Melbourne-based Witching Hour (the project of Claire Quartz) recently unveiled her spellbinding new single ‘Hell Hath No Fury Like’. The compelling number sees the up-and-comer reflect on her own experience of being in a toxic relationship. The single has also been accompanied by stunning visuals (directed by Mickey Mason) shot at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. Witching Hour takes us through ‘Hell Hath No Fury Like’ below.
I wrote 'Hell Hath No Fury Like'... in my first ever session with my producers, and now live bandmates, Zeke and Michael. It was the first day we'd ever met! It was in February of last year, a couple weeks before Covid ramped up, and it was such a fun and dynamic session — we had immediate creative chemistry.
A lot of the track was laid down in that first session but the rest of the creative process was a little more erratic because of lockdown. There was lots of back and forth — me doing vocal takes at home and sending through new ideas, the guys sending back new mixes and new versions, and then at the end of the year we finally came back together in real life and tied the whole thing together. It was so difficult to touch music during the second half of last year, so knowing this track was waiting in the wings was such a good motivator to keep me holding on while I felt so disconnected from it all during lockdown. The song was then mastered by my dad Patrick Cummings, who I produced, mixed, and mastered my first two singles with. It's a bit cute!
The story behind 'Hell Hath No Fury Like'... is one of shitty relationships and glorious self-reclamation. The song sees me firing back at an ex of mine who stirred up trouble in my life when I re-partnered. He sulked and seethed at my liberated choices, yet never had the courage to express his feelings directly to me. He chose instead to create tensions and issues within our shared social groups, so there are lots of themes in the song about silence and quiet, simmering rage. The relationship was quite toxic, and in HHNFL I embody this feeling of empowered ferocity I had where I thought, 'well now I'm free from you, and after putting up with what I put up with in our relationship, there's no way in hell you get to control what I do or who I date now'.
My fave lyric is... "Made of love, but I draw blood". I feel like that's my whole vibe really, sweet and wholesome yet fiery and dangerous. It also reflects the feeling I had towards my ex of 'well you think you know me, and I preach all this love and positivity, but don't cross me, don't try to control me, I'm three-dimensional and I'm powerful'.
My main inspiration... is a combination of the following themes: empowerment, self-love, reclamation, witchcraft, the occult, rebuilding after bad relationships, Hayley Williams always, and anything pink and spooky.
It sounds best... in a bad bitch outfit on a full moon.
Check out 'Hell Hath No Fury Like' by Witching Hour below:
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