Aimée: "I think up until Irish Women in Harmony I thought the industry was kind of lonely for women"

I speak to Aimée on the cusp of the release of Daisy Chains, (The Summer EP) - her first major release in four years.

It's also just a few short weeks before she's due to play her first headliner show in over 2 years at the Green room in the Academy on August 4.

And as we reflect on the mad rush leading up to Daisy Chains’ release, the artist tells me she hasn't always had the best of luck with timing.

“Yeah that project [Confession] I did in 2020, it wasn’t great timing. It came out the exact same day we went into lockdown.” she tells me.

“Literally the day when Leo came on TV and said ‘This is a pandemic. Everybody, don't leave your house for two weeks’. She qualifies “at least what we thought was going to be two weeks!”

Swedish pop loving, feel good tunage maestro Aimée doesn’t quite make “lock yourself up in your room for six months” music.

“Exactly”, she says, “I had a tour, show tv performances, everything was just pulled. It kind of feels like that didn’t really happen”.

As a result, the artist feels Daisy Chains is akin to a debut offering: “This here feels like my first EP. It’s six songs that’s why I was like ‘I’m gonna go bigger than normal, EPs are like usually six or five songs. Go hard or go home!” she says.

Aimée Photo: Ryan Douglas

Daisy Chains is almost a gluttony of nostalgia, which is exactly what the pop artist was going for: “I just want it to bring a rush of memories.

“I played ‘99s On The Beach’ for a friend of mine the other day” she adds, “and it made them feel like ‘oh my god I actually forgot I used to go to the beach with my granny when we were younger!’.

“It actually brought up memories that they had forgotten about”, which the musician considers to be mission accomplished .

“Summer as an adult is very different to summer as a kid, you have to worry about work, bills and what’s happening in the world. As a kid, you hear that school bell ring on your last day and then it’s just endless summer- not a care in the world. I  want people to get a tiny little ounce of that feeling.”

Another strong recurring theme in Daisy Chains is the cherishing of female friendship.

I ask Aimée if she thinks it’s important to make pop music as women that doesn’t just centre around men and their desires.

“Who are ya telling?!” she says, laughing.

“I mean it’s not something I go out of my way to do but it just comes naturally to me” she clarifies.

She says it’s intuitive for her to write music celebrating women: “I have three sisters. I am super close with my girl best friends. I have been raised by a woman that’s always been like ‘Look out for your girls, girl code, look after women, support women’.”

So when it comes to writing songs about women “It kind of just comes really naturally to me”, Aimée says.

I ask if she considers herself to be ‘a girl’s girl’ to which the artist says: “Do you have to ask that question? I literally have mná tattooed on my body so that tells you!”.

Indeed, Aimée is a part of Irish Women in Harmony, a collective of female Irish artists who support one another in pursuit of their artistic goals as well as fundraise for charitable causes.

Speaking on the collective, Aimée says: “It’s been such an incredible support system apart from anything else, apart from obviously the money raised for the charities that we release music for.

“Even when it comes to questions like, contracts, ‘has anybody worked with these guys before?’, ‘What’s your advice with this?’. It’s invaluable. I think up until Irish Women in Harmony I thought the industry was kind of lonely for women”.

She explains saying: “Especially when it came to live gigs and lineups and stuff, the line ups wouldn’t be very busy with women so we wouldn’t be crossing paths very often”.

“It’s been amazing for all of us” Aimée says.

Aimée at the Rock Against Homlessness event at 3Olympia, May 26th. Copryright Hannah Bocian.

When it comes to booking women at music festival lineups, Aimée agrees that promoters sometimes put one woman on the bill and consider their work done : “I think there is still a lot of just box ticking happening and no sitting down and seeing of all the hundreds, probably thousands of female musicians in Ireland and saying -'What way do we want to work this?'”.

Reflecting, she says: “There’s still a long way to go”.

However, Aimée with her warm confidence adds: “We both know what it’s like to be a woman. But it’s also fucking fantastic to be a women. That should be celebrated!”

“We love our men but the girls nights out and the women coming together is the most fun. Always!”

“That's why the songs on Daisy Chains are fun and empowering. I want us to celebrate being women. It should be a fun experience, there’s a lot to be celebrated”.

“I think that's why a lot of women listen to my music. The more women that big each other up, the better”.

Tickets for Aimée's first headliner in over 2 years are available for purchase here.