Episode 71: Pollyanna Blue: Rocking Hopeful Upheaval

Today on the podcast we are featuring the Bristol-based alt-rock band Pollyanna Blue. Learn more about them and listen to their track “Strong Enough.”

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Show Notes and Full Transcript

Hey everyone welcome to the Eat Sleep Breathe Music podcast. I am your host Jeanette Kimszal. For those of you just joining us, this is the podcast where I talk about different musicians and how their music affects me and then play I track of theirs for you to listen to.

So you can check it out and form your own opinion as well. And if you are so inclined to share your opinion I’ll have details where you can leave your comments at the end of the show.

So it’s been a minute since I had put out an episode and I don’t know what happened over the last year. I think the last episode I put out was in May and I basically, I think I just got lazy with the summer.

I don’t know what happened. Summer comes around and I want to be outside. And then, you know, every time I went to go podcast, I just, you know, It’s just, it didn’t have any, like, nothing to say. And so, you know, it was just, I don’t know, it was kind of silly, but, you know, I, and I hadn’t really been listening to a lot of music.

We were going to a lot of concerts, but lately all I’ve been doing is just listening to podcast episodes. Like, I don’t know. I’m obsessed with rewatch podcast episodes and I have a slew of them on my, you know, iPhone and I just keep listening. And I think that also may be the problem. You know, I’m not listening to anything.

So basically I am not getting any inspiration of bands to talk about, or, you know, I’m not getting any inspiration from music and wanting to talk about different artists. And I think also the key is to batch produce, because if you have a bunch of podcasts lined up, ready to go, then you can just keep putting them out and you have episodes.

And I don’t know. If I just need to have a better system or maybe I need to scale back and not feel like I have to put out an episode every week, you know, I know a lot of people who, uh, have done podcast episodes where they were putting out every week and then things just got too busy. So then they went to every other week schedule and it seemed to be a lot more manageable.

So that’s something I have to think about. And I don’t know, this is a whole big tangent and you probably don’t even care. So you can fast forward through this part if you want, but. That’s basically where I’ve been. I’ve kind of just been, just been trying to get catch up with things. I had a good summer, had a good holiday.

Things are good. I hope everyone is doing well. And I’m excited to share this band that I came across with you all today. And I had heard about them at the end of January, but as I’ve gotten busy with other projects. It was kind of put to the back burner until now, but when I listened to them, I was, you know, I was really instantly smitten with their music and I knew I wanted to do some kind of feature, but then I got caught up with life and my job and, you know, I just was not able to podcast as soon as I wanted, but.

However, that’s okay, because as they say, hopefully, better late than never, right?

So this band and song is also very fitting because as I record this today, it is International Women’s Day, and I’m so excited to see so many female artists out there rocking it, so it’s just really exciting to have female-fronted artists to promote.

If you’re looking for some other fierce female musicians you should check out our last podcast episode #70 where I interviewed Alyson Greenfield. She is doing a lot of cool stuff. 

But back to the matter at hand. Music!

So as I said, today I’m chatting about the Bristol-based group Pollyanna Blue, this group was introduced to me as I had gotten an email about them, and I had wanted, you know, I wanted to feature them for a while, it’s just, I’m not, you know, I didn’t get to do it until today. 

This three-piece band consists of Zoe Collins on guitar and vocals, Rich Earle on bass and vocals, and Neil Loftus on drums. Please forgive me if I am pronouncing any of these names incorrectly. 

The group came together back in the summer of 2019, and their name comes from the inspiration of this self-help book that is entitled, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.” The book talks about the nickname, Pollyanna, given to someone who is deemed overly optimistic.

And then, basically, what they had said was that they take this optimism, coupled with the tumultuous emotions that life can throw at you, and create the whole concept of their music. 

It seems to be a juxtaposition of the light and dark that can be experienced daily. Perhaps even, and this is something, I, I don’t know if this is, correct but I was also looking at the name and seeing the word “blue” and I was curious if that “feeling blue”, you know, that blue feeling, I don’t know if this is where the name comes from, but I was thinking that, it’s also kind of interesting that they added that because the whole phrase “feeling blue” kind of describes the state of emotional sadness or melancholy.

And while “tumultuous” may not be the most accurate way to describe “feeling blue,” there are times, when sadness can…can cause emotional turbulence. 

So I just thought it was interesting that they had added the term “blue” at the end of their name. 

So the song “Strong Enough” is off the band’s debut studio EP entitled Trials and Tribulations, and this came out last June 2023. It’s a compilation of 4 tracks including previously released singles “Savior” and “Haunted,” the follow-up to their April 2023 single “Stray.” 

And for me, what initially draws me in is the music. I find myself to be somewhat of a superficial listener. The music is what kind of first gets my attention, and I would say that definitely happened with “Strong Enough.”

The first few beats of that song, I was just like totally digging the vibe, and it was hook, line, and sinker. 

It’s just three seconds in, and there are these curious, soft, ominous guitar strums. 

[Plays music clip of guitars]

And this goes on for about 11 seconds. And then there’s like a silence for about six seconds and you’re, you’re just waiting for what’s to come next. 

It’s, it seems like an eternity because you’re just like, wait, what’s going to happen next? What’s going to happen next? And then, the guitars start to zing, zing, zing. 

[Plays clip of guitars zing-ing]

And then, at 18 seconds, you’re hit with the hauntingly beautiful vocals of Collins. And the guitars just continue to strum a little bit louder, a little bit louder in the background. 

[Plays clip of Zoe Collins singing] 

Maybe it’s just that I’ve listened to the song a lot. The music just seems deeper, and I think it’s because once you get into the song’s lyrics, you can hear the message of resilience and strength when facing, you know, tough challenges in life. 

And this is the Pollyanna moment. You know, it’s where you’re looking on the bright side and believing in yourself.

You know, you feel like you can forge ahead and be strong enough. To get through the other side. So the lyrics start out of the gate with this impactful and hard feeling showing all the negativity. 

And the, the effects of something bad going on and you’re just feeling these tumultuous vociferous feelings and it’s just so it’s starting to build up and it’s starting to build up and then It goes: 

Sick and tired

Tear me apart then rewired

No matter what the cost

These feelings have to stop

[Plays clip of this verse]

As you can hear, there is an emphasis on the word “stop,” which shows the desperation and upset feeling that’s happening to this, to this person right now. Then it talks about the problem of feeling pressure and getting all this negative.

And, you know, all this negative stuff pushing down on you, preventing you from any positivity in your life. 

Persistent pressure is squeezing out

The joy and pleasure

Stops to no extent until there’s nothing left

Oh, nothing left. 

[Plays clip of this verse]

And listening to those lyrics, you realize no matter what you can do, nothing is going to combat these emotions and it just And you just start to feel the only way for things to stop is if they burst and break, and then you basically give up:

Spare no expense

In putting up all the defence

How much will it take

Until it bends or it breaks

Ohh what will it take

Ohh until it bends or breaks

[Plays clip of this verse]

And just when you feel like you can’t take anymore, then the chorus comes in and it has this positive impact showing how by believing in yourself, you can flip everything on its head and tell yourself you have the power to make it through:

In times like these, when life gets tough

I’ll show myself I’m strong enough

Oh, strong enough

[Plays clip of the chorus]

Then after that, there’s this interlude with these lush harmonizing “oohs” for about 27 seconds. And then in the background, there is this heavy hypnotic drum beat and steady, like, da, duh duh duh, from the guitars. 

The adding of the lyric, “Oh, what will it take?” To me, really further emphasizes the points of force being exerted on this person. 

And then the lyrics, “Oh strong enough, Oh, what will it take”? Indicate you’re able to push it away once you bring in that…that Pollyanna moment and that optimism.

And it just really solidifies the message of, like, unbridled optimism. 

When discussing the song, lead vocalist Zoe Collins had said that, 

“Strong Enough is a song written to defy feelings of doubt and self-helplessness when working through any obstacle that comes your way. The lyrics were written in a time that Pollyanna Blue were about to go into the studio to record vocals.

The creative process can sometimes become a challenging place for any artist, and this pressure becomes the catalyst for the lyrics. In times like these, when life gets tough, I’ll show myself I’m strong enough. I took the pressure of writing lyrics and put my positive Pollyanna spin on it and embellished this alt rock anthem with real meaning.”

It’s kind of neat that even, you know, the moment of writing the song and recording the song was a challenge to the musicians. And they, they also, they took this negative thing, but then they transformed it into a positive message showing that even though you could be stressed and under pressure, having optimism and having hopefulness is really important to get your way through the tough times.

When it comes to the music part of the track, I find that it really seamlessly complements the lyrics. The lyrics start out slow and then they build up and then come to a boiling point. And it has this ominous sound that just moves into a more, upbeat, feisty feel that, that just pairs perfectly with like the oscillating lows and highs of the lyrics.

And the thing that I really like about this is that there’s this fun triple drum beat that is just like dum dum dum dum, and it happens right before the chorus.  And then it goes back to this steady pace at the chorus. 

[Plays clip of music before the chorus]

Another high point of the song for me is where they repeat the chorus or perhaps it’s the bridge because musically it does sound a little different from the rest of the song. But the lyrics are similar to the chorus. Then in the background, behind the lyrics there’s this clicking anthemic hook that is just so catchy  It really just gets your attention as soon as it starts. 

[Plays clip of anthemic clicking catchy hook]

Then it goes back into The chorus again, finishing on this really amazing high note with this energetic, raw, rocking vocal harmony. 

Overall, the dichotomy of themes of hopefulness and emotional upheaval is So wonderfully illustrated by their lyrics of self-discovery and vulnerability, and it’s just paired with this rugged elegance of this ‘90s/2000s alt-rock. 

With the effort and care that was put into this song, you know there is a love of crafting music, and just looking to connect with those who are in need of solace and inspiration to to find their own ways to be strong.

When I was listening to this track, I sampled some of the other songs on their EP, and I have to say I really enjoyed all of them. I think what really appeals to me about this band is that it’s got that 90s alt-rock sound. They have this raw authenticity, yet they’re not meticulous precision that is just somehow like edgy but also has a little bit of a soft side.

The first time I listened to this track I got goosebumps and you know it’s just always so exciting when you listen to music and it like it physically affects you and physically touches you and you’re just like wow it’s like it’s amazing how Music does that, you know? It’s just, you’re like, oh my goodness, this is such an impactful experience.

And if you like music videos, I encourage you to check out the accompanying music video for this track. It promises to be a stylized performance that creatively mirrors the struggles and mentality of the creative process, offering a glimpse into the band’s growth and evolution. I can leave links to these in the show notes.

Check out the music video on Youtube.

When it comes to sound and a similar artist, the band has said to be compared to the likes of Muse, classic Foo Fighters, Garbage, Suede

and said to appeal of fans of Hundredth, Mallory Knox, Lower Than Atlantis, Nothing But Thieves, Fall Out Boy and Vukovi (please forgive me if I am pronouncing this incorrectly).

I also get vibes of 90’s bands like Hole meets Veruca Salt with a dash of Letters to Cleo. 

The band’s stand-out sound has been receiving accolades from around the web. Their music has been called their music “authentic” and “badass” with “hooky choruses”,  “sick riffs,”,  and “conscious lyrics.” by outlets like Purple Revolver, Distored Sound, MusicTo, PureMZine, and Real Gone Rocks.

They also have had features in OCChiMag, Joyzine, Music Republic Magazine, Broken 8 Records, PM Studio, Uber-Rock, IDEOTEQ, Listen Here Reviews, GAMES, BRRRAAAINS & A HEAD-BANGING LIFE, the BBC, The Punk Site, Loud Women, and Amplify The Noise,

And with all that being said, now it’s time for you to take your own listen. We’d love to know what you think about the track “Strong Enough” by Pollyanna Blue.

You can tell us in a comment on the podcast webpage. You can also leave an audio comment at the link on our Spotify page.

If you want to listen to more of their music you can find it streaming on most platforms Apple, Amazon, and Spotify.

For more information on Pollyanna Blue you can check out their official website Pollyanna.Blue.com.

That is P-O-L-L-Y-A-N-N-A dot B-L-U-E dot com.

You can also like them on Facebook at the handle PollyannaBlueUK

That is P-O-L-L-Y-A-N-N-A-B-L-U-E-U-K

You can also follow them on Instagram the handle Pollyanna.Blue

That is P-O-L-L-Y-A-N-N-A-D-O-T-B-L-U-E

If you are in the UK area and want to see them live they will be Supporting Mirror Talk at the Asylum 2 on March 29th.

If you’re looking for more new music, subscribe to our podcast so you will get the latest updates on our artist features. 

You can also find more music features on our website at www.EatSleepBreatheMusic.com. That is E-a-t-S-l-e-e-p-B-r-e-a-t-h-e-M-u-s-i-c dot com.

And if you like watching podcasts you can see these episodes on our YouTube page.

Thanks for listening and see you in the next episode!

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