Spotlight On... SHEARS

Since Rebecca Shearing started releasing music as SHEARS, the Leith producer and pop artist has either been in our peripheral vision, or smack bang on the stage in front of us – she played our stage at Kelburn Garden Party in 2023 and the majority of her glistening pop releases have been mentioned in the mag or featured in our regularly updated Music Now playlist over on Spotify (and now also on YouTube). We’re not really sure, then, how it’s taken until now for us to have a proper catch-up. I guess timing is everything: with her debut album WE ARE BUT CHEMICALS due for release on 10 October, it just makes sense.

What's more, the album is brilliant, taking everything SHEARS has learned over years of songwriting and production to make a record that's equal parts Robyn, Self Esteem, Sonique, Little Mix and Leith all whipped up into a delicious dancefloor-ready smoothie. Following the release of BAD DREAM, ARCADE MACHINE, BONES and her latest single FEEL IT, and ahead of the full album release next month, we catch up with SHEARS to talk early inspirations, splitting the album into two halves and look to the future.

Let’s go right back to the start. Who/what was it that inspired you to get into music in the first place?
I was drawn to music at a very early age; my mum said I wouldn’t stop singing from about two years old and she got me started with singing lessons as soon as possible, when I turned five. I started piano lessons aged seven and would spend hours learning songs or up in my room trying to belt out the melismatic sequences that were in pop music at the time (Christina, Mariah, Whitney… all the good stuff). Music always has been and always will be a fundamental part of my life and who I am, which is useful because it was really the only thing I was good at growing up. I studied music at university and learned how to produce from there.

How would you say your practice has changed over the years?
My practice has definitely gone more electronic and technical. My early years consisted of playing piano and singing, putting videos on YouTube and learning as I went. My songwriting was always piano and vocals, making simple demos that I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with. Now, since learning to produce, mix and master, production is the majority of what I do. My songs usually build from beats and synths and I generally have an idea of what the full song sounds like before I even get to vocals. This practice has opened so many more doors, like getting the opportunity to write music for TV and adverts (under secret names), produce and mix for other artists and collaborate more freely. Thankfully, I absolutely love it and I’m so, so glad I took the time to learn properly from pros. It’s definitely what I was meant to do!

You play around with a fair few different genres on your forthcoming debut album, so I’d love to know who some of the musical inspirations found across WE ARE BUT CHEMICALS are?
My musical inspirations differ between production and songwriting. Production-wise, I absolutely love electronic artists such as Kelly Lee Owens, Bicep, Floating Points and Grimes. Everything sounds so clean, yet so gritty at the same time. I love listening to the subtle changes from bar to bar that keep your ears interested without you even noticing – even just the EQ on a kick drum changing very slightly. Vocals are a bit different – I love the songwriting of artists such as MARINA, BANKS and Self Esteem. I love honest lyrics, ones that aren’t afraid to make the listener a little uncomfortable or to question societal opinion. Combining these influences, my music often ends up as pop-club tracks… but not always!

There’s a very nice flow to the record which you have consciously split into two halves – what was the reason for this split?
It was consciously split once it was finished. I had already made all of the songs, and the themes just happened to split right down the middle. Half of the record explored hypocrisy, frustration and contradiction while the other half drew on celebrating the wins and letting go. The first half is based a little more on my past, situations and decisions I’ve had to accept over the years but also learning so much about what I want from my career and what makes me happy. Writing these songs has definitely helped me to let things go, and get some closure. I feel like over the last year in particular I’ve found my people – amazing friends, great people to work with and a sense of community in the industry that has taken time to build – this definitely helped to shape the latter half.

You describe your latest single FEEL IT – the final release before the album comes out next month – as being “about the BAD leaving your body”. What do you mean by this? Are you able to expand?
FEEL IT took a little while to be named, as I worked on the production before any lyrics came in. I had been under the weather and it was the first day I had some energy and was starting to feel better, so the session was called ‘my cold is going away’. It stayed like that for months, so by the time I wrote the lyrics, I was thinking about how most emotions are temporary, and what it would sound like to have anxious or negative feelings leave the body. The chorus backing vocals are distant and reverby, sort of how I imagine these emotions floating up to the clouds. In contrast, the production is sharp and to the front, reminding me that the rest of me is still here. It also made me reflect on my mental health, and looking after my mind as I co-exist with these fleeting emotions. I wouldn’t say I’m an anxious person, but it hits me a little when I have too much to do.

A lot of themes found across the record come from having a very strong feminist point of view – why was it important for you to explore these themes within your music and did you find any of it particularly challenging?
It wasn't a conscious decision to explore these themes – they emerged naturally as I wrote about my experiences and everyday frustrations. Some tracks fall into this category more neatly, such as BONES being about my experience with hormonal birth control. I read the book Nasty Women and realised it was a very common experience, so drew upon the accounts in the book, as well as my own. BAD DREAM is about sexism in the music industry – how incredibly outdated some people’s view of women is. ARCADE MACHINE is about control in the industry and feeling like a puppet. I would say that living these experiences is the challenging part; writing about them is quite cathartic. It feels like a release. The second half of the album is much happier!

You’ve got a couple of launch parties coming up in Edinburgh and Glasgow in October and November respectively – what can people expect from a live SHEARS show?
I’m very excited! Expect big synths, bass, percussion, effects, vocals (of course!) and a very tall spiral cymbal. I usually play shows myself, but for these I’ve enlisted some help so the sounds will be bigger than ever. I’ll be playing the full album, as well as a few older tracks, and Susan Bear will be joining me on both nights with her own set, which I’m also very excited to see!

And what does the rest of this year and next have in store for you?
It’s shaping up to be pretty busy! I’m a part of Hen Hoose, a female and non-binary songwriting collective based in Glasgow. We went up to the Isle of Lewis in May this year and wrote/recorded a whole album in six days. It’ll be out in January with some exciting events to follow. I also have a few collaborations coming out, and I’m of course getting stuck into new music. I feel very lucky!

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FEEL IT is out now; WE ARE BUT CHEMICALS is set for release on 10 Oct; SHEARS plays Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 4 Oct; The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, 26 Nov

Follow SHEARS on Instagram @imshears