Hannah Reid, singer of the British band London Grammar, told Music Week how the sexism in the music industry almost forced her to quit her carrier. In this manner, London Grammar’s upcoming album, Californian Soil, touches upon both feminism and femininity. The band’s hopes are to see this body of work topping the charts as they did for ‘Truth is a Beautiful Thing’ in 2017 and their debut album ‘If You Wait’ in 2013, which hit No. 2 according to the Official Chart Company. 

In the interview, the singer explained how she thought she was not fit for this kind of business: ‘When I entered the music industry it was a bit of a shock. I was dealing with so many micro-aggressions, sometimes on a daily basis, more sexism and misogyny than I had ever experienced before. I mean, of course I experienced the day-to-day crap that all women just have to put up with, but in the industry it was little things, small things, that actually added up to being quite a profound experience,” she added. “It was extremely difficult to stand up to, because a lot of the time it’s kind of invisible and you can’t prove it’s happening.’

‘I felt like a cash cow. Everything had to be done on men’s terms,’ she explained. ‘A big thing was not even being considered a musician’. However, she praised acts such as Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Miley Cyrus, explaining how they are encouraging her and many other women in the industry to be themselves: ‘I feel it’s really amazing that there are so many younger female artists who have really moved feminism on and I am now learning from women who are younger than me’.

London Grammar’s third album California Soil is coming out this Friday (April 16th). In November 2021 the band will embark on a sold-out UK tour, including their biggest show to date at London’s Alexandra Palace.