Interview: Franki Charms with Electropop Antics on Debut EP "All the Things I Try to Say"
Helena Palmer AKA Franki
Like a chandelier suspended over a crowded dancefloor, Franki’s debut EP All the Things I Try to Say fractalizes flirtatious embers for all that relish in its captivating electropop beams. The new project of singer-songwriter, producer and visual director Helena Palmer arrives in the afterglow of Brat summer, here to thaw the stillness of Montreal winters with an atmosphere that evokes steamy nightclub windows to meet cutes under apartment fairy lights.
Having conceived the project exactly a year ago during a sojourn in Ottawa, Palmer returned to Montreal with new-found creative determination, inspired by switching musical gears.
“With my first acoustic project under my real name [Helena Palmer], I had a difficult time finding my place here in Montreal. I didn’t feel a sense of community, and it was disheartening. I was looking up to pop artists like Charli XCX, Grimes and Björk while playing guitar solo, and I didn’t feel like I had a fully-fledged identity. While I was in Ottawa for eight months last year, I decided to mess around with electronic production, and out of that I was able to launch a whole new project and everything snowballed from there. By the time I returned to Montreal in May, I had a ton of self-booked shows under my belt as Franki, and now I’m being considered for festivals and have my own scene of peers at similar points of their musical journeys. The project has helped me solidify my place as an artist here, and it’s been heartwarming and reassuring,” shares Palmer.
Franki on the set of her “I’m A Mess” music video, photo courtesy of the artist
While guitar composition will be making a comeback in Palmer’s musical arsenal—whether or not the project continues in its current vein of IDGAF pop—she emphasizes that reinventing her songwriting approach was a cornerstone in the genesis of Franki.
“When I was writing primarily on guitar, I would often start with lyrics in my Notes app – words that I had been accumulating. Right now, I’m more inspired by sounds that I hear in music or life in general. I try to go for a ‘feel’ when I’m composing electronically, and then I'll weave in the lyrics afterwards,” she says. “I’ve been bouncing back and forth between both my old and new processes, as I find playing guitar very therapeutic and it helps me to think things through. For example, the lyrics and the melody of the EP’s title track came to me as one thing, and then I made an instrumental to go along with it. Whereas ‘Act Clever’ started as a track that I’d made in a single morning that was later influenced lyrically by a conversation I had with a friend later that day. ‘Jeans’ was actually the first song I wrote the day I moved back to Montreal,” adds Palmer.
Emulating the upbeat fizz of 00s pop in the background of her childhood in England, All the Things I Try to Say embraces both the carefree spirit of being young in a vibrant city, as well as the growing pains of comparison haunting your mid-twenties. All the Things I Try to Say thrives in its duality – with themes of self-doubt and feeling second best filtered through frothy, distorted UKG beats, punchy production and Franki’s bubbly vocals and cheeky lyricism. Capturing the vibrations of her close-knit music community, Palmer actually met the album’s producer Oren Ratowsky (Cecile Believe, Enjoy, Cowgirl Clue) one night at beloved St-Hubert Plaza club, Le Système.
On collaborating with Ratowsky, Franki recalls: “Working with Oren was the first time I’d ever sent someone else my finished tracks. He was very patient with my—let’s say carefree—way of making music, and the back and forth between us was a great lesson for me in learning to be assertive. I’m so stoked on the final product. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever worked on, and we’ve talked about co-producing together in the future.”
All the Things I Try to Say album cover
Franki’s perfectly imperfect pop approach comes to life in her new music video for “I’m A Mess”. Directed and edited by Palmer herself, alongside Kyra Saad and Chloé Galarneau, “I’m A Mess” sees Franki and her entourage indulging in a Marie Antoinette-style dinner party à la Sofia Coppola with a little more indie sleaze flavour on the menu. Inspired by “the original messy girls” in the 1966 film Daisies by Věra Chytilová, on the video Palmer comments:
“‘I’m a Mess’ is about feeling chaotic. It captures the intensity of taking on too many tasks when you’re trying to reach a certain level and attain success in different areas of your life, while not giving yourself enough time to process [it all] or rest. It comes from that feeling that you should always be doing more.”
On All the Things I Try to Say, Franki reminds us that quote unquote success is overrated and impossible to define, and that we deserve to let loose and embrace the curveballs life throws our way: “So wear your heart on your face / And don’t be afraid / That when you speak / Someone might hear / Act big / Act clever / It’s your life girl / So do whatever you want”.
Franki plays the Also Cool Taverne Tour showcase on February 7th, 2025 at O Patro Vys in Montreal alongside Fireball Kid & Ura Star, Los3r and Public Appeal. Get your tickets and explore the festival lineup below!
Franki
Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.