At this point, our Julia Rakel obsession might be going too far. We’ve written about the two singles the Malmö artist has put out to date, with both PDFILWM and People being fine examples of her talent for witty, touching indie-pop. Rakel’s debut EP, Indie fEElz, is just on the horizon, so now she’s back with another single. And we’ve got the first listen right here to You’re Not Getting It.

You’re Not Getting It shares a fair bit with Rakel‘s previous singles, including a hazy warmth from the song’s synths, as well as another example of her fondness for an final third song-shift/extended outro. But it’s a more sombre and vulnerable song than anything she’s put out before. Unlike PDFILWM and People, with their little dashes of bitter ironic humour, You’re Not Getting It is a song on the edge, stress and sadness bundled up and packaged into a dreamy, floating pop song. Listen and check out an interview with Rakel below.

Hi Julia! tell us about your new single You’re Not Getting It. How was this track written?
This one was definitely the hardest one to finish on the EP, both in terms of the writing process and the production. I couldn’t decide how to program the beat, which melody worked the best, how the dynamics would go up or down nor the words to it either. It came to life when I was in a bad state and wanted to succumb to that destructive feeling. So. it was a tough one. After some time it kind of just happened to result in whatever it is now.

You popped up into the recorded music world at the start of this year, so can you tell us more about the history of the project? How did your solo project get started, and how long has everything been coming together? How did you get to this point, when you’re about to release an EP?
I’m afraid to say that the story behind this project is quite boring. I’ve been playing in bands and writing music for others for a couple of years now. During the summer of 2018 I came to the conclusion that if I didn’t take some time pronto to finish off some songs, and actually put them out – I would never do it. I’ve written music, more or less shitty ones, since I was maybe 13 or something. The oldest one on the EP is from 2016, so hopefully there’s no pre-adolescent vibes taking over.

Your lyrics tend to focus on the politics of interpersonal relationships, and on questioning and interrogating the way people behave with and around each other. Why does that inspire so much of your writing?
I would like to say that writing lyrics is something that comes easy to me, but it really isn’t. I admit I can be very pretentious with words, which perhaps isn’t the most appealing quality in a musician.

Usually I write something in more of an poem-y way, because I like to know that the words can stand for themselves. Something that’s always relevant – at least for me – is relationships, therefore it’ll always be inspiring and true to write about them.

You’re Not Getting It sounds like a more personal song, about someone being pushed to their limit and needing to escape. Would you agree with that interpretation?
The simple answer to this question is – yes.

Finally, your debut EP Indie fEElz is almost here, what can you tell us about that?
I can tell you that I’m, of course, very excited. My record label sent me a picture of the vinyl which just arrived in Stockholm, whereupon I exclaimed in a very corny ‘iiiihhhh!’. So yeah, proud. Nervous. Exhilarated. All of the feels. Hope you enjoy.

You’re Not Getting It is out on March 7, and the Indie fEElz EP is out on March 15 on Rama Lama Records.