Madeline Lessing, who makes music as the folk-pop outfit Loopy Bang, today released their second EP, Suburban Knight. On it is "Man," a powerful ballad about being taught to value male validation from a young age. The song is based on a poem that came to Lessing after a year without writing and describes how they've spent "twenty years desperate for the hollow of a man," illustrating their complex, ambivalent feelings toward the role of men in their life.
"I have been hurt in countless ways by boys and men, and I ended up never having a boyfriend," Lessing tells me. "Yet, I still believe deeply in this idea of tending to men because they will keep me safe, even though I know it is extremely disconnected from my reality."
Lessing is an adult now and in a long-term, queer relationship. Still, they have always wanted to know men as people beyond narratives of strength and weakness, love and hatred. "But the narratives have always been too big of a wall to climb over," they tell me. "I want to mourn that distance while still believing in the possibility that the wall can come down."
"Man" was crafted remotely; guitarist Aaron Brown, drummer Ryan Katz, and bassist Zane McDaniel recording their parts separately, while Lessing laid their vocals with engineer and producer Cameron Seymour-Hawkins. Despite the challenges of remote recording, the song builds to such a natural, emotional crescendo that one might feel like they were listening to a live performance.
In addition to "Man," Lessing released the poetic "Vanilla Vixen" and the more rock-based "Pathways," which make for a beautiful EP. I look forward to hearing more from Loopy Bang in the future.
