Q&A: Flower Face Fuels the Fires of Eternal Torture and Love with "Girl Prometheus" Record
★★ BY FAITH LUEVANOS ★★
“YOU STOLE LOVE FROM THE GODS, YOU BROUGHT IT TO A MAN — and now you’re being tortured eternally.” This was the message that Ruby McKinnon, aka Flower Face’s, friends had for her after a devastating breakup. But now the sentiment has taken on a new meaning.
Blending elements of indie-folk, dreampop, and alt-rock with ethereal and introspective lyrics, Flower Face has no problem creating songs that are hauntingly captivating. Her works are characterized by their emotional depth and poetic lyricism, often exploring themes of love, loss, and self-discovery. There’s a unique rawness displayed within her music that’s absolutely mesmerizing, which allows her to remain a compelling voice in the indie music scene.
The Montreal-based goth-folk singer-songwriter lays down all of her emotions in her two new singles, “Valentine” and “Cat’s Cradle,” giving us a taste of what’s to come within her new album, Girl Prometheus, which is set to release on Nov. 1. Continue reading below to learn more about the album, what Flower Face hopes listeners will take away from the music, and how her sound has evolved since her last release.
LUNA: What does Girl Prometheus mean to you?
FLOWER FACE: The title started as a joke between me and my friends. We went to see Oppenheimer last year, and it opens with a quote: "Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity." We'd quote it all the time because we loved the movie, and then as I was writing this album and going through all the torments of heartbreak, my friends would say that I was like a girl Prometheus, because I stole love from the gods and brought it to a man and now I'm being tortured for eternity. At a certain point I realized that I actually loved it as a title. It's also a pretty fiery album, and the cover reflects that too. It all fell into place.
LUNA: Are there any lyrics throughout the album that you would say are your favorite? Why?
FLOWER FACE: I'm a pretty lyric-centric person. I consider myself a writer before a musician. It changes depending on my mood. Right now I'm in a bit of an angry phase, so maybe I'll go with one from the final track on the album, which is my sort of angry vengeful song (laughs). "When you come back / I'm gonna make you crawl / It's dangerous to get what you want." It's not the most complex or poetic line on the album by any means, but I think it encapsulates in simple terms the feeling of finally regaining your power and stability and confidence after someone has done their best to demolish your life.
I'm someone who always has a lot to say, and I go crazy over not being able to express my feelings or thoughts to someone after a relationship ends. But I've realized that the best revenge is getting to a point where you no longer have anything to say or [have] any questions to ask. You just don't care anymore. And then they come back, as they always do, and suddenly they seem so small.
LUNA: What message do you hope to get through to listeners with this new album?
FLOWER FACE: Heartbreak is the most universal feeling in the world, and yet when you're in it, you feel like you're the only person on earth who has ever felt it. I hope that anyone feeling those things can listen to these songs and realize that they aren't in some uniquely awful hellscape that they'll never climb out of — they're actually just in the trenches with the rest of us.
LUNA: Which songs are you most excited to perform live?
FLOWER FACE: All of them!
LUNA: How would you describe the evolution of your artistry since your last release?
FLOWER FACE: This record signifies both a sort of post-heartbreak rebirth and a transition into a new approach to writing. Whereas before I always wrote about things long after they happened, I now have become able to use writing as both a tool for expression and a coping mechanism. So often I'd get home after a difficult day, or hang up the phone from a painful conversation, and feel overwhelmed with relief and gratitude for the fact that I could write about whatever it was that had happened. I don't know where I'd be at this point if I hadn't entered this new phase of my work.
LUNA: During the creation of the album, were there any memorable moments you would like to share?
FLOWER FACE: The process was pretty much entirely made up of beautiful memories that I'll carry with me forever, but I'll share two specifically, one from the writing stage and one from the recording stage. First, when I was writing the songs right after a breakup, my best friend was living with me at the time because she'd also gone through a devastating breakup. She'd get home from work every night and I'd be in the living room like, “Hey, want to hear the new miserable heartbreaking song I wrote today?” She talked to me once I finished recording about how it feels like it's partially her album too, and how amazing and strange it was to go through parallel heartbreak with someone so close to you and have your same feelings reflected through their work. I think that's pretty powerful.
The second moment was right after we finished recording. We'd done all the instrumentals at a studio in Montreal, and then Marcus Paquin (my producer) and I drove up to a remote cottage on a lake to record all the vocals. I really needed to be emotionally immersed to get the right performance. We'd have a glass of wine, talk about each song, I'd tell the stories, he'd ask questions, I'd cry, we'd record vocals. It was draining and consuming but exactly what was needed. Thank god Marcus and I got along so well and were instant best friends, because that relationship was integral to the process.
Anyway, at the end of the week, my friends all drove up from the city to spend a weekend at the cottage with me and celebrate. I have the most unbelievably supportive and loving friends on earth. They brought me a cake and a fridge full of wine. In the past year, I'd completely filled my red notebook with lyrics for the album, poetry, and all kinds of writing. As a gift they brought me a brand new notebook, a blue one. In it, they each wrote a page-long letter to me. I cried the moment I started reading. And then we all took MDMA and put on “Cat's Cradle” and held each other in a giant group hug and sang along at the top of our lungs. I think that moment will stay with me for eternity.
