Everything After Midnight (E.A.M.) is a five-piece band from York, their song “Waking” was written in the summer of 2019, a year of political tension as Boris Johnson came to power and Brexit deals were in heat. The lead singer Stephanie Ornithari Roberts joined the band in the month of May that year and was introduced to the track, written by the guitarists Jacob Cooper and Aidan Robson. The upbeat alt-rock style that plays with homophonic and monophonic contrasts throughout the song creates a piece that is empowering. The track is often referred to by audience members as “an absolute banger”. In first listening Stephanie felt inspired by the heavy guitar and fast tempo, immediately feeling a sense of rising; wanting to physically get up and shake off the current political tensions that exist in the surrounding cultural knowing. This inspired the title “Waking”, referencing the current young generation waking up to political change. This is particularly prevalent in the lyrics, “this room is now a crowd, watch him sit he’ll sh** because the crown won’t fit”. The final verse lyric, “Mind this gap it’s a map for a pending trap…Kiss this stone it’s a bone of all passing thrones”, references the London centric nature of politics and the reign of political leaders gone by.
E.A.M.’s track will be partnered with London based artist Charlotte Rose and her limited print, “Le Revolution”. A model by trade, Charlotte-Rose’s art career really escalated to attention during the first national lockdown. Recently launching a campaign with SAINT SOFIA, Charlotte’s work has reached a valued level of success. Using acrylic and plywood for this work, Charlotte uses bold colour, graphic design and iconographic symbolism. "Le Revolution" references a vintage Parliament cigarettes packet, overlaid by the union jack and the spray-painted words “Burn it All Down”. The use of spray paint and disfiguring of graphic design presents a rebellion towards governmental images. The freehand and graffiti style echoes artworks by Diego, Daniela Schweinsberg and Marion McConaghie. When positing “Le Revolution” on her art Instagram page, @char.lotteroseart, she writes in the caption “Check it out if you want to start a revolution”. We are excited to see where Charlotte’s artistic career takes her, having already produced a commission for the contemporary artist Yung Blood, this is certainly only the beginning. Both Yung Blood and Charlotte-Rose represent what “Waking” and “Le Revolution” explore: the youth of today using their art to push against the grain.
LOUD ART LIVE, a digital exhibition where music meets art. CLICK HERE to view Charlotte-Rose’s artwork and to listen to Waking by Everything After Midnight.
Photography by @isobeldrakee