“Eating a Sugar Cube, Watching a Car Crash”: Estelle Allen on Her New Album
FP:
We were talking about the new album. Tell me about it.
EA:
Yeah, it’s called Ravens Howling in a Threadbare Tree. It’s basically my nine favorite songs I’ve ever made. I’m playing a bunch tonight, kind of road-testing them and seeing how they feel live.
It’s everything I’ve been doing, but pushed to the extreme. The pop parts are way poppier. If I were writing for Ariana Grande, this is me trying to do that.
FP:
Are we getting whistle tones?
EA:
Oh my god, that would be insane. She’s honestly one of my favorite vocal producers. People really underestimate her. There’s this misogynistic idea that female pop stars just get told what to do in the studio.
But if you watch her record, it’s fascinating. How meticulous she is with layering and dynamics. That’s been a big influence on how I approach vocals now.
At the same time, I’m pulling from heavier and electronic stuff too. I want the songs to feel like you’re eating a sugar cube, but also watching a car crash.
FP:
How has your writing changed?
EA:
I’m very anti-irony now. I just want to say what actually feels true.
FP:
Favorite SpongeBob episode?
EA:
SpongeBob was huge for my whole generation, especially how we communicate now, like meme language. There are moments that are just so out-of-pocket and non-sequitur.
There’s that episode where he breaks his butt. He has a skiing accident and becomes agoraphobic. He’s convinced that if he goes outside, he’s just going to get hurt again.
So he’s like, “I’m gonna stay inside,” and he’s hanging out with a potato chip, a paper clip, and a piece of paper.
FP:
“The gang’s all here”.
EA:
Literally. Like, you go outside, you get traumatized. I’m staying in the crib with my objects.
It’s funny too, because I’m about to out myself as being kind of… borderline millennial with this stuff. Where’s the cutoff even?
FP:
’96? ’97?Bring back millennial pink.
EA:
No, that era was fire. The whole Tumblr pastel aesthetic, The 1975, it completely shaped how I see art.
Their second album changed everything for me. They went from black-and-white indie to pink, funky, kind of effeminate. It felt like an indie band cosplaying as Michael Jackson. I loved that contrast.
EA:
My friend Ember Knight said something recently that stuck with me, that the part of you that feels cringe or isolating is actually what makes you lovable.
That applies to art too. If you love something “uncool,” like Steely Dan or whatever, leaning into that is what makes your work feel real. That’s where the joy is.
FP:
If you had unlimited resources, what would your visuals look like?
EA:
I’d want it to feel like a full spectacle. Like having a Jurassic Park-level animatronic T-Rex onstage.
But then pairing that with something super stripped-back. Like me sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar, very Joan Baez, very 1960s Greenwich Village, while there’s just a T-Rex behind me.
FP:
Any final thoughts?
EA:
Go to shows. Be around people.
The internet’s great, but it can be isolating. When I stay inside too long and then go out, there’s this warmth you just don’t get from scrolling.
We’re all kind of stuck consuming things alone, but being around people, even awkwardly, is really important.