Coventry-based songwriter, rapper and artist shortstraw. shares her new mixtape ‘coinstar’, out now on Our House Online. The release will be celebrated with a London headline show at The Social on 2nd June. Ticket info here.
The 8-track mixtape is a concoction of grime samples, donks, punk guitars, jungle break beats and high energy. Straight out of Coventry, shortstraw. (all lowercase, full stop) is led by the fiery and fearless Erin West.
Raw and boundlessly energetic, Erin has become known for her tongue-in-cheek lyricism, with nods to pop culture and 90s / 00s nostalgia. Full of righteous energy and hometown anger, all undercut by the occasional knowing wink, gritty and witty shortstraw. draws on punk and grime influences to create one of the most thrilling and visceral live experiences in the UK today.
The mixtape’s focus single ‘come & go’ serves as the final track on the project – a mellow end with nostalgic reverbed synths crashing against jungle breaks with bitter sweet guitars. Lyrically, the track explores looking back and reminiscing on things but just accepting that’s the way things go and better stuff is yet to come.
A deeply personal track, Erin says, “the verses are personal , cutthroat and literal. I talk about Coventry, losing family members & friends to different circumstances like passing away & prison etc , people stuck in the past and the frustration of not being able to choose the cards we get dealt with in life and not knowing whether things are going right or wrong, I’m getting better or worse. ‘am i coming or going cos i can’t tell.’”
Title track ‘coinstar’ encapsulates the vibe of the tape: nostalgic 2000s British culture. The song is named after the infamous early 2000s machines that you can find in British supermarkets where you can change “coins to cash” hitting that direct nostalgia and talking about being skint.
Elsewhere on the mixtape, ‘pattern up’ is an energy packed rave track – an escape from the current state of the UK, while ‘this u’ starts off with a mellow sentimental bittersweet vibe and then slowly builds up over the course of the track into a strong techno crescendo.
‘cheek2cheek’ serves as a light hearted pallet cleanser, while mixtape centrepiece ‘motorola’ was written in a Premier Inn Hotel in Exeter on tour with Sleaford Mods. Erin and bandmate and producer, Leo White wrote, recorded and played it all in the same night.
Having already supported Mannequin Pussy, SOFT PLAY and Fat Dog, as well as playing The Great Escape, Boomtown, End of the Road Festival, shortstraw. is an undeniable force to be reckoned with. Her music is personal, cutthroat and literal, exploring themes like politics, mental health, rave culture, and nods at growing up as a queer person in Coventry.
shortstraw.’s new mixtape ‘coinstar’ is out on 22nd May (Our House Online).
shortstraw. plays a headline show at the Social on 2nd June.
Tracklist:
- dot cotton
- coinstar
- pattern up
- this u?
- cheek2cheek
- Motorola
- bad turn
- come & go