A visual artist and painter as well as an unconventional, self-taught songwriter and musician, everything that fuels the creative output of Manchester’s Xenya Genovese, AKA Freak Slug, is about raw, authentic, sometimes weird but always totally true self-expression. But in amongst the mix of an introverted extrovert, self described “avoidant” Leo rising, lives the sort of musician who can do nostalgic, ‘90s influenced and dreamy as well as eccentric and experimental. Down there, picking through the curious mix of sounds and feelings, lives Freak Slug.

The name Freak Slug encapsulates Genovese’s artistic world both perversely and perfectly. Hugely influenced by ‘90s cult heroes like Ride and Mazzy Star, Freak Slug is all about hitting a mood. Her releases under the name so far – debut 2020 EP Videos and its viral hit “Radio” (13.5 million Spotify streams and counting), and follow-up EPs I’m In Love and Viva La Vulva – might have introduced listeners to her “more summery, happy, LA sound”, her debut album I Blow Out Big Candles is playful, fun, but not shying away from the darker sides of both sound and psyche, the result is a debut that builds a whole world for it to live in. I Blow Out Big Candles dreams as big and unshackled as Freak Slug herself.