PREMIERE | Peach Face, "Stupid Baby"
DC / Baltimore rising star Alison Ramirez of Peach Face; photographed by Grace Campbell.
Coasting on a spring heatwave that signals the forthcoming solstice of sun, the world seeks the sounds that symbolize and synthesize the sensations of a summer without end. Starting the season off early is Baltimore/DC pop art upstarts Peach Face who just released their debut album Grocery Store Flowers, an album that has been in the works for half a decade. Lead by artist Alison Ramírez, Flowers chronicles autobiographical events, emotions and thoughts in streams of evocative atmospheres and economic rhythm progressions that soar through stories of intricate relationships, vast displays of visions and pop dissertations on the chaos of desire.
Opener "Forehead Kisses" focuses on the fierce and complicated connections of amour and anguish, as "Midnight Lover" steals away into the blanketed cover of deep evening that expresses candid encounters in conjunction with warm percolating beats. Body bouncing ballroom progressions populate the record like the ecstatic energy on "Dancing With My Boo", with production supplied by Not Charles that curates every cut to emanate with an electric aesthetic as experienced on the title track. Alison illustrates a café chic cool on the caffeinated mind streaming sentiments of "Tell Me How You Like Your Coffee", to cautionary tale confessionals on the moody mixed feeling bouquet of lamentations, "Stop Dating Musicians", that appropriately undermines the artistic hubris of self-obsessed egotists. Tracks like "Basket Case" bubble like an overwhelming array wealth of feelings running amok, closing with the "Delusional" that skewers suspect pseudo-significant others amid dubious romantic entanglements.
“Stupid Baby” simmers, stomps and claps in a track that lampoons a less than lackluster lover. Ramírez waxes poetic on what could have been, trying to understand a dull suitor and their unsuitable poor attempts at affection and courtship as a whole. Not Charles accentuates a tone that could have been an outtake from an early Mac Demarco record, tailoring a percussion sequence that is thoughtful and sparkles like a midsummer’s daydream. As Alison ponders the misbegotten misadventures of a much maligned beaux — “Stupid Baby” searches for that special substance in an imperfect someone that sinks down into the afternoon ennui of a lonely love seat. Expectations are set aside in earnest as Alison’s assessments of gross incompetence are expressed in a lyrical prayer for someone that abides by a greater force of intuition and a conscionable instinct.
Alison Ramírez of Peach Face provided some exclusive reflections on the debut album and the single “Stupid Baby”:
My debut album Grocery Store Flowers has been in the making for probably about 5 years.
Six out of the nine tracks in this project have been lyrically completed since as early as 2018. I’ve been sitting on the title Grocery Store Flowers for my first album for so long, it feels like a dream now that it’s finally released. Collaborating with Not Charles on the production of the album has made the creative process incredibly seamless. With inspiration from Remi Wolf, Ravyn Lenae and The Marías, the goal of this album was to transform these old songs of mine into something new and fresh for listeners to groove to this summer.
Reflections by Peach Face's Alison Ramirez; photographed by Grace Campbell.
One of the singles off the album, “Stupid Baby”, as silly as it might sound is a real and intimate song to me. The lyrics take you through all of the things I wished were different about an unfortunate past relationship. The upbeat and cute instrumental made by Not Charles paired with my lyrics very clearly displaying my displeasure with my own relationship, create a bit of a playful contradiction. I go on to sing about the thought of not coming back to my partner and resort to name calling such as dumb, cruel and stupid baby. I love how this song takes a true and unsuccessful situation and turned it into a fun tune for others to enjoy and dance to.
The title track of the album might be my favorite of the bunch. The song “Grocery Store Flowers” is one I wrote about all of the little trinkets I’ve collected and put on display in my bedroom. Every knickknack I name has a specific memory attached to it that takes me through a journey of nostalgia. However if you’re unfamiliar with the deeper meanings behind my oddities, the lyrics might sounds like gibberish and nonsense. Unbeknownst to most listeners, these lyrics sweep you through my personal past by simply listing off ornaments such as a plastic skeleton, porcelain babies and somebody’s else’s teeth inside a nesting doll.
Overall, this album is a story of reminiscence and growth. Grocery Store Flowers encapsulates so many different aspects of my life over the last couple of years — good things, bad things, and everything in between. To have a project that covers this much of my journey is unreal and I’m genuinely thrilled to share that with listeners.
Peach Face’s Grocery Store Flowers is available now everywhere.