, loss, love) themes that we all related to and had individual stories to tell. Name Your Sorrow is our journey through these feelings, sowing our stories together.
ZB: Pillow Queens have cited diverse influences ranging from literary figures to musicians. How did these influences manifest in the songwriting and musical arrangements on ‘Name Your Sorrow’?
Sarah: I think it’s pretty common to do some interrogation of your influences while working on a new piece of work or in the months after, and more often than not I’ve found that what’s influencing me at any given time won’t be immediately obvious in the work I’m creating, but becomes more obvious the longer I sit with the work.
I think that’s what happened with Name Your Sorrow – although we had a huge list of sonic influences that we thought were informing the creation of the work, what actually ended up penetrating the work was stronger than that. Our real influences were poets we’d studied years ago, or our parents’ favourite songs we’d grown up listening to, or an artist that ignited a sense of nostalgia in us.
ZB: Considering the evolution of Pillow Queens’ sound, how does ‘Name Your Sorrow’ fit into the band’s artistic vision and trajectory? What growth or progression does it represent?
Sarah: This record feels like a celebration of introspection but delivered with assertion. Our first and second records relied more heavily on the use of metaphor and symbolism, whereas Name Your Sorrow leans into the idea of recognition as a tool for cleansing. We no longer feel the need to explain ourselves through anecdotes or accessible imagery, and instead, we’re inviting listeners to share with us in struggle and triumph. We created this record for ourselves and for anyone who has ever fought a battle with themselves and lost. We wrote it with the intention of playing it loud, from big stages to bigger audiences.
ZB: What significant challenges or breakthrough moments did the band encounter during the writing and recording of ‘Name Your Sorrow,’ and how did they navigate them?
Cathy: I think the most remarkable thing on this record was getting to what felt like a ‘flow state’. We were spending so much time together that we were all absolutely on the same wavelength. It was also a very vulnerable and raw record so a deeper level of trust and patience was reached. It’s very hard to explain this environment if you’re not in a band but it’s quite a unique relationship.
ZB: “Notes on Worth” explores themes of introspection and self-reflection. How does this track contribute to the overall thematic arc of the EP, and what message do you hope it conveys to listeners?
Pamela: As the last song it holds a lot of significance and responsibility in ending the album. It was certainly a very considered choice on our part to end with Notes on Worth. Previously we’ve ended our albums with songs that have a cacophony of noise that stamp the ending right into the record.
This song for us is a continuation of thought, and ellipsis rather than a full stop. The song tries to convey the feelings of insecurity and desperation that swirl around your head in the pursuit of love, or something close to it. It shows the ugly but very real side of putting yourself out into the world alone. It’s a song about trial and error and trial and error and trial and error etc. And we try sonically to make it feel very perpetual because in those moments the pursuit feels never-ending.
ZB: Looking ahead, what are Pillow Queens’ aspirations for the future, creatively and in terms of reaching new audiences? Are there any specific goals or milestones the band aims to achieve in the coming months and years?
Cathy: We have realized very recently that we are very ambitious and how important that trait is. We reach new heights and seek new challenges once we have achieved them. So our aim is to stay ambitious and to constantly challenge ourselves. Our sound is constantly evolving and needless to say, we would like to continue to build on that.
We always want our music to fall into the laps of new listeners so we hope to play bigger stages and we hope to be played on your favourite TV shows. And my personal goal that we haven’t checked off (it’s the only goal we haven’t achieved yet!) is to play Red Rocks. Light a candle for us
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Links:
Official: https://www.pillowqueens.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pillowqueens/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PillowQueens
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pillowqueensband