Five Female Musicians You Should Start Listening To (Assignment 3)

BY FARHIRA FARUDIN

Here's a confession: I hate the word 'female musician'. It's only because we don't call male musicians as... male musicians. Have you ever realised that?

A lot of music-related articles or news seems to make female musicians as an exclusive thing, and therefore excluded the art from the whole conversation itself. Somehow, their talent isn't the main focus but their gender is, and a lot of predominantly male music fans find it a special thing if they enjoy "girls" music.

News flash: you aren't as cool as you think you are.

I've heard a lot of guys said how "they don't pick gender when it comes to music", but as you scroll through their music library, you will find that they somehow only specifically listen to male artists.

As a huge fan of music, I realised I tend to lean more towards music made by women. And I am a lyrics person above anything else. Perhaps the lyrics written by women resonates more with me in comparison to those written by men. But I do listen to male musicians. I just think female musicians are evidently way better.

This is not a gender war, this is merely a start for you to listen to more female musicians and support them. Music industry is and has always been a misogynistic place for women, whether towards the artists or the fans. By supporting female musicians - streaming their music, go to their concerts, buy their physical albums, acknowledge and fight against sexism in the music industry - it can be a more welcoming haven towards the artists and the fans.

Here I present to you five musicians you should be listening to, in case you haven't yet:

1) Japanese Breakfast

Japanese Breakfast is a stage name used by Michelle Zauner when she first went solo from her band Little Big League. The release of her debut album 'Psychopomp', a trajectory of grieving the loss of her mother in a form of music, brought her into a name worth listening to in the indie electronic music scene.

With the release of her second album 'Soft Sounds from Another Planet', Japanese Breakfast further instilled herself as an exciting musician and one to look forward to for many years to come.

Notable songs:
'Boyish'
'Everybody Wants to Love You'
'Essentially'

2) Fiona Apple

If you are a fan of Fiona Apple's music, you might fall into two categories: a) People who were lucky enough to see her reaching the peak of her fame during the 90s or b) Gen-Z or millennial sad girls who resort to her existential angst ballad tunes to make themselves feel a little less lonely. I happen to fall into the second category. 

Fiona Apple was akin of today's Billie Eilish. She was an alternative artist who doesn't succumb to anyone's expectation of what a female pop artist should be. Her songwriting skill goes beyond anything else, perhaps it's her strongest talent too. Her other talents include playing beautiful piano tunes and singing songs with her sharp and powerful vocal. 

Though she only releases new music on average once in seven years, it will always be the most anticipated work of music of all. And they would often end up as best of the year too.

Notable songs:

'Valentine'

'Fast As You Can'

'Shadowboxer'

3) Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom first rose to become an indie darling with the release of her sophomore album 'Ys'. Ys became instant critical acclaim while being included in many Best Albums of the Decade list. But every album Newsom has released, including her debut, is a magnum opus of its own.

Newsom is known for her complex yet well-articulated lyrics. She writes and sings about the complexity of nature, history and most of all about human feelings. Newsom is also a talented harpist and her live performances are often miraculous and straight out of a fairytale storybook. It feels like magic.

Notable songs:
'Emily'
'Divers'
'Soft as Chalk'

4) Taylor Swift

Anyone who has listened to music before would've heard of Taylor Swift before. Arguably, she is among the biggest pop stars of all time. Recently named Billboard's Artist of the Decade, Taylor Swift's prominence shouldn't be underestimated.

But her career is far from being free of controversy. Most of all, she is known to "only write songs about her ex-boyfriends." Which is true. But this shouldn't dismantle the fact of how talented she is in doing so. The statement is usually made by people who want to underestimate how great of an artist she is. And it's so misogynistic too to reduce her music as to be obsessive and childish. We don't see the same argument for men who write songs about their past relationships too. Swift has always been a target of harassment, especially by men, for her music that are predominantly about her relationships. But isn't love has always been the subject of music after all? So why can't we let Swift writes whatever she wants to write, even if it's about the same guy over and over again?

Swift's songwriting skill is poetic and puts her into the hall of fame of songwriters. It's sad to see her talent is being dismissed just because she is a) female b) mega pop star. It's time to recognize Swift for her talent, and not for what the tabloids have created of her.

Notable songs:
'All Too Well'
'Lover'
'Delicate'

5) Mitski

Mitski is a Japanese-American singer whose work has become prominent for her melancholic songs about depression, self-worth and finding trust in relationships again. She also plays bass and guitar too. She has released five albums so far, and each one of them has been an excellent composition of what being sad really feels like. Mitski is one of the few artists who capture this negative feeling fantastically.

And she is an amazing performer too. Mitski is known to give performative theatrical dance while singing her songs, so going to her concerts wouldn't just be about seeing your favorite songs performed live, it's also about experiencing a beautiful performance of art, told through her moves and lyrics.

Notable songs:
'Your Best American Girl'
'First Love/Late Spring'
'Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart'