SPIDER has dropped brand new single ‘straight out the oven ! ‘ – her first preview of new EP an object of desire, which will follow next year. The multi-hyphenate has picked up widespread acclaim for DIY coming-of-age themed projects COA and HELL OR HIGH WATER, having since made her live debut opening for Blackpink at BST as well as touring with Lynks, Jessica Winter, Tycho Jones and Connie Constance.

SPIDER takes the listener ‘straight out the oven ! ’ and into her new era with an epic, post-punk wall-of-sound, shot through with her instinctive pop-hooks and strikingly raw lyrics. Written, produced and played entirely by SPIDER, at first glance (she says) ‘straight out the oven ! ’ “presents itself as a fun, catchy “blonde, sorority girl who doubles as an over-the-top cheerleader” rock song. Which it is! But it’s also a really honest conversation that I was having with myself about the desire to be desired, and confronting the types of people we go to for that validation. It’s that need that we all have to be irresistible – but asking yourself, why do I want these specific people to desire me in the first place? I produced and wrote the entire thing on my own which definitely gave me the space to explore that part of myself without having to hide it behind a complicated metaphor.”

‘straight out the oven ! ‘ is a suitably fearless introduction to SPIDER’s next project, an object of desire. As lyrically direct as it is musically expansive, the EP examines themes of sex and objectification – that grey-space between where one starts, and the other ends. In exploring how our experiences of emotional intimacy are formed, SPIDER seeks the power to heal, grow, and (as the EP’s memorable opener puts it) tell everyone to go fuck themselves.

In SPIDER’s words, “an object of desire really encapsulates the questions I was asking myself about objectification, desire and intimacy as an ex Catholic school student who grew up in a very religious household. Looking at these three things through the lens of religious trauma and Catholic guilt felt like looking at the Unholy Trinity of Young Adulthood. Like, when does desire start being desire? What is actually so intimate about sex and what is sex when it doesn’t feel intimate? You’ve realised you’ve been objectified – well okay, but what do you do about it? I feel like this particular view on sexuality isn’t really talked about much, and I just had all these questions that no one could answer for me. Writing this EP was a way for me to explore the conclusions that were put there by a religious upbringing that covered this area of life in so much shame and nonsensical conditions. It also allowed me to process the anger I had towards the ways I was mistreated in the past without the pressure of maintaining “grace”. This project feels like the most personal, freeing thing I’ve made thus far!”

Disruptive, dynamic and distinct, SPIDER is a young talent learning to stand out for all that she is. Her own unorthodox origin-story begins in the Dublin suburb of Tallaght, where she grew up in a strict Nigerian-Catholic household in which gig-going was banned. SPIDER instead sought community online, running pop band stan accounts and witnessing the connective possibilities of creating work in her own voice. She took her eight-legged alias from the lessons of African spirituality and folklore – here the spider is the totemic symbol of strong feminine energy, and embodied SPIDER’s increasingly-timely belief that only you can weave your future. She moved to London aged 18, penning her COA project – which featured viral astrology banger ‘Water Sign’ – as her own coming-of-age was again suspended (this time, by the pandemic). Its visceral followup, HELL OR HIGH WATER, embraced both a heavier sound and a more unapologetic attitude. A series of unfiltered conversations with the self, the EP called for honesty over consequence in childhood, relationships or Art: a spirit vividly rendered in ‘AMERICA’s NEXT TOP MODEL’, SPIDER’s rousing call for black representation across alternative music and prominent online platforms.

With work full of wit, empathy and occasional rage, watch out for more from SPIDER to follow soon.