Jo Beth Young announces new single Mechanical Ballerina

Talitha Rise on a beach — (Image credit: Press)

Jo Beth Young, who has previously recorded as both Talitha Rise and RISE, is to release a brand new single Mechanical Ballerina on April 2 through Wildness Rising Records.

It's taken from a soundtrack for the upcoming film A Doll’s House 20/20. The film is a contemporary lockdown adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House by Philadelphia photographer and author Kyle Cassidy.

"To work with Kyle and all the incredibly talented cast and crew from across the Atlantic has been utterly inspiring," says Young. "I don’t think I could have put this together quickly if I wasn’t feeling genuinely connected and moved by the project and performances."

A Doll’s House 20/20 is one of two film soundtracks that Young has been composing this year and is also finishing her new album due for release in late 2021.

“Creating the soundtrack for A Doll’s House has been a brilliant challenge as well as an honour to work along side Kyle Cassidy having been such a fan of his work for some years,: she adds. "Mechanical Ballerina is written from the position of the main character Nora, and her plight out of a rather ‘Stepford Wives’ mechanical existence. The play was really ahead of its time with feminist themes I think many can relate to today; how we can fit into programmed roles or numb out of reality/ relationship power balances.

"I originally wrote the instrumental first and then Kyle said ‘wouldn’t it be great to have a song?’. We were running out of time, so I wrote and recorded the song in two hours and with the help of Jules Bangs (bass), Matt Blackie (beats) and Kev Bolus (Mixing/Mastering) working on it afterwards we managed to pull together something at lightening speed."

Mechanical Ballerina will be available on all major streaming platforms but will also include a special release on Young's website as a digital deluxe version which includes a bonus unreleased track from the film Endless Ephemeral.

Get Mechanical Ballerina.

Jo Beth Young — (Image credit: Wildness Rising Records)

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.