By Ben Doy

Last month Madeline North aka So Below released her highly anticipated second EP ‘II’. The recording is a collection of So Below’s previous singles, which have sparked attention and earned rave reviews across the world with support from Spotify Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia.

I caught up with Madeline before she heads off on a European tour supporting Now, Now.

You’ve released your latest EP II. How long had you been working on it for?  

The new single ‘Visions’ was one of my early tracks. So that’s almost two years old now, but the other tracks are all a bit more recent... from about two months to a year old.   

Where did you record it?  

It was all recorded in our basement. And one track was recorded in a studio that we have... like in a little box studio. But most was recorded in our house, which was cool. It made it a much easier work day. 

Who else was involved in the project?  

A lot of people. Chelsea Jade, Sam McCarthy, Aaron Short from the Naked And Famous, and Brad Hale from Now, Now. For me it’s just a slightly more involved form of the first EP. It sounds a bit more mature, and I’m really happy with the new single Visions as well.  

Speaking about the new single ‘Visions’, what’s the theme behind the song?  

It’s kind of about being the best version of yourself. That’s probably the shortest description I can think of. It’s about not letting your bad side take over and just pushing through and when you are feeling yourself falling back or being left behind... in fact that’s a line in the song a lot “I won’t get left behind”. It sounds really positive, but the lyrics are quite dark and depressing. Giving yourself a kick up or the backside I guess.  

And your music video for 'Close' premiered on the website Refinery29.  

Yeah, that was pretty cool. I did that one at the end of last year. I’ve never done a video like that, it was a performance video. It was a lot of “It’s me, here’s my face... it’s me (laughs)!”. So it kind of took me out of my comfort zone. But I really like the end product, I think it looks really cool.   

Will you be making a video for ‘Visions’ also?  

I don’t think so. But I’m going to be releasing the next single called ‘Us’, which is one of my favourite songs that I’ve ever written. So I’ll be excited to do a video for this song because it’s just a really fun song. As soon as I hear it I want to dance. 

Can we see you perform live in the near future?  

We were going to do an Australia and New Zealand tour, but then we got these dates in May with Now, Now - where we will be touring the UK and Europe which is awesome. They’re such an amazing band and are good friends. I’ve never toured Europe before so I’m really excited about that. And most importantly they really like The Bachelor and I really like The Bachelor. So we are going to have so many Bachelor viewings... it’s going to be amazing. 

What’s the story behind the name So Below?  

I was struggling to get a name for months and months.  I spent about a month writing names down on a piece of paper. I really wanted a name that rhymed and had a darker notion to it. So Below was the one that stuck out. It kind of means something different to everyone. I like it because it’s short and sweet and has a bit of a punch to it.

So Below is the supporting act for US buzz act Now, Now on their UK and European May tour.
Dates:
14/5 London, UK @ The Dome
15/5 Birmingham, UK @ Mama Roux’s
16/5 Bristol, UK @ The Exchange
21/5 Manchester, UK @ Night People
23/5 Berlin, DE @ Cassiopeia
24/5 Cologne, DE @ Artheater