And as their fierce shoot reveals, neither is prepared to let what occurred outline them or maintain them again. Collectively, they mission power and solidarity. There’s no victimhood right here, only a reclaiming of their energy.
‘We’re aligned in wanting to speak about this material, however not appear unhappy and deflated,’ says Self Esteem, the extra softly-spoken of the 2, however each bit as impassioned. ‘It’s anger, after which therapeutic, and also you don’t hear that story a lot. So many individuals I do know have been by way of it in a single type or one other, and to color it as a extremely unhappy factor that ruins your life, and that’s the top… It will probably’t be that. It will probably’t be the top of the story.’
Though they’re musically completely different – Becky’s the queen of dance anthems; Self Esteem of subversive artwork pop – the pair have quite a bit in widespread. It’s taken each of them time to realize success on their very own phrases, they usually’re now on the peak of their powers.
Becky, 30, grew up within the picturesque village of Bewdley, Worcestershire, and first discovered fame at simply 17 years previous as a contestant on The Voice in 2012. She swiftly turned the go-to ‘featured artist’ for data by producers resembling MK and Sigala. Now, with six High 10 hits together with Disconnect, Want You Properly and Bear in mind, plus two Brit awards, her identify is lastly as widely-known because the songs which showcase her unbelievable voice.
Self Esteem, 37, is from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and plugged away all through her twenties in Sheffield-based indie band Sluggish Membership earlier than releasing her solo debut album, Compliments Please, in 2019. Its critically-adored follow-up, Prioritise Pleasure, got here in 2021. Her whip-smart observations about fashionable relationships (good, unhealthy and poisonous) paired with heart-soaring choruses have made her a feminist heroine for our instances.
It is sensible, then, that now appears like the correct time to make use of their voices to spotlight the topic of sexual assault which, in keeping with ONS information, has occurred to 1 in 4 UK girls.
Understandably, neither needs to delve into the precise particulars of their particular person assaults in the present day, however their candour about how the experiences made them really feel is exceptional.
When she wrote True Colors, Becky’s assault had been ‘consuming away’ at her for eight years. ‘I’ve at all times classed myself as a robust bitch,’ she says. ‘I prefer to suppose I can take loads of shit, however with that, it felt like one thing had left me that can by no means come again. I’ll by no means get that bit again of me. That second will stick with me for the remainder of my life.’
After the incident, she had initially tried to ‘push it underneath the carpet’ however suffered flashbacks. Previous to assembly her fiancé, Charlie Gardner, who works in occasions, she says, ‘I used to be petrified of males, petrified of going there.’
Following EMDR (Eye Motion Desensitisation and Reprocessing), a type of intense, movement-based trauma remedy, final 12 months she bravely went to the police, which she credit with serving to her draw a line underneath what was performed to her.
‘That sense of justice is basically robust in me,’ she says. ‘I’m at all times a type of people who if I really feel like one thing unhealthy’s occurred, I attempt to converse up about it as a lot as potential. It was my [current] companion who for years was like, “I don’t know why you aren’t reporting this.” And it was my mom who advised me to not, as a result of I feel she thought it was going to be extra painful for me to report it. And really, it was so liberating. Becky clarifies that her mom’s response was typical of an older era of ladies who would reasonably keep quiet than converse out for concern the repercussions can be worse.
