With little longer to go until Beth McCarthy’s ‘The Origin Story of a Pretty Villain’, two singles have already strikingly introduced the Pretty Villain starring in the EP. But even before ‘The Love After The Love of Your Life’ rationalised the self-aware jealousy of past partners: “Maybe she’s right / I might be spiralling”, McCarthy introduced this evil era to the world with a premiere of the lead single ‘Pretty Villain’ at Reading Festival.
“Musically, Miley Cyrus is to blame, chaotically, red wine is to blame, and 'Pretty Villain'-wise, heartbreak is to blame”. As Music Is To Blame sits down with Beth McCarthy, still in her onstage outfit, including knee-high boots and custom grillz, it soon becomes clear she has left the infamous Pretty Villain on the Reading Festival main stage. Whilst there are glimpses, “whenever you do something bad… it’s usually because someone made you that way”, it is the London-based singer-songwriter who divulges her love for Miley Cyrus: “I phwegging love her”. She names 'America’s Next Top Model' as inspiration for the (unplanned) mainstage walkway, and decides impromptu to show solidarity with “people with sweaty tashes”.
Behind the intimidating exterior (“covered in latex”) and origin story (“Beth McCarthy is in a coma, she’s on life support”), the London-based artist has not lost her playful edge when it comes to the concepts behind her discography. “I love Disney”, she tells us, immediately clarifying, “I'm not a Disney adult; don't send me into Disneyland wearing a costume”. Instead, ‘The Origin Story of a Pretty Villain’ finds McCarthy inspired by a villain’s origin story, citing 2021’s 'Cruella' and 2014’s 'Maleficent' as inspiration: “They make a whole film out of her because they all have an origin story and a reason why they became that way”.
Perhaps the scariest part is McCarthy acknowledging that “we’re all probably a villain to someone”, explaining, “In most people’s stories you could look at it from one side and see someone as the bad guy and on the other side you see someone else as the bad guy”. The upcoming EP poses the question of whether we will be cheering for the villain or the hero, or whether these roles are only a mirror width apart. Despite the grand storyline and visual transformation, the narrative does not lose the insouciant McCarthy of previous records, as she confesses with a laugh, “it’s never my own fault… this is my way of writing about doing bad things but never taking accountability”.
Speaking about the pressures of being a queer artist, she admits denying the label initially: “I don't want that to be the only thing about me”. Instead, the descriptor came automatically when writing about queer experiences (‘She’s Pretty’, ‘What Do You Call It’), although the accompanying advocacy was welcomed: “I’ve loved that and will always be that”. She talks with a passion testament of being a bisexual artist who, like many others, has been accused of queerbaiting, “I want to be able to speak about my experiences with all of the genders… I'm still equally as queer even when I'm singing about a man”. Having written ‘Good Bi’ over two years ago, for McCarthy, this new body of work feels as much of a lyrical turning point as sonic transformation. ‘The Origin Story of a Pretty Villain’ reintroduces McCarthy as a storyteller weaving her personal experiences into the narrative of something bigger: “I wanted to…build a world”. McCarthy’s excitement for this new era is palpable, grounded in a confidence in the music she is creating: “There’s definitely a bit of pressure, but I think if you own who you are… I hope that my queer community that I’ve built and the queer fans will be able to relate to things, even if it's not necessarily about something queer for me, I would like to think that it could still represent a queer story”.
The Pretty Villain remains mysterious for now, but Beth McCarthy’s message to the fans is clear: “All my music will always have underlying queerness because I am queer”.
Maisy Neale
Image: Courtesy of Press
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