Next Wave #706: Patience

The ever-refreshing adventures of Roxanne Clifford...

Roxanne Clifford’s life has taken her in many directions. First, she moved from the North of England to Glasgow, helping to form The Royal We and release a sterling album (alongside a clutch of seven inches). Then, she veered down south – all the way south, in fact, to London, where she fronted Veronica Falls.

A few months back, though, a new direction presented itself: Los Angeles. “I miss the weather!” she laughs over a Skype call. “I’ve been out here about four months. I’m seeing someone who lives out here. That was one of the reasons – probably the main reason. But also, I just really love it out here. I’ve been out here a lot, and I’ve got some nice friends.”

Working alone, she decided to utilise some electronic sounds to piece together some new material. Haphazardly at first, but then with a growing sense of spirit, a growing sense of confidence. “It took a while to work out what direction I wanted to go to. I played with a lot of different people, did lots of different recordings, and this felt like the most exciting avenue to go down. I’ve written loads of different songs over the past couple of years. The guitar stuff I really liked but, I don’t know, I just felt like more of a change, and this felt more challenging.”

Choosing the name Patience, a golden single on Night School followed. Follow up ‘The Pressure’ is every bit as charming, an eccentric yet perfectly formed piece of synthetic pop music with sounds that gurgle and swirl around that instantly recognisable voice. “I’ve always been really into female Italo stuff, and electro pop. Weird pop music that incorporates synthesisers. It’s just an avenue I’ve never really explored. I’ve got a couple of bits of equipment which I just started messing around with, and I just found it really fun.”

“It was just really interesting to give my songs a different outlet, really. I was a little tired of writing on guitar, and this just makes you write in a slightly different way.”

Working alone – “it’s a bit of an insular project, in a way, and that’s my plan for it” – Roxanne is currently focussing on her writing, but has begun to tentatively sketch out plans for some live shows. Opening Patience with two divine singles, she’s put pop at the absolute core of what the project will encompass.

“I really like electro songs that walk that line between happy and sad,,” she says. “Euphoric but also heart-wrenching. And that was what I was going for. I guess pop was the inspiration, but mainly I just like tugging at the heartstrings.”

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