Latest news with #RhianTeasdale
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wet Leg Bring ‘Moisturizer' to NPR Tiny Desk
Wet Leg brought their slippery new album Moisturizer to NPR's Tiny Desk concert series. Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers selected four songs from the record, out Friday, July 11, to showcase their latest era alongside guitarist Joshua Mobaraki, bassist Ellis Durand, and drummer Henry Holmes. Wet Leg opened the set with 'CPR,' a dark and twisted love song where Teasdale panic calls the authorities. Her emergency? 'The thing is, I think I'm in love.' The band followed with the unreleased track 'Mangetout' and their recent single 'Davina McCall.' The final song of their performance marked the live debut of '11:21,' an outlier ballad in their discography. Teasdale revealed before they began that they've 'never played it outside of the comfort of our practice room before.' More from Rolling Stone Wet Leg Are Stupid and Contagious on 'Moisturizer' Wiz Khalifa Gets Emotional During NPR Tiny Desk Performance Wet Leg Sound the Alarm on New Single 'CPR' Anyone missing the Wet Leg hits 'Chaise Longue' and 'Wet Dream' can revisit the band's 2021 Tiny Desk (Home) Concert. For now, they're focused on the future. 'An album is like a snapshot, and you can set your intention,' Chambers told Rolling Stone in 2022. 'If you just want it to be, 'This is what's bringing us joy at the moment,' that's valid — or if you want to make sure it's something, in your mind, that's perfect, it takes a lot longer.' In a review of Moisturizer, Rolling Stone wrote: 'On their second album, Moisturizer, Wet Leg prove they've been partying harder, traveling faster, caring less, and meeting sexier idiots. If you thought they might catch a case of sophomore-slump neurosis, you guessed wrong. They crank up the drum mix, enough to make you suspect they hang out in some pretty sleazy rock clubs these days, for a sound that's aimed at the floor … The emotions on Moisturizer range from crushed-out bliss to break-up rage. But wherever Wet Leg go, they make you want to tag along.' Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wet Leg Are Stupid and Contagious on ‘Moisturizer'
'We're on our way to the club/Stupid is, stupid does' — whatever party Wet Leg are heading to, it sounds like one worth crashing. The U.K. indie rockers came out of nowhere in 2021 (well, the Isle of Man) to become bona fide international superstars with two devilishly clever singles: 'Wet Leg' and 'Chaise Longue.' Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers banged on their guitars and sneered hysterically cheeky one-liners about the moronic menfolk who cross their paths, with the immortal hook, 'Baby, do you wanna come home with me?/I got Buffalo '66 on DVD.' Wet Leg started as just a couple of wiseasses fighting off the post-collegiate ennui by writing a few songs for a laugh — as they sang, 'I went to school and I got the big D!' They even boasted they came up with the idea to start a band while riding a Ferris wheel. Yet their debut album turned out to be a surprise blockbuster, even in the U.S.A., usually the country where cool British bands go to die. Wet Leg even bagged a couple of Grammys — not bad for a band whose two most famous songs were about vehicular masturbation and snogging groupies in the dressing room. Snappy guitars, casual sarcasm, punk feminist arrogance flipping off the world — what's not to love? More from Rolling Stone Wet Leg Bring 'Moisturizer' to NPR Tiny Desk Wet Leg Sound the Alarm on New Single 'CPR' the Beaches, Wet Leg, MJ Lenderman to Headline Rolling Stone's Rock & Roll Tour On their second album, Moisturizer, Wet Leg prove they've been partying harder, traveling faster, caring less, and meeting sexier idiots. If you thought they might catch a case of sophomore-slump neurosis, you guessed wrong. They crank up the drum mix, enough to make you suspect they hang out in some pretty sleazy rock clubs these days, for a sound that's aimed at the floor. 'Mangetout' is a damn-near perfect dance-punk summer jam, all pulsing rhythm and brazen confidence and raging hormones. Teasdale comes on strong with a pick-up line for our times: 'You think I'm pretty/You think I'm pretty cool/You wanna fuck me?/I know — most people do.' By the end of the song, they're are chanting, 'Get lost forever!' Moisturizer keeps everything fast and frisky, kicking off with 'CPR,' where Teasdale turns lust into a medical emergency, demanding mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with ambulance-siren synth hooks. Since the debut, she's found herself in a queer relationship for the first time. But as on the debut, every song is funny, chronicling the ups and downs of modern romance. They've been stars for a couple of years now, touring with their fan Harry Styles, who did a bang-up version of 'Wet Dream' on the BBC. Yet they haven't cleaned up their young, loud, and snotty act. They're a full-fledged five-piece band, with their longtime live group and producer/keyboardist Dan Carey. It's the classic U.K. dance-oriented guitar rush of classic Britpop legends like Elastica or Franz Ferdinand, with plenty of Blondie-worthy attitude. 'Catch These Fists' is about clubbing hard, doing too many drugs, and starting brawls with the losers who try to pick you up when all you want is to dance with your friends. 'He don't get puss, he get the boot,' Teasdale jeers. 'I just threw up in my mouth/When he just tried to ask me out.' 'Pillow Talk' is a high-speed New Wave ode to romantic lust. 'Every night I lick my pillow, I wish I was licking you,' Teasdale sings. 'Every night I fuck my pillow, I wish I was fucking you.' Chambers sings lead vocals in a pair of charmers, 'Don't Speak' (not the No Doubt tune) and 'Pond Song.' The only dud on the album is the token ballad, '11:21' — slow-motion sensitivity isn't really Wet Leg's style. They're much more at home letting it rip in bangers like 'Jennifer's Body,' 'Liquidize,' and 'Davina McCall.' The emotions on Moisturizer range from crushed-out bliss ('I'll be your Shakira, whenever, wherever') to break-up rage ('You are washed-up, irrelevant, and standing in my light'). But wherever Wet Leg go, they make you want to tag along. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
Irish Times
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Wet Leg's Rhian Teasdale: ‘I'm doing sexy body rolls, but I'm wearing lobster claws'
Rhian Teasdale has always sung like a rock star, and now she looks like one too, her hair dyed a shocking strawberry pink, and jewels on her nails and teeth. 'This is something we've always played with,' says Wet Leg 's Grammy-winning frontwoman, citing the band's 2022 single Wet Dream, the promotional film for which features Teasdale and Hester Chambers , her bandmate, looking like glamorous lobsters. 'It's a very tongue-in-cheek sexual-innuendo song. In the video I'm doing, like, these sexy body rolls, but I'm wearing lobster claws.' Wet Dream was part of a blitz of releases that, over the space of a few months, propelled Wet Leg from alternative-playlist fodder to award-bagging stars – Rolling Stone called their eponymous debut album 'the relentlessly catchy post-punk record' the world had been waiting for. Three years later they're back with a scintillating second LP, Moisturizer, looking very different but still making the same thrilling deadpan post-punk. READ MORE What's changed is that Teasdale is flexing her rock-star muscles, both figuratively and literally. She has the gym-honed physique of someone who could hold her own in an MMA ring – but the real muscle has gone into the way the band present themselves. First time around, she and Chambers were overwhelmed twentysomethings from the Isle of Wight, in southern England, still working day jobs and not sure how to negotiate the overnight fame that came their way when their single Chaise Longue went viral – leading Harry Styles to invite the pair to tour as his opening act, Dave Grohl to make a cameo appearance with them at Coachella and Barack Obama to put one of their songs on his summer playlist. Now they feel fully in control. Moisturizer is the work of artists calling the shots and confident in the way they present themselves – musically, sartorially and philosophically. [ Wet Leg: Triumphant debut of frosty insouciance Opens in new window ] 'When we made the first album we took time off work,' says Teasdale, who is 32. In those early days she was still earning a living as a film stylist's assistant. (Her credits include an Ed Sheeran video.) 'I was working on set, on commercials, and as a wardrobe assistant. I wanted to blend right into the background. It's such a male-dominated space in the film industry. My life, outside of school, up until that point when we started Wet Leg, is just ... you have no time for self-expression. You have no money.' Moisturizer is one of those great second LPs that land like bigger, brighter, more confident versions of the music that made the artists so beloved the first time around. The point is underscored by the romping Pixies-meets-Motörhead single CPR and the student-disco blitzkrieg Catch These Fists, which features pummelling riffs and lyrics to match ('I don't want your love/ I just want to fight'). The latter is about dealing with unwanted male attention, its key line being 'Don't approach me, I just want to dance with my friends'. But Moisturizer is also threaded through with the same subversive humour that prompted Teasdale to dress like a 'sexy lobster' in the Wet Dream video while delivering lines such as, 'you climb on to the bonnet and you're licking the windscreen/ I've never seen anything so obscene.' That vibe is epitomised by the cover of Moisturizer, an unsettling photograph of Teasdale with a hideous AI-generated smile as Chambers, her back to the camera, flexes monster claws. The image is disconcerting in the conflicting emotions it evokes. Teasdale radiates rock-star mystique while looking like something that has crawled from your worst nightmare. She enjoys the duality, the 'sugary sweetness of the cover, having it juxtaposed with this creepy AI smile and the long fingernails' – and you have to regard the artwork in the context of things she's said about being objectified as a woman in the spotlight, including the creepy middle-aged men who spend entire Wet Leg gigs filming on their phones. Moisturizer: the cover photograph of Hester Chambers and Rhian Teasdale The photograph's 'kind of sexy, disgusting' combination fits in with Wet Leg's long enjoyment of unsettling their audience. In the Chaise Longue video, Teasdale and Chambers dress like characters from a folk horror movie; Chambers's features are concealed behind a giant wicker hat, so there's a real chill when she delivers the song's whispered refrain of 'What?' Similarly, performing at the Brit Awards in 2023, they were accompanied by Morris dancers from the Isle of Wight. 'One of the fun things about being in a band is your opportunity to create a world around the music,' Teasdale says. 'When you watch a film and you like the soundtrack it gives you so much. 'I just watched 28 Years Later' – Danny Boyle's zombie-themed folk horror . 'The soundtrack to that film, it's everything for me. The opportunity to serve up your music with imagery is such an important part of it. It can completely change the way that you hear something.' Wet Leg: Rhian Teasdale. Photograph: Meghan Marin/New York Times They recorded the new album with Dan Carey, the Fontaines DC producer. As with the Dublin group, Wet Leg weren't overawed by the challenge of following up an acclaimed debut. Teasdale's philosophy is that it's better to crack on than obsess about making a perfect second LP. 'Sometimes your best ideas are the first ideas,' she says. In the studio, accordingly, they made an effort not to second-guess themselves. 'You can censor yourself out of something that's a bit weird and that's the magic secret sauce. There can be a lot of pressure if you overthink it. We were, like, 'Let's rip the Band-Aid off.' We managed to keep it fun. But in a way of, 'Let's keep the pace up.'' Teasdale and Chambers, who met studying music, had been in and out of bands through their early 20s. They decided to start Wet Leg for a lark while sitting on a Ferris wheel – and were soon conquering indiedom one chunky riff at a time. They initially presented themselves as a duo, with their backing band comprising a trio of shaggy indie boys for hire (Joshua Mobaraki on guitar, Ellis Durand on bass and Henry Holmes on drums). Second time around, those background musicians are now fully signed-up band members. Chambers has made a conscious decision to retreat into the background, the better to navigate her social anxiety. 'Starting the band together ... that will always be a very important part of our story,' Teasdale says. 'When we signed with Domino we signed as the two of us, and we went on tour, and we took our friends with us. Experiencing all the things that we have together, we have naturally developed into a five-piece. 'We've learned things along the way of what we do and don't like doing and what comes with being in a band – which, of course, we had no real understanding of.' Chambers's decision to step back was a result of their experiences as musicians in the spotlight, according to Teasdale. 'We had no idea this thing was going to snowball in the way that it did. We started the band because we wanted to play some shows together and write music together. 'You don't think about all the other things that go along with it, like an online presence and people being able to comment and pick you apart, and all of the promo that goes along with it – having to speak about your music and dissect why you've done this or why you've done that.' Wet Leg: Henry Holmes, Joshua Mobaraki, Rhian Teasdale, Ellis Durand and Hester Chambers. Photograph: Alice Backham For all the ferocity of the music, a seam of sweetness runs through tracks such as Davina McCall, with its chorus of 'Days end too soon/ When I'm with you'. That's a reflection of where Teasdale is in her personal life and her relationship with her nonbinary significant other. 'I'm someone who wears their heart on their sleeve quite a lot, for better or for worse,' she says. 'I am very, very in love. I'm obsessed with my partner.' Teasdale is chatty and pleasant, but a slight chill descends when she's asked if she has any regrets about writing Ur Mum, a scorched-earth number from their first album that carpet-bombed a former romantic partner with its unsparing lyrics – 'When I think about what you've become/ I feel sorry for your mum.' The song is believed to be about Teasdale's ex-boyfriend – and former Wet Leg member – Doug Richards, who has said that the tune hurt his feelings, largely because his mother had died shortly before he and Teasdale began their relationship. 'I realise she wrote these lyrics during the heat of a break-up, but she could have come and told me about it after, given me a heads-up at least,' he told the Sunday Times. Teasdale did later voice misgivings. 'It's a bit harsh,' she told the Independent. ''I feel sorry for your mum' is a very mean thing to say.' Today, however, she says, 'I don't have any regrets. Why would I have regrets?' [ Wet Leg at Electric Picnic 2023: Smart, punchy, shin-kicking pop from Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers Opens in new window ] She may not have misgivings over Ur Mum, but Wet Leg have learned a great deal in the run-up to the new LP. One of the lessons is that, if the whole world wants a bit of you, there comes a time when you have to put your foot down. Say yes to everything – every gig offer, every interview request – and soon you'll be running on empty. That's exactly what happened to Wet Leg in September 2022, when exhaustion led to them cancelling several shows in the United States. Second time out, they're determined to climb Everest at their own pace. 'If I didn't say no, I would be doing promo all day. People are trying to do their jobs, and trying to do a good job, and everyone's working hard for us.' She skips a beat, as if reflecting on the busy year stretching ahead of Wet Leg. 'It's up to me to communicate what I'm emotionally and mentally available for. No one can guess. That's on me.' Moisturizer is released by Domino . Wet Leg play the All Together Now festival, in Co Waterford, July 31st-August 3rd
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Wet Leg's Rhian Teasdale shows off her sculpted physique in a bikini top and hot pants as she takes to the stage at Scotland's TRNSMT Festival
Rhian Teasdale of British indie-rock band Wet Leg showed off her toned abs and bulging biceps on-stage at TRNSMT Festival on Friday. The group joined a star-studded line-up including Kneecap, The Script and headliner 50 Cent on the famous Glasgow stage. And, on a day where temperatures soared to 30C in the United Kingdom, Wet Leg's lead vocalist dressed down in a white bikini and coordinated hot pants for the performance. While belting out the group's biggest tunes, including Wet Dream and Chaise Lounge, Teasdale flexed her biceps while letting her long pink hair flow past her shoulders. The 33-year-old seemed in high spirits for the performance as she was pictured geeing the crowd up alongside her bandmate and best friend Hester Chambers, 30. Wet Leg's performance at TRNSMT comes on the same day they released their latest album Moisturizer. While promoting the new project, which features 12 songs, the band have featured on a number of high-profile festival line-ups in recent weeks. They made their second appearance at the iconic Glastonbury Festival earlier this month on the Other Stage, after previously hitting the Park Stage in 2022. And during a recent interview with The Irish News, Rhian admitted she and her bandmates were 'nervous' to perform for the bumper crowd at Worthy Farm. 'We were just so anxious and excited for it go down well and for people to actually turn up, it was crazy,' she said. 'I think also because, like Park Stage, when we played that that was such a big moment for us, that really felt like, "oh, how are we going to top that? it's all downhill from it. 'But it was really good. We played some new songs, and some people were singing along - it was very well received, so it was very cool.' The band rose to fame during the pandemic and have since racked up hundreds of millions of streams, even winning two Grammys with their 2022 debut album Chaise Longue. And they've even won some celebrity fans along the way, with Rhian telling the publication that Davina McCall is a big fan of their music. Thousands of music-lovers have flocked to Glasgow this weekend for TRNSMT Festival, the largest musical celebration in Scotland. Also scheduled to perform on Friday are 50 Cent, The Script and controversial Irish rap trio Kneecap. Saturday will see Biffy Clyro headline the festival with support from Fonatines D.C., while fans will also be able to enjoy performances from Jake Bugg and The Kooks. While Snow Patrol will close the weekend in the Scottish sunshine out on Sunday alongside Gracie Abrams.
Irish Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Wet Leg: Moisturizer review – Furious guitars, hummable melodies and pure, uncomplicated joy
Moisturizer Artist : Wet Leg Label : Domino When Wet Leg played at Electric Picnic in 2023, the band's frontwoman, Rhian Teasdale, remarked that it was probably time they went away and wrote new songs. Two years later they return with a second album that excels as a bigger, brasher reboot of its predecessor – topped off with flashes of joy and sincerity largely absent from their brash and bouncy self-titled debut . Moisturizer is, first and foremost, a fantastic second LP from musicians who, having experienced a dizzying overnight rise, could have easily fallen victim to a backlash. But such a fate feels unlikely given the new project's store of beautifully catchy tunes. Spry, hummable melodies abound, paired with furious guitars and often introspective, occasionally gushing lyrics. This isn't to say the shin-kicking Wet Leg behind hilarious breakout single Chaise Longue and take-no-prisoners tracks such as Ur Mum have entirely absented themselves. That tongue-in-cheek quality is still there, and the group would no doubt be horrified to think that they've 'grown up'. (Their humour was plenty adult to begin with.) But, while retaining their irreverence, there is still lots of progress here – some of it spurred, no doubt, by the expansion of what was once a duo of Teasdale and her friend Hester Chambers into a fully fledged five-piece that now also includes Joshua Mobaraki on guitar, Ellis Durand on bass and Henry Holmes on drums. READ MORE Moisturizer also harks back to the underappreciated tradition of pop stars trying on a new look for each album. Remember when Madonna would reinvent herself with her latest record? Wet Leg attempt something similar here – or at least Teasdale, a former film stylist's assistant, does. [ Wet Leg at Electric Picnic 2023: Smart, punchy, shin-kicking pop from Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers Opens in new window ] At that Electric Picnic slot in 2023 she sported a trucker cap and T-shirt, the uniform of deadpan hipsters everywhere. That look has been replaced by one more transgressive and scary. Teasdale has hit the gym, dyed her hair and bounced back into action, looking like an up-and-coming boxer who'd knock your block off given half the chance. She certainly puts plenty of welly into the songs. Moisturizer begins with the pummelling rush of CPR, a steaming-hot chunk of classic alternative rock driven by forceful guitar and Teasdale's laconic vocals. The lyrics are about love, a theme threaded through a record informed by the singer's reconciliation with her queerness and her passion for her nonbinary partner. But these sentiments are never expressed cloyingly. The whole point of CPR is that the violent onrushing of new love can be a bit like a heart attack. 'Put your mouth to mine and give me CPR / Call the triple nine and give me CPR,' she sings – playfully yet with a delightful vehemence. Just as Fontaines DC jumped forward creatively – and, better yet, abandoned all that 'Joycean' nonsense – between the first and second LPs, so Wet Leg have synthesised all that was great about them the first time around and refined it brilliantly with Moisturizer. It pogos with real punk energy, too. The single Catch These Fists has the wonderfully direct chorus of 'Man down!' while Davina McCall is a sugary love song driven by spiky riffs. Mercifully, there isn't much navel-gazing about the price of fame – a second-album cliche that the group have been careful to avoid. Teasdale does touch on her experience of being objectified on Catch These Fists, singing, 'Don't approach me / I just wanna dance with my friends.' In general, however, the defining quality is fun. The boisterously brisk Pokemon builds to a feverish chorus where Teasdale insists that she doesn't 'want to take it slow'. The delirium of new love is replaced by the homespun comfort of quality time with your significant other on the album's closing track, U and Me at Home. Here Teasdale celebrates the pleasure of kicking back on a couch with her lover ('maybe we could order in') – a sweet ending to a record that, amid all the thrills and spills, is ultimately defined by a sense of pure, uncomplicated joy.
