frankiemydear “SANDGIRL”

Here’s a bit of musical magic which will take you through a series of images and moods in a great style. Hailing from Bristol (yes!, Bristol), frankiemydear and her “SANDGIRL” can be positioned somewhere between Fiona Apple and Kate Bush. And I do not use these names lightly. The production of “SANDGIRL” goes outside the lines dictated by your typical alt pop song and that is perhaps its biggest strength. Whatever box you can imagine you could put it into, it is always too small.

“I had been dealing with a lot of personal troubles at the time”, says frankiemydear. “I left a bad relationship that left me mentally damaged in 2023, and at the start of 2025, my dad was admitted into hospital. It was amongst this noise that “SANDGIRL” was born.” You can easily imagine how such a combination of emotionally charged events could affect a sensitive and creative soul. Putting them into the shape of a song had probably been one of the best and the most healing ideas. 

The song, in its varied sections, goes from rhythmic, almost percussive vocal moments, to a Kate-Bush-like chanting, to a sudden a capella. Yet, nothing here is out of place. Nothing feels like it does not fit the overall concept. frankiemydear directs you through her emotional story-telling, a “grim picture of facing friends and family after a period of mental illness”. If you relate to this description, you can also remember how difficult it is sometimes to find acceptance to your “invisible”, emotional bruises. And this is the essence of “SANDGIRL” – a realisation that after certain life events, you will never be the same.

It is easy to fall into self-pity in such situations, but frankiemydear does not allow herself to go for an easy resolution to her song’s story. She brings it to a cathartic climax, through the aforementioned a capella moment, with a sudden burst of choirs, stacked harmonies and intricate vocal arrangements. All, combined, end “SANDGIRL” on a high note where the song’s protagonist feels released from anything that was dragging her down. Different for sure, but free from the emotional baggage which was drowning her with her pockets filled with sand.

What a beautiful metaphor for a re-birth. 

Photo: Press release