When Poppy, Amy Lee, and Courtney LaPlante posted a no-context photo of themselves lined up in side profile, identical long black hair streaming down their backs, there was an Instagram comment that immediately started looping in my brain: “The Mother, The Daughter, and The Holy Spiritbox.”
At the time I was pissed I hadn’t thought of that first, but my love for any trio of innocuous things being compared to the Holy Trinity won out over my frustration at being beaten to the punch.
After the photo, the hardcore world seemed to hold its breath waiting to see what these three had planned. Amy Lee, iconic Evanescence frontwoman; Poppy, metalcore’s most surprising star; and Courtney LaPlante, powerhouse Spiritbox vocalist. With no caption on their posts, fans were left guessing. Until September 4, when their collaborative single “End Of You” was released along with its theatrically styled music video.
“The genesis of the idea was Jordan Fish and I talking about doing a collaboration, and we had kind of a sketch of an idea of what we wanted it to be,” Poppy tells me over Zoom. “And then we thought about bringing on Amy because he’s known Amy for a while. And then we thought how great it would be to have Courtney as well, the three of us, and the kind of power that would be if all of us came together.”
“End Of You” Was A Labor Of Love With Contributions From All Sides
Poppy and Jordan Fish worked together on her 2024 album Negative Spaces, which he co-wrote and produced. Fish is known mainly for his 11-year tenure as keyboardist and producer for Bring Me The Horizon. But, since his departure in 2023, he’s become a full-time producer and songwriter. He co-wrote “End Of You” as well, alongside Poppy, Lee, and LaPlante. There was also additional writing by Mike Stringer, guitarist of Spiritbox (and LaPlante’s partner).
What I found interesting about “End Of You” is that it’s not just a collaboration between three iconic hardcore women. When I looked further, there seemed to be contributions from several people (or places) from each of their creative lives. Members of Poppy’s band contributed instrumentals, as did Stringer. Additionally, some initial brainstorming and recording took place at Amy Lee’s house. Meanwhile, Jordan Fish serves as the thread connecting everyone into this constellation. “End Of You” truly feels like a labor of love from every side.
Poppy admits that the song wasn’t completed entirely in person, because “it’s a large undertaking to coordinate everybody’s schedules.” But, she says, the creative process itself went smoothly after the initial idea was shopped around.
“The subject matter of the song and the vision,” she says, “everybody understood the assignment.”
Poppy On What She Admires About Amy Lee…
At first, it felt a little unfair of me to ask this question just about Amy Lee and Courtney LaPlante. We didn’t have the opportunity to ask the same of them about Poppy. I would have liked to know what they admired about her as well, what surprised them about the collaboration. But, unsurprisingly, Poppy seemed more than happy to shower praise on Lee and LaPlante.
“I’ll start with Amy, but in no particular order,” she urges with a small laugh, “she’s an icon for one, and it’s really incredible that she’s able to seemingly creatively release anything that she wants because she’s Amy Lee and she’s been doing this for as long as she has, and it’s really cool.
“When we got to be in the room together,” she continues, “I had a couple questions that I felt I would ask if the vibe was right. And it was really cool to see her speak to those things. I would say I look up to her and it’s cool to see her do everything through her own filter and through her own creative ambition, and stand in her power.”
…And About Courtney LaPlante
About Courtney LaPlante, she says, “I think she’s really sweet,” adding, “and she is!” Poppy then admits, “I didn’t get to spend much time with Courtney in person [during] the process of making the song because it was done remotely. But I have hung out with her a handful of times now, and it’s always a really great time.”
Poppy shares that she finds LaPlante and her partner, Mike Stringer, to be “such a great couple and very down to earth, very in the family.” But for both Lee and LaPlante, she says that she admires them also from the perspective of lead vocalists.
“It’s cool to see somebody like that, a fellow front person of a band, be able to have also such a grounded and wholesome outlook in the world that we’re in,” she says. “I would say that about both of them.”
On Growing the Depth of Her Enjoyment Despite Obstacles
Later, we briefly talk about career milestones, and what Poppy is most proud of accomplishing this past year. I mention that when a passion becomes the way you make money, it’s easy to get burnt out. Disillusioned with the creative process, as well. For Poppy, that’s part of what keeps her going.
“I think [I’m most proud of] the fact that I’m able to do what I love and I’m passionate about and have been passionate about since the beginning,” she says. “The depth of my enjoyment grows in spite of any obstacles that occur. I still enjoy doing this and over time it’s nice to see that that still rings true, and I think I’m the most proud of the fact that I’m still passionately moving forward.”
I bring up burnout then. Poppy replies, “I think every time you have to fall back in love with it, or at least part of it, that’s the spark. But you know, it’s certainly a ride [and] any time it’s a direct A to B point, I think that’s when you have to be concerned.
“I always try to lean into the thing that excites me and piques my interest and cut out the rest of the noise,” she says. Asking what keeps her motivated to carve out this unique space in music, Poppy says, “I just want to do things I’ve never done before, and as long as I’m doing that, I’m doing what I enjoy.”
Praising Poppy’s Trajectory From 2018 to Now
Here, I get to tell Poppy that I’ve been a fan since her album Am I A Girl? came out in 2018 (big moment for me). Once I Disagree dropped in 2020, I was hooked on Poppy’s particular brand of “post-genre,” as she’s described it. Since then, her trajectory into a consistently heavier sound has been fascinating to follow. Seeing who she collaborates with (most recently Babymetal, Knocked Loose, and Bad Omens, plus her work with Jordan Fish). Then, how she transmutes those influences into her own genre explorations. Always “passionately moving forward,” as she said earlier, a sentiment that deeply resonated with me.
We talk briefly about women in the metal scene, about hardcore female voices. I explain that’s where I tend to gravitate in my own music tastes. Personally, I find that female-identifying hardcore vocalists tend to grasp the concept of unbridled rage better than any frontman I’ve ever heard. If this seems like a foreign idea, ask yourself, do I really want to listen to a man scream at me? and then we’ll talk.
“I remember my first bit of exposure to female-fronted bands,” Poppy says. “And it was always really incredible to me. I’m talking about being eight or nine years old and fathoming—like, wow, that’s so aggressive, I love that. It was really remarkable and particularly resonant to me.”
Those early influences have obviously stuck around. Even when Poppy was experimenting with an AI-like persona in several YouTube videos that initially confused a lot of people. Going on to blend bubblegum pop, nu-metal, industrial, and hardcore, getting heavier and heavier with each album until she’d carved out a unique space in the scene, seemed like a natural progression.
So What’s Next For Poppy?
As for the here and now, Poppy has just released a new single today, October 23, called “Unravel.” As her first solo single of the year, it comes along with an impressive music video. It’s directed by Sam Cannon, who also directed the Negative Spaces visualizers.
“Unravel” begins with hauntingly vulnerable vocals seemingly at odds with fast-paced, Ghost In The Shell-esque instrumentals. But the more it builds, the more things fit together. Even as the subject unravels, the song as a whole is electrifyingly strong. The chorus stands passionately against a destructive tornado, while the bridge erupts like it was ripped straight from Poppy’s vocal cords.
Fans in South America can catch Poppy on the road with Linkin Park coming up. Starting on October 25, she’ll join them for eight shows concluding on November 11. Then, it’s anyone’s guess what Poppy will do next. One thing remains obvious; it’ll be something she’s endlessly passionate about.
Photo by Hector Clark
The post The Genesis of the New Hardcore Holy Trinity as Told by Poppy (Exclusive) appeared first on VICE.
