The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

bitemusicceleb are when we close the door, and that’s generally the side that is less filtered, a lot less cheery, and it’s [sincere].” Her relationship woes but stronger self continued on her sec- ond album, Champion, with the title single featuring sing- er-songwriter and guitarist Tom Morello and a shaven-head Bishop in the video. “I did it for my friend Arax, who was diag- nosed with breast cancer,” she explained to Euphoria Magazine. “She shaved her head, so I also decided to shave mine to show my support. When I first saw part of my head shaved, I had never felt so much like myself.” Bishop Briggs described the album as a liberation from her past self and the insecurities she was hanging on to, admitting she constantly questioned herself. “After my breakup, I asked myself why I picked this person. I realised there was a lot I needed to work on, so it was important for me to bring posi- tive people back into my life. It was a lot of self-realisation and liberation from old habits. We all have these embedded stories and traumas from childhood that can return as we get older.” She also wrote Champion to help anyone with the same feelings and seek solace. “I wanted this album to be the thing that wipes the tears away and to be that comfort blanket, to metaphorical- ly rub a heartbroken person’s back and tell them it will be ok,” she told Stereoboard. “When I listen to Amy Winehouse, Adele and Alabama Shakes, the lyrics are so detailed and personal, and yet I can relate so much to those songs, and I feel so com- forted that someone else has been through that and come out the other side.” At her intimate performance at Hollywood speakeasy bar No Vacancy last year, the singer stripped down her hits and played new tunes. The new songs included ‘High Water’ and ‘Art of Survival’, which she wrote following the death of her older sis- ter and manager, Kate, from ovarian cancer in January 2021. “Kate was the biggest ray of light,” she told Nylon . “She walked in gratitude every day. She loved RuPaul’s Drag Race and John Cena, and her favourite colour was rainbow.” She performed the first weekend at Coachella while pregnant with her son and sang ‘High Water’ on the Late Late Show with James Corden . In May 2023, Bishop Briggs won the ninth sea- son of The Masked Singer as Medusa. She chose the character because “Medusa is someone I feel is misunderstood and mul- tiple things at once. There are multiple different sides to Me- dusa. I was six months postpartum during the show, so I was pumping and performing and leaned on the Medusa costume to find that strength.” This year, the singer released ‘Baggage’, a stirring exploration of embracing life’s messiness and facing it head-on with empow- erment, from her EP When Everything Went Dark. “I am not perfect,” the artist admitted. “I’m quite messy. I could say life is messy, which it is, but part of becoming an adult has been acknowledging the messiness that I have, too. ‘Baggage’ is the first song where I stand in the mud and triumphantly stomp my feet.” The EP is the singer's solace as she tries to process what hap- pened over the past few years. “When I was little, I would sleep with a night light that filled my bedroom with warmth as I drifted off,” she explained. “Something about the afterglow made me feel protected as if someone stayed awake looking out for me. As I got older, I learned to rest truly. You have to feel that safety deep in your body. As the leaves change colours, I've had difficulty shutting my eyes despite feeling exhausted.” www.bishopbriggs.com