Q&A: Niki Colet Explores Processing Love and Grief with New EP ‘We Only Ever Meet in Strange Dreams’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SARAH SULLIVAN ☆
Photo By Calum Douglas
NIKI COLET INVITES US TO THE SAD GIRL DANCE CLUB—with her new EP, We Only Ever Meet In Strange Dreams, she provides a soundtrack for an introspective autumn. This season, we are looking inward and deciding it’s only human to feel deeply and explore those feelings. Whether you prefer to cry in the shower, on the dance floor, or on a long drive, Colet has a song for you.
Not all tears are of sadness: joy and peace can provoke a tear or two. “It’s been rewarding to carve out a space for myself as a Filipino artist in London,” Colet shares. “Creatively, I feel limitless here.” Colet’s move to London not only brought creative opportunities to her doorstep, the collective drive of the city helped fuel her musical pursuits. “There's balance, and you can still pursue something that fulfills your creative cup.” Read further for details on recording processes, all-night dancing, and taking a leap of faith.
Colet describes her sound as difficult to articulate because of its organic beginnings. “Genre is not something I think about when it comes to the creative process or practices of a song,” Colet shares. “The term ‘indie’ as a genre is so vague these days, my EP, We Only Ever Meet in Strange Dreams is definitely alternative pop and a little dream pop.” This EP is full of influences big and small from various artists, sounds, songs, and life experiences. It artfully crafts influential pieces from a range of artists, some of whom include Massive Attack, Mk.gee, and ML Buch.
Photo By Calum Douglas
We Only Ever Meet in Strange Dreams is Colet’s first release in five years. Colet previously experienced more resistance to finding sustainability in her creative practice. When an artist gets the freeing opportunity to make music that feels like a direct expression of their own authenticity, it’s a glorious feeling. This project was that for Colet, “I feel so much closer to the vision I have for the music I want to make. It feels different than previous projects, which is a reflection of the change we as people go through naturally." Making music in London has given Colet a fresh start to her creative endeavors.
Colet’s previous projects were created and produced out of Manila, a place and time Colet holds near and dear. Years later, Colet is happy to be making music on her own time and terms. She shared that an old officemate reached out to her to say, “I am so blessed to be at a time where you’re making music again.”
Colet met her producer, Alex Haines, while working at a coffee shop last year. In response to the state of the world and its influences on her personal life, she felt inspired to put a record together. She contacted the producer and they arranged to have a preliminary meeting to gain an understanding of each other’s vision and style. “We met for what was meant to be an hour tops and ended up staying for three hours because we both felt so aligned in what we wanted to create.” Colet and Haines shared an interest in mixing multiple genres and different elements that make up distinct alt-pop records. Inspired by a shared interest in the production of projects by artists like Caroline Polacheck, Moses Sumney, and Perfume Genius, the two set out to make great music.
“Strange Dreams” is your classic early 2000’s coming-of-age movie montage scene. Reminiscent of Lorde’s introspection and Maggie Rogers’ invitation to dance, fans of both will be happy with Colet’s new release. Amidst overanalyzing and categorizing music to fit into these genre and aesthetic boxes, music ultimately draws humanity together in shared experiences. “We’re human beings with complex and sometimes overwhelming emotions, and music feels like such a potent channel for that and that’s why we connect with it.”
Colet remembers a review by Jia Tolentino about a song by Nikki and the Dove described as “a shimmering pop ballad.” Music comes alive to the listener in a niche individual way. It’s an endless river of new perspectives. Music invokes a physical feeling asking us to use a new language of our own to describe our experience.
Like in most artistic endeavors, the two came face to face with limitations. Colet and Haines walked into the studio open-hearted and minded accepting the limitations set before them, their desire outweighing the possibility of failure. Initially, the producer suggested taking an acoustic approach for the sake of efficiency within the limitations of Colet’s budget (she self-funded the EP while working at a coffee shop). He invited her to come to the studio with three songs ready to go for a one-day trial session. Colet had been leafing through her songwriting notebook and came across a chorus from six years ago. “I remember really loving this chorus, but not ever being able to find anything else to mold around it, because the sound for it was so big in my head.”
This was the beginning of what became “Getaway Car.” During this first session, Colet finally found the right words and melody for the rest of the song. After hearing it, Alex immediately stirred and pulled out his synth. He started testing out different ideas for a base chord structure, then pulled out an electric guitar and Colet offered up a few more old voice notes to experiment with new melodies. Soon lyrics started to come out like an old well, drip by drip eventually yielding a steady stream. Colet and Haines finished the song then and there, complete with notes about what instruments to add and where.
When the day was done the air felt different, there was excitement in the prospect and promise for their future of collaboration. As they walked out of the studio late that night in the dead of winter they both knew they had no choice but to make a record. Colet went on to write the record in a pattern she describes as similar to gardening. Sewing a few seeds at a time, adjusting lighting and water ratios to find the perfect blend of verses and melodies resulting in a blooming EP.
“Strange Dreams” started its journey on a cafe napkin, scrawled one day years ago. One line is all it takes to ignite creative energy. With the line "I don't know how to call you / but I haven’t been right” and the semblance of a melody Colet began chipping away at the next song. “In my head, it sounded really big and epic, like crying on the dance floor.” That was the emotion that led to the completion of the lyrics and the energy that she brought to her studio sessions. “I wanted it to be about the feeling when you’re dancing because you’re so heartbroken - you’re going to every party in town and your heart is breaking all over the city, but all you can do is dance the pain away.”
Not every song makes it out of the journal or notes app, into the studio, and onto a record. I’ve heard multiple artists speak about a song “almost not making the cut.” Colet shares a few bits that haven’t made it out of their cocoon yet, such as two lines from ‘Strange Dreams’ that were omitted in the final recording “Love you for a moment / change me for a lifetime” and “Lying in silence in your arms / Make it through another song.” We share stories of our early aughts attempting to write poetry forged from secret and not-so-secret popstar obsessions that bring lyrical verse out of any fangirl. Fortunately for us, Colet’s poetry has resulted in this lovely EP.
Photo By Rūta Vero
Selecting your first single can be formulaic or organic, both of which yield desirable results. In true movie fashion, after a long day in the studio recording “Strange Dreams" (the last song for the EP), Colet found herself out dancing all night at Fold (a club in London), catching an Avalon Emerson DJ set for sentimental reasons. After the evening, she stumbled home at seven in the morning, plopped on the couch with her friend, and played the new demo, the sun rising in the background. In the morning glow her friend affirmed, “That’s the one, it’s really special.” Colet agreed, “It felt like the most fully cooked song.” It was the wrap-up of the EP but the first to be released.
Colet describes the other tracks specifically: “Getaway Car” as moody and atmospheric, “Ghosts” as upbeat with gritty anger, “Devil On My Shoulder” slows us down to think, and “Strange Dreams” is the crying in the club ballad dance track.
Art has always been a medium in which artists and audiences are allowed to process giving and receiving love and the restless waves of grief. “When your experiences are so profound, the grief is equally profound,” Colet shares. “‘Strange Dreams’ is almost a surrender to letting your heart break.” The EP processes lots of questions about how we react to heartbreak and the answer is found in the lyrics of the last song, “let it break first.” Colet’s lyricism invites us to think about what we’ve carried for too long and how, by allowing the sadness and grief to trickle in, we can find freedom in the after.
This project is all a result of Colet’s move to London in hopes of finding a welcoming community that continually fosters creativity. “I wanted to put myself in a situation and environment where I felt I could reach my potential,” Colet says. She spent the last couple of years in London exploring her creative and vocational interests. From art curation to writing music, these communities offered a place to investigate what passions were truly fulfilling versus entertaining pastimes.
Colet’s advice to those pursuing artistic passions but who feel stuck and need a change is “You have to go where things are happening.” She has found a vibrant creative community that is diverse and inclusive, and does not take it for granted. An artist's surroundings directly affect their work, that effect is what students study in art history classes. “Working on this record gave me a sense of fulfillment.” As an artist, I think that's all we can ask for after we finish a project.
