Sarah Tudzin wrote her latest album to set herself free—literally.
The L.A.-based sound engineer’s debut record as Illuminati Hotties, 2018’s Kiss Yr Frenemies, allowed her to finally flex her songwriting chops. With an eye-catching name and a sprightly attitude, Illuminati Hotties quickly became one of many critics’ favorite new rock acts, receiving positive reviews across the board. The fun was cut short, though, when Tudzin’s record label, Tiny Engines, was put on blast for alleged breach of contract over royalty payments.
While some of Tudzin’s labelmates were able to divest themselves or buy back their masters from Tiny Engines, it wasn’t quite that simple for Illuminati Hotties; as she told Stereogum, label co-founder Chuck Daley “made it very clear that Hotties LP2 would’ve been an important record for him.” But eventually, the two parties settled on an exit agreement whereby Tudzin could buy out her Tiny Engines contract with a cash settlement and a payment of royalties on a future project.
Realizing she needed to buy out of that contract right now, Tudzin wrote and recorded FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For during three weeks in February. The album is a compact 23 minutes, but one that absolutely whoops ass regardless of length. And while Tudzin describes it not as a proper LP, but a mixtape, the self-released project perfectly encapsulates her knack for quippy lyricism and boisterous melodies—the kind that make you want to speed down an interstate highway and plot revenge against anyone who’s wronged you.
FREE I.H. is, in every sense of the word, a plea for liberty.
A self-described “tenderpunk,” Tudzin creates music that seamlessly wavers between rousing pop-punk instrumentation and the whimsical intimacy of indie pop. Tracks like “superiority complex (big noise)” spotlight furious electric guitars that recall one-time Illuminati Hotties tourmates PUP: “First I made Frenemies / Made a whole lotta frenemies / Now I owe them seven stacks / And won’t even get the circle-p,” she yelps with Drake levels of swagger.
will i get cancelled if i write a song called, “if you were a man you’d be so cancelled” (Official)www.youtube.com
Tudzin’s frank delivery on the perfectly-titled opener “will i get cancelled if i write a song called, ‘if you were a man you’d be so cancelled'” is reminiscent of riot grrrl heroes like Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna. The following song, “free ppls,” recalls ’90s punk acts like Hole or L7 on overdrive. As Tudzin snarls, howls, and screams across the mixtape, it feels like a long-awaited emotional release.
As raucous and ferocious as FREE I.H. can be, it’s still just as “tender” as it is “punk.” Tudzin has long proven herself to be a talented guitarist and songwriter; “br yr own b” highlights her nimble fretwork over irregular time signatures and a mathy drum pattern. Twee-leaning tracks like “freequent letdown”—notice the intended misspelling there—offer up a tongue-in-cheek slice of Tudzin’s self-deprecation: “I’m no bright Edison / I don’t know a thing about modern medicine / I’m always letting everyone down / I’m always letting everybody know I’m down,” she sings over the chorus.
While Kiss Yr Frenemies was a tried-and-true rock album, FREE I.H. sees Tudzin broaden her sonic landscape without the confines of a label. The distorted guitars and fuzzy synths of “free dumb” veer into dreamy electronica territory a la the Postal Service. “While the world burns, why would you care about a f*cking record?” Tudzin asks, an especially startling line to have written before quarantine even began. Elsewhere, the wordless “free4all” is a 90-second dose of industrial experimentation, allowing for a brief—but welcome—look into Tudzin’s encyclopedic recording expertise.
Though FREE I.H. carries an overarching theme of revenge and pursuing justness, it ends with a heartfelt ode to that which makes life worthwhile. On the acoustic closing number, “reasons 2 live,” Tudzin name-drops various people, each line a compliment about their individual positive impacts: “Ashley taught me how to love my grown-up body / and Joey cares more than any other human being,” Tudzin croons. As much as sh*t happens, FREE I.H. seems to say, there will always be people to lift you up any time someone brings you down.
Buy FREE I.H.: This Is Not the One You’ve Been Waiting For on Bandcamp.
FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For, by illuminati hotties
12 track album
