FEATURE: Spotlight: METTE — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

METTE

_________

HAVING just…

appeared on (and completely stormed!) Later… with Jools Holland last night (22nd October), there are even people looking the way of METTE. She has some November dates in the U.K. It is a chance for us here to catch a sensational artist definitely on the rise. The moniker of Minnesota-born actress (she was the Barbie Video Girl in Greta Gerwig’s recent film), dancer, artist, songwriter and future icon, Mette Towley is someone who is going to blow up! Perhaps previously best-known as the dancer for Lemon by N.E.R.D. and Rihanna, METTE is now stepping out solo and embarking on a solo career. In fact, her stunning E.P., METTENARRATIVE, came out last month – and it won more than its share of acclaim. I will come to one of those reviews at the end. I am keen to get to some interviews with an amazing and hugely promising artist. If you need some background on the mesmeric METTE, then the below should be of assistance:

“For METTE, the route to music was circuitous, but destined. In 2023, she has found herself ready to emerge with music that explores tender emotions, complex feelings, and her life’s narrative.

Growing up, she railed against the small town monoculture of Alexandria, Minnesota. The daughter of two ‘army brats’ (both of her grandfathers served in the U.S Army), her familial home instilled in her not only a disciplined work ethic, but a passion for music. Anita Baker, James Taylor, Chaka Khan, Pink Floyd, Lauryn Hill, and The Delfonics were the soundtrack to METTE’s younger years. With an eclectic musical taste, METTE began taking musical theatre classes, learning to play the bassoon, and attending youth choir, where she felt the first firm draw towards performance. It quickly became clear that performing was the end game. “I didn’t have the confidence to do music straight away, but dance just came more quickly to me,” she says. Identifying as a Black woman of mixed-race heritage, METTE didn’t see herself often mirrored in the live performance space growing up. But suddenly in 2014, with one single phone call inviting her to audition as a dancer for Pharrell, her direction started to change.

After traveling the world with Pharrell performing concerts all over the globe, METTE won the coveted starring role in the N.E.R.D and Rihanna ‘Lemon’ video. This opportunity hurtled her towards fame. After years of grueling touring, METTE found herself in London working on a film project and was inspired to explore her musical dreams. And then Covid hit. “I was going through something when lockdown hit. I hadn’t seen my mom for 18 months, and out of my longing came a song about mothering, birthright, and her legacy… a celebration of imperishable bonds.” The outcome was what would later become her single, Mama’s Eyes; a track that has filled dance floors across the world with its syncopated dance beat that gradually heats up into a celestial gospel choir preaching the chorus.

METTE has been having a standout 2023 since the release of ‘Mama’s Eyes’. The track hit #1 in the UK Club Chart, amassed over 3 million streams, and garnered key tastemaker support from BBC Radio 1, Clara Amfo, The Face, NME, Clash, Elle, The Line of Best Fit, DIY, The Fader, The Guardian and more. Not stopping there, 2023 has also seen METTE grace the covers of Notion, BEAT and Hunger.

Away from dance and music, METTE recently played as ‘Video Girl Barbie’ in the box office record breaking, star studded cast of Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’. If that wasn’t enough, she also partnered with Alexander McQueen for the Sprint Runner and SS23 campaigns, by Grammy Award winning directors, Sophie Muller and Jonas Åkerlund, respectively.

METTE’s most recent single ‘VAN GOGH’ came out August 10th and is poised to propel METTE another bold leap forward on her artistic journey. Co-produced by Mike Sabath (Raye, Lizzo) and Jonny Lattimer (Rina Sawayama, Joy Crookes), ‘VAN GOGH’ fuses catchy pop melodies with danceable funk and R&B grooves to create an upbeat feel. Lyrically, METTE cites icons like Janet Jackson as she sings of finding creative inspiration through a muse. The accompanying music video, directed by Camille Summers-Valli, puts METTE’s stunning dance and movement talents to the fore, evoking a continuous feel with synchronized moves whilst switching between various eye-catching characters throughout.

METTE’s music is sensual and sweaty – music to move your body to. Unrestricted by the need to align with one genre, she finds her sound at the crossroads of dance music and a myriad of possibilities. Her fans will undoubtedly want to see her dance and express herself through movement, and they can and will get that. But METTE has been on a journey – and with the ability to tap into these creative outlets – she has found the true essence of herself. And not only is she dancing to that essence, she’s turned it into music, too”.

I am not sure whether METTE is in London continuously until her November dates and will head back to the U.S. – or whether she is going back home briefly in-between -, but it is clear that she does feel a sense of comfort here. She has a lot of fans in the U.K. As such, press here have reacted to her and tuned in. The Line of Best Fit spoke with METTE about her (as-then) forthcoming E.P. This is someone caught at a time (September 2023) when she was ready to strike and reveal something she has been working on for a long time. The revelation of a wonderful artist who is making this quest for independence and self-expression:

“Being alone during the pandemic proved hard for Mette, specifically in the absence of her mother over 18 months. That time inspired “MAMA’s EYES”, her breakout single that captures the tenuous love between two strong willed women that is as instinctive and honest as it is rhythmic and celebratory. “I’ve always found a mirror in her; I have her eyes but I have her spirit, so I feel that sense of mirroring with her. Not being around her, I felt very lost, so I wrote the song from this place of hollow longing and turned it into celebrating the closeness of the relationship. It’s the ultimate respect that I have for her.”

While her mother proved her muse in “MAMA’s EYES”, Mette turned inward for latest single “VAN GOGH”. The videos for the two represent two sides of her journey, from the family home videos of her dancing as a child in the former to the stylised, multi-character experience of the latter. “I have a lot of the family archive videos on my computer and sometimes I do look back at these videos just to make sure that my authentic voice is still resonating in the work that I’m doing now.” With “VAN GOGH”, Mette was at a loss for inspiration before she found it within herself; the end result is a carefree and buoyant ode to the multitudes one person can embody. “All humans are multi-faceted, and sometimes putting myself in a box has been some of the saddest of my life. I truly want to live fully self-expressed.”

The video for “VAN GOGH” sees Mette embodying a range of different characters, from a yuppie banker with a black eye to a femme popstar, a Lover God and many in between. “Those are all qualities that exist within me. Some days there’s a duality.” She references the pop-star at the beginning of the video. “Femininity and sex appeal is an amazing tool, but sometimes it comes from playing up certain archetypal roles to get what we want. I’m interested in that intellectual femininity and how we use make-up or clothes to carve out spaces for ourselves and distort the male gaze a bit. Fluidity is in my work, and I’m very much interested in dismantling my own ideas about femininity.” Mette turns to the masculine character in baggy jeans and a goatee. “I was so into the king look and what attributes of my own character come out when in costume. I can be handsome too; it’s within me. When I took off the moustache, my stature changed, and then I was giving ultimate femme with a 17-inch ponytail - these are all sides of me and I want to live in harmony with every facet of my being. I’ve admired a lot of different kinds of people in my life,” she adds. “People that codify themselves in different ways, and gender in terms of performance has always been something that I enjoy playing with.”

That’s not to say Mette hasn’t been on the receiving end of critical comments online for her multitudes of gender expression within the video. “It’s crazy to me that folks will employ some of the darker sides of themselves in order to tell people what they can and can’t do with their bodies. Right now we’re talking about my performance, but there are a lot of folks that are going through some incredibly challenging periods because there’s so much hate in the world, and that’s in their real life.” She is clear to honour the distinction between her exploration of gender expression and others lived experience.

Whether it be performance or expressing her vulnerability in songwriting, Mette is on an ongoing quest for self-expression and learning how to be her most authentic self. “The goal in life for me is to be in that sweet spot where anything is possible and all can coexist, but also being comfortable in the in-between spaces and being fluid in terms of that I’m going to discover more about myself as life continues to unfold. I still have questions. The unknowing, to me, is the greatest adventure”.

I will take it back to August and an interview from British Vogue. In each case, I am selecting parts of the interview that add something new. Apologies if there is any repetition! This triple-threat (or more, even!) was back and very much ready to conquer the big leagues:

“The journey to reach this sense of self-assurance has been a long one. It began, of course, in childhood, growing up in Minnesota, where Mette “was in band choir, I went to musical theatre camp, all of that”. After moving to Los Angeles, she auditioned to become one of Pharrell’s backing dancers, and spent over five years on the road with him, absorbing everything she could. “I actually got to watch them work in the studio, and it was because I could see the process in real time that I realised I could identify with musicians,” Mette says. “Before, I would write poetry for songs, and make voice memos, but I didn’t know how the collaborative process in the studio worked, so that was a huge influence for me. Seeing how whole worlds of inspiration could flow through an artist, vocally and lyrically, and it can become real.”

It was this same sense of freedom that she tried to channel when she first entered the studio in 2019 to write her own music, not long after she decided to retire from dancing professionally. “I was literally just chucking everything at the wall,” she says. “I’ve always wanted the studio to feel like a place where anything was possible.” Still, given the extraordinary rigour it took for her to reach the heady heights of her career as a dancer, it’s not difficult to imagine that her approach to music is driven by a similarly fierce dedication. “I take it very seriously,” she confirms. “I have a set of habits, and I make sure to stay disciplined. But you also have to find the freedom and the risk within it all, because that’s what makes things interesting. If I want to be creative, I also have to be unbounded. Discipline can’t get too in the way – it has to be a balancing act.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Terence Bikoumou

With “Mama’s Eyes” and “Van Gogh”, the fruits of that balancing act are finally coming to light. (When we speak on the day before the release of the latter, Mette is all but ecstatic about finally being able to share this long-gestating project with the world.) It was also announced that she’s been signed to RCA in both the US and the UK, and the unveiling of her tour dates in the fall is imminent. “There’s nothing like being on stage and being witnessed in that moment,” says Mette. “I can’t wait to be back on stage and have that feeling again.”

Now, all of the moving parts of her varied career – the dancing, the acting, the songwriting, the performing – are coming into laser focus. “I have nothing to prove,” she adds, smiling from ear to ear. “Only to share”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pascal Arnaud

I guess METTE will always be labelled as a ‘triple-threat’. Often implied as something slightly negative I think – as if she is showing off -, as she explains, she is just being herself. If she happens to be multi-talented, then that is a real asset and credit to her! It is clear that music is her main drive and focus. The British press particularly has been really invested in METTE. The Standard spoke with her last month and got a better understanding of an artist who I feel is going to release a lot of acclaimed and rich studio albums:

“You’re already a successful dancer and actress, was pop star always part of the plan?

It’s always been a part of the dream. I actually had a friend of mine message me on Instagram and he was like, ‘You’re doing everything you said that you were gonna do!’ There’s still impostor syndrome, that happens every once in a while, but I’ve been working toward this goal for over a decade. So it’s tangible now. It’s finding its way into my reality, but it’s always existed in my consciousness.

What was the moment that you knew you wanted to be a dancer?

Justin Timberlake’s Future Sex/Love Sounds tour. The dancers were amazing.

How has training as a dancer influenced the music you make today?

My music is an amalgamation of a few different genres. But at its core, I must be able to dance to it. I must be able to have the music lift me and lift my spirit. I also think the discipline of dance gave me a decent amount of discipline to step into my artistry. For me, it’s finding the ways in which my music can near my experience as a dancer, and then just build, build, build, build physical and aural language together. Any music I listen to I have to be able to move to. That’s imperative.

Did you ever feel pressured to be good at everything?

Oh, absolutely. I’ve even had people in my life say ‘just pick something!’ I’m not trying to do everything. I’m just trying to be myself. I was never one for competition. I lose myself when trying to compete with others, I lose myself and my essence. I really struggled when I was in dance competitions because I just couldn’t get it. If I’m just myself there’s no winning and there’s no losing. There’s this availability to be free. And that is why I’m an artist.

What’s something you can’t do that you wish you could?

I really wish I had better hand eye coordination. I would love to play tennis.

Snog, marry, avoid: dancing, acting, music?

Wow, my three children. Ok. I would say snog dancing - if we’re talking about the best physical movement in the world. That’s hot. Marry music. Music is my love forever and through dance I can become closer to it. And I would avoid acting at the moment because I’m a SAG-AFTRA member.

What’s something you learnt from working with Pharrell?

I shadowed him in the studio and I watched him make music. That was one of the most amazing experiences that I’ve ever been gifted. Because before that, I didn’t know how records were made, or how people collaborate in the studio. So he kind of gave me a little gaze into what my life as an artist would entail. And also how to have grace in the studio with other artists and collaborators. I watched him create time and time again. Bring whole worlds from his mind into the world for us to experience in tandem. That was probably one of the most amazing experiences of that time for me.

Who’s someone that you’ve never worked with who you’d like to?

Oh, gosh. I would really love to work with Christine and the Queens. Charli XCX would be really cool. Daniel Caesar. Jacob Collier. Robyn. Andre 3000. I would love to work with Janet Jackson.

Do you feel nervous about being in the spotlight now rather than dancing backup?

I think nerves are good. Because they give me this kind of inkling that I’m doing something that’s challenging myself, or something that is exposing me, or teaching me something. So I like that. Right now is such an exciting time because I am learning so much about myself and what I want to say to the world. I don’t feel nervous like, ‘can I do this?’ I don’t feel that. I know I can do it. But that’s also something that I didn’t always believe. So it feels like a success for me to even say that to you right now.

What can we expect from you over the next few months?

The EP, METTENARRATIVE comes out today, then I have my own live show. On the 28th of September at The Lower Third here in London. Next year, I really want to go out and meet the people who listen to MAMA’S EYES, VAN GOGH or CHOCOLATE CITY [another track from the EP]. Like, who are the folks that make those songs the soundtrack to their life? Those are the people that I want to meet and perform for. So next year I really hope to tour a tonne”.

There are other interviews - such as this one - that I think are worth digging out. The final interview actually takes us back to May. I want to do that as, five months later, we can see how far METTE has come. HURS caught up with METTE as she was about to take centre stage. I know, in the coming months, there will be a whole new wave of fans coming her way:

“Mette Towley was a force long before she starred in the video for the Rihanna and N.E.R.D song “Lemon.” The American triple threat singer, dancer and actress was a member of Pharrell’s dance group The Baes since 2014, starred in Hustlers alongside J. Lo, will be in the upcoming Barbie Movie and recently walked the runway for British luxury house Alexander Mcqueen.

Under her artist name METTE, Towley is ready to enter the music industry on her terms. After years of being cast into other performer’s narratives, she’s had the time – and experience – to develop one of her own. Determined to redefine what a female pop star is and the image of perfection that often goes with it.

Her single ‘Mama’s Eyes’ was released earlier this year, followed by a music video directed by artist and fashion photographer Camille Summers Valli. “Camille is always working at the intersection of dismantling archaic structures which we as women live under,” METTE told HURS. The partnership between the two women makes for an ideal starting point to share METTE’s message as an artist. And an opportunity for us to speak with the fearless performer.

“The video for your single Mama’s Eyes launched on the 3rd of May, right?

Mette: Yes, I chose a woman to direct it. Obviously Camille [Summers Valli] is incredible and I don't want any of her work or POV to lay solely on her gender. However, to be seen through the female gaze felt like such an opportunity as much of the work I've done in the past has been through a male gaze. Luckily as an actress – out of the four projects I've done – three of them have been [with] female directors. That's unheard of.

Absolutely, that’s special.

Mette: Moving into this video was pretty astounding in the sense of self that I felt because I have creative control. I love to play on standard gender roles in terms of what I wear. The first scene in the video is really at an intersection of gender. I feel like I've always lived at intersections

In what way?

Mette: I’m from a small town in Minnesota. I moved there when I was young from a more suburban area around Baltimore. I grew up with a multicultural background. I grew up with a lot of different influences. I never saw myself as one-dimensional. Now being able to put that into my work is incredible for me.

Completely. It seems like there’s more opportunity to build that full universe around yourself as an artist now.

Mette: Human beings I don't think are one-dimensional in any way. It's part of our evolutionary journey to learn to accept all sides of ourselves and the influences that we have. My musical and visual influences are quite broad. I'll listen to James Taylor, Tina Turner, Robyn, I love Underworld.

We're moving away from a place where you have to fit into this one box or one genre. I don't think that works anymore.

Mette: It doesn't work. When people ask me what kind of music I make, I just have to press play and say welcome to my world.

You mentioned before about being casted for certain roles. Has it been difficult to develop your own identity as an artist and what you want to say within this new ‘role’?

Mette: My call to action right now is to stay so true to myself. Creating art is full of effort, and that's not to be taken lightly. I make a lot of mood boards and video references. I draw from these folders on my laptop that are filled with things I adore. It could be a particular video clip of a dancer at Prince's tour that moved me but it doesn't need to be a moving body or a performer. It can also be art, sculpture, a sunrise. I start to pull it into my editing app, and then I'll make these edits around the song so I can build the world based off of things that influence me. It has to come in the moments where I'm not under pressure to deliver a reference. In the quiet moments where I can sit with an idea, is where I choose how to articulate it to the world.

Going back to Camille. How did you find out about her work?

Mette: It was pretty serendipitous. It involved two Kats, one who works at the label and a friend of mine who’s a director in Paris. I had initially been speaking to my friend about the video. I told her I wanted it to be something unique, something that questions what a female pop performance is. And my friend suggested Camille, who was on the initial list Kat from the label shared. Camille and I got on the call and we instantly clicked.

And what was the starting point for creating the video?

Mette: We wanted to draw out this idea of what mothering is and how many ways we mother ourselves. How we accept mentorship and motherhood but also mothering through art making or conceiving an idea.

I love that. A couple of months ago Santigold, Lykke Li and Arlo Parks spoke out about the music industry’s grueling schedule. Have you ever felt the pressure to keep up with the pace of the industry

Mette: The “seizing of the moment” narrative, is a real narrative. As a backup dancer, if you're one of the dancers of the moment and you're getting booked on a ton of jobs, burnout is most likely going to happen. After five years, I asked myself: What am I even saying anymore when I step on stage? I lost what I loved about dance, which was putting myself at the forefront of the politics of representation. I felt more like an accessory. I was in this hamster wheel of getting on stage, looking hot, wearing something skimpy and shaking my bum. I took time away from dance and got re-grounded in my point of view. That’s when ‘Lemon’ came along. I know how important it is to say: let me take a beat and let me reconnect. There's so much inspiration we can get when we're not working.

You can’t keep going constantly. Rest is undervalued in the society we live in.

Mette: The American dream is propped up by this constant we must do more. If we're not doing actively, pressing ourselves to the limits or truly hurtling over a boundary, then we're not doing enough. But I also really want to go on tour and have those moments of being on stage consistently and meeting fans. To be witnessed and seen in the moment in real time, unedited. That's a part of live performance that I love”.

I am going to finish off with a review of METTENARRATIVE. HASTE. were keen to have their say about a remarkable talent. Someone, as I have said, who is going to put out some great albums. With support coming in from her native U.S. and her adopted second home – commercially and musically anyway – of the U.K., there is a lot of love out there for METTE:

“With the release of her dance evocative album ‘METTENARRATIVE’, Minnesota-born Mette Towley moves away from her dance troop days and departs on her next solo endeavour. Having made her name as the star of N.E.R.D and Rihanna’s ‘Lemon’ music video in 2017, Mette has continued to dominate the dance world since. Now using her faculty as a dancer turned actor turned musician, her upcoming album is set to soundtrack club dancefloors and conquer the music sphere. Taking inspiration from powerhouses like Prince, Janet Jackson and Robyn, Mette also credits ‘spaces’ as being an integral part of the process for this release. From festivals to bars and clubs, ‘METTENARRATIVE’ embarks on creating a forum, born in the depths of the 2020 lockdown, for where her music can live.

Opening with the humbling sound clip of a young Mette and her father introducing her name to the world, the album’s first track is the leading single ‘FOR THE PEOPLE’. Combining afrobeat rhythms with hauntingly powerful vocals, Mette initiates ‘METTENARRATIVE’ as an album with movement and energy at the forefront. Following this is the second release ‘VAN GOGH’, a pop-dance ballad with an infectious beat that will ensure a lively audience, thanks to the production of Mike Sabbath and Johnny Latimer. As she chants out her motif “I could be Van Gogh’, she reflects the true artistry and skill that has gone into this hit. Accompanied by the camp and eccentric music video, she demonstrates her “multifaceted” and “multi fabulous” range of personas. Next up is ‘CHOCOLATE CITY’, a homage to her heritage as a mixed-race American performer. This track departs from the upbeat pop tone of the album and functions as a thoughtful break, while still maintaining the overall dance aesthetic of her work. ‘PSYCHO’ embodies the it-girl power of Mette, as her dominant and bold attitude evokes a confidence and reclamation of “crazy” that assures to empower women alike. As the album launches into ‘ACID RAIN’ with the chorus’s refrain “I Can Feel Love”, she augments this idea of harmony, both emotionally and physically, as womanhood and dance combine to create a symphony of unity. Finally, Mette closes the album with the first single of ‘METTTENARRATIVE’, “MAMA’S EYES’. Fusing the themes of empowerment, movement and vigour heard across the album, this song defines Mette as a sophisticated talent writing from both the heart and the dancefloor. It’s no wonder it has already hit No.1 on the dance charts.

After 3 years in the studio, ‘METTENARRATIVE’ has been born out of pure emotion and grind, coming together in a moment of triumph for Mette. Her voice as a solo artist has been found and presented to the audiences, and is assured to get everyone through the coming winter months”.

Following a remarkable appearance on Later… with Jools Holland last night, I am seeing more people online talking about METTE. She is on a path to superstardom! An astonishing dancer and actress, I know we will see her on the small and big screen more in years to come. For now, and with METTENARRATIVE out and some tour dates ahead (where she supports Jessie Ware), it is a very big and busy time for METTE. As of now…