Witch Fever: Reincarnate (Vinyl)

Manchester’s Witch Fever are speaking out about womxn sexual freedoms and misogynistic attitudes with their debut outing, the ‘Reincarnate’ EP. Here, the band talk us through the release, track by track.

Reincarnate
'Reincarnate' began as a bit of a break-up anthem but ended up being more about liberation and a proclamation of inner power and resilience. The breakdown at the end came about a bit later than the rest of the song as we wanted a new song to end live sets with, so that part, in particular, was crafted with the live performance in mind.

In the Resurrect
This is the only song we wrote from separate houses during lockdown, and it took us a while to really cement this song as we usually write best together in the practice room where we can bounce ideas off each other and feel the energy! The lyrics are similar to the music in that they don't have a clear cut narrative and are a bit more experimental. The overall theme of the song is about rejecting Western beauty ideals and how the male gaze tells us we, as women and non-binary people, should look and behave.

Abject
'Abject' is about standing on stage in front of a crowd and feeling uncomfortable and sometimes threatened by the way some men look at us and behave around us. It's about being able to see that some men are looking at us like we're pieces of meat. It's about knowing that they're probably massively underestimating us and our talents because of our perceived gender and proving them wrong. We love the dissonance of the verse compared to the huge riffs in the chorus, which reflects the lyrics well.

In Birth
'In Birth' is mainly about Amy's experiences with predatory men in the unorthodox church that she grew up in (and left at age 16), but the message can also be widely applied to most walks of life. Most, if not all, women and non-binary people have had bad experiences with men to varying degrees as society is built on and maintained by patriarchal and racist structures.

Initiation
'Initiation' is a really old song that we'd never released and thought it deserved a place on the EP! It's our most bluesy song for sure and is fun to play live coz of the contrast between the quiet verses and big doomy choruses! The breakdown at the end is so fun to play as well and is very cathartic. It's probably one of the most vulnerable tracks in terms of lyrics on this EP. Similarly to 'In Birth', it comes from Amy's experiences in church; however, it deals with the idea that according to Western beauty ideals, women are most beautiful as young, small, petite and childlike.

Bully Boy
We've ended the EP on 'Bully Boy', a song about taking the power back! We wrote this song after a guy in a band we played with screamed at us to take our tops off. 'Bully Boy' is a promise that we will not entertain any shitty behaviour and is super cathartic to play and listen to!