Teesside-based singer-songwriter, synth player and producer Claire Applegarth steps into the light under a new solo guise,
Taipei TV, with her debut indie-rock single ‘Anti-Social Century’, due for release on the 14
th October. Having previously played in original and cover bands across the Northeast, this new project beautifully showcases her songwriting and formidable vocal delivery, while asking a very contemporary question about how connected any of us really are.
Anti-Social Century makes a bold entrance, with drums and a weighty guitar riff that immediately signal there is going to be some power behind this track. From Claire’s first vocal, it feels as though her voice could quite easily outweigh the instrumentation, but somehow it never does. Instead, the two sit alongside each other, her vocals powerful enough to carry the heavier guitar melodies while retaining an ethereal quality that casts something of a dream state across the track, even when the chorus kicks in. The track is loaded with vocal strength but without ever feeling forced.
At the heart of the track is one of the stranger dichotomies of modern life; the loneliness and isolation created by the very devices and media designed to keep us permanently connected, set against our inherent need to belong, to be with people and to be seen.
“And I’m missing you. Are you missing me too?” carries an almost end-of-the-tether desperation. The unanswered phone rings particularly loudly when we know that, for most of us, our phones are rarely more than an arm’s length away. Elsewhere, “I just want to run away” suggests a desire to escape not only the device itself, but the highways of life around it; media, information, expectation and the pressure to keep up.
Vocal harmonies broaden the track into something much more atmospheric, heightening that sense of need while providing light and shade against the underlying constancy of the drum beat. And interestingly, Claire doesn’t always need a cryptic lyric to communicate her frustration, sometimes “stupid phone” does the job perfectly well. And let’s face it, it absolutely does.
More unsettling is “I’m sorry for whatever it is I’m supposed to have done.” When connection disappears without explanation, self-reflection can quickly turn into self-blame. Surely it isn’t us, it’s the phone, the socials, the way that we have been drawn in to communicate now. But when somebody doesn’t answer, how easily does “what have I done?” creep in anyway?
Musically, the heavier 90s guitar riffs inevitably bring Alanis Morissette to mind, while there are moments in Claire’s vocal delivery that carry echoes of Florence Welch, Karen O and even the emotional force of Sarah McLachlan. Yet those reference points never overwhelm Taipei TV’s own emerging identity. The combination of muscle-flexing guitar, dreamy harmonies and Claire’s voice already gives the project somewhere unique and interesting to go.
Eventually everything circles back to the question sitting at the centre of the song: “Did you ever want to be in the anti-social century?”
How exactly did we find ourselves here? Plenty of listeners will recognise the contradictions wrapped up in that question, but perhaps the more important one is what we’re prepared to do about it.
I’m putting my faith in the human race on this one.
Anti-Social Century is out now across all major streaming platforms. The track features Tommy Applegarth on guitar, with Claire Applegarth also on bass, and was recorded, co-produced and mixed by Lisa Murphy at Production Rooms Studio in Ouseburn. Taipei TV’s debut EP is due to follow in 2027.
