From Gabby Rivers’ forthcoming EP, What Is The Problem, ‘Leave Me Alone’ is a furious, cathartic burst of grunge-pop. Having already earned her stripes with high-profile festival slots and a support tour with The Courteeners, Rivers now sounds fully in command of her own sonic identity.
Built on a thick, fuzz-laden bassline and driven by relentless percussion, ‘Leave Me Alone’ wastes no time in plunging the listener into its stormy core. The instrumentation is raw and muscular, but it’s Rivers’ voice that cuts through with unflinching power. Equal parts defiant and vulnerable, her vocal delivery brims with urgency, embodying the frustration and anger at the song’s heart.
That anger is not abstract, as Rivers explains: “It was one of the first songs we wrote for this new sound and project, one I felt like I was really able to express myself, not only with my mindset, views but also my lyrics and vocal ability. I feel so strong about what this song is about – The track stems from a time where I was working in a job and occurred multiple encounters with men almost triple my age, hitting on me, flirting with me and making me feel so uncomfortable, the more it happened in my job the more I started to notice it happening outside of work, stares, overall uncomfortable situations, after talking to my friends about it, hearing them talk about it too made me realise how many people experience it, I was angry and this song helped me cope.“
By transforming that discomfort into music, she reframes it as a collective release, a rallying cry against a reality shared by many women. The result is not just a song, but a channel for shared rage and solidarity.
This release showcases a young artist unwilling to dilute her emotions, choosing instead to wield them as fuel for some of Gabby Rivers‘ sharpest songwriting yet.
You can listen to ‘Leave Me Alone’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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