SHEARS: WE ARE BUT CHEMICALS (interview)

The economics of today’s music world favour the self-sufficient; SHEARS makes it sound effortless. Her debut album, WE ARE BUT CHEMICALS, pairs candid writing with clean, club-ready production.

We caught up with her to talk about how it was made, the live set-up, and when to share the load.

You’re releasing your debut album and you’ve got big shows in Edinburgh and Glasgow soon. How are you feeling?

I’m feeling good. It feels like this should have happened a while ago, but it also feels like the right time. I’ve been working towards it for a long time. It’s a little daunting, but I feel good about it. I’m ready.

The first half of the album contains the recent singles; the second half comes in fresh. Was there a deliberate plan to the sequencing?

It was sequenced once it was finished. I just wrote what I felt like I needed to write, and it split into two halves on its own without me needing to do very much.

The first half mainly covers my past and situations I’ve had to learn and grow from. It’s more negative topics – hypocrisy, contradiction – but made dancey.

The second half is more about finding joy with your friends, learning what makes you happy. It’s more upbeat lyrically.

So, it just ended up being four of these and four of those. I thought, ‘Oh, look what I’ve done – that’s how I was feeling.’

And of course, there’s a limited-edition vinyl run, so that makes it your classic ‘album side one/side two.’

Exactly. If you’re feeling upbeat, go for the second side. Flip to whatever your mood is. That was my intention all along!

I’m really excited – it’s the first vinyl I’ve ever done, and it’s red, which is fun. I went to see it being pressed at Seabass Vinyl. They’re so lovely there, and it was a particularly sunny day, so the whole run was made using solar power. That was also lovely – great for the climate.

So it’s a red and a green album?

It’s a red and a green album. You’ve got it – that’s what I need to start saying. It’s really nice to have something physical to hold.

‘BONES’ tackles women’s health and birth control – topics rarely given mainstream pop space. Was there any hesitation about making something so private so public?

Not really. I wrote ‘BONES’ in about 2020, so it’s relatively old compared to the new ones. I found it on my laptop, really liked it, and thought how it was unfortunately all still relevant. The demo was just piano and vocal, and I wanted to make it an epic kind of song – change the production, build it up, do something with it.

I didn’t think too much about being asked about hormonal birth control. Most women have had to deal with it, and I haven’t heard most women enjoying taking it, so it feels like a useful topic.

By contrast, ‘IN THE DARK’ is made for the dance floor. Was it deliberate to go out in such a big way – end on a high?

No, it wasn’t deliberate, because there wasn’t an order until they were done. With that one I challenged myself to make something with one note going all the way through – the synth going ‘ba-ba-ba-ba-ba’. I wanted to keep it going and see if I could build a song around it. I needed something to push me forward that day. It kept building and building.

Then I thought, ‘I need an outro,’ and it ended up as this dancey track that built to the end of the album, which was really nice. But it didn’t have a place at the end until the very end.

How are you planning the live set compared to the studio/home studio work?

Yeah, the live show is completely different from the studio. There’ll be live synths, effects, percussion, vocals – all of it. I make a song and then go, ‘What can I do with this live?’ Usually I play by myself, but I’ve enlisted help for the album shows, so the sounds will be bigger than ever.

I also have a tall spiral cymbal – it’s a lovely conversation starter. It looks really strange. That’ll be joining me, as will Susan Bear. She’ll play her own set – she’s an amazing producer and performer – so I’m really looking forward to that.

It’ll be loud, big, bassy, synthy goodness.

Is it possible to sum up the album in one sentence?

What we feel is only chemistry, and chemistry can change.

WE ARE BUT CHEMICALS is out 10th October

SHEARS plays Edinburgh and Glasgow in October and November 2025

Photo credit: Laura Prieto Martin