Track by Track: Ariana and the Rose on her Retrograde EP

The whole EP was written over a long period of time where I was living in this transition stage, bouncing between London, New York and LA. That was why I decided to call the EP Retrograde. I’ve written so much music, and these four tracks feel like the best representation of myself and of who I am today, both sonically and lyrically. Putting them out feels like the marking of the end of this transformative period in my life and the beginning of a new phase.

How Does That Make You Feel

I was spending a lot of time in New York when I wrote this song - I actually came up with the melody and some of the lyrics for it in the shower! We had just shot the video for “Supercool” and I was going out all the time, just in a really free place. That’s definitely reflected in the melody and sounds. I co-wrote the track with an amazing duo called Me Not You who helped pull all the elements together. The verses of the song are quite aggressive, suggesting to someone all of the things you’d like to do with them and then the chorus asking them how it makes them feel. I wanted to write something that flipped the story a bit and gave a woman’s perspective on being in control and sensual at the same time.

Love You Lately

This song was written in LA with the guys from RKCB. It was the first time we’d ever worked together and the song just flowed out of us. Casey, [half of RKCB] started singing the hook, “I guess I don’t love you lately,” and both of us were completely on the same page with that feeling. When we looked up and had finished the song it felt like it had to be a duet, to have both a male and female perspective on this deteriorating relationship felt more poignant. Every aspect of the song is a fusing of both our styles, the sounds, the melodies, and our voices.

These Ruins

I wrote this song what feels like forever ago, so it’s very exciting to be putting it out into the world. I had started writing it in New York and ended up finishing it in London. It was several months after I had broken up with someone, and when I sat down at the piano it was the first time I felt like I had any perspective on the whole thing. I just started to have an imaginary conversation I wish I had been able to have in person which is why the song starts with “Hey, boy.” I think a lot of people have the experience of watching something fall down around them and feeling like there’s nothing they can do about it, like a crumbling building. It’s happening to you in a way, kind of like a dream, that was the feeling and picture I was trying to capture with the song.

Supercool

I love the production on this song, every time we play it live it’s my favourite part of the show. I co-wrote it in London with people I had been working with for a long time, I had moved there already as well so this song is a part of a snapshot of such a great moment in my life. The lyric is really a story of a girl whose life is always threatening to go off the rails, a kind of clichéd party girl, but she’s also the most glamorous and amazing creature in the room. I love people who are contradictions and Supercool is a portrait of someone who is a total mess and completely fabulous. When we shot the video with the Moxi Roller Skate team the song took on this other meaning and became this moment of empowerment, which was amazing. I think, like people, songs are so multi-layered and can mean many things.