Teddy Geiger dives into ‘Teresa,’ her second album under the name teddy<3 – an ethereal and achingly intimate alt-pop soundtrack to introspection, reconnection, and self-discovery.
for fans of Sky Ferreira, Phoebe Bridgers, Allie X
Stream: ‘Teresa’ – teddy<3
With my last album, ‘LillyAnna,’ she was a very repressed, angry, dark angel. ‘Teresa’ kind of glows for me and feels like a lantern on a warm foggy night in a dream forest.
There’s something inherently enchanting about Teddy Geiger’s second album as teddy<3.
Her songs are the songs of self-discovery; her music is the music of a soul’s rejuvenation and renewal. In a cozy one-bedroom apartment in Madrid, Spain, halfway around the world from her home in Los Angeles and a year into her transition, Teddy Geiger reconnected with herself.
Some might choose to call it a rebirth, but we would liken it to a spiritual cleanse; because in truth, Teresa has been here all along. It just took a while for her to introduce herself. An ethereal and achingly intimate alt-pop album, teddy<3’s Teresa is a beautiful, passionate soundtrack to introspection, reconnection, and self-discovery. It’s the music of a heart and soul unleashed, freely exploring who are they are and who they want to be – and turning those dreams into reality.
You gave me the body I wrestle
You could give me solace after death
In the book of souls with out a vessel
You could always send me back
To remember I belong here
To remember I belong here
Time to let it come
Let it go
Let it come, let it go
– “I Belong Here,” teddy<3
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering Teresa, Teddy Geiger’s second album under her moniker teddy<3. Out November 1, 2023 via Whatever Records, Teresa arrives five incredibly long years after 2018’s LillyAnna introduced teddy<3 (pronounced “teddy”) to the world, and sees the Grammy-nominated songwriter diving into her depths with unfiltered openness vulnerability and confessionality. Teresa is, quite literally, a record of Geiger’s innermost journey: Written and recorded during her transition four years ago, its eleven songs explore themes of identity, love and romance, human connection and fragility, and so much more as the artist gets in touch with herself.
As Geiger puts it, “[I’m] raising my long repressed lady. Celebrating the birth of a physically manifested female self.”
I’m gonna do what I need to
Wonder what were we doing? (Nothing)
I’m gonna find a true love
I’m gonna find a true love
I’m human
Always want something more
Taking my heart paid for
Thinking I’m soft cuz I get low
Been keeping my heart in limbo
Tryna make lust
It’s simple tho
There’s nothing that could ever satisfy me
‘til I find a true love
I’m gonna find a true love
“The vision initially was just to take some me time,” she tells Atwood Magazine. “Go to Spain and have some time to reconnect with myself in a new environment. Being in LA, I was around a lot of people I had known or who were aware of me. So a year into the transition, I just really wanted to have that opportunity to explore the person I was becoming.”
“It’s really hard for me to not work on music when left to my own devices. I had made a little recording set up in the living room and was demoing what became Teresa over 3 months, more as a personal journal, and then at some point, it just became clear this was an album, but I didn’t really set out to make an album per se. This past year of actually putting together the physical vinyl and artwork, etc. was where it really became a reality.”
I feel like with Teresa, I abandoned a lot of what I’ve learned, and really let myself play.
Geiger describes her album as “bathtub rock.” The name Teresa, she explains, is one that she herself has come to embrace over the past few years.
“One night on the street, our group had a little impromptu mixer with another group we were passing,” she chuckles. “One of the girls thought my name was Tere, and started calling me Teresa and it just stuck with me.”
“I started writing it a lot on fogged windows, etc. through this time of feminine self-discovery and exploration. With my last album, Lillyanna, she was a very repressed angry, dark angel. Teresa kind of glows for me and feels like a lantern on a warm foggy night in a dream forest.”
Truthfully, the journey from the visceral and impassioned album opener “I Belong Here” – a song fueled by conviction and resolve – to the final tracks “Second Time Around” and Twilight” truly feels like a late night’s stroll through some otherworldly dream forest. Geiger’s sonics – a mix of effected guitars, glistening synths, and more – are ethereal and hazy, layered and lush. Her voice is an effervescent lightning rod of passion – a beacon of raw emotion and intimate inner reckoning, turning over stone after stone as she finds her new center and gets to know Teresa on the deepest possible level.
For Geiger, this album – while long in the making – marks a special milestone in her journey as an artist and as a human.
“I made a little book to go with the vinyl, so I learned a lot of stuff about printing and Adobe software,” Geiger laughs. “It’s also been very interesting to see how the music business is changing, and algorithms and all that stuff.”
As for listeners’ takeaways, Geiger’s wishes are simple. “I hope they enjoy.”
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside teddy<3’s Teresa with Atwood Magazine as Teddy Geiger takes us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her new album!
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:: stream/purchase Teresa here ::
:: connect with teddy<3 here ::
Stream: ‘Teresa’ – teddy<3
:: Inside Teresa ::
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I Belong Here
This was actually the first song I worked on for the album. I had rented a one-bedroom apartment in Malasaña in Madrid, to spend some time in the creative process. I had been working, doing a lot of “speed dating” sessions in LA. I tend to lean introvert, and I’ve always spent a lot of time working and processing alone and wanted to reconnect to that.
The song has lots of themes of reincarnation, re/establishing a sense of faith, from illusion to clarity.
Never Enough
This one was early in the process as well. Basically thinking about infinity. A constant discovery as everything around us changes. Season after season, no end no beginning. Constantly growing and learning how we exist in the world, re-negotiating our boundaries. Creating a new language. Always seeking more, reaching out beyond the limits of our understanding.
True Love
This one was born from some filtered noise I had pitched around to make chords. It’s about leaving a comfortable relationship. Giving myself the space to hear my own truth and break out of that despair that comes when I lose connection with myself.
Daniele Luppi did the most amazing string arrangement. I made a longform intro for the vinyl LP once I heard them, cuz I felt they needed some space to really shine through.
In Spades
Deep connection, unspoken feelings. This one began in Spain with that intro synth. And then I finished the writing and production with Evan Voytas in NYC. He brought that drum feel and marimba line that really made the whole thing really work for me.
Will I Ever
While in Spain, I was watching a lot of romantic films, and for the first time, I was really identifying with the female characters. For the first time in my life, I really let myself be embarrassingly honest with myself about my feelings and longings. The desire to so satisfied by one person. That dream of the sexy jesus. Daniele’s string arrangements really bring that longing through 😉
I Made Mistakes
This one began as the recording does…with that cloud of vocals. This song is about past loves, acknowledging how much meaning those relationships have had for me.
Curtains
I’ve always wanted to look behind the curtain, and I have a curiosity to see how things work. Exploration both external and internal. Always taking things apart and not quite putting them back together. You know…curiosity killed the cat. I’m kind of a kitty…meow 😉
More Than That
I started this song in London with Julian, after a pint across from Sarm Studios. We just were jamming and the whole thing kind of popped out just like that. Then later back in LA, I put some drums, bass, and piano on it.
Second Time Around
Growing up, raising my long repressed lady. Celebrating the birth of a physically manifested female self. Also, a subtle grieving of a more masculine existence. I kind of felt like passing into another life which then got me beginning to process the physical death of the body.
Twilight
This one is about a cute little sad ghost not being seen. Going unheard.I imagine this little being haunting a farm house trying to connect to the occupant until, at the very end, they shed a final tear and fly off into the sweet night of possibilities.
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© Yana Yatsuk
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