Ireland’s M(h)aol have been backed by the likes of NME, The Guardian, The New York Times, NPR, Stereogum, Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson, Alternative Press, The Line Of Best Fit, and loads more. Today the band is sharing their new single and video “Period Sex”from their debut album Attachment Styles out Friday 

A track that people either love or makes them feel widely uncomfortable, “Period Sex” is a celebration of periods and how it’s still such a taboo subject even for those that would consider themselves progressive – a band known for being political, this was a song they wanted to be really sexy.

Singer Róisín Nic Ghearailt says of the song, “Prior to writing the track I’d had a lot of eye-opening conversations around period shame with people of all genders and from all walks of life, and I wanted to write almost an anthem for everyone who had ever had a period or loved someone who had one. It felt like a hugely powerful thing to be in a position to create a song as a band that was unequivocally sexy. I’m a cis bisexual woman in a queer, sapphic relationship. Periods and period sex are a part of my reality, and my girlfriend actually helped me with the lyrics in the first verse.”

With a shoestring budget, bassist Zoë Greenway made the video to show an honest portrayal of female desire. It was influenced by experimental filmmakers like Carolee Schneeman, Barbara Hammer and James Bidgood, both in their challenging of the dominant interpretations of sexual expression and how they use human bodies and dreams to subvert expectations. The main influence came from the period sex scene in Joanna Hogg’s film The Souvenir Part 2 with its mature, realistic and normalised depiction of period sex – the underwater world was inspired by Georges Méliès.

Zoë comments, “At the end of the day, it’s just a bit of blood, isn’t it? It’s just a biological process that 50% of the human organisms on earth go through every month and there shouldn’t be any shame or taboo surrounding that. You know bats also menstruate? It’s just science that people menstruate, I don’t think anyone should ever feel embarrassed about it, about seeing blood on sheets or underpants or things like that. ”

M(h)aol have just set off on their Independent Venue Week co-headline tour with Manchester, Brighton, and Bristol selling out. They are hosting an album release show in London on Thursday and will be performing at SXSW in Austin, TX in March. 

M(h)aol Tour Dates

January 31st | Birkenhead, UK | Future Yard ^

February 1st | Manchester, UK | YES (Basement) ^ SOLD OUT

February 4th | Brighton, UK | Komedia Studio ^ SOLD OUT

February 5th | Bristol, UK | Strange Brew ^

March 15th – 20th | SXSW, Austin, TX

May 19th | Newcastle, UK | Bobiks

May 20th | Glasgow, UK | The Hug and Pint

May 22nd | Leeds, UK | Hyde Park Book Club

May 23rd | Manchester, UK | YES (Pink Room)

May 25th | London, UK | Boston Music Room

May 26th | Brighton, UK | The Hope & Ruin

^ Independent Venue Week

Previous articleTincture For Trouble – Achilles Tenderloin (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Next articleMoney Counter – BC Cordarious (reviewed by Darren Baker)
Musician, scribbler, historian, gnostic, seeker of enlightenment, asker of the wrong questions, delver into the lost archives, fugitive from the law of averages, blogger, quantum spanner, left footed traveller, music journalist, zenarchist, freelance writer, reviewer and gemini. People have woken up to worse.

1 COMMENT

  1. M(h)aol are an incredibly political and sexy band that just released their debut album Attachment Styles. The album is full of political and sexual lyrics that will make you feel very uncomfortable. This is a band that is known for being political, and this song is one of their most political songs. This song is about how periods are a taboo subject even for those who consider themselves progressive, and it’s a celebration of periods and how it’s still such a taboo subject even for those that would consider themselves progressive. This song is also about how humans are just a bit of blood and it’s just a biological process that 50% of the human organisms on earth go through every month. This song is a shoestring budget
    Thanks,
    YTRankBoost.com
    Ranking YouTube Videos in the Search Engines.

Leave a Reply