We’re back with the next installment of Decoded. Filmed in-studio, each episode sees staff writer and host Shahzaib invite a Clash co-signed artist into his confessional booth, dissecting the creative process through a thoughtful interrogation of influences, themes and iconography. This time round multidisciplinary talent George Riley joined us on the Clash sofa, opening up about her debut project ‘interest rates, a tape’.
Arriving on the scene with the polyrhythmic heat of tracks like ‘Move’ and ‘TRIXX’, Riley solidified her promise with a 10-track mixtape released last year pouring grainy tales of disillusionment over murky production courtesy of producer Oliver Palfreyman; incorporating spacey instrumentals, low-res samples and stream of consciousness storytelling, Riley’s mixtape offered a curative reprieve in a year mired by uncertainty.
Riley takes thrilling detours on 'interest rates': On ‘poomplexed’, kinetic drums fragment into a middle-eight of moans before coalescing again for the finale; ‘money’ matches the former’s breakneck velocity, one ear in the clubs, the other in the streets, the anesthetized thrill of chasing paper made into a rhythmic affirmation.
Moments of aching vulnerability open and bookend the tape: the slower paced, more languorous ‘cleanse me’ washes over the listener, a repudiation of capitalistic climate activism made personal in an act of self-baptism; ‘your eyes’ starts as a delicate lament before fractures being to emerge as Riley looks for clarity around her lover’s intentions; on elegiac closer ‘no certainty’, Riley ascends to the sky in an apocalyptic love story.
Unvarnished, adventitious but also wholly original, ‘interest rates’ is mindfulness in auditory form. Riley shared why her mixtape is a tribute to community and interpersonal relationships, embracing risk and spontaneity in the studio but also striking the right balance between experimentation and lucidity.
Sit back and tune into the conversation below…
