The mere mention of new material from U.S. Girls is always an exciting prospect. Last month, Scratch It, the ninth studio album from the Meg Remy founded and fronted outfit was announced and, as with any new U.S. Girls release, the anticipation of what awaited audiences immediately swelled. A singular voice, Remy’s music abounds with vitality and vigor in both the infectious instrumentation and her captivating (and resonating) lyricism. On her latest body of work–which follows an busy few years which saw Remy release the critically acclaimed Bless This Mess in 2023, venture into the literary world (she revealed to Northern Transmissions that she is currently working on another book) and make her debut as a film composer–Remy delivers her strongest work to date with these irresistible country-tinged compositions. Scratch It boasts a brilliantly dynamic palette that astutely marries the carefree disco-fused arrangements that grabbed audiences on previous U.S. Girls LPs while Remy effortlessly exists within a unique interpretation of 1970s pop-country.

Scratch It paves the way for what will, undoubtedly, be a continuation if this compelling chapter for U.S. Girls. Remy cites the the experience of recording in Nashville, home to so many enduring and influential records, and playing alongside an accomplished array of musicians such as Charlie McCoy (who appears on legendary songs by Bob Dylan, George Jones and Roy Orbison) and Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather, Loretta Lynn) as facilitaing a space which opened her up to her own creative strength and the power of collaboration. Speaking over Zoom, Meg Remy explores the impact Scratch It has had on her and her artistic approach, going to Nashville to make a record and shares her go-to dinners and recent readings on The Rat Pack.

NT: I always enjoy getting lost in the worlds of U.S. Girls’ albums and Scratch It is incredible! I was fascinated reading the story behind the album and how you made it with a band you played with at a festival in Arkansas and clearly the chemistry between you on stage was special. How long after that festival set did you get into the studio with the band?

Meg Remy: The festival was in April of 2024, and then we recorded in August, so a few months afterwards.

NT: Wow, that’s amazing. Did you have the songs written and ready in the lead-up to that? I know there are two covers on this LP, “Firefly on the Fourth of July” and “The Clearing.” Did you leave space to improvise with the mic in hand?

Meg Remy: I had three songs written, lyrically, that I could sing through, which were “Dear Patti”, “Emptying the Jimador” and “No Fruit.” I had been messing with “No Fruit” for some years, just lyrically. “Dear Patti” and “Emptying the Jimador” were inspired by real events, so I had ramblings in journals that I had been working on whittling down and knew were going to be songs someday. As soon as we decided we were going to do this record, and there was studio time booked, I went to those songs first and started working. It was the first time I’ve ever booked studio time before having things written and I liked it. You probably know, as a writer, sometimes a deadline helps. Whereas, if you don’t, you’ll work at it forever, so it wasn’t stressful. It was very natural working over email with Dylan in Nashville and a couple of other people. They started coming together and then it was just chords and words, having those.

I went to Nashville in June, before the sessions, and the band played the songs, just messing around but we didn’t nail arrangements down. That was something I didn’t want to do. I wanted to try to have the whole experience follow the typical Nashville way of working, which is just like ‘We’re pros, give us the chords, we’re going to show up and do it.’ I wanted to see what that would be like because so many records that I love from the past were made that way. My husband co-produced the record with the engineer who owns the studio, Andrija Tokic, and they were in the control room listening to us play, making suggestions of a tweak here and there and doing a take or two and picking whichever one we like best. That was it and it was so fun. It was such a nice way of working rather than, you know, a lot of times working in the studio where you get an approximation of what you think the song’s going to sound like, but then all this pre-production happens where there’s editing, fixing, perfecting and adding effects. Recording these songs, though, we could hear the record in real time.

The whole band, all the musicians and everyone present in those sessions, were really part of the world we were creating, having a say in it and really living in it together. Whereas, I think sometimes, as a session musician, you can work on things having no idea what it’s going to be like in the end. You hear what you worked on later, and are like, ‘Okay, there’s that part I play that you’ve chopped up and copy and pasted and put here and there.’ But this was just really great and the whole process felt so right. Usually, when the process feels good, the end result is also solid because the process is everything.

NT: Yeah, absolutely. In terms of the arrangements, there’s a cinematic richness to the textures across the songs. In particular, I think of Charlie McCoy’s harmonica parts on “The Clearing” and “Bookends.” There’s a great contrast of arrangements that are stark and dusty feel, but then you have super fun and infectious dance moments, as well. Singing with the band playing around you in the studio, especially when the tones were mournful and emotive, did that impact your performance in channelling more emotion?

Meg Remy: Definitely. Responding to musicians and their sound is key to my performance and inspires what comes out of my mouth because if a musician is really going there, I want to as well. Going to Nashville, a place I never thought I would go make a record, it just never occurred to me that that would happen, I think I was pulling from a lineage of music that also is known for singers that are almost voice actors. They’re so good at conveying things. This is my ninth album, I’m turning 40 next month, and I think I know now what my skill set is, and a big part of it is conveying emotion through my voice. Knowing the way we were recording, and that there wasn’t going to be much fixing that could be done, I had to just sing. There wasn’t going to be any tuning possibilities, I could change a word if I wanted to, but we tried to get full takes, that inspired me to be transparent and leave things in. That’s where the engineer, and the whole band, was really supportive of listening back to things, while I was cringing because even though I’m a professional singer, it’s still like hearing your voice on an answering machine or something!

They were all so encouraging and would give feedback like, ‘Okay, so the note might be off, but the emotion’s right, so you should leave it.’ You have a whole take, why fix this one thing when it’s not wrong? I’m a contrarian, as well, so for me, I want to do the opposite of whatever is the majority thought, which is tuning right now. All vocals are tuned, even if it’s Mariah Carey, her vocals are tuned, it’s an industry standard. I wanted to do something that was the complete opposite of that, which was maybe, at times, an overly emotional vocal or something. But, that’s also just me!

NT: “Bookends”, in that way, is such an incredible centrepiece to Scratch It. The first time I listened to that song, I was so struck by its tenderness and the space in it. Your performance is so lovely in it and then, in the last four minutes, it becomes this wild and impassioned thing. Even, as well, I appreciated the fact that it’s a single and it’s 12 minutes long. There’s a rawness and sincerity emanating from all aspects of that song which I loved because a lot of today’s music today is being dictated by TikTok and social media in that it has to be immediately snappy and concise. The song is also a tribute to your friend Riley Gale. Can you tell me about recording that song, especially now knowing that you tried to limit the number of vocal takes you made. Were you nervous doing this one?

Meg Remy: That one we did in two chunks. Basically, we tracked up to right before the disco part happens. We tracked to there and got it how we liked it. We were very apprehensive and wondering could we go all the way through? The engineer was like, ‘Why don’t we just try to go as far as you want, then we’ll stop and we can do the other part,’ but he had to press the button at the right time to start again and we had to be ready. But, thankfully, it worked!

We just did a show in Nashville, where we played that song live. Sun Ra is a God-like musician, who didn’t believe there were mistakes, or he would say to his musicians, ‘Why don’t you do something already and make a mistake?’ On his records, he mostly used first takes. He knew there was something special about a first take because a person is just doing it. They’re not copying themselves, or making adjustments or trying to be better. It’s the first blush, so let’s grab it. I think everybody involved in [Scratch It] is into that idea and is like, ‘Let’s go with that!’ When you’re in a group, and you agree to do something, it’s less scary than doing it by yourself. We all agreed to go for that. I think it gives it a certain [energy], because we were on edge, even though we had agreed to this, it’s such a massive tune that we hadn’t played untill that day. I wrote it with a musician, Edwin [de Goeji], up here in Toronto, and the band that I play with in Toronto, we had played it live that Summer, so, I was able to send the Nashville band a recording of that and they had the sheet music and could listen to it, but it wasn’t till the day we went to track it that they’d ever played it.

NT: Oh my God, those extra elements of sweat and nerves really paid off in the recording!

Meg Remy: Yeah! I remember it being like, ‘Let’s start with [“Bookends”] today, because it might take all day,’ but it didn’t. Which was amazing.

NT: The music video for “Bookends” is fantastic. I loved your Dusty Springfield look and then your face starts to disintegrate and it kind of goes a bit Phantom of the Opera or something. I’d absolutely watch a mock-biopic about the character you play in the video.

Meg Remy: For sure! Yeah, it was fun to look at that pop star character. The director Caity [Arthur] that I worked with, we were riffing on this idea of screaming fans, like the girls you see at the Beatles concerts and Beatlemania, and wondering what are they screaming about? We were riffing on this idea of a pop stars’ job and rather than it being distraction, evasion, entertainment, or lubrication thing, what if their job was to prepare you for death? They were death stars that were letting you in on the fact that you’re going to die, but encouraging you to not be scared of it. Maybe, then, the fans are screaming because they’re realizing that they’re going to die or something. Yeah, so we were riffing on this Death Star bringing all of these fans to their death!

It was really fun to make. Usually, I direct and edit all my music videos. I’ve done that for years, but this time around, when everyone agreed that this would be the single, I was just like, ‘I can’t do a 12-minute long video, I don’t have the space in my life for that.’ It’s so different now with my kids being 4-years-old. It’s totally different from Bless This Mess where they were infants and I could easily make videos because I could just put them in the corner and they’re stationary. They’re not running around trying to knock a light down or something! I couldn’t do videos and the label was like, ‘What if we hook you up with someone and you could tell them an idea, they can get the work done and you just have to show up. That was hard for me because I’m a control freak and used to doing everything. I had to get used to someone else’s process. It was such a good learning experience for me; to let go and be like, ‘I’m going to trust, not only that someone’s going to translate what I’m saying, but that I’m going to trust that it’s the right thing to do, to give someone else space to also have their vision.’

As a musician, I can provide space for visual artists, comedians and other artists to make something because there has to be so much content these days, too. Then, for the next video that came out for “Like James Said”, my friend made that. He’s a comedian, and I just asked him if he wanted to make something and he said that he’d always wanted to make a dance video. So I let him fire head with it. He got something out of it and got to have this experience working with the choreographer and has something for his reel and I got a great music video from it. It’s always good to open up the spaces that we have and share it. I feel like artists can sometimes have a scarcity mindset where there’s not enough space and say, ‘No, this is mine.’ However, I’ve found time and time again that opening up and sharing is the way to go. It makes the work better, relationships better. Everything, you know?

NT: Yeah, and adds more layers to a projects. It’s so interesting to hear you talk about that because earlier today, before speaking with you, I had been thinking about how Scratch It is your ninth album and as you said, you’re turning 40 next month. In the last couple of years, you’ve expanded your creative practice by collaborating with filmmaker Grace Glowicki to compose the music for her film Dead Lover, you wrote a book, Begin By Telling, and now you’ve opened up to work with people on your music videos. Does it feel like you’re entering a new chapter with how you’ll approach your work? I’m interested to hear because I always find your music to be so fresh and exciting.

Meg Remy: Thank you! It does feel that way. The process of making this album, going to this city that’s known historically as an amazing music place, was the first time I’ve acknowledged that I have a career. In the past, I’ve been like, ‘I’m a punk,’ or ‘This is just what I do for my mental health.’ Now, I’m like, ‘No, wow, I’ve been doing this to get to a point where I don’t have another job; I’m an artist. I’m making a living from it. I’m raising my family off of it.’ Part of that comes with age and the fact that I have a body of work now, but another part is that it’s so precarious right now. I’m having conversations every week with musicians, friends that are like, ‘Should I segue now? Should I go get a trade?’ Because they don’t want to get caught with no money. There’s a lot of conversations trying to figure out what’s happening. It’s so rough, particularly in music. I’ve seen major changes such as fees going down and I’ve seen real changes in my career, as well. I still have opportunities and have a great infrastructure working with 4AD and bookers and have great management. It’s made me realise that I need to appreciate this and make the most of it because it could stop at any time. The gas could run out of the tank in this economy where I will have to segue and I want to enjoy myself and keep going.

I’ve been engaged for a long time in different therapies and have been hitting on some really big points in my therapy that have been leading me, for the first time ever, to be able to tell myself that I love myself. That is a major shift. I’ve never been able to do that my whole life. I have therapists all the time say, ‘You need to look in the mirror and say that you love yourself.’ I couldn’t, but I’d try to. Eventually, it started for me and it was amazing. I was out with a friend recently, and I told her that I like myself. And she was like, ‘Yeah, you’re kind of a badass,’ and I was like, ‘Ha, I kind of am!’ I don’t know if that’s the therapy or it comes with age where a lot of the bullshit slots off and you’re still standing. Maybe it takes longer for women, I don’t know? I don’t know what it is, but it does feel like a new phase.

Certainly, having experiences like Nashville, scoring a film, where like this person approached me and I’m like, ‘I’d like to do this,’ but my imposter syndrome kicked in and I felt insecure and said to myself, ‘You’re not a composer. How the hell would you do this?’ I tried to ignore that and had a go and it worked! Then, it premieres at Sundance Film Festival and no one was like, ‘That score was terrible.’ And so, itmade me see that I can do anything, and I hope to. That kind of definitely feels like the next phase will be one wher, I don’t know what will come next. Obviously, I’ll keep making music. I’m working on another book and I’ll just see what comes next. That’s what feels exciting about ageing. Ageing is, as well when the world is in constant flux, can be scary, but I also find it fascinating and wonderful for making art. It makes art all the more essential. I’m excited to see what I’ll be doing! If I get to live to be 70, I mean, who knows, maybe I’ll be doing taekwondo.

I think fully being out of the age too of, and it’s not like I ever worked in pop music, but I’m a mom and I don’t have to care about what I look like. Those considerations are, in relation to career stuff, are pretty far gone, which is very freeing.

NT: That’s so evident on “Like James Said” where you sing “I’m the queen of exercising pain” and there are also just really relatable lines about not wanting to be self-conscious or caring about how you look. I read an interview you gave earlier this year where you said that the most political thing you can do is to get to know yourself. What did writing Scratch It reveal to you?

Meg Remy: That I’m good at writing songs! Again, it falls into the category of allowing things to land on me finally and not being embarrassed about thinking good thoughts about myself and giving myself props. There was a part of me previously that thought that to compliment oneself or accept or acknowledge one’s strengths was egotistical or kind of male. It was always like, ‘Be humble, give the credit elsewhere, always deflect.’ There’s something to that, as well, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve accepted to let things land on me this time around. Working with people I didn’t really know, just through their actions of taking me seriously, made me take myself seriously. They’re not old friends, but they were putting so much care into the songs and that made me feel that they must think that I’m okay at this. It made me think, ‘Wow, there’s a reason why I’m now making a ninth album and still have opportunities and a label that’s supportive to do this; it’s because I have a skill for it.’ To acknowledge that doesn’t mean I’m saying I’m the best, but that I’m good at this. I do the best that I can at this. I think also just acknowledging that I want to do this and I have to. Even if the industry shuts the door on me, I would keep doing it because it’s essential. It’s something that’s part of my essential nature, a desire to make things. I’ve always been that way. Those are some things that that I acknowledged from making the album.

NT: Before our time runs up, I saw your Letterboxed picks recently, I’m excited to watch one of your selections The Greasy Strangler. What was the last film you watched? And, I know you enjoy cooking. What is your go-to quick meal to make?

Meg Remy: When my husband and I watch movies, when the kids go to bed, I’ll fall asleep so it has to be short. Let me see, a quick meal would be salad. I’m really good at assembling a quick hearty salad with lots of seeds and nuts and putting a fried egg on top or canned beans and making a good quick dressing. I do that a lot. Or, literally cutting up a bunch of cabbage in a bowl and putting apple cider vinegar in it and eating it like that. I’m basically a rabbit, I like that! If I have time to do a long meal, I love doing a pot of stewed meat in fruit, a tagine with dates, apricots, olives and chicken and letting it cook. I like that a lot. At the moment, though, I’m in the mode now of just family cooking, which is like we have salmon once a week, we have a roast chicken once a week that we make stock from. We have red sauce with pasta. It’s just kind of a rotation of the same meals!

The last movie I watched, we actually watched last night, was Ocean’s Eleven, the original one with The Rat Pack, because I just read a book called Rat Pack Confidential, which was really great. I got it from a free library pretty randomly. And I was like, ‘I’ll read this,’ thinking it would be some fluff that I’ll plough through easily. It ended-up not being fluff and was just an amazing book. Initially, I thought it was just going to be a biography but it was more of an overall an analysis of the Rat Pack. The writer really looked at each person in the Rat Pack’s childhood and their parents and showed why they became Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin and then why they all were drawn towards having this group. It was really fascinating and a lot of it revolved around the filming of Ocean’s Eleven and how that was like one of the first movies that had a big PR hoopla around it because they filmed a lot of it in Vegas proper. They advertised that they were going to be filming it, as well as doing shows at night, so all these people flocked there to, I think, be in the movie or just be around it. I haven’t seen the remake of Ocean’s Eleven, but my husband told me that it’s amazing and much better than this one. The original was not great, but it’s cool to see what old Vegas looked like and how it wasn’t that long ago that it was just one strip of very kitschy, small buildings. Now, it’s like a hyper reality with volcanoes and all this weird stuff. America is such a cancerous culture, it grows so fast. It’s fascinating. That was a fun watch!

Pre-order by U.S.Girls Scratch It HERE