RACHEL BOBBITT Shares "Marian" Music Video Ahead of EP Release
8/17 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake (Record Release Show)
9/15 - Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom *
9/16 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
9/23 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz *
9/24 - Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground *
9/25 - Detroit, MI @ Loving Touch *
9/26 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
9/28 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
9/29 - St Paul, MN @ Turf Club *
9/30 - Milwaukee, MN @ Back Room at Colectivo *
10/1 - St Louis, MI @ Blueberry Hill *
10/3 - Kansas City, MO @ recordBar *
10/5 - Denver, CO @ Meow Wolf *
10/6 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge *
* supporting Jesse Jo Stark
Emerging Toronto-based artist Rachel Bobbitt released her remarkable new EP, The Half We Still Have, via Fantasy Records earlier this month. To mark the occasion, she’ll perform a special hometown show tonight at The Drake, and this morning shares a brand-new video for “Marian.” Watch it HERE.
“Marian,” one of The Half We Still Have’s standout tracks, is a mesmerizing, 4-minute tightrope over life’s unrelenting ‘what ifs.’
Rachel Bobbitt on “Marian” and it’s accompanying video:
“I wrote ‘Marian’ with Justice Der four years ago now. I was in an exhausting relationship and somewhat in denial about it. Looking back, I think writing a narrative about a dysfunctional couple in the third person was my way of addressing my feelings without getting too close to them. “Marian” was a woman I made up and viewed as a character in a story, finding ways to justify her situation & negotiate away her gut feelings of doubt. It’s only in retrospect that I can see how much of myself I put into her, & how writing this song was me working through my own dysfunction.
“The video is an evening spent walking around with my now partner, who I created this song with and now share a life with. I wanted to capture some sweet mundanity to contrast the highs and lows experienced when the song was written.”
The Half We Still Have is a series of sharp and incisive character studies told with unflinching honesty, piercing intuition, and fearless self-reflection. “I wanted these songs to reflect the intense dynamics that take shape in relationships,” Bobbitt explains. “I’ve found in some relationships you give and give, only to eventually lose yourself. A small sliver remains intact, preserved, and personal when we feel abandoned and hollow.”
The EP’s singles “Two Bit,” which Paste called “another stomach-jilting piece of bedroom alt-pop perfection,” and “Clay Feet,” which saw support from Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, and more, perfectly encapsulate Rachel’s remarkable gift for expressing universal truths in the tiniest of details. Listen and/or purchase The Half We Still Have HERE.
Produced and mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Sky Ferreira, Japanese Breakfast) at 80A Studios in Toronto, The Half We Still Have are a searing, empathetic work of musical non-fiction and just the beginning of an immensely bright future to come. Rachel Bobbitt has announced a fall tour supporting Jesse Jo Stark.
More on Rachel Bobbitt and The Half We Still Have:
Rachel Bobbitt (vocals/guitar) is joined on The Half We Still Have by close musical partner Justice Der (guitar/e-bow), Stephen Bennett (drums/percussion), Isaac Teague (bass), Sam Laramee (synth) along with Alex George (strings). The band’s tight-knit cohesion and Elbrecht’s visionary production help give Rachel’s expansive bedroom art-pop compositions their shimmering toughness.
Previous EP The Ceiling Could Collapse and now The Half We Still Have showcase strong songwriting prowess, a skill that Bobbitt has been honing for a long time. She made a name for herself on Vine as a teenager, uploading covers of pop hits and all-time classics to the now-defunct social media site. As her profile rose, Bobbitt found herself overwhelmed rather than inspired. “It was exciting to be doing what I loved, but it was difficult to be observed by that many people at that age where I simultaneously wanted just to shut myself in,” she says. “I’m grateful it ended when it did because it gave me time to step back and think about what I wanted to create for myself.” She soon found herself in a jazz program before leaving it during the pandemic to focus on her own music.
“Most of the moments I have had in my life that felt right like they made sense have resulted from human connection,” Rachel concludes. “It can be so beautiful and also be desperate and damaging. I have had connections in my life that made me question the fundamentals of my character, and unfortunately, I don’t think that is uncommon. But throughout every complicated, demoralizing, or harmful relationship, there has always been that slice of myself that remained mine, even when I didn’t feel it. The Half We Still Have centers around that small piece and the connections that threaten it.”
