Alexis Strum returns with her new single, Swim, on May 12.
The third track from the star’s forthcoming third album, ‘Sexy/Sad’ – featuring the singles Karma and If You Think I’m Too Much (You Should Go Find Less) – is among her most personal material and inspired by her mum’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Speaking to RETROPOP about the track, proceeds from which will support the Alzheimer’s Society, in late 2024, Alexis shared: “Earlier this year, I was told my mum had a few days to live, which is very hard to take. And she is still here – spoiler alert – but it was a seismic thing in my brain that was so hard to deal with. I still haven’t really dealt with it.
“Actually, when I was told my mum was going to die, I started swimming. One day I saw this woman – she was an adult – having a swimming lesson, and I remembered that my mum couldn’t swim. I thought, ‘Well, she’s never going to learn to swim now…’, and that inspired the first song that I wrote with Jim [Lowe, co-writer/producer].”
The Bad Haircut singer went on to explain that the track is “completely about my mum, how much I’m grieving now (even though she’s not even gone yet), and thinking of all of the things she could have done with her life that she’ll never have the opportunity to do”.
“That one is hard for me to listen to and I can’t play it to my daughter, because she listened to the lyrics, realised what it’s about and started crying,” she confessed. “But absolutely, writing songs has been a complete escapism and a way of getting out of my head.”
