MALKA – Taking It Back (Video Premiere)

Thanks to a combination of Kickstarter and Creative Scotland funding, Tamara Schlesinger's latest album as MALKA, I'm Not Your Soldier, was recorded by Paul Savage at Chem19 and is due for release in early 2020. At the end of September, MALKA released the album's lead single, Taking It Back. It's a head-on confrontation with her struggles with anxiety, all wrapped up in a warm shimmer of uplifting drums and synths as Schlesinger defiantly sings: ‘My love, I never give in / I’m taking it back, I’m taking it / My love, I never gave in / I’m taking it back, I’m taking it’.

"The song is about my journey in overcoming panic attacks and learning to control those dark moments in my own way,” Schlesinger tells us. “Sometimes it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed – I find it hard running the label, writing the music, creating the artwork, making decisions myself and trying to balance family life. I often find that writing about how I feel can help me to see things more clearly. Although it’s about a dark subject it’s still uplifting – I love to have that interplay of darker lyrics with upbeat music.”

To coincide with World Mental Health Day, The Skinny are delighted to be premiering the music video for Taking It Back, which you can watch in the above YouTube player (click here if it’s not displaying correctly). “The idea behind the video was to playfully deal with the themes of overcoming fear, anxiety and complex relationships by pitting predator against prey,” Schlesinger explains. “It was shot in Peebles, which has some really beautiful scenery and was the perfect setting for the kids to be wandering around a forest all alone.

“The video was directed by my good friend and long-time collaborator Lee Bamsey. Lee has worked on all of my MALKA music videos and I convinced him to head up to Glasgow with his children so that all of our kids could be in it. The video was edited by my husband Martin, so it really is a bit of a family affair."

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Taking It Back is out now; I'm Not Your Soldier is due for release in early 2020

malkamusic.co.uk