femme mag

Pixx
Words by Grace Goslin
Photography by Rhi Barton
In a central London
Wetherspoons amidst the
throng of an unhappy couples’
break- up, perhaps there was
not a more apt time to speak
to Pixx about the success of
her debut album, its inspiration,
and the importance of girls
supporting girls in creative
industries.
‘The Age of Anxiety’ is an
ethereally electronic and
flawlessly crafted ode to our
increasingly social media
obsessed generation. Its
creator, 22-year-old Hannah
Rodgers, best known as Pixx.
The album’s title is taken from
a W.H Auden poem and feels
just as apt in 2017 as in 1947
when the poem was curated.
Anthemic choruses culminate
with soaring and equally
haunting vocals in an album
that is essentially a musical
reflection of Rodgers herself.
The album’s artwork itself
channels the future, but ‘The
Age of Anxiety’ is very much a
hopeful album for the uncertain
present.
Recorded “over the duration of
a year”, listening to ‘The Age of
Anxiety’ you get a sense that
you could either lounge, cup
of tea in hand, or alternatively
(almost always preferably)
dance around to the record,
carefree and enlightened. In
response to this refreshing
juxtaposition of ideas that her
album promotes, Pixx told us
“I think the reason it comes
across in that way is because
I’m quite extreme. The album
is very much representing me
as a person. I aimed for it to be
like that, because there are so
many sad albums, where I will
listen and think “oh my god,
this is so sad”, and then there
are albums which are way more
vibey! I feel like the mixture
is quite important. I kind of
wanted to represent what the
songs were standing for, in the
fact that a lot of them are about
battling with mental health. The
up’s and down’s are a portrayal
of that.”
Pixx’s captivating live shows,
which are “quite a lot heavier
than what you hear on the
record” channel these ‘vibes’
which punctuate her record.
Through creating a “different
listening experience”, Pixx
spoke of the difficulties
associated with performing a
studio album live: “It’s hard with
electronic music, lots of artists
have found, as I have found,
it’s hard to do it justice live and
also keep a good vibe. I didn’t
like the idea of it not being a
band, even though obviously
I write all the music, I want to
have a live band behind me for
my own fun and also for the
listeners to be able to vibe way
more. It’s different. I don’t think
that’s necessarily a bad thing,
something people can spend
however much time trying to