Following on from a stellar 2017, which saw Stella Donnelly release her debut EP “Thrush Metal”and perform at SXSW both of which attracted glowing reviews, Donnelly has shared “Old Man” – the first track to be taken from her debut album “Beware Of The Dogs“, due out March 8th via Secretly Canadian.
Thematically, the track matches her break out track “Boys Will Be Boys” which dealt with society’s victim-blaming in cases of sexual assault. However, “Old Man” is a more direct attack on the abusers. Musically, the track is quite a stark contrast with a full band behind her, the track almost has a twee-pop sound to it making it sound lighthearted but the lyrics are anything but as she proclaims “Your personality traits don’t count if you put your dick // In someone’s face.”
In a press release, Donnelly explained what led her to pen track. She stated ” I came up with the chords and chorus to this song in 2017 around the time when Woody Allen called the #metoo movement a witch hunt. It was a very strange feeling for me watching the world change right before my eyes and to see that these men who had exploited their power for so long were actually being held accountable for their actions. It made me look back on my experiences as a young woman doing music and certain powerful men who tried to manipulate me and exploit other young women. I needed to write this song for myself because if I hadn’t I would still feel quite angry about things that I probably let slide in my younger, more naive days. I have no intentions of publicly calling out these people but it’s a nice feeling to me knowing that they may hear this song one day and feel perhaps an inch of the humiliation and powerlessness that they inflicted on me back then.”
You’ll be able to hear the new tracks live at one of the following shows:
Fri. March 15 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
Sat. March 16 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Mon. March 18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
Wed. March 20 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
Fri. March 22 – Somerville, MA @ ONCE Ballroom
Sat. March 23 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Sun. March 24 – Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel
Mon. March 25 – Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
Wed. March 27 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Thu. March 28 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
Fri. March 29 – Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s
Sat. March 30 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Tue. April 2 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Wed. April 3 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
Fri. April 5 – San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord
Sat. April 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater
Thu. April 11 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
Fri. April 12 – Hamburg, DE @ Skybar
Sat. April 13 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
Mon. April 15 – Cologne, DE @ Yuca
Tue. April 16 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
Wed. April 17 – Amiens, FR @ La Lune Des Pirates
Thu. April 18 – Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up Du Label
Tue. April 23 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
Wed. April 24 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
Thu. April 25 – Southampton, UK @ Joiners
Sat. April 27 – Brighton, UK @ Haunt
Sun. April 28 – Manchester, UK @ Yes
Mon. April 29 – Dublin, IE @ Grand Social
Wed. May 1 – Glasgow, UK The Blue Arrow
Thu. May 2 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Community Room
Sat. May 4 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Sound City
Sun. May 5 – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
Tue. May 7 – London, UK @ Scala
