BIBi LUCILLE - NEW SINGLE “42

Bibi’s new single “42 explores humanity’s fascination with the meaning of life taking inspiration from Douglas Adam, Creating vagueness so a personal interpretation can be lived…
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SØ
How the “42” song is a nod to the weird comfort that can come from complete existential collapse, based on a bluesy, soul-searching pop track.
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​BL
“42” is absolutely a nod to the comfort of the void and the optimistic nihilism that nothing means anything. “The Hitchicker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is the philosopher’s bible when it comes to opening your eyes to the absurd, and realising the level of emphasis and seriousness we put into our lives. Once you realise and acknowledge that life is short and we’re just a very small blip in the timeline of the earth, then you are truly free to start living. “42” also explores the beauty of hitting rock bottom; in the book, Arthur Dent’s house is demolished and the world begins to collapse around him, which is where to story truly begins. At rock bottom, the only way is up.​

SøEdited Team:
​SøInterview: Savannah Barthorpe​​​​​​
SøCreative Director: Chris Saint Sims 

SØ​
Why, according to Douglas Adams, is the number 42 “the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”

BL
​This is a great question and Douglas Adam’s has an even better answer. According to Douglas himself, there was no profound meaning behind it. No hidden numerical code, no esoteric wisdom, no nod to the mystical or mathematical. He simply chose it. Plucked it from the ether. Because it was, and I quote, “a funny number.”
And there’s the genius.
By choosing 42 as “The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything,” Adams was poking gentle, yet profound, fun at humanity’s eternal quest for meaning. We so desperately want the cosmos to whisper secrets into our ears, to reveal a grand pattern, a divine logic. And instead, we get... 42.
It is, in effect, the perfect answer. Not because of what it reveals, but because of what it doesn’t. It reminds us that perhaps the universe isn’t here to make sense, and that the joke, the absurdity, and the laughter... are the meaning, if there is any to be had at all.

SØ
How Bibi transforms Adams’ dry humour into a heartfelt meditation on modern disillusionment.

​BL
With every song I’ve written so far, I have tried to make them all a little bit vague, so listeners can add their own meaning to the songs. This is usually what I do when listening to my favourite tunes; whatever it’s actually about, I’ll usually just apply it to stuff going on in my personal life. With “42”, the first verse describes Arthur Dent’s situation - drinking his sorrows at the pub, wanting to protest when his house is being bulldozed but finding himself powerless to the decisions of the council. It ties into so many lines in the chorus, especially the

one that says “Let the world take it’s toll and lose everything you own”. I would say this feeling is pretty relevant to the current state of the world, and how powerless we’re all feeling - we’re watching a lot of ‘bulldozing’ going on (so to speak), and no amount of protesting seems to make a difference.​

SØ
Why Bibi’s NEW SINGLE “42” is FFO Amy Winehouse, Florence + the Machine, Regina Spektor, with a twist of Douglas Adams.
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​BL
I would say that list is generous but also not totally inaccurate. Along with the rest of the world, I love Amy Winehouse’s voice and her raspy tone that perfectly compliments her jazzy songs. In terms of Florence, I have always loved the way her songs are just so dramatic and all sound like film scores. She adds so many layers and harmonies to her tracks that I wanted my own songs to be reminiscent of that and Andrew O’Halloran (producer/mixer/genius) does it beautifully.

SØ
Has London shaped the song’s sound or story?
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BL
haven’t actually thought about this, but I suppose it must have. I’ve lived in London my whole life, so I’m sure my urban upbringing has leaked into everything I’ve created. Maybe the mania of living in a busy city has bled into the song, in the way that the song has a slight frantic feel to it.

SØ
What does this song say about where you are as an artist?

BL
think this song really demonstrates how much I’m experimenting. It’s only my third song and it’s very different to the first two. I don’t want to tie myself down to one ‘sound’ - blues is my loose genre base because it’s the tonality I enjoy the most, but from there, the track could go in any direction.​

SØ
Will this track lead into a larger project?

​BL
The track is part of a seven song album, but even when that’s done, I want to continue to make music. It’s fun and creatively satisfying, whether it leads to bigger things or not.​