The EP’s penultimate track, The Mersey Line, serves as a musical tribute to the singer’s adopted hometown of Liverpool. Describing the song to The Rodeo, Pixey said “This is one of the first tracks I wrote for the EP and it’s probably my favourite. I was sitting on Parr Street and I just got a sort of jingle in my head and this tune just came out in about 20 minutes. This was also one of the first tracks I played the drums on. It’s an ode to a place I’ve always liked to call home.”

MY EP ‘Free To Live In Colour’ IS FINALLY OUT !!! Thank you so much for everyone who has been streaming and showing me your support it feels completely surreal

Streaaam here – https://t.co/BnRL07dy2P pic.twitter.com/MsE417dYqr

— Pixey (@pixeyofficial) March 23, 2021

In a post to her Instagram followers ahead of the release of the EP, Pixey (real name Lizzie Hillesdon) said: “It feels unreal to think this time last year I was only making music for myself going into first lockdown. Now we’re still in a lockdown but I can’t believe how much has changed in a year with the help of some truly amazing people…Still can’t wrap my head around youse listening to my tunes, but I truly wouldn’t change it for the world. I hope you love my newest EP as much as I do and I love you with all my heart.”

Early reviews for the new collection of songs have been glowingly positive. DIY called the EP “warm and vibrant“, a “solid introduction to a sparky new pop personality” and “a perfect antidote to those winter chills”; while When The Horn Blows‘ Laura Freyaldenhoven said it “solidifies Pixey’s remarkable talent and immediately addictive sound.” Freyaldenhoven adds: “With a record that proves she can nail just about any genre, the sky is the limit for this astonishing artist.”

In an interview with DIY, Pixey spoke about her ambitions to make a feelgood EP. She said “I wanted to make a record that explored every side of being able to create what you want to create, and do what you wanna do, and not let anything stand in your way. But I also wanted something that you could forget about all that stuff and just dance to as well. I never thought I’d get this far and this is just the first step, so it’s really exciting to just be able to even think about what’s next. I had so many years of everything being so complicated, it’s nice to just make stuff that is completely uncomplicated, and I can give that to people and give them the escape that I wanted back then.”

The track listing for the Free To Live In Colour EP is as follows:

1. Just Move
2. California
3. Electric Dream
4. The Mersey Line
5. Free To Live In Colour

In a press statement accompanying the new song, Pixey (real name Lizzie Hillesdon) said: “‘Electric Dream’ was originally written as a piano ballad but after finishing the lyrics I felt the song worked as a dance track. I wrote it to make sense of being locked in with nothing to rely on but technology. The verses are all of my anxieties that come with that – like trying to simulate humanity digitally and what kind of a future that would be – but the choruses are about the imperfections of real life that technology and AI can’t give us.”

As you might expect from an artist who describes herself in her Twitter bio as “the indie Britney Spears“, Pixey’s musical influences are manifold: the singer – who originally hails from Parbold in West Lancashire – has previously cited Grimes, George Harrison, The Prodigy, De La Soul, Björk and Canadian multi-instrumentalist Mac Demarco as key inspirations. Electric Dream and the previous two single releases from Free To Live In Colour (its title track and Just Move) encapsulate her willingness to delve into a variety of unexpected soundscapes.

Just Move fuses the raga rock edge of The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows with pinches of soul and the psychedelic indie vibe you might associate with 90s indie favourites like The Cardigans and Cornershop. Meanwhile the lyrics from Free To Live In Colour signpost the song’s own exploration of “English Americana“; with distinct sonic echoes of the surf-pop stylings of Chris Isaak and Lana Del Rey.

Pixey’s ongoing rise to prominence was given another boost with her inclusion on the NME 100 list for 2021; a prestigious index of emerging talent that has previously unearthed the potential of Arlo Parks and YungBlud. The iconic music journal hailed the Lancastrian vocalist for her “sleek, alternative pop-rock nous” and “the sort of tunes you want to hear as you’re leaving the indie club night at sunrise.”

The dream-pop merchant’s ascent has not been without its challenges though: in 2016 the singer was hospitalised with a near-fatal viral infection. In a 2019 interview with Wigan Today, she revealed that music was a key motivation in her recovery from the frightening episode, giving her “…a real focus and distraction from what I’d been through and the way I was feeling, as well as a new perspective on what I wanted to do.” She added: “ I’d never been a writer at all, I’d always sang or played keys in other people’s bands, so rediscovering music from a whole new angle was refreshing.”

The track listing for Pixey’s upcoming Free To Live In Colour EP is as follows:

1. Just Move
2. California
3. Electric Dream
4. The Mersey Line
5. Free To Live In Colour