“I Had To Take Myself Away”: Isabella Manfredi Opens Up About Preatures Split
"There was dynamics there that were really unhealthy, which just meant in the end for me, I had to get myself out of there."
After 10 years, Sydney band The Preatures have officially called it quits.
In a short statement shared across their socials yesterday afternoon, the band told fans they had disbanded.
“We want to thank everyone who was a part of the journey and especially you for being such a dedicated fan base,” they wrote. “Izzi will continue to release her own music you can follow her @isabellamanfredi”
— The Preatures (@ThePreatures) May 25, 2021
The band broke through in 2013 with the ubiquitous hit ‘Is This How You Feel?’, and followed it up with two albums — Blue Planet Eyes in 2014 and Girlhood in 2017.
Singer Isabella Manfredi spoke frankly about the band’s split on triple j yesterday, saying the breakdown of her relationship with guitarist Jack Moffitt, and an “antiquated record deal” that they couldn’t get out of and weren’t making any money from, were the two main reasons for the breakup.
“If anyone’s ever gone through a breakup, it’s really hard to keep working with that person,” she told Drive hosts Hobba and Hing. “There was dynamics there that were really unhealthy, which just meant in the end for me, I had to get myself out of there. For me, the band was my family and I was so committed to it. But for my heart and my music, I had to take myself away and start again.
“I want [you] to know that personally I did everything I could to keep the band together…it wasn’t a creative choice in the end; it was a personal and financial choice and they are realities we’ve all had to face in the past 12 months.”
The announcement came at the same time as Manfredi premiered her debut solo single, which has now landed across all streaming services this morning. Called ‘Jealousy’, it was recorded in Sydney with in-demand producer Chris Collins, and is cut from the same cloth The Preatures, albeit leaning harder on into pop.
“‘Jealousy’ was the very first song I wrote in London with producers Rich Cooper and Johnny Latimer (though there was a brief stint in Berlin with Anton Newcombe – another story),” Manfredi said. “I did the demo vocals in one or two takes and they are what you hear on the record. It was one of those essential and immediate co-writing experiences where I couldn’t tell where I ended and the others began, and I’m truly grateful to both Johnny and Rich, masters of their craft, for helping me shape the shock and anger I was feeling that day into a lean, mean pop song.”
She recruited Michael Di Francesco (Touch Sensitive), Kirin J Callinan, and Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa for the track — which you can hear below.