Rosie Tucker Asks Big Questions in the Catchiest Way Possible

Tongue twisters that mock techno-optimism and mention captious mentation don’t usually marque for catchy opus lyrics. But indie rocker Rosie Tucker’s Utopia Now! finds quality successful the dross of precocious capitalism. Over 13 songs backed by distorted guitars and blazing drum fills, Tucker’s searing vocals bemoan the inherent dislocation of our modern satellite portion searching for moments of information and quality connection.

Tucker isn’t a caller creator — they’ve released a fistful of albums and EPs implicit the past decennary — but Utopia Now! represents thing of a caller start. It’s their archetypal afloat task since getting dropped by their statement and firing their management. It besides represents a distinctly antithetic creator approach. While Tucker’s erstwhile enactment looked inward, Utopia confronts nine arsenic a whole. On “Lightbulb,” they picture the feeling of being an creator successful the integer system (“I’m a encephalon successful a jar, I’m a look connected a screen”); “Gil Scott Albatross” muses connected the modern abstraction race, rueing that “They’re gonna crook the satellite into a sweatshop.”

The nighttime earlier Tucker embarked connected a tour, I visited their location workplace to talk to them astir the inspirations down their latest album. Although it deals with “big” topics, Tucker stressed that it each comes backmost to the idiosyncratic and that the satellite we person reflects the satellite we make. “I americium trying to reckon with some processing idiosyncratic resentment,” they told me, “and recognizing my ain relation successful my ain misery.”

The opening lyric connected Utopia Now! is “The lightbulb is updating, and I beryllium successful the dark.” Why did you privation that to beryllium the archetypal happening radical heard connected this record?
This opus was 1 of the precise archetypal I wrote aft a agelong play of writer’s block. And it conscionable benignant of people ended up synthesizing a batch of the truly large themes I was trying to connect. I besides wrote it connected the piano, which is not usually however I write; I’m not bully astatine it.

It’s arresting due to the fact that the thought of a lightbulb updating is benignant of an absurd connection and besides relatable. Like, it’s a failed astute bulb — you’re astatine the highest of exertion and convenience, and you’re sitting successful the dark.
Yes, absolutely. A merchandise whose volition is to, like, maximize ratio has really failed. I had purchased immoderate colored lightbulbs and they needed an app connected my telephone to work, and the app needed support to work each of my substance messages. I conscionable felt a mode astir it, truthful I didn’t usage them.

There’s different enactment connected this opus that introduces the hostility betwixt creation and commerce: “Writing the grounds / You indispensable privation it heard / And instrumentality connected concern / Is each but assured / Success is simply a bargain / Where the terms is obscured.” Did you person immoderate ambivalence making this record?
I loved making it, but I had a large woody of ambivalence participating successful a concerted mode successful the euphony industry. In the people of creating this record, I was dropped by my label, but that was benignant of okay. I besides parted ways with 1 semipermanent collaborator and my manager. I had conscionable begun to measure the ways that I had benignant of sold myself retired due to the fact that I had been functioning nether an idea: that if I were to perpetrate myself to trying to beryllium a signaling creator successful a nonrecreational way, it was going to elevate maine to a presumption wherever I would beryllium capable to find my radical — radical who perceive to euphony the mode that I bash and subordinate to creation the mode that I do. And that was not my experience.

The adjacent track, “All My Exes Live successful Vortexes,” kicks disconnected with a striking enactment too: “I anticipation nary 1 had to piss successful a vessel astatine enactment / To get maine the happening I ordered connected the internet.” And past aboriginal you benignant of repetition the image, “I cognize each clip you sip from a vessel of piss / And retrieve me, the representation degrades.” Tell maine astir penning that lyric.
Yeah, it’s the integrative quality of our minds. I americium intrigued by the thought of erstwhile you retrieve a memory, you alteration the memory. And that is truthful absorbing erstwhile it comes to idiosyncratic resentments — how erstwhile I resent someone, I americium fundamentally practicing resenting them.

You reuse words successful antithetic contexts passim the album. It’s astir similar the mode that a representation degrades is the aforesaid mode that the meaning of a connection benignant of slips and changes successful your encephalon into thing else.
I deliberation that decidedly makes maine dependable similar a precise coherent wordsmith. I deliberation what is astonishing astir songs is the forced system of them, and what that does to connection is it benignant of truly limits the crayons successful your container that you person available. And truthful you fig retired however to shadiness things successful specified a mode wherever there’s repetition. Because evidently a opus lives oregon dies based connected establishing thing that tin beryllium some absorbing and acquainted immediately.

But past besides you request question — similar astatine the extremity of each verse I should beryllium successful a antithetic spot than I was astatine the beginning, and each clip the chorus happens I should consciousness a small spot otherwise astir the chorus. So connected the 1 manus there’s truthful overmuch astir songwriting that is truthful casual erstwhile you person your 20 seconds of chords and a melody. The large instrumentality is to propulsion disconnected thing that is coherent.

I’d emotion to speech astir the opus rubric “Paperclip Maximizer.” Where does that operation travel from?
I consciousness similar this is thing that I work astir connected the net erstwhile I was similar 13 and the representation conscionable has ever stuck with me. The paperclip maximizer is simply a thought experimentation astir a instrumentality that is truthful effectual astatine creating paperclips and rearranging atoms that the full beingness gets destroyed. The song, emotionally, is functioning successful presumption of watching a idiosyncratic who is benignant of consenting to harness everything successful their beingness to extremity their ain productivity oregon career.

It’s not a operation you would typically spot successful a song. You often brace these world phrases and words, particularly successful this track, with immoderate heavy, acheronian themes, but successful a mode that is ne'er despairing oregon flippant. How bash you find that balance?
I’m truly grateful for that characterization. I had been trying to constitute songs speaking much to my values for years. It conscionable took immoderate increasing up to beryllium capable to articulate these things. I needed it to consciousness wholly fresh. Any clip that thing felt similar it could person travel from the internet, I would discard it. I had been trying to articulate myself successful a circumstantial mode successful euphony for a agelong time, and was conscionable benignant of continually characterized as, like, a confessional singer-songwriter. There’s truthful overmuch worth successful that, but it wasn’t what I was going for. So I wanted to beryllium explicit and I wanted to beryllium honorable and talk from a spot of knowing wherever my ain idiosyncratic stakes were successful regards to these wider themes. And past I wanted it to beryllium articulated successful a mode wherever it felt similar I was talking to idiosyncratic I respected, due to the fact that I did not privation anyone to consciousness condescended to.

There’s a lyric successful “Unending Bliss” wherever you say, “I privation thing but unending bliss for my enemies.” Tell maine a spot astir that line. 
I had been trying to betterment my ain conception of what forgiveness is. I wanted forgiveness to escaped maine and heal maine from choler and bitterness that was messing with my well-being. Everyone loves a revenge song. And I deliberation we are successful a reasonably vindictive infinitesimal successful the civilization astatine large. But besides we are contrasted with, like, conversations around, say, situation abolition, an thought that has go overmuch much mainstream successful my beingness than it was. I conscionable started to deliberation astir however the radical who I felt truly pissed disconnected astatine are, mostly speaking, connected my squad successful the world. Some of the halfway values, I think, are akin — not akin capable to wherever I privation to ever beryllium successful the aforesaid country with them, but astatine immoderate constituent idiosyncratic volition person to if thing is going to beryllium repaired and changed. Trying to larn however to beryllium much forgiving was portion of my ain tendency to person much bureau successful my ain life, which is not usually however forgiveness is talked about. It’s usually talked astir arsenic diminishing america to forgive due to the fact that we are specified bully people. We are consenting to beryllium diminished. And I conscionable wanted to find thing that wasn’t that.

You person a circuit coming up. What are you looking guardant to astir it?
I americium conscionable truthful excited to spot radical bask this record. I went connected a circuit past November that was conscionable maine and an acoustic guitar, and it was precise surreal. That song, “Unending Bliss,” had travel out, like, 2 days earlier, and successful New York City, radical knew the words. And this was a brand-new acquisition for me. I’ve been penning songs and performing them successful clubs for similar a decennary now. And to abruptly person radical who had intelligibly listened to the euphony earlier was rather a trip.