Annika Socolofsky & ~Nois

I Tell You Me

A CELEBRATION OF QUEER JOY AND DEFIANCE

CARRIER RECORDS

“For my entire life, I've been told who I ought to be. But they never asked me who I was.” - Annika Socolofsky

On September 8, 2023, Annika Socolofsky and ~Nois release I Tell You Me, an album celebrating queer joy and defiance on Carrier Records. “Grotesquely gorgeous” (Chicago Tribune) and “unbearably moving” (Gramophone), Socolofsky’s original 3-song cycle riffs on the old nursery rhyme “sugar, spice, and everything nice, that’s what little girls are made of,” questioning gender roles and rejoicing in the beauty of queer self-expression and empowerment. The album turns this old nursery rhyme on its head, asking “what are little girls made of?” and channels feminist rage and defiance at the double standards placed on women and queers in our society. In the spirit of individual expression, the song cycle is followed by remixes of each song in the cycle, each created by a different queer artist: Phong Tran, Darian Donovan Thomas, and No Plexus and celebrating their unique voices through their own performances, composing, and production.

MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT

"“It is by far one of the most moving and beautiful sets of songs to come out in quite some time.” - Brutal New Music
“Raw and honest and engaging.” - I Care If You Listen

For my entire life, I have been told I do my gender wrong. For my entire life, I have been told that if I tamed my curly hair, I would be prettier. If I dressed like a girl, I wouldn't be thrown out of the girls' bathroom. If I wore different clothes, I would look more feminine. If my muscles weren't so strong, I'd be less masculine. If I was less driven, I'd be more likable. If I presented as more feminine, I would be more attractive. If I was more attractive, I could get a boyfriend. If I just acted like a woman, I wouldn't cause so many problems. If I would just change every fiber of my being, I'd finally fit in.

For my entire life, I've been told who I ought to be. But they never asked me who I was.

I Tell You Me was commissioned by ~Nois Saxophone Quartet and premiered by ~Nois and Annika at the 2021 Ear Taxi Festival in Chicago, Illinois.

AUDIO & TRACK LISTING

Stream on Bandcamp

Track 1 - Sugar and Spice

Track 2 - What are Little Girls Made Of?

Track 3 - They Tell Us We

Track 4 - Sugar and Spice [Phong Tran's Chemical X Remix]

Track 5 - What are Little Girls Made Of? [Darian Donovan Thomas' Verdant Murmurs Remix]

Track 6 - They Tell Us We [No Plexus' Transcendence Remix]

ARTIST BIOS

Annika Socolofsky is a composer and avant folk vocalist who explores corners and colors of the voice frequently deemed to be "untrained" and not "classical." Described as “unbearably moving” (Gramophone) and “just the right balance between edgy precision and freewheeling exuberance” (The Guardian), her music erupts from the embodied power of the human voice and is communicated through mediums ranging from orchestral and operatic works to unaccompanied folk ballads and unapologetically joyous Dolly Parton covers. www.aksocolofsky.com

~Nois Founded in 2016, ~Nois (pronounced “noise”) has become one of the premier chamber ensembles in the U.S. by combining contemporary chamber music and improvisation in unique concert experiences. Heralded as “fiendishly good” (Chicago Tribune) and known for their “supremely sensitive balance and control” (Chicago Classical Review), ~Nois has been awarded top prizes at prestigious chamber music competitions including the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the M-Prize International Arts Competition. https://www.noissaxophone.com/

REMIX ARTISTS

Phong Tran (born 1993) is a Brooklyn-based composer and visual artist primarily working in digital and electronic mediums. His work revolves around emotions and experience in nonphysical spaces. His most recent album, “The Computer Room” is a thank you to virtual worlds, video games, message boards, and the people that filled them in the early 2000s. Phong’s work has been released through New Amsterdam Records, people | places | records and slashsound, and performs live using all analog and modular synthesizers. Phong is works in MEDIAQUEER with fellow composer and visual artist Darian Thomas. MEDIAQUEER is an interdisciplinary project with Phong performing synthesizer and Darian on violin as well as working together to create visual art and video. https://www.phongmusic.com/

Darian Donovan Thomas Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and interdisciplinary artist Darian Donovan Thomas was born in San Antonio, Texas and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is interested in combining genres and mediums into a singular vocabulary that can express ideas about intersectionality (of medium and identity). Necessarily, he is interested in redacting all barriers to entry that have existed at the gates of any genre - this vocabulary of multiplicity will be intersectional, and therefore all-inclusive. Darian has been commissioned by YOSA (the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio), Bang on a Can’s summer festival Banglewood, percussionists at Bard College Conservatory, Sam Houston State University, among others. His music has been premiered by So Percussion, YOSA, Bang on a Can Banglewood Fellows, SoSI Fellows, and performed in Iceland, Switzerland, Canada, and all around the United States. https://darianthomas.myportfolio.com/about

No Plexus is an Amsterdam-based genre-queer electronic duo comprising of vocalist and composer Bec Plexus and producer No Compliments. https://noplexus.com/

CREDITS

Annika Socolofsky & ~Nois

Annika Socolofsky, music, lyrics, lead vocals

Phong Tran, Darian Donovan Thomas, and No Plexus, remix artists

Julian Velasco, soprano saxophone

Hunter Bockes, alto saxophone

Jordan Lulloff, tenor saxophone

János Csontos, baritone saxophone

Annika Socolofsky and Julian Velasco, producers

Mike Tierney, Phong Tran, Darian Donovan Thomas, and No Plexus, mixing

Mike Tierney, editing

Mike Tierney and Mert Gerçer, mastering

Jonathan Gallee, recording

Tara Knight, album artwork

Xuan, album photography

Samantha Godoy, album design

LYRICS

Text and music by Annika Socolofsky

I. Sugar, spice

Of snails, of fear, of bones, of scales, of stones

Sugar, spice, everything nice,

Sugar, spice, grease, and ice,

Of lilies and bug bites, of long nights and hard fights.

II. What are little girls made of?

What are little girls made of?

Who told them what they ought to be?

Who told them what these little girls are made of,

And why isn't that me?

III. They tell us we

They tell us we are fragile, weak.

They tell us we are delicate, meek.

They tell us we are loose or naive.

They tell us we are forward or cold, frigid or bold, overexposed--do what you're told.

They tell us we are asking for it, or we're no fun.

Loose or a tease, prude or easy.

Virgin or vamp, angel or whore, know-it-all, arrogant bitch,

Pushy and cocky and bossy and nasty.

So many things we're not meant to be, so what does that even leave for me?

Grease and ice and long nights and hard fights, everything you don't like.

Everything that's hidden from your sight.

Give endlessly.

Mother everything.

Heal.

They tell us we are so many things we shouldn't be.

Hormonal, hysterical, over-emotional, moody, delusional.

Virgin or vamp, angel or whore,

So what does that leave? What does that leave for me?

Sugar, spice, grease, and ice.

Anything that will ignite.

I tell you me.