The intersectional feminist post-punk band M(h)aol will release their debut album Attachment Styles this Friday February 3rd via TULLE Collective.
They’ve shared the songs ‘Therapy’, ‘Asking For It’, ‘Bored Of Men’ and ‘No One Ever Talks To Us’.
Ahead of Friday’s album release, the band have shared the six-minute ‘Period Sex’, the closing song from the album, a celebration of periods, and a taboo or uncomfortable idea for many.
“Prior to writing the track I’d had a lot of eye-opening conversations around period shame with people of all genders and from all walks of life, and I wanted to write almost an anthem for everyone who had ever had a period or loved someone who had one. It felt like a hugely powerful thing to be in a position to create a song as a band that was unequivocally sexy. I’m a cis bisexual woman in a queer, sapphic relationship. Periods and period sex are a part of my reality, and my girlfriend actually helped me with the lyrics in the first verse.”
Róisín Nic Ghearailt
The video was directed by band bassist Zoë Greenway in an attempt to show female desire in an honest way, influenced by experimental filmmakers like Carolee Schneeman, Barbara Hammer and James Bidgood, “both in their challenging of the dominant interpretations of sexual expression and how they use human bodies and dreams to subvert expectations”.
A big influence came from the period sex scene in Joanna Hogg’s film The Souvenir Part 2.
“At the end of the day, it’s just a bit of blood, isn’t it? It’s just a biological process that 50% of the human organisms on earth go through every month and there shouldn’t be any shame or taboo surrounding that. You know bats also menstruate? It’s just science that people menstruate, I don’t think anyone should ever feel embarrassed about it, about seeing blood on sheets or underpants or things like that. ”
Zoë Greenway
M(h)aol have tour dates upcoming:
March 15th – 20th | SXSW, Austin
Wednesday April 12th – The loft, Galway
Thursday April 13th – Cyprus Avenue, Cork
Friday April 14th – Kasbah, Limerick
Saturday April 15th – The Workman’s Vub, Dublin
May 19th | Newcastle, UK | Bobiks
May 20th | Glasgow, UK | The Hug and Pint
May 22nd | Leeds, UK | Hyde Park Book Club
May 23rd | Manchester, UK | YES (Pink Room)
May 25th | London, UK | Boston Music Room
May 26th | Brighton, UK | The Hope & Ruin
Attachment Styles Tracklist
- Asking For It
- Bored Of Men
- Noone Ever Talks To Us
- Bisexual Anxiety
- Therapy
- Nice Guys
- Kim Is A Punk Type Of Dog
- Cowboy Honey
- FEMME
- Period Sex
Follow M(h)aol:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify
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Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the cohost of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, event curator and producer of gigs, parties & events.