With the release of her second full-length album, In Search of the Antidote, New Jersey-born pop chameleon FLETCHER has found a sense of clarity and peace.
An album that brings together a collection of reflections and observations made during an exploration of identity, self-awareness and impulse, In Search of the Antidote is a portrait of a woman finding her way back to the truest form of herself.
July sees FLETCHER bring the record to Australia for the first time. With In Search of the Antidote now having been out in the world for some months now, the musician ponders on the nature of albums and her relationship to them once they become open to the public.
“To me, albums are time capsules, and I feel that record [In Search of the Antidote] perfectly captures where I was at, at the time I was writing it,” she explains.
“When you go to put out a body of work, it becomes the world’s; it’s not just for me anymore. My intention and the way that I wrote it for me stays the same, but the relationship to the music starts to change, because it starts to become something that is more for the collective.
“It becomes our songs. They are me and my fans’ songs. The way that it translates live is a whole new experience, to even being in the room when I initially wrote it. It’s so fascinating to watch how the relationship to the music changes as it goes from being yours, to then being everybody else’s.”
FLETCHER, who has been on a prolific rise in North America and in other global markets since a series of EPs led to her critically acclaimed 2022 debut album, Girl of My Dreams, is a singer-songwriter that has always been led by her heart.
At the core of her earlier material were stories of love and its surrounding energies. They connected with a legion of fans who were seeking a kindred spirit; a spirit who knew what it was like to feel confused, to be led by ego and impulse, and who was unafraid to explore the flaws in our very human selves.
With her latest album, FLETCHER keeps the essence of such music present, but she attempts to look inward perhaps more than before. Finding an antidote for different things: an antidote for heartache, an antidote for yearning. Finding a literal antidote for healing, too, having spent recent years adjusting and dealing with a Lyme disease diagnosis that had forced her to postpone international touring.
Speaking with FLETCHER now, mere weeks out from her long-awaited return to Australia, it’s clear that she operates from a place of fulfilment – creative and personal.
She credits much of her inner healing to the development of her artistry during this hard, yet formative, time of her career; as well as the continued support of her fans – the “Fletch Fam”.
“I believe in the divine timing of everything and I think this record came out of me at exactly the right moment that it needed to,” FLETCHER says.
“I was navigating a lot of stuff with my health and I was really in search of a literal antidote, so this album was the processing of old emotions and feelings. There was a lot of healing and introspective work. It perfectly captures the time and place of exactly where I was.”
To see FLETCHER perform live, the connection she has with her audience is one that is instantly felt. Having formed a tight bond with her fans since she first started releasing music in 2015, those early chapters of her career are intertwined with the growth of a full community of like-minded individuals who have found resolve in the music.
Taking things back to her beginnings, playing dive bars in Asbury Park, New Jersey, FLETCHER remembers the faces that would support her then; some of those faces are now permanent fixtures on her international tours. Such level of support has buoyed her, particularly during the period of time where her health needed to take priority. And now that she is back on the road, thriving with the release of new music, the return to fans is as much of a thank you tour as it is part of her latest album cycle.
@fletcher “all love” is a forever favorite
“There are so many faces in the front row who were there at the very beginning. For them to now be travelling all over the world, flying to Europe and to my hometown festival, FLETCHER & Friends, seeing them in the front row now…from 10 people to 6,000 people or whatever the space is, that to me is testament to the ‘Fletch Fam’ and the community. The love that is there.
“I think that’s what feels the most special to me in my heart. I wouldn’t even say that it’s necessarily a specific accolade or number that I feel most proud of, but it is the community that I have around me and that I have brought together over the last eight or so years of my career.”
With In Search of the Antidote, FLETCHER has presented some of her most definitive music to date. Tracks like “Pretending”, “Lead Me On”, and “Eras of Us” demonstrate continued evolution of her songwriting; a fusion of heartbreak with euphoria and musical catharsis.
And then in the most literal sense, the track “Antidote” lays the album’s heart out in the open.
“The ‘antidote’ has been many different things for me over the course of my life,” FLETCHER explains.
“It’s been relationships, loves, tequila, fans and the road, family… it’s been so many things! They have been such a big part of the antidote, in terms of being such a significant part of my healing journey; giving me a place to speak, to be supported, to be loved on and received. To come and do this in Australia, it’s just so crazy that I get to do that.”
From here, the potential is endless when it comes to FLETCHER’s next chapter of music. Having overcome obstacles that threatened to sideline her permanently from the craft, she’s excited to see where her love for music takes her next.
One thing is for sure, FLETCHER knows that whenever the music lands, in whatever form, it will have the potential to uplift, embrace ,and hit listeners when they need it most.
“The music has always been, first and foremost, a feeling and an emotion. It’s an outlet of expression,” FLETCHER muses.
“Watching that take on a life of its own and grow, and be something that gets to take me around the world… it’s taken me on quite a wild journey. I have so much gratitude for it.
“I always want to make music that meets people where they’re at; whatever they need to experience the song as,” she continues. “Whether it’s a break up anthem, or some sort of self-empowerment moment; wherever it is, the music is made to meet you where you’re at. With that said, whenever you find it, it’s always the perfect time.”
FLETCHER plays shows in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney between July 16th-26th, followed by a New Zealand show in Auckland on July 28th. Ticket information is available here.
