The 23-year-old synth-pop musicians Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton have been best friends since they first bonded overdrawing at age 4. That kinship established their tight collaboration as a two-person band named for a grammar gag (note the missing comma). The duo from Norwich, England, arrived just as an emotional streak hit synth-pop (prompted by albums like Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion and Chairlift’s Moth). Their ability to infuse mischief into songs without undercutting poignancy stood out. Let’s Eat Grandma’s sound remained distinct even as they branched off to outside producers including the late sophie. Their upcoming third album, Two Ribbons, is foreign territory: their first written separately. Hollingworth spent much of 2019 grieving her boyfriend, the musician Billy Clayton, who died from cancer that March; simultaneously, Walton was discovering her bisexuality and dating women. For the first time, they had experiences to which the other couldn’t relate.
Do you recall when music entered the mix of your friendship?
ROSA WALTON: Quite a lot later on. We wrote joke songs when we were 10 for fun and would make spy movies and attempt to make sweets and dye our clothes with beetroot—things that kids do.
JENNY HOLLINGWORTH: We were really quite atrocious at first.
R.W.: We’ve become slicker as a band. It’s important to retain that initial freedom and creativity that we had back when we weren’t trying to make an album. We were just writing for ourselves.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Trapped in Time
A woman relives the same day in a stunning Danish novel.
Polyphonic City
A SOFT, SHIMMERING beauty permeates the images of Mumbai that open Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light. For all the nighttime bustle on display-the heave of people, the constant activity and chaos-Kapadia shoots with a flair for the illusory.
Lear at the Fountain of Youth
Kenneth Branagh's production is nipped, tucked, and facile.
A Belfast Lad Goes Home
After playing some iconic Americans, Anthony Boyle is a beloved IRA commander in a riveting new series about the Troubles.
The Pluck of the Irish
Artists from the Indiana-size island continue to dominate popular culture. Online, they've gained a rep as the \"good Europeans.\"
Houston's on Houston
The Corner Store is like an upscale chain for downtown scene-chasers.
A Brownstone That's Pink Inside
Artist Vivian Reiss's Murray Hill house of whimsy.
These Jeans Made Me Gay
The Citizens of Humanity Horseshoe pants complete my queer style.
Manic, STONED, Throttle, No Brakes
Less than six months after her Gagosian sölu show, the artist JAMIAN JULIANO-VILLAND lost her gallery and all her money and was preparing for an exhibition with two the biggest living American artists.
WHO EVER THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PINK MEAT THAT LASTS FOR WEEKS WAS A GOOD IDEA?
Deli Meat Is Rotten