Freya McKee – ‘Be Ok Soon’ & ‘Blue’ Stills18 Images
When singer Hope Sandoval burst onto the scene in the late 80s, she had a certain whimsical mystery that entranced not only her generation, but multiple generations to follow. Almost four decades after her debut, Sandoval’s impact can still be traced to newer artists who are breathing new light into the Dream Pop Genre. Among them is 25-year-old singer and designer Freya McKee. Born and raised in London, McKee started experimenting with different music production software as a teenager. “I just began making silly songs on my iPhone using GarageBand and recording with my headphone mic,” she explained, recounting her earliest memories of making music.
While her love for music came first, since 2021 she has worked as an independent designer creating handmade knitwear for her eponymous brand. “I would spend almost every hour of my day knitting, even if I went to watch TV I had to be making something at the same time.” Since launching her brand she has gained over 150,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram and has made custom pieces for the likes of Sabrina Carpenter and Emma Chamberlain.
Fast forward almost a decade from her first attempt at making music, McKee is finally releasing her debut project. Entitled Lychee Juice, after her favourite beverage, the five-track EP is a dreamy account of girlhood and navigating her early 20s.
Weaving her passions for music and fashion together, alongside the release of her EP McKee designed a capsule collection inspired by the record. “The collection blends the two of my passions together and includes two fashion films-slash-music videos,” she explained to us. For the songs ‘Be Ok Soon’ and ‘Blue’, McKee worked with her close collaborators and friends to create mini-films showcasing the collection. In moments laying around in a bedroom, and travelling through Japan, the two videos are evocative of Sofia Coppola’s dreamy cinematic universe.
Below she spoke to us about her debut EP, being a multidisciplinary artist and seeing Bjork at Glastonbury as a child.
What was your main inspiration behind the EP?
Freya McKee: I love Shoegaze and Dream Pop music so much and was heavily inspired by the likes of Beach Fossils, Slowdive, Mazzy Star and The Sundays. I wanted to create an EP that resonated with my personal taste combined with lyrics that were sentimental to me. The EP is mainly a reflection of my teenage years and early 20s.
What came first you love for creating music or designing clothes? Do you find the two practices influence each other at all?
Freya McKee: I started out as a musician when I was 16 and joined a band when I got to college for about five years. After uni, I decided to take a break from music and put time into other passions, including fashion. I had always been obsessed with collecting clothes and dreamt of making my own brand but I didn’t have the technical skills or contacts to do it. Over lockdown, I decided to dedicate time to learning and I fell into knitting and crocheting. From there I started selling my knitwear and I’ve been doing the brand ever since.
I decided in 2022 that I wanted to get back into music and started recording the EP! I think the two definitely cross over with each other in terms of expressing my personal style. I take a lot of inspiration when designing from musicians’ dress sense that I’ve grown up loving.
What was your songwriting process like for this project?
Freya McKee: A couple of the songs were actually written back in 2019 with my friend Daniel Bath. In summer we’d go to these big open fields with a guitar and set up for the day and just write. It would start with Daniel playing the guitar then I would add lyrics, melody and lead hooks. I also have a song featuring Sugarthief called ‘Grow In Pains’ which I wrote with my boyfriend Jordi James. For the songs ‘Lychee’ and ‘Forget Everything’ I wrote these on the day of recording them. I was feeling inspired by The Sundays and Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions.
Why ‘Lychee Juice’?
Freya McKee: I drink a carton of Rubicon Lychee juice every day, it’s my favourite drink ever.
You created two fashion film-cum-music videos to go along with the EP. Could you tell us more about them?
Freya McKee: I filmed the first fashion film for the song ‘Blue’ back in May when I was visiting Japan with my boyfriend. As the song is about pretending not to feel blue I wanted to shoot in a place that makes me really happy and has a lot of colour. We shot in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Nara, while I wore my new collection throughout.
The second film was made in London and directed by Claryn Chong. Claryn reached out to me asking if I wanted to make a fashion film and I was already a huge fan of her work so I was very excited to collaborate. We wanted to create a music video with more of a narrative featuring several girls in their own bedrooms. It’s for the song ‘Be Ok, Soon’ which is centred around the fears faced being a girl. The bedrooms act as the girls’ safe space and we wanted the video to be very playful, representative of girlhood and how important female friendships are.
What are your hopes for the future with music?
Freya McKee: Writing and recording is probably my favourite part of creating music so I’d really love to work towards another EP for a winter release instead. I’d also like to get back into doing some gigs, as it’s been many years since I have performed live, but I honestly find it terrifying [laughs].
When did you first become aware of the power of good music? What song could you not stop playing growing up?
Freya McKee: My parents are both massively into music so I grew up hearing a lot of soul and indie. My favourite song growing up was probably ‘You Are The Sunshine Of My Life’ by Stevie Wonder. I’d always ask my dad to play it when we were in the car together.
The most recent picture/screenshot on your camera roll?
What is your favourite corner shop snack?
Freya McKee: Pickled onion Space Raiders.
What’s your weirdest internet obsession?
Freya McKee: Sylvanian Drama.
What’s your love language?
Freya McKee: Gift giving, my favourite pastime is researching gifts for friends.
What would be your funeral song?
Freya McKee: ‘Release Me’ by Agnes.
What’s on your For You Page right now?
Freya McKee: Soo many cookie mukbangs.
If you could only listen to one musician for the rest of your life who would it be?
Freya McKee: Beach Fossils.
What is your earliest music memory?
Freya McKee: Watching Björk at Glastonbury.
You encounter a hostile alien race and sound is their only mechanism for communication. What song would you play to them to inspire them to spare you and the rest of the human race?
Freya McKee: ‘Souvlaki Space Station’ by Slowdive.
Lychee Juice is out now.
