Efficiency; we strive to find the perfect way to achieve this, such as waking up early or working in a smart manner. Since Meghan Remy (U.S Girls) became a mother in June 2021, the American-born artist has had to exercise efficiency in trying to balance the looking after of her twin boys and keeping her music career flowing. On previous record 2023’s Bless This Mess, Remy cleverly combined her need to use a breast pump with the act of using the mechanism’s pulse as the beat on a track.
Two year later on Scratch It, Remy has become even more efficient. The album is co-produced with her partner Max Turnbull (known musically as Slim Twig) – simultaneously working on music career and husband time – and it took just 10 days to record her ninth release. For the musician who lately had been giving her art pop a disco flavour has now switched to a country sound on her latest album. The decision to do this came out of efficient opportunistic circumstance. U.S Girls performed at Atlas Obscura’s Ecliptic Festival in Hot Springs, Arkansas in April 2024 with a Nashville band and this experience lead the collective to book a studio and record together. Hence the country sound. It was also the first time that Meghan Remy had recorded an album to tape with barely any digital editing, which for a musician known her experimentation must have daunting. However, the riskiness of this method is an experimental decision in itself and removes the chance to overthink, which can be a good thing.
This makes Scratch It have a clean live sound. The way that the album draws you into imagining that you are physically there watching a live performance is heightened by the LP’s centrepiece ‘Bookends.’ At nearly 12 minutes long – it is undoubtedly Meghan Remy’s longest song to date – is split into two chapters. The first half is in keeping with the rest of Scratch It‘s vibe; organ, guitar twang and roadside bar atmosphere. After 7 minutes have past Charlie McCoy’s harmonica and the Raconteurs’ Jack Lawrence guitar is joined by funk chanking and a soulful refrain of “now I’m suing you for mercy.” It’s one of three tracks on Scratch It that is dedicated to a fellow musician. On ‘Bookends’ – which by being co-written by Edwin de Goeij shows that collaboration is also an effective efficiency tool – there is a homage to the recently died-before-his-time Riley Gale (lead singer of Power Trip) but seen from the angle of why one person’s departure can affect one’s mind when knowing the large amount of deaths that happening every day. “Seventy thousand men, why am I wondering where Riley went?”
‘‘Dear Patti’ is an apology letter to the legendary rock musician Patti Smith. She got her skill at efficiency wrong on a particular day. In 2023 in Toronto, U.S Girls and Patti Smith respectively performed as opening acts for indie band The National. After Remy finished her set, she immediately went to take care of her children and in turn missed seeing Patti perform. Guilt later followed. Musically the sound isn’t particular interesting but the lyrics of regret are heartfelt and evocative; “I was making sure my kids didn’t fall in the lake / It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault. Patti, I didn’t get to hear you play.”
Like James Said‘ – because it bridges the groovy sound of predecessor Bless This Mess with the bluesy Scratch It’ is cleverly positioned at beginning of the record – is a praise of James Brown’s message of “dance ‘til you feel better” (from ‘Get Up Offa That Thing’). It even features a James Brown yell. It gives exercise commands that would translate well in an audience interaction moment in a future live concert: “Stretch, move. Pose, groove”. The fact that the music video is almost Black-Keys-Lonely-Boy reminiscent gives the track a real free spirit coolness.
The borrowing of lyrics is also a technique of efficiency. ‘The Clearing’ is a cover of a folk shanty by Portland, Maine’s Micah Blue Smaldone from 2008 album The Red River but made into a ecclesiastical blues ditty. Furthermore, ‘Walking Song’ takes inspiration from a hymn called ‘Just A Closer Walk With Thee’ – but removes the Catholic side of Remy’s upbringing and replaces a bit randomly with lyrics about love affairs she had in her teens.
As a whole, musically Scratch It will probably be the least memorable in U.S Girls’ discography and aside from ‘Like James Said’ and ‘Bookends‘, the relatively thrill-less album does sort of fly by unnoticeably, made worse by the weak closing track No Fruit . When comparing to other U.S Girls’ final tracks ‘Time’, ‘Outro’ and classic ‘Woman’s Work’ it is disappointing. Nonetheless, there are plenty of intelligent insightful lyrics on show and Scratch It shows that being efficient and experimental with your methods can go hand in hand.
