INTERVIEW: FRANKIE ARCHER

Image by Rob Irish

Frankie Archer has captured the imagination of the UK electro folk scene over the last few years with music that transcends trad stereotypes while also challenging outdated social perspectives. Fresh from live dates this Autumn supporting The Last Dinner Party (who she met when appearing on the same episode of Jools Holland), she’s embarking on a full UK headline tour of her own to support new EP Pressure And Persuasion.

While her press bumf may cite the likes of Little Dragon, Hannah Peel, Björk, James Blake and electro-trad pioneer and collaborator Jim Moray as inspirations, it would be easy to pigeonhole Frankie’s vision along with a long list of names who have taken trad songs and reworked them by adding contemporary instrumentation that was not always well received by the purists. However, Frankie told me she is not concerned about all that. “I don’t play a lot of folk clubs but it happens all the time; I just use whatever I have around and feel comfortable with. I’m not trying to piss off the folk purists or modernise folk music or anything like that.” In Frankie’s case she has taken four trad songs and embellished them by blending electronic production with the centuries-old prose, creating an EP which is both reflective and explorative, challenging the listener to accept a new way of understanding these ancient fables.

I’m not trying to piss off the folk purists or modernise folk music or anything like that

The Pressure and Persuasion EP tells the stories of four women and girls from centuries past who navigate the same expectations that are put on women today. However, Frankie told me this wasn’t a conscious concept but more of an organic accident. “I just had a few songs I was working on separately and they came together quite naturally. They are all trad songs but all quite different. For example, Barbara Allen is alternative music with an electronic element, Elsie Marley has more of a pop feel. I’m calling it a treacle bop, a slow flow and a bit of a palate cleanser on the EP because Fair Mabel of Wallington Hall is all doom, drone and glitch trad, and Lovely Joan has got more of a rock feel because I’m using distortion on my fiddle.”

In fact, EP opener Barbara Allen is one of the most re-told songs in the English language, one that portrays its protagonist as a cruel-hearted woman for spurning the advances of a man. “I took out the ending and added a new chorus because in the original version the man dies and then Barbara also dies of sorrow a few days later because [incredulously] that happened all the time!”

With an exciting end to the year already mapped out, Frankie was also keen to tell me her very un-trad plans for 2025. “This is my second EP (and I’ve released some singles too) so an album feels like a natural progression. I’ve actually just bought a keytar and we are developing the floral monster from the Barbara Allen video to make a brief live cameo with the keytar, I want the live shows to be very interactive and immersive. I’ve got a lot of ideas for the live shows…”

Frankie Archer releases Pressure and Persuasion EP on Friday 4^th October and plays Cobalt Studios, Newcastle on the same date. She also performs at Hartlepool Folk Festival on Saturday 5^th and Sunday 6^th October.