Scottish indie artist Theo Bleak has shared “Megan in New York,” the first track off his upcoming album Bargaining, a new collection of songs out on December 18.
Co-written with close collaborator Mark Johnston, “Megan in New York,” chronicles a trip to New York that felt like the beginning of the end.
Theo Bleak is the musical project of Katie Lynch, a Dundee-based alternative artist known for her atmospheric and introspective sound. Since her debut Fragments, Bleak has been celebrated for her ability to weave personal experiences into songs that resonate deeply with listeners. Her work draws inspiration from diverse sources, including alternative rock, emo, and visual storytelling, creating a sound that is both nostalgic and refreshingly unique.
Speaking on “Megan in New York,” Bleak explained “A song about the most damaging dynamics we can enter into driven by passion, emotion and connections void of any reasonable intellect. Inspired by the self-implosion of my life beginning in New York City, conversations with Megan, who accompanied me on that trip, and the reflections of a man who kept her frozen in time. It is the first single from my fourteen-song mixtape ‘Bargaining’ – each a song a painful step forward as I was stuck longest in the bargaining stage of grief.”
Bargaining is a filled with heartfelt confessions, musings on grief, and desire for connection. Written throughout a transformative year in the raw songwriter’s life, Theo Bleak excavates every bad experience for the sake of her songs, documenting cathartic moments of pain and hope.
A chronological mixtape of my year through the most intense stage of grief I experienced- bargaining. Coming to terms with change, which felt unsurpassable, deep love, and brutal honesty. My mixtape was recorded at each of the rawest, saddest moments. The creak of my studio chair was audible in some of the tracks where I sat down to reason with my life, my mistakes, and my choices.
I navigated the mess of my life over the last year, inspired by the complex philosophy hidden within simple sentiments, imparted through my late Great Uncle’s journals. I read and annotated these, rich with his passion for cycling. These diaries begin in 1966, and although John died in the early 2000s, I could feel the friendship as though the veil was thin between the living and the dead. My best friend.
Theo Bleak
Earlier this year, Theo Bleak made her North American debut at New York’s New Colossus Festival and played various festivals across the United Kingdom, including Brighton’s famed The Great Escape Festival.
THEO BLEAK UPCOMING SHOWS
NOVEMBER
19 – London, UK – NEON194 *
20 – Manchester, UK – YES The Pink Room *
21 – Glasgow, UK – QMU #
30 – Belfast, UK – Black Box %
JANUARY
1 – Edinburgh, UK – Winter Festival First Footing
* – w/ Eleni Drake
# – w/ Admiral Fallow
% – w/ How R U
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