Ferris Wheels and Frolicking on the Grass

The life of a session musician is a humble existence. Without them, it’s likely no truly brilliant record would exist. Whether it’s the piano player who ascends Robbie Williams’ “Angels” toward heaven or the badass who blew the ostentatiously sexy saxophone riff into George Michael’s “Careless Whisper”, these men and women are the secret backbones of the music industry. A core ingredient, if you will, like flour to a cake or a fat dollop of hot sauce on your favourite pizza.

For the past few years Viva Victoria has been one of these structural components. She’s drummed for M.I.A. and The xx. One Glastonbury she performed with both Jamie T and Real Lies (whom she’s been in and out of sessions with for their forthcoming record). Currently she’s doing stuff with Soulwax – a set-up she describes as “insane… but really organised”, featuring three drummers and five synth players. And before all of that she was playing in Ipso Facto, a band who you’ll likely remember for their post-punk leaning music as much as their razor sharp haircuts. Here’s one of their tracks: refresh your memory.

But, more importantly, let’s get to the present. As well as helping other groups piece together their masterpieces she’s been working on her own material – all of which kicked off in 2016 with “Xstasy”, a collaboration with Baroness Magazine that centered around late postmodern ideas of sexual desire. Or to put it more bluntly: involved a video of performance artist Emma Gruner seductively posing in a bedroom, leaving the audience to answer their own questions. It was an interesting and unique release, one completely inline with Baroness Magazine’s progressive approach to all things erotic, and it was also the thing that kick-started Victoria’s work as a solo artist.

“I feel quite restricted drumming sometimes, so I started doing beats on Logic for friends,” she explains today over the phone. “My friend from Baroness Magazine needed a track, I gave them a track, and that’s what started everything.” From there things started to roll on forward, a couple of Soundcloud releases here and there, all leading toward today’s release of “Round and Round” which you can watch below.

From the immediate offset, “Round and Round” is fascinating stuff. Sitting somewhere between a Larry Clark film and home footage you may have recorded while drunk in the park over the summer, it tells the story of two young lovers who have been caught up in an emotional cycle. It could be described but it’s much better to be seen; for you – the reader – to soak into each movement and moment in the video, becoming embalmed in it and living briefly in the enchanting romance of another.

Musically it sits somewhere between the euphoric high of the club and a pop smash. “I’ve always loved pop music – Sugababes. But I’ve also been into Massive Attack and Aphex Twin, things like that,” Victoria explains, bringing in some of the influences behind this dazzling release. Thematically the song is about “the fantasy of going round and round; being trapped in this cycle but not wanting to leave it” – something that’s addressed with distinction when witnessing the interactions between the two boys in the video as they make out and roll around in the grass against the backdrop of a ferris wheel.

The scene presented here is a common situation people go through – being stuck in a relationship – but here, in “Round and Round”, the dizzying exhilaration is captured with a lucid nuance. Ultimately it’s a video that’s hard to take your eyes away from, watching on and pondering the backstory beyond it’s two protagonists. And so that’s it – there you have it. The first video from Viva Victoria, a key component in the music industry but driving straight into the industry with this release as an artist in her own right. Viva la Vida.

You can find Ryan on Twitter.